"Love's Burden" - Chapter 8
Chapter: 8 ~ “Surprise, Surprise”
*~*~*
Horatio had spent most of the afternoon with Madison once they met up, while Calleigh and Sheryl took Emma on the little kiddie rides. During the early evening, they had all headed back to the hotel room. Calleigh had ended up lying down with Emma a while, giving Horatio the perfect time to work on part of the secret with Madison and Sheryl.
“She’ll love it, Lieutenant,” Sheryl told him with a bright confident smile.
“Don’t call me that, besides…we’re on vacation.”
“And what am I supposed to call you?”
“Horatio…H… Just not, Lieutenant,” Horatio told her.
“I like H, that’s cool,” Sheryl said enthused.
Horatio just smiled in response and had the girls help him with the secret project. Madison he thought was the most excited out of the two, and he thought that maybe Calleigh was right about just making her part of their family. After all, Suzie had abandoned her and if they wanted to…they could adopt her. But that would be something to consider another day. Tonight was going to be Calleigh’s night…and he was happy that neither of the girls were disappointed about not going back to the parks for the night. They were planning on room service and watching fireworks from their balcony, so at least they didn’t miss everything.
He got things together and wrapped up the surprise for Calleigh. There were still a few things he needed to get and make sure were ready and arranged, but he was lucky to have two helpers that could cover for him until he got back. “Girls, I’ll be back in a while… If you absolutely need me, or Calleigh wakes up and needs me… Just call me, okay?”
Sheryl nodded, “No prob. We’ve got you covered, H.”
*~*~*
Horatio returned and found that Calleigh was still asleep with Emma on their bed. He went into the bedroom and slide in behind her, wrapping an arm around her and Emma. At least she was sleeping, he thought. He really didn’t want to wake her, but he had plans… Moving her hair to one side after a minute he started to gently kiss her neck. “Calleigh,” he whispered before going back to kissing. The least he could do was make the wake up process gentle and loving, that way Calleigh wouldn’t be upset in any way. When she started to stir, he smiled as he stayed close. “Sweetheart,” he whispered and placed another kiss.
“Mmm?”
“Time to get up… We have dinner,” Horatio told her.
“What time is it?” she asked through a yawn.
“Seven thirty.” Of course, it was far later in Miami; either way…they needed to eat.
Calleigh opened her eyes and adjusted the pillow that separated her from Emma. She’d put it there just in case she had felt the need to adjust her sleeping position, so it would be a reminder not to shift too much. Turning to look at Horatio, she smiled. “Where are we going to dinner?” she asked thinking that she’d be fine with room service, too.
“It’s a surprise,” he told her as he lowered his lips to hers and they brushed and then deepened. He pulled back just slightly and left his lips against hers, “Now, why don’t you start getting ready while I take Emma and put her in her crib?” Horatio suggested. He figured that he’d move the crib to the other room so that it would be easier for the girls to all be in the same room, and luckily it would fit through the doorway.
Calleigh smiled against his lips, “I have to change?”
“You don’t…have to,” he conceded.
“Do you have something in mind?” she asked before taking the chance to steal a kiss. She giggled against his lips when she realized she had stopped him from answering. It wasn’t often that they got these precious quiet moments, and Calleigh wanted to take it for all it was worth.
Horatio pulled back farther, so that he could actually speak. “I have something in mind, yes… It’s on the top shelf of the closet.” When she tilted her head and looked at him curiously, he moved out of the way, sitting on the edge of the bed. He watched her go to the closet before getting up and carefully moving the crib into the adjoining room. When he came back, Calleigh had a large box on the bed, and he just smiled as she looked at him. Instead of supplying answers, he scooped up the sleeping little one and transferred her to the other room before closing the door that joined the two rooms. When she still hadn’t opened it, he walked up behind her and snaked his arms up hers until his hands where on hers. “Open it,” he prompted as he moved her hands to the edges of the box to pull it open.
Calleigh slowly opened the box to find white tissue paper inside. She started to push the paper aside, but stopped when her fingers brushed material. She stopped when the item came into view, she lifted it carefully looking at it and laying it out. “Horatio, you shouldn’t-”
His arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed her neck, “We never get a chance to do anything nice like this…so please accept it,” he told her. He knew Calleigh was one who accepted simple things easily, but when it was anything that could be pricey; she didn’t think it should be spent on her.
“It’s beautiful,” she told him. It was a very pale celery green dress that wasn’t too long, with spaghetti straps and was layered a bit with sheer material and in the middle a ribbon went around the waist with a bow in front. “I don’t have shoes for this… I didn’t come prepared for this.”
“There’s more…”
“Horatio,” Calleigh argued turning around. “You don’t have to get me these things.” Her argument was silenced by his lips on hers. She found herself completely lost in the moment as wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened. She could feel his hands under her shirt and feeling the buttons coming undone. When he pulled back from the kiss so they could both breath, Calleigh rested her head on his shoulder and found that he had her shirt open and was working on her pants. “I don’t know if…” Calleigh started, but then let her voice trail off. This felt like such a big step for her and she wasn’t sure if she was ready.
“It’s alright, Sweetheart,” he whispered into her ear. “I was just going to change you into your dress,” he said before kissing the top of her head. Her laughter made him smile, and he felt a slight pang of guilt when he realized maybe Calleigh thought he was pushing her.
She looked up at him brightly, “A girl has got to have the right bra for these things,” Calleigh told him. “I at the very least brought that,” she told him. Pulling herself away from him, she picked up the dress, went to the dresser and pulled out what she needed, and then headed to the bathroom.
Horatio sat on the edge of the bed waiting. He would change a bit, but his normal outfit would be perfect for their evening together. He lifted his head when he heard the bathroom door open and he smiled when he saw Calleigh. She was beautiful… The dress fitted her perfectly and fell to just about her knees. “You look beautiful,” he told her. Horatio wasn’t sure if Calleigh really knew just how beautiful she was, and so sometimes it really was necessary to state the obvious. He held up a pair of shoes that matched the dress.
“How did you know my size?” she asked suspiciously as she took them and sat on the edge of the bed with him to slide them on.
He smiled, “I just knew?” he tried, but knew she’d see right through that.
“I think you enlisted operatives to infiltrate my wardrobe,” Calleigh corrected. “Which is sneaky…but really sweet, too.” She felt like a princess all dressed up. It wasn’t something that she did ever really… Normally, she was in pants and a blouse or a tank top. She smiled brightly thinking about it.
“You like it?” he asked watching her. She looked happy. He loved that. She was radiating it, and it made him feel like this was even more perfect than he had planned.
“Of course I do,” she told him laying her head on his shoulder. “I feel like a princess.”
He smiled and kissed her hair before getting up and moving to the closet himself to quickly change into a different shirt and jacket. He returned, dressed this time in all black. “Ready?”
Getting up Calleigh nodded and closed the distance between them. “Where are we going?” she tried again.
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t even get a hint?”
He chuckled and took her arm in his and led her out of the room. Horatio made sure to tuck his keycard in his pocket.
*~*~*
They had walked from the hotel through the Downtown Disney District. It was full of lights and noise at night. It seemed to be just as busy and bustling as it had been during the day. They walked together towards the very end, and Horatio took her down a secluded area past the Downtown Disney District and towards the Disneyland Hotel. When they didn’t enter the hotel, as Calleigh had thought they were going to a restaurant, she became even more curious as they passed the building and then went around it. “Where are we?” she finally asked. It was dark, hardly lit, and it didn’t seem like it was a place that they should be.
“The garden,” he simply responded as they rounded a corner and made it to an area of the garden that was a bit more lit up. It made it seem so different…and with the gazebo at the end of the walkway lit up as well, Horatio knew it was going to be perfect.
“We shouldn’t be here. They probably close it after a certain time,” Calleigh told him.
He smiled and guided her towards the gazebo. “Tonight, it’s all ours…” he told her as they stepped inside of the lit gazebo. There was a table set in the middle with flowers and candles. Plates that were covered and waiting for them. Off to the far side was a small table with other covered dishes, a bucket with a bottle icing, and a wrapped gift.
Calleigh really felt overwhelmed. It was much more than just a dress. It was part of the whole evening…but it was beautiful… She just stood there for a moment in awe. She didn’t snap out of it until Horatio guided her to the chair he had pulled out and waited for her to sit down as he pushed it in before lifting the lid to the dinners.
Opening the bottle of champagne, Horatio poured both glasses and then placed it back to stay cool. He sat down opposite her and held and smiled at the still shocked expression on her face. It made him feel like he had done wonderfully on the surprise. “Breathe, Sweetheart,” he teased lightly.
“It’s just…it’s so…so perfect,” she finally said. He had used that word to describe her so many times, but Calleigh thought that this moment was truly just that. “And it’s wonderful…and definitely a surprise.” It really was like being a princess…like being in a fairy tale…
He smiled and then held up his glass and waited for her to do so, too, before toasting. “To us. May this vacation be a way to bring our family together.” Their glasses clinked and Horatio watched her drink as he did. It was much more than just bonding that he wanted… Bringing Madison into their family was a big thing, but he knew that Calleigh had already been so accepting that that would not be something to worry about too much… That first day had been so big for them all. He nodded his head to the food, “We better eat before it gets cold,” he told her with a smile.
After they finished eating, Horatio and Calleigh moved to one of the benches inside of the gazebo and sat down with their champagne. Horatio had brought the wrapped present and Calleigh had started to wonder if she had forgotten some random anniversary. “Horatio, you’ve already given me so much.”
“This is an old promise,” he told her.
Setting her glass down, Calleigh tore open the paper, and stopped when she saw the name on the cover. She laughed, and looked back at him. “Who came up with this?”
“Sheryl,” he admitted with a laugh.
The front of the album had a silver plate on it that said ‘DuCaine’. “Why isn’t it just Caine?” she wondered as she opened the album and stopped stunned on the first page. Baby pictures of Emma when she was first born were there. He had promised her…but she had forgotten and had figured she wouldn’t get them.
“Because she says that it’s easier than hyphenating the names,” Horatio told her. “Plus, it’s your life from before we even became close,” he told her. He watched her intently as she flipped through pages and then watched as she stopped and fingered the page.
Tears were streaming down her face; she was beyond being shocked at the surprise. There was a picture of her holding Emma as a baby, but instead of Miller beside her it was Horatio. Underneath was a pink bow that was holding a diamond and pink sapphire band. “Where…what…” she started to say quietly.
“For Emma…”
“I don’t think it’ll fit her finger,” Calleigh commented as she laughed through her tears.
He smiled, “It’s for you…but the pink…is for Emma.”
She looked up at him a bit confused, but when he took the ring off and simply placed it on her right ring finger, Calleigh looked down at it. It was beautiful, but she wasn’t really sure what to think of why he was suddenly giving it to her. “Where did you…how did you put you into the picture?” she asked looking at it. She loved it, she really did, but she was still curious.
“The lab… They manipulated the photo,” Horatio admitted.
Calleigh smiled and then turned the page. Pictures of the team made her smile, old ones and new ones… “Aww Tim…” she whispered seeing him hugging her in one of the pictures. They had been fooling around, but she couldn’t remember why Tim Speedle was hugging her. At the top of the page she noticed it said ‘Family’, and Calleigh knew it was the truth. They had been their family for so long…and they still were. Flipping the page, she found pictures of when she had first gotten back and everyone was visiting with Emma. Underneath Eric’s picture with Emma it said ‘Uncle Eric’ and Calleigh smiled brightly at that. It was all so wonderful. Pieces of her life that were precious…that Horatio had made more precious…
“Now, the rest of the book isn’t finished…” he told her. “It can still be expanded…” He reached out and flipped the last page over. “And I was hoping…that those pages…would be our life…together.”
Looking at the page, Calleigh stared at it in shock. They had talked about marriage and how they’d get to it one day. But here he was proposing it. ‘Will you marry me?’ was written taking up the whole page. At the bottom was a white ribbon holding a diamond etched band. Tears streamed down her face again and she watched as Horatio slipped off of the bench to his knee.
“Calleigh, will you marry me?” he asked taking her hand. He had been waiting so long for the perfect moment…and it had turned into something so much more.
Nodding her head, Calleigh tried to wipe the tears away. “Yes,” she finally managed to get out just barely. She watched as he removed the ring from the album and placed it on her left hand’s ring finger. She studied it for a moment, it was beautiful and elegant and she loved it.
“And then…this one,” he said as he took the ring from her right hand and shifted it to join the engagement ring. “Goes here…” he told her as he looked up into her face.
Reaching out, Calleigh gently pulled his head to hers, so that their lips could meet. She melted against him. Happiness she couldn’t describe filled her. All the places that had felt cold and empty…felt warmed and filled… Things seemed so much brighter…and Calleigh knew that their life together was going to be wonderful…
*~*~*
TBC…
*~*~*
Horatio had spent most of the afternoon with Madison once they met up, while Calleigh and Sheryl took Emma on the little kiddie rides. During the early evening, they had all headed back to the hotel room. Calleigh had ended up lying down with Emma a while, giving Horatio the perfect time to work on part of the secret with Madison and Sheryl.
“She’ll love it, Lieutenant,” Sheryl told him with a bright confident smile.
“Don’t call me that, besides…we’re on vacation.”
“And what am I supposed to call you?”
“Horatio…H… Just not, Lieutenant,” Horatio told her.
“I like H, that’s cool,” Sheryl said enthused.
Horatio just smiled in response and had the girls help him with the secret project. Madison he thought was the most excited out of the two, and he thought that maybe Calleigh was right about just making her part of their family. After all, Suzie had abandoned her and if they wanted to…they could adopt her. But that would be something to consider another day. Tonight was going to be Calleigh’s night…and he was happy that neither of the girls were disappointed about not going back to the parks for the night. They were planning on room service and watching fireworks from their balcony, so at least they didn’t miss everything.
He got things together and wrapped up the surprise for Calleigh. There were still a few things he needed to get and make sure were ready and arranged, but he was lucky to have two helpers that could cover for him until he got back. “Girls, I’ll be back in a while… If you absolutely need me, or Calleigh wakes up and needs me… Just call me, okay?”
Sheryl nodded, “No prob. We’ve got you covered, H.”
*~*~*
Horatio returned and found that Calleigh was still asleep with Emma on their bed. He went into the bedroom and slide in behind her, wrapping an arm around her and Emma. At least she was sleeping, he thought. He really didn’t want to wake her, but he had plans… Moving her hair to one side after a minute he started to gently kiss her neck. “Calleigh,” he whispered before going back to kissing. The least he could do was make the wake up process gentle and loving, that way Calleigh wouldn’t be upset in any way. When she started to stir, he smiled as he stayed close. “Sweetheart,” he whispered and placed another kiss.
“Mmm?”
“Time to get up… We have dinner,” Horatio told her.
“What time is it?” she asked through a yawn.
“Seven thirty.” Of course, it was far later in Miami; either way…they needed to eat.
Calleigh opened her eyes and adjusted the pillow that separated her from Emma. She’d put it there just in case she had felt the need to adjust her sleeping position, so it would be a reminder not to shift too much. Turning to look at Horatio, she smiled. “Where are we going to dinner?” she asked thinking that she’d be fine with room service, too.
“It’s a surprise,” he told her as he lowered his lips to hers and they brushed and then deepened. He pulled back just slightly and left his lips against hers, “Now, why don’t you start getting ready while I take Emma and put her in her crib?” Horatio suggested. He figured that he’d move the crib to the other room so that it would be easier for the girls to all be in the same room, and luckily it would fit through the doorway.
Calleigh smiled against his lips, “I have to change?”
“You don’t…have to,” he conceded.
“Do you have something in mind?” she asked before taking the chance to steal a kiss. She giggled against his lips when she realized she had stopped him from answering. It wasn’t often that they got these precious quiet moments, and Calleigh wanted to take it for all it was worth.
Horatio pulled back farther, so that he could actually speak. “I have something in mind, yes… It’s on the top shelf of the closet.” When she tilted her head and looked at him curiously, he moved out of the way, sitting on the edge of the bed. He watched her go to the closet before getting up and carefully moving the crib into the adjoining room. When he came back, Calleigh had a large box on the bed, and he just smiled as she looked at him. Instead of supplying answers, he scooped up the sleeping little one and transferred her to the other room before closing the door that joined the two rooms. When she still hadn’t opened it, he walked up behind her and snaked his arms up hers until his hands where on hers. “Open it,” he prompted as he moved her hands to the edges of the box to pull it open.
Calleigh slowly opened the box to find white tissue paper inside. She started to push the paper aside, but stopped when her fingers brushed material. She stopped when the item came into view, she lifted it carefully looking at it and laying it out. “Horatio, you shouldn’t-”
His arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed her neck, “We never get a chance to do anything nice like this…so please accept it,” he told her. He knew Calleigh was one who accepted simple things easily, but when it was anything that could be pricey; she didn’t think it should be spent on her.
“It’s beautiful,” she told him. It was a very pale celery green dress that wasn’t too long, with spaghetti straps and was layered a bit with sheer material and in the middle a ribbon went around the waist with a bow in front. “I don’t have shoes for this… I didn’t come prepared for this.”
“There’s more…”
“Horatio,” Calleigh argued turning around. “You don’t have to get me these things.” Her argument was silenced by his lips on hers. She found herself completely lost in the moment as wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened. She could feel his hands under her shirt and feeling the buttons coming undone. When he pulled back from the kiss so they could both breath, Calleigh rested her head on his shoulder and found that he had her shirt open and was working on her pants. “I don’t know if…” Calleigh started, but then let her voice trail off. This felt like such a big step for her and she wasn’t sure if she was ready.
“It’s alright, Sweetheart,” he whispered into her ear. “I was just going to change you into your dress,” he said before kissing the top of her head. Her laughter made him smile, and he felt a slight pang of guilt when he realized maybe Calleigh thought he was pushing her.
She looked up at him brightly, “A girl has got to have the right bra for these things,” Calleigh told him. “I at the very least brought that,” she told him. Pulling herself away from him, she picked up the dress, went to the dresser and pulled out what she needed, and then headed to the bathroom.
Horatio sat on the edge of the bed waiting. He would change a bit, but his normal outfit would be perfect for their evening together. He lifted his head when he heard the bathroom door open and he smiled when he saw Calleigh. She was beautiful… The dress fitted her perfectly and fell to just about her knees. “You look beautiful,” he told her. Horatio wasn’t sure if Calleigh really knew just how beautiful she was, and so sometimes it really was necessary to state the obvious. He held up a pair of shoes that matched the dress.
“How did you know my size?” she asked suspiciously as she took them and sat on the edge of the bed with him to slide them on.
He smiled, “I just knew?” he tried, but knew she’d see right through that.
“I think you enlisted operatives to infiltrate my wardrobe,” Calleigh corrected. “Which is sneaky…but really sweet, too.” She felt like a princess all dressed up. It wasn’t something that she did ever really… Normally, she was in pants and a blouse or a tank top. She smiled brightly thinking about it.
“You like it?” he asked watching her. She looked happy. He loved that. She was radiating it, and it made him feel like this was even more perfect than he had planned.
“Of course I do,” she told him laying her head on his shoulder. “I feel like a princess.”
He smiled and kissed her hair before getting up and moving to the closet himself to quickly change into a different shirt and jacket. He returned, dressed this time in all black. “Ready?”
Getting up Calleigh nodded and closed the distance between them. “Where are we going?” she tried again.
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t even get a hint?”
He chuckled and took her arm in his and led her out of the room. Horatio made sure to tuck his keycard in his pocket.
*~*~*
They had walked from the hotel through the Downtown Disney District. It was full of lights and noise at night. It seemed to be just as busy and bustling as it had been during the day. They walked together towards the very end, and Horatio took her down a secluded area past the Downtown Disney District and towards the Disneyland Hotel. When they didn’t enter the hotel, as Calleigh had thought they were going to a restaurant, she became even more curious as they passed the building and then went around it. “Where are we?” she finally asked. It was dark, hardly lit, and it didn’t seem like it was a place that they should be.
“The garden,” he simply responded as they rounded a corner and made it to an area of the garden that was a bit more lit up. It made it seem so different…and with the gazebo at the end of the walkway lit up as well, Horatio knew it was going to be perfect.
“We shouldn’t be here. They probably close it after a certain time,” Calleigh told him.
He smiled and guided her towards the gazebo. “Tonight, it’s all ours…” he told her as they stepped inside of the lit gazebo. There was a table set in the middle with flowers and candles. Plates that were covered and waiting for them. Off to the far side was a small table with other covered dishes, a bucket with a bottle icing, and a wrapped gift.
Calleigh really felt overwhelmed. It was much more than just a dress. It was part of the whole evening…but it was beautiful… She just stood there for a moment in awe. She didn’t snap out of it until Horatio guided her to the chair he had pulled out and waited for her to sit down as he pushed it in before lifting the lid to the dinners.
Opening the bottle of champagne, Horatio poured both glasses and then placed it back to stay cool. He sat down opposite her and held and smiled at the still shocked expression on her face. It made him feel like he had done wonderfully on the surprise. “Breathe, Sweetheart,” he teased lightly.
“It’s just…it’s so…so perfect,” she finally said. He had used that word to describe her so many times, but Calleigh thought that this moment was truly just that. “And it’s wonderful…and definitely a surprise.” It really was like being a princess…like being in a fairy tale…
He smiled and then held up his glass and waited for her to do so, too, before toasting. “To us. May this vacation be a way to bring our family together.” Their glasses clinked and Horatio watched her drink as he did. It was much more than just bonding that he wanted… Bringing Madison into their family was a big thing, but he knew that Calleigh had already been so accepting that that would not be something to worry about too much… That first day had been so big for them all. He nodded his head to the food, “We better eat before it gets cold,” he told her with a smile.
After they finished eating, Horatio and Calleigh moved to one of the benches inside of the gazebo and sat down with their champagne. Horatio had brought the wrapped present and Calleigh had started to wonder if she had forgotten some random anniversary. “Horatio, you’ve already given me so much.”
“This is an old promise,” he told her.
Setting her glass down, Calleigh tore open the paper, and stopped when she saw the name on the cover. She laughed, and looked back at him. “Who came up with this?”
“Sheryl,” he admitted with a laugh.
The front of the album had a silver plate on it that said ‘DuCaine’. “Why isn’t it just Caine?” she wondered as she opened the album and stopped stunned on the first page. Baby pictures of Emma when she was first born were there. He had promised her…but she had forgotten and had figured she wouldn’t get them.
“Because she says that it’s easier than hyphenating the names,” Horatio told her. “Plus, it’s your life from before we even became close,” he told her. He watched her intently as she flipped through pages and then watched as she stopped and fingered the page.
Tears were streaming down her face; she was beyond being shocked at the surprise. There was a picture of her holding Emma as a baby, but instead of Miller beside her it was Horatio. Underneath was a pink bow that was holding a diamond and pink sapphire band. “Where…what…” she started to say quietly.
“For Emma…”
“I don’t think it’ll fit her finger,” Calleigh commented as she laughed through her tears.
He smiled, “It’s for you…but the pink…is for Emma.”
She looked up at him a bit confused, but when he took the ring off and simply placed it on her right ring finger, Calleigh looked down at it. It was beautiful, but she wasn’t really sure what to think of why he was suddenly giving it to her. “Where did you…how did you put you into the picture?” she asked looking at it. She loved it, she really did, but she was still curious.
“The lab… They manipulated the photo,” Horatio admitted.
Calleigh smiled and then turned the page. Pictures of the team made her smile, old ones and new ones… “Aww Tim…” she whispered seeing him hugging her in one of the pictures. They had been fooling around, but she couldn’t remember why Tim Speedle was hugging her. At the top of the page she noticed it said ‘Family’, and Calleigh knew it was the truth. They had been their family for so long…and they still were. Flipping the page, she found pictures of when she had first gotten back and everyone was visiting with Emma. Underneath Eric’s picture with Emma it said ‘Uncle Eric’ and Calleigh smiled brightly at that. It was all so wonderful. Pieces of her life that were precious…that Horatio had made more precious…
“Now, the rest of the book isn’t finished…” he told her. “It can still be expanded…” He reached out and flipped the last page over. “And I was hoping…that those pages…would be our life…together.”
Looking at the page, Calleigh stared at it in shock. They had talked about marriage and how they’d get to it one day. But here he was proposing it. ‘Will you marry me?’ was written taking up the whole page. At the bottom was a white ribbon holding a diamond etched band. Tears streamed down her face again and she watched as Horatio slipped off of the bench to his knee.
“Calleigh, will you marry me?” he asked taking her hand. He had been waiting so long for the perfect moment…and it had turned into something so much more.
Nodding her head, Calleigh tried to wipe the tears away. “Yes,” she finally managed to get out just barely. She watched as he removed the ring from the album and placed it on her left hand’s ring finger. She studied it for a moment, it was beautiful and elegant and she loved it.
“And then…this one,” he said as he took the ring from her right hand and shifted it to join the engagement ring. “Goes here…” he told her as he looked up into her face.
Reaching out, Calleigh gently pulled his head to hers, so that their lips could meet. She melted against him. Happiness she couldn’t describe filled her. All the places that had felt cold and empty…felt warmed and filled… Things seemed so much brighter…and Calleigh knew that their life together was going to be wonderful…
*~*~*
TBC…