Here and Now

by Wasowski, Mary

  “You are too quiet over there, what are you thinking about?”

  “Just you and all the wonderful things about you that I love.” I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it.

  “You are so charming when you want to be. For the record, I’m excited to begin our new life together as well. Your sister has been texting me non-stop to make her our wedding planner. Isn’t she too busy for that sort of thing?”

  “You would think so with her work schedule, but Emily is a queen at multi-tasking. She lives for this kind of thing and I know wants to help.”

  “Are you sure? Because I don’t know the first thing about wedding planning and I’m still navigating the waters of suddenly being part of a big family. It was only me and my father for the longest time. Our life was pretty quiet back east and I didn’t have many friends. It’s just me, you know. I feel as if I’m an orphan with no past.”

  “Well, we know that’s not true. My family already loves you and I love you, so you are not alone. If anything, you have too many people in your life, but I’ve been told that’s a good thing.”

  “Okay, you win. Just give me some time to adjust to it all.”

  “I will. We can go as slow as you want. As long as you’re with me, I’m fine with everything else.”

  I didn’t want to go home until we finished talking and she felt more at ease. By the time we did arrive back at my building, my girl had fallen asleep. I parked the car in front and had the doorman take her things while I carried her inside. She had lost weight in the hospital and carrying her was no effort at all. She protested because she thought she was on the curvier side but hell no, the curvier, the better. She’s perfect and I would never change anything about her.

  “I can walk you know,” she said as she buried her face in my neck.

  She is so lying right now. She loves it and I love it knowing how happy it makes her feel.

  “Will you please put me down?” She implored.

  “I will once we are inside,” I unlocked the door and continued to carry her through the apartment and up the stairs to our bedroom. “Okay, now I’ll put you down. Get comfortable because this is your new home away from home until you are 100% medically cleared.”

  “I’m fine, Rogan, and my doctor wouldn’t have released me if I wasn’t.”

  “No, you have selective hearing. Dr. Bennett only released you to my care because I promised him that I would be home to take care of you and I will. I’m on leave from work, so you got me, babe.”

  “Okay, I promise to be a model patient.”

  “That was easy, I thought you were going to put up a fight.”

  “I guess the old me would have but that was before you. I want to feel as if I belong and that’s never going to happen if I’m fighting it.”

  Alex was true to her word and was the perfect patient. I only caught her twice trying to make a break for it but Emily was the true conspirator. Wedding plans were a go with both my sister and my mom helping Alex out. Although she was offered a position on Ed’s team, she declined and gave her notice. Her father’s name was cleared and the ones that were working for Lockhart were fired and brought up on charges. Ernest’s hold on his pension was lifted and Alex has moved the money into a trust to begin a scholarship fund in her parent’s name. It was a great idea and she had my full support.

  For now, I wanted her well and concentrating on our wedding. She had plenty of time to choose what she wanted in a career or do nothing at all. It would be entirely up to my girl and there was no rush.

  “Hey honey, thanks for stopping by.” My mom said as she gave me a warm hug and invited me in.

  “No worries, mom, I have some time to kill while Alex is at her check-up. What did you want to tell me?”

  “Okay, it occurred to me today that with all this wedding planning going on around you, you forgot one very important detail.”

  “Oh, yeah, what’s that?”

  “Alex needs an engagement ring,” I almost swallowed my tongue. Holy shit! I never gave Alex a ring? What the fuck is wrong with me? “Okay, I see the panic in your eyes but mama is on it. I have the perfect ring for you to give to Alex.”

  “Mom, I can’t believe I forgot a ring. And why hasn’t she said anything about it? Isn’t that a little weird?”

  “In Alex’s case, not at all. In the last few weeks, I have spent a great deal of time with her and she defines simplicity. This girl of yours is very special and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for doubting her love for you.”

  “Thanks, mom, your blessing means the world to us.”

  “You should have had it from the start but better late than never. So, back to the ring.” I watched my mom look at her left hand and smile.

  I placed my hand over hers and said, “Dad did a good job with your rings,”

  “He sure did and as much as I would love to hand down my engagement ring to you, I just can’t part with it. It holds so many memories of our life together and the ring you present to Alex will too. Over the years, your father has given me many beautiful pieces of jewelry. I have so much of it, it’s hard to choose what to wear on any chosen occasion. When I realized her hand was missing an engagement ring, I opened my vault and began going through my collection. This is what I chose for you.” She opened the velvet box and inside was a princess cut diamond in the middle with a sapphire stone on either side.

  “The diamond comes from a pendant that your father had given me for our five-year wedding anniversary.”

  “And the sapphires? Do they have a story too?”

  “They do. On the day you were born, my mom gave me a birthstone tennis bracelet and the charm dangling from it was a platinum heart with two sapphires in your honor. I took my pendant and bracelet to a jewelry designer and he came up with this. Do you like it? I hope I didn’t overstep.”

  “God no, mom, this is perfect. How will I ever thank you for doing this for Alex, and for me?”

  “It was my pleasure and my way of welcoming my new daughter. I love you both and only want the best for you. Now, go home and make her happy by giving her this ring.” After I picked Alex up from her appointment, we dined at the harbor club to celebrate. We were seated at my favorite table overlooking the marina. It was a gorgeous late day afternoon and the scene was set to present Alex her ring. We clinked our glasses together and toasted her recovery and all who helped get her here.

  “I’m so ready to get married, Rogan, and now that I am healthy and cleared, there is not anything standing in our way,” she said excitedly and downing the rest of her champagne.

  “Well, there’s one thing,” I said. She looked at me with confusion and then smiled when she saw the ring box. “I was reminded today that I forgot a very important detail and I can’t begin to tell you how stupid I feel for not giving you a ring sooner.”

  “You had a lot on your mind.” She laughed and held my hand in hers. I slowly opened the box and took the ring out to place on her left ring finger. I placed a kiss down to her hand and then leaned in to kiss her lips.

  “Will you marry me, Alexane Depry?”

  “Yes, I will. Now if it’s alright with you, I would like to continue this celebration at home and in our bed. Oh, and we will be very naked doing all kinds of naughty things to each other. Sound like a plan?”

  Thank you, god, for bringing me this woman.

  “I agree with your plan. Check please!”

  One year later

  “Babe, you’ve been in there for a while now, is everything okay?” I asked knocking on the bathroom door.

  “I’m fine,” she called out. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “You said that twenty minutes ago. Come on, what’s going on?” I knocked and knocked until she finally unlocked the door and walked out. Tears were streaming down her face. I held her face and pulled her in for a hug. She could never hide anything from me, her facial expressions were just so animated and showed all her emotions.

  “Please, talk to me,” I asked agai
n.

  She didn’t say anything in return. She reached for something in her pocket and asked me to hold out my hand. When I looked to see what it was, I never expected to feel that happy about it. After we got married and took an extended honeymoon, it was back to work and moving into our new home. We talked about starting a family and sure had fun trying but we left it up to chance and continued living our lives.

  My sister Emily found out she was pregnant while planning our wedding and now is a mother to my nephew, Max. My mom is in seventh heaven and now it’s our turn.

  “Are you okay,” I asked my wife as she continued to cry but never stopped smiling.

  “I’m amazing. It was a shock and I just needed to take some time to process it and hoped you would be happy about it.”

  “Are you crazy? I’m going to be a father! I’m over the moon.” I lifted her up in my arms and twirled her around the room until I was dizzy. This is how she made me feel. I can’t wait to have this baby with Alex. We lay in bed talking about how it will be becoming parents and the excitement building up inside me just made my heart burst from my chest.

  “Rogan,” she whispered my name like a prayer.

  “Hmmm,” I responded by hugging her tighter to me. She fit perfectly.

  “I was a little nervous telling you about the baby.” I shifted to where I was on my side so I could look into her eyes when I talked to her.

  “Why on earth would you be scared? Did you think I wouldn’t want it?”

  “No, never. I guess I was just nervous because you always said that you weren’t ready to start a family yet and you didn’t want to share me with anyone else.”

  “Honey, you misunderstood what I said. Our relationship didn’t exactly begin the conventional way. We hit the fast-forward button and jumped a few steps ahead but no steps that I will ever regret taking with you. It has been an amazing year loving and keeping you all to myself but that doesn’t mean I don’t have room for more. I’m already in love with our child. It’s love at first sight on the biggest scale imaginable.”

  She nudged closer resting her palms on my chest. “How could you be so sure?”

  “Easy. I’m sure because I am so in love with its mother. Every single time I look into your eyes, all I see is my love for you staring back at me. This is how I am so sure, it’s because of you.”

  “Way to go making a girl cry. Oh, Rogan, I don’t believe you could top what you just said to me. I swear you should be working for Hallmark.” I laughed heartily and positioned her on top of me straddling my hips just the way I like it.

  “As great as that sounds, I’m happy just reserving all the sweet words for you and you alone. Now we had some sugar, how about you giving me some spice?”

  “Oh, my goodness, that was corny, but I love you anyway.”

  “Hey, what can I say? I can’t always deliver the cry worthy lines all the time.”

  “Nine months is a long time to be pregnant. I’m sure I will be crying a lot. Just keep the tissues close-by.”

  “And the ice cream, we can’t forget that.”

  “No way, that is a pregnancy requirement. Now let me ride you so I can work up an appetite.”

  “Yes, ma’am. And you say I’m the bossy one in the relationship.”

  “I guess then we are made for each other.”

  “We are without a doubt. We’ve been destined from the start. Alexane Depry, you changed my life and altered my thinking without even trying. I sometimes look at you from across the room and my breath hitches in my throat and I forget what I wanted to say because my heart finds it difficult to catch up with my brain. Your love is a gift. This baby is our reward. I will love you forever.” Her tears were unstoppable as I made love to her worshiping and cherishing every inch of her beautiful body. I was a lucky man. Our life was blessed.

  “You know, they say when babies sleep, we should sleep,” I heard her say as she wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my naked back.

  “I can’t help it, I’m so in love with our daughter. I told you it was love at first sight, just like it was with you. I feel as if I’ve been hit twice by cupid’s arrow.”

  “I see your Hallmark training is paying off,” she mocked in the sweetest way.

  “Ha! You wish baby. Hallmark doesn’t have anything on me. This is what the women in my life have created.”

  “I’m not complaining.”

  “Good, because if you haven’t noticed the Douglas men are sweet talkers and we love on our women like no one else can.”

  “Did you learn your smooth-talking ways from your father?”

  “Nope, my grandfather. He’s the original Casanova in the family.”

  “I would have to agree. He loves to flirt.”

  “Have I said, thank you?”

  “For what, Rogan?” she asked lovingly as she kissed a trail of soft kisses along my muscled back. I stared at our baby girl sleeping all swaddled in pink. I would never tire of sharing these special moments with our daughter. I happily sighed and then turned around to hold my wife and kiss her madly until she was dizzy.

  “You asked me why I was thanking you and there’s only one answer I can come up with.”

  “And what’s that?” she dreamily asked.

  “Everything. My life with you and our daughter is everything. Thank you, Alex, for giving me a life worth living. For the here and now and most importantly, what’s next to come.”

  Our hands linked as we walked out of the nursery closing the door behind us. I kissed her again and lifted her into my arms, holding her as close to me as I possibly could.

  “So, now what?” She purred like the sexy minx she is.

  I winked and said, “Let’s go to bed.”

  The End

  Thank you, readers, for taking the time to read Here and Now. I hope you enjoyed it as much I loved writing not just one love story, but two.

  The best way to thank an author is to write and leave a review on the site you purchased this book. Even if it’s a line or two, it’s the best gift I could receive in return. They are always welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for your support.

  All my best,

  “Writing is the painting of the voice” by Voltaire.

  I love that quote. It makes me appreciate the gift I’ve been given to have a voice through my words.

  Thank you, God, for giving me the ability to create my art.

  Thank you, to my family who love me unconditionally.

  Thank you, to my friends who never let me fall.

  Thank you, to the talented professionals that make my work come to life.

  Thank you, Joe Marron. My editor. You get me, and I love you for that.

  Thank you, Julie Titus, @ JT Formatting, a forever friend who does incredible designing to bring my words to life. Thank you for making the insides of my book look beautiful.

  Thank you, Francessca, @ Francessca’s PR & Design. You are a cover goddess and I love everything you do.

  Thank you, Mindy Guerreiros for always reading my work first and giving me the feedback I need to make it great. The book world would not be what it is without your love and passion for books. Thank you for all that you do but most of all, our friendship and sisterhood.

  Thank you, to my readers. You mean so much to me. Writing has become an essential part of my soul, and without it, I would be lost. Thank you, for sharing this incredible journey with me. I truly appreciate you reading and supporting my work.

  Thank you, to my author friends who I’ve built deep friendships with over the years. We may not see each other as often as time would allow, but I appreciate your friendships and hold them close to my heart.

  Thank you, to my blogger friends. You work incredibly hard for authors in this community. Thank you, for always sharing the love.

  Other Books by Mary A. Wasowski

  Forever Series:

  Forever: Book One

  Second Chance at Forever: Book Two

  Our Forever Promise: Boo
k Three

  Happily Forever After: Book Four

  Forever More: Book Five

  Standalone novels:

  A Changed Life

  All Roads Lead Home

  An Unfinished Life

  Return to Kildare

  Revive

  You Belong to Me

  Run

  Broken Dove

  Shane

  Before We Knew

  New Release in 2020

  About the Author

  Mary A. Wasowski is a best-selling author who writes adult contemporary romance. Best known for her Forever Series, Mary loves creating sexy alpha book boyfriends for you to swoon over. When she is not writing her happily ever after love stories, she is an avid reader of all romance.

  A romantic at heart, she shares her zest for life with her husband, Henry, and their three sons. Proud to be an indie author, she lives in North Carolina and works as a full-time writer.

  Stay in Touch!

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