A week later
Hope Valley, William and Lynn's house
"Engaged?" William said, looking at his daughter. "You have only been with him for what…four months?"
"No, Dad. We met on spring break which was in March and its almost September. Almost six months. You and Lynn were engaged within six months."
"Bethie, we were not twenty one years old."
"True, but you and Mom were. Actually, Mom was twenty. She was twenty one when she had Vi."
"You're not done with college, Bethie."
"No, but I have no plans to quit. I am going to graduate in June as planned and I'm going to buy a house with my trust fund and start my business a year after that. Lucas and I love each other."
"Will," Lynn said, handing him a cup of tea. "Beth needs our support."
"You liked him when we came in June," Elizabeth pointed out.
"I don't dislike him. I dislike the fact that you're so young and just jumping into marriage. He didn't even ask my permission to marry you."
Elizabeth hugged her Dad around the waist and kissed his cheek. "Daddy, it isn't 1900 and I proposed to him."
"Yay, Beth!" Lynn said, hugging her.
"Yay? It's a man's job to propose."
"Dad, I love you but I'm getting married. Who cares who asked who?"
"Its not conventional, Bethie."
"I need you to walk me down the aisle," she said, changing the subject.
"Of course I will, but…"
"Thank you, Daddy."
"Tell me what you have planned," Lynn said, grabbing Elizabeth's arm and leading her to the kitchen.
"December 19th. I'll be on winter break…."
William sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. The first of his daughters to get married. The first time he would walk one of them down the aisle. The first father/daughter dance and Grace was missing it.
He wanted Beth and Lucas to have their happily ever after but he always thought he'd be dancing with Grace at their reception.
He wiped a tear that fell down his cheek and stood up. He would always love Grace and she would always be the mother of his children but Lynn was now his future. He could experience this with her.
….
"Sweetheart?" Elizabeth called an hour later as she walked into Lucas' apartment.
He didn't respond.
"Luke? Babe, I'm here."
Nothing. She wandered to the kitchen and found a deep red rose and a note.
"Babe, meet me at the duplex. 212 Long Dr. Love you."
That was weird. She hadn't even noticed his truck wasn't outside. So she used the bathroom, put the rose in a vase and headed to the duplex.
His truck was there and Elizabeth's heart sped up. She missed him so much and each week it was harder and harder to be away from him.
When she walked on, she giggled when she heard Shape of My Heart by the Backstreet Boys. Then she noticed how dark it was, except for the living room.
There were candles all around the room, including by the fireplace since it was too warm to need a fire.
There were twinkle lights around the edges of the room and an area of blankets and pillows sprinkled with red rose petals.
"Luke?"
"Hey, babe," he said from the doorway where he waited with a large tray of food and dessert and a small vase of flowers.
"Hi. This is beautiful. What's the occasion?"
He put the tray down and gave her a kiss. "We are celebrating."
"What are we celebrating?"
"Our engagement."
They both sat on the blankets and she smelled steak and potatoes. "We already went out to dinner last week."
"Yes, but we didn't have this…" He opened a navy blue ring box and moved to her side of the tray. She held out her hand and couldn't help the huge grin on her face.
"It is perfect." He slipped the diamond on her hand and kissed her finger.
"I love you, Elizabeth Grace Thatcher. I can't wait to marry you."
"I love you too." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
"Thank you for this. You always make me feel so special."
"You are. I'll try to always remember to make you feel that way." He was rewarded with another kiss and a smile.
"Let's eat and then tell me about your day."
"Well, my boss told the whole floor in our meeting this morning that he was giving me the Allen project. That I am going to be head of the whole thing."
"What did that guy Gowen say to that?" she giggled, taking a bite of her steak.
"Nothing. He turned beet red."
"Good! He needs to know that just because his dad used to own the company that it doesn't mean he gets preferential treatment."
Christopher Gowen had been at Collins for quite a while but Lucas had the talent. He had proven himself in the past few months to be trustworthy and a genius computer architect. He deserved to be head of a project, in her opinion.
"You are going to do amazing on that project, hon."
It felt good to have so much support. He was a blessed man.
"Thank you. For believing in me."
"I'll try to always remember to make you feel that way," she told him, repeating the words he had used a moment before.
A slow song started to play and he stood, holding out his hand to her. "Will you dance with me?"
"Sure."
"This guy has an amazing voice," Lucas told her as they danced close.
Chris Stapleton's Joy of My Life was a wonderful song, exactly how he felt about Elizabeth. He was hoping she'd agree and they could dance to it at their reception.
"I tiptoed in the room
I know you got to have your rest
She says, "Come lay beside me
I been waitin' since you left"
She's sweet to me
Must be the luckiest man alive
Did I tell you, baby
You are the joy of my life?
First time that I saw you
Mmm, you took my breath away
I might not get to Heaven
But I walked with the angels that day
She takes me by the hand
I am the luckiest man alive
Did I tell you, baby
You are the joy of my life?
Some may have their riches
Some may have their worldly things
As long as I have you
I'll treasure each and every day
Just take me by the hand
I am the luckiest man alive
Did I tell you, baby
You are the joy of my life?
Did I tell you, baby
You are the joy of my life?"
"Sweetheart, this should be our song," she mentioned, still swaying even though the song was over. "At our reception."
He nodded and leaned his forehead against hers. "You're the joy of my life, Elizabeth. I can't wait to spend it with you."
She touched his beard with her fingertips and pushed up on her toes to kiss him.
It took everything in him to only kiss her and not get carried away. December couldn't come fast enough.
….
San Diego, Lee and Rosemary's apartment
It was tiny but it would do until Lee could get them into married housing after boot camp.
She reached out and she could touch the refrigerator and the stove at the same time and they weren't next to each other.
She felt Lee step up behind her and kiss her neck as they swayed. There were some advantages to having a small place.
"Hi, honey bunny," she whispered, shivering at his lips as they traveled to her collarbone. "Mmm."
"Hi, sweetheart," he mumbled.
"I'm going to miss you," she said quietly, referring to the eight weeks he was in New Jersey and she was in San Diego alone.
"I'll miss you too. But we can write letters everyday and you'll be going to class so it'll go by fast."
She nodded and gasped, turning and putting his hands on her tummy. "I felt it move, Lee! I know I did!"
"You did? That's great!"
He leaned his forehead against hers and they stood quietly, trying to feel anything but he knew it would be awhile before he did.
Regardless, he felt a huge amount of love for his wife and the baby. It was almost overwhelming.
Rosie kissed his cheek and turned back around to finish making lunch. "While you were working out, I went to the store and got the items on your list for bootcamp."
"Thank you, sweetheart."
He knew that being away from her would be hard for him but what did she think about it?
"Sweetheart, eight weeks is forever," Lee said, leading her to the loveseat nearby.
"I know."
"Maybe your Dad could come stay so you aren't alone."
"Lee, my love, I know you're worried about this but having my dad here would stress me out. He's a bit…overprotective. I'm going to be fine here and this is feeling a little more like home everyday."
"If you're sure."
"I am."
Lee had no choice but to go with what she said. Two more weeks and he'd be in New Jersey and he needed to know in his heart that everything would be fine. His wife was independent and capable and their future would likely have more times when he was not home. Likely for longer than eight weeks too. He would just trust in God and his wife.
…..
Lee rolled over in bed that night and instead of finding the warm, feminine form of his wife, he found cold sheets.
"Rosie?"
He heard sniffling so he got up and went to find her. She was sitting in the kitchen on the floor with a glass of milk and a box of donut holes.
"Rosie? What's happening?"
"I….lied," she mumbled, hiccuping.
"About what?"
"I'm so scared. This isn't home and you're being gone for eight weeks is terrifying. What if something happens?"
He took the donut from her hand and placed it in the box and put the milk down too before pulling her into his arms.
"If you have a health emergency, and you won't, you need to contact the Red Cross. They will get in touch with me."
He wiped her cheeks and kissed the tears away. "We can do this. When we started dating, I made sure that you were fully aware that I was joining the military."
"I know. It's so real now though. I didn't realize how hard it would be, especially now, with a baby…"
"Do you trust me, Rosie?"
"Of course I do."
"Then you know I will come home. Eight weeks will go so fast and then you'll come see me graduate."
"In your sexy uniform," she giggled, hugging him tighter.
"Yeah. And then I'll have my first assignment and we will be able to know more of what our future will look like."
"Lee, please come home to me. I don't want to raise our baby alone."
"I'll always try my best to come home. I don't want to miss anything."
Seemingly satisfied for now, she took another donut hole and bit it in half. "These are good. Want one?"
"No. You're all I want, Rosie. Just you."