Chapter 15
After reenacting some of what happened that day in the cabin again, and because they had recently gotten married, Carter wanted to do something special for Zahara. He knew he had gone too hard on her to get her to agree to marry him. Did he regret it? No, but he could apologize by giving her a proper proposal.
That wasn’t the only reason she was pissed.He had gone behind her back and went to talk to the Dean at her school to see if she could take a hiatus from her studies until the babies were born, as it was a medical emergency. He could see how run-down she was getting, and her ankles had begun to swell. The doctor was saying that she would have to go in for the c-section sooner than he had thought. He was now testing her blood for preeclampsia, and luckily, the last test hadn’t shown any indication of it yet. He was told to test her blood pressure to make sure it didn’t spike, and if it did, she would have to go in. Neither of them had been happy, but they trusted that the doctor was taking diligent care of the girls that Zahara was carrying and was doing his best to keep them in as long as possible.
Carter had lain there, holding Zahara as she slept while everything was playing around in his head. He had to take deep breaths, as fear almost consumed him when he thought about losing her or his children. He distracted himself with the idea of doing the engagement right, just the way he thought she would want to be proposed to.
He called his executive assistant to get him the number of a popular florist in New York and got them to rush over every available flower in their shop—and balloons if they had them. The flowers were delivered while Zahara slept, and he and Terry had gotten everything all set up, scattering flower petals throughout the hallway that led to the TV room across from the den—his office and hers. Yes, she had won that round, but her equipment was set up far, far away from his desk. He had a fire extinguisher at the ready for emergencies, as well as Reactine, just in case she accidently touched him with her experiments. Zahara scowled every time she saw the extinguisher or the pills.
He grinned at the memory. Since he told her he loved her, he had felt a lightness to his moods and his life. His wife was caring, loving, generous, funny, annoying, stubborn, and beautiful, so beautiful to him. He especially loved how she always gave herself over to him so freely in bed. He was always hard and wanting her.
Now that he had finally admitted his love for her, he loved telling her every chance he got and watching the look of happiness that shone on her face. Her happy expression made him feel on top of the world, and now he was keeping his vow to do whatever it took to keep his wife happy, with chef Terry’s help.
After strewing the petals, they arranged all the different flower baskets and balloons around the room, even hanging some from the ceiling. Carter kept checking his phone to make sure she was still sleeping. He had left his iPad on the dresser, facing the bed so he could keep watch and make sure she was okay and would know when she woke up.
Carter then got Terry to whip up a small cake. Lucky for him, the chef had stocked his kitchen with everything imaginable, just in case he was required to create something on the fly for Zahara or Carter.
He snuck back upstairs into his walk-in closet and tore the wrapping from a tuxedo he just got cleaned to wear to one of his many black-tie affairs. He changed into it, except for the tie and jacket. He was going to put that on when she woke up and made her way down the stairs.
He went back to his den to get some work done and wait while she slept. She must have been really tired, because she didn’t wake up until quite late in the evening. Outside it was already dark, and Terry had come out to suggest lighting the hallway with candles if they had any. For some reason, Zahara loved to collect different battery-powered lanterns in different shapes and sizes, and she had brought them to their new home in boxes. Carter had stored the majority of them on a shelf in the garage, and he now went out to get them and bring them in.
After turning them on, Carter had just sat down when he saw Zahara wake up and stretch in bed. She was still lying on her side, yawing and blinking her eyes, which he could see from the light in the hallway. She had reached behind her for him, and his heart had skipped a beat at seeing that. Then an abrupt laugh escaped him before he scowled.
Zahara had given his pillow a hard slap of disgruntlement, and he heard her hiss, “Ass, but I love you.”
He sighed; he knew she was still not over having to marry him, and her pregnancy was also making her moody. She was seven months along now. He hoped that all this effort he had gone through would make her a little happier.
He began to don his jacket and used the black screen of his laptop as a mirror to tie his black tie. He finished as he watched her go to the washroom to relieve herself. His eyes filled with her naked form, her breasts that were fuller from the pregnancy, her round belly, and her shaved pussy. He got hard just looking at her. She looked like a goddess from his dreams, even if her curls were all over the place—some strands were stuck to her face, others cascaded over her shoulders.
She was so naturally beautiful to him, and he couldn’t seem to control himself when he looked at her or touched her. He was not used to losing himself like that, and right now, he was feeling hot in his tux and wanted to take it off and embed himself inside of her again. But it would have to wait. She came back out and then went to the dresser to find something to wear. She took out her long, flowy chiffon nightie and the matching wrap. He hoped for his sanity that she would put on underwear, and she did, but she struggled for a minute to get it on. He could see her mouth moving and knew she was grumbling, probably cursing his name again.
He grimaced. She probably wasn’t going to be pleased that he was about to propose to her again while she was in her night wear, but he was determined to surprise her, and she looked beautiful. He envisioned what she’d worn to their wedding ceremony. Her nightie was of the same material—her bridesmaid and friend Coco had gifted her the set as a wedding present.
He refocused his thoughts to see that she had disappeared from the screen, and he cursed. He flew out of the door and made it into the TV room when he heard her on the bottom steps.
He closed the door partway, then lowered himself to one knee. In one hand he had the box with her ring, and in the other a bouquet of flowers that he knew were her favourite.
There was utter silence now, and he knew that she was seeing the flower petals on the floor as she walked through the hallway. Seconds ticked by that seemed like minutes, and she still hadn’t walked into the room where he was waiting. Perhaps he should have made an arrow with some of the white roses. Then he heard Terry speak.
“Ma’am, may I escort you the rest of the way into the TV room where your surprise is waiting? Here Zahara, blow on this and wipe your tears before you go,” he heard Terry suggest.
He then heard Terry clear his throat loudly to let Carter know that they were close to the door and that he should be ready.
For the first time in his life, Carter was nervous. He was finding it hard to swallow and was fighting to control his breathing. He closed off his emotions when the door swung open and Zahara stood in the doorway, surrounded by the lights coming from the lanterns.
Her hair was in a curly mass around her face and shoulders. She had brushed it out before she came down, and she had slippers on her feet.
She stood there in the doorway, taking everything in, including him on his knees, and tears began to pour down her cheeks. Terry tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to him. He indicated for her to proceed and smiled at her encouragingly.
Zahara came into the room, making her way to Carter. Then she stopped in front of him, her hands clasped on her belly.
He handed her the flowers, and she took them with a teary smile, bringing them to her nose and breathing in deeply. When she lowered it back down, Carter took her left hand in his.
Carter was going to try and joke about his two proposal attempts, but instead simply said, “Zahara, I love you with all of my heart, and I’m glad you didn’t give up on me or our love, which you knew was meant to be.” His lips quirked up, and so did hers. She nodded as if saying, Damn right I did.
He continued, “You have enriched my life more than I can say, and I hope to always do that for you too. Will you marry me and do me the honor of being my wife?”
She stared down at him, her gaze searching his, and what she saw must have convinced her to agree because she smiled through her watery tears and nodded.
“Yes, I will marry you again. I love you so much.” Her fingers shook as he placed her second engagement ring on her hand. This would later turn into a gift for giving birth to the girls. It was a matching eternity ring, this time with rubies. He rose and leaned down, giving his wife a kiss that soon consumed them both. They moaned as they got lost in each other’s touch. He pulled back because he was ready to burst and wanted to be inside her, but he had also decided that day that he would have to wait until she delivered the girls. He didn’t want anything to harm either of them.
She looked at him quizzically. “I have something else for you,” Carter murmured. “Terry, you can bring it in,” he added loudly.
Terry walked in with the cake for Zahara, and her eyes lit up. She had been put on a special diet so that she wouldn’t develop gestational diabetes and had not been happy about it. But tonight was a celebration, and Carter had Terry make her favourite flavour and icing.
They each took a slice and fed each other the cake like they had done at the wedding, except this time, it was out of happiness and love, not betrayal or anger.
She giggled, and he raised his eyebrows as he consumed the cake.
“You have some crumbs on your chin.” She reached out and flicked them away, but then her face suddenly changed, and her hand began to shake.
She looked at him in stunned surprise. “I don’t feel well. I think—”
He threw the plate with the cake aside and caught her just in time before she could hit the floor.