2. Faith

"Tell them the story about asking for my dad's blessing," I prompt and Jonathan pales at the suggestion.

"I don't know if..." He looks around for my father and my like-a-father, Tyler. Those two still scare the living hell out of him.

"Tell it or I'll tell it."

Jon does one more check to make sure he's out of Daddy and Tyler's range of hearing and begins. "Well, I made an appointment with Mr. Masen for lunch and his assistant called me just before I left and told me Mr. Masen was picking me up. I should have cancelled right then."

"I swear, am I the only one who thinks my father is harmless?" I ask. Everyone around the table nods except for Hanna.

"Mr. Masen's not the one I would be afraid of. He's all talk. It's the big guy you gotta watch out for." Hanna winks at me, but she isn't lying. Tyler's always been the only person who intimidates her. He's been an amazing mentor to her over the years though. He loves her almost as much as he loves me.

Jonathan looks around again in a panic. "Don't let him hear you say that," he whisper yells to Hanna. My father sure has done a number on this poor boy's nerves. I don't think he'll relax until the minister says, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." He's certain Daddy will have a change of heart and object in the middle of the ceremony. He's obviously forgotten that I have my father wrapped around my finger and he would never risk the wrath of me or my mother if he ruined my wedding day. I trust my mother to keep him on his best behavior.

"Tell the story," I encourage.

Jon takes a deep breath and continues. "Mr. Masen and Mr. Crowley show up to pick me up and I know I'm a dead man. It was bad enough the day Faith and I had to tell her family we were dating, but at least she was with me for that. Facing those two guys by myself was the most intimidating experience of my life."

I notice Decker's eyes slide over to Hanna. She doesn't look back but she can feel them on her. She stretches her neck to the side like she has a kink in it. Her face relaxes when he finally looks away. I can't help but wonder what that's about.

"I'm in the backseat with Mr. Masen and Mr. Crowley starts driving. I tell them I made reservations but he says he's made other arrangements."

"You thought he was going to throw your body in the Sound, didn't you?" Thea asks, laughing.

"Hell yes I did. We drove in silence while my heart beat out of control. I swear those two could hear it."

Now I'm laughing too. Jon is six foot four and all muscle. He could probably take down my father and Tyler single-handedly, but he has the sweetest and most gentle heart of any man I have ever known. It's the reason I fell in love with him. That and he's smokin' hot, as Hanna would say. They both started working security for Masen Corp. at the same time and had so much in common. I still can't believe he fell for me and not her. But it was love at first sight. For both of us. Only we didn't tell each other for months and months.

I was so pissed at Daddy and Tyler when they said Hanna couldn't be my guard, I was determined to piss off the person they did place with me so they'd have no choice but to give me Hanna. Then Jonathan walked in the room and I think I forgot my name along with my righteous indignation.

He barely talked to me for the first month and I thought he thought I was some spoiled brat rich kid. Hanna was the one who told me he was from a small town in Oregon and that his dad died when he was young. His mom raised him on her own with the little she made working at the local bank in their town. He had a very modest upbringing and I was sure the life I lived in all its excess sickened him.

When Thea came to visit shortly after he was assigned to me, he spoke to her immediately. He even smiled. Thea is gorgeous, with these dark brown eyes that expose her old soul. Not only is she beautiful, but she's an amazing talent. I was scared to death he was going to fall in love with her. She says she knew right away we were crazy about each other and that I worried for nothing. I tend to do that. Worry about nothing. I think I get that from my dad.

Jonathan confessed later that he didn't talk to me at first because he was afraid he was going to embarrass himself. He said he couldn't believe he was being paid to guard an angel. He swore I never once came off to him as a spoiled brat. He loves me and my heart. He tells me every day that I am beautiful inside and out. God, is this rehearsal dinner almost over? I need to marry this man, like, tonight.

"So, Mr. Crowley turns down a dark alley and I think - this is it. They're going to kill me and dump my body in a dumpster. They'll tell Faith I ran away or something like that. He stopped the car and put it in park and that's when Mr. Masen finally spoke. 'Was there something you wanted to talk to me about, Jonathan?' It was a dare. I could tell. He was daring me to ask so he could give Mr. Crowley the okay to kill me."

"Tyler knows seventeen different ways to kill a man with his bare hands. He's taught me ten. My dad only knows three," Hanna chimes in and now it's Decker's turn to have a kink in the neck.

"I think I would have pissed myself if I knew that in the backseat of the car," Jon says. He takes my hand and places a soft kiss on my knuckles. "But I told myself I had to ask. Even if he was going to kill me, I had to ask. Being with Faith was worth any risk."

I'm melting like a bowl of ice cream in the hot, hot sun. He is the perfect man. The man I want to spend the rest of my life with, without a doubt.

"I said, 'Yes, sir. I'm in love with your daughter. I love her with everything I am. She makes me a better person. She's smart and funny. She loves with her whole heart and never holds back. She's good and kind and the most special person I have ever met. Faith is what is right with this world, and I want to marry her, sir. And I would appreciate if we had your blessing.'"

There is a collective awww around the table and I squeeze his hand tightly so I don't start crying in front of all our friends. I'm trying to save the tears for tomorrow when God and the state of Washington make him mine forever.

"Let me guess, Uncle Edward didn't open his arms and welcome you into the family?" Jackson asks.

Jon laughs and shakes his head. "No, he did not. He told Mr. Crowley to turn the car off and asked me to get out."

"Oh shit," Hanna chuckled. Decker's hand moves to her lap and I can imagine he's holding her hand. He looks a little nervous.

"Oh yeah. I was sure I was dead. We all got out of the car and Mr. Masen took off his suit coat and threw it in the backseat. He shut the door and slowly walked around the car, undoing his cufflinks and handing them to Mr. Crowley. Then he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. I felt like I was on the Sopranos or something. 'You want to marry my daughter?' he asked. At this point, I couldn't speak so I just nodded like an imbecile."

"So he didn't even make it look like Tyler was going to kick your ass? He was going to do the honors himself?" Hanna can't believe it. We all know Tyler does Daddy's dirty work. "That should have been your first clue he was messing with you!"

"Are you kidding? That's what scared the hell out of me! He was going to kill me himself! Mr. Crowley was only there in case I ran, I don't know." Jonathan still acts like they would have done something to him. It's comical. Everyone is laughing and waiting to hear what happened next.

"Anyway, he stood in front of me, staring me right in the eyes. 'How much to make this...you go away? Five million? Ten?'"

"Bribery. Nice." Jackson laughs.

"I don't know where my courage was coming from but I threw it back at him and asked how much it would take to make him walk away from Mrs. Masen because that's how much I'd need to even think about leaving Faith."

I kiss his cheek. I know he meant that wholeheartedly. Giving me up was never an option. "It was pretty much the perfect comeback," I say proudly. If there's one thing Daddy understands, it's his love for Mom.

"Well, I don't know if he thought it was a good comeback or not, but he changed his tactic. 'What if I told you she doesn't get a dime of my money if she marries you? I'll cut her off completely.'" His impersonation of Dad is pretty spot on.

"Would he really do that to her?" Decker asks. "I mean, a man who loves his daughter isn't going to do something crazy because of who she wants to marry, right? Right?" The poor guy is beside himself. He obviously doesn't know my dad well enough to know this was just a silly test.

"I wondered the same thing, but I figured yes, yes he would if he thought I wasn't good enough for her. So, I started to freak out a little bit. Not because I gave a shit about the money, but because I didn't want to be the reason Faith's relationship with her parents was damaged. And I told him that. I told him he could keep his money, but begged him not to cut ties with Faith because her family is the most important thing in her life. I would take care of her, I'd work day and night to see her needs were met. But she needs her family in her life."

"So then Daddy said, 'What if you lose your job? I can't have my daughter's husband working as her bodyguard. That's a conflict of interest. I'd have to let you go.'"

"He was going to fire you?" Thea is ready to file a wrongful termination suit. She's so cute and smart and all about justice.

Jonathan shakes his head. "He was reminding me that his money currently pays my bills. He was testing me. So I told him I would hate to give up my position at Masen since I love it there and have learned a lot from Mr. Crowley. But I understood he was going to have to make decisions that were out of my control and I would roll with the punches."

"Oh, please tell me you didn't mention punches," Hanna says, shaking her head.

Jon's finally laughing. "I did. I said all that and Mr. Masen stared me down for a minute. Checking to see if I meant it or not. Then he said, 'I'm not firing you.'"

"That's a relief," Thea says. All thoughts of litigation are set aside.

"No, that freaked me out more than anything! If I couldn't work as Faith's bodyguard if we were married and he wasn't firing me, I thought that meant he wasn't going to let me marry her."

"Like he could stop me," I say with my eyes rolling like they did when I was fifteen.

Jon smiles at me and kisses my forehead. "He wasn't going to stop me either."

"So what did you say?" Decker asks like he's taking notes all the sudden.

"I told him I quit. If the choice was Faith or my job, I would always pick Faith."

"And that's when I told him he's lucky I am a wise and generous man." My father's hand comes down on Jon's shoulder, making him jump out of his skin. "I told him he could keep his job and marry my daughter. I threw my arm around his shoulder and led him into the restaurant around the corner. I don't think you managed to eat very much, though, did you, Jonathan?"

My fiance is frozen in horror. Hanna waves from across the round table. "'Sup Mr. Masen?"

"To think I could have saved myself all this trouble had I simply made you her bodyguard," he says to Hanna. "Of course, who knows what other catastrophes I would have had to deal with. This was probably the lesser of two evils."

"Absolutely," Thea says, smiling.

"I've managed to keep you alive so far," Hanna snaps back at my dad while eying Thea with an evil smirk. She's kept Thea alive once or twice too. We won't mention she was probably the reason Thea's life was in danger in the first place. All three of us are banned for life from ever going to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

"True, you've done well with me. Better than the trouble you and Alec got into a few years back."

"Oh, Alec! Now there's a guy who knows how to live. Where is that boy?"

"Flying in from Cameroon tonight. He weaseled his way into some big canoe race off the coast," I answer. "In between his work for the Foundation, of course."

"Of course," Dad says with a shake of his head. My brother is a wild child. He has a spirit that is almost too big for his body. But he does more work for the Elizabeth Masen Foundation than me and Mom combined. He practically runs the whole damn thing with Aunt Alice.

"I haven't seen Alec since you graduated from high school, I think," Thea says thoughtfully. It has been a long time since we were all in one place. My brother is the same kid he was back then, just taller and bulkier. To me, he'll always be my little brother no matter how much bigger he gets than me.

"Weren't you with us when we were in Bali?" Hanna asks, her memory a little fuzzy obviously. "Oh wait, that was just me and Alec."

"Until Tyler showed up," I add because that was the last time Hanna guarded Alec. Ever.

Hanna cringes a little bit. "You're right. You're right," she says. "Wait 'til you see him, Thea. I hope he didn't cut his hair. He wanted to grow this huge ass afro for the wedding -"

"I swear to God," I interrupt. "If he has a giant afro, I will not allow him in any of the pictures." My brother will be the death of me. He needs to find a nice girl who will settle him down. If a nice girl exists out there who can put up with him. Highly unlikely, if you ask me.

A/N:

Hi from Trouble! Couple things - one someone asked who Jackson was. He's Fridays at Noon's Alice and Jasper's son. He was in Once Upon a Saturday for like one second. I can't believe you forgot about him. LOL!

Big thanks to the other two ladies in this trike for making me try harder so I can be almost as good as they are. I have missed writing a little Pennyward. This has been fun! Thanks for reading. Thanks to Sue for fixing a million commas. Thanks to momof4 for always prereading for me. Next up is Hanna. I know you guys are looking forward to that one! xoxo