The Child Who Changed Them (Parent Portal 5)

“I got us plane tickets. To Las Vegas.”

For the first time since she’d invaded his shower, he started to question if she was okay. To worry about her.

“We’ve never talked about going to Las Vegas.” Yes, he’d grown up an hour and a half from there. And Vegas was the closest national airport. But...

“I know.” She stood there, nodding, her belly hardly looking pregnant beneath the top, with the sweater wrapped around her edges.

“When were you planning on going?”

“Whenever we’re ready. Both of us. The tickets are open-ended.”

Something about her, an energy, the way she was kind of wiggling on her feet like she had to pee, but not really...finally got through to him. Actually traveled across the room and entered his body was more like it. His nerves started to buzz.

Maybe just coming back to full life after the orgasm...

“I want to marry you, Greg. If you’d been out in the shed, or come when I called, you’d have found me perfectly rational and kneeling in the kitchen with a pair of wedding rings in my hands...”

She’d come home to propose to him?

It was then that he noticed the two little black boxes on his dresser, by the door. He hadn’t made it that far in his pacing. Wasn’t sure he could make it over there then, with the way his heart was pounding.

He sat on the end of the bed. Ridiculous. Stood up. And walked slowly toward her, holding her gaze the whole time. Waiting for her to blink. To look away. To shut down on him.

When they were toe to toe, she was still gazing straight into his eyes. Into his soul, felt more like it. “Will you marry me, Greg? I love you so much. More than that, I’m in love with you. I know now that that’s why I broke up with you before, and why I wanted you to live here, and why I was so glad that you’re the father of my baby, and why I couldn’t let myself love you before I came to terms with my past.”

His heart soared. His body soared. And his mind was mostly blank. “Why you couldn’t let yourself love me?”

“Because it’s so much easier to go through life without having to worry about hurting someone, about doing something that ruins their dreams...or ends their life. Because I was afraid to love and lose again. Because life isn’t perfect and love comes with no guarantees and recovery is so damned hard. And because if you don’t let yourself love, you’ve already lost. And that’s worse than death.”

“You aren’t responsible for Peter’s death.” He hadn’t said the words the night she’d given him the chance. And had been doubting that choice ever since.

“I know,” she said. “The drunk driver is. And Peter started the conversation. He wouldn’t let the matter go. And I engaged because I didn’t want to get home and then have the conversation with him standing over me, convincing me once again to give in to him. For the good of our family.”

He lifted a hand to the side of her face. Just needing to touch her. To feel her skin. Her warmth and softness. “You not being who you are, just giving in, doing what you need to do—that’s not good for your family.”

She covered his hand with her own, holding his fingers against her. “I know that now, too. Thanks to you.”

“To me? I said nothing...there was so much I could have said, and I sat there like...”

“Like a man who loves me enough to know what I need,” Elaina interrupted him. “I had to come to the answers on my own. But you’re the one who sat with me, Greg. Not just that night, but all the nights we spent in your bed, letting love grow without any expectations on me, without any pressure...and then...moving in here...still without ever once pushing me further than I was ready to go.”

“Because you were giving me what I most needed,” he told her. He wasn’t a saint, like she seemed to be making him out to be.

“Because I love you, too,” she said softly, her eyes glistening again. “Because that’s what healthy love does... It lets you hear your partner’s needs without losing sight of your own, and together you find a way to fit together in the best possible way.”

“And the sex is great, too.” He said the words with a grin on his face, but with a voice heavy with emotion and a hint of moisture tickling the corners of his eyes, too.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“Yes, I have,” he said. “I wed myself to you the first time I took you to my bed and found a goddess who moved me more than any other woman ever had. When I had lunch with you and felt...uplifted just to hear you talk. The day you told me you were pregnant with my child and I didn’t believe you. And the day we found out you were right. Yes, I love you, and I’ll marry you, Elaina Alexander. Whenever you’re ready. In Las Vegas. Or anywhere. And I’ll renew my vows every single day from now through eternity, on this earth, or beyond.”

She reached up and kissed him then, open mouth, her tongue knowing exactly how to fit with his. Her arms slid around his neck, his around her waist, and... Marisol kicked.

“I can see our daughter has your strength.”

“I only hope she has your patience,” Elaina said, kissing him again. “And your wisdom.” The words were punctuated by another kiss, her eyes half-lowered, telling him what she needed. He took his time to undress her, touching her where he knew she liked most, how she liked most, and slid into her right there at the end of the bed, laying her on her back, with him still standing.

He went at her speed, angled himself how she liked it and cried out with her as they both reached their climaxes, one just after the other. He was ready to head to Vegas right then.