Page 70 of Birdie

I saw a long future for Daniel and his college dudes, as he called them while always smiling.

As for Daniel and me, we’d been living together without much preamble since the day he came back and cooked paella. And now as I sat in the theater with the lights dimming, I wondered what was in store for us. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t Daniel cooking. The paella had been a limited run—or a one-hit wonder—including the cleanup.

Despite my brazen personality, I couldn’t find it in myself to ask about us or where we were heading… I was happy in a way I’d never imagined for myself, so I was attempting to live in the unknown and enjoy it as much as I could.

The movie started and took my attention away from the runaway train of thoughts in my head. When the scene came on—the one Daniel had mentioned before the movie, where he hits a hole in one—I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. He played the role perfectly, touching on the loneliness the main character felt on the tour and when he’d been abandoned by everyone who had cared for him when he hit rock bottom. Now, Daniel, portraying someone else, held great form and shot an eagle before standing tall and smiling and handing the caddy the club, heading off to the clubhouse to get his woman. The person who he’d known all his life…

It wasn’t until Daniel removed his hand from mine that I realized our hands were still entwined. I saw him reach into his suit jacket from the corner of my eye, and I secretly wondered if he had snacks. But then I felt his hand come back to mine.

Except he was wiggling something on my finger. I didn’t want to take my eyes off the screen, but I did. When I peered down at my hand, there was a shiny emerald-cut diamond on a diamond-encrusted band on my ring finger.

“Danny—”

He held his free pointer finger to his lip, signaling me to be quiet. Then, he mouthed,Yes or no?

I couldn’t mouth a thing for fear I’d shriek, so I nodded.

All Daniel did was squeeze my hand and lean in close and say, “That was a proposal.”

It sure was…

When the lights came up and the applause died down, we met up in the lobby for a cocktail with Ryan and Genie.

“Girllllll, I have been waiting,” she squealed as soon as she saw me, promptly grabbing my hand.

“Did you say yes, Birdie?” Ryan asked, ignoring Daniel’s silly side-eye. Ryan called me by my nickname any chance he had.

“I did,” I was in the middle of saying when Genie’s phone rang her emergency ringtone.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this. I’ll be right back,” she said.

The glow-up of the most low-key proposal—it was perfect—and the multitude of people coming over to congratulate Ryan and Daniel kept me occupied until Genie reappeared with a smile plastered on her face. But her skin was pale as a ghost.

“What’s wrong?” I knew Regina, and something was wrong. She’d been thinking of moving to Los Angeles, which only I knew since she’d asked me for a reference for a new job. It hurt me to think about, but she deserved happiness with a movie star. She was living the dream, so for her to be upset now, it had to be something complicated.

“I don’t want to ruin tonight…”

“Regina, spill it,” I threatened.

Daniel wrapped his arm around me and formed a huddle with Genie, sensing the vibe and giving us a veiled curtain of privacy.

“My cousin, Charlotte, you know?”

I nodded, having met Charlotte twice. Nice kid—

“Well, she’s back home, at our hospital. She is such an idiot—gah. She didn’t get her period for five months and didn’t think anything of it. As you know, she’s a college track runner, and they lose their period. Now, she went to the hospital thinking she had food poisoning, and oops, she’s preggo!”

“Aagh, I’m sorry. Is she involved with the father? Does she have someone with her?” I asked this, knowing she was going to carry the baby to full-term, being it was close to five months.

“Broke up with him two months ago. She’d been feeling tired and run-down, duh, go figure… Back then, she thought arelationship, track, and classes was too much. I feel awful for her, but it’s not time to dwell on it. I need to act. Listen, this baby needs to be adopted by a good family so she can finish her education. She said so herself—she’s not ready.”

The breath whooshed out of Genie’s lungs as Daniel continued to hover with his arms around us. That was until I felt him squeeze my side, and I knew we were adding to our family again before he bent over and whispered the plan in my ear with a soft kiss.

We were going to get married and become parents, living our own dream life we hadn’t even known we wanted…back when I wore day-of-the-week panties and we flirted over pretend golf.

Were you rooting for Wren and Danny the whole time? Meet their friends, a cast and crew of celebrities and stars who also found love in their second half. GrabThe Back Nine, and meet sensible fundraiser, Jamie, and her Hollywood producer, Ford, here. Or pick upThe Second Half, and get to know gorgeous movie star, Billy, and her everyday doctor, Cal, here.