Holding the card against her heart, Marissa sank into her chair and cried with relief, happiness and regret. He hadn’t wanted her only to get the twins. He loved her for herself and wanted to share his life with her. And she’d verbally slapped his face. Tears of remorse slid down her cheeks.
Blake wasn’t Harry. He was a good man, true to his word. If he said he loved her, he meant it. And she’d ruined everything. After her insulting response to his proposal, she wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see her again.
She heard her office door open, but didn’t look up. “Not now, please, Kitty. I need to be alone.”
“I’m not Kitty.”
She glanced up through her tears to find Blake standing in the doorway.
“May I come in?”
“You sure you want to? I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to me again.”
He stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind him. “I want much more than talk, but there’re some things we need to settle first.”
Marissa grabbed a tissue from the box on her desk and wiped her cheeks. “What things?”
“Are you willing to reconsider my proposal?” His gray eyes darkened to almost black. “It has nothing to do with the twins. This is about you and me. Period.”
Unable to speak past the lump in her throat, Marissa merely nodded.
“Before you give me an answer, there’s something you should know.” He raised his chin and set his jaw as if bracing for a blow. “I know absolutely zip about being a good husband.”
She didn’t know what awful secret she’d been expecting, but relief cascaded through her. “All you have to do is be yourself. And love me. There’s no magic formula.”
“Loving you is like breathing for me, Rissa. I can only stop if I die.”
Joy welled inside her, mixed with trepidation. “I love you, too, but—”
“You’re afraid?”
She nodded.
With three long strides, he circled her desk, knelt before her chair and gathered her hands in his. “I’m not Harry. I take my commitments seriously. I’ll never betray you, and I’ll never break your heart.”
Blake’s sincerity was unquestionable, but Marissa’s fear lingered. “You’ve been single all your life. You might find after a while that having a wife cramps your style.”
“I was happy single,” Blake admitted. “But only because I didn’t know what I was missing. I want you in my life, Rissa. I want us to make a home together, to have a family. I don’t know anything about parenting, either, but I’m willing to learn.” He covered the backs of her hands with kisses.
Marissa felt a moment’s panic. “I’m thirty-six—”
“Then the sooner we get started, the better.” He stood and pulled her into his arms. “And if we can’t have children, we’ll still have each other. Will you marry me, Rissa?”
She gazed into the face she loved so well, seeing in the handsome maturity of it reminders of the boy he’d been, the teenager who’d grown into the man she loved more than life. “After my divorce, I swore I’d never marry again.”
He looked stricken, even worse than he had when she’d railed at him in the courtroom. “Is that a no?”
She smiled. “That’s an admission that you’ve changed my life, for the good and forever. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
His joyful expression lit the room. “Then there’s only one thing left to do.”
Marissa twined her arms around his neck. “And that is?”
“For me to kiss you like I’ve been longing to for days.”
And he did.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Marissa gazed out over her parents’ backyard on the bay. The first cold front of fall had dropped the temperature and humidity to pleasant levels for the outdoor party.
On the grassy area between the porch and waterfront, Michael and his boys kicked a soccer ball. The onshore breeze carried their laughter toward the house. Suze sat beside Marissa in the porch swing.
“Michael’s wonderful with the boys,” Marissa said.
Suze nodded. “Hard to believe that almost two years ago we were separated. Michael spends much more time with the boys now—and is happy doing it. The counselor worked miracles.”
“No,” Marissa said. “Love worked miracles. You and Michael worked things out because you love each other and your boys too much not to.”
“Love’s worked a few miracles for you, too.” Suze smiled and nodded toward the back door. Blake, guiding Annie with one hand and Drew with the other came through the screen door.
“Hey, sweeties,” Marissa called, her heart swelling with happiness, and held out her arms. “Come to Mommy.”
“No.” Annie stood still and stomped her sneakered foot. “Want cake.”
“Birf’day cake,” Drew echoed, following his sister’s lead.
“Welcome to the terrible twos,” Suze said as Blake approached.
“You survived,” Blake said with a grin, nodding toward her boys in the yard.
“But I didn’t have two the same age,” Suze said.
“They’re double the pleasure,” Blake said. The look he shot Marissa warmed her heart and reminded her that the smartest thing she’d ever done was to marry this wonderful man.
The second smartest had been adopting Annie and Drew. Today was their second birthday, and she and Blake had relished every moment of their young lives, even the hectic ones.
“Gather round, everybody,” her mother called, holding open the screen door for her father, who carried a massive sheet cake, decorated with Winnie the Pooh characters and burning candles, two on each end.
“Cake!” Annie raced toward her grandfather with a shriek of delight and would have hit him in the knees if Blake hadn’t scooped her up in time.
Marissa picked up Drew. “C’mon, my big boy. Let’s blow out your candles.”
Later, with everyone sated with cake and ice cream and the twins asleep on their grandparents’ laps, Marissa gazed across the porch, her heart overflowing with happiness that had long ago vanquished the bitterness of her divorce. Despite Blake’s apprehensions, he’d been a perfect husband and father, and remained, as he had been all her life, her best friend.
Blake draped his arms around Marissa’s shoulders and pulled her close, lost in his own happy thoughts. Marissa’s parents, Suze, Wally, Jake, and their families sat on the porch with them, watching the sun set over the bay. All Blake’s life he’d wanted a place to belong, and he’d finally found it. Now he was truly a member of the Mason family. And best of all, he had Marissa and the twins, a family of his own.
“Ready to make our announcement?” he asked his wife softly.
She gazed up at him, eyes shining. “You do it.”
“Listen up, folks. Marissa and I have something to tell you.”
The sunset temporarily forgotten, the family members turned toward them.
“Marissa and I have enjoyed Annie and Drew so much,” Blake said, “we’ve decided to add to our family.”
“You’re going to adopt again?” Laura’s excitement at the prospect of another grandchild was palpable.
Marissa laughed, the picture of pure contentment. “Not this time. We’re expecting in April.”
Suze, never one to mince words, said, “Will that be a problem, with two children adopted and one your natural child?”
Marissa shook her head. “This child,” she touched her abdomen gently, “will be born of our bodies, but Annie and Drew will always know they were born in our hearts.”
Blake tightened his arm around Marissa. The beginning of his life had been rocky, but the trauma had been worth it to end up where they were now.
He leaned over and kissed her on the temple. “You’re pretty incredible.”
“Wait till we get home,” she whispered with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’ll show you incredible.”
Blake raised his eyebrows. “Maybe we should leave now.”
�
��No hurry,” Marissa said, and kissed him back. “We have the rest of our lives.”
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6911-1
VERDICT: DADDY
Copyright © 2004 by Charlotte Douglas.
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* Identity Swap
Verdict: Daddy Page 16
