45. Terra #3
Terra’s eyes went wide as Taurex opened the box.
The diamond was enormous.
It wasn’t gaudy though, despite its size, but it was still breathtaking—a brilliant oval stone set vertically in a delicate platinum band, surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds so fine they seemed to create a ring of light around the center.
Tiny diamonds continued halfway down either side of the band, and beneath the main stone was a subtle golden setting that made the white diamond shine even brighter
Terra stared at it.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Taurex looked suddenly uncertain.
“I hope I selected one you like. If you don’t care for this one, we can return it and choose another.”
“No!” Terra exclaimed. “No—don’t return it. It’s perfect.”
Relief spread across his face.
“In that case…”
He took the ring from its box and looked up at her.
“Terra, will you make me the happiest male in the known universe and consent to be my bride?”
Terra’s entire world blurred through tears that were suddenly pouring down her face..
“Yes. Oh my God, yes!” Her voice nearly broke and she laughed and wiped at her face.
Taurex smiled, looking both relieved and overjoyed.
“You will not regret this, lovely one,” he murmured. “I intend to devote the rest of my life to making you happy and keeping you safe.”
He reached for her left hand and very carefully slid the ring onto her finger. To Terra’s joy, it fit perfectly.
Married for real—they were getting married for real! She could hardly believe it—how could she hold so much happiness inside without exploding?
She stared at the diamond glittering on her finger and began crying even harder.
Taurex rose immediately, his expression changing to alarm.
“Lovely one?” he asked hoarsely. “Are you well? Have I said or done something to distress you?”
Terra laughed through her tears.
“I…I…” She tried to talk but she was still crying too hard.
Taurex cupped her wet cheek gently and looked into her eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked, looking genuinely worried.
She nodded.
“Y-y-yes,” she finally got out.
“But you are crying.” He looked bewildered.
“These are…are happy tears,” Terra told him.
He frowned.
“Humans cry when they are happy? I thought it was only when they were sad.”
“We can cry at any time.” Terra was beginning to get control of herself again, much to her relief. She needed to be careful about crying in the perfect dress—she didn’t want to get anything on it. It was a good thing she’d worn minimal makeup that day.
“This is very confusing,” Taurex rumbled.
Terra laughed again and threw her arms around his neck.
“I’m more than all right—I’m happy. These are tears of joy.”
His arms closed around her and this time there was nothing hesitant about his embrace. The big Monstrum lifted her completely off the platform and held her against his chest, careful of the dress but otherwise crushing her into the safest and warmest bear hug Terra had ever known.
Taurex kissed her deeply and she kissed him back, despite hearing Cody say,
“Ewww!”
When they finally drew apart, Taurex searched her eyes with his own.
“I am so grateful the Goddess has given me a second chance,” he murmured. “I cannot wait to make you my mate.”
“I can’t wait to make you my mate either.” Terra gave him a watery smile…then she heard a sob.
When she looked over to the chairs to see what was happening, she saw her mom was crying openly.
“Mom?” she asked, instantly worried.
“Don’t mind me,” her mom said, making a shooing gesture with one hand and pulling a tissue out of her purse with the other. “I’m just so happy for both of you!”
Terra laughed and held out her hand.
“Mom, look—come see.””
Lucy came closer and stared at the ring.
“My Lord,” she murmured. “That must have cost a king’s ransom!”
Cody came over to look as well.
“Wow, that’s huge!”
Lisa’s eyes were enormous.
“It’s so sparkly! So princessy!”
Lucy looked from the ring to Terra, then up at Taurex.
“I’m so glad the two of you finally came to your senses and realized you belong together!”
Terra laughed.
“Yes, Mom. We finally came around.”
Her mother looked smug.
“I knew you would get back together eventually.”
“You were right.” Terra nodded.
“I know.” Lucy laughed.
Terra shook her head.
“You don’t have to enjoy it quite that much.”
Her mom gave her a look.
“What do you mean? I’ve been watching the two of you suffer for weeks.”
“It was a form of suffering,” Taurex said gravely. “I thought I would have to live the rest of my life without my fated mate.”
“And I thought you stopped loving me after I rejected you,” Terra murmured.
He shook his head.
“I have never stopped loving you, lovely one. You are the only woman I want forever.”
Terra’s heart swelled so painfully she thought it might burst.
“Careful,” she warned him. “If you keep being so sweet I’m going to start crying again.”
Lisa tugged on her skirt.
“Mommy?”
Terra looked down to see her daughter.
“What, sweetheart?”
“Does this mean the Bull-man is going to be our new daddy?” Lisa wanted to know.
The question silenced everyone.
Terra looked at Taurex and saw a careful kind of hope shining in his eyes.
“Do you want me as your father?” he asked Lisa and Cody, who had come to stand beside his sister.
“Yes!” they both shouted.
“Then that is exactly what it means,” Taurex assured them.
“Yay!” Lisa yelled.
Cody’s face lit up.
“The Bull-man is our dad!”
“Bull-man-daddy!” Lisa exclaimed. And then they were holding hands, both jumping up and down together and chanting, “Bull-man-daddy! Bull-man-daddy!”
“Children,” Taurex began, though his voice had gone suspiciously rough, “perhaps we should discuss the terminology—”
Lisa threw herself at him and Taurex caught her with one arm automatically.
Cody joined them a second later and the big Monstrum lifted him with his other arm.
Terra laughed through her tears and leaned in to join the hug.
Then Lucy wrapped her arms around Terra and Taurex both and they all formed one big family embrace.
For several seconds they were all tangled together—Terra in her wedding gown, Lisa clinging around Taurex’s neck, Cody hugging him from the other side, Lucy pressed against Terra’s shoulder and Taurex somehow managing to hold all of them at once.
Terra closed her eyes in absolute bliss.
She had once believed happiness would look like the life she planned with Jackson—a husband and children…
a house…security. She had spent years trying to make that picture work even after it became painfully obvious that the man standing beside her didn’t value any of it the way she did.
What she had with Taurex was different. It was messy and unexpected—completely ridiculous and perfectly serious at the same time.
Her future husband had horns, and her children called him “the Bull-man.”
Her mother had apparently appointed herself a relationship expert and Terra was standing in the middle of David’s Bridal wearing an enormous diamond on her finger which promised that the fake wedding she’d been planning was going to be real.
It was nothing like the life she had once imagined—it was infinitely better.
Terra tightened her arms around the people she loved and felt Taurex’s hand settle warmly against her back. For the first time in her life, there was nowhere else she wanted to be.
And she had never been happier.