As the next few years went on, the small family didn't change much. Abby graduated college, and Eddie, Jamie, and Maya went to see her. Abby was moving on to bigger and better things, so she made the decision to step down from the job of Maya's nanny. Eddie hired a new nanny who was 17 and just dropped out of high school.
Her name was Jesse and Eddie saw a bit of herself in Jesse. Jamie wanted to make Jesse go back to her parents, but Eddie refused. Jamie looked into her anyways and found out that her mom was in jail for manslaughter and her dad died in a car wreck, also the reason her mother was in jail. When Eddie found that out, she really did take her in like a little sister.
When Maya turned 4 Eddie sent her to preschool. The first day it was extremely hard for Eddie to let her go. Eddie made Jamie sit outside of the small school all day. They only left when Eddie got hungry and even then they only went to the cafe around the block.
Jamie, Eddie, Jesse, and Maya went out almost every Saturday together, and Jamie took Maya somewhere just the two of them at least once a month.
One or two families looking to adopt Maya came out through the years, but neither stuck. In order to keep Maya from getting confused they had her call Jamie 'athair' (AH her), the Irish Gaelic word for father, and she called Eddie 'majka' (my kuh), the serbian word for mother.
When Eddie got shot Jamie stepped up and took Maya for a few nights. Although she loved spending time with her athair, Maya was glad to see Eddie when they got home. "Majka!" She exclaimed as she ran into Eddie's living room giving her a hug.
"Hi, Angel."
"Be careful, Squirt," Jamie said using his nickname for Maya. "remember what I told you, your majka is very sore."
"I'm sorry, Athair. I'm sorry, Majka." Maya apologized.
"You're ok, just be careful." a smile spread across her face as she was looking down at the little girl, she'd always be innocent to Eddie. "What's you do at athair's house?"
A smile lit up Maya's face as she spoke about her last few days. "Athair read books to me every night, and we played with my dolls."
"Oh, you did?" Eddie looked up at Jamie.
"Yes!" Maya rambled on before Jamie got the chance to say anything.
The city was no quieter than usual, but Eddie could still hear her heartbeat ringing in her ears.
"That was some shot." They were a good three feet away, but she could still hear Jamie's panting. That was the thing, he was breathing and and talking to her. He was alive. "You saved my life." She did, and the thought of getting outside ten seconds later terrified her.
"Jamie, it was like I heard a voice, I swear to god." Something told her that he was in trouble.
"That's called a radio." Jamie was attempting humor, but it wasn't the reaction Eddie needed.
"No," That wasn't what she meant although she let out a small chuckle. "serious, like I knew. I knew you were in trouble before you even were. Like I was warned." She started sobbing and threw herself into his arms, extra reassurance that he was there. He was okay, and thank god for that.
She sobbed in his arms, and he whispered in her ear. "I'd spend the five million on you."
As they stood in the middle of the road rmps started surrounded them Eddie and Jamie didn't even notice. They didn't let go either, and Eddie was damned if anyone tried to seperate them.
When Eddie slowly let go she looked up at Jamie, "I thought I was going to lose you, and I couldn't live with myself if I did."
"I'm here. I'm not gone, you didn't lose me, I'm here."
Jamie gently led Eddie to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She slowly climbed in and he ran to the other side and climbed in. As soon as he sat down Eddie interlocked his right hand with her left.
Jamie had no clue where he was going, yet he started to drive. They'd barely driven for a mile when Eddie made him pull into a mini-golf parking lot. "What are we doing?" He asked her as she climbed out of the car.
"I need a location of where this happens." He was following her up to the door.
"What?" She didn't answer, instead she barged through the office and went straight out to the course. "Eddie, what are you doing?"
"I thought I lost you today, Jamie." Her voice was breaking and she had tears in her eyes.
"But you didn't."
"I could have though, and, Jamie, that scares me more than anything in the world."
"What are you saying, Ed?"
"What if I had lost you? Or you lost me when I got shot a month ago? Would there be anything you regretted?" They were so close at this point, a pure few inches away.
"I guess, why?"
"You guess? Because, Jamie, I would regret every night I didn't spend in your arms. Every night when instead of falling asleep together watching a movie I say goodbye to you and lock up my apartment. Every morning when instead of telling you my every thought in the morning as we get ready I have to wait outside of the locker room to tell you. At the end of every tour when we head to separate cars and separate apartments instead of the same car to one apartment." She took a step and any space that was between them was gone. "I'd regret every time we weren't together."
"Eddie," He captured her lips in his. "I love you, Eddie, and we can try to change that for the rest of our lives, but I never will stop loving you. When you walked up to me that night, the night I first met you, I thought 'Wow, I've got a gorgeous partner on my hand,' but it's so much more than that. I'm already spoiled for life, and I can never go back."
They looked at each other before saying, at the same time, "Marry me?"
No answer was said by either of them. Jamie simply snaked his hands behind her back as she wrapped her hands around his neck and their lips fused together. When they needed air Jamie pulled away, but set his forehead on hers.
A/N thank you all for being so patient. Please review it really is very much appreciated. BTW for over half of this I wrote while watching a Jefree Star and James Charles collab so there's that. Thank you!
