by Caroline Lee
That, and the memory of the look on Ellie’s face when she scooped her son out of the water and cradled him to her chest. In that moment, Allison had cried and laughed right along with Ellie, relieved that the ordeal was over, and giddy with excitement over this new life.
Last night had been hard, but no harder than any other birth. In fact, having Joshua there—even if he wasn’t an active participant most of the time—had been nice. Uplifting, even. Occasionally, she’d caught his eye, and they would both smile, and she would feel her heart lighten a little more. Whatever he had done for Ellie had been very helpful; Allison had never seen an anxious mama go from freaking out to calm-and-confident that fast. Oh, she knew that Ellie was a remarkable woman…but Allison couldn’t help but think Joshua was responsible for such a quick and drastic change.
He’d also been responsible for getting Allison back here, she reflected as she turned off the water and reached for a towel. She barely remembered leaving the Westons’ house, much less trekking across the street to the ancestral home, which had been turned into a hotel. But Joshua had tucked her in, and even brought up her go-bag from her car. That was the bag that held a change of clothes and toiletries, and was separate from her birth bag…which she must’ve left over at the Westons’.
Oh well. Her next mama wasn’t due for another four weeks, which meant she could be guaranteed a good night’s sleep tonight, at least.
Hanging on the back of the bathroom door was a soft gray robe. She wasn’t sure if it was Joshua’s or something the ranch provided, but she slipped into it. It smelled like his aftershave –which would make sense if he’d been living there for a while—and wrapped around her like a big cozy cloud. She sighed in contentment as she piled her long black hair up in a towel.
She was digging through her bag when she heard a noise out in the hall. She didn’t give it much attention, assuming it was someone passing by. It wasn’t until the third or the fourth time the noise occurred that she realized it was someone walking back and forth in front of her door. Joshua’s door, rather. Curious now, she dropped her toiletries bag on the counter by the sink and made her way towards the door. Was it just a member of the housekeeping staff? Someone looking for Joshua?
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a peep hole in the door. Allison figured it was up to her to let whoever it was know she’d temporarily borrowed Joshua’s room. She tightened the belt on the robe and pulled the neckline closer together in preparation for facing whoever it was.
The squeaking floorboard noise came again, and she knew there was someone right outside. Oh well. They can see me in a bathrobe, I guess. She pulled the door open just a crack, and was startled to see Joshua standing there. His hand was raised as if he was about to knock, and his face split into a wide grin when he saw her.
The tableau reminded Allison of the moment they’d first laid eyes on each other, at Will and Ellie’s house, weeks ago. With one hand, she pulled the door open all the way, a silent invitation for him to enter, while she gripped his bathrobe together with the other.
“Hi,” she said, only a little awkwardly. It wasn’t every day she met a man in his bedroom while wearing his robe, after all.
And judging from the way his eyes lit in appreciation behind his glasses as his gaze raked her from head to toe, he knew it. “Hi, yourself. I hope you don’t mind that I’m here?”
Allison shrugged trying for nonchalance she didn’t quite pull off. “It’s your room. I really appreciate you letting me nap here.” She moved back towards the bathroom, pulling the towel off her head and squeezing water out of her hair. It helped her faint nervousness to give her hands something to do.
Shoving his hands in his pocket, Joshua rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Well, you were too exhausted to drive anywhere, and I knew the room was clean. Besides,” he said with a grin, “I liked that I knew where you would be.”
She raised her brows at him in the mirror as she deftly parted her hair into two sections. “And it’s important for you to keep tabs on me? I’m a grown woman, you know.”
“Oh, I know.” He leered at her, then waggled his eyebrows.
She burst into laughter, turning her attention back to the braid she was forming over her left shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you were able to find me. Any chance you’re free for” —she checked her watch, which she’d thrown on the counter before hopping in the shower— “a late lunch? An extremely early dinner?”
“I’d love to, but…”
She watched his reflection rock twice more on the balls of his feet—forward-back, forward-back—as he dropped his gaze to the floor. With his hands shoved in his pockets like that, he looked younger. Too young, almost.
He was nervous about something.
The realization made Allison’s eyes widen as she slipped a hair tie around the tip of the left braid. This was the same awkwardness he’d shown at lunch the other day when he’d asked her if she believed in fairies. She wondered if he was thinking along similar lines now.
“Joshua? Is everything okay?” Her fingers flew along the right braid, glad to have something to do.
In the mirror, he shrugged. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About you…” He lifted his chin, and his gaze met hers in the reflection. “And me.”
Allison’s breath caught, and her fingers stilled. You and me. Was he about to say what she hoped? “I like the sound of that,” she tried to joke, offering him a half-smile.
He nodded, seeming bolder, and took a deep breath. “And I’ve been thinking… I want to make a home for Colin and Nellie. I want to buy a house here in Riston, or nearby, so they can grow up loving this land as much as I did. I want them to be safe, and happy. I want…”
He trailed off, apparently noticing how stunned she was. Her hands had dropped from her wet braid and her mouth had fallen open. The things he was describing at that moment… How did he know that was her dream too? Had he guessed, or was it possible they both shared the same dream?
“Allison…?” His question was hesitant, and he took a half step towards her, as if unsure of her reaction.
She shook herself, scooped up a hair tie from the counter, and forced a smile. Turning to face him, her fingers finished off the braid. “That sounds very nice.” She was proud of how she managed to keep her voice steady.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and seemed to freeze. Then his breath exploded out of him all at once with a sort of half laugh, and he pulled his glasses off with one hand. The thumb and forefinger of his other hand rubbed his eyes.
“Yeah,” he repeated. “The thing is…” He met her eyes even without his glasses. “I’ve done a lot of research while you were sleeping. Single adults can become foster parents, but single men…?” He made a dismissive noise, and slipped his glasses back on. “Have you—?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, is that something you ever thought about? Fostering?”
The poor man seemed so nervous. She took a step towards him, then remembered she was still wearing his robe, and lifted one hand to the neck to hold it closed. “I have,” she confessed with a smile. “All those things you just said? I want them too. I want Nellie and Colin to grow up in a safe home, with people who love and respect them.”
“Love and respect,” he repeated at a murmur, still staring at her.
She nodded. “Love and respect are vital in any relationship.”
“Like the way I love and respect you?”
He said it so casually, so offhandedly, that she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. She blinked. “What?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I was raised to respect all women, but you’re special. The respect I have for you isn’t based on some notion of what’s right; it’s based on reality. I’ve seen you work, I’ve seen your ability to love and care for a total stranger. I’ve heard your theories, I’ve laughed at your wit, and I’ve taken joy in your intellect.” He took a step towards her, his hands out, palms down, like he was…like he was offering himself to h
er. “I respect you in a way I’ve never respected anyone else, Allison Ravenwing.” He took a deep breath. “And I think it’s because of the deep and abiding love I hold for you.”
Allison’s knees went weak. When she was younger, she’d dreamed of her prince, who’d come galloping in on a white horse, professing his love for her with fancy, flowery words. But as she grew, she knew that sort of prince was for other women. She’d been happy with her life, and would’ve said the love of her family and friends was enough to sustain her.
But until Joshua had said those words—those magnificent, marvelous words—she hadn’t guessed they were exactly what she’d always dreamed of hearing.
She went to him. She placed her hands in his, and stared into his eyes. “I love and respect you, Joshua Hardy. You’re the answer to a prayer I didn’t realize I was praying. My life was my own, and I was satisfied, proud of it.” She shook her head slightly. “But now you’re in it, I could never go back to the way things used to be. I don’t want to say that you complete me, because to do so would indicate that I’m somehow lacking. Rather, let’s say… We complement each other.”
He raised one of their locked hands, bringing her fingertips to his lips for a kiss. “We are stronger—better—together than we ever were apart. You are a very wise woman for realizing that, Allison Ravenwing.”
When he exhaled, she felt it across the back of her hand and shivered slightly. He looked like he wanted to say more, so she waited breathlessly. He didn’t disappoint her.
“Together, we could apply to foster Nellie and Colin. We could become the parents they need; the parents they deserve. We could have a house, with a nice yard. I don’t know the first thing about cutting grass, but it can’t be that hard. Maybe we could pay Nellie to do it. Aren’t good parents supposed to give kids responsibility? Anyhow, you could visit your clients from Riston as well as from Post Falls. Or we could move to Post Falls if that’s easier for you.”
Absolutely everything he’d said had sounded perfect to her, and she opened her mouth to tell him so. But he continued.
“I know that neither one of us is just starting our life. We’ve been living on our own for quite some time, and are likely very set in our ways.” He blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m not selling this very well, am I? I guess what I’m trying to say is that, while I never pictured myself a father, the time I spend with Colin and Nellie makes me want to be one. And the more time I spend with you, the more time I want to be…” He cringed slightly, as if things weren’t going the way he’d imagined. “A husband— Don’t say anything yet!”
In a flurry, he dropped her hands and hurried across the room to the door he’d come in. “I want to show you something. It’s a little odd, but I think if you could just see it, just for a second—see things the way I do—you’d understand what I’m trying to say.”
He turned off the lights.
Allison was left standing there in his hotel room, wearing a borrowed robe, the only illumination coming from the vanity lights around the bathroom counter behind her.
Well, not the only illumination. Because there, stretched between Joshua’s chest and her own, was a thin golden thread. It glowed in the same way Joshua’s fairy-fireflies had glowed last night in the garden. And it unequivocally, perfectly, and completely linked their hearts together.
They were bound together, as surely and as tightly as any two things could be. In the daylight, the thread wasn’t visible…but she knew it was still there. It was always there, and if she was honest with herself, it always had been. She’d felt the thread’s tug from the moment she opened the door at the Westons’ house all those weeks ago, and found him standing there about to knock. She felt the thread’s tug every day, whether she was with him or not.
She might not always be able to see it, but she knew that bond was always there.
“Fairies,” she breathed.
“Fairies,” he agreed.
And then, suddenly, he was standing in front of her once more, his arms around her. The golden glow was still there, and she felt the happiness she couldn’t explain welling up inside her.
“Marry me, Allison Ravenwing.”
It was humble. Perfect. Just like them.
She gazed up into the eyes of the man she loved. “Yes,” she said simply.
One of his eyebrows twitched. “Just like that?” he teased, his smile so bright it competed with the golden glow that still seemed to surround them.
She shrugged. “How could I not want to marry you? You’re my very own marvel.”
“Then let’s do this. Today, if you’re up for it. Let’s get married.” He dropped a quick kiss to her lips. “For Colin and Nellie.”
Standing on her toes, she returned his quick kiss. “For the fairies,” she whispered.
“For us,” he corrected, right before their lips met forever.
EPILOGUE
A few months later
“Just try some! You might like it!”
“No way!” Nellie held up her hands, palm out, laughing as she leaned away from the table. “If you want to be totally gross and put fish on your pizza, then you do your thing! I’m gonna stick with sausage and onion.”
“As God intended.” Allison toasted the girl with a slice of her own sausage and onion pizza, and nodded solemnly.
Nellie’s laughter faded to chuckles as she lifted her own slice. “As God intended,” she agreed.
“How about you?” Joshua turned to Colin. “Are you willing to branch out, try something new?”
The boy’s nose—long since healed—wrinkled in hesitation. “I don’t know… Anchovies? I mean, I’ve heard there are weirdos out there who like them…”
“Weirdos?” Joshua repeated in mock indignation. “I have a doctorate in chemical engineering! I’ve helped send rockets into outer space! I’m a pioneer in the clean energy field! I’ve even published a textbook.” And over the last few months, he’d made significant progress on his second book. “Just because I happen to enjoy anchovies on my pizza doesn’t make me a—”
“Total weirdo,” Nellie stage-whispered to Allison, her slice of pizza held up, as if to hide her mouth when she interrupted him.
All four of them burst into laughter.
As Colin settled back with his pepperoni pizza, Joshua watched the two kids sitting at their round kitchen table with a smile on his face. The last few months had certainly brought a lot of excitement. Things were bumpy at times, and there were a lot of changes, but it was thrilling.
Under the table, he felt a hand grip his. He glanced over and got that same squishy feeling he got every time Allison smiled at him. The ring on her left hand brushed against his palm, and Joshua couldn’t help stealing a peek. Her ring matched his, two simple gold bands done in a rope design. Whenever anyone asked them, they said it was because their lives were tied together now, but the truth was a little different. They’d chosen the rings to remind them of the golden thread that connected their hearts. No matter how far apart they were, Joshua and Allison knew it was there.
While it had taken them a week to choose the rings from the jeweler, Allison had agreed to marry him the very same day he’d proposed. They’d married in Post Falls, then spent the weekend on the ranch, so Allison could do her follow-up appointments with Ellie and the baby. And just as Allison had promised to do, they’d called Nellie and Colin to tell them all about the birth…and the not-so-little news of their marriage. Nellie had screamed in excitement, and Joshua had been pleased she couldn’t hide her joy for them.
The Monday after they’d married, Joshua and Allison had begun the process of applying to foster Nellie and Colin. Peggy, the social worker, had been thrilled by their application, and did everything she could to move things along. The kids’ situation hadn’t been an easy one, but after some prodding and negotiation, their aunt had agreed to give up guardianship in favor of the Idaho foster system.
Joshua and Allison had purchased a modest single-family home in Riston
—complete with an office on the first floor for Allison’s patients—and only a few weeks ago, Colin and Nellie had moved in. Their family was now complete.
He had his writing, and he visited his great-aunt several times a week, in between shuttling the kids to and from school and their various activities. Colin had joined the Cub Scouts and two after-school book clubs, while Nellie was chosen to play on the girls’ soccer team and had been talking about taking piano lessons from an instructor in Riston.
Joshua’s publisher was pleased with his progress on the textbook, and his financial planner had been thrilled when she’d heard he needed to diversify his portfolio even further, to account for a wife and kids.
And Allison Ravenwing-Hardy was in demand locally as a midwife and doula. The two of them might never have children of their own, but after each one of her births, Joshua held her as she described the marvel she’d just witnessed, and more often than not, they cried together at the wonder of it.
But even that joy was nothing compared to the joy he got from sitting at his kitchen table, eating a simple dinner with the family God—and the fairies—had brought him.
He smiled at Allison, and mouthed I love you to her. Her lovely dark eyes softened further, and she mouthed I love you too.
“You know what?” Nellie asked around a mouthful of cheese. “This is pretty awesome.”
Joshua smiled at her. “It is, huh?”
Colin nodded eagerly, his pizza halfway to his lips. “Totally awesome.”
“I’d say it’s pretty nice, myself.”
“No.” Allison’s fingers tightened on Joshua’s, and he felt the tug all the way to his soul. “It’s marvelous.”
Does Jaclyn’s invitation to join the Guild of Godmothers sound familiar? That’s because the guild is based out of my fairy-tale town of Everland, Wyoming. You can read all about their beginnings in my Everland, Ever After series.