Rose lay on the bed in the hotel room, popping pieces of chocolate in her mouth. Alex had spared no expense with rooms and had somehow managed to get them a suite for the night. She flipped through channels on the TV and bit into another chocolate. Luke was taking his sweet time in the shower and she wasn't sure where her mother had gotten off to. Not that she was worried about her.
In the next room Kaleb yelled out and Rose pushed herself half up. Then she heard the playful growl of a grownup and Kana's squeal. Relaxing she lay back in the pile of pillows and turned off the TV. Nothing interested her tonight.
Rolling over she grabbed her laptop and turned it on. She tapped her fingers as she waited for the machine to boot up. Luke wandered out of the bathroom, a pair of jeans slung low on his waist. He rubbed a towel through his hair and grinned at her.
"Having fun?"
Rose swallowed the chocolate and nodded. "The chocolate is really good. Did you leave any hot water?"
He dropped to the bed beside her and tickled her ribs. "You are very funny, Miss Rose Hall."
Giggling she rolled away from him and laid the laptop in the floor. Luke pulled her back towards him and held her tight. She reached out to tickle him but he grasped her hands and wrenched them over her head. Shifting his body so he was half over her he stared into her eyes. Rose tried not to laugh but he started making funny faces and she couldn't help it.
"Luke, stop. Mom and Alex are going to come in here."
Luke shrugged and freed her hands. "So? Your mom knows we are together."
"I know. But I'm pretty sure she'd rather not find us like this."
Luke leaned down and kissed her and then rolled away. "You're right. And you really should take that shower. Alex is taking us all out for dinner."
Rose sat up and brushed her hair away from her face. "We are all going to be fat by the time we get back to Gungellan."
Luke just laughed and popped a chocolate into his mouth. Rose shook her head, grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. She turned to blow a kiss at Luke as she stepped into the bathroom. Suddenly she found herself staring at the ceiling with a pain radiating through her body."
"Rose?" Luke's voice floated somewhere around her head.
Her chest tightened and she rolled onto her side gasping. Luke's strong hands rolled her into his lap and she closed her eyes against his worried face.
"Rose, honey, breath." Stevie's calm voice penetrated the fog in her mind. Struggling to obey she drew blessed air into her starving lungs.
Opening her eyes she saw Stevie and Luke leaning over her, foreheads furrowed in worry. Alex hovered behind them, Kana in one arm and a wide eyed Kaleb clutching his leg. She tried to smile and pushed herself up.
"What happened?" She looked around and saw the puddles of water on the floor of the bathroom.
"Luke, how many times have I told you to dry the floor after your shower?" Stevie said, shoving the young man. "Rose could have been seriously hurt."
"Or Stevie," Alex said.
"Oh, stop," Rose protested. "I'm fine, really I am."
Pushing away from the helping hands she stood to her feet. She held onto the door frame until the room stood still. "Mom, I'm okay. Let me take a shower and then we can all go out for dinner. I'm starving."
Alex laughed and escorted Stevie and the kids from the room. "She's fine. If she's talking about food there is nothing wrong with her."
"That's what you think. You'd eat even if the house was falling around your ears." Stevie laughed as she walked away.
"That's what you think," Alex muttered before turning back to wink at Luke and Rose.
Rose touched the back of her head gingerly and found a tender spot.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Luke asked. "I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot sometimes."
Rose smiled as she turned to reassure him. "You are not an idiot. Just forgetful. And I'm fine. I just need my shower and some food. I'm starving, remember?"
Luke kissed her cheek and held her close to his chest for a moment. Rose leaned against his chest and rubbed her face against his bare skin. She felt his heartbeat slow to its normal pace. The boy had really been worried about her. Deep in her heart she knew that this was what true love meant. The worry that came when something so small happened. There was no way that Luke would leave her, no way that she would ever be alone.
Rose wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin and took another sip of her wine. She had never been in such a posh restaurant and couldn't keep from looking around. The food had been amazing but she wasn't sure she could eat it every day.
"Did you enjoy the meal, Rose?" Alex asked.
Rose nodded. "Yes, thank you. It was amazing."
"Luke?" Alex turned to her boyfriend and Rose looked at him.
"It was good. They do a mean steak here," Luke said, swallowing the last of his beer. "What time are we leaving tomorrow?"
Alex shrugged. "Sometime before eight. We have to go to the farm and pick up the horses and dogs. I told the owner that we would be there around 7:30. He was quite happy to oblige."
"I think that had more to do with the wad of cash you slipped him," Stevie muttered as she studied the contents of her glass.
"What wad of cash?" Alex asked, wiping Kaleb's mouth and lifting the boy into his lap. "What is your mom talking about, Kaleb?"
Kaleb shrugged and grabbed Alex's empty beer bottle. Tipping it up he let the last few drops fall in his tongue.
"All gone," he said. "More?"
"No more for you, young man." Stevie took the bottle back. "That is not for little boys. Only for big ones."
"I'm a big boy," Kaleb pouted. "I'm big like Alex."
Rose laughed and pinched her brother's cheek. "In a few years you'll be as big as Alex. Then Mommy will let you have a beer."
Kaleb smiled and wriggled down. "We go now?"
"I think that's for the best," Stevie said, standing and lifting Kana into her arms.
Alex was on his feet and collecting things before Rose knew what was happening. Luke stood up beside her and helped her slide her chair back. Tucking her hand around her arm, she let him escort her out the door. They walked a few paces behind Alex and Stevie.
"Luke, that will be us one day," Rose said.
"What?" Luke stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?"
Rose laughed at the shock in his eyes. "Luke, have you never thought of being a father?"
He nearly choked before walking on. "Not really. I don't think I'll make a good father. Look at Kane. And my father wasn't going to win any father of the year awards."
"Neither will Alex's," Rose said. "Either of them. But look at Alex with the kids. They love him already. Just because your father was awful doesn't mean you will be."
"Do you want children?" Luke didn't look at her when he asked.
Rose stopped and pulled him around so she could see his face. "Yes, I do."
He swallowed and reached out to touch her cheek. "When?"
"Not now, but someday. Someday when we are both settled down and have a place of our own."
Luke took a deep breath and took her arm again. "Alright. Kids, never thought I'd be saying this, but they aren't such bad things."
Rose laughed. "They're not things. They're people. And you'll be great with children. Kaleb and Kana love you."
Luke smiled and squeezed her hand. They followed Stevie and Alex back to the hotel.
While Stevie and Alex put the children to bed, Rose stared out the window. The lights of the city filled the skyline. Leaning against the window frame she twisted the bracelet on her arm. All the talk of children and the future had made her restless. She wanted Luke more than she had before. Biting her lip she looked towards her mother's room. She heard Alex laughing and her mother's teasing voice.
Taking a deep breath she walked to Luke's room. Without knocking she opened the door and slipped in. He looked up from his book.
"What are you doing, Rose?" he asked, laying the book on the bed.
Rose shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. Tracing the pattern in the doona she sighed. "I don't know. I'm restless. All that talk earlier, it just made me think. We're been together for nine months. Isn't it time we brought this relationship to the next level?"
Luke swallowed. She seemed to be making him nervous a lot this evening. He shoved himself up against the bed frame.
"Are you sure? What about your mom?" Luke wiped his forehead. "Rose, once we go in that direction there's no going back."
"I know," she said softly. "That's why I'm here now. Don't say you don't want this."
"I do, but I don't want you to regret anything," Luke whispered, sliding down the bed to sit by her. "Because once we do this, I'll never let you go."
Rose smiled and kissed him softly. "Luke Morgan, I love you."
With an easy smile on his face Luke grasped her face gently in his hands. "Rose Hall, you are the only woman I could ever love. My lovely Rose."
With easy, carefully movements Luke laid her back on the bed. Bracing himself over her he smiled and kissed her lips. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. This was one thing she knew she would never regret. He was hers and she was his. It was just as it was meant to be.