When Mrs. Kennedy and her cat, Felix, leave, Meg knocks on my door. “Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?” she asks placing her hands on her hips. She’s been trying to get it out of me since I came back from the doctors.

“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out. She’s going to find out soon enough anyway.

“What? Oh. My. God,” she squeals throwing her arms around me. “Why are you in such a mood then? Aren’t you happy?”

“I’m happy, but shocked. It wasn’t planned.”

“So, who cares? You and Carter love each other. You’ll make great parents. You’ve only gotta look at the way you guys treat LJ to know that.”

“He wants to get married now,” I say sighing.

“No fucking way. He proposed?”

“More like demanded. I’m not marrying him just because I’m pregnant,” I snap.

“Why?” she asks, giving me a strange look.

“Because it’s preposterous.”

“It is not. It makes perfect sense,” she says, rolling her eyes like I’m being ridiculous. “You know why he’s doing this right? The bastard thing.”

“I know,” I reply. “People have children out of wedlock all the time these days. It’s no big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to him. You know how he is, Indi. He’s not going to let you win this.” That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t want him to feel like he has to marry me.

When Meg leaves, her words play on my mind. The thought of being married to Carter excites me, but I don’t want to rush into things. I don’t want to get married for all the wrong reasons.

Not even ten minutes pass before she’s knocking on my door again. “A delivery just arrived for you,” she says smirking. I roll my eyes because I can tell by the look on her face it has something to do with Carter.

I follow her out to the reception area where I find an older man holding a huge bouquet of white roses. “Sign here,” he says before passing them to me.

When he leaves, I place them on the counter and remove the card.

To my fiancée, Indiana,

I love you.

I love our baby.

I can’t wait to marry you.

Love your fiancé, Carter.

As sweet as that card is, it pisses me off to no end. I can’t help but laugh at his brazenness. Meg was right; he’s not going to give up without a fight. I pull my phone out of my coat pocket, and send him a text.

Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful. I’m sorry about before. I hate fighting with you. I love you, but I haven’t agreed to marry you, so technically I’m not your fiancée!

A few seconds later he replies.

I love you too, babe. But you’re wrong. You ARE my fiancée, Indiana, and we ARE getting married!!!

I message him straight back.

No we’re not!!!

I stand there waiting for his reply, but it doesn’t come. Just as I turn to head back down the corridor, the front door flies open. It’s him. He grabs hold of my elbow, dragging me towards my room before closing the door and locking us in.

“We are getting married, Indiana,” he snaps. “Look.” He holds up his wedding finger. “This just proves it. You’re mine and you will be my wife as soon as I can organise it.” I grab hold of his hand, bringing it towards my face. Ugh! He’s gone and tattooed Indiana on his wedding finger where the band sits.

“That proves nothing,” I reply dropping his hand. Doesn’t he get it? If he’d proposed to me before I found out I was pregnant, I would’ve said yes. I would’ve been over the moon. But now he’s being forced to do it, it doesn’t sit well with me.

“It proves everything,” he says, pulling me into his arms and covering his mouth with mine before I have a chance to respond. I try to push him away for all of a second, but my body melts into him and I deepen the kiss. I hate fighting with him. Eventually pulling back, he cups my face in his hands. “I love you, babe, and you love me. Why shouldn’t we get married? It makes perfect sense.” When I try to respond, he places his finger on my lips. “Just think about it.”

That’s exactly what I do for the next hour before I finally relent and call Justine. She manages to shuffle Carter’s appointments around for me, so when it’s time, I head over to see him. “Come in,” he says when I knock on his door. His face lights up when he sees it’s me. It instantly brings a smile to my face. I love how he always does that. “Indi.” He stands and makes his way towards me. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m your next appointment,” I tell him and he wraps me in his arms.

“You are?” he asks pulling back to look at me, surprised.

“Yes. I want to get my fiancé’s name tattooed on my wedding finger.”

“Then you’re going to marry me?” he asks beaming.

“Yes, I’m going to marry you.” He exhales before pulling me into a crushing hug.

“Thank fuck,” he breathes.

After he seats me in the chair, he prepares my finger, wiping it over with an alcohol strip. “Is it safe to get a tattoo while you’re pregnant?” I ask suddenly.

“It is if you use sterilised equipment and a new needle. I researched it a few years ago when a heavily pregnant lady asked me for a tattoo. You know I’d never do anything that would jeopardise you or our child.” He leans forward, brushing his lips against mine. “I love you both too much.” His words not only make me smile, they melt my heart. He’s going to make a wonderful husband, and father.

••••

Christmas morning comes around fast. We sit in the lounge room and exchange gifts. There’s been no more talk of weddings, but we have agreed to get married before the baby comes along. I hate that he feels our child would be tainted if it was born out of wedlock, but if this is all I need to do to make him not feel that way, than I’d be selfish not to marry him.

Smiling over at my sexy-as-hell fiancé, I pass him his present. I had a diecast replica car made for him. It’s identical to his Monaro. I sent the guy who made it, photos of the exterior and interior of his car, and he copied it from that. It turned out great. It wasn’t cheap to have it custom-made, but I knew Carter would love it. He loves that car just as much, if not more than he loves me. Okay, not as much as me, but a lot.

Boys and their toys.

“Fuck me,” he says beaming when he opens it. “How?”

“I found a guy online. I sent him photos and he made it from them.”

“I love it, babe.” I smile as I watch him look over it. The doors, hood and trunk all open. He’s even matched the motor and interior of the car identical to Carter’s. It took months for him to order all the parts and put it together, but thankfully it was ready in time.

Ten minutes later he’s still holding it in his hand, opening and closing the doors whilst smiling like a little boy. It’s very amusing to watch. I’m glad he loves it as much as I thought he would.

“Umm … can I get my present now?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him. He chuckles before finally putting the car down and grabbing the box I’ve been dying to open from under the tree. I’m all smiles when he passes it to me. I’ve been shaking it when he’s not around, trying to figure out what it is, but I have no clue. All I know is it rattles and it’s light.

Undoing the bow, I peel off the card that’s taped to the box. I know I should really open the card first, but I’m dying to see what’s inside. Opening the lid, I find a smaller box inside. That explains the rattling. He played me. My eyes move up to him. He’s smiling as he watches me.

Pulling the smaller box out, I unwrap it to find a black velvet jewellery box inside. I gasp when I open the lid. Inside sits a ring. An exquisite, large, princess cut diamond engagement ring. My eyes move back to his again. I’m pretty sure my mouth is hanging open. “Open the card,” is all he says. So I do just that.