When Fires Collide - Chapter 14
Marshall walked out onto the deck with a carafe of coffee and two cups. He sat down and waited expectantly for a few moments. Smudge padded over and sat beside him.
"Coffee?" asked Marshall.
"Yes, thank you," said Smudge.
They both stared out across the snow watching the sun rise. Smudge seemed lost in his thoughts and sighed.
"You know I am very happy for the two of you," said Marshall.
"I promised you I wouldn't move faster than she wanted," said Smudge.
"And I still believe you are keeping that promise," said Marshall with a knowing smirk. "I knew she wouldn't move until she had spoken with you about her accident."
"I hate that she carried that burden," said Smudge, "I absolutely adore her. I will continue to show her that my love for her will not be swayed by the speedbumps of life."
"I appreciate that," said Marshall, "So that leaves you with the issue of making it work. Do you have a plan yet?"
"No, I just got her to admit she, um, likes me," said Smudge.
"It's ok to say she loves you," laughed Marshall. "I know she does. But at what point are you? I guess I shouldn't be asking you this, but is she moving or are you? Are you even to a point of worrying about that?"
"I would drop everything and move in a heartbeat," said Smudge without hesitation. "I really only know I will do whatever it takes for us to be together. However, I won't consider moving or even suggesting we become mates until I speak to your parents and receive their blessing."
"Yeah mom won't be a problem," laughed Marshall. "Dad, is um, stern is a good word."
"Yeah, you haven't met my parents yet," laughed Smudge. "Regardless, I will continue to say it, she's worth it. I won't do anything to taint our relationship. You and your family's approval is very important to me."
"Well, you have nothing to prove to me," said Marshall, "I guess the next time we would be getting together would be Memorial Day weekend. That is unless you make a special trip."
The rest of the day they played in the snow and ate one last meal at the lodge before returning to the rooms to pack. Cinder sat on the bed and sighed.
"What's wrong, Love?" asked Smudge.
"Oh, nothing really," said Cinder softly.
"Come on Cinder," said Smudge, padding over and sitting next to her. He began nuzzling her head and pressed himself against her shoulders. "I want to be able to help."
"That's the problem," said Cinder softly.
"What do you mean?" asked Smudge, tilting his head in confusion.
Cinder giggled softly, enjoying his cute confusion, "You have been absolutely perfect. This trip has been better than anything I could have dreamed of."
"I'm still not understanding the problem," said Smudge.
"It's ending," whimpered Cinder softly. "I have spent the last few days living a dream. But now I have to go back to Heartland without you. I have to fall asleep without you. I have to wake up and you won't be there." Huge tears dripped down her cheeks.
Smudge pulled her into a hug. He began licking away her tears, "there, there. What are you asking? Do you want me to come back with you?"
"More than anything," admitted Cinder softly. "But it's not reasonable to expect you to leave everything behind with zero warning."
"Well, I would never ask you to leave Heartland or Marshall and Everest for that matter," said Smudge. "I would come with you and walk away from everything to be with you. I promise, I will figure out something or at the least I'll become an Executive Platinum frequent flier."
"You and I both," laughed Cinder softly. "What are we going to do? I really enjoyed waking in your paws. I don't want to give that up."
"Let's both look into the options," said Smudge. "There has to be a way to figure this out. I'm serious, I'll move right now if you want me to. Otherwise, I will find a way for us to be together. Of course none of this matters if your parents don't agree?"
"They will," laughed Cinder softly, "but what about your parents? I know they will not want you to move."
"It will work out somehow," said Smudge, "I promise, we will make it work."
"So do you think they are going to be able to separate?" asked Everest.
"It's going to be hard for sure," said Marshall candidly, as he continued packing.
"Was this a mistake?" whimpered Everest. "Did I give them too much only to yank it away?"
Marshall was by her side hugging her in an instant, "No, it was in no way a mistake. You opened a door that would have otherwise remained shut for possibly a very long time. You gave them and us a gift that can never be replaced. Yes, they are going to have to figure something out. But they needed to do that anyway and now I think they both will see the value of making it work." Marshall kissed Everest and pulled her into a tight hug, one paw resting on her fluffy tummy. "You're going to be great."
"And you're going to be great too," giggled Everest. "I'm actually surprised that she hasn't figured it out yet."
"Me too" Marshall replied, "she usually figures it out before anyone else. I wonder how long it will take, or if she already knows and is just waiting for us to tell her out of politeness."
"You and I both know she wouldn't hold back if she knew" Everest giggled before tilting her head up and sharing a long kiss with her mate.
"So, what all do we have left to do before heading home?" asked Marshall as he released his mate to resume packing.
"Well, we have to stop over in London for a day," said Everest, "and then head back to Heartland."
"What do we have to do in London?" asked Marshall.
"Well, I sort of made a deal with Smudge's sister," said Everest coyly.
"What kind of a deal?" asked Marshall, now genuinely curious.
"I told her that you would take her on a very special date," said Everest with a wink.
"You what?" yipped Marshall.
"I'm kidding," giggled Everest. "I told her that we would stop by and let her actually meet you and do lunch or something chill. She's seriously a huge fan."
"You scared me for a second," laughed Marshall.
"Don't worry," laughed Everest, "You're mine, forever and ever. "
Amethyst was sitting in a chair in their sitting room, reading a book. But the young Dalmatian found herself re-reading the same words over and over. She sighed, finally admitting to herself that she was too distracted to actually enjoy what she was reading. A ring of the doorbell startled her out of the chair with thud.
"Oww" Amethyst said as she rubbed her paw on her head and walked over to the door. She opened it quickly and her breath immediately hitched in her throat.
Standing on her porch was a strikingly handsome Dalmatian from her dreams. "Hi, umm, my name is Marshall and I'm looking for Amethyst?" he said shyly. He was so cute that Amethyst almost forgot to respond.
"Oh, yes, I'm Amethyst," she said. Her brain and heart were racing as she continued, "I'm just, uh, so, uh…"
"Are you ok?" Marshall asked, cocking his head to the side in concern.
Every fuse in Amethyst's brain blew at the same moment and she fainted. Marshall leaped forward and caught the falling Dalmatian before she could hit the ground.
"Everest! Cinder! Get the emergency kit!" Marshall barked as he gently laid the unconscious Dalmatian down in the entryway of the house.
"I'm sure she'll be fine" Everest said placidly as she ambled up onto the porch, kit slung over her shoulder just in case. "Unless you dropped her…"
"Of course I didn't drop her," Marshall replied as he pulled a stethoscope from the kit bag. "But you never know when someone loses consciousness unexpectedly."
"I wouldn't call that unexpected" Cinder softly said as she and Smudge walked up behind Everest paw in paw, "we sort of expected her to faint the first time she saw you."
"We should have videotaped this for her," Smudge added with a snicker.
Marshall ignored them as he quickly assessed his patient. Pulse and breathing were elevated, but nothing else out of the ordinary. "She should be fine, but we'll see when she wakes up" Marshall said as he replaced the stethoscope. Everest removed a smelling salt from the opposite side in her jaws and presented it to Marshall who took it in his own jaws. Everest and Cinder shared a conspiratorial wink as Marshall leaned down and dangled the smelling salt between 4 and 6 inches from Amethyst's nose.
Amethyst's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was a black nose mere inches from her face. The fur behind the nose was white. Dangling from the muzzle was something she didn't recognize. Behind the muzzle were some dreamy blue eyes…
Dreamy blue eyes?! Amethyst's brain put everything together and she tried to leap up.
"Whoa there" Marshall cooed softly as he kept Amethyst laying down. "You fainted, I need to make sure you are ok." Marshall passed the smelling salt back to Everest who stashed it back in the emergency kit bag before giving Amethyst a knowing smirk.
Amethyst blushed brightly as Marshall helped her to sit up and quickly but thoroughly checked her over. She blinked as he finished checking her pupil reaction with a flashlight
"How is she?" a voice said from behind Amethyst.
Amethyst turned and saw her parents sitting a doorway back with knowing smiles on their faces. Her blush intensified.
"Everything looks fine" Marshall said professionally as he clicked the flashlight off and put it back in the bag. "We'll just need to watch her and make sure she doesn't have any kind of negative reaction."
"Like dying of embarrassment?" Smudge teased as he walked in and gave his sister a playful shove.
"Be nice" Cinder softly chided as she came up on Amethyst's other side and gave the younger Dalmatian a hug.
"It is lovely to see you again" Lilly said as she walked up and gave Cinder a hug as well.
"Hello Cinder," Dalstrom said formally, bowing his head respectfully.
"He is warming up to you" Lilly said quietly, "but he doesn't want you to know that."
"Sounds familiar," Cinder softly giggled. Smudge couldn't help but smile bigger at the perfect silvery sound.
"Son, you should probably introduce everyone else," Dalstrom prodded, "even if they are so well known."
"Oh, right, yes, sorry" Smudge said abashedly. "Mom, dad, Amethyst, this is Marshall and Everest of the Paw Patrol, Cinder's twin brother and sister in law. Marshall and Everest, this is my dad Dalstrom, my mom Lilly and sister Amethyst."
"It is a pleasure to meet you" Dalstrom said as Lilly joined him at his side.
"Yes, we are quite excited to spend a little bit of time with you" Lilly added, "Cinder has made quite an impression on our family and I feel you will do the same in your own way."
"I hope that is a good thing" Everest said with a smile as she came over and surprised Lilly with a hug.
"I probably should have warned you that she is a hugger" Smudge laughed as Everest did the same with Dalstrom, making the older Dalmatian's eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
"It wouldn't have changed anything" Marshall laughed as he came over and shook paws with both Dalstrom and Lilly. "She still would have hugged the stuffing out of you."
"Let's go get lunch at the cafe" Amethyst said quickly, turning to hide her face from Marshall.
"That sounds like a lovely idea" Lilly said and they all walked out the door.