The Proposal

Aidan’s heart melted at the sight. No matter how many times he heard Noah call for him, he always had the same reaction. Pure love tingled from the top of his head down to his toes. “Hey Little Man,” he said, picking Noah up out of the stroller.

“Give Daddy a kiss,” Emma prompted.

Noah immediately leaned over to bestow a wet, slobbery smooch on Aidan’s cheek. A chorus of “aw’s” rang around him.

“I can’t believe how much he looks like you, Aidan,” Marilyn said.

“He does, doesn’t he?” he replied with a grin directed at Emma.

She rolled her eyes while another woman shook her head. “I see some of Emma in him too—especially that sweet smile of his.”

Emma laughed. “That’s only when he’s not giving the cocky Fitzgerald grin that he does most of the time.”

Noah began to squirm in Aidan’s arms. “You getting hungry, Little Man?”

Reaching in her bag, Emma took out a pacifier and popped it in Noah’s open and ready to scream mouth.

Marilyn smiled. “Well, we better let you two get going.”

It took a couple of minutes for them to say their good-byes and for each one to give Noah a kiss on the cheek. While he may have been fussy before, he reveled in their attention and waved happily good-bye before taking out his pacifier to blow kisses.

Aidan set Noah back into the stroller. “I’ll get him, babe. You take a breather.”

As Emma held open the door for Aidan, she shook her head and grinned. “What?” he asked.

“I’m sure that most people in this building would do a double take at the sight of Mr. Manwhore Fitzgerald pushing a stroller.”

He scowled at her. “That’s former Mr. Manwhore, thank you.”

She giggled. “That’s right. You’re my Mr. Manwhore now.” She gave him a playful smack on the behind as they started down the sidewalk.

“Mrs. Fitzgerald, I will kindly ask that you not maul my ass in public.”

“Oh really?”

A sexy smirk curved on his lips. “Save it for when we get home.”

Emma giggled. “Okay, then I will.”

When the crosswalk sign flashed for them to go, Aidan pushed the stroller onto the street. “Are you sure we should be taking Noah to O’Malley’s?”

Emma shot him an exasperated look. “We’ve brought him here at least five times. Jenny has been blowing up my phone with texts about when we’re coming back.”

“Yeah, but he was smaller then. And there’s all that smoke.”

“We sit in the non-smoking section, Aidan.” Once they made it to the other side of the street, she gazed up at him. “Besides, he’s part Irish. Shouldn’t he be growing up around booze?”

He rolled his eyes. “Har f**king har.”

She grinned and then linked her arm through his. “I love you, babe.”

“Right back atcha,” he replied, before leaning over to kiss her.

When Emma reached to open the door, Jenny burst through it. “Oh my God! I thought you guys had decided not to come!” She barely gave a fleeting glance at Aidan and Emma before she reached out to Noah. “There’s my big, beautiful boy!” After spitting out his pacifier, he grinned and waved his arms to let Jenny pick him up.

“I see we rank pretty low these days, huh?” Aidan said with a smile.

“Exactly. At least it’s consistent. I mean, everywhere we go from your dad’s to Grammy and Granddaddy’s it’s the same,” Emma replied.

As Jenny bounced Noah in her arms, they followed her inside. “Can we get a booth as far away from the smoking section as possible?” Aidan asked.

He watched as Emma and Jenny exchanged a glance before Jenny nodded. “Sure. Nikki, can you take them to booth fifteen, please?”

Nikki nodded and started trailing through the bar. When Emma reached for Noah, Jenny shook her head. “No, no, no. I haven’t gotten my fill of him yet.”

Emma laughed. “When he gets fussy like he wants to eat, just bring him over.”

“I will. You two can have some privacy. Like a date night,” Jenny said, with a grin.

“Right. I don’t even remember what those were like,” Aidan mused.

“Yes, you do. Remember how Megan kept Noah for us two months ago so we could go back to the lodge in the mountains?”

Aidan’s mind immediately flashed to dropping Noah off at his niece, Megan’s, apartment before they went back to the lodge where they spent their honeymoon. While Noah had been happy to go to Megan and excited to get to play with his cousin, Mason, Emma had wept the entire ride to the mountains. Thinking of her behavior, he shook his head. “You mean the night you spent texting Megan every five minutes to make sure Noah was all right?” Aidan countered.

Emma grinned. “Yes, that’s the one.”

“Whatever,” he replied as they hurried to catch up with Nikki. She was standing in front of the booth in the farthest corner.

When Emma slid in beside him rather than across the booth, Aidan’s brows furrowed. At the sight of the dreamy expression on her face, he asked, “What are you all moony about?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

She sighed. “This is the same booth we sat in the night you came home from India.”

“Really?”

She bobbed her head before leaning in to give him a lingering kiss. Her tongue had just brushed against his when someone cleared her throat, ending their brief make-out session. Nikki gave an apologetic smile as Emma snapped back from Aidan like a rubber band. “So what can I get you two to drink this evening?”

“Just a Coke for me,” Emma replied.

Aidan grinned. “You should have a drink. I mean, you aren’t breastfeeding anymore, and we’re allegedly on a date night.”

A flush crept across her face, and Aidan knew he had embarrassed Emma by mentioning breastfeeding. Finally, she shrugged. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Come on. Have a margarita, Em. You deserve to celebrate and cut loose a little. I’ll even be the DD tonight,” Aidan urged.

She shook her head at him and then glanced up at Nikki. “Just a Coke.”

Aidan grunted. “Fine. Be a killjoy. I’ll have a Heineken on tap.”

“I’ll be back to get your food orders in just a minute.”

Aidan nodded at Nikki before she walked away. Then he turned his attention back to Emma. “Why didn’t you want to have a drink? Were you afraid I was plying you with alcohol to get you drunk, so I could take advantage of you?”