A Week for Love to Bloom

by Wolfe, Scarlet

  “Lauren, you deserve more than I could ever give you, but I’ll do my best.”

  “Stop, you’ve given me everything I need, and I mean everything.” Lauren was tempted to give him his gift at that moment but decided to wait until the next place since Justin was genuinely excited about it.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, I’m curious,” Lauren said excitedly.

  She noticed they were driving toward the direction of her home and Justin’s parents’ home. Her stomach was doing flip flops, and she couldn’t decipher if it was from the baby or from her nerves. They started slowing down near a gravel road.

  “Here we are,” Justin said as they turned onto the gravel road. It was a long driveway and about half way down Lauren spotted a small lake with cattails growing all around. It sat below a rolling hill of tan and yellow hues. She eyed the flourishing massive oak and maple trees filling the back of the property.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  Justin stopped the truck just passed the lake. He jumped out and went around to help Lauren out. He grabbed a blanket behind the seat, and when Lauren wasn’t looking he reached for her ring in the glove box.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “Will you sit with me by the lake?” he asked.

  “Sure.” She sighed wondering when she’d get an answer.

  “Just come with me.”

  Lauren sat on the blanket as lady like as possible in her short sundress. Justin sat facing her with his legs crossed. She noticed his hands shaking as he took hers, squeezing them tight.

  “Baby, this is my property. It’s five acres that my grandparents left to me. I’ve debated on selling it many times, and I’m extremely grateful I didn’t.”

  “Wow, you haven’t said a word about it. It’s breathtaking here, Justin.”

  “Lauren, the last few months have been the best of my life. The only painful parts were when I thought I lost you, and those were significant because they confirmed the depth of my love for you. The passion between us is without a doubt the most intense emotion I’ve ever felt. I didn’t want to get out of your truck that first night, and I haven’t wanted to be away from you one second since.” Justin started getting up on one knee.

  A few joyful tears filled Lauren’s eyes as she relished in his loving words. She believed he was going to stand them both up, but once he pulled out the ring box the lightheaded feeling returned, and she was thankful she was sitting. She felt her heart dance from the anticipation.

  Justin, shaking even more, opened the box in front of her. Lauren sucked in a loud breath. The ring sparkled in the sunlight, and had an antique looking setting with a circle shaped diamond in the middle.

  “Lauren, I’ve never wanted a thing from this town, and now it holds my entire future. Please do me the honor of being my wife, so I can wake up to your beautiful smile every morning, build a home for us to raise our children in and make all the possibilities we’ve dreamed about a reality. Lauren Evans, will you marry me?”

  They were both trembling as heavy tears filled her eyes, causing them to shimmer. She placed one hand on her stomach and cupped his face with the other.

  “Yes, Justin. I would love to marry you.”

  He placed the ring on her finger, and in one swoop, he picked her up and gave her a hug, enclosing her once again in his warm embrace. Justin gave her a long, sensual kiss. The magnetic sparks were flying between them as their kiss intensified. They hadn’t made love in weeks, and their craving for each other’s touch was almost too much for them to control.

  Lauren pulled her trembling lips from his. “I have a gift for you.”

  “Baby, I don’t need anything but your warm body pressed against me.”

  “I can’t return this,” she said with a nervous smile. Lauren walked to the truck to get the box. Justin paced near the blanket as adrenaline continued to flow through him. Lauren pulled the box out of her purse and took a deep breath. When she returned to the blanket, she handed it to him.

  He raised an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t have bought me anything.”

  “I promise I didn’t buy it.”

  Justin smiled with curiosity and pulled the ribbons from the box. He opened it slowly and stared inside for what Lauren felt like was an eternity. His eyes filled with urgency, widening to their fullest potential.

  “Lauren, am I looking at what I think I am?” He grabbed one of her hands. The yearning in his eyes for the answer was remarkable.

  “Yes, that’s our baby. I’m pregnant, Justin,” Lauren answered nervously.

  He let go of her hand and pointed at the picture. She could see the deep rise and fall of his chest.

  “And this ... this is a picture of our baby?” He asked in a quiet voice, never taking his eyes off the tiny dot on the paper.

  “Yes. I’m almost ten weeks. I know it’s shocking and not the best timing.”

  He lowered himself to the blanket. Lauren was starting to feel queasy from the heat and his lack of response.

  “Justin, please say something.”

  He looked up at Lauren with a shocked expression as sweat dripped from his forehead. “Sit, Lauren,” Justin said as he grabbed hold of her hand. His eyes quickly filled with tears.

  “I thought there was no room left in my heart to love anyone besides you and then you showed me this. Lauren, there’s a part of us growing inside of you—us. I’ve dreamed about you having my children. I knew it had to be you the minute I saw Jack in your arms.

  “It might not be the easiest of times, but you’re carrying a life that binds us. It’s absolutely the right time.” Justin pulled her over into his lap. He reached his hand down and laid it on her stomach as images flashed through his mind. Thoughts of seeing her belly grow, feeling his baby kick, holding it at birth, and speaking its name had him overcome with joy.

  “I moved my stuff back to the guest house last night. Will you go back there with me?”

  “Absolutely, I need to get out of this heat, anyway.”

  “God, Lauren. I’m going to have to take extra care of you while you’re pregnant.”

  “I guess I’m not too fragile since I’ve passed out twice.”

  “Twice?”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you about that yesterday. We’re definitely giving the people in this town a lot to talk about.”

  Chapter Forty

  Lauren sat on the bed while Justin got her a bottled water. He sat next to her, and with one hand, he grabbed all of her hair, twisting it and holding it up off her neck while they tried to cool off.

  “He or she is due to grace us with its presence in March. I could already hear its heartbeat.”

  Justin appeared surprised. “You can really hear it already?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry you weren’t there. I promise you can go next time. There will be many opportunities.”

  She saw his expression change from joy to a frown. “Lauren, when were you going to tell me if we hadn’t got back together yesterday?”

  “I swear I was going to tell you when your classes started. I just knew if I told you before, you’d drop out and move back here. I don’t know why I underestimated your stubbornness. I have to admit, I was so glad when I heard you were still here. I knew you weren’t going to let me walk away once I told you about the baby. Your stalker skills would’ve been put to full use,” she said, grinning.

  “You’re one hundred percent correct, young lady. I would’ve held you hostage for sure. Lauren, where do you want to live? When do you want to get married? We have a lot of decisions to make.”

  “I wondered if you’d want to move into my place. This guest house isn’t that big, and I see no sense in trying to pay for a place if we can stay there.”

  “I don’t know how I feel about living with your mother. Wow, saying that stings.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to provide for you and the baby myself, without help. I have the money for us to live out on our ow
n.”

  “My house is huge, and I’m sure Mom won’t care once she knows about the baby and our plans to marry. It’s just … there’s been a lot of changes already.”

  “Lauren, is it important to you to stay there with your mom? You grew up there, and I imagine you’re worried about her being alone this soon after your father leaving.”

  She picked nervously at the hem of her sundress. “It would mean a lot to me to go from my home to the one we’ll live in forever.”

  “Then we’ll live there,” he said as he ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “Now, when do you want to get married?”

  “You pick this one since you proposed,” Lauren said.

  “If you’re OK with it, I’d like to marry you soon. I want it all.” Justin lay back on the bed, pulling Lauren down with him and squeezing her tight.

  “What do you think about us getting married at my place or at your property with family and a few friends?” Lauren asked.

  “Don’t you want a big wedding?”

  “No. I really don’t. I have everything I need already.”

  “Lauren, as soon as I graduate we’ll start building on the property. It seems like fate that it’s so close to the nursery.”

  “I still want to work, but I definitely want to have plenty of time with our baby. Mom will have her hands full next spring, but I wouldn’t change anything.” She placed her hand on her stomach, and a second later Justin’s was on top of it.

  “Lauren, umm ... I guess we know when this happened.”

  She smiled sheepishly. “The table.” They both laughed.

  He planted a kiss on her lower neck. “I know we still have decisions to make.” He kissed her neck a little higher. “And we have a lot to do.” Justin breathed in the fragrant smell of her hair. “But right now I just want to make love to my fiancé.” He nibbled on her ear. “I’ve missed your soft skin ... your enticing smell ... and your sweet taste,” he whispered.

  “You know I can’t resist you when you say things like that,” Lauren whispered back.

  “Then don’t,” he said before he captured her mouth.

  There was no self-control as their craving became too strong to resist. Passion took over, spiraling down to the depths of their soul. The place they could never come back from until they gave each other all of themselves.

  Chapter Forty-One

  She lay on top of him with ragged breath, still stuck to him from their glistening sweat. Goose bumps were rising to the surface of her warm body from Justin’s fingers lightly trailing down her back.

  “God, I missed you. I’ll never get enough of you, Lauren. I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too.” Quietly she listened to his angelic heartbeat.

  “Justin.”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “I get to do this with you forever.”

  Epilogue

  Ten Months Later

  Lauren glanced in the mirror before she picked up the bouquet of flowers. “Ashley, you make the most beautiful bride. I couldn’t be happier for you and Andrew. Thank you for being there for me, especially over the last year, and I hope you know how much I love you. Are you ready?” Lauren asked as she handed Ashley her bouquet.

  “You’re going to make me cry, Lauren. I love you, too. The last year was wonderful for the both of us. I’m marrying the love of my life. I got to see my best friend fall madly in love with her soul mate, and I became an aunt. Can it get any better?”

  Lauren leaned in to give Ashley a light hug. “They’re signaling for us.” Both women took a deep breath before they walked to the entrance of the chapel. Walking down the aisle, Lauren gazed into Justin’s eyes as he stood next to Andrew as his best man.

  When Justin saw how beautiful she looked, he thought of their October wedding. Even though it was a small, outdoor ceremony at her property, he had insisted they wear formal attire. He’d felt disappointment over Lauren not getting to experience a large wedding, so he had Claire and Ashley accompany her to a bridal shop to surprise her with a dress. He told them he’d pay for whichever one she wanted, but Lauren being modest in every way picked out a beautiful, yet inexpensive gown.

  Justin was unable to take his eyes off of her their entire wedding day, and seeing her walk down the aisle at their friends’ wedding, he realized that day would be no different.

  “What a beautiful ceremony,” Lauren said as she peered out the window on the drive to the reception.

  “You’re beautiful and wearing yet another dress that I get to remove from your irresistible body.”

  “I was distracted by your sexiness during the wedding. You look very handsome in your tux, so how about we help each other out of our clothing,” she said.

  Justin glanced over at Lauren. He wanted to see her twinkling eyes and the adorable grin he knew she’d be giving him. “I reserved the nicest room at the hotel. We’re way overdue for a night alone,” he said.

  Upon entering the reception room off of the hotel, Justin and Lauren quickly searched the room. Their eyes lit up as they approached Claire, who was holding their baby girl. Justin stole her from Claire and gently kissed her forehead before he noticed his friend Max walking up.

  “I’m guessing this is your pride and joy?” Max asked, smiling.

  “This is her. Grace Rose Garrison is her name and keeping me up at night is her game,” he said, pulling her blanket open a little to show off her fancy dress.

  “I hated when you left California, but seeing you with your gorgeous wife and your baby girl, I’m happy that you left when you did. It was meant to be, dude,” Max said as he grabbed Justin’s shoulder.

  Andrew’s father, Fred, approached them. “Let me see this beautiful baby I keep hearing about,” he said as he leaned in to take a peek at Grace Rose. “She sure is pretty. I see she has a ton of thick, dark hair like you and Lauren, and look at those big, blue eyes. Andrew told me you got a job testing soil samples.”

  “Yes, I just graduated with a degree in soil science. I’m hoping to go to graduate school when Grace gets a little older, but honestly I couldn’t ask for my life to be any better than it is right now. I have everything I ever wished for,” Justin said as he beamed down at his three month old.

  “My turn,” Lauren said. An excited grin spread across her face as she took Grace from Justin’s arms. “My dad wants to hold her before he leaves.”

  “My parents want to take her home shortly, so don’t run off with her for too long,” Justin said.

  “I see he’s the overly protective one,” Max said.

  “If you only knew. He goes a little overboard, but it’s cute,” Lauren said as she gave Justin a chaste kiss on the cheek before she went to show off Grace Rose to Tom.

  After several hours of wedding festivities, Justin and Lauren retired to their hotel room. Lauren sat on the bed and removed her heels, rubbing each foot after.

  “Hey, woman, I thought I was doing the removing.”

  “Sorry, babe, but the sexy heels have to go. I’m glad to see my lustful husband return, though. You’ve been gone too long. I’m not just a mother, you know.”

  “I feel we’ve had a good sex life, even while you were pregnant and since Grace was born.”

  “I know that, but you hold back. I can tell. Am I going to have to drag you to the table in the greenhouse?” she asked with a provocative look.

  Justin sat on the bed next to her. “Don’t worry. You’re all mine tonight, and I intend to take full advantage of that, but first I have a surprise for you. I could be wrong, but I think you’re going to like it.” He took her hand into his as he positioned his body more to face her.

  “You’ve given me so much, Lauren. You and Grace made me whole, so I want to do whatever it takes to make you as happy as possible every day. I want to build a house on our land, but not for us.”

  Lauren sat silent for several seconds. “What do you mean, Justin?”

  “I want to build a home for Claire to live in. Then one da
y it could possibly be Grace’s house if she wanted it, or maybe … another child of ours.”

  “Where the heck would we live?”

  “Where we do now. The place we call home.”

  “It’s old. I know that’s not what you want. You were so excited about building on your property.”

  “I do want to live there. It holds special memories for me. I think about that first week we met and the time we spent there falling in love. We were married there. We lived there when I graduated college, and most importantly we brought Grace there from the hospital. I can’t imagine moving her from there whether she’s young or not. It doesn’t feel right. The nursery is your world, Lauren. I want Grace to grow up there. It’s warm and already full of memories for me.”

  “Mom will never go for it,” Lauren said as she shook her head nervously.

  “She already agreed. I didn’t want to get your hopes up and then she say no, so I spoke with her first. I made it very clear that she needed to be truthful with me, and she insisted that it’s what she wants for you … for our family. The change might be what she needs. We’ll do some renovations on the house. You can decide how you’d like it, and we’ll make sure the changes flow with the older character of the home.”

  Lauren’s green eyes filled with tears, causing them to glisten. “You’re the most thoughtful and loving man. This is another moment I’ll cherish forever. If you’re sure it’s what you want then I’d be thrilled to stay there. I love you, Justin.”

  She grabbed the back of his hair and pulled him down on top of her. He growled and kissed her passionately, running his hand up and down the side of her curves before sliding the silk of her dress up above her waist.

  Justin ran his hand down between her thighs to her moist center. He slid two fingers between her panties, pushing them inside of her while he ravaged her neck with his greedy mouth.

  “Baby, you feel so good.” He felt the lust surging through him.

  Lauren pushed him off of her. “Clothes—off—now,” she said between breaths.