Michaela lay on her back in bed, extending her arm upward so she could look at her engagement ring again. She could not believe that Sully had proposed to her! Her life was changing so quickly. She was brought out of her reverie by the sounds of Katie crying from her room. She sighed and tossed the covers off of her.
"I'm coming Katie!" she announced as she padded down the hallway.
"Shh, it's okay, sweet girl," she stated, picked her up from her crib. "Are you hungry?" she asked, patting her on the back.
Michaela situated Katie in her high chair while she prepared some baby cereal. The sunlight reflected off of her ring as she stood at the stove. She smiled as she looked down at it again. She couldn't wait to become Mrs. Byron Sully. But she couldn't help but reflect back on William and Daniel. She felt things weren't officially settled with them yet. She would have to take care of the loose ends before she could enjoy life with Sully.
She made a mental note to call Daniel later today. She had just finished feeding Katie when she heard her phone ring.
The phone number looked vaguely familiar. "Hello?" she asked.
"Hello, Michaela," William stated.
"William," she replied, sounding somewhat upset that he called her again when she had told him that she didn't want any more contact with him.
"I just had to talk with you one more time, Michaela," he stated, apologetically.
"William, I said everything to you that I needed to, I don't feel there is a reason to continue our conversation," she replied.
"Michaela, I've been thinking about the last conversation we had and I feel I should explain myself a little better," he stated.
Michaela was getting impatient with him as she felt he was using excuses to prolong their interactions.
"William, what do you mean?" she asked.
"Can we meet for dinner or something later today and I can explain?" he asked.
She thought about this and what it could mean. She wanted him to leave her alone but also wanted to see what he could have to say to her.
"I don't think that is such a good idea," she replied, glancing at her ring, thinking of Sully.
She didn't want to share her latest news with him. This was her private life and she wanted to keep it that way.
"Okay," he acquiesced. "Maybe, I will see you at a later date."
What Michaela didn't know was that William already knew that she was engaged.
After breakfast was finished, she placed Katie on her blanket in the living room to play for a while. Michaela cleaned up the kitchen. As she was finishing the last dish, her phone rang again. It was Daniel this time.
"What a strange coincidence," she thought. Both men that I needed to talk to actually called me.
"Michaela, so nice to hear your voice," he stated.
"Hi, Daniel, how are you doing?"
"Couldn't be better," he answered. "I will be in town soon and would like to know if I can come by for a visit. I haven't met Katie yet."
"That's right, you haven't been here since you helped me move in. Sure, I would like for you to see her. She looks a lot like David." She stated.
"Great! I will be in town on business later this week. How does this Saturday afternoon sound?"
"That will be fine," she answered.
Daniel hung up the phone and smiled. He was going to see his Michaela.
Michaela decided to visit Sully with the news of Daniel coming by later in the week.
She picked Katie up from her blanket on the floor and walked across the yard to his house. She was greeted on the front porch by Wolf. He was growing so fast, almost as fast as Hannah was. She was starting to crawl around.
Sully met her at the door as she was getting ready to knock.
"Wow, that's what I call service!" she squealed in delight.
"I aim to please!" he answered with a soft kiss. He leaned forward to kiss Katie on the forehead.
"How are my girls today?"
"We are fine but I must tell you about the two phone calls I just received." She began.
Sully led the way to the living room where Hannah was playing. Michaela placed Katie on the floor next to her. Katie was a few months younger than Hannah so she wasn't quite to the crawling stage but was beginning to hold herself up.
"I am curious about your phone calls," he stated, "Please don't keep me in suspense any longer."
"Daniel and William both called me," she stated, raising her eyebrows, "It is so strange."
"That is definitely interesting. What did they want?" he asked, growing concerned.
"They both wanted to see me and Daniel was interested in seeing Katie," she answered.
"I told William I wasn't interested in seeing him but I told Daniel to come over since he hasn't seen Katie yet. After all, he was David's best friend, so I don't feel I can deny him," she reasoned.
"Okay, I want to be there when he does come over. Something doesn't feel right about him." Sully cautioned.
"Sure," Michaela answered, "He will be here Saturday afternoon."
The rest of the week passed quickly. Saturday arrived with thunderstorms and rain throughout the day. Since she was expecting Daniel later that day, Sully decided to spend the day at Michaela's house.
Michaela was upstairs in her room straightening up when Sully appeared at her door.
"I just put the girls down for their morning nap," he stated.
"They should sleep a couple of hours," she mentioned, while stretching across the bed to fluff the pillows.
"Yes, they should," he replied, while padding across the floor to grab her by the waist.
"Sully!" she cried. "What are you doing?"
He had an amorous glint in his eye that she found irresistible. She feigned disinterest while playfully pushing him away. This only made him pull her closer.
"I need some holdin'", he answered and pulled her down on the bed.
He lowered his lips to hers and softly kissed her. He rolled over so that she was under him. He tentatively let his hands boldly roam intimate areas of her body to gauge her reaction to his touch. When she did not stop him, he felt empowered to continue. He trailed tender kisses along her jaw line to her ear lobe. When he reached her ear lobe, she shivered in delight.
"Sully," she whispered, barely audible.
"Hmm?" he answered as he continued to ply her with kisses.
"Did you hear the girls make a sound?"
"No, you are imagining things," he stated, continuing to let his hands roam.
Michaela felt her mind drift into bliss as Sully continued his expert touching on her body. She knew that they could not finish what they were starting right now. She fought with herself on just how far to let him continue to drive her mad with desire.
She felt Sully whisper in her ear and his teeth lightly graze her ear lobe. She knew she had to stop him know or it would be too late for her and him.
"Sully, we have to stop. I don't think we should go any farther right now," she stated.
He continued with his last kiss and acquiesced. "Okay, our day is coming soon" he replied, letting his hand slowly drift from her body while looking her in the eyes, smiling. "You drive me wild!"
They both reluctantly rose from the bed and went to look in on the girls. They were still sleeping peacefully. Silently, they went downstairs to the living room.
Michaela was still trying to shake the amorous feelings she was having. She wanted to change the mood between them.
"Sully, what do you think Daniel could be up to?" she asked.
"I am not sure," he answered, "I will have to watch him when he is here."
"Okay, I can't imagine that he would have anything sinister in mind, after all, he was David's best friend," she reasoned.
"His intentions may have started out good but I feel like something has changed," he stated.
Michaela knew that Sully's instincts were very good about things of this nature. She was a little nervous now as to what it could be. She searched back in her memories for anything that could foreshadow a warning but was coming up with nothing.
Daniel arrived right on time. He knocked at the door but no one came. He listened for a minute but no sounds came from the house. Then he heard laughter coming from the back yard. He decided to follow the sounds and saw Michaela and Sully with two babies, one of which must be Katie.
"Hello," he stated, announcing his arrival, "I knocked on the door but there wasn't an answer."
"Oh, hello, Daniel, I'm sorry, we decided to bring the girls outside since the storms had passed" she answered.
Sully carefully watched Daniel, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He was sure that Daniel was aware of him even though he didn't acknowledge his presence.
"This must be Katie," Daniel mentioned, gesturing toward the dark haired little girl.
"Yes, this is she," Michaela confirmed, picking Katie up and handing her to Daniel.
"She certainly does look like David," he mentioned, taking her from Michaela.
"Yes, she does," she answered, looking at Sully.
Sully was silently observing him with Katie, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't put his finger on it but he was sure something was wrong. He would need to speak with Cloud Dancing about his intuition.
Daniel was hoping to get to speak with Michaela privately but he sensed that Sully wasn't going to leave her alone.
"Why don't we all go inside and I will get us something cool to drink," Michaela stated.
Daniel carried Katie in the house with Sully following behind him, holding Hannah. Sully reasoned that in order to determine Daniel's motives, he would have to leave them alone.
"Michaela, I am going to go over and take Wolf out, I will be back in a few." He gave her a hug and left through the front door. He didn't go over to his house. He ran around back and quietly slipped in the back door to listen to their conversation. He had to protect her.
Daniel was elated at this sudden change of events. "Michaela, I am glad that we have this time alone." He began. "I have some things that I wanted to talk with you about."
"What is it?" she asked worriedly, taking Katie from him.
"Well, I don't know how to tell you this…" he began, nervously wringing his hands. "Michaela, I have known you since you were dating David. I must confess that I have always been in love with you." He finished, staring at the floor.
Michaela was taken aback by Daniel's words. She had suspected that he may have had an interest in her at one time but never love.
Sully could feel the anger building up inside of him at Daniel's admission. How dare he come to her home and say these things to her! He had to remember that he wasn't supposed to be in the house listening to them so he had to remain quiet.
"Daniel, I must tell you that I am flattered but David was the only one I loved back then and now Sully is the only oneI love now," she responded.
"I always thought you were interested in me too. We have known each other for many years. If you just give me a chance, I know that we would be great together," he stated.
Sully was gripping the back of the chair, trying to keep from barging in on them. But he knew he was going to have to put a stop to this as Daniel didn't appear to be taking no for an answer.
"Daniel!" Sully yelled.
Both Michaela and Daniel jumped at hearing his voice. "Sully! I thought you were at your house!" Michaela asked.
"Michaela, I am sorry for the deception but no, I didn't feel right leaving you here alone so I came in the back door to make sure everything was okay," he admitted.
"Just who do you think you are?" Daniel asked, his hands on his hips.
"I'd like to ask the same of you," Sully replied. "You have some nerve coming here and talking to Michaela the way you are right now."
Daniel rose from the sofa and walked toward Sully. "Michaela and I have a history together, that is something that you don't have with her!"
"History doesn't matter if only one of you agree that you had one! What more does Michaela have to say for you to understand that she isn't interested in you?" Sully demanded.
"Sully, Daniel!" Michaela yelled. "I want you two to stop this fighting, you are scaring Katie."
Sully looked at Michaela as she spoke and at the same time, Daniel's fist landed on Sully's jaw. Michaela ran into the other room with Katie as soon as she saw the punch register on Sully's face.
Sully grabbed Daniel by his hands and swung his arms around his back. He walked him to the front door and toward his car.
"I wasn't about to disrespect Michaela by hitting you in her house, but if I ever see you again, I will make sure you never forget me," Sully said and walked away.
Daniel said something that Sully couldn't quite understand but he wasn't interested in hearing anything he had to say.