Blair

“She’s gonna need surgery.”

I lean into Jake’s side and place my hand onto Isabelle’s back. My throat still feels completely raw from the emotional roller coaster we’ve been on over the last couple of hours. She’s laying with her head on her daddy’s chest, sleeping soundly, as she has been since I arrived.

The phone call that came in from Lark was one of the scariest phone calls I have ever received; my heart is still racing. To be honest I don’t even remember the drive to the hospital. I just remember Wilber tucking me into the front seat of his old pickup truck and telling me that everything would be okay.

“Marcy has what is referred to as a fractured head of the humerus. In most cases surgery is not needed for treatment, but in hers it is.”

Everyone stands around listening to the doctor tell us about Marcy’s injuries. All I can see is Will and Matthew. He stands holding his son securely in his arms as his hands shake, his eyes red from fear and I’m sure from the tears he shed on the way over here. My heart is breaking for them.

“She has a dislocated fracture in which the humeral head shifted from the shoulder socket.” I can’t even begin to imagine the pain she must have gone through. “She also has stitches along her hairline on the left side, we presume from the impact to the window. That head injury we will be monitoring closely. When she came in she was showing signs of disorientation which can be a concern.”

“Is she awake now?” Will asks and the sadness and worry in his voice is hard to bear. “Can we see her?”

“We did have to give her a sedative.” I immediately pick up on the defeated slump of Will’s shoulders. “There is also the matter of her dislocated hip.”

Oh my god!

“She was in a lot of pain and we felt the need to make her as comfortable as possible. She was worried for the children and had grown quite agitated when she realized we couldn’t allow her to get up and go to them. The adrenaline began to wear off, I do believe, and that is when the extent of her injuries and the pain became very evident to her.”

Will simply nods as the doctor tells him that they will take care of his wife. He looks so lost, like his world has just crumpled in around him. Once the doctor excuses himself, Will wanders over to a chair in the far corner and holds his son tightly. He buries his face against his little boy’s shoulder and his body begins to shake as he does his best to hide his sobs. Suddenly Isabelle is in my arms and Jake is moving toward Will with purpose.

Everyone stands back and watches as he kneels before Will and begins talking to him in a low tone none of us can hear. Will nods, Matthew reaches out and touches the collar of the uniform shirt Jake is still wearing. The entire scene seems so surreal and overwhelming.

“I was wrong about him.” Warren steps up to my side and bumps his shoulder against my own. “He’s a good guy, Blair. Nothing like the family he came from. He’s got a good heart, and we all see the way he looks at you. The way he protects both you and Isabelle. You should have seen him when I first got here, how careful he was with Iz even though the doctors had assured him at least half a dozen times she was okay.” My chest feels like it’s on fire, as I take in a deep calming breath. “Give him a second chance, because I guarantee he won’t need another one.”

Looking to my left I see that Whitney and her father are nodding in agreement. I smile at the family who accepted me without pause as one of their own. They love me truly and unconditionally and I know they’re right. Jake does love me and Isabelle, so fiercely that I have no doubt he will do anything for either of us.

When Jake stands and places his hand on Will’s shoulder, offering him a squeeze, Will looks up at him and I can see the words he mouths. Thank you, brother. My heart soars, the floor rocks beneath me, and I know that Jake has been accepted as part of the Flannigan family too. He’s part of my family, our family.

Jake turns around and begins walking back toward me, then pauses. It has to be from the way I’m now looking at him, like he hung the moon. Because in that very second, I feel as though he does. He rocked my world a year ago and though the ground beneath us shattered and I lost hope, he managed to find me and give me that foundation once more. He swept in and refused to let go of the hope he had that we would once again be an us. Now we are, only this time we’re even better because we have a sweet little girl who shares our love too. She is the tie that binds us, the reminder of what we are and what we can be.

A smile tugs at his lips and suddenly my feet are moving as I cross the waiting room and stop only a few inches from him.

“I love you.” The words fall from my lips without a second of hesitation and his eyes widen just a fraction, I’m sure in surprise. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it before. I think I was—”

Cupping the back of my neck, he pulls me to him and kisses me, while holding our daughter between us securely.

“It’s okay,” he whispers before kissing me once again. “Just so you know, I would have waited a lifetime to hear those words, but I’m glad I didn’t have to. Nothing has ever sounded sweeter.”

I feel my body shift as the bed dips behind me. I was lost in a deep sleep, dreaming of Jake and Isabelle playing while she laughs at her daddy’s crazy antics. The two of them always seem to fill my dreams.

Though I am fast asleep, the moment he touches me I’m fully aware of his presence. The way he tucks his strong body in behind mine, sliding his palm over my hip before stretching it out over my stomach. I’m absorbed by a warmth that only he can provide me, a safety that melts my heart.

“Missed you.” He tells me this same thing every single time he sees me. It doesn’t matter if it’s been five minutes or five hours. He also says the very same thing to our little girl every time he leaves and comes back. “Hope you don’t mind me coming here instead of going back to my place.”

I turn in his arms, my body now facing his as I reach up and touch the side of his face. Even in the darkened room I can still see how he leans further into my touch.

“I’m glad you decided to come here.” I trace over his lower lip with the pad of my thumb and enjoy the feel of his whiskers as they rub against my palm in the process. “In fact, I think that you should be here every night and every day.”

It takes only a few passing seconds for him to register my words but it’s like a light is flipped on in his mind the moment he does.

“What?” he asks with a hopeful smile as he slides in just a little closer.

“Trevor asked Whitney to move in with him.” I knew it was coming so I wasn’t surprised when she shared the news with me only a few hours ago. “She was hesitant because she said she didn’t want to leave me with the bills, and frankly she didn’t like the idea of Isabelle and myself being here by ourselves.”

Jake only nods, as if agreeing with Whitney’s need to always protect Iz and me.

“So when I told her that I wouldn’t be alone, she seemed a little less leery of taking that leap with Trevor.” Again Jake nods, and I know he already knows where I’m going with this, but his ego of course needs to hear me say it. “I figure I’ll move Isabelle into her own room and maybe share this one with this guy I know.”

“Guy?”

“Yeah.” I smile, kissing the corner of his mouth. “This hot cop.” I feel his lips curl against mine as a smile covers his mouth. “Very handsome man, kisses really good, too.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh yeah.” I hook my leg over his hip and begin to pull his body over my own. He comes willingly. “He does other things really good too."

“Just good?”

“Yeah,” I nod, kissing him once more, “but I figure if he’s here we can spend more time practicing. With any hope we can bump him up to great.”

“I think epic is more like it.” Jake shifts his hips against mine and I bite my lip to keep from moaning. The panties I wear do nothing to hide what he is working with.

“See, much better than good,” he whispers as he begins to trail kisses over my jaw and along the side of my neck. “I’m not even inside you yet, and you can’t even think straight.”

I want to argue, but truly, what is the point? The man is right, epically mind-shattering is definitely a better explanation of how he makes me feel.

“Are you asking me to move in with you, babe?” he asks while moving his hips much like he would if he was inside me. It’s making it difficult to concentrate on the words he’s speaking. So instead I nod, as I reach between us to lower his boxers. “There’s something you have to say first.”

Is he serious? Men and their control issues. Had I not already been turned on and ready to take this to the next level, I would have played dumb and not given in to his need to hear me admit I want him here with us.

“Yes, I’m asking you to move in and live here with us.”

“That’s great, sweetheart.” He grins triumphantly. “But that’s not exactly what I need to hear. I was looking for something a little more permanent than that.”

I pause with my hands gripping the sides of his boxers that are now low enough to expose his cock, resting proudly against my thigh. Lost for a second I stare up at him, wondering what I’ve said in the last few minutes that I hadn’t finished, or maybe it’s something he asked that I hadn’t yet answered.

His grin grows wider as he watches me, clearly enjoying my confusion.

“I need to hear you tell me that you’ll marry me.”

And my heart sinks, then does a little twist and bebop before it surges forward, crashing against my breast bone. What in the hell?

“If I’m moving in here, Blair, I want it all. I want my daughter and my wife.” Just hearing him refer to me as his wife makes my heart do its crazy little dance all over again. “I want us to be a family, a real family. I want us all to share the same last name.”

The excitement I felt seconds ago quickly shifts to fear as it hits me. Gunther.

“Wilkerson.” Silence settles over us as we simply stare at one another. Did he just…? “My last name is the one thing I have left that ties me to the life I want to forget. I don’t want the memories of them. All I want is a life with the two of you.”

Tears cloud my vision.

“Will you marry me? I know after everything that’s happened this may seem crazy and impulsive, but you’ve always been the one Blair. You were the good during the worst time of my life, of our lives. Through it all, I think what kept me above water was you. Hope that I’d find my way back to you and get the chance to show you the real me, the man I want to be. You saw me in a different light back then and I needed that. I needed to know that I was better than them, better than the world I was living in.”

“You were better,” I tell him as I grip each side of his face and ensure he sees me clearly. “You are better.”

“I’m better with you.” The shuddering breath he takes in makes me feel so raw. “I’m better because of you and Izzy. You two are the greatest two things I’ve ever done.”

“Yes,” I say without another second of thought. “I want us, I want it all.”

“Yes?”

He seems taken aback as I nod. “I’ll marry you."