Sunday, December 25
“Well, now I know why you’re not up yet,” Cade heard his dad grumble from somewhere above him.
Automatically clutching Emma to his chest, he cracked one eye open with a grunt. “How did you get in here? I’m certain the door was locked.”
“The same way I always did when you were a kid,” Ezekiel chuckled. “I have a key.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that,” he grumbled, rising up to prop on his elbow.
“Of course, I probably should have taken into consideration, the fact that you’re a grown man now, and no longer a horny teenager. Well, apparently, the horny still applies.”
“Dad,” Cade groaned, dropping to his back. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. I’m not just horny.”
“Oh, I know all that,” Ezekiel agreed, moving back toward the door. “However, it’s six o’clock. That’s why I let myself in here. I wasn’t getting any kind of answer when I knocked.”
“Hey, don’t turn the light on,” Cade grumbled when he noticed his father reaching for the light switch.
“It may be Christmas morning, but we still have animals to take care of. And it’ll go a whole lot faster if we all pitch in together.”
“I’m getting up, but there’s no reason to wake Emma up. She’s missed enough sleep already,” he grumbled, rolling back to his side to pull her into his chest.
“I’m already awake,” she whispered, somehow managing to press herself even closer to him when the light came on despite Cade’s protest.
“I understand your thoughts, Cade, but it would probably be best if she were out of here before her momma finds her.”
“Don’t worry,” Emma grumbled. “I’ll deal with my momma. She’s smart enough to know, I wouldn’t take this kind of a decision lightly.”
“Just out of curiosity, Cade did you use… protection?” Ezekiel grumbled, raising a thoughtful eyebrow at his oldest son.
“Dad, I haven’t had sex in over four years,” Cade growled. “I don’t have any condoms here. Or even at my own house.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” Ezekiel nodded, turning back to the door once more. “From the sound of things, I’m going to need to do a lot more praying.”
“I thought you wanted grandchildren,” Cade chuckled.
“I do,” his father nodded. “But I also want you to live to see them born.”
Waiting till she heard the door close behind her stepfather, Emma peeked up at him. “I hadn’t thought about that. What are we going to do if I’m pregnant?”
“Raise a baby,” he grinned, rolling her to her back. When he tried to lean in for a kiss, she pushed him back with a huff.
“I’m serious, Cade.”
“So am I.”
“Cade!” she exclaimed, smacking him on the shoulder.
“Emma, do you really think I’d leave you to raise our child on your own?”
“Well, no.”
“And do you really think I hadn’t thought of the fact that our having sex without some form of birth control could lead to pregnancy?”
“Of course not,” she snorted. “You’ve lived on a ranch all your life. You breed cattle for a living. I’m certain you understand how biology works.”
“Exactly.”
“But maybe…”
“Hush,” he growled before gently biting down on her bottom lip.
“Oh, no you don’t, Mister,” she growled when she felt his hand slide up her side, obviously headed for softer territory. “We are not having sex again right now.”
“Why not?” he pouted. “I’m ready, and I’m certain I can have you ready in no time.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that you could,” she whispered, nearly giving in when he moved in for a kiss.
Doubling her efforts, she pushed at him again. “But we need to get up. We had sex three times last night.”
“Not nearly enough,” he growled, trying to kiss her once more.
“You’ll survive sixteen hours until we can go back to bed, and do it again.”
“I don’t want to wait,” he growled, moving to pull her back into his arms when she pushed away again.
Managing to slip out of bed before he could grab her, she took the comforter with her, wrapping it around herself on the way to the door. She was smart enough to realize she’d never have time to get her pajamas from the night before, back on, before he had her dragged back into bed with him. She just managed to make it out the door when he caught up to her as it was.
“Oh, hi, Momma,” she whispered, making sure to block her mom’s view of Cade’s still naked, lower half.
“Hi, yourself,” the older woman grumbled before shifting her stare to Cade. “You know what I expect now, don’t you?”
“Momma!”
“Yes, Ma’am, I do,” Cade nodded, the huge smile on his face never wavering.
“Well?” Momma Jane huffed.
“I got this,” he answered, still grinning like a lunatic.
“You’d bettered,” she huffed before turning to continue down the hall.
“Cade?” Emma whispered, now staring up at him with confusion and hope.
Leaning down, he gave her a quick kiss on the mouth. “Go on and get dressed before I drag you back into bed with me.”
“Cade,” she huffed, nearly giving into the urge to stomp her foot.
“We’ll talk about it later. Go get dressed, Woman. I only have so much self-control.”
“Fine,” she huffed, picking up her makeshift dress, and headed down the hall to the other room. Arriving at her door, she turned to find him still standing there, naked as the day he was born, watching her. With a far off look in his eyes. Almost like he was no longer on planet earth.
“Aren’t you going to get dressed?” she laughed.
Finally looking down at himself, he darted back in his room like he’d only just realized he didn’t have a stitch on.
Laughing then, she shook her head in wonder. “I certainly hope you’re about to ask me to marry you, Cade Warren. I don’t think I can wait much longer without asking you myself. I think it’s about time that one wish was granted. I’ve certainly been wishing for it long enough.”
~~~~
“Cade, you’ve already given me two gifts,” Emma grumbled, shaking her head. “You know I don’t believe Christmas is about the gifts. I hardly think you need to give me another one.”
Jumping in before his brother could say anything else, Ethan laughed. “Trust me, Sis, this gift is different, and just as much for him as you. Stand up and move over there with him. Let him give it to you. Before he passes out in the floor, from nerves. He’s been planning for this one for a while now. At least for the whole last year. Honestly, longer than that, but you get the idea.”
Frowning, she shook her head, all the butterflies from earlier, in the hall with her mother, trying to fly up her throat once again. “I don’t understand.” Well, actually, she hoped she did understand. She just didn’t want to get her hopes up, knowing if she did and she was wrong, it would crush her.
“You will soon enough,” Ezekiel laughed. “Just do like Ethan suggested. Quickly. All the blood has already drained out of Cade’s face. He doesn’t have much longer before he face-plants into the floor.”
“Okay,” she whispered, jumping to her feet, and moving over to stand beside Cade. “Now what?”
Turning them both, so they faced each other, Cade started to kneel down on one knee, only to have Emma grab him by the waist. “What are you doing?”
“Sweetheart, if you’ll give me…”
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she blurted, then immediately slapped her hands to her mouth, her cheeks heating up with embarrassment.
“Well, I really do want to propose,” he chuckled. “I have things I want to say.”
Lowering her hands only far enough to speak clearly, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Well, now that the pressure is kind of off, you could go ahead and do what you planned,” Ezekiel laughed. “Maybe you can show Ethan something he hasn’t tried yet.”
“You know I’ve been…” Ethan stopped then, not sure how much his dad already knew, and how much he was about to reveal.
“Yes, I know you’ve been proposing to Samantha Wade.”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“What if I do?” Ezekiel asked, raising an eyebrow at his younger son.
“Then you and I are about to have a problem,” Ethan growled. “You may be my father, but I will be marrying no one but Samantha Wade. And call her Sammy. She hates being called Samantha.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ezekiel nodded. “My only problem with it is…” He stopped, shaking his head seriously for a few seconds. “I’m not sure you’re good enough for her. She’s and absolute angel. Like Emma. But since I’ve already caught her and Cade in bed together this morning, I guess I’ll have to let them get married.”
Ethan snorted then, shaking his head at his father. “Don’t do that to me, Dad. I thought there for a second I was really going to have to leave the ranch.”
“No, not as long as you always remember, your family is always the most important part of your life after God. Then the ranch.”
“Okay,” Momma Jane cut in, glaring at Cade. “So, how about that proposal?”
Managing to drop down on one knee this time, Cade turned Emma to face him once more, the ring box already resting in the palm of his hand, and open. “Emma Raelyn Foster, you’ve had me so fascinated with you since the moment I met you, ninety percent of the time, I couldn’t have told you if there was another woman on the place. I may not have realized it before the mistletoe kiss, but that one kiss was enough to tell me everything I needed to know. I don’t want anyone else, and I’m never going to. You’re it for me, Baby. I love you with every part of my being. Will you marry me, and make me the happiest man alive?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she breathed, tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. “I love you so much, to marry you has been my truest wish since the day I met you.”
“I’m so sorry I took so long, Baby,” he whispered, sliding his grandma Warren’s ring on her finger.
“Is this your grandma’s ring?” she whispered, staring down at the family heirloom.
“Yes,” he cringed in concern. “Do you want something different?”
“No,” she shook her head. “It’s perfect.”
Standing to his feet, Cade picked Emma up, with his arms wrapped around her tightly, and kissed her like his life depended on it. She just sighed, feeling the happiest she’d ever felt in her life, and buried her hands in his hair, and kissed him back.
Several minutes later, when they finally pulled apart, they found the other three had left them in the living room alone.
“Oh, where did they all go?” Emma giggled. “I guess they decided we needed some privacy.”
“Yeah,” Cade nodded, pulling her over to the coat closet. “I have an idea how we can get even more privacy.”
“Really?” she grinned. “What are we doing?”
“Going to my house, which will actually be our house now.”
“But they might miss us.”
“So,” he snorted. “They’ll figure it out.”
Fifteen minutes later, Cade carried her over the threshold of their home, and kicked the door closed behind them. With a big grin, he turned and headed straight for the bedroom.
“I thought you were supposed to carry me over the threshold after we’re married,” Emma laughed, pressing her face to his shoulder.
“I’ll do it then to,” he answered, tossing her to the middle of the bed, and immediately crawling up over her. “I’m not usually a superstitious man, but I’m not taking any chances where you’re concerned.”
Soon, neither of them had a single care in the world except for each other.