Savior

Chapter 62-xx-

Did I leave you guys hanging long enough? xo

-xx-

Cate looked away from the road and glanced at her left hand as a grin took over her face. She cast her eyes to Derek behind the wheel of his truck and released a content sigh.

Her thumb played with the band of the new ring sitting on her left ring finger; nothing was able to take the smile off of her face. The sun played off of the cushion cut diamond as they continued their drive to Cate's parent's home. She could not stop staring at it.

"What did you just say?" she asked as her eyes opened quickly. She searched over his face, making sure she was not dreaming the scenario. "Did you just ask me to marry you?"

His grin gave him away. "I most certainly did."

She licked her lips as her hand reached up to cup his cheek. "Ask me again," she whispered.

"Catherine Autumn Johnson, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Absolutely."

"Hey pretty girl," Derek crooned, causing her to look back up at him. "Did I pick a good one?"

Her grin turned into a smirk. "Only the best," she answered. "It's stunning."

Derek reached across the center console and took her hand in his. He lifted it in front of him and grinned. "I'm so happy you like it," he muttered as he kissed the back of her hand.

"I love it," she replied. "You are always full of surprises."

He nodded with a laugh. "I carried that around in my pocket all weekend."

Her jaw dropped as she turned towards him in the passenger seat. "Seriously?"

With pursed lips, he nodded his head once more. She watched him closely, trying her best to see behind his sunglasses. "I thought about it all night on Friday, but I was waiting until I asked your father."

"So that's why you went golfing?"

"It is," he responded. "I don't golf, Catie."

She rolled her eyes behind her aviator sunglasses and turned back to the road. "You are just full of surprises, huh, Mr. Morgan?"

He grinned. "I plan to keep you on your toes, soon-to-be Mrs. Morgan."

Cate blushed at the name. She had spent thirty-four years as a Johnson, but she was excited to be joining the Morgan family. It sounded so perfect when he said it. "How long have you been waiting to say that?"

"A while," he confessed.

"What did my dad say?" Cate asked with a laugh.

"He knows how to make a man nervous," Derek admitted. "I kept thinking he was going to say no." He readjusted his hold on her hand and grinned. "Your mother was so excited when he called her, though."

Cate bowed her head as a vibrant smile took over her face. "How did my brothers react?"

Derek let out a low whistle. "Neither tried the tough guy act again," he answered and released a chuckle. "But the three of them only want to see you happy, Catie."

"Well, they're in luck, because I've never been happier."

Derek placed his lips to her knuckles once more as he pulled on to her parent's road.

-xx-

"Late as usual," Jackie quipped as the two walked into the house. Cate stifled a laugh as she stopped in the living room to say hello to her nieces and nephews. She ushered Madison into the front foyer and winked in her direction as the blonde followed them into the kitchen.

"Fashionably late," Cate replied as she took her usual seat at the kitchen island. She pulled Madison on to her lap much to the chagrin of the smaller blonde. The brunette had to be conscious to use her right hand to take the glass of wine her mother offered her.

She watched the silent interaction between Derek and her father across the kitchen and grinned in spite of herself. "Why am I out here Auntie Cate?" Madison asked.

Cate could only laugh. "I did promise you would be the first to know," Cate said.

The brunette was not able to adjust her left arm around her niece as her sister jokingly smacked her on the arm. As Cate turned to Jackie, she noticed her sisters' mouth was wide open and a grin was breaking through.

"Catherine!" Jackie squeaked. The older brunette pulled her sister's arm over the island and gawked at the ring sitting on her left hand. "Holy shit!"

"Oh my goodness, Cate!" her mother exclaimed as she leant forward to get a better look.

The couple watched Helena blot away tears in the corners of her eyes as she pulled Derek into a hug.

Cate beamed as her niece wrapped her arms around her neck. "Does this mean I get to be a flower girl?" the young girl asked excitedly.

"Yes, it does, my girl," Cate replied. As Madison hopped off her aunt's lap, Cate stood from the island and stepped towards her father.

Teddy took his youngest daughter into his arms and enveloped her in a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you, Catie Girl." Cate grinned against his shoulder.

-xx-

Cate and Jackie sat on the couch in their parent's living room giggling and playing on their cell phones. They kept pulling up different things on Pinterest related to weddings and showing each other.

"Did you two even talk about when you're getting married," Jackie asked as she fought to catch her breath.

Cate shook her head. "Jacks, we got engaged this morning."

The older brunette shrugged. "And? I had everything planned out well before Stephen even proposed."

"You're different than I am, then." Cate took a sip of her wine as she scrolled through the pages on her cell phone. "But, no, I have no idea what he wants to do."

Cate looked towards the doorway of the kitchen where she could hear Derek in deep conversation with both of her parents. "You've always said you wanted the complete opposite of what I did."

The two broke into laughter once more. "Sorry, sis, but I'm not a chapel and banquet hall kind of girl." Cate pursed her lips into a tight smile as she placed her wine glass on to the coffee table. "This just got real."

Jackie grinned and patted her sister's knee. "It was real from the minute you let him in, Cate. You've always been an all or nothing woman, and when Derek gave you everything you were looking for, you were hooked."

The younger sister sighed softly. "He is everything I ever wanted, Jackie. Some times it feels like it's too good to be true, or that we're rushing everything," she paused and nibbled on her lower lip, "I'm just so happy."

Jackie smirked as her sister released a deep breath. "You've been a completely different person since you got together with him," Jackie added. "My sister is finally back. Do you know how happy that makes me?"

Tears brimmed Cate's eyes at her sister's words. It had been a long few years for all of them, but she could see how hard it hit Jackie. The two were inseparable growing up, and even when they went into different careers, they always had each other's backs.

Jackie used to joke that she could never get rid of Cate when Madison was born. Her younger sister always wanted to be there to spoil her new goddaughter. And then Cate's career took off and she wasn't able to spend every minute at her sister's house or the salon like she wanted to.

When she was in the hospital after her attack, Jackie would have to force herself to go home; she always worried about leaving her sister. She would wake up in the middle of the night to check her cell phone and make sure her mother hadn't called. She would drop Madison off at daycare and then join her mother for coffee at the hospital before the salon opened.

They had to teach their mother how to video chat so Jackie could stay up to date on everything with her sister. But the only time her sister acted like she was her old self was when Madison came to the hospital to visit. The young blonde brought such excitement and happiness to her aunt; it was something no one else was able to do.

"Ooh!" Jackie exclaimed as she turned her cell phone for Cate to see, tearing them both out of their own thoughts, "Look at this one!"

-xx-

Derek grinned as he peeked into the living room. The smile had not left Cate's face all night and she was always so eager to show off her ring.

When they had video chatted with his mother earlier in the afternoon, the two gushed over the diamond. "My son not only has good taste in women, but he can pick a nice ring." Fran had exclaimed.

Listening to Cate and her sister in the living room made his chest swell with pride. He was responsible for her happiness at that moment and it meant the world to him. He contained his chuckle when the ladies spoke of what type of wedding they wanted.

"Wanna meet me at the courthouse tomorrow?" Cate asked with a laugh.

Derek kissed her forehead as he pulled her closer to him. She was straddling his lap in the living room. "Your father would kill me."

She scoffed. "He'll be fine. Jackie was enough of a bride-zilla for both of us."

The black man laughed as his hands rested under the hem of her t-shirt. His fingers rested on the waistband of her shorts as a smile crossed her face. "I'm going to give you a proper wedding." Cate wrapped her arms around his neck and shrugged. "You deserve only the best."

"I have you, don't I?" He nodded. "Then I've already got the best."

-xx-