those lovely words and slipped a beautiful diamond ring onto her finger. It wasn’t the biggest or the flashiest diamond ring she’d ever seen, but it was gorgeous!
She stared at the ring, then at Emerson, not sure what to think. “You want to marry me? With all my crazy, messed up baggage?”
He laughed and pulled her closer. “Definitely!” he groaned.
She looked down at the ring, her heart melting not because of the diamond, but because of his sincerity. “Why?”
He laughed and nuzzled her neck again. “Because you make me happy. Despite your assertion that all you want in life is power and money, you find joy in the simplest things and it thrills me when I wake up in the morning and find you still in my arms.”
What was a woman supposed to say to a proposal like that? “Yes,” she sighed. Then she screamed as he lifted her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and started striding across the large wooden expanse of his great room. Laughing, her hair falling over her face, she held onto his back. “What are you doing?” she gasped out.
“I’m taking you to my bed. And I’m not letting you up until you can’t speak any longer and neither of us can move.”
She laughed even harder at that, thinking about all the beds the man actually owned. But she didn’t disagree with that plan. Not at all.
A long time later, Rachel sighed, stretching now-tender muscles and smiling when his arms tightened around her waist.
“What are you thinking about?” Emerson prompted.
She rolled over, looking up at him in the dim light of his stunning bedroom that looked out over the ocean with skylights that allowed her to see the twinkling stars above in the night sky. She had no idea what time it was, and she probably should be exhausted, but she was afraid to fall asleep. “I’m happy,” she replied finally. Her fingers dove into his dark hair and she smiled up at him. “You really do make me happy,” she whispered.
He bent down and gently kissed her lips. “Then I guess I finally succeeded,” he replied back.
Epilogue
[Rachel smiled as she listened to what sounded like a herd of wild animals coming down the stairs. It was only her children, but she still cringed at the noise.
“Brace yourself,” Molly groaned beside her.
Rachel chuckled but turned to see her two sons and two daughters stampede down the wooden stairs, all of them dressed with their hair at least brushed, although not necessarily well. “Jonas, button your shirt properly,” she told her oldest. “You’re ten years old so there’s no excuse for the buttons to be askew like that.” She surveyed her eight year old daughter. “Liza, did your father do your braids this morning?”
She plunked her bottom down at the breakfast bar and looked at both Molly and her mother as if her braids were perfect instead of one being several inches higher than the other. “Jonas helped me,” she replied proudly.
Both Rachel and Molly looked over at Jonas who was trying to smother a mischievous smile. “What?” he asked when they continued to glare at him.
Rachel stuffed the last peanut butter and jelly sandwich into the lunch bag then moved around so she could fix Liza’s braids. “Lilly, you can’t have ice cream for breakfast,” she called out, relieved when her six year old simply closed the freezer without an argument. Rachel still lost more arguments to that child than she won. Lilly had the most amazing logic. It wasn’t always accurate, but it made enough sense that Rachel allowed her to win. It was hard to argue about some things, especially when she was laughing too hard at the arguments that child came up with.
Molly picked the little girl up and plunked her down on one of the breakfast bar chairs, then pushed a bowl of freshly picked blueberries and organic yogurt in front of her.
Three year old Jefferson was still working his way down the stairs and Rachel moved over to pick up his sturdy little body, only groaning slightly at his weight. “What do you have in there?” she teased, poking his little belly. He wasn’t chubby at all. In fact, it was hard to give these children enough food sometimes. They were so active, rarely sat still and were the joy of her life.
Jefferson was giggling while Rachel nuzzled his neck playfully. A moment later, the boy was lifted out of her arms and held in the air, squealing as his much stronger, much taller father lifted him high into the air and gave him a tickling kiss on his tummy before plunking him onto one of the tall chairs as well.
Molly chuckled, shaking her head as she moved off to check on the children’s bedrooms. Rachel wouldn’t let her make their beds or clean their rooms, but she knew that Molly sometimes snuck upstairs and did it anyway.
While the four children watched with huge grins on their faces, Emerson Jackson swept Rachel into his arms and captured her attention simply by kissing her until she was clinging to him and breathless. “Good morning, my love,” he said with that low, rumbling voice that never failed to send excited tingles down her whole body. “You look lovely.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed away from him, but she couldn’t stop the grin. “I look a mess,” she contradicted.
Emerson watched with rapt attention as she walked to the steel fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk.
“Dad’s staring at your butt again, Mom,” Jonas called out.
Rachel swung around and, sure enough, Emerson’s eyes were caught!
He was unrepentant though and looked into her green eyes, winking with his silent message. Rachel bit her lip as she watched him grab his own bowl of blueberries.
“Can I have some milk, Mom?” Liza asked.
Rachel pulled her eyes away from Emerson, trying to pull her mind away from the enticing possibilities of Emerson’s silent promise. “Excuse me?” she asked, looking at Liza confused.
“Milk?” she prompted, lifting her empty glass. “Can I have some?”
Rachel looked down at the jug of milk she was hugging in her arms and jumped. “Oh! Yes!” she came forward in a hurry, pouring glasses of milk for all of them. “Sorry,” she said to Liza.
Liza shrugged and lifted her glass of milk towards her mouth. “We’re used to it,” she replied, shaking her head.
Emerson walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his strong body. “Could be worse,” he commented for only her ears.
She froze with the container of muffins in her hand. “I just wish they weren’t so observant,” she came back. “It’s a bit disconcerting.”
Emerson chuckled and let his thumb slide under her pretty, lemon colored sweater. “Just wait until after I drop them off at school,” he told her, his thumb rubbing against the soft skin under her sweater.
“Uh oh,” Jonas groaned, shaking his head. “Here we go again.”
Liza covered her mouth and giggled, Lilly stared at the two of them with confused attention and Jefferson continued to stuff yogurt covered blueberries into his mouth, unaware of the undercurrents but completely secure in the knowledge that his mother and father loved and were loved.
As far as he was concerned, everything was pretty wonderful.