Chapter 49

A/N #1: To those of you still following First Steps, sincere thanks for your continuing patience! I apologize for the unintentional delay in updating. Since last posting a new chapter to this story back in February, I stepped away for a little while to write three new fics for my "Hearts" series because, hey, sometimes you have to go where the inspiration takes you :) But now we're back...

Here's a super quick recap to catch you up: After Wyatt asked Lucy to live with him and Jamie by gifting her with a copy of his apartment key for Valentines Day, she moved in with the Logans a few days after that. Unfortunately, though, the romantic getaway trip she and Wyatt were planning to take in mid-March was delayed yet again because both Jamie and Lucy caught a stomach bug...

Early Saturday evening

April 15

Lucy was in the master bedroom folding a load of clean towels for their bathroom while Wyatt finished the supper dishes when she heard the sound of small feet pounding up the stairs. Seconds later, Jamie burst into the room, panting slightly. "Miss Lucy! Miss Lucy! Guess what? Daddy said when the dishes are done, it's time to color Easter eggs! You know, the eggs he put in a big pot and cooked on the stove today so they aren't all squishy inside anymore...and Daddy said since I'm almost six years old, I can put the drops that makes the color into the cup and dip some eggs if I have steady hands."

Pausing long enough to take a breath, the little boy held up his chubby hands for her inspection. "Do you think I have steady hands like Daddy said, Miss Lucy?" He asked. The five-year-old's clear blue eyes-so like his father's–watched her anxiously.

Hiding a smile, Lucy bent down and carefully touched her palms to Jamie's much smaller ones. She pretended to consider his question for a half second before solemnly pronouncing, "I think these are the steadiest hands I've ever seen. Looks like you're up for the job of coloring eggs, young Mr. Logan."

She chuckled when he beamed at her in delight and cheered, "Yay!" as he ran from the room and tore back down the steps, yelling for his dad. Shaking her head, Lucy finished with the towels, and digging around in the dresser, grabbed a faded Stanford tee of hers for Jamie to wear over his clothes while they dyed the eggs. They'd already picked up everything earlier in the week for the nice basket that "Mr. Bunny" would leave on the dining room table later on this evening after the little boy was fast asleep.

It was Lucy's first Easter with the Logan men, and she was quite excited about taking part in their family traditions like dying eggs and putting together Jamie's basket. She was also looking forward to tomorrow afternoon. As they had been on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, she, Wyatt, and Jamie-along with Julie's parents, Bob and Ruth-were invited over for Easter dinner at the Baumgardners. Julie had thoughtfully extended the invitation to Amy as well, but her sister had already made plans of her own.

Not only that, but Wyatt mentioned that once the meal was finished, the kids would be given small baskets and turned loose to hunt around the back yard for plastic eggs filled with candy and other treats. It sounded like a good time, and Jamie had talked about little else all week. They would be taking Wyatt's usual contribution to the meal, a large baking dish of green bean casserole (another of Grandma Betsy's recipes), plus a couple quarts of sugared fresh strawberries to go with Ruth's homemade lemon pound cake.

While cuddled up together in bed last night, Wyatt had shared stories with Lucy of past Easters, some sweet, some pretty funny–like the first time he attempted to color eggs the year Jamie turned two. Who knew it took so long for food coloring to fade from a person's skin? he wondered aloud, making Lucy snicker at the thought of him reporting to work sporting random splotches of color on his hands and forearms for days so that his young son would have Easter eggs. The warmth and love evident in Wyatt's voice touched her heart.

"You're a very thoughtful Daddy, always making holidays so special for Jamie," Lucy observed, tenderly caressing his stubbled cheek. Almost from the first day they met back in August, she'd witnessed for herself that raising a child alone seemed like a never-ending challenge. In her admittedly biased opinion, though, Wyatt Logan had done a remarkable job with his son over the past five years since Jessica died.

He seemed faintly embarrassed, yet pleased by her praise, turning his head and softly kissing the palm of her hand. "Thank you, Ma'am. It's true being a parent can be pretty tough sometimes, but there's also a lot of fun stuff to enjoy with little kids, too, like Christmas and Halloween and Easter and eventually the Tooth Fairy. Sometimes out of nowhere, I remember that Jamie's gonna be six in June, and done with kindergarten in a few months. Feels like the years are going by crazy fast, and I guess it makes me a little sad to think about him outgrowing magical stuff like this."

A pensive Lucy kept it to herself, but it occurred to her just before falling asleep, her cheek resting on Wyatt's bare chest, that maybe within the next couple of years, there would be another little Logan (or two if they were so blessed) for both of them to share the "fun stuff" of childhood with. Whoa, girl, you've got a bad case of baby fever, a tiny voice in her head that strangely sounded like a combination of Amy and Julie teased. And if she was being perfectly honest with herself, they weren't entirely wrong...

When she walked into the kitchen with her shirt, the five-year-old was perched on his knees in a chair, avidly watching from a safe distance as his father partially filled a half dozen stoneware mugs very carefully with boiling water. Wyatt then added a quarter cup of vinegar to each mug while Lucy dropped the tee shirt over Jamie's head. "Sweetheart, will you get the hard-boiled eggs from the fridge? I put those two cartons to one side on the top shelf," he requested absently, focusing his attention on the task at hand-to the delight of his son.

"Yes! Good job, Daddy! Are we ready? Is it time now? Now I can put the color drops in?" The little boy asked eagerly while Lucy retrieved the eggs and set the cartons on one end of the table. She had been looking forward to this evening all week. It had been years since she'd colored eggs with Amy the night before Easter, and she had very fond memories of trying to "help" her oftentimes stubborn little sister, who–much to their mother's chagrin-usually made a good-sized mess while having herself a wonderful time. Yes, Lucy had truly enjoyed Amy's childhood, recalling how excited her seven-year-old self had been to be a big sister, starting from the day Mom and Dad brought her home from the hospital.

"Hold your horses, son, almost ready," Wyatt calmly warned the impatient child, putting the teakettle back on the stove before setting the small bottles of food coloring in the middle of the newspaper-covered table–deliberately out of reach of impulsive little fingers.

Jamie's bright blue eyes widened as he looked around the kitchen in bewilderment. "But Daddy, we don't got any horses. No room," he pointed out reasonably with a child's irrefutable logic. Lucy tried, she really did, but couldn't help snickering softly when father and son stared at each other across the table wearing identical puzzled frowns. Wyatt and Jamie were just way too much alike...and ridiculously cute.

She hurriedly interrupted even as Wyatt shook his head and opened his mouth to explain. "Just an expression, sweetie, that soldiers from Texas say that means please be patient with Daddy a little bit longer, alright?" Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy the little boy, who nodded wisely while his father narrowed his own set of gorgeous blue eyes at her when Lucy giggled and mouthed the words, you're welcome, at him. She yelped when a grinning Wyatt playfully swatted her bottom in retribution.

Picking up one of the bottles, he paused and solemnly asked the five-year-old how high he could count. Lucy smothered a grin at the adorable frown on Jamie's face before his expression brightened. Looking down at his palms, he slowly (correctly) counted to ten. "Ten, Daddy!" he answered with a proud grin, wiggling the chubby digits. "See, I got eight fingers and two thumbs."

"Well, I guess you do, little man. Excellent job with the counting–you must have a really good teacher. Okay, here you go. We have to put seven drops of color in the mugs, alright? Be careful now," Wyatt warned while giving his amused girlfriend a mischievous wink. After removing the tiny cap on the bottle, he handed over the food coloring to Jamie who nodded fervently and responded, yes, sir.

Leaning over the mug nearest him, the little boy frowned in concentration. He proceeded to painstakingly squeeze out exactly seven drops of color into the mug before straightening up and exclaiming happily,"Miss Lucy! Look, I did it just like Daddy said." Gently rubbing his small back, Lucy reached around him with a small spoon and thoroughly stirred the mixture. One by one, she and Jamie prepared each mug for the hard-boiled eggs.

Wyatt took over then, calmly guiding the five-year-old through the process of dipping the eggs into the vividly colored dye. Since the Logan men seemed to have everything under control, Lucy decided to video some of the fun to share with Amy and Julie. She loved how unfailingly patient Wyatt was with his young son. Nothing seemed to ruffle him, not even when Jamie's small fingers slipped and one of the eggs plopped back into its cup of dye, splashing green food coloring in every direction–hence the need for newspapers. Wyatt truly was an amazing father. It was the sweet little moments like this between father and son that firmly took hold in her heart and gave Lucy such hope for her future with them...

Easter morning

A quick knock on the door before it opened was all the warning the sleeping couple got before a wide-awake, very excited little guy came busting through just after dawn the next morning. Boosting himself up on the end of the bed with an impatient huff, Jamie wiggled toward Wyatt and Lucy, handily insinuating himself between their still entwined bodies.

"Daddy! Miss Lucy! Wake up! I looked out my window and saw the sun, and that means it's Easter now, right Daddy? So can we go downstairs and see if Mr. Bunny was here and left me a basket, please, please?" he begged, looking between the adults anxiously. Thank goodness they remembered to put on some clothes before falling asleep, Wyatt thought, tiredly scrubbing his hands over his face-seeing as how he'd apparently forgotten to lock the door when they'd gone to bed last night–and quite enjoyably not fallen asleep right away. Good thing the kid usually slept soundly through the night...

It warmed Wyatt's heart that Lucy naturally opened her arms to his son, cuddling him close to her. Over the child's rumpled blond head, she offered his father a sweet smile before bending her head to listen attentively to Jamie's excited chatter about candy and other assorted goodies. Lucy Preston definitely had the magic touch when it came to the Logan men, he marveled, admiring her endless patience with his lively five-year-old.

"Alright, son, why don't you give me and Miss Lucy a minute to finish waking up and then we'll all go downstairs together. How about you wait in your room for us? I promise we'll hurry, okay?"

Wyatt bit back a grin when the boy frowned and instinctively started to protest, but then once he caught a glimpse of the firm expression on his father's face, thought the better of it. Putting a small hand on Lucy's cheek and looking into her warm amber eyes, he loudly stage whispered, "Tell Daddy to hurry, Miss Lucy, okay?" before scrambling off the bed and hustling out of the room as requested. To her credit, his girlfriend didn't crack even the smallest smile, just simply nodded and promised she would.

Once the door closed behind Jamie, Lucy chuckled when Wyatt shook his head affectionately. "Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed over the past few days, Easter Sunday ranks right up there with Christmas morning for my kid," he informed her dryly, tugging her close for a quick morning kiss. They lay quietly for another minute, savoring each other and the intimacy of the moment before Lucy reluctantly pulled away with a wistful sigh and climbed out of bed. He silently appreciated the sight of her long, shapely bare legs under his worn tee shirt as Lucy went to the closet and reached in for her kimono.

"We probably better hurry before Jamie explodes or something," she reminded him over her shoulder with a mischievous wink before stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Wyatt swung his legs over the side of the bed and picked up his phone from beside the bed. Tapping on the text icon, he saw a message sent moments ago from Julie, who'd included a picture of the Baumgardner sisters sitting on the living room floor in their jammies wearing blissful grins as they held on to the big Easter baskets on their laps. Peering closely at the picture, Wyatt was amused by the telltale smear of chocolate on one of little Sadie's cheeks.

Happy Easter! Look who woke up before it was even daylight outside (which made your training partner very unhappy, I might add). I apologize if you're still sleeping, but took a chance Jamie is already wide awake, too, and naturally impatient to see what goodies the Easter Bunny brought him ;)

Oh, yeah, already climbed up on our bed not even 10 min. ago to "politely" inform us it was Easter :p He's waiting in his room right this second for me and Lucy to take him downstairs. And, thanks, that's a nice pic of your girls. Looks like my Sadie bug got right down to business, lol...and hey, tell your husband I said to get his lazy ass out of bed...

Yeah, my youngest doesn't mess around when it comes to chocolate! And as for Dave, I already did (see, I know you too well, Wy). Listen, Mom and Dad will be coming here straight after church services around 11:30, so if the three of you can be here by noon, 12:15-ish, we can probably have everything ready and start eating by 1:00. That should leave plenty of time for the egg hunt after that.

Sounds good. Sure you don't need us to bring anything besides the casserole and berries?

No, thanks though. The ham is ready to go into the oven after we finish breakfast, and Dad dropped off the scalloped potatoes last night. Mom's bringing the dinner rolls and pound cake with them. I think that covers everything. Gotta go, the girls are already fighting over whose chocolate bunny is bigger (obviously they're the same size unless Dave is messing with them–which is kinda how he rolls). We'll see you guys later on today...have fun with your little man.

Wyatt shook his head at the phone screen, not surprised in the slightest. It would be just like Bam to get his young daughters all riled up about chocolate bunnies. Not for the first time, he marveled at Julie B.'s infinite patience with her rowdy husband. He looked up when the bathroom door opened. Lucy had bundled her wavy mass of dark hair in a casual knot on top of her head, and judging by the smattering of freckles sprinkled across her pert nose, she'd scrubbed her face. Standing there smiling at him, she looked so naturally pretty and wholesome, Wyatt's heart unexpectedly jumped and thudded roughly in his chest, enough he actually felt a little breathless for a second or two. Damn, but he had it bad for this woman.

Suddenly, Wyatt was nearly overcome by a fierce urge to jump up and retrieve the elegant jewelers box carefully tucked away at the back of the closet's top shelf and drop to one knee. At the moment, the only person who knew exactly what the tiny box contained was Amy Preston–his future sister-in-law (hopefully), who'd been surprisingly cooperative when Wyatt asked for her help around six weeks ago...

Flashback

Although wanting to marry Lucy at some point in the not-too-distant future had been on his mind even before they got back together after their painful separation in January--Wyatt was leaning towards asking her over the summer after school was out-the desire to propose to his girlfriend had grown significantly stronger after she and Jamie were involved in the car crash. The frightening accident truly shook Wyatt to his core and gave him quite a few sleepless nights. However, it also served as the incentive his cautious heart needed. It was during Lucy and Jamie's overnight stay in the hospital that a restless Wyatt had given into the impulse to look at engagement rings while they slept.

Scrolling through the Jared Galleria website on his phone, Wyatt found several engagement rings in his price range he liked and thought might suit Lucy. Trouble was, he really wanted to surprise her, but was a bit uncertain about choosing something she'd wear the rest of her life all by himself. No, what he needed was a little input from someone who was familiar with Lucy's tastes. Unfortunately, the person who knew her best was Amy Preston–who wasn't exactly thrilled with Wyatt at the moment. Sighing, he closed out the web page and decided to think about it a little more.

And then fate smiled upon Wyatt Logan when Lucy and her sister reconciled a couple days after the accident. Not only that, but that same evening, he and Amy had an unexpectedly serious conversation, seeming to come to an understanding about his and Lucy's future. Greatly encouraged as a result, Wyatt waited a few days after that night before texting Amy to ask if she would be interested in accompanying him on a personal errand. He'd been pleasantly relieved when despite the somewhat mysterious tone of his request, she agreed fairly quickly.

Although he did briefly consider confiding in his best friend, Wyatt decided not to simply because for as long as he'd known him, Dave Baumgardner had never been able to keep anything from his wife. That woman could nose out a secret from a mile away, he thought in amusement, and Bam always caved. And then, knowing Julie B, she'd probably be jumping up and down with happiness, and of course feel obliged to share such wonderful news with her mom, who would in turn tell her dad...and it would snowball completely out of control from there. Nope, the fewer people who knew about his engagement plans, the better, as far as Wyatt was concerned.

After making arrangements to take the afternoon of February 28 off (without telling either his girlfriend or training partner), he left Pendleton at lunchtime and drove over to Amy's apartment to pick her up. Aside from her excited shriek (and muffled I knew it) when Wyatt informed her exactly where they were headed-and why-the younger woman seemed to sense his anxiety and was uncharacteristically quiet during the brief ride to the jewelers. This suited an understandably nervous Wyatt just fine. Once they were inside the hushed, elegant showroom, he stood still for a long moment and willed his racing heart to slow down. The last thing he wanted was to let his nerves get the better of him and hastily pick out a ring that was all wrong for Lucy.

Breath, Logan, you've been in tougher spots than this before, he reminded himself. It was just that a tiny part of his brain could hardly believe this was even happening. When he lost Jess so abruptly five years ago, Wyatt bleakly assumed at the rather young age of 25 that romantic, mushy stuff like love and marriage (or maybe eventually another child) was no longer an option for him. And that was okay because he had a son to raise. Sure, it was probably naive of him, but the grieving widower honestly never expected to be given a second chance at love. But all that was before fate apparently decided Wyatt Logan had mourned his deceased wife long enough and brought a kind, sweet, beautiful kindergarten teacher from San Francisco into his life...

He started when Amy touched his arm and murmured in a soothing voice, "Hey, Wyatt? It's gonna be fine. I know it seems like there's about a thousand rings here to look at, but remember, this is Lucy we're talking about here. No matter what engagement ring you finally decide on, I guarantee she will wear it proudly for the rest of her life because you chose it for her, okay? Now take a deep breath, soldier, and try to stay chill. We got this, I promise." Gazing into her warm hazel eyes, Wyatt felt himself start to relax. She was right, of course.

"Thanks, Amy, I owe you one," he murmured with a grateful smile, following her over to the nearest display case filled with an impressive selection of glittering rings. Since Wyatt had asked for her help, he dutifully considered a couple that Amy pointed out. Luckily, though, since he'd already looked over the store's web page several times (usually while at work when Bam was otherwise occupied), Wyatt actually had a decent idea of what he was looking for–and found it in the third display case they perused.

While to his masculine (and definitely untrained) eye, all the rings were pretty, Wyatt's gaze was almost instantly drawn to one in particular–an engagement ring he could see himself sliding on Lucy's slim finger. Of gleaming rose gold, the slender, rather plain, band featured a sparkling 3/4 carat oval diamond solitaire. It was beautiful, simple yet elegant...and absolutely perfect. Almost instantly, his nerves settled at the undeniable certainty in his heart that this was the ring meant for Lucy.

"Can I see this one, please?" Wyatt requested calmly, glancing up at the salesperson hovering discreetly behind the case. With a respectful nod, the woman retrieved the ring he was pointing at from its display and offered it to him. Taking it gingerly from her hand, Wyatt turned it this way and that, mesmerized by the way the ring caught the light. He glanced at Amy, more than a little surprised to see her wiping away a stray tear as she watched him handling the ring.

"Those are good tears, right?" he teased, fully confident now in his choice. Wyatt almost dropped the ring when she flung her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly before leaning back to answer him.

"Hell, yeah, they're good tears, Wyatt Logan, because that gorgeous sparkler you're holding is totally perfect for my sister. Trust me, Lucy's gonna be the happiest woman on the planet when you ask her to marry you," Amy assured him with a delighted smile. And just like that, Wyatt was one step closer to proposing to the woman he loved...

End Flashback

Even before he bought Lucy's engagement ring, it had occurred to Wyatt that their upcoming trip to Coronado Bay would be the perfect time and place to propose. Unfortunately, the day before they were supposed to go, Lucy and Jamie caught a virus going around school, forcing him to postpone their trip yet again. Waiting an additional month to ask her to marry him hadn't been easy. In fact, it had been downright hellish sometimes.

It felt like every time he looked at her, the words 'marry me' trembled on the tip of his tongue, but it was important to Wyatt that he get all the details right. After all, not counting the way her ex boyfriend half-assed things with Lucy (and thank God for that), this would be her first, last, her only real marriage proposal–and he was stubbornly determined that like her ring, everything would be perfect. She deserved no less. But hopefully, with their romantic getaway finally happening next weekend, he and Amy had to keep the secret for only a little while longer.

"You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he said fervently, swallowing hard against the feelings threatening to overwhelm him (and barely managing to hang onto his self control and not head straight for the closet shelf). "C'mere, sweetheart," Wyatt urged, holding out his hand. A pretty blush pinked Lucy's cheeks as she smiled tenderly and moved toward him to stand between his open knees. Wyatt leaned forward and wrapping his arms around her trim waist, rested his cheek against her slim body. Inhaling her sweet fragrance, he closed his eyes in contentment and whispered, "I love you so much," when Lucy's small fingers began to gently card through his hair.

"Silly man. We just woke up, so I'm a mess and you know it," she chided breathlessly, pressing her lips to the top of Wyatt's head, "But it's nice to know you think I'm beautiful...and I love you, too." Tipping his head back, he drew her soft lips to his for a sweet, lingering kiss.

They abruptly broke apart at the sound of a small fist knocking on the bedroom door, accompanied by a plaintive, just a couple degrees short of whiny, "Daddy, it's been lots and lots of minutes already so, please, now can we go downstairs?" They smiled ruefully at each other.

With a heartfelt sigh, Wyatt stood, and leaning down to steal another kiss, advised wryly, "You know, I think it might be time to teach those kindergartners of yours how to tell time, Miss Preston." He was amused by Lucy's thoughtful frown as she appeared to seriously consider his suggestion. "Anyway, looks like my son has pretty much reached the limits of his patience when there's the promise of all kinds of Easter goodies waiting on him. Guess we better get moving," taking her by the hand.

Downstairs, Lucy and Jamie settled on the sofa to wait while Wyatt headed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. A few minutes later, he walked into the room with two steaming mugs, and handing one to Lucy, innocently informed his squirming son that it looked like there was a big basket on the dining room table with his name on it.

Jumping to his feet, the five-year-old shrieked yes and eagerly tore out of the room. "Wow. I think you should give the little guy credit for not imploding or something while you were in the kitchen," Lucy laughed, sipping her coffee. Seconds later, Jamie returned, holding on for dear life to the good-sized basket. Dropping to the floor in front of the sofa with the Easter basket, he wasted no time digging into it, exclaiming happily over the chocolate bunny and jelly beans, and small toys like Hot Wheels cars, a couple of small Lego sets, and some Spiderman stickers. As in previous years, Wyatt allowed the child a single piece of candy for now so his breakfast wouldn't be spoiled.

Lucy and Jamie sat at the kitchen table and put together one of the Lego sets while Wyatt fixed French toast and sausage links. After the meal was finished and the dishes cleaned up, Wyatt prepared the green bean casserole and slid the dish into the oven to bake while Lucy offered to clean the strawberries. The rest of the morning passed quickly after that, and soon it was time to leave for the Baumgardners.

"Lucy? Sweetheart? Are you about finished? It's nearly noon," Wyatt called up the steps on his way to the kitchen, Jamie hot on his heels chattering about 90 miles an hour about the highly-anticipated egg hunt at Annie and Sadie's house. He and his little shadow were dressed nearly alike in polo shirts and khakis-something Wyatt imagined he'd truly miss when the time came the five-year-old decided he was too old and/or cool to look like Daddy. By the time father and son stowed the food they were taking in the back of the Jeep and gone back inside, Lucy was coming down the steps, looking so beautiful in a sleeveless white dress with little pink flowers and delicate sandals it nearly stopped Wyatt's heart.

Running up to her, Jamie exclaimed, "You look pretty, Miss Lucy." Although he hadn't said a word yet, it was clear by the rosy color lightly tinting her cheeks that she noticed the unspoken admiration shining in Wyatt's eyes. Shrugging into a thin pale pink cardigan, Lucy smiled in pleasure and thanked Jamie for the compliment, telling the little boy how nice he and his Daddy looked. Tugging on her sleeve, when she leaned down, he confided, "My shirt looks just like Daddy's, 'cause we are both boys, but his is a different color."

Lucy's gentle laugh at his son's matter-of-fact response brightened Wyatt's heart as he followed the two of them out the front door. Holding the Jeep door open for her, he leaned in and whispered, "I think you look pretty, too, Miss Lucy," grinning wickedly when she rolled her soft brown eyes at his words. She didn't fuss much, though, when Wyatt swiped a delicious kiss (or two) before straightening up and closing her door. Only a few more days now until their trip to Coronado Bay and his proposal, he thought in satisfaction, and when they returned home next Sunday afternoon, his sweet Lucy would be wearing an engagement ring...

A/N #2: Wyatt and Lucy are getting ever closer to being engaged, but still not quite there yet. Hope this longer-than-usual chapter was worth the wait, Timeless friends :) Next chapter (the 50th!) will include their romantic trip, I promise. Know what? Even when I sometimes forget it's been nearly four years since the first chapter of this story was posted, I always remember how much I appreciate those readers who haven't given up on First Steps. Your dedication and patience mean more to me than I can say...thank you! :))