Her Bad Boy Billionaire Lover (Billionai - By Bretton, Barbara Page 0,62
"Is that the one you told me about?"
Jenny nodded. "Her name is Sidney." She pushed it toward Jake. "She can be your friend in the hospital."
"You'd let me keep your favorite toy?"
Her expression was solemn. "You'd have to be real careful."
"I would be."
She pointed toward the kangaroo's mid-section. "There's something in her pouch."
Megan watched as he fished around in the felt-lined pouch then withdrew her four-leaf clover pendant. He looked up at Megan.
"You were wearing this on the ship."
"Jenny gave it to me for good luck. We both want you to hang onto it until you're on your feet again."
He started to say something but his voice caught and he coughed to cover up. Strong, independent Jake Lockwood brought to his knees by the power of love.
"Is he crying, mommy?" Jenny asked. "Do you think his leg hurts?"
Megan was finding it hard to speak herself. "Come here, honey." She sat on the chair next to Jake's bed. "Sit on my lap, okay?"
"I'm not a baby," Jenny said.
"Just this once?" Megan asked. "For me?"
With a terribly grown-up sigh, Jenny gave in and sat on Megan's lap.
Jake was inspecting the kangaroo with great deliberation. "Sidney's pretty cute," he said to Jenny.
"I know. Kangaroos are cool."
"Real kangaroos are even better."
"I never saw a real kangaroo."
He glanced over at Megan. "Never?"
Megan shook her head. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could barely hear a word they were saying.
He looked back at Jenny. "How would you like to see a real kangaroo?"
"Where?" asked Jenny. "At the zoo?"
"Not the zoo," he said. "In Australia."
Jenny leaned closer to Megan. "My mommy won't let me go far away without her."
Megan whispered a silent prayer. "What if I came along with you, honey?"
Jenny's eyes widened. "You and me and Jake?"
"Your mom and I are going to get married," Jake said, "as soon as my leg is mended and then we're going to take you with us to Australia on our honeymoon."
"Does that sound like fun to you?" Megan asked.
The little girl nodded. "Could Stace come, too?"
Megan smiled. "I think Stace should stay with her family, don't you?"
Jenny thought about that for a moment. "I guess." She looked at Jake then at Megan. "Would we be a family if we went to Australia?"
Jake chuckled but Megan could see he was still as apprehensive as she was. "It takes a little more than going to Australia to make a family. We need a wedding first."
Megan reached for Jake's hand. "Remember how I told you that your daddy and I got divorced before you were born?"
"When I was still in your tummy."
"That's right. Honey, Jake is your daddy."
The child looked at Jake with eyes filled with wonder. "Really?"
He nodded. "Really."
"Where have you been?"
"Everywhere and nowhere," said Jake, meeting Megan's eyes. "Believe me, if I'd known you were here, Jenny, there's nothing that could have kept me away."
Megan didn't even try to stem the flow of tears. "We were lost for a long time, honey, but now that we've found each other nothing will keep us apart. When we get married this time, it will be forever and ever."
Jenny looked at her father. "Are you Jake or are you daddy?"
"Daddy," he said. "Definitely daddy."
Jenny's smile could have lit up the city. "When we go to Austria can I have a kangaroo?"
Jake started to laugh. "We'll have to ask the kangaroos what they think about that, Jen."
"Kangaroos can't talk," said Jenny, easing onto the bed next to her father. "Mrs. Daniels at school says...."
It was a simple enough scene. A father and his daughter sitting together, talking about kangaroos and koala bears and kindergarten teachers.
To Megan it was the most beautiful sight on earth. The little girl she loved more than life itself and the man she'd loved and almost lost.
He was the hero of her deepest dreams, the lover of her wildest fantasies, the father of her child and before too long he'd be her husband.
And this time it would be forever.
Epilogue
Two months later
Jake met her eyes in the mirror. "What do you think?"
"Not that one," she said. "The other one."
He held the tie up to his collar. "Are you sure?"
She nodded vigorously. "That's the one."
He'd never been very good at tying bow ties but this time he got it right on the first shot.
"Does your leg still hurt?"
"I don't think I'll notice it today." He turned around to face her. "So how do I look?"
She made a show of looking him over. "Just right."