It was almost eighteen months after Daniel returned, that the quiet tenderness between them at last became something more, when they were walking one day through the park. It was where Daniel had first held his child and promised to stand by her.
It was a winter's day on this occasion. They had been walking side-by-side with their little toddler racing ahead of them when Daniel silently took hold of Laura's hand and Laura looked up at him with eyes full of love and gave his hand a squeeze.
From there their affections grew more tender and more frequent. Daniel would lend her his coat on cold nights, or brush her hair from her face when it fell over her eyes. Laura would brush a crinkle from his shirt or rest a hand on his arm when he made her laugh. Then, one day, at a family trip to the zoo, Daniel had kissed her in front of the penguin exhibit and Laura felt like a teenager again, feeling weak in the knees as butterflies rioted in her stomach.
Daniel moved in with Laura just after Annie's third birthday. They moved to a new house with two bedrooms. Annie had the smaller bedroom, which they painted pink and covered in castles and princesses, which left the larger room for Daniel and Laura to share.
Nights spent in each other's arms were nights of complete contentment. Laura fell asleep every night knowing that she was loved and safe and woke up every morning glad to get to do it all over again. The endless monotony of failed relationships and missing pieces was over and Laura was finally living the unplanned life which had stemmed from an unplanned pregnancy and led to such sublime satisfaction.
There were nights too, when passions ran high and Daniel forgot that he was a father and Laura forgot that she was a mother. Instead, Daniel was the captain who had accepted the last glass of water and Laura was the girl who had run out into the street in a revealing pair of shorts. On those nights, they appreciated each other in different, but very satisfying ways.
Life was sweet and Laura enjoyed her new life with Daniel and Annie and felt no need to force anything or rush anything. She was so content in all she had that she could stay that way forever.
One night, however, when Daniel and Laura were lying in bed together and Laura's head was lying against her man's chest, Daniel said something which made her eyes light up with happiness.
“Let's make a baby,” he whispered to her. “Planned this time.”
“Do you mean it?” Laura had breathed in reply.
“Yes,” Daniel nodded, stroking back her hair and kissing her forehead. “I want to have a family with you, Laura. I want paddling pools and pink rabbits and bad Italian with you for the rest of my life.”
Laura laughed delightedly and nodded. “Let's make a baby.”
It wasn't the traditional order to do things. But Daniel and Laura's relationship hadn't followed the usual rules from the beginning. It was about a week after Laura announced that she was pregnant with Daniel's child a second time, that all the unspoken things were finally said aloud.
The two had been walking home from the theater one night when they began to stroll down a street that Laura hadn't seen down in some time. They passed Marie's house first and then Laura spotted the light of the new inhabitants in the house where she'd used to live.
“What are we doing here, Dan?” she giggled.
All of a sudden, Daniel dropped to one knee and opened a little velvet box. Inside glittered a beautiful diamond ring. Laura felt her joy rise up within her in an amazed giggle before he'd even spoken, but she stayed silent as he voiced his intentions.
“This is where I first laid eyes on you,” he told her. “You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I will never forget what your eyes did to me,” he said in a low tone. “The night we spent together is a night that compares to no other. When I didn't see you again, I felt like I'd lost something exceptional and I spent months afraid that I would never feel that alive again.
When you came to me again out of the blue and with a baby, you terrified me,” he said with a loving laugh. “But then I saw how strong and brave you were and I knew that here was a woman who was strong enough for both of us. I loved Annie the second I laid eyes on her, but you enchanted me, too. At first, I thought I couldn't get you out of my mind because you were a stunning woman; more beautiful than any woman I've ever seen.
But then, as we have raised our daughter together, I got to know the real you and I found that you are independent and strong, but kind and loving. I came to find that the night that we first met each other was just beginning at the end.
I didn't know it at the time, but you amazed me because you were the woman I was going to fall in love with. You were the woman who was going to give me a child that I would love more than life itself. And now that we're about to start that journey all over again, I know that there's no one else I'd rather be here with. Laura Clark, will you marry me?”