“Liam,” Natalie encourages. Her thin arms stay wrapped around me as if she’s holding me together. And right now—she is. I look down at her and wait for some sort of courage to arrive. But it’s there in her eyes. Her strength and love are there in her face. Even with all the crap that’s come between us, she’s been strong.

I nod and open the door. She lies there with tubes and monitors everywhere. The steady beeping tells me that she’s alive, but only thanks to the machines. A white sheet is draped over her, keeping her warm, but everything around me is ice cold.

I step toward her slowly. Her chest rises and falls, but there’s no life there. All I can pray for is that she doesn’t feel any pain.

“Hi, Mom,” I say as I reach her bedside. “I got here as soon as I could. It’s a long story, but you know how it goes.” I try to stay strong, but this is my mother. The woman who apparently did diapers and didn’t rip the tabs. She’s the one who wiped my knee and made me a cape when I needed to be Superman. Shannon Dempsey is the strongest woman in the world. She had kids, buried one, raised another, and I never saw her break down and lose it. I swear she could run laps around the SEALs and put us all to shame.

I failed her. I wasn’t here to protect her.

“Please wake up, Mom. I don’t know that there’s any chance, but I’m begging you, please, if you can . . . do it now. I’m sorry . . . for so many things. I don’t know how to say goodbye to you like this.” I need to take a second, because I’m going to lose it.

Natalie rubs her fingers down my arm, and I close my eyes. “Hi, Mrs. Dempsey. We met once, but I’m Natalie.”

The woman of my dreams stands here talking to my mother while I try to keep it together. She gives me the out so I don’t feel so weak.

“I remember you loved to bake. I wish I had the chance to learn from you since I literally am the worst.” Natalie smiles and releases my hand. Before I can grab it back, she grips my mother’s. “Thank you for giving Liam life. Thank you for raising him to be the man he is. I’ll be eternally grateful to you for the joy he’s brought into my life.” Natalie looks over at me with tears streaming down her face. “He loves me more than I deserve. He loves my daughter and he’s given me more than he’ll ever understand.” She turns back, and I wipe my eyes. “I can only hope to raise my children to be like the man you’ve raised. He really is the best man I’ve ever known, and I attribute that to you, so thank you.”

She leans down and kisses my mother’s cheek. A woman she’s only met once. Then she whispers in her ear and squeezes her hand once more.

That’s my undoing.

I fall to my knees and they hit the cold tile. My head falls on the side of the bed and I grip my mother’s leg. “Haven’t we lost enough? Hasn’t my family suffered enough?” I mutter aloud.

We grew up with strict Irish-Catholic parents. Mom stayed home, but I think she worked harder than my father. He got to go to work and come home after Mom had the entire house cleaned and food on the table. Dad is a lawyer and worked his ass off to put me and Krissy in private school. He showed me that hard work was for the family, and when you want something, you don’t slack off. You push harder and make your own destiny. So why can’t I work to make her better?

“Talk to her, Liam,” Natalie encourages while I keep my head bowed. I can’t let her see me like this. “Tell her what you want to let her know. She loves you.” Her soft voice calms me and I try to hold it, but it’s all too fucking much. Everything crashes around me and I remember my sister. I remember her telling me the same thing. She would always tell me that Mom loved me, so I could tell her the truth.

“I’m so sorry, Mom! I’m so fucking sorry! I haven’t seen you in a long time and I didn’t say goodbye to you.” I break apart as Natalie’s hand rubs my back. “I lied to you and I didn’t tell you all the things that you should’ve heard. I didn’t tell you about how much I wished it were me and not Krissy. I didn’t tell you about how much you mean to me. I should’ve always told you the truth. Like how I really did put gum in Krissy’s hair on Easter. Or how I broke your rules about sneaking girls in the house. I took your car that day and then told you it was Krissy. I’m sorry I lied! I failed you.”

“Shhh.” Natalie runs her fingers through my hair as I sob, crying at my mother’s bedside. “It’s okay, trust me, she’s not upset or mad. She loves you, Liam. And she knew it was you, you didn’t lie. She knows.”

I pull back and look at her as we both cry for the pain that surrounds us. There’s been so much we’ve dealt with, but I need Natalie by my side. I only wish my mom could’ve seen how special she is. That she could’ve held our children and they would know her love. She would’ve doted on them, baked cookies, spoiled them until they never wanted to come home to us. She would’ve been the best grandmother our children ever knew.

“Mom, I want you to meet Lee officially. I told you how I felt a few months ago and you said to follow my heart. She’s my heart.” I look at Natalie with her glossy eyes and then I stand. I walk and pull a chair over and point to it.

She shakes her head and sits.

“Anyway, I wanted you to be the first to know we’re having a baby.” Natalie grips my hand. God, I love this woman. “We’re going to have a kid, and I’m going to marry her. She doesn’t know that yet, but I am. I’m going to love her and be the man you told me to be. I’ll give her the world because she deserves it. I’ll make you proud.”

I hear Natalie sniff and she lets her tears fall. I get down on one knee in front of her. I didn’t plan this, I don’t have a ring, but I have my heart and she already owns it.

“Natalie Gilcher, I love you more than anyone could love another. My world only makes sense since you’ve come into it. I want to marry you, love you, adore you, give you children and anything else you want. I’ll provide for you and never take you for granted. I know what life is like without you, and I only want to live in a world with you by my side. When I’m gone, my heart will remain with you. Will you allow me the honor to love you from now until the end of time?”

My heart rate is through the roof and the tears won’t stop long enough to see him clearly. I never in a million years expected him to propose now. I mean, we haven’t been together that long, and while I know that he’s the one for me in every way, I can’t think.

“Liam,” I say and he wipes the tears from my eyes. “Are you sure?”

I don’t want him to do this out of some sense of obligation because we’re having a baby. There’s not a doubt that I love him and want to be his wife, but I know in grief you can do things impulsively. I want to marry him when he’s sure that this is what he’s ready for.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything. I love you, Natalie. I love you more than I can ever tell you. I want to hold you, wipe your tears, kiss you, console you, watch you smile, make love to you every day and every night. I know I don’t have a ring—”

“Yes,” I say before he can say another word. “Yes, I want to be your wife. I don’t need a ring . . . I just need you.”