“Don’t worry. If you ever make me sad, it will piss me off and you will definitely hear about it.” That made Robert laugh.
“Good. I’ll hold you to that.” He gave her a kiss just as Charles came out of the den.
“Hey, you two, get a room.” Charles grumbled teasingly. They started laughing and had to stop kissing. “Robert, Mack wants to talk to you.” Robert went back in the den. “Where did Jackie go?”
“She said she was tired and wanted to lie down. I’m worried about her. I know I just got here and don’t know all of you very well, but I know when someone is upset.” She gave him a look and cocked her head.
“Tell me something, Heidi. Would just knowing Robert is your true mate, be enough to make you happy?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Would you be just as happy if Robert hadn’t asked you to marry him?”
“Yes, but asking me to marry him lets everyone know we’re meant to be together, not just shifters. We have human friends, too. Our friends would want to celebrate with us, that’s why there are weddings. If I was still in the good graces of my family, they would not approve of Robert and I living together, even though we are true mates, without at least going through a bonding ceremony. Have you and Jackie had a bonding ceremony?”
“Actually…. no.”
“Wow.” Heidi shook her head. “Just between you and me, if I was in Jackie’s shoes, I would plan on leaving you as soon as the baby was born. Bond or no bond, I would go and take the baby with me, but that’s me.”
“You would do that?” Charles was shocked. Heidi nodded her head.
“Yes, I would. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll join Robert in the den.” Heidi walked away and left him standing there.
Chapter 21
Heidi listened to Robert talk to his brother on the phone. She didn’t want to interrupt. When he saw her, he waved her to him and put his arm around her.
“Say hi, to Mack.”
“Hi, Mack.” She called out so he could hear her.
“He said hi back.” He kissed the edge of her adorable forehead. “Okay Mack, I’ll take care of my end. See you in a couple of weeks.” Robert hung up. He wrapped his arms around Heidi and whispered in her ear, “I love you.”
“I love you, too. What do you have to take care of?” She put her arms around him.
“Mack has talked to the authorities about the kids. They have given him and Peg the go ahead to be foster parents until the adoption is finalized. He asked if I would go to their home in Sacramento and pack up their stuff. I also have to meet with a lawyer to finalize all their legal affairs.”
She looked up at him. “Do you need me to go with you?”
“I would love to take you with me, but you have to stay and take care of the children. I can’t take the kids back there, it would be too hard for them. We promised not to burden Jackie, remember. I won’t be away long.”
“I’ll miss you.” She hugged him tighter.
“You won’t run away or try to follow me?”
“No, I’m okay now. I will be here waiting for you to come home. When do you plan to go?”
“I’ll leave tomorrow morning. I’d better make some calls and make some arrangements.”
She gave him a long, loving and passionate kiss. “You take care of business. I’ll watch the children and see what I can fix for lunch.”
Robert watched her walk out of the room. He still couldn’t believe she was his.
Heidi checked on the kids. They were watching an animated movie.
“Elyse, where did you get that movie?”
“It was in the motorhome. Uncle Charlie went and got it for us. We have a couple more, he brought in all our stuff.”
“Where is Uncle Charlie, now?” Elyse shrugged her shoulders. Just then, she heard noise coming from the kitchen. “Okay. I’ll have lunch ready for you when the movie is over.”
“Do you need any help?” Elyse asked.
“No. I don’t need any help in the kitchen, but you can help by watching the boys. Make sure they stay quiet. Aunt Jackie is resting.” Elyse nodded and sat down with the twins. Heidi headed for the kitchen. She wanted to talk to Charles.
Heidi found Charles sitting at the kitchen table.
“Charles.” He looked up at her. “I wanted to apologize for what I said. It was wrong of me to say what I did.”
“No, you were right. I never realized it meant so much. After Robert told me about Jackie being unhappy, I watched her. He was right, you were both right. She is unhappy. How am I going to fix this?”
“I could be wrong, but asking her to marry you, might help.” Heidi felt bad for Charles. “Do you have a ring?” Charles shook his head.
“No, Robert gave you our mother’s engagement ring. We agreed a long time ago that the first one to propose would use it.”
“Anything that will go around her finger would work. You could always get her something fancy, later. You need to ask her, Charles. Don’t wait. Did your mother wear a wedding band? That would work for now.”
Charles thought about it. “You know, I think she did, but I have no idea where it might be. Maybe Robert knows where it is.”
“Do you want me to ask him?”
“No, I’ll go. Heidi, I need to do something special. Can you help me?”
“Of course, I’ll help. Go talk to Robert while I fix the kids something to eat. We’ll talk about it after lunch.”
“Thank you.” Charles gave her a kiss on the cheek and went to find Robert.
*****
Charles found Robert in the den. He had finally finished making plans for his trip.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Mack asked me to go to Sacramento to take care of business on behalf of the children. I’m going to pack up their belongings and send them to Mack and Peg. Then I’ll meet with the family’s lawyer. Mack and Peg have been approved as foster parents until the adoption is final.”
“So, they’ve decided already to adopt.”
“It appears so.” Robert answered. “I couldn’t be happier for those kids. I’m so glad they’re going ahead with it. If those kids can’t have their own parents, Mack and Peg are going to be the next best thing.”
“Yeah, I agree. When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning. Heidi promised to stay here and make sure the kids don’t bother Jackie.”
“That reminds me.” Charles hummed and hawed. “Ahhh, do you know if we still have mom’s wedding band? I’d like to give it to Jackie as an engagement ring until I can get something better.”
Robert jumped at Charles and gave him a bear hug. “I’m so glad. She’s going to be so happy. When are you going to ask her?”
“I don’t know. First, I need to know where the wedding band is?”
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
Robert ran upstairs to his room. He was back five minutes later. He handed Charles an odd, looking box. When Charles opened it, he got a huge surprise. It was a double ring box and inside was both his mother’s and his father’s wedding bands.
“I think you and Jackie should wear those. You’re the oldest Charlie, you deserve to have them. By the way, what made you change your mind?”
Charles looked at Robert with tears in his eyes. “Earlier, when you told me Jackie was unhappy, you called me Charles. You never call me Charles.”
Robert laughed and embraced his brother. “I love you, Charlie.”
Charles laughed and wiped his eyes “Wow, now I have bands, what am I going to do for an engagement ring?
“Uncle Charles?” Elyse called timidly from behind them.
“What can I do for you, sweetheart?” Charles asked.
“You can use this,” Elyse walked up to Charles and carefully placed something in his hand. “I found it in mom’s stuff. I’d like you to have it.”
Charles opened his hand to find a beautiful ring. He went down on one knee to be at her level. “I can’t take t
his sweetheart. This belonged to your mother and one day you’ll wear it.”
“No, one day, when I fall in love, I hope he will give me one that belonged to his mother.”
Charles was speechless. All he could do was give her a hug. He found it hard to believe she was only six years old. She had the wisdom of someone much older. “Thank you,” he whispered and kissed her cheek.
Elyse gave him a hug. “Your welcome, uncle Charles.” She kissed his cheek in return.
“I’ll make you a deal. When you have a daughter, if you would like her to have it, I’ll return it to you.”
“Deal.” Elyse gave him a big smile.
“If I’m not mistaken, I believe Heidi has lunch ready. Shall we go see?” Charles asked and she gave him a nod. “Good, let’s go.” Charles took her by the hand and they walked together to the kitchen. Robert watched his brother and his heart swelled with pride. He had the best big brother in the world.
Chapter 22
Jackie rested. She was feeling sad. She loved Charles with all her heart, but why hadn’t he asked her to marry him. She envied Robert and Heidi. They were going to get married and have a wedding. They were going to attend a friend’s wedding on Christmas eve. Even their friend, Agent Adams, got married. Now she really felt bad.
Suddenly Jackie was having doubts. Maybe Charles didn’t love her enough to marry her. The tears silently flowed down her cheeks. When the tears ebbed, she fell asleep.
*****
“Jackie, wake up.” Charles gently shook her shoulder.
“What time is it? Why is it so dark?” She slowly woke up. “Charles, turn on the light.”
“I can’t sweetheart, the power is out.” He set a candle on the night stand. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. “I love you,” he whispered.
“Mmm.”
“Is everything alright?” Charles couldn’t really see her expression, but he could hear something was wrong.
“I’m fine, just tired.”
“Alright. Let’s go down stairs. I have dinner ready.”
“How long has the power been out?” She asked.
“I had just finished making dinner. Come on, dinner is getting cold.” He helped her to her feet. He picked up the candle and they went downstairs.
Charles had a candle on each step.
“Charles, what did you do. I can see fairly well in the dark, you didn’t need to do this.” When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Charles steered her towards the living room. Jackie walked into what looked like a fairy land. Candles were everywhere.
“What’s going on, Charles?” He slowly led her to the sofa.
“Sit down, sweetheart. You’ve been unhappy lately, and you’ve been trying to keep it from me.” He sat beside her and held her hand. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I am happy. What in the world, would make you think otherwise?”
“Jackie, I’m not blind. Please tell me.” He knew what the problem was, but he wanted her to confide in him. That’s what partners were for. He could make it easy for her and just pop the question, but he needed her to tell him.
“Charles, really, I’m fine.”
He quietly sat there, waiting.
Slowly, the tears started to flow. Jackie didn’t make a sound as the tears ran down her cheeks and fell unchecked. She didn’t even try to wipe them away. Finally, Charles handed her a tissue. Jackie blew her nose and took a deep, ragged breath. Charles waited.
“Do you love me, Charles?”
“Yes, with all my heart.”
“Why haven’t you asked me to marry you?” Jackie continued sniffle and kept her eyes down. She took another ragged breath.
“I thought being bonded mates was enough. I guess I was wrong.” He continued to hold her hand. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“It didn’t bother me, but then Robert announced their engagement. They were so happy and excited. I remembered when I was little, I dreamt of having a fairytale wedding. With age, comes reality.” She took a deep breath. “Then I thought about our baby. How does that work? Does our child refer to you as, my mother’s boyfriend? Even those poor kids Robert brought home had two parents. What will our baby have? Where are the kids, anyway?”
“They’re spending the night in the motorhome.” Charles hadn’t thought about the baby.
“Why are they out there?”
“They wanted to camp out.” Charles got down on one knee. He reached in his pocket and pulled out Elyse’s ring.
“Jackie Todd, would you marry me?” He held the ring up for her to see.
Suddenly, Jackie let out cry of pain, doubled over and held her stomach. She had a horrified look on her face. “The baby!”
“Easy sweetheart, don’t panic. Lie back, I’m calling the doctor.” Charles ran into the den and called the doctor. Then he ran outside, turned on the power and yelled for Robert and Heidi. He ran back to Jackie. She was on her side, curled up on the couch.
“Jackie, what’s happening? The doctor is on his way.”
“The pain has eased off a bit, but it hurts. Charles, I’m so sorry.”
“Hey. There’s nothing to be sorry about. Everything is going to be fine.” He sat on the floor next to the couch and rubbed her back.
“I don’t want to lose the baby!” Jackie started to cry and panic.
“Sssh, you’re not going to lose the baby. You need to relax. The doctor will be here soon.”
Heidi came in. “Is there anything I can do? Robert is putting the kids to bed.”
“Could you watch for the doctor, he should be here soon.”
Heidi gave him a nod. “I’ll bring him in as soon as he arrives.” They waited thirty minutes before Heidi saw car lights coming around the lake. “He’s almost here,” she called out to Charles.
Robert ran down the steps to greet the doctor and showed him into the house to Charles and Jackie.
“Well, tell me what’s happened,” Doctor Markham asked. He started feeling her stomach.
“She had a sharp pain and doubled over.” Charles told him.
“Do you think you could carry her up to her bed? I need to examine her. It would be easier there.”
Charles carefully picked her up and carried her to their room. The doctor wanted him to leave while he examined Jackie, but she wanted him with her.
The doctor talked while he did his examination. “What were you doing when this happened?’
“I had just asked Jackie to marry me.” Charles answered.
“And what did she say?”
“Ooooouch.” Charles replied with a chuckle. “She didn’t really have a chance to answer, doc.”
“Well, I think you need to give him an answer, Miss Todd. You wouldn’t want this baby growing up without a father, would you?”
“Is the baby alright?” Jackie asked.
“Yes, everything appears to be fine. I’ve told you to relax. You have obviously been upset and that can be very dangerous. Next time you might not be so lucky. Unfortunately, I can’t prescribe anything for the pain. How are the pains now?”
“The pain has started to lighten up.” Jackie replied.
The doctor gave Charles a questioning look. “You better ask her again while I’m here, just in case.”
Charles took the ring out of his pocket and got down on one knee. “Jackie Todd, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
Jackie’s eyes teared up. “Yes, Charles. I’d be honored to be your wife,”
Charles leaned in and gave her a kiss and whispered, “I love you.”
“Congratulations, you two. Now, remember young lady. No excitement.” The doctor told her. “If you have plans to travel at Christmas, you’ll do what I tell you.”
“Yes, doc. This was too close. I will do everything I’m told and no stress or excitement.”
“Good. Now I would like to go home and go to bed. I recommend you do the same.” The doctor gathered up his things. “You need to come to the office ASAP for an
ultrasound, just to be safe. No need to make an appointment, just come in.”
“Thanks for getting here so quickly, doc, I owe you one,” Charles told him.
Dr. Markham patted him on the back. “Congratulations, Charles. I don’t know why you didn’t ask her before this. I’m glad she’s going to make an honest man out of you.” That made Charles laugh. He walked the doctor out to his car. “Don’t forget. You need to bring her into the office.”
“We’ll be there.” They said good night.
*****
With the emergency past, everyone settled down. Charles fixed a plate of food to take up to Jackie.
“You guys scared the hell out of us.” Robert told Charles.
“How do you think I felt. Loosing Jackie and the baby flashed through my mind. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost her.”
“What happened?” Robert asked.
“I don’t know. We talked and I think we got things straightened out. Then I asked her to marry me. Next thing I knew, she was doubled over, screaming.”
“She was that ecstatic,” Robert laughed. “What did the doctor say?”
“He said she was over stressed. He said the baby was fine, but it was a warning. He wants her to come in for an ultrasound as soon as possible.”
“Did she say yes?”
Charles gave him a huge grin and nodded his head. “Yup, and the doc is my witness.” Charles fixed Jackie a glass of sweet tea and placed it on the tray. “I’d better get this up to Jackie, I know she wants to go to sleep.”
“Congratulations big brother. Now we have two weddings to plan.”
“I think we’ll wait until after the baby is born. You know, we could have a double wedding. Ask Heidi what she thinks about the idea.” He picked up the tray. “I’ll see what Jackie thinks.”
“Won’t that take something away from your own ceremony?”
“Not at all. It will double the enjoyment. Ask her and see what she says.”
“I will. Charlie, I’ll be leaving early in the morning. We’ll talk more about this when I get back. Take care of Heidi for me.”
Bearly Saved My Life: Madison Range Shifters (Quake Lake Bears Book 2) Page 12