Why can’t I just trust that he has a good reason and that he really cares about me!
I should do something to take my mind off it. I’m still Marnie’s nanny, after all. I should plan something for today, maybe go out to the park or something.
Or maybe I should get her that puppy! That would be sure to make Joe pay attention. I giggle to myself as I get dressed. A puppy would be awesome.
I head downstairs, prepared to make some breakfast for myself, or I guess lunch, and I see Marnie on the sofa watching cartoons.
“Hey, kiddo,” I say, sitting down next to her, “Where’s your dad?”
Marnie shrugs, still staring at the TV.
Really? There has to be something up with him. Why would he just take off without saying anything?
“Did he say when he was going to be back?”
Marnie shakes her head.
Okay, that’s it. It’s a nice day and I’m not going to let her stay inside watching TV all day. I’m her nanny for heaven’s sake.
“Right,” I say as I get up to switch off the TV, much to Marnie’s annoyance.
“Marnie, why don’t you go upstairs and get dressed? Why don’t we go and have our own adventure? What do you say?”
She grins up at me before running upstairs to her room.
I think for a moment about what we could do. It’s a nice weekend and I suppose we could go out for lunch. I could take her to Cam’s coffee place. She really loved hanging out with Kat and Cameron.
Suddenly I hear some noise outside. People are shouting or arguing about something.
As I walk over to the door the shouting seems to be getting louder. It’s as if the argument is on our front porch. But it can’t be, can it?
I move the curtain aside and peek through the window next to the door. Then I see something that makes my heart shatter.
Julia and Joe are standing on the front porch.
“Kiss me,” she says, plainly.
“I’m sorry, what?” Joe looks shocked.
“You heard me. Kiss me. Right here, right now. On the lips… like you mean it.”
I jump and shut the curtains, stumbling back from the door.
I… I don’t understand, he’s been sneaking out to see her, but he told me about her showing up? I don’t get why he would bring her here, or why he would be kissing her! My brain hurts and I can’t work any of this out. Why would he do this to me? After I gave him so much. I gave him my virginity! He told me it was an honor, that he thought it was special, that I was special. He told me he loved me! And I loved him!
I angrily storm up to my room. No way is he going to do this to me, that selfish son of a bitch! I mean… he obviously doesn’t care about me… or his baby. The baby he doesn’t even know about, and now, maybe never will.
Marnie. I sigh as I slump down on my bed.
I’m going to miss Marnie. How can I do this to her? She clearly needs a nanny if her dad is going to be like this! But I can’t do it. I just can’t. I want to put her growth and development first, but how can I still be here with him? Having to spend every day knowing that he lied to me, that he cheated on me.
I wipe my eyes as I sit up. You know what? I’m not going to sit by and take this. He may have proved to me that I’m strong and independent, but what kind a woman would I be, what kind of role model would I be, if I just gave up every time I lost a man.
I am strong and I am independent, so I know to get up and leave when I’m in a bad relationship! I can raise a kid by myself. Joe can have his life however he wants it, especially if he doesn’t want me in it.
As I get up and look around my room, I think about how I only recently moved in. Screw this. I can pack if I want to, Kat and Cameron will look after me for a bit until I find my own place. Who cares if I’m giving up a family that I actually care about.
“Ella, Ella! I need to tell you something!” Joe runs up to my room with a huge smile on his face looking extremely pleased with himself. He stops when he sees me starting to pack my clothes away.
“What… what’s this?” he asks, freezing in place as his expression changes.
“Isn’t it obvious? Or did you think I would never find out?” I narrow my eyes at him, the big liar.
“Well, it looks like you’re packing up. Are you going somewhere?”
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? For me to just go away so you don’t have to sneak around anymore. Then you can just be a huge jerk without caring about anyone but yourself!”
“Ella, what are you talking about?” He tries to get close to me, and I can see him sweating.
“Don’t touch me! I saw you out there with your ex-wife, and I heard you on the phone last night! I trusted you! And this is what you give me in return!”
“No, wait. It’s not what you think!” he tries, but honestly I don’t want to deal with this for another minute. I don’t want to bother with a cheater.
I push past him and head downstairs. He chases after me.
“Please, Ella you’ve got to listen to me! I did it for you!” he cries out, stopping me from walking away.
“No Joe. How could you do this to me? After all this time, telling me how much you care, letting me believe that you love me, letting me trust you to the point of actually having sex with you! I wasn’t lying, you were my first! Did you just want the satisfaction of banging a virgin before you went back to your wife?”
“Ella? Is that what you think?” He looks like he’s about to cry. But I’m not falling for it. No matter how much it looks like he’s crying, “I’m not going back to her! I swear! I did this because of you!”
“Oh, you’re blaming me! That’s rich. I can’t believe you! After everything… this is just unfair! I thought you were okay that I was ready to tell you how I felt!? I’m sorry that I’ve been distant. I’ve just been dealing with some stuff on my own! So I’m sorry if I didn’t feel ready to tell you that I’m pregnant!”
He gasps, unable to speak. Gosh, I can’t believe I just shouted that at him. That’s not how— No! Don’t let him pull you back. Oh God, he is actually crying, and now I’m crying. Dammit!
“Are you going to explain yourself?” I ask him, my anger having turned to sadness.
“I… I am, but thinking about it now… it all sounds so stupid.” He wipes his eyes and looks down at the floor, “I knew about the baby. Marnie told me by accident and begged me not to say. It got me thinking… I mean, I’d already been thinking.”
“About what?”
“I didn’t want to push you or say anything too soon, but when I told you how I felt, it just sort of slipped out. I didn’t want you to go through it alone, I wanted to show you that I was going to be there for you no matter what. That I was going to take care of this baby with you! I just wanted to make sure I had it when the perfect moment came! Now I don’t have it… and I don’t even have you anymore either.”
“Have what?”
“I went out to buy a ring, but Julia followed me. She bought the ring before I could, then held it over me so I’d pay for everything for her. I went through a lot of stupid stuff to get you the perfect ring. I risked a lot and then outside, she asked me to kiss her and I realized that she’s just jealous of you! She was trying to ruin what we have!”
“Really?” I don’t know if I should believe him, I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Could he really be telling the truth? I mean, it sounds so crazy, why would someone put themselves through that? Just for me?
He nods, smiling weakly at me.
“Well, if that’s true, then where’s the ring?”
“Don’t you get it? I don’t have it! I told her she could keep the ring because our love is stronger and more precious to me than anything else. I’m sorry I lied to you. And I’m sorry that I gambled our relationship over something as meaningless as a ring. It’s just that I could picture your eyes the moment I first saw the ring. I could see how happy we both would be when you said yes, and I just got a litt
le crazy. I would do anything for you, even if it meant putting up with my ex-wife blackmailing me. I can’t imagine you even want to look at me right now, let alone even think about getting engaged! I understand if you want to leave.”
He was going to propose. He was going to buy me a gorgeous ring and propose. But how am I supposed to believe this? I mean, I want to… but—
“Ella!” Marnie shouts as she comes running down the stairs, “Ella, you have to see this!”
“What’s up?” I look down at her and she’s holding my phone. I want to ask her how she got hold of it, but she’s trying to show me a video she took.
I take a moment to compose myself. Marnie is looking up at me with a hopeful look on her face and Joe is on the verge of breaking down at my feet.
Marnie holds up my phone and shows me a video that she took. It’s the view from her window showing Joe and Julia at the porch.
Oh for God’s sake, what?
Kiss me.
I’m sorry, what?
You heard me. Kiss me. Right here, right now. On the lips... Like you mean it. Show me how much giving this tacky ring to your girlfriend means to you.
Come on Joe–
Give me a minute!
You know you want to…
I watch the video, shaking in rage, knowing that the man I love was genuinely considering it.
You know what, Julia? No. I’m not going to kiss you. You can keep the ring! Because if having it means risking my relationship, then I don’t want it! Our relationship means too much to me! So get off my porch and out of my life, because I am so over you that whatever you try against us couldn’t even make a scratch! We’re much too strong for your petty jealousy to ruin us.
I turn to Joe and he looks up at me smiling weakly.
Now I’m going to ask her to marry me and we’re going to be so much better than you could ever imagine! I don’t need a ring to show her how much I love her, because I will be doing that for the rest of my life!
The video ends and Marnie looks up at me with a big smile on her face.
I walk over to Joe and pull him close to me, giving him a passionate kiss.
Marnie cheers and Joe looks down at me, unable to process the moment.
“Does this mean I can ask you to marry me?” he asks.
Tears roll down my cheeks.
“You already did.”
“And your answer?”
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!”
Chapter 31
Ella
“Come on, Joe. What is this?” I laugh as Joe walks me out to the yard, covering my eyes, “I don’t like surprises!”
“Oh, but this is a good surprise! You’ll love it, I promise,” he says, gently kissing the back of my neck.
“Don’t let me trip, okay?”
“No peeking!” He lets go of me and I keep my eyes shut. I can hear him shuffling things around, and, is he lighting something?
“There! You can open your eyes now, Ella,” he says. I can sense the excitement behind his words.
I slowly open my eyes and suddenly I’m greeted with an extravagant display. A small table and two chairs set up for a meal, complete with candles and a centerpiece of blue roses! The whole garden glows in the slowly waning light of the sunset. The warm glow of the hundreds of small candles surrounding the deck and lanterns floating on the pool is breathtaking.
“Joe! When did you have time to do all of this?”
“Oh you know, I prepared most of it in advance, and then threw the rest together while you were dropping Marnie off at her party,” he shrugs modestly.
“Please! This looks anything but thrown together.” I run up to him and hug him, “You had to have been planning this.”
“Well, it’s always how I’d imagined I’d do it… for you.” He looks down at me and offers me a shy grin. I think for a moment and realize what exactly it is that he means.
“Oh Joe!” I hug him again, squeezing extra tight, “It all looks beautiful. Thank you.” I give him an extra big kiss on the lips.
“It all pales in comparison to you my love,” he whispers to me as he sits me down at the table.
I giggle and my cheeks turn red, “You are so cheesy,” I say, as he heads off to the kitchen.
“You love it!” he calls back at me.
“I love you!” I call, trying to get the last word in, but hear him faintly shouting, “I love you more,” from inside the house. I roll my eyes as I make myself comfortable.
I can’t believe he would put all of this together for me… he’s such a romantic! Do I really deserve all of this? I really do love it, all of it! Especially the blue roses. And the floating lanterns… they are my favorite part.
How did I end up with such an incredible guy? He loves me and he shows me all the time. He does all these sweet and romantic things, and he’s so excited about the baby! He really wants to make sure our little one gets a great start in life. It’s so cute when he looks at cribs and quilts online. Joe comes out with two plates and a bottle of wine, placing them in front of us.
“Gosh Joe, this looks amazing! I love salmon.”
“I asked Cam and Kat what a few of your favorite things were, just so I would get it perfect,” he smiles, his cheeks a little pink.
“I’m sure I’ll love it. And don’t worry, it’s not like I’m going to say no just because the food’s a little off.” I raise my eyebrow at him.
“I used to be quite the cook, you know. You’re actually going to love it!”
* * *
“Oh Joe, that was incredible. I mean it! You should really cook more often,” I grin, licking my lips.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he says, collecting up our plates and quickly taking them into the kitchen. He returns with another bottle of wine.
“Another one, Joe? Are you sure the first one wasn’t enough?” I laugh.
“Well, I just wanted a little bit of this one. I’ve not planned a lot for desert, but this is the same wine we had on our first date,” he smiles helplessly.
“Aw… that’s so sweet.” I blush, as he pours me a glass of sparkling water mixed with grape juice and hands it to me. I take one sip and he looks up at me hopefully.
“How does it taste?” he asks, like he’s holding in his excitement.
“Oh Joe, you didn’t!” I giggle, looking through the glass, I can’t believe he would do something as cheesy as that! I take a moment to swirl the liquid around in the glass, oh gosh, what if I’ve swallowed it! “But, there’s nothing in here.” I turn to Joe and see him down on one knee holding a small box with a ring inside it, “I swear if you weren’t proposing right now, I’d smack you!”
He laughs as he takes my hand, and I can feel myself about to cry tears of joy.
“Ella LeBlanc. We’ve been through a lot in the short time that we’ve known each other, but in that time I’ve come to love you more than anything. Don’t tell Marnie I said that.”
I giggle a little, I thought that might be coming.
“I may not have been thinking about this for a while, but it was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. So with this ring I ask you, Ella LeBlanc. Will you marry me?”
I feel tears creeping down my cheeks and I can’t help but sniffle a little as I feel happier than I have in my entire life.
“Yes Joe. Of course I will marry you!” I say excitedly.
He places the ring on my finger and almost jumps up to kiss me. I can hear him laughing a little as well. I’m just so happy I can’t help it! It’s a strange mixture of crying and laughing, but I love it, I love this feeling and I love him. I look down at the ring, a platinum band with three large sapphires and beautiful diamonds in between… it fits perfectly.
“You didn’t have to do all of this… or get me this ring. I already said yes.”
“Yes I know, but I wanted to. You deserve this and I wanted it to be perfect for you.” He holds me tight and whispers to me, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I
reply.
He takes my hand and leads me to the door, “What would you like to do now?” he asks, suggestively, “Would you like to go to bed?”
“Actually,” I say, stopping him, “I was thinking we could stay out here for a moment.” I’ve got a naughty idea… it’s dark out and no one will see… why don’t we go skinny dipping in the pool? I’ve teased him about it before, but why not now?
“If you want to? I don’t really,” he freezes and his eyes widen as he sees me stepping backwards toward the pool, slowly reaching for the zipper on my dress.
I drop my dress to the floor and step out of it, slowly slipping into the pool.
“Uh, that could be fun yeah,” Joe stutters.
I take off my underwear while in the pool which proves to be a little difficult, and I drop my soaking wet bra and panties by my dress on the deck. Joe looks down at them and back up to me.
“Are you coming in?” I ask.
“Give me a moment, I just want to admire you,” he smiles, “I wish this moment could last forever.” He takes out his phone.
“Hey!” I laugh and splash him.
“Don’t worry, I got a good one,” he winks at me before taking off his clothes and joining me in the pool.
We swim together and I can only just touch the bottom of the pool, he holds me up and pulls me close to him.
“I’ve got you…” he whispers to me.
I balance myself on his shoulders and kiss him passionately. He runs his hand through my hair then over my body, exploring every inch. I move my hand down to his hips then start slowly rubbing his cock.
“You look so beautiful in this light,” he says. “You’re glowing.”
“Oh stop,” I blush.
“Never,” he whispers to me as his hand slowly finds its way between my legs. I inhale sharply as he starts to massage my clit.
I start to think that maybe this wasn’t the best idea, since anyone could see us right now, but I feel so much more sensitive. I love the way his skin feels against mine and the way his hands feel as they massage me and play with my breasts.
He takes hold of my hips and starts to lift me up, it’s so easy in the water, like I practically weigh nothing. I can feel his cock sliding effortlessly inside me as deep as he can go… I love the way he holds me up, I can wrap my legs around him and kiss his neck.
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