Courting the Clown

by Cathy Quinn

  “I’d do almost anything for my kids,” he said. “Give up anything if it was in their best interest. I’d die for them in a heartbeat.” He shook his head slowly. “But I’d never marry for them.”

  “Right,” she whispered, feeling foolish. “It was stupid to assume that... it was just that the girls had just talked about you and me getting married, and then you said you needed to talk to me about something, and you looked so serious, and I panicked, thinking you were actually proposing.” She smiled weakly. “Absurd, of course. Nobody would get married just because their children begged them to. No matter how spoiled kids are, they probably don’t get to arrange their parents’ marriage. Totally absurd.”

  “Yeah. Absurd,” Nick agreed.

  She laughed again. “I mean -- it would be a major mistake for anyone to marry me to get a mother for their kids,” she told him. “I’m a disaster with them.”

  Nick grinned. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Something he might have done with his kids. A small affectionate gesture, but it had small tremors moving through her. Stupid body. Stupid pheromones.

  Nick nodded. “Right. So, all in all, proposing to you in order to get a mother for my children is something that’s never going to happen. It would be crazy.”

  Sylvie swallowed. “Yeah. Crazy.”

  He dropped to one knee so fast her breath caught, and his eyes sparkled in the firelight when he looked up at her. “So, that leaves me with only one reason to propose.”

  “Nick...” she said weakly. How come he always knew exactly what to say?

  “I love you, Sylvie. I didn’t expect it, didn’t want it, but it happened anyway. I love you. Will you marry me?”

  She slid down to the floor herself, leaning forward until her forehead touched his. “Nick... Are you sure about this?”

  Nick growled at her. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. You’re supposed to say yes. Worst-case scenario, you say no. You’re not supposed to ask me if I’m sure.”

  “If you want to back out, now’s your chance.”

  “Sylvie...” he growled. “My mother agreed to watch my kids for a while, but I don’t have forever to wait for your answer.”

  “I’ll make a dreadful stepmother for your kids.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “You’re already reading them politically incorrect fairytales. You’re a terrible influence.”

  “You know I’ll take their side when they want to go on a date with a long-haired guy on a motorcycle and you want to pull up the drawbridge and lock them in the tower.”

  He hesitated a heart-beat. “Okay. Fine. I’m a man. I can hold my own against a couple of puny females.” His eyes glittered. “I’m still waiting for that yes.”

  “Yes, Nick.” She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around his neck. They toppled over, and she landed half on top of him. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

  His lips caught her in a slow, gentle kiss, then he pulled away and stared at her again. “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why are you going to marry me?”

  She felt disoriented trying to figure out what he was asking. Then she realized, and smiled, tracing a finger over his face. “You’re cute when you’re insecure.”

  He bit her finger. “Thanks.”

  “I love you, Nick. I’ve loved you forever. I thought it was just good old-fashioned lust, but it was more.”

  “Don’t pack that old-fashioned lust away, honey, I’m sure we can find use for it.”

  She reached up and with a wicked smile pulled at his tie. “Definitely.”

  * * *

  In the morning, they returned to Nick’s house, holding hands as they entered the living room. The girls had taken advantage of their father’s absence, and there were toys everywhere – but not children anywhere.

  “They’re in your workshop,” Sylvie said, hearing sounds from behind the closed door.

  Nick swore. “They know they’re not supposed to go there without me.”

  “Grandmas. It’s their obligation to break rules,” Sylvie said with a grin, thinking about Grandma Alex and the rules she’d broken in her time.

  After all, she wouldn’t be here at all, wouldn’t be holding Nick’s hand, wouldn’t have a heart filled with sunshine, if it weren’t for Grandma Alex.

  The door opened, and girls burst into the room, and threw themselves at their father and Sylvie. “Are we getting married?” Emily shouted.

  “Yes!” Nick said, swinging one daughter up in the air and then the other. “We’re getting married.”

  Both the girls shrieked. Sylvie sat down as Lana’s arms went around her neck, pulling at her. Then Emily pushed at her sister, wiggling her way into Sylvie’s lap too. “Whoa!” Sylvie said, laughing. “I’m not sure there’s room for both of you on my lap, unless I gain some serious weight.”

  “When there’s a baby in there, there won’t be a room for us at all,” Lana said seriously, and Emily poked a finger unceremoniously into Sylvie’s stomach.

  “Ow!” Sylvie said. “A baby?”

  “Is there a baby there yet?” Emily asked, poking again. “No, it’s not big enough yet,” she added disappointed. Sylvie grabbed her hand and held it behind the child’s back. Baby? What baby? “Stop poking my stomach!” she protested. “It’s not comfortable.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Lana said, with the wisdom of an older sister. “They’re not married yet. You can’t make a baby until you’re married.”

  “Amen,” Nick murmured. “Remember that, girls. Don’t forget.”

  “I want a sister,” Emily said. “So I can boss her around like Lana bosses me around.”

  “Lana bosses you around?” Sylvie choked out, and tried to get her mind off babies. Nick might not mind not having more children, but his daughters obviously did not share that.

  “I want a boy,” Lana said. “He can play cars with Lana. Then after the boy I want a little girl, so I can help you dress her up in pink dresses while Emily is playing with the little boy.”

  Gee, only two children? Sylvie looked helplessly up at Nick but there was no help to be had there. He was watching the three of them with awe, and she reached out a hand to pull him closer.

  “We’re a family,” he whispered into her ear as he bent down to kiss her cheek. “I love you.”

  “Whisper to me too, Daddy!” Emily shouted, and both girls got a secret whispered into their ears.

  “I want to be a bridesmaid,” Lana announced. “In a pink dress.”

  “Me too!” Emily shouted. “Two pink dresses.”

  “Then we can stay with Grandma while you go on a honeymoon and then we’ll have babies,” Lana said.

  Nick tousled his daughter’s hair. “We’ll see about that, Lana. No more nagging about babies, okay?” He winked at Sylvie. “We get to go on a honeymoon alone. How about that?”

  “Okay. I know babies take a while to make,” Lana said generously, but she stared again at Sylvie’s stomach with such an avid expression of hope.

  “If we don’t get a baby,” Lana said cunningly, her eyes back on her father. “Then can we get another cat?”

  Nick smiled at Sylvie. There was so much love shining from his eyes that she felt almost paralyzed. She reached up a hand, and he took it, his warm hand squeezing hers, and as much as she loved her soon-to-be daughters, she couldn’t wait to be alone with him. “What do you say?” he asked. “Should we get one more cat? It should give us a few months before they start nagging us for a brother or a sister again.”

  Sylvie chuckled, smiling up at her soon-to-be husband. “A cat. It’s a deal.”

 

 

 
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