[A Few Days Later]
//Claire and Phil Commentary//
Claire sat beside Phil on the couch with both hands folded in her lap, though the expression on her face suggested she'd already reached the limit of how much engagement excitement one house could reasonably absorb.
"Haley has been showing off that ring to everybody," Claire said. "And I mean everybody. Family, neighbors, people at work, delivery drivers, the woman who came to fix the internet. Yesterday she held the door open for the mailman with her left hand for absolutely no reason."
Phil smiled proudly beside her. "She's engaged. She's excited. I think it's sweet."
Claire turned toward him. "She asked Luke if he wanted to see something shiny, then made him guess what it was for thirty seconds."
Phil nodded thoughtfully. "That's actually pretty good audience engagement."
"She keeps finding excuses to use the word fiancé," Claire continued. "She said, 'My fiancé likes this cereal.' She said, 'My fiancé has a pool.' She told Alex, 'My fiancé thinks those shoes are ugly.'"
Phil's smile widened. "To be fair, boyfriend is a very common word. Fiancé has sparkle."
Claire glanced toward him. "You're encouraging this."
"I'm enjoying this," Phil replied. "There's a difference. Our daughter is happy, she's engaged to somebody who adores her, and every time she looks at that ring, she lights up."
Claire's expression softened despite herself. "I know."
Phil leaned slightly closer. "Also, Jack bought a really good ring."
Claire immediately narrowed her eyes.
Phil smiled innocently. "I'm just saying, if somebody gives you a diamond visible from space, you're allowed to rotate your wrist occasionally."
//Commentary End//
...
[Preston Boutique]
Haley stood near the center of the boutique reviewing several fabric samples with one of her assistants when the woman suddenly stopped listening and looked toward Haley's left hand.
"Wait, is that...?"
Haley glanced down as though she'd forgotten the diamond had been sitting there the entire morning. A smile spread across her face while she lifted her hand just enough for the light to catch the stone.
"Oh, this?" Haley asked casually. "My fiancé gave it to me."
The assistant immediately leaned closer. "Your fiancé?"
Haley's smile became impossible to hide. "Yeah. Jack proposed a few days ago."
Within seconds, another employee had wandered over, followed by someone from the front counter who had clearly heard the word engagement from halfway across the store.
Haley rotated her wrist while the women admired the ring.
One assistant stared at it with wide eyes. "That thing is gorgeous."
"I know," Haley replied before catching how quickly she'd answered. She cleared her throat and tried for something more modest. "I mean, yeah, he did pretty well."
Another employee laughed. "Pretty well? Haley, that looks really expensive."
Haley looked down at it again, her expression turning smug despite every attempt to prevent it. "He had it custom-made months ago... just for me."
That piece of information produced exactly the reaction she'd hoped for.
"Months ago?"
Haley nodded while pretending to study the fabric samples again. "Yeah. He already knew he wanted to marry me. He just wasn't planning to ask this soon. Like, he proposed to me in front of my entire family and his family."
The assistant smiled. "Okay, that's actually really romantic."
Haley's expression softened as she looked at the ring again. "Yeah, it really is."
She lasted approximately ten seconds before finding another employee who hadn't seen it yet.
...
[That Night] [Dunphy House]
Haley sat cross-legged near the middle of her bed with her laptop resting on a pillow in front of her. The video call had finally connected all four screens, with Emma sitting somewhere that looked suspiciously like a hotel room, Dakota curled into the corner of a couch, and Willa leaning close enough to her camera that half her face briefly filled the screen.
Haley lifted her left hand before anybody could properly greet her and smiled so brightly that Emma immediately narrowed her eyes. "Hey, besties, I have something very important for all of you to guess."
Dakota noticed the diamond almost instantly and leaned toward her screen. "Haley, your hand is literally sparkling through my laptop."
Willa's eyes widened as she pointed toward the camera. "Wait, is that an... engagement ring?"
Haley gasped with exaggerated disappointment and lowered her hand slightly. "You were supposed to let me build suspense for at least thirty seconds."
Emma stared at the ring for another moment before her expression shifted into genuine surprise. "Jack proposed to you?"
Haley's excitement returned at full strength as she pushed her hand closer to the webcam. "He proposed four days ago in front of both our families, and obviously I said yes because I'm not completely insane and I really love him."
Dakota laughed as she studied the ring through the screen. "Congratulations, Haley. That thing is beautiful."
Willa moved even closer to her camera. "Can you rotate your hand because the lighting over there is terrible?"
Haley immediately adjusted her wrist until the diamond caught the bedroom lamp. "He had it custom-made months ago, which means he already had the ring before everything happened."
Emma's smile softened slightly at that detail. Whatever complicated feelings still existed somewhere beneath the surface, hearing that Jack had planned to marry Haley long before the proposal made the situation perfectly clear. "Okay, that's ridiculously romantic, and I hate both of you a little bit."
Haley laughed and pulled her hand back toward herself. "You should probably save some emotional energy because the engagement isn't actually the biggest thing I have to tell you."
The three women went quiet as Haley's expression changed. She rested one hand against her stomach while searching for the least terrifying way to say something that still sounded strange inside her own head.
"I'm pregnant. Jack and I decided one life-changing announcement wasn't enough for the same week."
Emma stared at the screen while Dakota's mouth slowly opened and Willa stopped moving entirely. Several seconds passed before Emma leaned closer with disbelief written across her face.
"You're pregnant, and you waited four days to tell us?"
Haley winced slightly and raised both hands in surrender. "In my defense, the last four days have included a hospital visit, telling our entire family, finding out Gloria is pregnant too, getting engaged, surviving my mother's reaction, and answering like eight thousand questions about whether we've picked baby names."
Dakota's shock finally transformed into a huge smile. "Oh my God, Haley, congratulations. Are you two okay with everything?"
Haley looked down at her stomach before slowly nodding. "I'm terrified, and Jack's terrified even though he keeps pretending he has everything under control, but we're happy about it."
Willa smiled warmly before pointing toward Haley's hand again. "Wow! So you're pregnant, engaged, and wearing what looks like a small national treasure on your finger."
Haley glanced down at the diamond with obvious satisfaction. "That sounds way more dramatic when somebody else says it."
Emma laughed softly, though her eyes stayed on the ring. "Speaking of that national treasure, how much did Jack spend on it?"
Haley shrugged without hesitation. "I have absolutely no idea because I never asked him."
Willa slowly leaned toward her camera again. "Haley, I think you might want to find that out before you casually wear a house on your hand."
Haley immediately pulled her hand protectively against her chest. "I'm not getting my engagement ring appraised like I'm planning to sell it. Jack picked it for me, I love it, and that's really all I need to know."
Dakota nodded slowly while trying to hide a smile. "That's very sweet, but Willa actually has a point. You should probably know what you're walking around with."
"I know what I'm walking around with," Haley replied, lifting her hand proudly. "An engagement ring from my fiancé."
Emma laughed as she shook her head. "You really enjoy saying fiancé now."
"I waited over three years for the relationship status upgrade, so I'm using it."
Willa pointed toward Haley's ring through the screen. "Okay, imagine somebody gave you a purse and you later discovered it was worth half a million dollars. Would you still casually leave it sitting beside you at Starbucks?"
Haley's confident expression weakened. "This isn't worth half a million dollars."
Nobody answered.
Haley looked between the three faces on her screen. "Guys, seriously, there's no way Jack spent that much on a ring."
Emma raised her eyebrows. "This is Jack Preston we're talking about. The same guy who bought a house at nineteen and ordered your engagement ring months before he actually needed it."
Haley glanced uneasily toward the diamond.
Dakota leaned closer to her camera. "You don't need to know because you don't trust Jack. You need to know because if that thing is insanely valuable, you probably shouldn't be waving it around at every person who delivers a package."
Haley's eyes widened.
She slowly lowered her left hand beneath the laptop.
Emma noticed immediately. "How many strangers have you shown it to?"
Haley remained silent.
Willa started laughing. "Oh my God."
"I'm getting Alex. See you all soon," Haley said.
Dakota asked, "Why Alex?"
"Because if somebody tells me this ring costs more than a Ferrari, I need a nerd there to tell me whether they're lying."
...
[Next noon]
//Alex and Haley's commentary//
Alex burst into huge laughter before Haley could even finish settling beside her.
"HAHAHAHAHA! She nearly passed out."
Haley turned toward her with a furious stare, though the embarrassment on her face made Alex laugh even harder. "Fourteen-point-five million dollars. Natural white diamond. Custom cut, flawless clarity, handmade setting, insured replacement value, fourteen-point-five million dollars."
Alex covered her mouth while trying and failing to regain control. "You should've seen your face. The jeweler said the number, and you just stopped functioning. I genuinely thought I was going to have to explain to Mom that you survived pregnancy news but got taken out by jewelry."
Haley folded her arms carefully, keeping her left hand tucked protectively against her body. "I was wearing fourteen-point-five million dollars to work. I showed it to the mailman."
Alex immediately started laughing again.
"I showed it to a delivery guy who asked me where Jack lived," Haley continued, her voice climbing with every admission. "I waved this thing around the boutique like I was advertising a clearance sale. Yesterday, I left it beside the bathroom sink while I took a shower."
Alex wiped at the corner of one eye. "You also slept in it."
Haley looked horrified. "I know that now."
Alex grinned. "For three nights."
Haley pressed both hands against her face. "Stop helping."
After finally calming down, Alex looked toward her sister with an amused smile. "You know the funniest part?"
Haley slowly lowered her hands. "There better not be another funny part."
"You spent the entire drive there saying Jack wouldn't waste some insane amount of money on a ring."
Haley stared straight ahead.
Alex's smile widened. "Then the jeweler basically told you that your fiancé put a mansion on your finger. And it's more expensive than Beyoncé's ring."
Haley looked down at the ring and swallowed. "I'm never leaving the house again."
//Commentary End//
...
Later that noon, Jack's phone started vibrating against the floating tray beside him.
He was stretched across an enormous inflatable in the middle of his backyard pool, sunglasses on while a piña colada sat within his reach. He'd spent the last twenty minutes doing absolutely nothing and considered it one of his more productive afternoons.
Jack answered lazily. "Hey, babe."
"Where the hell are you?"
Jack flinched hard enough to send a small wave across the pool. He grabbed his drink before it tipped over. "What's wrong?"
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Haley demanded.
Jack froze with the straw between his lips.
Then realization arrived.
He slowly relaxed back against the inflatable and resumed drinking.
"Oh, you got it checked, huh?" Jack asked. "Was it Emma or Willa? Was it Dakota?"
Silence followed.
Jack took another sip.
Haley finally spoke. "That's your reaction?"
"What reaction were you expecting?"
"Panic! An explanation! Maybe some concern that you put fourteen-point-five million dollars on my finger!"
Jack frowned thoughtfully. "They valued it at fourteen-five?"
"Yes!"
"Huh."
Haley waited.
Jack nodded to himself. "Nice. Went up."
"JACK!"
His inflatable rocked as he started laughing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"I wore this thing to Target!"
"Target has security."
"I showed it to the mailman!"
"He's a federal employee."
"That doesn't make it better!"
Jack reached for his piña colada again. "Haley, relax. It's insured."
"For fourteen-point-five million dollars?"
"More, actually."
Haley became terrifyingly quiet.
Jack stopped drinking. "That information may have been unnecessary."
"It's more expensive than Beyoncé's ring!"
Jack grinned immediately. "I'm pretty sure you're smirking right now, thinking, 'My ring costs more than Beyoncé's.'"
"I am not smirking."
"You absolutely are."
Haley tried to hold it back and failed. "Yeah, I am."
Jack's voice softened. "Haley, I didn't buy it because I wanted people comparing prices. I bought it because when I saw what they could make, I wanted something that felt like yours."
Haley went quiet.
"You're the one and only for me," Jack continued. "I've known that for a long time. Besides, you can't put a price on love."
Haley looked down at the diamond resting against her finger, her panic finally giving way to a warm smile.
"You're still insane."
Jack lifted his piña colada toward the empty backyard. "Yeah, but I'm your insane fiancé."
"Damn it, I'm wet. I'm coming over. We're having sex," Haley said as she got down from her bed. "Put on your wizard costume." She cut the call.
Jack quickly tried to get out, but fell into the pool with a splash, along with his drink. He swam over and got up before running inside. "Damn, now I am wet."
--
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