Back to Life (22 page)

“You
just had hot rough sex with me on a ten thousand dollar bed, and then just
adjusted your clothes and gave me a tissue to clean myself off and didn’t even
bat an eyelash. You are fucking awesome,” he said, and I grinned. I walked over
to the vanity mirror and checked my makeup while he discarded the condom and
fastened his pants.

“Gee,
thanks,” I said. I turned to him and he was all zipped and presentable again.
“You ready to go back down there? It’s getting dark, so the fireworks should
start soon,” I said, excitement filling me. I had always loved fireworks ever
since I was a little kid, and I still got excited over them every year just
like a child.

He
took my hand and brushed his lips across my knuckles. “Then let’s go see some
fireworks,” he said, unlocking the door and holding it open for me. If I had
known what would happen after the fireworks were over, I would have stayed up
in that room with Liam forever. The last thing I was expecting tonight was to
be faced with my past and for it to bite me in the ass.

Liam

This
day had gone way better than I had hoped it would. I had spent a great day with
my beautiful girlfriend and my friends at my parent’s Hamptons home, my father
and I were getting along better than ever, and I just had a totally hot quickie
with Rory in my old bedroom. This day couldn’t have been more wonderful, and
now there was just one more thing I had to do that would make it the best night
of my life. I had snuck away for a little bit because I had a plan on how to
end the night with Rory and I wanted to talk to my parent’s about it. I knew
they’d be happy when I told them what I had in mind, but I wasn’t expecting
waterworks from my mother…

“Son?”
my father asked, puzzled. “You mother came and told me you wanted to speak with
the both of us in private. Is anything wrong?” He closed the doors of the
library behind us and now I was alone with my mother and father.

I
shook my head and after seeing the concerned looks on their faces, I decided to
bite the bullet and tell them why I had brought them in here. I reached into my
pocket and pulled out a light blue box with a white ribbon on it. My mother
gasped loudly, knowing what most women know when they see the familiar blue box
trimmed in white and her face lit up. Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Liam?” she asked, waiting for me to say the words.

“I’m
going to ask Rory to marry me tonight,” I said, opening the box to show them
the ring. My father blew out a low whistle through his lips and my mother
shrieked. Rory wasn’t a fancy jewelry type of girl, so I kept the ring simple
and went with a princess cut solitaire. The ring still cost a small fortune
because it was platinum and the diamond was five carats, plus it came from
Tiffany’s. I wanted my girl to have the best.

My
father came closer to me and patted me on the back. “Wow, Tiffany’s. Well done,
my boy.”

I
grinned at him and my mother immediately pulled me into a hug. “Oh, Liam, you
don’t know how happy you’ve made us!”

I
smiled and laughed. “So, I take it I have your blessing even though we’ve only
been together for a few months?”

Mom
pulled away and smiled serenely. “Oh son, you wholeheartedly have my blessing.
Love is love, and time doesn’t matter when you know its right. I adore that
girl like she was my own daughter. And now she will be!”

“He
has to ask her first,” Dad said, smiling.

“And
she has to say yes,” I added.

“Oh,
trust me, she will. She loves you, I know it,” Mom said.

I
had just put the ring back in my pocket when I felt Dad pull me into a hug. I
didn’t know how to react at first…I hadn’t been embraced by my father in over
ten years. After my initial shock, I decided to go with it and I hugged him
back. “Congratulations, son,” he said. “Let us know if there is anything we can
do to help.”

“Thanks,
Dad,” I said, and pulled away. With one last smile, we all left the library and
I joined Rory and our little gang on the beach.

We
were now sitting together on a big blue blanket on the beach waiting to see
fireworks. Rory was snuggled into me and my arms were wrapped around her, and I
could feel her hair lightly brushing my cheek from the sea air. This was the
perfect moment to ask her to marry me…now I just had to swallow my nerves and
just do it. “This place is really beautiful, Liam,” she said, interrupting my
thoughts. “I would love to live by the beach like this someday.”

“You
mean you’re not a full blown city girl at heart?” I answered.

“Don’t
get me wrong, I love living in the city, but sometimes I think I’d like to get
away from all the noise and just go somewhere quiet, you know?”

I
smiled. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I think I’d like to leave the city someday
too,” I admitted.

She
turned her face to mine. “You would? What about your job? You would really give
up working at the precinct with Nick to be a small town ‘Barney Fife’ cop?” she
asked, a ghost of a smile in her expression.

I
shrugged. “Well, I love my job, but lately I have been wondering if it be a
safe job to have long term.”
Okay
, I thought,
here we go. Start
talking about the future
.

“Long
term? What are you saying, Liam? That you don’t think you want to even be a cop
anymore?” she asked.

I
shook my head. “No, baby, I’m not saying that. I was born to wear a badge, and
I don’t ever see that changing. It’s just the job I do now isn’t exactly the
safest one to have, and I’d eventually like to settle down and maybe do the kid
thing in the future.”
Okay, nice transition into children
. This was
definitely territory that Rory and I hadn’t explored yet, but I needed her to
know how I felt about the subject before I popped the question. I just hope I
could get this out before I got nervous. The ring in my pocket felt like it was
weighing me down.

She
looked surprised. “Kid thing? You want children someday?”

I
smiled reassuringly at her. “Sure I do. Eventually, you know, when the time is
right.”

She
tried to smile in a joking way, but I could still see the nervousness in her
face. “And who might you have these metaphoric children with, might I ask?”

I
gulped and took a deep breath.
Just out with it, man. Don’t be a pussy.
“You know I don’t want to have a baby with anyone but you, Rory.” Her eyes
widened and I placed a finger to her lips to quiet her. “I know that what
happened to you with your first pregnancy still haunts you and it always will.
I get that. I also remember Brody saying you still have an excellent chance to
conceive a child, so that shouldn’t worry you,” I said, and her eyes went
wider. With my finger still pressed to her lips, I shook my head, urging her to
let me continue. I knew where her mind was going before she even said a word. “Having
said that, I just want you to know that if it turns out that you just aren’t
comfortable carrying a baby after all that happened and you want to adopt, I’d
be all for that too. I just want you, baby. I want us, and I think we will be
awesome parents one day whether we do it the old fashioned way or through
adoption.”

“Liam,”
she said, her eyes glassy, “you’d really give up your chance at a biological
child if I just decided I didn’t want to be pregnant? I can’t ask that of you,”
she whispered, sadness glinting in her eyes. A single tear fell down her cheek.

“You’re
not asking me to, angel. If it meant making you feel safe and happy, I would absolutely
give up that chance. I love you so much, Rory, and I will do whatever it takes
to keep you happy. I will admit though,” I said, wiping a stray tear from her
cheek, “I think you’d look awfully damn cute with a little pregnant tummy.”

She
breathed out a short laugh and smiled. “You think so, huh?”

I
nodded. “Hell yeah! Seeing you with a big ol’ belly that’s barely covered by an
ACDC tee shirt? That would be cute as hell!”

She
giggled brightly. “Well, you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, officer. Don’t
you think we should be married first before we start talking babies?”

I
smiled stiffly. “Yes, I think we should be,” I said, feeling my nerves kick
into overdrive. My tone had turned serious, and her smile quickly faded into
one of confusion. I took another deep breath and reached into my pocket, my
face taut with nervousness.

“Liam,
what is it?” she asked, her brows furrowed.

I
shook my head and smiled, trying to hide my apprehension. Still hiding the ring
in my hand, I lifted her chin with my fingers and looked deeply into her
beautiful eyes.
Here goes nothing
. “Rory, in all my life I never thought
I’d ever meet someone that I’d want to spend every day and night of my life
with…until I met you. You are the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen
and not just on the outside. You are so warm and loving, but you are also
fiercely loyal and protective over the ones in your life that are lucky enough
to have you on their side,” I said, and fresh tears were brimming in her eyes.
“Everything about you is just amazing. I love looking into your incredible eyes
wondering what color they will change to fit your mood. I love your perfect,
petal soft lips that I get to kiss every day. I love feeling your beautiful,
soft skin under my fingertips as I trace along all of your beautiful ink that
is forever a part of you. But, my favorite thing about you is your heart and
the fact that I am a lucky man to have a place in it.” At that moment, I moved
my hand in front of her and held it open. Her eyes quickly moved from mine to
the small blue box in my hand, then back up to mine.

“Liam?”
she whispered, tears now spilling down her cheeks.

I
moved my free hand from her chin and placed it gently around the back of her
neck. The first firework shot up into the dark sky and exploded into a thousand
twinkling lights, but neither one of us looked. All we could see was each other
in this moment. With a nervous feeling like I’ve never felt before, I moved my
head close to hers and softly said, “Rory Shaw, I love you with everything in
me and if you give me your hand, I promise I will lead you into nothing but
happiness for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me, angel?” I choked out,
trying to look smooth and romantic, not at all like the nervous wreck I
actually was.

After
a few excruciatingly long moments and several more fireworks lighting up the
sky, she blinked and a few more fat tears fell down her face. She sniffed, and
a wide beautiful smile spread across her face. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Liam
Tanner, I will marry you.”

A
warm feeling started to spread through me and I couldn’t help but smile like a
kid on Christmas. “You will?”

She
nodded happily. “Yes, of course I will!” she said, and before anything else
could be said, I crashed my lips to hers and we both were smiling as we sealed
her answer with a kiss.

“Rory,
I love you so much, baby. You will never know how happy you just made me.”

“I
think I have a good idea,” she said. “So, do I get my ring now or what?”

I
laughed. “Yes, of course,” I said, and I moved my hand from the nape of her
neck to open the box. She gasped when she saw it for the first time, and I took
it out. She held her left hand out for me and, smiling, I slid the ring onto
her finger. “Well, thank God I guessed the right size because it’s a perfect
fit,” I said.

She
grinned brighter than the fireworks in the sky. “Perfect fit,” she repeated,
and she gripped my hand in hers. “Liam, it’s so beautiful.” When she moved her
hand to look at it, the fireworks made the large diamond twinkle brighter than
anything in the sky.

“You
like it, then?” I asked, leaning in to kiss the curve of her neck above her
shoulder.

“Oh
babe, it’s gorgeous. I love you so much,” she said, a few tears still falling.

I
leaned up and kissed her tear stained cheeks. “Only tears of joy from now on as
long as I can help it, okay?” I said, and my lips found hers again. This time
instead of a happy kiss, it was one filled with deep love and longing. Her
tongue gently touched mine for a split second, and it ignited everything south
of my belt. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, desire to get her out that
damn blue dress taking over me. In one quick move, Rory was lying on her back
on the blanket and I was hovering over her. Before she could react, my mouth
was back on hers and we continued our heated kiss. Her tongue ring clicked on
my teeth and I groaned. I loved it when she would do that…that damn barbell
would be the death of me. My hand roamed down her body and it rested on her
thigh for a moment before I slid my hand back up, taking the hem of her dress
with me. I really thought she was going to stop me since we were out on a
public beach, but she didn’t. I made sure that when I proposed we would most
definitely be alone, so there was no one around for miles. Further testing how
far she would let me take this, I glided my hand up farther until I reached her
panties, and I slid my fingers under them at her hips.