by Sam Crescent
Mark thought back to when he’d first met Karen. He’d been fucking some blonde at Nick’s apartment.
Wow. It felt like a life time ago. “I hadn’t met Diane then.”
“Yeah, she really sticks with people.”
Silence descended on them.
“You know she was married before?”
Mark shook his head.
“Yeah, she married a guy a lot older than her. He left her with a lot of cash.”
“I don’t care about her money.” Sighing, he confessed, “I almost married once.”
“When?”
“I was about twenty. We were childhood sweethearts. I loved her with every fiber of my being. Her name was Kelly.”
“What happened?”
“We were about to get married and she had one of those regular doctor checkups. He discovered she had cancer. One of the rare sort that couldn’t be cured.” Mark stopped, remembering the face of the only other woman he’d ever loved. Kelly would like Diane. He knew she would. “She died within the year and she took my heart with her.”
Karen had moved closer to him.
“When I met Diane, it was like my heart finally started working again. I look at her and I see life and a future.”
Karen placed a hand on top of his. “This is something you should tell Diane.” He held her hand feeling a real friendship blooming. Amazing what could happen as a loved one’s life lay hanging in the balance.
Nick came back and the long wait continued.
Several hours later the doctor came out.
“Is she all right?”
The doctor nodded. “There’s a lot of damage but we managed to stem the blood flow. The next twenty four hours are the most crucial. If she survives that, it’s up to her to wake up.”
The doctor left them. Mark didn’t know what to say, what to hope for. The woman he loved lay in the balance and how could he deal with that? In that moment he didn’t care about anything. Not about Nick or Karen, nothing but making sure Diane came back to him. A nurse showed them to her room later and he wanted to scream at the unfairness. To demand they make her well and to never leave her side. Instead his pain consumed him but he preyed to God to bring her back.
Upon seeing her, Mark felt happy but wondered how he would survive the next twenty-four hours. Seeing her lay in the bed, bruised but alive gave him more hope than the Doctors words. His Diane would fight all the way.
Twenty-four hours came and went with no signs of Diane waking up. Nick, Karen and Mark took sitting with her in turns to bring her around.
Mark was dying inside. He held her hand hoping to feel the connection, to feel his Diane, but he felt nothing. “I need you back, Diane. I can’t go on living if you’re not here. I’ll beg and plead with you the next time you want to have control. I’ll cook every day and night. Scrub your floors. You’ll live like a queen.”
Over and over Mark bargained for her eyes to open. To see them at least flutter.
He cursed and swore, passed out from sheer exhaustion, but he didn’t leave her side. He washed and changed in the staff quarters.
The next two weeks were the longest, most haunting weeks of his life.
“God damn it, woman. I’m bleeding my heart out for you and you won’t do me the courtesy of saying hello. Please, please come back. I love you so damn much. I can’t live without you.”
The beeping of the machines, the only thing to be heard as he lowered his head to the bed beside her hand.
“You know…a girl could use some rest after being squished by a truck.”
Mark jerked up pulling away.
Diane stared at him with a smile on her face.
He couldn’t believe it. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to hear you complaining. And just so you know, I love you too.”
He pinched himself, jumping as he felt the sting.
She smiled at him.
The nurses came in then, took her vitals and asked some questions. Mark didn’t hear any of it. He called Nick and Karen. As soon as they were gone, he sat and kept staring.
“You know you’re going to burn a hole in me at this rate,” she joked.
“You love me?” He still couldn’t believe she had admitted to that.
“Yes. Nothing like a brush with death to make you assess things in your life.”
“This is serious Diane,” he growled.
She glared at him. “You know as the truck was coming toward me all I could think about was you. The fact I hadn’t told you how much I love you. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I want to love and be loved.”
He sat on the bed and took her hand in his. “I love you too.”
They talked to each other—really talked about their pasts. She told him about David and he told her about Kelly.
As if a new path was being forged for them.
Nick and Karen arrived after a little while. When she looked at him, he smiled in reassurance and she grinned back.
For the first time in a long time he truly believed everything would work out.
* * * *
Diane got discharged a few weeks later and Mark was adamant he would take care of her at his apartment. Nick and Karen packed some of her things to take over there.
Without realizing it, they took care of each other. They became a family.
Mark cooked for her and she did his laundry. They watched movies and old shows together. They double dated with Nick and Karen.
Before long, Diane fully recovered but their time together didn’t end.
She sold the house and moved in permanently with Mark. It didn’t take long for them to decide his apartment wouldn’t be suitable and ended up finding a house somewhere close to their friends.
Mark for once found a woman who could give him everything he desired, he never grew bored and Diane was always ready to try something new. Their arguments came and their passion grew. Mark found when he wasn’t with her, he would think about nothing but when he’d be with her again.
After many years of debating it, Mark finally within a few months of living with her managed to get her to open up the bakery she loved so much. It also meant he wouldn’t have to constantly work off the excess calories from her baking mania.
They built a life together. Their love far stronger than anything they could have imagined.
Epilogue
Several months later,
Nick glanced over at Mark.
“When are you going to ask her?” Nick asked while Mark fumbled with his tie.
“Tonight, at dinner, so don’t screw it up.”
Nick pushed his hands out of the way. “I hope you know what you’re doing, mate.”
Mark looked into the mirror. He had been planning this for months and he wasn’t backing down. He wanted Diane for forever. She was his and he was hers.
It was their time.
* * * *
“Has he asked you yet?”
Diane looked at Karen as she asked her a question. “Has he asked me what?”
“Has Mark asked you to marry him?”
Diane smiled. “No, he hasn’t.”
“When do you think he will?”
Diane sighed. She didn’t need this tonight.
“I don’t need a marriage proposal. When he’s ready, he’ll ask. Until then I’m happy just being with him.”
“When are you going to tell him?” Karen patted Diane’s belly smiling above her head.
Diane slapped her hand away. “When I’m good and ready.”
* * * *
The two couples had a great time as they finished their first course. Love and friendship flowed among the four friends.
Nick kept staring at Mark.
Mark looked from Nick to Diane. She beamed at him.
Now the perfect time.
Mark went down on one knee, calling a halt of action to not only their dinner table, but all the other guests in the restaurant.
“Mark, what are you doing?�
� Diane asked glancing around as all attention focussed on them.
He cleared his throat. “Diane, I know we’ve only known each other a short time. A very short time. I know we’ve had difficulties. You’re stubborn and difficult and you leave your towel lying on the bathroom floor all the time.” Several people chuckled. The women in the room looked ready to melt. “But I love you. I love the way you leave the towel in the same place on the bathroom floor. I love the way you talk and how you find it easy to laugh. I even love the fact you watch football with me even though you hate it and no matter how many times I explain you still don’t know the offside rule. You always accept me for who I am.”
He stopped to take a sip of wine, then stared back into her eyes and saw the tears of happiness and love shining out of them.
“I love the fact that you love me. These past few months have been the most amazing of my life. Never before have I felt so complete. I want you Diane. I always want you.”
He took the ring out of his pocket.
“I want to ask you to be my wife, to love me and have me regardless of my faults. I love you and I can’t bear to face the rest of my life without you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Silence enveloped the entire restaurant as everyone held their breath waiting for her answer.
Diane took the ring, her gaze never leaving his. “It will be with the greatest pleasure and love I agree to be your wife. I love you.”
Screams, cheers and applause met her final words. He picked her up, spinning her around. Kissing her and loving her.
Diane had just made him the happiest man alive.
After they had received their congratulations and were once again sitting at the table, Diane took his hand and rested it against her stomach. Mark knew what she was trying to say but he needed to hear her say the words.
She nodded and said, “Yes, you’re going to be a father.”
*THE END*
About The Author
Sam Crescent is passionate about fiction. She loves a good erotic romance and so it only made sense for her to spread her wings and start writing. She began writing in 2009 and finally got that first acceptance in 2011.
She loves creating new characters and delving into the worlds that she creates. When she’s not panicking about a story or arguing with a character, she can be found in her kitchen creating all kinds of havoc. Like her stories the creations in the kitchen can be just as dubious but sometimes things turn out great.
Other books by Sam
A Wild Older Woman
Ryan's Christmas Miracle
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com