I smiled down at her. Her angelic laughter was infectious. "Come on, sweetie, we're going to go see your mommy," I crooned as I picked her back up from her car seat. This time she only fussed and whimpered.
As I walked to the elevators with her in my arms, her tiny fingers pointed at the bright orange doors of the elevator.
"Eh," she gurgled and looked at me for my approval.
I grinned at her. "Yes, these are the doors to the hospital where mommy is." I wondered if she recognized these doors from all our previous trips to the hospital.
As one of the elevator doors opened, bright florescent lights from the elevator lit up the parking lot. Isabella rubbed her eyes and hid her face against my neck as we got into the elevator.
When her eyes adjusted to the light, she was full of spirit as she jumped down and up in my arms.
"Da!" she giggled as she touched my nose with her tiny index finger. There was still sleep in her inquisitive eyes, and I felt a warmth grown in my chest that radiated through my body. I wanted to believe that she was telling me that I was her dad and there was nothing else she needed more in her tiny hands but me.
"Yup. That's me, and daddy loves you." I gently tapped her button nose with my finger. She giggled at my tough and started laughing. Her innocent eyes stared at me as her tiny fingers moved playfully around the contours of my face. I beamed at her. I realized that I'd never get tired of the way she looked at me-it was the look of the most pure, unadulterated trust and love that someone could receive-it was what I lived for.
All my doubts about being a father had disappeared that day the nurse put her in my arms. I knew at that very moment that I wanted to do everything in my power to protect her and make her happy. Over the six months since she'd come into our lives, I'd grown attached to her as much as I'd grown attached to Alexis. I'd never felt my heart feel so full as I now had with them in my life.
A few minutes later, I walked into Alexis's hospital room with Isabella sucking on her thumb.
"Hey," I said softly to Alexis as she looked up at us with a weak smile. "How are you feeling?" I kissed her on the forehead.
"I'm okay. I'm just glad today's the last day of my radiation therapy and I get to go home and never come back here again." She looked gaunt and worn down as she gave me a small smile. She reached for Isabella, who reached for her mother excitedly.
I reached for Alexis's hand and squeezed it as she looked up at me.
"How are you feeling? How's Izzy been lately? I'm sorry I haven't been around much to help take care of her."
"Baby, don't be ridiculous! I can handle Izzy on my own right now. She's a perfect baby-" I stopped mid-sentence and chuckled. Alexis cocked her head and gave me a skeptical look. "-Okay so not perfect, but she's been great."
She laughed.
"So Izzy and I got you something."
"Oh?" She looked down at Isabella and tickled her. "What is it?"
I got down on one knee in front of them and showed her the two karat vintage diamond ring.
When she looked over, she gasped in surprise. Tears glistened her eyes and she beamed down at me.
"Alexis Elizabeth Blythe. For the longest time, I felt dead inside, and my mother's betrayal, I gave up on the idea that there could be love in my life. I was moving through life and I wasn't looking for anyone, let alone anyone to love. I wasn't searching for love, and yet love found me, and it was you that brought me back to life. Before you, I never really understand what the whole fuss was about when I saw couples together. Before you, I never realized how it felt to just smile randomly, for no apparently reason, simply because you were that happy to be alive. Before you, I never really knew that I had something to live for."
"Oh Damian." Tears streamed down Alexis's face as she choked back the sobs.
"Alex, you are the most amazing person I've met in all my life. Being with you brings me so much joy and happiness that sometimes I have to pinch myself because I feel like I'm in a dream. I hear some people say that you may only come across one or two people in a lifetime that alters your life forever. I was lucky enough to come across two people that have changed me to the core. You are the first person, and you are the person that gave me the gift of our beautiful daughter, and she is that second person. You brought so much meaning to my life that I want to spend the rest of my life repaying you for that. I know I've made many mistakes in my life, including ones that have hurt you. But let me spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Will you tame this unworthy, cocky, bastard of a man, and marry me?"
I fought back the tears as I looked up at her and waited for her answer.
Tears streamed down her face as she nodded, chocking back a sob.
I got up and placed the ring on her finger and kissed her passionately as my chest swelled with intense bursts of emotion. Isabella poked at my face as she watched us kiss.
I laughed and looked over at Isabella. "You're just like daddy, huh? You hate being left out." I lifted Isabella in the air and planted several kisses on her face, causing her to squeal in delight.
"Damian, I never told you this before, but besides my parents, you're the only person that calls me Alex."
"Really?"
She nodded with a wide grin, her eyes still glistened with moisture.
"And when you first called me by Alex when we first started dating, something inside me told me that you were the one, that you were just as connected to me as my parents were. For the longest time, I was scared of thinking about this, because I was afraid that if I did think we were meant to be, then something bad could happen. But I didn't think about it, and bad things did happen. Yet, you stuck around and made me stronger each day you've loved me."
"Baby, we've made each other stronger."
After a few minutes, we laid together on her hospital bed as smiled at each other in silence. As I held her in my arms, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders, and as it left me, all the feelings of betrayal and abandonment I'd carried with me for the last ten years seemed to evaporate away.
"Alex, are you happy?" I murmured into her hair.
She looked up and beamed at me, her sparkling hazel eyes rich with emotion. "Very happy."
The warmth of her smile radiated through my chest, making it hard to speak. "That's good," I managed to choke out. "Because I can only be happy if I knew you were happy."
"Do you remember when we first met, you had helped me with my suitcases even though you didn't have to? You didn't care what the girl you were with said or thought. You were thoughtful enough to come and help me. I know now, just as I knew then, what a sweet and generous person you are."
Her words were like a warm blanket on a winter's night.
"You know what, I'm glad we went through so much to get to where we are now, because even after all that, our love for each other overcame every obstacle. Thank you for that, for showing me that I can have true happiness despite every pain and setback I've faced in life. Thank you for teaching me what true love is: to see their other half happy."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thank you for reading Taming Damian. I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to Damian and Alexis's story. Please consider leaving a review for this book. As an indie author, reviews help other readers to discovery my works.
My next novel, Forever Broken, is a standalone and will be release in late April 2014. The synopsis and an excerpt can be found in the following pages.
OTHER BOOKS
If you would like to stay informed of new releases, teasers, and news on my upcoming books, please sign up for Jessica Wood's mailing list and visit me at my website: http://jessicawoodauthor.com.
Below are the links to my other titles:
Emma's Story: Book #1: A Night to Forget
Emma's Story: Book #2: The Day to Remember
Emma's Story Box Set
Summer Fling
The Heartbreaker – Prequel Novella to DAMIAN
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Here is a list of my upcoming releases:
· Forever Broken – April/May 2014 – Add on Goodreads
· The Chase – Spring 2014 – Add to Goodreads
· Oblivion – Spring 2014 – Add to Goodreads
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Forever Broken is my next standalone novel and will be out in late April 2014. You can add Forever Broken on Goodreads here. Here is a synopsis and an excerpt from the novel:
Can you ever escape darkness once it has touched your soul?