Chapter 11: New Plan

One month later

Destiny walked up to Jeremy and Faith's home with Eric, and as she was knocking, he asked. "Mom, why do I have to stay at dad's? I thought it was your weekend."

John had called her the other day, asking if she still wanted to come out to LA for the weekend since he will be there playing some home games, and since Destiny had enough vacation time saved up, she could afford to miss a few days, but the downside was that she wasn't ready for John and her son to meet. She had to be sure about him before he brought him fully into her son's life.

Destiny looked down at her son. "I know honey, but I need this time alone for a bit." He sighed and looked down, making Destiny feel a little sad herself, she didn't like it when her boy was sad or upset.

She kneels down before bringing her son's chin up so they were looking at each other, then she cups his cheek. "I promise when I get back I'll take you to any event or show you want to go to. I love you so much Eric, but sometimes..."

He cuts her off. "Grownups need their alone time."

She smiles at how smart he was, before nodding. "Yes. But just because I am away from you, doesn't mean that I miss or love you any less, or to pieces, ok?"

He smiled. "Am I still your favorite?"

She chuckles, bringing him into her arms. "Baby, you will always be my favorite." He hugs her back.

Their hugging was interrupted when the door opened, then mother and son pulled back before looking up, and Eric smiled at him. "Guess what dad? I am staying with you for the weekend!"

Jeremy nods while bending down to eye level with his son, smiling. "I know. My whole weekend is reserved only for you."

Eric smiles bigger, then turns back to his mother, giving her a hug and kiss as they say I love you before he runs inside with his bag.

When he was inside the house, Jeremy and Destiny both stand up while he speaks. "You make sure this new guy treats you right."

She looked at him wide-eyed. "How did..."

He chuckles while shaking his head. "Come on Destiny, I think everybody knows. We are all CSI's and detectives, we just wanted you to admit you finally found somebody."

She paused before replying. "I guess I was pretty obvious, I couldn't help it."

They smile at each other as he replied. "Well you deserve it, you deserve all the happiness in the world." She nods while he continued. "Just be careful."

"Always." She looked at her watch before looking at him again. "I have to go."

He nods back, and after they say goodbye, she turns from the door, walking down the porch steps before getting into her vehicle.

He didn't walk in the house until her vehicle was out of sight, which as he did, he was hoping that this guy who was putting a smile on her face was treating the way she deserved to be treated.

Once she got off the plane in LA, she rented a car to drive to his house in Malibu, which her heart was speeding and she was getting more nervous every mile she passed.

After an hour she finally pulls in his driveway, then once she stopped her vehicle and turned it off, while taking a few calming breaths, she gets out and shuts the vehicle door before walking up to the nice two-story house.

She still couldn't believe that she was seeing him again after a month, she had really missed him. But she was also afraid because her feelings for him was becoming a lot stronger than she anticipated. She already had her heart broken before, and she didn't want to go through that again.

When she stopped at the front door, she takes another breath while lifting her hand up before knocking.

A few seconds later the door opens, and the moment she saw the woman on the other side, her heart just broke.

She shook her head while she was stepping back. "Sorry, I must have gotten the wrong house."

There could have been a lot of explanations for this woman to be there, but she wasn't thinking about them. Instead, she had turned and started running back to her car with her eyes blurring from the tears coming down her cheek, so by the time she got to her car door she couldn't see well enough to put the key in the key hole.

She was stopped with what she was trying to do when a hand went to her shoulder as his voice was heard. "Wait, Destiny."

She shook his hand off her shoulder. "No, this was a mistake. I should have listened to my head, I shouldn't have gotten involved."

He puts his hand back on her shoulder to stop her before she got in her vehicle, then he turned her around and spoke while looking into her eyes after he brings her head back to look at him. "She's my sister."

She looks into his eyes while asking. "Your sister?"

"Yes, she lives in LA and wanted to see me when I got back in town."

"Oh."

He gives her a small smile while continuing. "She would love to meet you, come on." He then holds out his hand.

She looks at his hand before looking at him again, seeing that he wants her to trust him once more. Then after a few seconds pause, she nodded and took his hand before he walks them back to his house.

When they were in, she sees his sister standing in the middle of the big foyer, looking kind of worried.

They walked up to her, and Destiny said. "I'm sorry."

The sister smiles. "No problem. I just couldn't let you leave without knowing who I really was." Destiny smiles while the sister holds out her hand. "I am Juliet Wright, his younger sister."

She was about 5'8, with medium, curly blond hair, blue eyes, medium build and looked to be about 10 years younger than him, which puts her 5 years older than Destiny.

Destiny takes Juliet's hand, shaking it. "And I am Destiny Grissom."

Juliet smiles a little bigger. "It's finally nice to meet you. He has told me so much about you over the phone."

Destiny and Juliet looked at John, which he looks down shaking his head. "I'll let you girls talk, I'll be right back." They laugh as he walked away.

When they looked at each other again, Juliet still looked happy for her brother, but her face also showed sincerity as she spoke. "Destiny, I don't think I have ever seen John as happy as he was when he was talking about you. I've been here for a few hours and he was has probably mentioned your name about 50 times, you are good for him." Destiny looks down, embarrassed, making Juliet smile while shaking her head head. "You two belong together, getting embarrassed by the simplest comments."

Destiny looked at Juliet again, asking. "He was really talking about me?" She felt like she was back in high school when she asked that question, but she didn't care.

Juliet nods before turning from Destiny to walk to the living room so she could grab her purse and light jacket from the couch, then walked up to her, finally replying. "Yes, practically non stop."

Destiny smiled as Juliet turned around to look at her brother walking their way. "I am getting out of here bro." John smiles, walking his sister to the front door before opening it.

When they get into a hug, she whispers in his ear. "She is very beautiful, don't screw it up."

She kissed his cheek before pulling back, then after he kissed her cheek, he nodded his head. "Goodbye sister."

She smiles, looking over his shoulder to tell Destiny it was nice to meet her, which she said it back, then after one more goodbye, Juliet walks out of the house before John shuts the door after seeing her get to her vehicle.

When he turned around, he walked the few steps toward her as she started speaking."I'm sorry again for earlier, you must have thought I was cr..." She was cut off when his lips were on hers.

She then wraps her arms around his neck a second later as he wraps his arms around her waist, both getting lost in the moment.

After a few minutes their passionate kiss slowed down to little pecks, then he puts his forehead to hers before speaking. "It's ok."

She shakes her head, pulling her head back to look at him. "No it's not, we both agreed this was casual. You could have been with anybody you wanted. But when I saw her, I realized that..." She stops herself before she puts her heart out there.

He cups her cheek while asking. "You realized what?"

She shakes her head again. "Let's not talk about this now, ok?"

She didn't want to ruin this weekend with serious talk about them right now.

"Ok."

They smiled at each other as they lean toward each other to kiss again, sealing the deal.

The whole weekend was a romantic experience for Destiny.

The first night she was there, he took her to one of the most romantic restaurants with a private booth, and this time they didn't get interrupted with autographs. Then after dinner, they went back to his house and watched a romantic move while cuddling on the couch before going to bed after the movie was over, ending the night in the most romantic way.

The next day she went to his game, sitting behind the home team's club house. She heard people talking around her, which was mostly about John and his many girlfriends, or one night stand girls coming to watch him play. She ignored them the best she could, but still some of the doubt came through her mind, which made her feel tense all throughout the game.

Later that evening they were walking hand in hand on the beach, watching the sunset, then he looked over at her and asked. "What's wrong? You have been silent since we left the stadium."

"It's just that... I just heard some of the wives' of the ballplayers talking about you."

He nods in understanding, cupping her cheek with his hand. "Whatever they said isn't true."

"So you haven't been with thousands of women?"

He chuckles, shaking his head. "Thousands? No." She nods before they looked at the sky again.

After a few minutes of silence, she asked that question. "How many have you been with?"

He looked over at her, and she was waiting for him to tell her this was becoming more serious than he was ready for, but was surprised when he turned her to him and cups her cheek again, looking into her eyes. "I'll admit there has been a lot, but definitely less than thousands, and none since we met."

She looks at him, shocked, before asking. "You mean...but why?"

He smiles, taking his hand off her cheek and putting both of them on her shoulders. "Because the moment I met you, you have been on my mind non-stop, and I can't shake you from it...but the thing is, I don't want to. You are a loving, special, beautiful inside and out woman, and letting you go would be the stupidest thing I could do, something I never want to."

She was still shocked at what he said, considering what their deal was, so she cleared her throat and asked. "But you wanted this to be casual."

"No, I just said what I thought that's what you wanted. I didn't want to put commitment out there since we had just met, but I knew there wasn't going to be anyone else after that first night, which there hasn't been, please believe me."

She believed him before he even asked. He had been truthful from the beginning and she had no reason to doubt him now, so she nodded. "I believe you, and there hasn't been anybody since you either, but really there has barley been anybody before you."

He just looks at her, wondering how no man has seen how wonderful she really was. He knew a few things about Jeremy Williams and thought he was the stupidest man to let this gem go.

He shakes his head from that thought, not wanting to imagine her with anybody else, then he places his forehead to hers as she asked. "Now what?"

He takes a minute before asking that important question. "Marry me?"

Destiny gasped, pulling her head back. "What?"

He smiles. "Marry Me Destiny, I love you so much." He took a breath before continuing. "Believe me, I know how crazy this is, and I also know how fast this is, but I want you for the rest of my life. I have searched a long time for somebody like you, and now that I have found you, I am not letting you go without a fight, so please Destiny, marry me?"

She gets out of his arms to take a step away, whenever she was near him her mind and heart was in a crazy frenzy, and this time was no exception, and she needed to think straight for a bit.

She turned so her eyes were looking at the horizon to think for a few minutes, then she sighed. "John, I have a son that I love more than anything, and I need to do what is best for him."

"I know your son is a packaged deal, and I want to get to know him."

She smiles, looking at him. "Really?"

He nods with a smile as she continued to look into his eyes, then she looks down with another sigh, making him feel like there was something else she needed to get out before she could accept, so he asked. "What?"

She replied after looking at him again. "I know how much you love your career, and I don't want to come between that. But I don't think I can be in a relationship that keeps one of the partners out of their lives for most of the year. I applaud all the couples that can do it, but I can't see myself being one of them, no matter how much I care for them."

He tilts his head and looks at her intently. "So you only care for me?"

She shakes her head without hesitation. "No, I can honestly say that I love you John, I really do, and you're right, this has been crazy, but these feelings came fast and strong."

He sighed in relief, happy that she feels the same as him, then he walks up to her before wrapping his arms around her waist. "Then I will retire." She gasped, and was about to talk but he puts a finger to her lips to stop her. "I was going to retire the next few years anyway, so if I have to do that this season to be with you, then I will, you're worth it."

"And you're ok coming to Vegas? I couldn't imagine being away from my family, and I can't take Eric away from his father."

"Anything for you."

She smiles bigger, placing her hand on his cheek. "Are you sure? About everything." She had to be sure that's what he wanted to do.

He nods, leaning toward her and pecking her on the lips before replying. "Yes, but can I finish the rest of the season?"

She cups both sides of his cheeks and brings him closer to her, kissing him before they pull back. "Of course, you finish your season and make your team proud."

He smiles, then cleared his throat. "Well now that we have all that out, I will ask again. Will you marry me?"

She looks deeply into his blue eyes, and said the only answer that was on the tip of her tongue when he had asked her the first time. "Yes John Wright, I will marry you."

He laughs, picking her up and spinning them around in the sand, while she was laughing too.

He finally places her feet back on the sand before cupping her cheek again. "I love you Destiny Grissom."

She smiles. "I love you too John Wright."

They lean toward each other and kiss, both knowing that from here on out this was what they have been waiting for, for so long, which was to love someone with everything they got.

AN: Thanks to those you are still reading and reviewing. Please review.