Unexpectedly Yours(36)

He went to lower himself, intending to sink down on one knee, but found  his head butting against the metal railings of the bed. Damn, too low.  Shuffling back to his feet, he hunkered down until his face was just  below Hannah's. She was gazing at him in bemusement.

"Is something wrong with your leg?" she asked. "Do you have a cramp?"

"No, my leg's fine."

"It's okay if you feel queasy, you know. I've seen plenty of big men  fainting in hospitals. You should sit down before you keel over."

"I'm not going to keel over." Oh God, what a brilliant start this was.  Shifting forward, he took her hand in both of his and swallowed against  the sudden lump in his throat. "Hannah … " His mouth was dry and raspy  with nerves. "Hannah, before the doctor arrives, I have something very  important to ask you. Will you-" Goddammit why did his voice keep  breaking up? He took a deep breath. He'd bombed two proposals already,  but third time's a charm, right?

"Hannah, sweetheart, will you marry me?"

Her hand lay very still in his. Her eyes darkened, and she drew her hand  away. "Derek, you do know what's going on, don't you? It's likely I'm  going to lose this baby, and if that happens then there's no need for  you to marry me or to turn your life upside down." She spoke calmly, but  he could detect the pain pulsing behind each word, the effort it cost  her.

"Which is why I'm asking you now before the doctor comes. Because  whatever happens with the baby, I know one thing for sure. I love you,  Hannah. I love you with-with every single drop of blood in me. I had a  crush on you for ages, but that's nothing to what I feel for you now.  I'm crazy deep in love with you. I want to be with you all the time. I  want to marry you, whether we're having a baby or not. I want to build  my life with you, share whatever I have with you, laugh with you, cry  with you, grow old with you. It doesn't matter if we have kids or not,  because you are all I need. You mean the world to me. You're-you're  everything to me. I know I'm sounding like a clichéd love song, but it's  the truth."   





 

He reached for her hand again, trembling and bursting with the feelings  that had to come out. For better or worse. This was it. He'd lay it all  on the line for her.

"I love you, babe. It's always been you, only you. From the first moment  I met you when you walked into the kitchen and pulled that pecan pie  out of the oven. When you got married and moved away, I tried to put you  out of my mind, but that didn't work. And when we met again, I fell in  love with you for real, forever." He firmed his grip on her fingers. "I  know I messed up those first two proposals, and you deserve more. You  deserve rainbows and unicorns and sky writing, but what's here in my  heart won't change." He gulped. "Well, Hannah? Do I … do I stand a chance  with you?"

Everything in him tensed as he waited. Waited and watched. Watched for a  sign, anything, from her. A muscle twitched in her cheek.

"Derek … " She sounded faint. Faint with happiness? "I-I-" She gulped convulsively.

He leaned forward, heart in mouth. "Yes?"

"Derek, I-"

The drapes around the bed billowed apart as a doctor bustled in, accompanied by the nurse wheeling a piece of medical equipment.

"Evening, folks. I'm Dr. Braithwaite. Hope I haven't kept you waiting  too long. I know how anxious you must be." The doctor moved to Hannah's  side while the nurse passed him the patient chart.

Derek's head was spinning as he straightened up. The nurse raised her  eyebrows at him. "Excuse me, sir. I need to check her drip."

He began to draw his hand away from Hannah's, but she suddenly grabbed at him and bound her fingers tight around his.

"Wait!"

At Hannah's cry, Derek, the doctor, and the nurse froze. Even Frank and  Rosalind appeared at the parted drapes, both looking anxious.

"Derek-" She tugged at his hand and pulled him forward until he was  pressed up against the bed. "Derek, do you mean it?" she whispered, her  big green eyes pleading with him. "Did you really mean what you said?"

"Every last word." His ribs ached from the thumping of his poor heart.

Tears gathered in her eyes, magnifying the glow radiating from her face.  Pulling him closer, she threw her arms around him, uncaring of the  needle or the drip.

"Oh, Derek," she murmured in his ear. "I love you too, so very much. I  was too scared to admit it the other day, but I realized I couldn't hide  from the truth anymore. That's why I got all dressed up tonight. I was  going to go to you and tell you I love you." Her voice broke. "I love  you with all my heart, dear, sweet, wonderful Derek, and-and I'd be  honored and overjoyed to be your wife."

"Oh thank God. I-I gotta tell you, if you turned me down, I was just gonna keep on asking until you said yes."

His own tears came, then, and for a while there was only him and Hannah  and whispered endearments, and nothing else mattered. Nothing at all.

Eventually, reluctantly, they drew apart. The doctor and nurse were  still standing at the bedside, their own eyes suspiciously bright, and  Frank and Rosalind were hugging each other, openly weeping.

"Er, we can come back in five minutes," the doctor said.

Derek shook his head. "Thanks, but I think we're good." He darted a  glance at Hannah. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes glimmering the most  amazing green. "My fiancée"-he breathed in deep, relishing the word that  proclaimed her his-"and I are ready. For whatever happens."

Hannah held him close, their fingers entwined, their happiness tinged  with anxiety. This was what life and love was all about, this would make  their partnership stronger, this was everything he wanted. Now and  forever.





Epilogue

"Happy birthday to yoooou!"

As the room echoed with cheers and applause, Amelia clapped her chubby  little hands too and obligingly smiled for the cameras, flashing her six  tiny white teeth. Hannah held her baby close to her chest as together  they blew out the single candle on top of the butter cream cake.

"Happy birthday, angel," Hannah whispered in her daughter's soft ear.

Amelia waved her arms and legs in excitement. "Da! Da!"

The tall man who'd been filming the event put down his camera and held out his arms. "Come on, then. Come to Daddy."

Hannah handed the squirming infant to him so she could help Rosalind cut  the cake and hand out slices to everyone. The living room was crowded  with friends and family gathered to celebrate Amelia's first birthday.

"Derek's so gorgeous with her," Amber said to Hannah. "I've decided  there's something very hot about a guy going all soft and mushy over his  baby."   





 

Hannah couldn't help smiling as she watched Derek and Amelia blowing  raspberries at each other. Her daughter had inherited her fair hair from  Hannah, but her blue eyes were pure Derek, as was the determined frown  that came over her face whenever she really wanted something.

"I couldn't agree more." Hannah sighed, replete with happiness.

She couldn't imagine life without Derek. Over the past nineteen months  he'd been her rock. He'd been there for every crisis big and small, from  the two miscarriage scares, the long and painful birth, the feeding  problems, the colic, the fevers, the sleepless nights. He'd been there  for everything, and she was ashamed to think she'd ever doubted his  commitment.

Derek broke off a piece of cake and handed it to Amelia. The little girl  licked the icing, then fed the morsel to her father, smearing butter  cream over his lips. With a chuckle, Hannah walked over to them.

"Need some help there?" she asked.

"Ma!" Amelia pronounced before cramming the rest of the cake into her mouth.

Standing on tiptoe, Hannah leaned into Derek and licked the frosting  from his lips. Warmth moved through her at the taste of him, sweet and  savory.

"Thanks, babe." His blue eyes gleamed back at her. "We should save some  of this frosting, and later tonight I'll lick it off you."

She trailed her fingers over his forearm. "Promise?"

"You bet. I need to take full advantage of you before you get caught up in your studying."

Hannah's first semester at college started next week, and she was both nervous and excited.

"Are you sure you'll manage with Amelia?" She had enrolled as a  part-time student, and Frank and Rosalind had offered to help out with  the babysitting, but most of the care would fall on Derek.

"Are you kidding? Haven't I shown you how I can manage this past year?"

"Yes, but you have your own work." Orders for his hand-crafted furniture  came in so frequently he'd had to turn down some of them.

Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed her. "Amelia and I will be fine."

"Yes, you will." She rested her head against his shoulder. Amelia patted  her cheek as if to reassure her, leaving behind a trail of sticky  crumbs.

"This frosting's nice, but I'm really hanging out for some of your pecan pie."