‘I love you, George.’
‘I love you, too, Melody.’
‘You do?’ She smiled as though she was still unable to believe it.
‘I do, so very much. My life was…incomplete without you.’
‘Mine, too.’
‘Then be with me for ever, Melody. You complete me and I want to feel like that for ever. Marry me?’
She gasped at his words but before she could answer, he continued.
‘Let me show you I’m not like the other dead-heads who broke your heart. I love your intellect, the way we can talk about operating techniques, share the highs and the lows of our jobs. I’ve never had that with anyone before but when I found it with you it was as though a part of me became complete. Then another part and then another. Be my wife,’ he urged. ‘Complete me.’
‘And children?’ she asked hesitantly. ‘Do you want children?’
‘With you? Absolutely.’ His kissed her once more, a kiss that was filled with passion and promise—the promise of a long and devoted life together. ‘Say yes,’ he ground out as he nibbled his way to her ear lobe. ‘Say yes.’
‘I will.’ She laughed, happier than she’d ever been in her life. ‘If you’d give me half a chance.’ Goose-bumps shivered down her body as he continued his assault. Giggling, she planted her hand in his hair and gently tugged his head away. ‘George!’
‘Sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to kiss you like this and all I’ve dreamed about every day we were apart.’
‘Well, we’re not apart now.’ Her words were filled with love, love for the man who was her soul mate, her other half. ‘I’ll agree to complete you if you complete me. George, you don’t need to show or prove anything to me—because you’ve already done it. I’m not talking about moving to Sydney but the fact that you accept me just as I am. No man has ever done that before. You’re the first—and the last.’ She brushed her lips across his. ‘Marry me quickly.’
‘As you wish.’ His mouth met hers in a mutual declaration of love, one they were both willing to contribute to and work at. ‘How am I going to be able to keep my hands off you?’ he groaned as he buried his face in her neck, unable to resist kissing the soft skin. ‘Working with you every day. Sitting next to you in departmental meetings. I don’t know if my self-control can take it.’
George raised his head to look at the woman he loved. The woman who had made him the happiest man on the face of the earth. He smiled at her.
‘I guess we’d better work out some…’ she paused and raised her eyebrows suggestively ‘…guidelines, then.’
His gaze darkened with desire. ‘I look forward to it, Dr Janeway.’
‘So do I, Professor!’
EPILOGUE
THE FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS neither George nor Melody was working. Both of them were enjoying spending their holidays with family. Ethan and CJ had decided to host Christmas at their place in Pridham, and with Melody’s parents and brother Dave and his family coming to join in the festivities it was most definitely a madcap time for all of them. Donna and her husband Philip were there as well, allowing George to catch up with his old friends.
After they’d all enjoyed a huge barbeque lunch with a plethora of salads, the Australian heat giving them a slight reprieve and only being mildly hot instead of stinking hot, Melody had adjourned inside to relax in the air-conditioning. Sitting in CJ’s living room, she put her feet up on the lounge and closed her eyes, a possessive hand on her slightly swollen abdomen.
‘Ah, good. I was just coming to see if you were resting,’ George stated as he brought her a glass of iced water.
‘I am.’ Just then she felt the baby move and although she’d been able to feel it shift around for a while, George was yet to feel it. ‘Here. Quick.’ She reached for his hand and placed it on her abdomen. ‘Wait. Just wait a second.’
They both waited, their wedding rings touching as Melody placed her hand over George’s. Their wedding day had been a lovely one, nice and quiet but filled with their friends and family beneath a small marquee in one of Sydney’s prettiest parks. After the pomp and ceremony of the VOS, neither of them had wanted a lavish affair, preferring to focus on the main aspect, which was the two of them making an open and honest declaration of their love for each other.
Then, only two months later, Melody had announced to her husband that she thought she might be pregnant. George had instantly bought a pregnancy test and they’d waited and watched together as the test had confirmed that Melody’s supposition had been correct.