by Coleen Kwan
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.”
“I made it especially for you.” She pointed to the pie on the table.
“I can never get enough of your pecan pie.” He winked at her as he surreptitiously pinched her butt.
Out on the front lawn, a gray-and-white cat crouched under the bushes, suspiciously watching the group of kids playing. O’Malley had adopted Hannah and Derek and deigned to move with them to the family home Derek had bought immediately after he and Hannah had gotten engaged. O’Malley was still a solitary grouch, but he always came up to greet Amelia, and she was the only one who could pull his tail with impunity.
Just then, Caleb pushed through the crowd. “Hey, are we still on for tomorrow night?”
“For sure.” Hannah nodded. “It wouldn’t be Sunday without a dance off.”
It had become something of a weekend tradition in Hannah and Derek’s home, playing the video dance game with Caleb, Amber, Nicole and her family, and whoever else was free.
“Great. I’m gonna beat Amber this time.” Caleb disappeared again.
Derek leaned in to murmur in Hannah’s ear, “Think Caleb’s trying to impress Amber?”
“What? She’s way out of his league.”
“I used to think you were way out of my league.” He kissed her neck. “And look how things turned out.”
Things had turned out spectacularly, she had to admit.
“We’ll be on our way.” Otto stumped up to them, his habitual frown on his face. Mrs. Pascoe stood behind him. The good woman, who never let Otto get the better of her, was now part of the family.
Both Hannah and Derek had been gladly surprised that Otto had even shown up today, given his hermit tendencies, and though he’d only been here a couple of hours, he
’d lasted longer than expected.
“Thanks for coming, Granddad,” Derek said. “You too, Mrs. Pascoe.”
The caregiver gave them a brisk nod.
Otto waggled his fearsome white eyebrows at Amelia, and, instead of cowering, she kicked her legs at him and responded with an enthusiastic, “Gah!” O’Malley wasn’t the only loner won over by Amelia. Otto harbored a soft spot for the girl, and had even been spotted playing peek-a-boo with her, which might have been terrifying if Amelia didn’t enjoy it so much.
“I got two cases of diapers in my storeroom,” Otto said to Hannah. “And a six-gallon bucket of powdered milk. We’ll be all set if we need to bug in.”
“Thanks, Otto. That’s great.” Hannah waited until the old man had left before turning to Derek. “Did you hear that? He wants us to bug in with him. That’s so sweet.”
“Yeah.” Her husband smiled as he tickled Amelia under the chin. “He’s an all right great-grandfather.”
“I always knew Amelia was a miracle baby.”
Derek pulled her closer and pressed his lips to her ear. “You’re my miracle, and don’t you forget it.”
How could she ever forget?
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Acknowledgments
Heartfelt thanks once again to Stacy Abrams and Lydia Sharp and the entire team at Entangled Publishing!
About the Author
Coleen Kwan has been a bookworm all her life. At school, English was her favorite subject, but for some reason she decided on a career in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in life — and discovered writing. She loves writing contemporary romance and steampunk romance.
Coleen lives in Sydney with her partner and two children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys avoiding housework, eating chocolate and watching The Office.
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Also by Coleen Kwan…
Real Men Don’t Break Hearts
Real Men Don’t Quit
One Real Man
White-Hot Holiday
Baiting the Boss
Undercover in the CEO’s Bed
His Millionaire Maid
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