Complicated Love Pt. 08

"There is going to be no annulment," Chris said softly, reaching out to lay a hand on Cassie's arm. "I don't want one, and I didn't ask for one. Cassie, this has all been a misunderstanding. I never asked anyone to tell you to leave."

Cassie recoiled from the words, striking out at him to hide her confusion and hurt. And to squash the little hope that had sparked to life when Chris said those words. No more naïve Cassie Stevens. No. She was building walls now, to keep everyone out, and she was determined to keep Chris out.

"Which is why Mr. Weller's assistant came yesterday with the contract? I'm not a fool Chris. I know when I'm not needed, and I'm leaving."

Every word she said hit Chris like a physical blow, but he refused to let this go. If her eyes had been expressionless, he would have accepted those words, but she was hurt. He could see that.

"Rosalie hired someone to come and impersonate Rowan's assistant. Those papers were forgeries. Cassie, I would never ask you to leave. I love you."

Cassie still didn't give in. It had hurt too much the first time, and she'd be damned if she was going to let herself get hurt again.

"If you loved me Chris," she said slowly, each word ringing in the silence of the room. "you would have called me. Spoken to me. Told me before you left. I wanted to be there for you, and I needed someone to be there for me. But you weren't there. You ran."

Chris hung his head. He couldn't deny the truth of her words.

"What was I supposed to think Chris? A person who hasn't spoken to me for a week isn't capable of severing all the ties he had with me? That he wasn't capable of tearing my heart into small pieces and throwing them in the trash can? I'm sorry Chris, but that's exactly what you did, and I don't have the strength to go through that again. I can't always be second best."

Cassie slumped, the words taking everything out of her. She was exhausted. She was hurt.

"Cassie," Chris said carefully, wrapping his arms around her when she didn't resist. She felt alarmingly fragile, and he blamed himself for this. "You were never second best. Never. When I fell in love with you, there was no going back. You were everything to me, everything Cass."

Cassie was motionless in his arms. She didn't say anything, do anything to acknowledge the fact that she was listening to him.

"And I know that I did the wrong thing by running away. I am not good with grief, I cannot face it. I run. Cass, I need you. I need you to stay with me, and help me face my pain. I need you Cass, please don't leave."

With a small sob, Cassie buried her head in his chest, clutching at him as she cried herself out. Chris held her carefully, a tear escaping his eyes as well.

"You hurt me," Cassie said, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. "I'll never forget that. But I love you Chris, and I couldn't bear it if you weren't in my life. Don't hurt me Chris."

Chris felt his heart break as she whimpered, and held her tightly.

"When were you going to tell me about the baby Cassie," he asked gently when she had stopped crying.

"Never," she said, and when he saw her face, he knew that it was true. She would have never told him, just raised it on her own. Believing as she did that he didn't love her, she would think that he would consider a child a burden, and would do everything to keep him from finding out.

"I want that baby Cassie, I want it with you. I want two or three more. I want a life with you Cassandra Stevens," he said softly.

Suddenly, he dropped to one knee, took her small hand and said, "Cassandra Stevens, I love you, and I cannot live without you. You've made me want things that I never thought I could want. I want a family with you, and I want to grow old with you. I'll be lost without you. Will you marry me?"

This was a real proposal, made by a man who loved a woman. There was no contract, no agreement.

Cassie flung herself in his arms again, and he stood up and held her like he never wanted to let go.

"I'll marry you," Cassie said, her voice muffled. "Again, and again, and again. But don't hurt me Chris."

Chris felt his heart constrict at her words. Happiness warred with guilt. He wasn't going to lose her, but there was no way he could make up for what he had done to her. The damage he had wrecked was a lot. But he was going to mend it, mend her heart.

"I won't hurt you Cassie," he said quietly, and gently kissed the top of her head. He held her small face in his hands and brushed a few stray tears away. She smiled gently, and he placed two fingers on her cheeks, holding that smile intact.

"What happened here," she asked, her fingers lightly tracing the bruise on the side of his face.

"Gavin gave me something I had been asking for"

"Oh."

Cassie smiled up at him, the watery smile reassuring him that things could work out. That they would work out.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

---

Epilogue

"Chris, handle your daughter!" Cassie cried as she hefted the squealing toddler to Chris. "She's not listening to anything I say."

Chris accepted the precious bundle, and almost immediately, his daughter was still. She looked up at her father with big, green eyes. Her mother's eyes.

"I don't understand how you do that every time," Cassie mumbled, crossly looking at her happily gurgling daughter. "Gina fights me like a tiger. Not like her brother."

"Not like her brother at all," Chris agreed, looking at Gina's twin playing with Melissa and Gavin in the porch. "James, my dear wife, is besotted with you."

Melissa and Gavin came over on Sundays. They had become good friends, once Gavin and Melissa saw that Chris truly did love Cassie. Gavin and Melissa had tied the knot right after the birth of the twins, and now, a year later, Melissa was pregnant. Her small bump was barely visible, but Gavin was overprotective all the same. Just like Chris had been.

Cassie grinned and held her hands out for her daughter. She wanted a cuddle. Chris handed her over, then hugged both Cassie and Gina gently.

"A family huggle without us?" Melissa said, striding toward them with a happy James in her arms. "Now that isn't very nice is it James?"

Cassie and Chris laughed, and broke apart. Chris took James from Melissa and set him down on the grass near his grandfather's grave. It was a Sunday, and as was their custom, they had brought out their lunch here.

Cassie wanted her children to grow up knowing their grandfather, and Chris and Ann couldn't agree more. Cassie always felt that James had been the reason that she and Chris had gotten together in the first place.

"I can't believe it's been two years already," Chris said quietly as he looked at his son.

"I know," Cassie said softly, setting Gina down beside James before coming to stand beside Chris. She slipped an arm around his waist and leaned against him. "It seems like forever."

"That was because it was complicated in the beginning," Chris said, smiling.

"Every complication in the book," Cassie agreed, bringing her other hand up to caress his cheek.

"But we made it," he said, looking down at his beautiful wife.

"We certainly did," Cassie said, smiling radiantly. She gently brought his head down and kissed him, feeling loved and safe in his embrace.

Chris responded eagerly, his hands going around her and holding her tightly to him. Both of them could feel the sparks of lust. Cassie grinned inwardly. Even after the twins had come, Chris had never ceased to be aroused by her body. He loved it. He loved her.

These two years had helped her come to terms with her insecurity.

"Hey, cut it out you too. There are children here," Gavin said indignantly and Cassie and Chris broke away, laughing softly.

"Later," Chris said, the promise in his words unmistakable, and kissed the tip of her nose.

Cassie smiled and went to stand beside Melissa.

"So, have you seen Ann lately?" Melissa asked Cassie softly, out of Chris's earshot.

"No," Cassie said equally quietly. "But I spoke to her two days ago, and she sounded down."

"She'll be fine," Gavin said when he came over to stand beside Melissa. "She's got a good head on those lovely shoulders of hers. But is it anything that would worry the grizzly brother there?"

Gavin nodded toward Chris, and Cassie and Melissa smothered their giggles.

"He's not that bad..." Cassie started to say, but then caught Gavin's eye. "Fine, he is that bad, and yes, it will trouble the grizzly brother, as you put it. So both of you shut up. I'm making her excuses."

Gavin and Melissa nodded, bemused. Ann had been having a rough patch lately, and while Cassie, Gavin and Melissa had been helping out, Chris had been kept in the dark for obvious reasons. Ann's love life was messed up as it is, without Chris coming and messing it up further by being the over protective older brother. But that was another worry for another day.

She looked at her husband playing with her children and felt the warm glow of contentment spread through her. So much for complications. What she had Chris had here, right now, was something special.

It was perfect.