Chapter Eleven: Normandie- Operation Neptune (Part II)

"That was a great way to relax" Emily kisses Aiden deeply, it turns out a long shower with someone you love is an awesome way to spend your afternoon. "We should do this more often" She runs her fingers through his back, taking her time to feel every single muscle of it.

Aiden enjoys her touch, "Mmm, we will…I promise you we will" This has to be the end, no more revenge, no more plans. The only thing he wants is to be happy with her, get married, and have kids…all of it, especially now that his sister is with him again. "This is the end, right?" He looks at her, begging for a yes.

Emily looks down, she can't lie to him. "Aiden…I…Victoria is still out there" She feels bad, but even if the ice queen is just a ghost now she has to pay for what she did. "Aiden, look at me" He does, and she continues "I promise you, Victoria is the end…we'll just frame her for Helen's murder and everything will be over"

Aiden knows she's telling the truth, "I want us to be normal; happy…I want to start a family with you. I don't care where, but I'm tired of hiding…I'm tired of this! I love you and I want to shout it from the rooftops, and I can't…" They don't talk much, but when they do, they don't leave anything out.

Emily feels her heart breaking into a million pieces, "I want to shout it from the rooftops too, and this isn't easy for me either. I also want to start a family, but I have to finish what I started…I have to clean my father's name, not only for him or me…for Charlotte too, and Amanda, and little Carl…Victoria is the last, and then we will have our happy ending" She can't fight the tears, this is something she has been saving for too long… it was time to take it out. "I don't want any of them to be ashamed of who they are, I don't want them to hate the name Clarke like I did…I want them to know the truth"

Aiden holds her tightly, that's all she needs right now. "Don't worry Ems, shh don't worry..." He hates to see her cry, "I will help you, they will know the truth…and little Carl will be proud of his grandpa" Even if it's not his real grandparent.

"Yes, he will…" She smiles; she wonders what is her father thinking right know and what would he think about she and Aiden. She remembers a conversation they had when she was little…

Little Amanda runs to the sea, but David stops her "Hey, not so quickly princess. What's the hurry?" He enjoys her laugh; she flushes a little and says "My knight is waiting for me daddy! I have to go see him" David laughs, his 4 year old already talking about her knight. "And where's your knight meeting you honey?" "Dad, he's right there on the beach" She points straight to the sea and he wants to laugh harder but he knows that could upset her, "Oh, right. Silly me…now I see him. Wow! He's really handsome sweetie, you're right you should go" He watches his baby go, but suddenly she turns around and says "You will always be my knight daddy, don't worry"…

In that moment she expected something totally different for her future, something more like Jack and Amanda's history…but life still gave her a knight. She starts laughing, and kisses Aiden, "Ready to save the world, Sir Mathis?"

Aiden looks at her with a puzzled expression, "Sir Mathis, what's that?" She keeps laughing and he starts doing it too, "Well, to answer your question my lady, yes…I'm ready" He takes her hand and kisses it softly.

She bows and adds, "I'm happy to hear that because as much as I would love to stay here and keep playing, it's almost eight. We have to go" Sadly, they're transported back to reality again; they have to prepare everything for tonight.

"Emily, wait…" Aiden feels like it's now or never, he's been waiting to do this for weeks and even if he actually wanted to it after all this mess was over, you never know what could happen…you can hope things will be fine but the truth is life changes in an instant. "I…I wanted to do this after we, you know finish all this. But the thing is, we can't know what will happen there and, if something bad happens…I know we haven't dated a long time but I already feel like I've known you my whole life….Emily Thorne, Amanda Clarke, I don't care who you are, you're perfect for me…you're fun, smart, strong and so beautiful. All I know is that I love you more than I thought I was capable of, and that I can't imagine my life without you…I want us to live happily ever after and I also think you already know where this is going, so I'll go straight to the point…"He shakes his head, when he's nervous he can't stop talking. It's been ages since the last time something like this happened to him and he honestly thought he was over it, but apparently this is a whole new level of nervousness… "Ems, will you marry me?" Aiden shows her a small, red velvet box. He takes out a simple, elegant, platinum ring and anxiously waits for her answer. The diamond shines when the last traces of sunlight hit it and it feels like the world has stopped, for both of them.

~E&A~

Hey! I need to explain something about the title, since I've been comparing this with World war II and the landings in Normandy in 1944 I decided to keep playing with the titles and for those who don't know 'Operation Neptune' was the code name the British Royal Navy gave to the actual disembarkation, the naval part of the landings…which was a total surprise for the enemy! So I thought it was appropriate. Anyway, hope you like this one…and as you can see my romantic side is never too far.

Kisses, Camy.