A/N: This is the end of my little story--hope you enjoyed it, and it's dedicated to my hubby--for reasons some of you might know, and if not check chapter 10 of Red and Black and you'll get a clue ;) Until next time--ya'll are the best, as always--PCGirl.
PS. There's lyrics to part of the chapter, but I'm taking them out here--either e-mail me or check the yahoo board to read it with lyrics.
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"Have I ever told you I love you in this color?" asked John as he walking up behind Natalie and slid an arm around her waist—pulling her backwards and against him as she slipped an earring in. She'd found the dress months ago and bought it for tonight—it had a halter style top that went around the back of her neck and then flowed down to the floor—with a wrap to go with it in matching a turquoise color.
"I think you mentioned it once," she smiled as she turned and leaned up to kiss him. "And thank you for putting this on again—I know you hate to wear one of these," she said as she tugged at the open jacket.
John gave a half eye-roll at wearing the tux, "Yeah—well for you I'd do anything—you know that."
She nodded at his words, "I love you."
"I love you too," he said as he lifted her head up gently and gave her a slow kiss that quickly became deeper and rougher than he'd planned. When he pulled himself away she saw his eyes were a clear blue, "Do we have to go?"
"Yeah, but there'll be more of that later," she said, giving him a second kiss and leading the way out of the bedroom and down the hall. They walked down the stairs and didn't see either Meghan or Thomas but noticing the basement door was cracked John pointed her towards it and they began walking down the steps. Halfway down Natalie whispered up, "Remember the first time we caught them trying to play pool?"
John shook his head and laughed at the memory
"I'm going to start dinner," said Natalie as she came down the steps and saw John sitting at his desk in the living room looking over a file he'd brought home. She stopped walking through the room when she noticed the tv was off and hadn't heard any noise upstairs either, "John, where are the kids?"
"They aren't upstairs?" he asked, looking up from the file.
"No," she said slowly and noticed the door downstairs wasn't shut all the way and she opened it and could hear Meghan's voice—she began to walk down slowly and John got up and followed behind her. As they turned the corner she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing—they had pushed the ottoman from the leather furniture set in the room directly next to the end of the table and her seven year old daughter was now standing precariously on it, and holding a pool cue while Thomas tried at the other end to rack the balls and get them more into the center of the table.
As Meghan did what she considered breaking (when in reality all she did was barely tap the one ball and the thirteen ball moved a millimeter, which was probably due to the poor racking) she began to lose her balance and John rushed over to grab her, "Hey there, missy."
"I told her not to do it," said Thomas quickly—any loyalty he showed to his sister for the idea was gone now.
"It's ok. But if you two want to learn to play you need to ask for our help—we'll show you the right way," said Natalie to both of them. "You teach them John while I make dinner," she said with a wink as she went back up the stairs and let him try his best at teaching two seven year olds the basics of pool.
"Ugh—you are such an amateur—I swear I'm getting you a video for Christmas," groaned Meghan downstairs as she watched her brother try to make an impressive shot and scratched instead.
"Where have I heard that before?" whispered John into Natalie's ear and watched her catch herself from laughing. Looking at them both standing there him and Natalie had been right that day at the hospital.
"What are you thinking?" she said softly as she held a newborn Thomas in her arms while John sat in the rocking chair just staring at a sleeping Meghan.
"I guess I was wondering who they will be more like—that and how we could have created such a beautiful miracle."
She smiled at hearing him say those words, "I'm hoping they'll be just like us—Thomas will be a protector and Meghan can be headstrong and stubborn."
"Great—I've already got one stubborn red head on my hands," he laughed as he touched the top of her head where a small amount of reddish-fuzz was. She squirmed slightly at his touch but then relaxed herself again.
"But most of all I don't ever want them to think we love them second to our love for each other. And that they won't ever have to feel heartache." She was quiet for a moment before speaking again, "I know we can't protect them forever—I get that, but I just—I just would like for them find their one true love and then never—never have to say goodbye to them. You know?"
"Yeah," he said with a nod and they both were silent. "You don't always find the one you were meant to be with first though—sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right."
"Yeah," she said as she bit her lip and nodded and looked down at Thomas. "So you two listen closely because we'll probably show you this more with feelings and actions than words—you two are going to be our whole lives. We're going to show you that loving someone else isn't a scary thing—it's a blessing and a joy, and don't ever ever walk away from the chance of seeing if you love someone. If it doesn't happen the first time then its ok—you'll know when it does because that will be the person that you think about when you are away from them. The person you will want to be better than you truly are for. Don't change for anyone—if they want you to change then they really aren't the right one—just an illusion of what you truly want and deserve."
"What are you two doing?" asked John as him and Natalie stood on the steps watching them.
"Just trying to show doofus here how to play a good game of pool for once," egged Meghan as she stood there in her burgundy dress and Thomas was at the other end of the table—his jacket thrown over the couch and his sleeves slightly pushed up his arms.
"Alright—well there will be plenty of time for lessons later—we need to get going," said Natalie as Thomas fixed his shirt and grabbed his jacket before hitting the lights and following the rest upstairs.
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Natalie and John danced slowly on the dance floor they had made at the Palace for the party—Kelly and Kevin were on one side of them dancing while Jessica and Nash danced nearby also. At a nearby table Meghan and Thomas sitting with all of their cousins—Matthew, Lauren and Andy, Kelly and Kevin's kids Riley and Kara, Gabby, Michael and Marcie's daughter, and Ana—Rex's daughter.
She grinned at seeing that a few of the employees from Rodi's had showed up, obviously taking her up on the suggestion of closing early and joining the party, and glad to see Katie had changed out of the normal Rodi's clothes and put on a short black dress instead.
"Uh oh—I think our son is about to get ribbed," she said as she motioned towards Katie standing with the other employees feeling out of place.
"He already is," said John, his words muffled as he placed a kiss in her hair. As she looked over she could already see Matthew, Riley, and Andy were beginning to push him into going and dancing with her. "Poor guy—he's going to hear about this from now on."
"Just until he admits what is staring him in the face—hope it doesn't take him two years," she smiled up at him and he pulled her closer. "I love you, John."
"I love you too," he said as he pulled her out onto the patio for a few minutes. "Look at the stars," he said as he leaned on the railing and looked above.
"Yeah," she smiled looking up also and remembering a night just like this from years ago.
"So what are we doing up here?" asked Natalie as she looked away from the stars for a moment and to John as they both stood on the roof the Angel Square Hotel. John had left her a cryptic note at home and she'd followed it and other clues here—seeing him just standing there and staring at the stars.
"I thought this was a good place for us to talk—to clear the air of anything that needs to be said before we go to the next step."
"Clear the air?" she said uneasily and wondering where this was going.
"The first time we were up here—I said there were things from time to time I'd need to keep from you. Well, not anymore—I don't want to keep anything from you and I'm not promising to keep anyone else's secrets if it concerns you in the least."
"I already knew that though, John. It hurt you just as much as it did me—I see that now."
He put his head down for a few seconds before he continued speaking, "There's more though—there is one promise I want to make to you in the future—whenever you are truly ready. I want to promise to love you and be with you everyday for the rest of our lives."
The next few seconds felt like she was watching in slow motion as he got on his knee and pulled out a simple box, "John? What are you doing?" she asked, with a nervous laugh as tears filled her eyes.
"If you had asked either of us two years ago would we ever find someone to be happy with again I know we would have both said no, but we did—in each other. I want that happiness and love to grow more with each passing day—if you'll let it to continue happening—so Natalie, will you let me promise to you the one thing that means more than any other promise or secret in the world—to be beside you from now on, no matter what else is thrown our way we'll both know the other one is there for us? Marry me, Natalie."
"Yes, yes," she said as she got onto her knees also and threw her arms around him in a hug. When she pulled away a small wet spot was on John's shirt from the tears she let flow. She saw the uncertainty in John's eyes and she just laughed, "Sorry—but you never say anything—of course I'm going to get emotional when you say more than a few words."
"I need to work on that, I guess," he grinned as he put the ring on her finger. "This is forever."
"Forever," she said to herself as she looked at the ring and then back up at John—his blue eyes sparkling with a love she knew was only for her.
"Where were you just then?" asked John as he saw her come back to reality and out of the daydream she'd been in.
"Just thinking of another night under the stars with you," she smiled and leaned up for a kiss. "Forever."
"Forever," he said softly back to her.
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"Hold on—let me sign these papers and then we can head on to the house—I promise," said Natalie as her and John walked into a closed Rodi's after the party. They had said goodnight to everyone earlier than expected—and tomorrow they were off to a quiet B&B in Massachusetts with no phones or e-mail to bother them with outstanding payments or cases.
That's why they were here at Rodi's—so she could sign papers now and not in the morning when she was sure something would come up.
As she finished the last paper she heard the jukebox turned on and she looked over to see John standing there next to the pool table with his hand extended, "What are you doing, McBain?" she laughed.
"One last dance for the night—nobody's here, just you and me, here and now," he said with a smile as she took his hand and danced one more dance to a song she remembered hearing on the same juke box years ago.