Burning Up: Firefighter Contemporary Romance Series Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  That brought an even larger smile to her face. “You are badass,” she said. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”

  “Eh, I understand. I grew up with hippies as parents. I’m a lover, not a fighter. Except when someone I love is in danger, then I have no choice but to fight back.”

  Yes, I said it. I said I loved her. I knew we had a lot of catching up to do, but deep down, I knew that she was still the same person she was before. Perhaps with more battle scars than before, but she was the smart, sweet, ambitious woman I fell in love, and I never stopped loving her.

  “Your mother would be so proud of you,” she said, her voice getting softer as her eyes seemed to grow heavier.

  I gave her hand a squeeze. And she’d be even prouder of me if I settle down with you, I thought. My mom had always adored Chelsea, thought she was the one for me. She’d been right too. I knew it back then and I knew it even more now.

  “How’s Ollie doing?” she asked.

  “Last time I spoke with Natalie, he was having a blast with the girls,” I said. “They were making decorations for the girls’ party and making a huge mess apparently. Natalie had to get off the phone to clean it up. But everyone was laughing, even Ollie.”

  “Good,” she said. “I really hope he can have a normal childhood.”

  “He will, Chelsea. From now on, he will,” I said.

  “I hope I can make it to the girls’ party,” she said.

  “Me too,” I said, bringing her hand to my lips and kissing it. “But one step at a time. There is always next year.”

  I waited with bated breath, half-expecting her to fight back and tell me she wasn’t going to be around next year, but she surprised me.

  “Yes, there is, but I want to see everyone again,” she said, her eyes drooping even more. “And I want to meet the girls.”

  “Then you’ll meet them,” I said. “I’m sure they’re going to love you.”

  “I love you, Finn,” she whispered, drifting in and out of sleep.

  “I love you too, Chelsea, Now get some rest. We’ve got plenty of time to worry about everything else,” I said.

  She nodded, and relief rushed over me. She wasn’t intending to run away again. She loved me.

  We were going to get our second chance.

  Chelsea

  “Oh my gosh!” Natalie squealed when we walked up to the pavillion in Central Park, “You made it!”

  She embraced me, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me just a little too tightly. As soon as she realized it, however, she let me go. God, I’d missed Finn’s family so much. I had no idea just how much I’d missed them until recently, but I was thankful to be back in their lives again.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s all Ollie has been talking about for days now,” I chuckled.

  “Are you sure you’re okay to be out?” Natalie asked, her eyes flicking over to Finn.

  “Doctor cleared it first, don’t worry, sis,” he said.

  “Good. I’m glad you’re recovering from everything,” she said, her eyes full of concern.

  Ollie pulled on my hand, and I turned my attention to my son.

  “Can I go play, mommy?”

  “Of course, sweetheart,” I said.

  I finally had a second to soak everything in. The party was crazy, just as Finn had warned me it would be. Natalie went all out on her daughters, clearly. And while they might not be old enough to remember this years later, it was the type of party any parent would love to throw for their children.

  “The girls are over there with John,” Natalie said, pointing to a small, kids-size table littered with colorful party hats. Two little girls with identical dark brown hair and large brown eyes sat on one side with unicorn party hats on their head. They were surrounded by other children, all around their age. Oliver was already dragging me over to the table. At one time, my little boy would have been too shy to walk up to a group like that, but right away, he went over to the twins. I let go of his hand and allowed him to do his own thing as I stood back and watched.

  One of the girl’s hopped up and hugged Oliver, while the other waited behind her. My heart swelled at the sight. My son was smiling wide, no sign of any trauma or the hardships we’d experience over the last few months. He’d been through things no kid should ever have to experience, and yet, there he was, happy and playing like any normal little boy would.

  He had friends. Scratch that, he had family. For the first time, we both were surrounded by family. Finn’s family might not be related to us by blood, but I felt at home with them. It was like I’d never left all those years ago.

  Natalie was to my right, Finn on my left. He held my hand firmly in his. I looked over at him and caught him grinning like a fool, watching Ollie and the girls playing at the crafts table. He was so happy and beaming with pride, you would have thought it was his own son playing with his nieces.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Natalie said, clasping her hands together. “Finn mentioned that you had contacts for a good nanny? Mine just graduated college and is moving, so we’re on the lookout for someone amazing.”

  “Oh yes,” I said, reaching for my phone. “Her name is Lydia Harrison. She’s more than just a nanny though, she’s my best friend.”

  “I’m sure she’s just what we’re looking for then,” Natalie said. “As long as she’s not too busy helping you, that is? I don’t want to steal her away--”

  “Oh no,” I laughed. “I’m staying at home with Oliver these days. At least until he starts kindergarten, then I’ll probably go back to school.”

  “That’s great,” Natalie said, beaming with joy. “I’m so happy for the two of you.”

  It was still early, but I had to admit, I was pretty happy too. Life hadn’t gone exactly as I’d planned, but I was learning that that was okay. I was starting to realize that you couldn’t control everything, including the path your life took. I might not be a doctor, but my heart was never in that field anyway. I simply saw it as a way out of a life of poverty. But it wasn’t the only path for happiness.

  I squeezed Finn’s hand, and he looked over at me. His smile caused my tummy to feel funny, just like it had all those years ago. It was hard to imagine ever wanting to leave his side, but I knew that back in the day, I was desperate to get away from my family. So desperate, I nearly lost the only true family I’d ever had.

  Oliver rushed over to us with Chloe and Leia at his side. All three of them were grinning and laughing.

  “Can we ride the horsies, mommy? Please?”

  “Horsies?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

  “He probably means the carousel,” Finn said.

  “Oh no, my nephew is right,” Natalie said. Hearing her call Ollie her nephew made my heart swell. “We have real ponies here too.”

  “Really?” I asked, giggling at the craziness of it all.

  “Yep,” Natalie said, taking Ollie’s hand in hers. “I’ll take them over there, why don’t you have a seat and rest a bit. There’s adult beverages available, if you catch my drift.”

  She winked and headed off with all three of the kids. I started to follow behind her out of habit, not letting my son out of my sight. But Finn pulled me closer to him, holding me against his chest. I strained to see my son, who walked away happily with Natalie and her girls.

  “He’ll be fine,” Finn whispered in my ear. “Auntie Natalie is right. You should rest.”

  “But--”

  “He’ll be fine. Look, John is going with her, there’s plenty of trusting adults to keep an eye on him,” he said, turning my face toward his. I felt my insides turn to mush as I stared into his hazel eyes. He was right. Ollie was with family now. He was safe.

  We were both safe.

  I relaxed into Finn’s arms and closed my eyes. It felt so good to be there, in Central Park. It felt like home, a word I hadn’t used in a very long time. The sun was shining. A soft breeze kept the temperature comfortable. A girl could get used to this, I thought.
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br />   Finn’s lips grazed mine, and I leaned closer, pressing them firmly against his. His fingers moved upward until they were tangled in my hair.

  “We have to behave,” he teased, “There’s kids around.”

  “I know,” I said, playfully pouting. “I’ll be good.”

  “Only until we get back home later,” he said. “Then have your way with me, please.”

  We both chuckled and kissed a few more times.

  “Dad’s here,” Finn said.

  “Oh yeah? Where?”

  Finn pointed behind me, releasing me from his embrace long enough for me to turn around and see his father. Mr. Peters was a little greyer than I remembered, maybe even a little thinner, but he still had bright, lively eyes and a smile that could light up the room.

  Just like his son.

  When Finn’s dad caught sight of us, he came over, a pleased look on his handsome face.

  “Chelsea? Is it really you?” he said, chuckling and pulling me into a hug. Finn’s family were all extremely affectionate, loving people. It took some getting used to back then, but God, how I’d missed it. After breaking from the embrace, Mr. Peters just stared at me, shaking his head. “Natalie said you’d try to come, but I didn’t expect this.”

  He motioned toward Finn and me, and my cheeks flushed when I realized what he meant. “So when did you two get back together?” he asked.

  “Uh, well, only recently,” Finn muttered, his gaze flicking over to me as if to make sure I was okay with the term “together”. I nodded and took his hand in mine.

  “My, my, I always knew the two of you were meant to be together,” he said. “Just like your mom and me.”

  His face fell, but only for a moment.

  “I’m really sorry for your loss, Mr. Peters. She was such a beautiful soul,” I said.

  “Thank you, Chelsea. It’s been hard, but I know she’s in a better place,” he said, giving me a weak smile. “And please, we’re all adults here now, call me Simon.”

  “Oh, I don’t know--”

  “I insist,” Simon said, back to his old, warm self. “And after I visit with my granddaughters, I want to meet your son and catch up.”

  “Of course,” I said. “I can’t wait to introduce you to Oliver. He’s with Chloe and Leia now.”

  “Perfect,” Simon said. “And I can’t wait to hear about what brought you back to New York and into Finn’s life. Natalie was rather vague about all that.”

  “Oh,” I muttered, shuffling my feet. The mere idea of re-living the last few weeks and months, so soon after it happened, and talking about everything that had gone down just didn’t appeal to me, but I didn’t want to be rude. I was trying to find a way to skirt around it, when Simon took my free hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

  “Or maybe not,” he said. “We can talk about the future instead.”

  The future. Yes. Now that was much more promising, I thought to myself. I felt the color return to my cheeks, and I nodded happily. “That sounds like a plan. Thank you, Mr. Peters--”

  “Simon,” he corrected me with a wink. “Where have those kids run off to?”

  “They’re riding ponies with Natalie and John,” Finn said.

  “Ponies. Of course your sister rented ponies,” Simon mumbled to himself as he wandered in the direction Finn pointed him in.

  Both Finn and I couldn’t contain the laughter at his father’s reaction. As soon as he was out of ear shot, we both broke down into fits of giggles.

  “Not much has changed, I see,” I said.

  “Nope. Still the happy, positive, spiritual man he’s always been,” Finn said.

  “God, I love your family,” I said, looking around. There were many unfamiliar faces, but mixed in, were faces of cousins and aunts and uncles that I remembered seeing during holidays back in high school. Friendly faces with smiles and kind words. It was the life I was meant to live and I knew that now.

  Epilogue

  Chelsea - One Year Later

  “You look ready to burst any moment now,” Natalie teased as she helped me sit down at the picnic table.

  “I feel like I’m about to,” I laughed.

  “And the doctor said it was alright to come out?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at Finn, who had my other arm.

  “As long as we stay near a hospital, then yes,” Finn said. “Doctor said everything looks fine, the pregnancy is progressing perfectly.”

  My hands rested on my gigantic belly. I’d grown a lot bigger during this pregnancy than with Oliver, or at least it felt that way. Everything on me hurt, but it was worth it. I knew, in the end, when we held our little girl, all the memories of morning sickness and back pain would melt away. Love was amazing like that.

  The sun shimmered off my wedding bands, making me smile. We’d only been married for about six months, and it was a quick wedding as I was already beginning to show. Some people assumed the pregnancy had been an accident, but it wasn’t.

  Oh no, it was very much planned. We might not have waited very long to get married and get pregnant, but we’d had years together already. As soon as we started living together, everything fell into place and it had felt like I’d never left. Finn was an absolutely amazing father to Oliver, and we nixed the term stepfather from our vocabulary. Maybe one day, I’d explain things to Ollie. He’d probably have some memories of Rick, especially since we talked about it in counseling a lot. He’d been seeing a child therapist, and had seemed to adjust to our new life fairly well with very little damage.

  And of course, he absolutely adored Finn. The feeling was mutual, of course.

  Once I was seated, Finn sat down beside me. Oliver climbed into his lap. Natalie and the girls sat across from us. A massive pink and purple birthday cake was being carried in just as we sat down.

  “Jesus, that thing is bigger than last year’s,” I laughed.

  “Every year is going to get bigger and better,” Finn whispered, shaking his head in amusement at his sister. ‘That’s just the way it is with Natalie.”

  We were back at Central Park. The party from the year before had gone over so well, the girl’s asked to do it again. Of course Natalie had to make sure it was different somehow. Instead of the unicorn theme, the girl’s requested a princess theme - and both of them were adorned in elaborate gowns and tiaras fit for tiny princesses. Natalie made sure to get Oliver a matching suit - and he looked dashing as Prince Charming, even if he complained about how itchy it was. I knew he wouldn’t wear it for long. I expected the girl’s to tear off their dresses in favor of comfy clothes soon enough too, especially since we eyed a princess castle bounce house being set up in the distance.

  Natalie rolled her eyes and ignored our gentle taunting. “Just wait until I finish planning Oliver’s birthday party. If you think this is something, I’ve always wanted to plan a boy’s birthday bash.”

  “Sounds like maybe you should have gone into children’s birthday party planning instead of academia,” Finn teased.

  “Maybe so. It’s a lot more fun to play around with princesses and dragons than teach bored college students,” she sighed. “But you know me, I really wanted to make a difference in the world.”

  Finn and her were a lot alike in that regard. In fact, their entire family was that way. Scratch that, our entire family was that way. Since I was now officially married into the Peters family, they were legally my family as well. Not that anyone ever cared about the legality of it - I’d been considered a de facto family member for awhile now, and I knew I always would be.

  “Speaking which, how do you like your new job, Finn?” Natalie asked. She bit her lip, and prepared for the worst. After all, Finn had really struggled with the decision to leave the firehouse.

  “I’m loving it,” he said. “I get to come home every evening and eat dinner with my family.”

  “And I don’t have to worry about getting a call with bad news,” I added.

  Finn nodded. “That too. I mean, I’m still on call in case of an
emergency, another terrorist attack or hurricane, but mostly I work in the offices now.”

  We’d managed to find a solution to Finn’s dilemma. He worked with the local Red Cross now, providing disaster relief. No more running into burning buildings, he mostly went in after the disaster and helped the survivors. He was trained in search and rescue as well, and was getting his degree in social work on top of it all. He wanted to help people re-build lives, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

  Our life together couldn’t be any better.

  A fluttering in my tummy caused me to squirm slightly. “Everything okay?” Natalie asked. “Or will my niece be sharing her birthday with my daughters?”

  She seemed eager at the thought. Both Chloe and Leia looked at me with wide eyes.

  Chloe said, “That would be awesome!”

  A twinge of pain took my breath away. As much as I wanted to fight it, to make the baby wait one more day to be born, I had a feeling this just might be it. I looked over at Finn, and without saying a word, he jumped up from the table.

  “I’ll get the car,” he said.

  A contraction ripped through my insides, and before I knew what was happening, the ground beneath me was covered in water.

  “No time,” I said. “Call an ambulance. The baby is coming.”

  Ooo000ooo

  I couldn’t believe it was happening. My daughter would forever share her birthday with her cousins. We left the party, entrusting Natalie to keep an eye on Oliver while I delivered the baby, and thankfully, everything went as planned.

  Isabelle Elise Peters was born only three hours later.

  Once we were in recovery, Natalie brought Oliver in to meet his baby sister. He rushed over to us, eyes wide, as he stared down at the bundle of joy in my arms. I’d always feared he might be jealous of his sister, or worry that Finn might not love him as much once the baby was born. But as soon as the two of them were together, those fears melted away instantly.