Pulling away from the kiss, she rested her head against his. "I can only ask you one thing, Rex."
"What is it?" he asked. "Tell me what you want and I will do everything I can to give it to you." His breath fanned her face, making her smile.
"Don't hurt me."
"I never would, baby."
"Don't break my heart."
"It won't happen. I'm going to take care of you for the rest of our lives." He gripped her chin, tilting her head back. "I mean every single word I say. I love you, Nora. I've loved you for a long time, and I didn't even know it. I hope you can forgive me for being such a horrible asshole."
She chuckled. "I'm used to your asshole behavior."
"Just one second," he said, moving toward his desk. Seconds later he was back in front of her. He held a velvet box in his hands, and the sight made her heart start to pound.
"What is this?"
"A future I was hoping you'd want to be part of."
"What do you mean?"
"I love you, Nora. I want to be a husband to you, and I want to be the perfect father. I can't promise I won't be an asshole. I'm forty-eight years old. It's next to impossible for me not to be an asshole. I'm kind of set in my ways, but with you, I want to change."
The tears that had filled her eyes started to tumble down her face.
"Marry me, Nora."
"Yes." There was no hesitation. Throwing her arms around his neck, she pressed her lips against his, chuckling. "I hope you're ready for this," she said, breaking from the kiss that he had landed on her lips.
"What do you mean?"
"I want a big family, Rex. A huge one. Lots of kids, pets, you name it."
"Where have you been all my life? That's exactly what I want."
She giggled, and he held her hand, sliding the ring on her finger. Nora knew deep in her heart that this was going to work. She didn't know why she knew or even how, only that she believed so much in the two of them.
One month later
Rex had sat through exams of all kinds but never had he been so nervous as waiting beside Nora as the doctor pressed that scanner thing to her stomach. The moment he heard his baby's heartbeat, he fell in love. There was nothing to describe how damn protective he became.
Nora held onto his hands, squeezing to the point of pain.
"There you go. I can tell you hear that. Your baby has a very healthy heartbeat," the doctor said.
"Do you hear that?" Nora asked.
"I hear it." He was never going to forget that sound. Tears sprang to his eyes.
"Is our baby healthy? Does everything look and sound good?" Nora asked.
The doctor was silent for several moments. "Looks to me like you're going to have a healthy baby. We'll keep a check on things as you progress, and obviously you're struggling with the morning sickness."
"It's bad, but I don't mind." Nora pushed some of her hair off her face.
"If the dry toast doesn't work, and you find it getting worse, please call me."
"Is that a bad thing?" Rex asked, suddenly wondering if her sickness had been worse or better.
"Now, we just like to make sure Mom and baby are comfortable. If you're vomiting every chance, then it's not going to be good for either of you." The doctor moved the little device thingy around. "Would you like to know the sex?"
He looked at Nora and watched as she bit her lip. "Would you like to know?" she asked.
"Yeah, I would. I think I'd like to be prepared for whatever our little baby can throw at us." He squeezed Nora's hand as the doctor chuckled.
"It's nice to see a couple ready to do this together. I have so many patients who come in here, and it's either one or the other determined to make this work. Rarely is it both."
There was no way in hell that Rex was going to let his woman go. No chance of it. He loved her more than anything, and right now his second chance was happening. He was going to grasp it, hold onto it, and keep it.
"Right … let's see. Some babies really don't like to give away their secrets," the doctor said. "Ah, there we are, you're going to be having a boy. A beautiful baby son."
"A boy, Rex. We're going to have a boy."
"I hope he's nothing like me," he said, laughing. Tears fell down his cheeks as he leaned in against Nora, but he didn't care. They were tears of joy, and right now he was so damn happy.
"I hope he's everything like you," Nora said, whispering the words. "If so, he's going to grow up to be a wonderful man."
Pressing his lips against hers, Rex couldn't believe his luck. How he had found the woman meant for him, he didn't know. There was no way he was going to let her go.
"I love you, Nora. More than anything."
She smiled with her own tears. "I love you, too."
Epilogue
Ten years later
"Can you believe our kids are friends?" Alaric asked.
"Yeah, well I'm about to be a son down in a minute." Rex rushed across his yard toward the large oak tree. Nora had loved this house from the moment they stepped foot in it. The biggest problem with the house was they had several large trees, and a son that loved to climb. His little monkey boy was driving him crazy. "Will, I told you to stop climbing trees!" William Donovan, ten years old, and getting cockier by the day, gave a little chuckle.
"Come on, Dad, this is so cool. You can see everything here."
"Your mother is going to have a heart attack, and I don't want that."
"Ew, you'll do that kissing thing you always do. I hate girls. I love Mommy though. She bakes the nicest cookies."
Rex rolled his eyes, and felt Nora right behind him, wrapping her arms around him.
"Hey," she said. "I'm not going to have a heart attack."
"I keep trying to get him out of the tree."
"Watch this." She rested her chin on his shoulder. "William, darling, you know that chocolate fudge cake you love so much?"
"Yeah."
"I just wanted to say all of your friends are already eating it." Before she had even finished that sentence, William climbed down and was rushing toward the kitchen.
Nora laughed.
"Food. All this time, good food is what brings him down," Rex said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and kissing her head.
He turned toward his friend, Alaric, to see him with Bella in his arms.
"It's good food," Alaric said.
Ignoring his friend, Rex stared at his wife. Ten years of marriage, and he still loved her even more. Placing a hand on her slightly swollen stomach, he couldn't believe the gift she was giving him.
"I love you," he said. "More than anything. You've given me the entire world, Nora."
Her cheeks heated. "You take the words right out of my mouth." She pressed another kiss to his lips, and he couldn't wait until the party was over. He wanted to be alone with his wife to show her just how much he loved her. Not that she needed it. He just loved to hear her cry his name when he was balls deep inside her. When he was, Rex knew there was no place better.
The End
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**BONUS STORY**
YOU BELONG TO ME
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
Quinn Powell stared down at the picture his sister, Dorothy, had sent him. It was of her birthday party, which he'd not been able to attend, and beside her stood Kaley Woods, her best friend. His sister had celebrated her twenty-first birthday three years ago, and this picture had been taken then. Dorothy had always been a force to reckon with. The moment she'd met Kaley in nursery school they'd been best friends. No one could separate the two even if they wanted to. Their parents were overjoyed by their strong friendship as neither would do anything to risk the other. Kaley wouldn't go out to any wild parties, which meant Dorothy found other ways to occupy her time. Dorothy wouldn't sit in the library all day reading books, so Kaley found ways to be with her friend. They were like chalk and cheese, yet the best of friends. Watching them grow up had been fun. Quinn was a good ten years older than the girls and had been expected to get them out of trouble, even though they were rarely in it. Kaley rarely spoke more than a few words at a time to him, and he'd done anything to try to.
Over the years, he'd noticed that about Kaley. She was a shy girl, almost withdrawn, apart from when she was with Dorothy. His sister brought Kaley out of her shell and forced her to live in the real world rather than her world of books.
He ran his thumb over Kaley's picture, falling for her smile like he'd fallen for every single part of her over the last few years. She was a beautiful woman yet hid behind large clothing and glasses she didn't need. He adored her curves, even though she had tried to diet over the years. Staring at the picture, he could make out her full tits, rounded hips and stomach, and juicy, thick thighs. He wanted her badly. Her curvy body wasn't all he wanted either. Smiling, he found it so cute that she had her glasses on as well. He'd seen her slide them up into her hair several times as she moved around the house. Whenever he entered a room, the glasses would conveniently fall down onto her face, hiding her away. He didn't know what she was hiding away, only that it would no longer work. He wanted her and had left her to live her life for the past six years without any interference from him. When she'd turned eighteen, Quinn had had every intention of getting to know her better, to seduce her. Dorothy asked him to let Kaley live her life, to go to college without the fear of an older, scarier boyfriend. His sister cared about him, but she also cared about her friend. Quinn respected Dorothy enough to stay well clear. Dorothy only asked for him to give Kaley a chance to live her life through college. She'd not said anything about the future. He'd given his sister Kaley's college years, and the last time he spoke to Dorothy, he'd made his intentions known. He was coming back home to make Kaley his. His sister no longer demanded he stay away and had in fact started to send him pictures.