by Vonnie Davis
“It was nothing.” He took her wrist and looked at her scar. “Your stitches are out.”
He placed a gentle kiss on the scar, and her knees nearly buckled. “How can you say losing a kidney is nothing?” She’d relived the shooting scene a hundred times in her mind and in her dreams.
“Mouse, when a man loves a woman the way I love you, he’d die for her. So losing a kidney was nothing. Nothing compared to losing you.” He planted soft, gentle, quick kisses on her lips. Someone moaned, and she was surprised to realize it was her.
Storm leaned in, and she felt his arousal. Her gaze flicked to his desk, the desk where they’d made love and, for all she knew, where they’d created a child. He glanced over his shoulder, in the direction of her gaze. “You remember, too, don’t you? I can’t sit at that desk without remembering how we made love there.” He groaned. “How good you felt around me. Your legs wrapped around my waist.” He captured her lips, and she opened for him. His tongue did wondrous things to hers. “I love you so much, honey.
“I have something for you.” He reached into the pocket of his pale blue Western shirt and pulled out a silver bracelet. “This is not the original one. It’s still being held for evidence. Besides”—he looked at her with determination in his eyes—I don’t want you wearing anything that man touched. He fastened it around her wrist. “I had the jeweler make you a new one with a few more charms on it.”
She fingered the charms: the map of Texas, the word “Dream,” a cowboy hat and boots, a horse, a mouse, the words “I love you,” an engagement ring, and two baby shoes. Her eyes swept upward to his. She opened and closed her mouth twice; nothing would come out.
He removed a black box from his pants pocket. “I’m afraid I can’t get down on my knees to propose.”
Her eyes filled with tears. Could this really be happening? First she had to tell him about the pregnancy.
“If you’ll have me, I promise to adore you the rest of my life the way I do at this very moment.” He opened the box to reveal a square-cut diamond flanked by blue sapphires. “I love you and I hope to God you’ll marry me.”
“I can’t. There’s something you should know first.” She had to tell him about the baby.
“Whatever it is, we’ll discuss it after the proposal. One thing has nothing to do with the other. I’m asking you to marry me because I love you above all others, because I need you like I need air to breathe, and because I want to grow old with you.” He took her hand and set the ring box in her palm. “Please say ‘yes’ and put me out of my misery. I’ve loved you from the moment I first dreamed about you. I’ll love you until eternity ends.”
Rachel did love this man. How could she possibly accept his proposal with a secret between them? A secret that might cause his mind to change about marrying her. Lots of men didn’t want a baby right away. They wanted time alone with their wives first. “Before I accept, I have to tell you something. I have a secret.”
“Love, once you put on my ring and agree to marry me, I’ll be glad to hear whatever you have to say. One thing at a time. First the proposal, then we’ll talk.” She shook her head. “Don’t you love me?” He kissed each corner of her mouth softly. “Tell me. Tell me you love me.” His next kiss was fierce and demanding, as if he were driving all rational thought from her mind. His hands swept up her sides and his thumbs flicked over her nipples. “Tell me.”
“Yes. Yes, I love you.”
His teeth grazed her neck the way he knew she liked. Her knees went weak. “Now, tell me,” he groaned. “Tell me you’ll marry me.” It seemed his hands were everywhere, igniting little fires. No other man could touch her soul like this.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.” She hoped with every ounce of her being that all would be well once she told him he was soon to be a father.
He slipped on the ring, folded her in his arms and kissed her, a kiss of love and promise and adoration. She was breathless when Storm ended the kiss. He placed his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. “I hope you don’t mind a short engagement, love.”
“How short?” Would he want to get married before she had the baby?
“I have a plane scheduled to fly the whole family to Vegas in the morning. We’re having a double wedding. You and me and Sunny and Jackson.”
Her head was whirling. “A double wedding? In Vegas?” Dawning registered. “Is that why Sunny wouldn’t tell me when her wedding date was? Because she knew about all this? She knows about your plans to fly to Vegas tomorrow? Vegas? My mom lives in Vegas. Does she know? Mom asked me what size dress I wore. It was the strangest e-mail…”
Storm feathered kisses across her face. “Is that a yes, love?”
She laughed and nodded against his neck.
“So, we’re through with the proposal? Everything is set?”
“Yes.” She’d be married tomorrow. Ready or not, she’d be Mrs. Storm Blackhawk.
His hands covered her abdomen. “So tell me, how are my babies?”
“Babies?”
“Yes.” His smile broadened. “As in twins.”
“Oh no, you’re wrong.” She couldn’t be having twins. Granted her clothes were tight on her already, but…
“I had a dream.” He kissed her neck, the heat from his hands warming her abdomen as if he were sending a love message to his babies.
“A dream?”
“Yes, love. A dream where you were carrying twins.”
She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “Your dreams are never wrong, I suppose.”
“Never.” His hands were making slow circles over her abdomen.
“Twins.” This just couldn’t be. She was barely prepared for motherhood, much less twins.
He smiled and nodded.
“Did the dream tell you the sex of the babies?”
A dazzling smile spread. “Yes, love, I know their sex.”
Sex as in singular, not one of each like Storm and Sunny. “Wait. Tell me I am not carrying twin boys.”
Storm pulled back from her and laughed.
“Storm Blackhawk!”
He took her hand and pulled her toward the door. “Come on. We’ve got an engagement announcement to make to our guests.”
“You didn’t answer me.” How could she ever handle twin boys as ornery and determined to have their way as their father?
Storm held the office door open, turned dark eyes to her and winked.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Lisa, the nurse on the hospital’s maternity floor, removed the blood pressure cuff from Rachel’s arm. “Looks like you came through childbirth just fine. Your husband, on the other hand, looks shell shocked.”
Rachel regarded Storm and smiled. He looked pole-axed, as Red would say. She thought of how Storm had coached her through her long night of labor, telling her how marvelous she was doing and how beautiful she was.
During the difficult time of labor, when she asked him for what had to be the hundredth time over the past few months if she still had feet, his eyebrow arched. “Whose toenails have I been painting every week for the last three months?” He kissed her forehead. “And, yes, they’re blue today to welcome the boys.”
In her opinion, he was simply the best husband in the entire universe. He was passionate about everything in his life, and he was already passionate about their children.
“It’s a good expression for him, don’t you think?” Rachel winked at Lisa, and the nurse smirked.
Lisa patted Storm’s shoulder while she looked at the tiny boys in his arms. “You have some handsome sons there, Mr. Blackhawk.”
Storm’s voice was full of emotion when he thanks her. “My wife does good work, don’t you think? His gaze swept over Rachel. “Although she is a bit of an overachiever.”
Rachel glanced at the little girl snuggled against her breast. “Oh, stop it. She wanted to surprise her daddy, is all. That’s why she hid during the sonograms.” Triplets. The whole idea was more than a tad overwhelming
. Thank goodness they had Noella to help and Sunny, too, now that she was in remission.
Storm laughed. “Well, she certainly did that. I was never so shocked in my life as I was when she popped out. We have a bit of a naming problem, mouse. We’ve got these two big fellas taken care of, but what about her? I’m drawing a blank on a girl’s name.
Rachel lifted her daughter and pressed a gentle kiss to her silky forehead. The tiny baby groaned and stretched, her little arms peeking out of the pink blanket. “I know. I’ve been rolling names around in my mind, trying to come up with something. She was just so unexpected. I still can’t believe we have three babies.” She rubbed a fingertip over the girl’s downy cheek. “She’s our little secret joy.”
She’d been excited about the boys’ impending birth, once she’d gotten used to the idea of twins. As her due date slowly approached, her happiness expanded almost as quickly as her waistline. The blue nursery at the Triple-S, decorated with a border of horses and filled with two of everything, was testament to her enthusiasm. Yet she still longed for a daughter. Sensing this, Storm had suggested they try for a little girl in two years.
Little did they know she was carrying triplets. No wonder she’d been on bed rest for over a month. Dr. Fetterhoff said it was rare that a third baby wasn’t seen in the sonograms or its heartbeat unheard, but with multiple births, it did sometimes happen. During her long days in bed, Rachel had read books on Native American lore. She was more inclined to believe this adorable girl was a gift.
Because she wanted to enjoy this day, Rachel refused to think about midnight feedings and diaper changes and colic and teething. She simply wanted to enjoy the moment and give thanks.
When the nurse opened the door to leave, she glanced back over her shoulder. “You have a gang of people waiting out here to get a look at these babies. They can stay for five minutes. Then I’ll be back to shoo them out, don’t you worry about that. I want to get the babies settled into their incubators, especially the smallest one.”
Lisa repeated her orders to those standing in the hallway. Rachel’s mother was the first one to enter, carrying two teddy bears. Sunny and Jackson followed along with Sawyer, as did Noella and Red. Tears and much oohing and aahing were shared as the visitors looked from one baby to the next.
“Which one is my new cousin, Unkie Storm?”
“They’re all yours, partner. But for now, you have to be very gentle with them just like we were with you after you were born.”
“What do I call dem?” Sawyer reached with his index finger to touch the dark hair on one of the boy’s heads.
“Daddy, why don’t you introduce your children?” Rachel’s heart was so full of love and happiness, it ached with a desire to draw her loved ones close. Her gaze swept around the crowded hospital room at all the people she loved with a sweet fierceness.
“Sure thing, love.” Storm unfolded from the chair and moved to stand next to the head of Rachel’s bed. He proudly extended the babe in his right arm. “Folks, this is our firstborn, Samuel Storm Blackhawk. He weighed in at five pounds one ounce.” He held out his left arm. “This pudgy fella weighed in at five pounds six ounces and was named Sloane Drew Blackhawk.”
Rachel’s mother dabbed a wadded tissue to her tear-filled eyes. “You named him after our Drew? How sweet of you to do that.”
“I thought it would be nice to honor my brother.” Rachel reached for a tissue and wiped her eyes, too.
Rachel is holding the cagey one of the bunch. We’ve decided…” Storm’s gaze swept to Rachel and held for a beat… “to name her exactly what she is for us—Secret Joy Blackhawk.”
“Storm, that’s so perfect.” Rachel blotted another tear. How did one contain so much happiness?
“Secret only weights four pounds twelve ounces. Seems she’s the runt of the litter.” Storm rocked back on his heels. Rachel knew him well enough to realize he was waiting on Momma Noella’s reaction. He didn’t have to wait long.
Noella clucked her tongue. “Storm, that will not do, calling our little Secret Joy a runt, but I say nothing.”
Storm laughed and bent over to kiss his daughter. “Yeah, well, she might be small but she’s got my heart in her little hand. I have a feeling she’ll grow up to be a strong woman, just like her momma.”
Secret decided to howl at that particular moment. Both of her brothers turned their heads in her direction, as if to listen to her very vocal demands.
Rachel laughed. “That’s right, Secret. Show your big brothers who’s the boss of this outfit.”
Joyous laughter and tears filled the room. The nurse entered the room, pushing an incubator and placed Secret in it before pushing her back out. Storm handed Sammy to Momma Noella and Sloane to Rachel’s mother so they could cuddle them before the nurse returned with another incubator.
Storm leaned over and whispered in Rachel’s ear. “I’ll love you forever and a day, mouse.” His kiss was warm and gentle. “Thank you for my children,” he murmured against her lips.
Rachel sighed, feeling incredibly fortunate and exhausted at the same time. “Look around, honey. There’s so much love in this room. We are so blessed.” She took his hand and squeezed it before laying it over her breast. “My heart is overflowing with love. A lifetime of love…for you. Especially for you.”
COMING SOON:
More of Rosefire, Texas Romances
Visit Vonnie Davis at her website: www.vonniedavis.com where you can sign up for her newsletter to stay in the know of new releases and be eligible for special prizes.
About the Author:
Vonnie Davis is an award-winning, international author who writes mainly contemporary and paranormal romance, often with strong elements of suspense and dashes of humor. She likens herself to a croissant: warm, crusty, wrinkled, a tad flaky—and best served with strong coffee. Vonnie lives in southern Virginia with her hero and author husband, Calvin Davis. She’s been blessed by six fantastic grandchildren and three grown children, who take pride in the fact Mom is finally pursuing her life-long dream of writing.
Website Facebook Twitter Newsletter