by Kate Meader
Oh, yeah, Eli had decided the kid was a boy for no reason other than he decreed it.
A soft knock broke into her reverie about gleefully strangling Eli in his sleep for being so freakin’ calm about everything.
“Honey, is it okay if I come in?”
“No, but go ahead anyway.” Please compound my misery with your square-jawed perfection in a suit.
The door opened, and if she wasn’t so queasy, she would have soooo appreciated Eli, already dressed in tuxedo pants, a crisp white dress shirt, and his trademark sexy suspenders, ready to stand up for Brady in a couple of hours.
“I brought you lemon-ginger tea.” He sat beside her, his back against the bathtub, and handed off a steaming mug when she sat up straight beside him.
“Thanks, impregnator.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry. Impregnator Supreme,” she added with a giggle. A sip of the tea, and she felt better. Or maybe it was just Eli’s solid strength making everything a teensy bit more doable.
“So I’ve been thinking…” he said.
“Uh, oh.”
“About getting married.”
She sniffed. “Decided to bail after all? Can’t say I blame you. This”—she drew her non-cup-holding hand in an indistinct wave over her body—“is it. It doesn’t get better, but it’ll likely get a whole lot worse. I’m happy to let you have sole custody of the sprog.”
“That’d be a hard pass. No way can I handle your genetic material alone.” He threw an arm around her. “What I was thinking about was our wedding. Maybe we should go a little lower key. Run away together in the New Year.”
Her whole body perked up, the nausea a distant echo. Alex liked that idea. Baby liked that idea.
But Eli wanted the big day and she wouldn’t deny him even if every cell in her body was screaming, Vegas, now!
“I couldn’t do that to you. You want the church and the five zillion guests and the media out in full force.”
“Are you implying I’m an attention whore?”
“Implying? No.”
Wry smile. “Honey, I don’t need any of that. I just need you, so how about we scale it back? You haven’t even started shopping for a dress yet, though you really should’ve planned that a year in advance.” He shook his head in pity at her pre-planning failure. Worst bride ever. “We can still have our people there, just the ones who can be bothered buying a plane ticket to some sunny beach or can spring for a cab to city hall. Just think of how much we’ll save in chicken dinners.”
Her eyes filled—they’d been doing that far too often these days—and she tried to speak. It came out sounding like “thuhhh.”
“What’s that, my sweet?”
She cleared the emotion from her throat, but kept a little back for what she had to say to this amazing man. “Thank you. I love you. I’m sorry I called you dreadful names in my head earlier while I was puking my guts up.” She’d keep the assassination plans to herself for now.
He laughed and squeezed her into his oh-so-dependable chest. “I’m sure it’s no worse than what you’ve called me to my face. So, it’s settled then? A smaller affair, family only, as soon as we can manage it. The less planning we do, the less crazy it’ll be.”
The doorbell rang. Who the hell was stopping by on Christmas Eve? It was kind of early in the day for carolers.
“I’ll get the door. You do something”—he gestured to her hair—“with that.”
She laughed and checked out his ass on the way. Verra, verra nice. Ten seconds later, Gage’s voice trickled upstairs. Curious. She headed out to find her brother and Eli engaged in a weirdly quiet argument in the hallway, which must have taken every last ounce of restraint as they were both the most dramatic people she knew.
“What’s up?” she asked Gage. He wore his wedding tux, with the top button of his shirt undone, and no tie. “Wow, you look handsome, handsome.”
His grin lit up the hallway. “I know. So, I came over because—” He slid a querulous look toward Eli, then back at Alex. “He was supposed to ask you.”
“Ask me what? Eli?”
“I was getting around to it, but Gage came too early.”
“Never in all my days have I come too early,” he said with a cheeky flash of white teeth, to which Eli rolled his eyes indulgently. “Go on, Cooper, get it over with.”
“Honey,” Eli said, clearly annoyed with Gage for some reason …
… But she had no time to think about that because her man had jackknifed to one knee. “Will you marry me? Today?”
What the—? She turned to Gage, whose blue eyes sparkled with puckish glee.
“But—what—are you saying you want to marry me? Today? With Gage and Brady?”
“Well, he’s not saying you should have a separate, competing ceremony.” Gage leaned against the bannister and folded his arms. “Though I wouldn’t put it past you as you were never good at sharing. Always stealing my GI Joe when we both knew he’d switched teams.” He nodded at Eli. “I suspect your old man’s arthritic knee isn’t going to hold out much longer, Alex.”
Right. Eli. On bended knee. Asking her to marry him.
Today.
“Really?” Desperately, she worked to stave off the tears thickening her throat. Hormone suppressants. That’s what she was going to need for the next seven months.
Eli grasped her hand. “Gage and Brady have kindly agreed to let us share their day. After all, we did all meet on the same night at the same place, so it seems sort of fitting. And you did just agree to a smaller ceremony with family only, as soon as time would allow.”
She had. Damn, the man was sneaky to the core. And this… this was perfect. A smaller shindig, everyone she loved present, and best of all, no planning to stress her out for the next six months.
“Yes, Eli. I’ll marry you but on one condition.”
“Here we go,” Gage murmured.
“Shut it, Gage,” Eli growled, his eyes never leaving hers.
Alex encouraged him to stand. “I need to talk to Brady first because I have a feeling both of you have steamrolled him into this. It’s his day, too.”
Gage whipped out his phone. “Whatever.” Thirty seconds later, Alex was talking to Brady, who for some reason was in the Smith & Jones kitchen cooking on his wedding day.
“Are you sure? Because I don’t want to upstage you and—”
He let loose a volley of Spanish, instructions to his restaurant crew, she supposed. “Alex, sweetheart, you won’t. Let’s face it, neither of us really enjoy being in the spotlight.” After her brief brush with fame as America’s Favorite Firefighter, Brady had her there. “But two other people we know frickin’ adore it. What better way to diffuse the focus by getting this over with together?”
She giggled, feeling conspiratorial. “Good point.”
He coughed slightly. “And doing this with my best friend and the woman who’s become a sister to me seems like the best way to start my official life as a Dempsey. I’d be honored if you joined us at the altar.”
Tears now streaming, absolutely losing it. “I—I’d be honored, too.”
“Good. Listen, I need to put out a couple of fires here. I’ll see y’all later.”
She passed the phone back to Gage who took it and hugged her close. “You’ve always been my favorite Dempsey,” he whispered. “No one I’d rather share this with.”
And he was hers. Of course, she loved them all, but she and Gage were less than a year apart and her bond with him was stronger than mere brother and sister. They were best friends, co-workers, confidants.
Nodding, she pulled back and turned to Eli. “Let’s get married.”
Three hours later …
Alex
Two rugged faces, frozen in time, stared back at me from the beyond. Their twinkling eyes shone in everlasting love, and my heart panged. I missed them so much.
Strong arms circled me from behind and Gage rested his chin on my shoulder. “They’re going to be w
ith us every step of the way, sis. Just like they are on every run, through every tricky rescue, in every tough spot.”
Throat catching, I nodded and inhaled deep. Sometimes a girl just wanted her daddy, but taking this next step at Engine 6, ancestral seat of the Dempsey firefighter legacy was the closest I would get to having Sean here with me. Logan, too. Hard to believe almost ten years had passed since I’d heard their laughter. I kissed my fingertips and transferred my affection to the photos on the Wall of the Fallen at Engine 6.
“Princesa,” came Beck’s low rumble behind me.
Gage turned, a big grin on his face. “Yeah?”
Beck rolled his eyes, and bypassing Gage, gave me a hug. He held my face between his hands. “Not bad for a couple of hours notice, chica.”
“Right?” I stood back, using jazz hands to present my dolled-up self in a strapless winter white sheath with beaded bodice embellishments. Just above knee-length because Eli liked my legs and it was simple enough that it wouldn’t draw too much focus from today’s true diva, Gage Simpson. Having a future sister-in-law who was a Hollywood A-list actor with haute couture designers at her beck and call was majorly convenient. As soon as I said yes, Gage went into crisis mode, ordering the team to “swarm”. Five minutes later, Kinsey, Darcy, Molly, and my niece Roni invaded Dempsey-Cooper Manor ready to transform me into a bride.
I wanted to be worthy of the man who had given me everything. Who loved me because of, rather than in spite of, my flaws. Eli Cooper adored a challenge and I planned to give him heaven and hell for the rest of our days.
Wy and Luke rounded the corner, looking like gods in their tuxes.
“What’s that about?” Gage asked Wy after an awkward moment where my eldest brother’s brow puckered at the sight of me.
“What’s what about?”
“You made a weird face at Alex. And now you won’t even look her in the eye.”
I grumbled, “He saw me lying on a hearth rug wearing nothing but holiday lights and a dirty grin, and we’ve silently agreed to cut off all communication from here on out.” Wy scowled as the others laughed hard. It wasn’t that funny.
Luke stepped in and rubbed my upper arms, warming me with his love and what looked like an impending lecture. “It’s not too late, y’know. In fact, I’m thinking that this is all happening way too fast.”
My brother liked to pretend he hated Eli. “I actually want to marry him, Luke—”
In typical Luke fashion, he ignored that. “First, the wedding is planned for a very short six months out. Then he’s knocking you up and pulling out the shotgun. Christ, that lawyer-politico is one sneaky fucker.”
I threw my arms around the man who had stepped up as Dempsey Dad when Sean and Logan died. Luke took his patriarchal role seriously, but today, he would have to set the cap aside and let nature take its course.
“Sneaky and underhanded and tricksy works for me when it comes to Eli Cooper. He knows me better than I know myself, which comes in really handy when pregnancy brain impairs my decision-making process. And you know he loves me, Luke.”
As severing a testicle would be preferable to agreeing, instead he muttered, “Mom and Dad would be so proud of you.”
Gage coughed loudly.
“You, too, short stack.” They gave each other big, hearty hugs, while Wy took advantage of Luke’s distraction and pulled me close. He didn’t say anything, just held me like he was worried he’d never get another chance. A man of little words, I heard everything his heartbeat told me.
“We ready to get this show on the road, kids?” Luke’s voice sounded scratchy.
I linked one arm in Gage’s, the other in Luke’s. Beck and Wyatt flanked us, so we were five across, a wall of Chicago-Irish strength that could take on anything. Fires, drama, heartbreak—and now the greatest challenge of all.
The men who owned our hearts.
Gage had chosen Christmas music, and O Holy Night (the Glee version, of course) began to accompany us during these last moments of singledom.
We walked into the engine bay at Engine 6, lately transformed into Gage and Brady’s wedding venue, and now mine and Eli’s. Festive lights hung like snowflakes ready to fall, the scent of flowers masked the engine oil, and strategically placed heaters ensured the guests wouldn’t freeze their asses off. My entire platoon was here—Phelan, that asshat Murphy, even our captain, Venti, who looked a little emotional. All my girls, sisters of my heart, beamed their joy, and my godfather Larry, who also happened to be the Chicago Fire Department commish—and an ordained freakin’ minister—winked at me as I took that first step down the aisle.
Toward Eli.
Handsome as all get out, he projected his usual uncanny calm, but I knew him well enough to sense his nerves. He might appear untouchable to the world, yet I could undo him with a look, a smile, and a crook of my little finger.
You’d better watch out, Eli Cooper. Your life will never be the same.
With my brothers at my side, I held my head high and strutted toward my future.
Toward the other half of my soul.
Eli
My entire life has been about relentless striving and cocksure ambition. Law school, the Marines, Chicago mayor, maybe higher office. It all made sense. And then I met her and sense left me a fool.
I’ve been accused of possessing an abundance of passion and an absence of morals, usually by Alexandra and often in the same sentence. As if these things were incompatible. Perhaps, they were. All I knew is that if I had to do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I fought dirty. I played my game. I lost battles, but I won the war.
She’s mine.
Not only in my bed, but now she carries my name and my child. I might say I pushed the wedding day forward to ease her stress levels but the truth was that waiting any longer to put that ring on her finger wasn’t an option.
I’ve always been impatient. That would never change.
Beside me, she stirred in our marriage bed, making small sounds of sleepy satisfaction after I’d taken care of her in every way possible. The best sex of my life while hitched. Who knew? After fighting my way through her lush hair—those handfuls of sin—I buried my face in her neck and inhaled her scent.
“Hmm,” she murmured, “you awake?”
“Uh huh.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Eli. You can finally stop the sleep-stalking.”
So I liked to watch her while she slept because it was usually the only time I felt any sense of calm. I snuggled in tighter, the mere mention of the possibility of her leaving our bed enough to stoke my possessive streak. I splayed a hand over the curve of her belly, awestruck at the wonder of it all, marveling at my luck.
“Never. I chased you, fought for you—”
“Lied, cheated—”
“Won you. And now I’m going to spend the rest of my life enjoying my prize.” I rubbed her belly, moving lower. “All of my prizes.”
“Well, get on with it because we have to hit Wy and Molly’s for Christmas morning brunch, and I need to wrap my presents before we head over to Luke and Kinsey’s for dinner.”
I sighed, a happy sound. I was a man who’d found peace, even though that peace came with the raucous soundtrack of a new family.
“It’s only dawn, wife. I have hours to enjoy the spoils of war.”
And for the first time in what seemed like forever, I took my sweet, sweet time.
THE END
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