Jack idly played with Ronnie's slender fingers, his hands roaming from her stomach to her hands. "You make me so happy," he whispered into her mane of blonde hair.
Ronnie looked up at his through her charcoal lashes, her pale lips curving into a broad smile. "Well, I think it's safe to say, Mr Branning, that you've made me happier than I've ever been."
"Yeah?" Jack asked, his voice slightly unsure and doubtful. Maybe I have in the last five months, but what about before? I've broken your heart twice. Two times too many.
She nodded her head. "Yeah." Her eyes locked onto his chocolate brown ones, she could feel herself being immersed in their warmth. Ronnie brought her hand up to his face, gently caressing his stubbled cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too," Jack replied, almost instantly. But he clamped down on his tongue before the second part of his sentence could tumble from his mouth. Please don't leave me.
"I should think so too," Ronnie murmured, tilting her face upwards so her lips brushed against her husband's. "Jack?"
"Yeah?" He drew away, so he could keep looking at her.
"You'll always love me, won't you?" A doubt crept into her voice and a vulnerability swept over Ronnie as she lay on the sofa next to Jack and looked into her husband's eyes, pleading with him to never forget her.
"Course I will."
"You won't forget us?"
"I've spent all my life looking for you, Ronnie – I ain't ever letting us go." His fingers tightly clutched onto hers, as though making sure that she was still there, still lying beside him.
"Good," she whispered. "Because I don't want you to get married again, I want to be Mrs Jack Branning and I want to be the one that you love forever."
Jack cupped Ronnie's face in his hands. He swallowed the tennis ball sized lump in his throat before attempting to speak. "Hey, hey – you're my wife, Ronnie. You'll always be that. And there'll never be anyone else. Ever. You're the love of my life, you're her and there's nobody in the world that can take that away from you. Nobody."
Ronnie bit down on her bottom lip for a moment, trying to smother the wave of tears she knew would pour from her eyes at any moment. "That's good to know, because I'd haunt you just to make sure you'd never have sex again."