by Nikki Rome
With all these changes, she decided it was time to take the next step. As she sat at her vanity in their bathroom with a ridiculous smile on her face, she was confident for once in her life she was making the right decision. She stood and slipped on her shoes and headed into the dining room to make sure everything was going according to plan. She had hired a caterer for tonight who had prepared their favorite meal. She also hired a server to handle the dinner service, and even someone to come in the morning to clean. She didn’t want to bother with any of the mundane tasks that would come with a big meal tonight.
Looking at the clock, she noticed it was 7:02. Recently, Jason was a creature of habit, always leaving his desk at 7:00, walking out and saying good night to those who remained behind. He would take the private elevator to their penthouse apartment and be in the foyer by 7:13 at the latest. She stood in the foyer waiting for his arrival, wringing her hands as her nerves were getting the best of her. This was still a big night. The biggest of her life.
The ding of the elevator startled her out of her thoughts. As the door opened, she took in a deep breath. After all this time, he still took her breath away. His chiseled jaw was showing signs of a five o’clock shadow, and his eyes lit up when he saw her. He held his sports coat over his arm and it made her smile. He was often the only one dressed up downstairs, and the others usually made fun of him. Standard attire was black t-shirts, cargo pants and combat boots. But not for her man.
“Do we have plans tonight that I forgot about?” He asked as he took in her dress. He walked towards her and pulled her into his arms. The touch of his lips on hers was forceful, needy, and just what she had hoped for. When he pulled back, he looked at her, waiting for her response.
“No, no plans other than a night in. I wanted to look nice for you tonight.”
“Nice? You look breathtaking. Although I feel the same when I see you first thing in the morning, or in those tight little jeans that raise my blood pressure, or in the morning when…” He paused when she raised her finger to his lips to quiet him.
“I have something special planned, come with me,” she said as she reached for his hand and pulled him forward.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” he said as he winked and followed her into the main part of the house.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jason followed his gorgeous woman as she led him into their dining room and still wondered what he had done to deserve her. The love he felt for her was doubling every day. Although he could now admit he had loved her his entire life, it was nothing like it was now. She impressed him with every decision she made; she was phenomenal in the office and her therapy was doing wonders for her mental health. She had come so far; he did everything he could to make sure she knew that and how much he appreciated her.
In the beginning it took some adjusting and she still had bad days, but they worked through them together. They had reached the point in their relationship where they were rebuilding trust. The problem was, he still hadn’t given her ring back to her. After all this time, he didn’t want her to feel pressured, but it was always on his mind. If he could just get up the nerve to ask her again, he would put her in the car and drive her to the courthouse immediately. Never again would he make the mistake of letting her get away.
As they crossed the living room, their dining room table came into view. It surprised him to see a server standing in the corner with a bottle of wine in hand. They had set the table for the two of them, complete with candlesticks and fine linens. He looked to Christy and saw she had a nervous yet hopeful expression on her face.
“You did all this for me?”
“For us. And yes. Do you like it?”
“I love it,” he said, pulling her to him for a quick but effective kiss.
“Come sit down,” she said, and they made their way to the table.
Dinner began with appetizers, followed by salads and then the main course. Their favorite paella, which brought back memories of their time together when they were younger. There was a Peruvian restaurant close to his apartment in college, and he would run errands for the old lady that owned it. She would feed them for free, which was the best payment for a broke kid.
“You remembered?” he asked, looking at her across the table.
“I would never forget. Those were some of my best memories of the two of us.”
He nodded his head, “Ya, me too.”
Christy stood and walked towards where he was sitting. To his surprise, she motioned for him to adjust his seat so she could sit in his lap. Once settled she reached her arms around his neck and looked him straight in the eyes.
“I love you, Jason,” she paused. “I love you more today than I did yesterday, and I imagine I will love you even more tomorrow.”
“I love you too,” he interrupted.
“Let me finish, I have this all planned in my head.” She gave him a wink.
“All right then,” he said chuckling.
“I know I am a mess, and that for years we both made mistakes. I am learning to move on from them, but to not discount them for what they are. Each decision I made led me back to you.” She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek, “I also know that I never want to spend another day without you again.” With that, she stood and to his shock kneeled on one knee.
“I don’t have a ring because, well, I don’t know if girls are supposed to give guys engagement rings. But I have these.” She opened her hand and in it he saw two golden cuff links, engraved with her birthday.
Jason blinked. For the first time, he was speechless. He leaned forward to cover her hand with his. He looked into her eyes. She looked back at him with so much love it was stunning.
“Jason, will you marry me?”
He reached for her then, pulling her back into his arms. He lifted her off her feet crushing her body to his in such a sudden move she gasped and then let out a laugh that made his heart soar before kissing her passionately. Once he placed her feet back on the floor, he leaned into her ear and said, “I thought you’d never ask.” She pulled back, smiling at him with a look of love that had overcome her face.
“I have one condition though… well, two,” he said taking a step back from her.
“Conditions?” she asked.
“Yes, conditions.” He took his seat again and pulled her into his lap.
“The first condition is that you need to wear this again.” He opened the palm of his hand and in it she saw her ring.
“But how…?”
“I have been carrying it since the night I found it sitting on the chair in the hospital room. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to return it to its rightful place. I think that is now,” he said, sliding the ring back onto her finger.
“Thank you,” she said with tears in her eyes. Then she opened her palm and changed out the cuff links at both of his sleeves with a smile.
“I have a second condition,” he said.
“Anything.”
He chuckled; she did not understand what she was agreeing to. “We get married tomorrow.”
She jolted into an upright position and looked at him like he had lost his mind.
“What?”
“You heard me, no messing around this time. We have wasted too many years, too many days. Tomorrow night I want to go to bed with you as my wife.”
“But…”
“Nope! You just said anything. So tomorrow you pull a white dress out of that overstuffed closet of yours and we are going to the courthouse. After that we can talk about having the wedding of your dreams, but legally you will be mine tomorrow.”
She smiled back at him, knowing there was no use in arguing. In fact, she kind of liked the sound of Christy Marie Calvano, so why not change it sooner rather than later?
Epilogue
Jason’s heart dropped into his stomach. Staring at the apartment cameras as he always did while he was sitting in his office, he saw his wife on all fours grasping at her over-sized belly. Spu
rred into action he ran out of his office almost taking down Mike in the process.
“It’s time!” he screamed back at him while running like he was on fire to get upstairs. He took the steps two at a time, knowing the elevator was too slow, and blasted through the door to find her still in the same position he saw on the camera. Coming to a halt, he slowed his steps, knowing if he were out of control that would only make matters worse.
“Baby, I’m here. What do you need?”
“Oh God, Jason! I thought my back was just cramping up, but then these pains started, and I can’t move.”
He approached her and began rubbing her back and trying to soothe her. Then he said, “Why didn’t you call me, I was just downstairs.”
“I didn’t think I was in labor, all these women with false…. Ah... oh no… not again. Jason, please help me!” she cried out.
Okay, this was coming a little too quickly for his liking. Sweeping his wife into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom. He laid her on the bed and wished he could do anything in the world to keep the pain away. The look on her face was terrifying, she was in serious pain and this whole thing was just getting started.
“It’s slowing down,” she said while panting, “Oh, thank God it’s slowing down.” She looked up at him and her next words gutted him. “I’m so scared.”
“Listen to me. There is nothing to fear, you are the bravest woman I know, and it appears our daughter doesn’t have a calendar in there.” He didn’t want to think about the fact that she was three weeks early. When they first found out Christy was pregnant, she had so many fears of miscarrying they had spent months thinking of the worse. It took them a long time to allow joy to overcome the two of them, and he wouldn’t let that anxiety creep back in now.
“Remember our last appointment with Bella? She said this little one was ready to go. Our daughter just decided she’s ready now.”
Cursing, she grabbed a hold of his hand and he watched as the pain transformed her into a writhing mess. They needed help, and fast. Grabbing his cell phone, he made a quick dial out to Bella Ricci, their midwife. Given the attack and the hospital visits that followed, Christy was not comfortable giving birth at a hospital. They had decided on a wonderful birthplace close by; however, it was looking like they would not make it that far. The midwife answered on the first ring, instructing him to get her into comfortable clothes. Or the bath was fine if she wanted it, and that she was on her way.
“JASON!” she screamed his name even though he was only a foot away. Running to the side of the bed, he massaged her back while yet another contraction hit her hard.
“Honey, Bella said if you want a bath, we can move you into the tub. Are you comfortable here or do you want to relax in the water for a bit?”
“No, I am not comfortable here, I am miserable and in pain and your daughter is trying to kill me from the inside out!” she yelled as her contraction slowed, “I’m sorry,” she cried, “I’m so sorry, I just don’t know why, but I’m so mad at you.”
He chuckled and helped her into a seated position propped up with some pillows. If he was going to get a bath started, he needed to do it now in between contractions.
“Stay here and I will start the water.”
Nodding, she just leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. A few minutes later he had water running and then heard her scream.
Running back into the bedroom, he found his gorgeous wife standing on the side of the bed, half-undressed with a puddle of water at her feet. Jason stood there for a minute just staring at her. He could do this, she needed him so he could keep it together for her; he kept reminding himself that as he stepped forward. It was clear Christy had tried to get undressed and didn’t get that far. He could help with that.
“It’s okay, you’re okay,” he said calmly as he approached her.
“Oh God Jason, this is happening so fast. I just don’t understand.” At that, the midwife walked in the room with Mike showing her the way. Jason took one look at her and relaxed. They would be okay.
As soon as Bella saw Christy she said, “Congrats momma, this little one is coming quick, you’re lucky I was nearby!”
Everything else was a blur. The midwife said Christy’s back pain might have been labor pains. Many women experience back labor and don’t even realize they are dilating. Jason had helped get her to the bathroom. Stripping all her clothes off while she did what she could to breathe through contractions, he lowered her into their oversized tub. Not letting her think for a minute she was in this alone, he ran into the closet for a pair of swim trunks and slid in right behind her.
Her back pain was unbearable, Christy couldn’t understand how women gave birth multiple times. When it came time to push the midwife rearranged them in the tub, so Jason was facing her. Spread wide with both legs being supported, she looked him in the eyes and pushed their daughter right into her father’s waiting hands. The pain was unbelievable, but as soon as it was over, she looked up. It was then, when she saw that look between father and daughter, that she understood how women do this more than once. All the stress and pain disappeared, and all she saw was sheer love. In fact, if it were possible, she would get knocked up again before they even left their birth tub.
Before you go…
I hope you loved the story of Jason and Christy as much as I do. Keep an eye out because this is the first of a six-book series coming out soon! Mike’s story is up next, and I promise you won’t want to miss it. Watch him and his new love interest face difficulties together and work their way to a happily ever after.
Please consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads. As an Indie author reviews are not only important to my business, but they are the biggest compliment.
Books by Nikki Rome
The Heroes of Calvano Security
Unbelievable
Unstoppable
Unbreakable
Unreasonable
Unexpected
Unrestrained
About the Author
Nikki Rome has been a romance junky since a young age. As a girl she reached for book after book, looking for that happily ever after she always believed in. She loves all forms of romance and you can find her latest read not far from her reach. Nikki writes contemporary romance with a touch of danger. Her love of realistic characters who face real problems provides a story that touches the hearts of many. As a writer, reader and lover of words, it only made sense that she publish her stories. Her first series, The Heroes of Calvano Security, were first written for only her to enjoy. But now, years later, they are here for you too.
Connect with Nikki Rome
www.NikkiRome.com
[email protected]