The proposal
Chris
It had to be the worst proposal in the history of proposals. Yet, with every word he spoke, he guided me slowly and slowly, bringing me out of the darkness that had trapped me since I heard him screaming my name through the phone.
"In every universe, I choose you too,"
And just like that, the invisible bars of a cage I had been trying to flee for what felt like an eternity came crashing down.
The bright light from above me was nearly blinding as my eyes opened slowly, causing them to shut back close.
In a flinching moment, I tightened my grip on the warm hand where mine rested.
It was his. Even though unconsciousness, I could recognize that hand, holding mine every single day, never letting go.
Because he was my light.
I adjusted my eyes to my surrounding. It wouldn't take rocket science to realize that the beeping next to me and that strong unpleasant smell of antiseptic mixed with drugs meant I was most likely in a hospital.
A sharp gasp drew my attention to my bedside and before I could register it, strong arms gripped me.
A long, tight, fierce, familiar hug. I winced in pain, as my body felt like I had been hit by a thousand pounds.
I knew it was Lucas and I wanted too badly to wrap my hands around him, to wipe the tears I saw in his eyes but my arms had never felt heavier.
Maybe I could use my voice. I realized that option was not exactly reliable either as I tried to open my mouth only to be met by a painful dryness in my throat.
I cleared my throat softly, batting him away carefully. "W-water..."
Lucas sprang into action before the words were out of my mouth, spilling water all over the place before the glass finally touched my lips.
Ah. That sweet refreshing feeling. One I never thought I would ever feel again.
He dropped the glass back on the tray as I signaled to him I had had enough. Turning back to me, he cupped my face in his hands, pressing his forehead against mine, his eyes glossy with unshed tears, "Oh Muffin, I thought I lost you there."
I placed my hand on his, smoothly rubbing the pad of my thumb over it. "You didn't lose me," I assured him, and with renewed strength, I wrapped my arms around his neck too. I pulled him over me, ignoring the pain shooting through my body and relishing what it felt like to hold him again.
When he pulled away, I felt like a big part of me was pulling away, the same hollow feeling I felt just before I lost consciousness that day. How long has it even been?
"I'll get the doctor," he said, reaching for the call button.
"No," I whispered, voice hoarse with a mix of emotion and the effect of been asleep too long. I offered him the best smile I could give at the moment, weak but still my best. "I thought we were in the middle of something."
His lips curled into that charming, wicked smile that helped to get my heart pumping even better than normal. He paused, eyes darting to where he sat a few minutes ago. With a small chuckle, he leaned down, reaching for something.
I tilted my head on my shoulder to see what he was picking up. The red and glittery piece knocked the air right out of my lungs. "Lucas!" I gasped softly.
He smiled nervously, sinking back next to me on the bed. I was not sure my health was good enough to allow for crying just yet, but I had no intentions of holding them back..
My hand felt shaky as he took it again, wiping my tears first. "I don't know if you heard most of what I said earlier, but..."
The strangest thing was that I did. I heard every beautiful word that came from him and I meant those words I told him too. "I did," I choked out, attempting to sit up.
He shook his head, holding me back, "You don't have to do anything, just tell me that you want me to put this on your finger."
I could not imagine anything I could want—need—nearly as much as that right now.
I nodded repeatedly, now the tears were streaming down my face without control.
Maybe I might slip right back into unconsciousness right after this, there was a good chance I might never wake up again too, but I did not mind taking my last breath even now as long as he did. "Yes. Yes please."
A million different emotions rushed through me as the weight of the ring slipped on my finger, each one making more blood rush through me than the last. The rng was light, yet heavy as the words he sealed it with, as he placed a kiss on my fingers, "I love you so much Chris, you don't know nearly how much you mean to me,"
Not as much as you mean to me.
He brushed a soft, chaste kiss on my lips, before sitting back up.
I took a second to look at my newly found treasure.
To some, it was just a glittering piece of jewelry that meant two people were now engaged.
To me though, it meant the weight of a promise spoken, sealed, and bound, one I would do well to keep every day for the rest of my life.
That I was his, and he was mine, even through all the bullshit life was ready to toss our way.
In a way, it was kind of significant. Most people dreamt of their proposals on a tropical island under the bright sun, in front of family and friends cheering them on, something in that context.
Hell, I would be lying if I said a proposal like that hadn't crossed my mind at least once.
But this, mine, beat every other one in the book because if our current circumstnces would not keep us from each other, I would like to see any other storm try.
"It's beautiful," I whispered.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, eyes piercing into me with different emotions—adoration, love, contentment, relief. "You're beautiful," Leaning down, he pressed another kiss, deeper, yet filled with so much tenderness, tenderness that sealed his promise too.
"Ughhhh!" I moaned throatily at the taste of deliciousness slapping against my buds. It felt good to eat something after nearly two weeks of being fed from a tube.
After Lucas and I savored our time alone with each other, he had the doctor come in.
It felt like a miracle, seeing the amazement in everyone's eyes when they walked into my room to find me awake.
A series of tests and various examinations were carried out on me, much to my disdain, but Lucas would not rest until he knew I was completely fine.
A few hours later, relief swirled in my heart, not just because he had declared that I was as good as good can be, but also that my life was no longer in danger.
He gave some explanations about weirdly named medications now available for me to receive now that I was out of the danger of a coma, meaning if nothing else came up, I could keep the baby.
It was not my preferred way to let Lucas know that I was pregnant, but I was glad. Glad to see what knowledge I was carrying his child did to him, that gleam in his eyes. Or maybe it was because I was wearing his ring. Knowing Lucas, I would say both.
According to the doctor, a few day's surveillance along with plenty of bed rest would be enough to have me kicking again.
I felt kicking, plenty already. Especially when the two most beautiful twins on the planet burst through the doors.
Sweet relief was the only word to describe the feeling of seeing them again.
"Chris! Chris!" they cried, diving for the bed and crawling into my waiting arms. Although he looked like he did not approve of the kids coming in just yet, Lucas helped bring them up to the bed.
"My babies!" I could not do much with the IV hanging off my arm but it felt damn good to hold them again. I kissed their cheeks fondly, realizing how much I had missed them now.
"Chris, aunt Lilian said you were not feeling well, are you better now?" Abby asked, her big bright innocent eyes shining bright up as she looked up at me for an answer.
"Yes princess, I feel better now."
"Did you have a headache, or a tummy ache?" she asked, placing her palm on my forehead, "do you need some water?"
"Oh princess, it was a little more than a headache," I said carefully, pressing a small kiss on her hand as I took it from my forehead. "but I promise, I'm all better now."
"So you'll come home with us?" Aiden asked with a mixture of hope and excitement.
I looked to Lucas, thankful that he was already diving in before I could ask. "Come on Buddy," he said, pulling them both from the bed and into his lap, "Chris still needs to stay a while and get examined by the doctor, but once she's done with that, she'll be coming back home with us."
"Okay," they said in unison. Aiden leaned in closer to his father's ear, whispering loudly, "Daddy, can we make a surprise for Chris when she comes back home?"
I bit back my amusement looking away. I would hate to ruin his surprise before he even plans it. Lucas nodded his approval, thankfully not only for his surprise but also for the kids to stay the rest of the night.
They babbled on and on, telling me all about their stay even when Lucas and I had gone away, and their new obsession with some new cartoon called PJ masks.
I found it both amusing and fascinating, but most of all it reminded me how lucky I was to have what I had now, and most of all what I had to come.
Everyone comes in later, Mia, Lilian, and Zoey, and then my best friend.
C was pretty upset asking how I could break my promise to her.
It was one I remembered pretty well. I had promised her I would not do anything stupid only to end up in the hospital.
In a coma, for days. I could see how hurt she was and that opened up a fresh can of emotions.
She looked worried and tired like she could use a whole day's worth of sleep.
Most of all though I could see her relief, morphed into a love for me.
She would not be worried if she did not love me.
nd I loved her too. Hell, I would do the same for her if the roles were switched.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" she gasped as her eyes fell to the diamond on my finger. "And you were going to hide it from me? I hate you."
"I wasn't going to hide it C," I chuckled, "he just proposed when I woke up. You are officially speaking to a future Mrs. Maxwell."
"It looks so perfect on you bess," she said, trying and failing to hold back a sob as she took my finger examining it. "Oh God, I can't believe I'm going to cry coz you got engaged. Oh, I love you so much." she wiped a single tear from her eyes, before wrapping me in a warm hug.
"Pick a side girl, do you love me or do you hate me?" I giggled, hugging her back.
"Shut up, you know I love you." she laughed, pulling back to wipe her eyes, "I'm so happy you're back. I'm so happy your life is going in the best direction Chris. Jesus, you're pregnant and motherfucking engaged," she said hugging me again like it was still news to her.
"I love you too bess," I said, meaning it.
"So," she pulled back, taking a more serious tone, "when is the wedding. Do you want a pre-birth wedding or post-birth? God, there's so much to do..."
"Would you at least wait for me to get discharged?" I quirked a brow up in amusement.
"My point exactly," she shrugged, "we don't have time miss, so you get better quickly, we have a wedding to plan."
The next couple of days was an endless cycle of visit at the hospital, having countless meals shoved down my mouth, being pumped with medications, and getting forced to rest via anesthetic drugs that left me with no choice.
Thankfully, I was healing at a pretty speedy pace and that meant I could go home in only a matter of days.
Whenever I got the chance, I had these long, weird conversations with the baby that made everything just feel better.
Lucas and I had argued a little and come up with the decision to keep the gender unknown until it's birth.
We needed a good element of surprise every once in a while.
Another advantage of having a boyfriend with more money than God was that he did not have a problem buying two sets of everything we needed for the baby. Did I say, boyfriend? I meant fiance.
There was a time where I was just the girl with a familiar face to a woman loathed, and then we worked our way through being just the nanny. And while a little bumpy, we survived the girlfriend stage too. And now we were here.
Fiance.
The word brought a sheepish smile to my face whenever I thought about it. And one day, very soon, that smile would be a result of me remembering I was no longer just a nanny, or a girlfriend, or a fiancee, but a wife and a mother. God, I could not wait.
The twins were warming up pretty well to the fact that a new addition was well on its way to our family.
Actually, Abby had already started to make plans to move out of the room Aiden and her shared, so she and her sister can have their alone time to do and I quote in her words "big girl things.
" Aiden seemed pretty excited about the baby too and whatever doubts that it was too early to let them know was simply washed away.
I had everything I ever wanted here with me, yet it still felt all wrong.
It was like I was so used to being slammed with sudden problems every time I was happy that being happy for this long felt like a sin.
A part of me waited patiently, for the bad.
Because this week, I had had a whole damn lot of good.
As Lucas strolled into my room, offering me a weak smile that did not do much to mask his tiredness, I had a good feeling the bad was well on its way.
In the last few days, Lucas had been present for some time, but in that time, I could tell his mind was wandering.
And it was even worse because I knew it had to do with Sarah.
He would come in, stay awhile with me, leave for a few hours and come back even more defeated than he looked before.
I knew better than to ask what was going on, but it was eating me up not to.
Abby and Aiden laid asleep on either side of my arms, their bedtime book face down on my chest, while my arms cradled them closer.
"Muffin, you should have called someone to take them," he groaned, tossing his key on the stand next to me and rubbing his hands over his face. He picked up Aiden first, before reaching for the call button. "They should have been home earlier."
"I know," sighed, "I'm sorry, I just enjoy their company a little too much. Plus I'm kind of trying to practice being a mom, coz you know," I nodded to my belly.
"Well that would be like trying to get lessons from a book you wrote," he said, pausing as a nurse walked in.
He gave instructions to get Mia to take the kids home and the nurse nodded before leaving again.
He sank into the bed next to me, holding a sleeping Aiden in one hand and caressing my cheeks with the other, "I cannot think of anyone better to fill that role than you. "
"A little practice wouldn't hurt though." I shrugged, fully aware of how heated my cheeks were at his compliment.
"It won't" he clarified, "but you need rest."
I was about to protest further when Mia came in and took Abby. "You want me to take them home?"
"No, just take them to the car. I'll take them." he said, handing Aiden over to the nurse that followed behind her, "you'll stay with Chris, while I go home briefly."
I waited for privacy before speaking again. "You know I do not have to have someone watching me all the time,"
His hands found my cheeks again. A gentle, subtle touch that sent fire rocketing through my body.
These days the ball of horniness in me was easily fuelled by these simple touches, and even though I knew it had more to do with the hormones, it was another reason I could not wait to go back home. "Yes, you do."
I stretched my hand, reaching for his stubble-covered chin, "you look, tired baby, tell me what's happening."
From the way he looked away I knew he was lying before he even spoke. "Nothing important."
I sat up, moving his chin to make sure he was looking at me again, "Tell me what's really wrong.
And before you answer again, I hope I don't need to remind you that this," I held my finger up a few inches away from his face, bringing the ring into his periphery, "means that we don't hide shit from each other at all.
Whatever it is, you tell me no matter how insignificant it might seem. "
He placed a hand on my hand palming his cheeks, "Sarah's no longer in the US and the authorities lost track of her."
He was still looking away, meaning I was only receiving a half-truth but I decided to hold on to that.
"That's not our problem now Lucas, I'm sure they are capable of finding her.
You have more than enough security in this building and back at home to make sure everyone you love is safe, so stop worrying. "
The silence filling the air in the next few moments refuted any doubt that there was more.
And then he finally spoke, dropping the bomb that sent chills up my spine.
"The car crash." he paused, visibly swallowing hard.
It was still a sore topic for him, "it was not an accident.
Someone tampered with the brakes of your car and the other car you ran into," another pause, "it was sent to run your car over, a truck actually.
The authorities have good reason to believe Sarah had something to do with it," Why wouldn't they, it had that bitch written all over it.
"The driver got away before they got to you so that's a dead-end too. "
This time the thumping sound of my heart, ready to plummet out of my chest filled the room. I had not even realized my hands had started to shake until Lucas held them firmly. "That's why I did not want to tell you. I don't need you worked up, just get better and leave this to me."
"She's going to keep coming after us won't she?" I said, my words coming out breathy as flashes of the accident surfaced in my memory.
She was my sister. I understood that we had some rivalry, but would she really go so far?
"Not if I get to her first," Lucas said simply, just as his cellphone vibrated with a phone call. It was Robin. "and believe me, I will find her." he held my cheeks, brushing his lips over mine softly. "I'll go take this outside, Mia would be here soon."
He kissed me again, before heading out the door. I don't like the rage I see in Lucas's eyes as he leaves, but I know nothing I say or do will change his mind. I know he has plans in motion to find Sarah and a good part of me tells me those plans might end up with someone dead.
I put the book on the nightstand, realizing that Lucas left his keys. I considered calling him to come to get it, but I know he'll be back either way, he can't take the kid's home without it.
I stifled a yawn, my body's way of informing me that the drugs had started to settle in. Flopping on the bed, I released a tired sigh, only two more days before I get out of here. At least I could take advantage of that and use as much rest as possible.
If I could only get past the thoughts of Sarah and how dangerous she really proved to be.
Desperate is a much better word. She was desperate for what was mine now, my family.
She had had her chance once though, she tossed it out the window, and I damn right was not about to make the same mistake she made.
Whatever little ounce of sympathy is left in me for her reduced to noexistent.
She's not my sister, she's a woman who hates me so much she actually made an attempt on my life.
She means absolutely nothing to me and I hope she serves the longest time in jail. At least the have to find her first.
I was still thinking about this when the door creaked open slowly. "Forgot your keys?" I said drily without opening my eyes, knowing it's Lucas.
Only, those footsteps are anything but familiar. And they do not go to the nightstand, there is no jingle of keys, and even worse that shadow looming over me radiates anything but the love I feel when Lucas is around me.
It's an eery air, one of pure evil that I know all too well.
I popped my eyes open, freezing as my blood stilled to ice at the sight of the man. Tall, large, dark figure looming over me. The large black beard covering most of his face did nothing to hide the man underneath. And then those eyes, narrowing to slits as diamonds, black and unforgiving.
The scar on my head starts to throb or maybe it's just me imagining it, after all, it is from him or his hired goon. Either way, I know just how much evil this man exudes, and he's standing over me, towering over me just like he did that night.
And just like that night, I am all alone, defenseless, caught unaware, and helpless to him.
"Miss me, sweetie?" Baron asked, voice cold and hard and emotionless.
In all the ways I expected the storm to come back in, I never imagined this one.