“You’re not gonna name it Dog, are you?”

“You named the chicken, Chicken?" She looked embarrassed. "When we decided not to kill it, I got attached.”

“[T.J.] I pulled my arms out from underneath her body and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I love you, Anna.”The surprised look on her face told me she hadn’t seen that coming.“You weren’t supposed to fall in love,” she whispered.“Well, I did,” I said, looking into her eyes. “I’ve been in love with you for months. I’m telling you now because I think you love me too, Anna. You just don’t think you’re supposed to. You’ll tell me when you’re ready. I can wait.” I pulled her mouth down to mine and kissed her and when it ended, I smiled and said, “Happy birthday.”

“This next part might cheer you up. So my mom told me she was gonna drive me to my appointment at the sperm bank, and she handed me one of my dad's Playboys--I had something way dirtier stashed in my closet, by the way--and she asked me, all serious, if I knew what do do.""You've got to be kidding.""No, I'm not." He started laughing. "I was fifteen, Anna. I was and expert at it, and I did not want to talk about jacking off with my mom.”

“[Anna] In February, I woke up from a nap. A bouquet of flowers gathered from the various bushes and shrubs scattered around the island lay on the blanket beside me, a small length of rope wound around their stems.I found T.J. down at the shore. “Someone’s been checking the calendar.”He grinned. “I didn’t want to miss Valentine’s Day.”I kissed him. “You’re sweet to me.”Pulling me closer, he said, “It’s not hard, Anna.”I stared into T.J.’s eyes, and he started to sway. My arms went around his neck and we danced, moving in a circle, the sand soft and warm under our feet.“You don’t need music, do you?”“No,” T.J. said. “But I do need you.”

“I want you to be my wife. There’s no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with. We can live out here, you, me, our kids, and Bo. But I get it now, Anna. My decisions affect you, too. So now you have one of your own to make. Will you marry me?”

“I must cry more than anyone you know,” I said. He brushed the hair back from my face and smiled. “You puke a lot, too.”