Love and Chaos (34 page)

He
spun around then and deposited Emma back on the couch, kneeling down in front
of her and grasping her hands in his. “Emma, I love you. I fought it for what
seems like forever, because I didn’t want to be the kind of husband to you that
my father was to my mother. But I love you. Marry me. For real this time. Be my
wife. Stay with me, Emma. Please.”

She
was still crying. He had blown it. She was going to say no, in a nice way of
course, but she was going to walk out on him. Oh God, he thought. He didn’t
think his heart could take it. He felt Emma join him on the floor, her bare
feet against his knees as she squatted down in front of him, holding her hands
tightly wrapped around his.

“Mason,
you idiot,” she said softly, tears flowing down her face. “I love you. I’ve
loved you since the day you ordered a t-bone steak at dinner, just so you could
bribe my dog. I don’t want a divorce from you.”

Mason’s
heart filled, and relief overflowed into every bone in his body, but he was
still unsure. “Then why were you so upset when I refused to give you one?”

“Because
I didn’t want us to stay together for business reasons. Or because it looked
right to the rest of society. And, if you didn’t love me and couldn’t love me,
I wanted out,” she admitted. “I was getting in too deep, and I didn’t think I’d
survive if we stayed together for two more years and then divorced.”

Standing
up, Mason reached down and gently lifted Emma up into his arms. Encircling her
in his embrace, he stood, his head resting on hers, his hands stroking her back
as he caught his breath. After a moment, he pulled back, his hand reaching
around to carefully wipe the remaining tears from her face.

“Then
you’ll marry me?” he asked.

“I’m
already married to you,” she hiccupped.

“Then
you’ll stay married to me?” he grinned.

“Yes.
Yes, Mason,” she said, holding him tightly and sobbing out her relief.

“Do
you want a real wedding, Emma?” Mason asked tenderly. “I know I deprived you of
that, and I’m sorry.”

But
Emma shook her head. “I had a real wedding, Mason. Complete with a ring that I
love. I don’t need more than that. A wedding now would seem strange to me.”

“Then
how about a honeymoon?” he asked with a smile.

“Now
you’re talking!” she smiled through her tears. “Can we take Chaos?”

Mason
laughed. “No, we cannot take Chaos. He would feel neglected since I plan on
focusing all my attention, every day, on you.”

As
if he knew he was being talked about, Chaos strolled into the room, his tail
wagging as he looked at his two favorite people holding on to each other. He
walked up to them, looked up, and barked.

Mason
laughed as he reached down and scritched the dog behind the ears.

“Emma,
you have changed me,” he said softly as he looked her in the eyes from his kind
of awkward position. “I never would have allowed a dog in the house. Or a cat.”

“Or
a wife?” she added.

He
grinned. “That I asked for when I coerced you into marrying me. But I never
expected anything other than someone to sleep with. I never expected to fall in
love.”

His
expression turned serious. “Are you sure, Emma? I’m not an easy man.”

“I’m
sure. If you can bend enough to accept this motley crew, you can bend enough to
deal with whatever life throws at us.”

“I
love you, Emma.”

“And
I love you. With all my heart.”

Epilogue

“Chaos!
Get back here! Oh for the love of God....” Emma traipsed after Chaos, who was
scampering after a small furball on the back porch.

“Malcolm,
what in the name of all that is holy is that crazy wife of mine doing?”

Malcolm
looked up with a grin at the exasperated man standing next to him, watching his
wife meander around the back yard. “I think she’s trying to keep the dog from
chasing the cat,” he said, laughing.

“How
can she chase anything? She’s nine months pregnant, and moving about as fast as
a turtle.”

“I
heard that!” came a response from behind one of the nearby bushes.

Mason
grinned. “Emma, get your pretty little butt and your pretty super-sized belly
back over here. I’ll deal with Chaos.”

Emma
sighed and moved back over to the porch, lowering herself carefully onto one of
the chairs and reaching for a glass of lemonade.

“It’s
your fault,” she proclaimed wryly as she pushed a glass and the pitcher of cold
lemonade toward Malcolm.

“Now
what?” he asked.

“You
brought home the new kitten. Where do you keep finding these animals, anyway?
And don’t tell me under a bush. I don’t think we have this many bushes in the
neighborhood.”

He
grinned, pouring himself a glass.

Emma
looked over at him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “You’re not gonna answer
me, are you?”

Malcolm
just laughed and changed the subject. “I just signed up for my classes for the
fall,” he told Emma.

“Oh
yeah? What did you decide? Are you doing the business track or the science
track?”

Mal
shrugged. “I’m hedging my bets. Dad will freak if all I’m taking is math and
science. So I’ve got a couple of other courses in there too to make him happy.
And we’ll see. I’m still a kid. Maybe I’ll choose to do something completely
different.”

“Yeah?
Like what?”

“I
don’t know. Maybe I'll run a hotel or something.”

Emma
rolled her eyes. “Oh, great idea. You can put a stray cat in every room. You
can call it Animal Fur Inn. Just warn your guests beforehand in case any of
them are allergic.”

Malcolm
looked over at Emma and rolled his eyes right back at her. “Oh ha,” he said.

Emma
leaned back, watching Mason and Chaos playing together in the yard while the
now-abandoned cat was sitting on the back porch, grooming herself. Her hand
rested lightly on her swollen belly as she contemplated her life. It was good,
she thought. Since she was no longer able to do much cooking, Dorothy had
insisted on joining them for dinner frequently, bringing with her a fridge-full
of catered meals for her son and daughter-in-law to enjoy. Malcolm’s parents
were out of town, so he and Michelle were frequent guests, and Emma laughed
watching Dorothy and Malcolm forming a friendship. Even Amanda and Greg joined
them when they could, and Emma was waiting patiently for them to announce their
engagement. She hoped they weren’t waiting until the baby was born - this
family could deal with more than one joyful event at a time.

Her
own family was ecstatic with the news of Emma’s pregnancy. Her grandmother was
going to craft fairs and buying knitted booties, telling Emma that she didn't
have the patience to knit, but she wanted her great-grandchild to have homemade
stuff. Emma responded by telling her that her great-grandchild needed homemade
STUFFING some day, but the old lady just shrugged and sipped her martini. Her
parents had long forgiven Mason for eloping with their daughter, and had
welcomed him whole-heartedly to the family. And Jen...

“I
told you so,” she said with a grin.

“I
know you did. I just didn’t believe you.”

“That’s
because you didn’t believe that anyone could fall in love with you at first
sight.”

“I
still don’t. It took more than sight. It took me standing up for you, you
idiot.”

“Yeah,
so you have me to thank,” Jen shrugged good-naturedly.

Emma
laughed. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“So
you’ll name your kid after me?”

“Oh,
hell no. But you can babysit. Occasionally. If Malcolm is around to keep tabs
on you.”

Jen
grinned. “I love you, Em.”

“I
love you too.”

“Still
mad?”

“Nah.
I’m finally over it.”

Mason
looked over at his wife and smiled a smile of contentment. His father no longer
played any part in his thinking - Emma had shown him how different their
marriage could be, and how different Mason himself was from his father. And he
knew that he was, deep in his heart. He was happy. He wasn’t sure his father
had ever been happy.

Leaving
Chaos chewing on a stick, Mason walked over and leaned over to kiss his wife.
As he did so, he watched her pull away from him with a grimace.

“What?
Did I forget to brush my teeth?” he asked.

But
the look on Emma’s face was unlike anything he’d seen before - a mixture of
wonder, fear, and a lot of love. “Mason... I think...”

“What?”

“I
think our baby is about ready to join the world,” she said softly.

“Whoa,
I’m out of here!” Malcolm stood up suddenly, knocking his chair over.

“Oh
come on,” Emma teased. “If you’re gonna be a vet, you’re gonna need to learn
all about delivering little ones.”

“Oh
no I don’t,” Malcolm said. “I’m gone.” Stopping, he fixed Mason with a stern
glance. “You call me when you know anything,” he ordered.

“Yes
sir,” Mason laughed. “But I think it will be a while yet. She just started.”

“No
she didn’t. She’s been having those things all afternoon. Ask her.”

“Emma?”

“Well,
a few,” she admitted.

“How
far apart?” Mason demanded.

“Oh,
about every ten minutes or so.”

“What???”

“Relax.
The hospital is right down the street.”

“Yeah,
but you need to build in time for me to run around in a panic, for heaven’s
sake. Come on. We need to call your doctor, get you to the hospital, get your
suitcase, call our families...”

Emma
laughed. “Mason, I’m fine. The suitcase is in the car, I called the doctor
earlier, and we’ve got time to call our families once we get to the hospital.”

“Then
what are you waiting for?”

She
grinned up at him. “I’m going to sit here for ten more minutes until the next
contraction has passed. Can you crate Chaos and make sure that the animals are
all inside?”

“I’ll
do that,” Malcolm said seriously. “You guys go.”

“You
sure?”

“OH
yeah. I do not want to see this baby born. I’m happy to deal with the animals.
Go.”

Laughing,
Emma started to stand, and Mason rushed over to help her. “You ready for this?”
she asked.

“More
than ready,” he responded. “I love you, Emma Parker. And I’m going to love that
kid of ours. How about you? You ready?”

“Yeah,
I’m ready. Ignore what I scream at you in the delivery room, OK? I love you. And
I will forever.”

“OK.
Let’s go usher our little one into the world. You get first dibs on counting
fingers and toes.”

“Well,
I should hope so,” she groused. “Since I’m the one who is doing all the work.”

Mason
laughed. “Emma, you are amazing. In case I forget to tell you later.”

She
grinned. “You won’t forget.”

And
he didn’t.