Chapter 3:

"I'm really nervous," Aiden said as he and Hope waited outside of the school to pick their children up.

Hope turned to him and brushed some hair out of his eyes. "Don't be. Ciara has definitely warmed to you since first meeting you. She wants me to be happy, and she knows that you make me happy."

"I hope so," Aiden said, picturing many different Ciara reactions in his head—none of them pleasant.

"I'm nervous too, you know. Chase hasn't had a mother in a long time. He could think you're trying to replace his mother with me." Hope sighed. "Gosh, now I'm nervous."

Aiden shook his head. This time, he stroked Hope's hair. "Chase adores you. Heck, Ciara is his best friend. He's going to be thrilled that she is going to be his sister now. Well, mostly thrilled anyway. Let's face it, your daughter's kind of scary sometimes."

Hope smirked, and playfully smacked his chest. "Oh, stop! Sure she can be a little…overbearing at times, but she gets that from her dad."

"Oh, and of course, she gets none of it from you," Aiden teased.

Hope gasped. "Let's not forget that you were the one acting like a jackass when we first met. I tried to be nice, but you would have none of it."

"Well you were the one badmouthing me to Kayla, and I'm sure many others, behind my back," Aiden shot back in a playful manner.

"Only because you were acting like such a jerk!" Hope shot back. She then smiled, and slowly ran her hands up his chest. "And because I couldn't let her fall in love with you when you so clearly belonged with me."

Aiden placed his hands over Hope's waist and looked lovingly in her eyes. "Hope, there was not a chance in hell that I would have fallen for Kayla, or Jennifer, or anyone else you tried to pair me with…or turn off of from me."

Hope draped her arms over his shoulders and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why's that?"

"Because I was already head-over-heels, madly in love with you," Aiden said simply.

Hope smiled. "Well that works out perfectly because I'm head-over-heels, madly in love with you."

They kissed.

"Ew, they're at it again!" Chase wined.

"Come on, guys, stop! You're embarrassing us," Ciara scolded.

Hope and Aiden stopped kissing and smiled at their children, but didn't break their hold.

"Well, if you think that was embarrassing, wait until you see this!" he said, bending Hope backwards and kissing her passionately.

"Ew!" Chase and Ciara complained, looking at each other.

Hope grinned as Aiden lifted her back up. "And this is only the beginning of the things we do that embarrass them."

"Why can't they stay sweet forever?" Aiden asked.

"Oh to dream," Hope said.

They broke apart.

"Come on. We're going to the pub for dinner," Hope said to Ciara.

"All of us?" Chase asked.

Aiden nodded. "Yes, all of us."

"What's the special occasion?" Ciara asked.

"What makes you think there's a special occasion?" Hope asked.

"Well, we're usually forced to eat at home and choke down your cooking," Ciara stated.

Aiden burst into laughter, as did Chase.

"Oh, come on! My cooking's not that bad, is it?" Hope asked.

"No. It's just…never going to be restaurant worthy," Aiden tried.

"Or human consumption worthy," Chase joked.

This time, Ciara joined Aiden and Chase in their laughter.

Hope crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm so glad you appreciate my working hard to cook for you," she said sarcastically.

"Oh, relax, Mom. We can't all be good at everything. You're much better at baking than you are at cooking," Ciara told her, a hand over her arm.

Chase nodded. "Yeah, and I know a lot of people who absolutely suck at baking. One time, before we came to Salem, Mrs. Thomas, my teacher brought in cinnamon rolls she baked. The whole class got diarrhea after eating them."

"Not exactly a nice thing to talk about before dinner," Aiden stated.

"Whatever. Let's just go eat! I'm starved," Ciara said.

Chase nodded. "Me too."

They ran off ahead to the car.

Aiden lagged behind with Hope, and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Don't worry," he told her. "You're good at the important stuff like being a mother, and…" He kissed the side of her neck. "Other things."

Hope smiled at him. "What kind of other things?"

"Things not suitable for our children to hear about," Aiden responded. He kissed her cheek. "But I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to discuss those things later, now that we're going to be married," he murmured in her ear.

Hope licked her lips. "I'll be looking forward to it."

They kissed.

"Ugh, come on already!" Ciara called out.

Hope and Aiden broke the kiss and grinned, then quickly hurried to catch up with their kids.

"So, you never answered my question," Ciara said as they ate their dinner. "What's the occasion?"

"Does it have something to do with that new ring?" Chase asked, pointing to the shiny pink and white diamonds on Hope's left ring finger.

Hope and Aiden looked at each other.

Ciara suddenly put her cheeseburger back down on her plate. "Oh gosh. He asked you to marry him, didn't he?"

Hope looked at her and slowly nodded. "Just last night."

"Wow, congratulations!" Chase said, a happy smile on his face.

"So, you're okay with it?" Aiden asked him.

Chase nodded. "Sure. Why not? I'm just glad to see you so happy. Anyway, Hope's a nice woman, and she makes you happy. That's all that really matters to me."

Hope smiled at Chase. "Thank you, Chase. I promise I will never try to replace your mother. I love your dad very much, and I love you very much as well."

Chase smiled.

Aiden nodded at Ciara. "What about you?" He raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to be okay with this?"

Ciara shrugged. "It's not exactly like I have a choice now, is it?"

Hope sighed. "No, but I'd like you to be happy with my decision."

"I'm never going to replace your dad, nor would I ever try to. I get it. You and I are friends now, right?" Aiden asked Ciara.

Ciara shrugged, her arms crossed over her chest. "I guess."

"I promise to love your mother so much, and I will love you too. I will make your mother happy, I promise," Aiden said softly.

Ciara looked at him, her expression softening a bit. "You already do. I know you do. But I'm always going to miss my dad."

"I know that, and that it totally normal and understandable. Look, like I said, I'm not trying to replace him. Your mother and I love each other, and we just want to be there to love each other and make each other happy. We also want to try to fill a little bit of the void in each other's hearts," Aiden explained, his tone soft.

"And the same goes for you guys. We promise to both always be here to love you guys and take care of you. We will be there for you whenever you need us. Nothing has changed other than we'll all be officially a family now," Hope chimed in.

Ciara eyed Aiden up. "Promise me you'll never abandon us like my dad did?"

Aiden crossed his heart. "I'd have to die to ever abandon you."

Ciara shot him a warning look. "If you ever hurt my mother, that might just happen."

Hope gasped. "Ciara Alice Brady, do not go making death threats!"

Ciara shrugged. "I'm just saying."

Aiden laughed. "No, it's okay." He grinned at Ciara. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you." He winked at her.

Ciara grinned, and held out her hand. "Welcome to the family, then. But don't ever expect me to call you Dad."

Aiden shook her hand. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Mm, how lucky was it for us to bump into Miranda at the pub?" Hope asked, her arms draped over Aiden's shoulders as they stood in front of her home.

Aiden grinned at her. "And it was even luckier that she and her son were going to see the new Disney movie, which Ciara and Chase had been dying to see."

"And even luckier yet that Miranda and her son invited them to go along, and agreed to drop them back here after the movie," Hope said. She kissed the side of his neck. "Disney movies are usually an hour and a half, right?"

Aiden closed his eyes. "Mm hm."

"It should give us plenty of time to do some very un-Disney like activities," Hope said with a grin.

Aiden grinned as well. "Oh? And what might those activities include? Hm?" He kissed the side of her neck, trailing his kisses up to her jawline.

"Mm, I've always been better at showing than at telling," Hope replied.

"I think I can show you a thing or two myself!" Aiden said.

Hope laughed. "Oh, really?"

Aiden grinned and pulled her closer by the waist. "Really."

They kissed softly on the lips for a moment, then Hope opened the door. They stepped into the house and she shut the door, then Aiden picked her up.

"You don't waste any time. Do you, Mr. Jennings?" she asked.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope! After all, we only have an hour and a half."

Hoped grinned, and they kissed all the way up the stairs and to the bedroom.

"I love you so much," Aiden said as he made love to Hope.

Hope closed her eyes. "I love you too. So much…" She moaned as Aiden continued to make love to her. She wrapped her legs around his waist.

He kissed her passionately and pulled her closer to him. He wanted to make her feel all the love he hand inside for her.

Hope threw her head back and closed her eyes. "Aiden, yes…"

"I love you Hope," Aiden said again.

Before Hope could reply, they heard a different voice. It was a voice that Aiden had never heard before, but one that Hope knew all too well, though she hadn't heard it in years.

"What the heck?!" came the loud booming voice in the doorway.

Aiden and Hope both jumped, and Hope looked over Aiden's shoulder. She covered her mouth with her hand. "Bo!" she gasped.