help Susan off the chair and place the bowl of batter on the countertop. I grab a chair and sit between the kids. Billy looks at me with a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Mike? You look nervous."

Nervous doesn't come close to how I feel at the moment. "Um...I want to talk to both of you before your mother wakes up. Today is an important day for me. It's been one year since I got shot, and I don't want this day to be a sad day for us. Do you remember when I told the two of you that I want to be your new dad? Well, I want to ask you an important question, and I want you to be honest with me."

Both kids lookputs her glass on the table and opens her arms to me, and I gladly walk into her embrace. She looks up at me with glassy eyes.

"I've waited for this day for what feels like forever, and I am happy that you chose today to ask me to marry you. I knew right away that I wanted to share my life with you. I love you. The kids love you. What more could we ask for? I run home at the end of the day to my little family, to my small piece of heaven. I would be honored to be your wife, and my answer is yes, I will marry you."

I get down on one knee and take the ring out of the box. Billy and Susan