That Little Spark

"But that's not the whole story, David. Now read this passage." I pointed to the one in the next journal, that really made my eyes pop.

I watched him read the part about his sister, thanking her lucky stars after that fateful hookup, when she got her period a few weeks later, right on time. She was so relieved that she hadn't gotten pregnant after passing out that party, especially with a man she didn't even know.

David looked over at me. "But if that's true. Then Jones isn't Nathan's father."

I smiled. "Apparently not."

"Does she mention who his father is?"

"Read this," I said, pointing out another passage. "It explains everything."

After he finished, he just stared across the room, looking shocked. "Val never told me she went to a fertility clinic to conceive. She never mentioned who Nathan's father was, so I never asked. When that idiot showed up and said that he was the father, I think everyone just believed him. Now I wished I'd thought to ask for a DNA test."

"Well, the good news is, everything is in writing. The name of the clinic, her doctor. That Nathan was conceived on the first try and was born almost exactly nine months later." I squeezed his arm. "I was so happy when I read that; and now you can show it to your lawyer, and you can adopt Nathan, just like your sister wanted."

David smiled over at me. "Kaitlin, I'm so glad you took the time to read these."

"And I'm glad that you and Nathan will have seen the last of that Mick Jones character, and you can get on with your lives, with him out of the picture."

He nodded blowing out a breath, looking relieved.

"So, I guess..." I looked into his eyes. "We don't have to pretend to be engaged anymore."

He shook his head. "No, we don't have to pretend anymore."

I knew our little fantasy engagement would be over once he was sure that Nathan would be his to raise, but it still stung to hear him agree that our engagement, even if was never real, was over.

I was so close to tears, I had to get up and get out of the room, or he'd wonder if I was crazy, crying over the end of our fake engagement.

I slipped out of bed and grabbed my robe, and told him, "I'm just going to check on the boys."

Standing in the doorway of their room, watching them sleep, like two little angels, tears were running down face. Wiping at my eyes, I wondered if David and I were done, too. And if we were, he might decide to not even let the boys get together anymore.

I wandered downstairs, stood at the back door and looked out over the snowy yard, with the full moon shining down, it looked like a perfect winter night, though my life was turning out to be pretty far from perfect.

I knew David and Nathan would be happy here, it was such a beautiful house. I thought of the tree house David planned to build for Nathan, and knew the boys would have loved to have played up there together.

By the time I finally made my way upstairs, I was out of tears and had stopped crying, resolved to the fact that what we had, might very well be over.

David was sound asleep, and I didn't want to wake him, so I was careful getting back into bed.

I felt so worn out and tired, it didn't take long to fall into a deep sleep.

In the morning, I awoke alone in bed, and saw that David was gone. Lifting my head, I took a look at the bedside clock and saw it was almost ten o'clock. He'd let me sleep in again, probably because he knew I was up most of the night.

After I'd showered and dressed in jeans and a sweater, when I got downstairs to the kitchen, the boys were eating scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. I saw there was a pot of coffee made, with a cup for me on the counter. When Brayden saw me, he said, "Morning, Mom. Mr. Sommers said to tell you that there's a plate in the oven for you."

I looked around, "Where is David?"

"He went outside," Nathan, said, pointing at the back doors.

Then I noticed them getting up on their knees, craning their necks looking at something in the yard. "You see that?" Brayden said to Nathan. "He's writing something in the snow with a bottle with red color, like we do. Only it's curly writing so I don't know what the letters say, do you?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, I don't know what it says."

Curious, I put down the coffee pot to go and take a look. My heart literally squeezed in my chest, when I read what he had written in the snow in big red letters:

I Love You Kaitlin

Will You Marry Me?

(For Real)

I could feel tears running down my face, even while I was laughing, hardly able to believe what he'd done.

David was standing looking back at me, with his hand out, pointing at what he'd written, waiting to see what I'd say.

I opened the back door, gave him a watery smile, and said, "Yes, I would love to marry you, David."

It was comical, the way he almost tripped trying to run back to me through the snow. When he got up on the deck, he picked me up and spun me around and kissed me, both of us laughing. Then he set me down on my feet and said, "You're sure? I know I've got a few years on you. And before we do this, I really want you to be sure."

"Hey," I said, "You just did something really romantic, and I said yes. And I meant it. I would love to marry you, and make the four of us a family."

"I hoped you would. I was thinking of proposing to you in bed last night, but then I heard you go downstairs after you'd looked in on the boys. And I figured you were thinking things over. So, I took a shot, and tried something a little crazy, that I'd hoped you'd find romantic." He smiled, and put his forehead against mine. "And it worked."

"It sure did. Because now we're getting married."

***

We had both boys as ring bearers at our wedding. My cousin's adorable little red-haired daughter Maya, tossing flower petals up the aisle ahead of us, didn't notice Nathan elbowing Brayden as he smiled at her wide-eyed in her pale pink dress with little rosebuds in her hair. It looked like Nathan had a crush on someone now, too.

I looked up and saw David waiting at the altar. Our eyes met, and we both started grinning. I honestly don't think I'd ever felt as happy. He looked so handsome in his classic black tux, and crisp white shirt, I could hardly wait to get up there, and say our vows, so we would be man and wife.

The minister mentioned to the congregation that we'd met on Valentine's Day, and thought cupid must have played a hand in our coming together, as both man and wife and as a family. Which of course had everyone tearing up, especially my mom who was beaming at us, wiping at her eyes as we said our I do's.

Out in front the church, my sister Jess and maid of honor, gave us both a big hug, and whispered against my ear, "I'm so glad it worked out for the two of you. I had a feeling there might have been a little trouble in paradise. But whatever it was, I'm just glad you got through it and you two lovebirds did the deed and got married."

I was glad I could tell her the truth about one thing. "Today I got everything I could ever wish for, Jess. I've got my husband, and two beautiful sons, I don't think I could ask for anything more.

A little over nine months later, we were blessed again, though. After my water broke in the middle of the night and David rushed me to the hospital, looking more panicked than I'd ever seen him. Luckily, after a short labor, our adorable little daughter was born, at a minute after midnight, on February 14^th, a year to the day from the day we'd first met, on Valentine's Day.

The boys were so excited, they both wanted to hold her and kept touching her tiny little toes. My mother, no surprise, was delighted to have a little granddaughter to spoil.

My sister Jess was gushing over her, too. Stroking her little pink cheek, asked us, "What are you going to name her?"

I'd thought all along that I was having another boy, because I was carrying low and all in front, like I did with Brayden. We'd really only thought about boy's names. I looked at David and said, "We're not sure yet."

Grinning, Jess said, "I've got an idea." How about Autumn?"

"Autumn Sommers? Are you kidding?"

"Well, if you wanted to hyphenate her last name, so she'd share the same last name as her brother Brayden, she'd be Autumn Winters-Sommers."

"Yeah, that's a great name Jess, if we never wanted her to speak to us, because she'd think we were crazy for giving her a name like that."

Jess laughed, and I knew she was just teasing, until she said, "Or... since she was born on Valentine's Day, how about Valentina?"

I thought of Val, David's sister, and it would be way to honor her, too. "Actually, Valentina is kind of pretty. What do you think, David?"

Already totally besotted with his new little daughter, he kissed the top of her head and smiled when she wrapped her tiny fingers around his. "I like it. With those little pink cheeks, it suits her, too."

Everyone seemed to agree, so it was decided, we had the perfect name for our little Valentine baby.

***

First day of spring was mild, so we got in our new SUV, with room enough for three kids, and drove to the city to get some exercise and do a little window shopping.

Both boy's eyes lit up when they saw the Lego store, so I wheeled the three of us inside, with Valentina in her stroller while David went next store to the florists. Nearly every day, he was buying me flowers, writing romantic little things on the cards, reminding me that he loved me, especially since I'd had the baby. Though I still had about ten pounds of baby weight to lose, he didn't seem to mind.

We were just coming out of the store, the boys each holding onto to the sides of Valentina's stroller with a precious new Lego kit in each of their bags, both saying "Thanks, Mom." Which always made me smile that we were'mom and dad now to both of them.

I almost stumbled when I saw a woman throw her arms around David's neck, and kiss him right on the mouth. I was sure glad when he pulled back and stepped away, looking shocked.

When he saw us, his face lit up. Then he introduced us to the gorgeous woman with the long dark hair, big brown eyes and a body that I used to have before I'd had our new baby.

"Sweetheart, this is... an old friend of mine, Steph." He slipped his arm around me, smiling and said, "And Steph, this is my wife Kaitlin, our two sons, Brayden and Nathan and our new baby Valentina."

Eyes wide, she looked horrified, staring at our three kids, like she could hardly believe it. "Oh, my god, I am so glad I never married you. You've got three kids?"

She kept mumbling as she walked away, and we both laughed. David touched a kiss to my cheek, handed me a bouquet of roses, took my hand and pushed the stroller and we walked on with the boys beside us. "At least she won't be calling me anymore."

"Then I'm glad we bumped into her," I said, and he chuckled.

I decided that day, I really did have it all. I had the most thoughtful, affectionate husband, three healthy children, and I couldn't have asked for more.

Till one day after the kids were in bed, sitting outside on the deck together, David took my hand, looked at me and said, "You know the night we met, you said you were hoping to become a lawyer. And I've been thinking, you should do it. I want to see you fulfill your dream. I can handle the kids, when you're studying. I just don't want you thinking years from now that wished you'd done it when you could have."

I couldn't believe my ears, I kissed him and said, "Thank you." I'd kind of put my dream aside, but obviously he'd never forgotten.

It wasn't easy, but six years later I walking across the platform, shaking hands with the Dean of Law accepting my diploma.

Front row center, I could see my mother wiping at her eyes, and surprisingly so was my sister. The boys were waving, and David looked so proud, I got little teary-eyed, too. And our little daughter was smiling from ear to ear, blowing me kisses.

The big surprise was the second honeymoon David planned for us in Fiji to celebrate my graduation.

I had always thought those little secluded huts I'd seen in travel looked pretty romantic. Imagining how nice it would be, to be alone together in a warm sunny place like that, doing almost nothing but making love.

And that's exactly what we did.

We'd have dinner at the resort, walk hand in hand along the beach, kiss under the stars and then we'd wander down to our own little out on the water.

Inside, David would smirk, peel me out my sundress and drop a kiss on my shoulder then carry me off to bed.

"I love it here," I told him.

"I wanted to bring somewhere special, after you worked so hard to get your degree. And I've missed this with you," he said, tracing a finger around my breast.

We'd both been so frazzled with me in school, and both trying to take care of the kids' needs, that we got a little side-tracked. But this was our time now. The kids were in good hands with my mother and my sister.

And... I was with my sexy husband, who I noticed was now fully erect, and harder than I'd ever felt him.

I got a little breathless as he slid down over my body kissing his way lower, until he licked me, making me nearly bounce right off the bed. Twisting my hands into his hair I whispered, "Oh, yeah, right there."

Smiling against me, he licked me again, dragging tongue slowly over my folds, "Here," he asked with a smile in his voice, circling my clit with his tongue.

"Yessss," I hissed as he made me shiver. "Oh, yes, David, yesss."

I came so hard, I was seeing stars. He got up on his hands, looked into my eyes and whispered, "I love you," and then he kissed me, and sank himself into my body. I just clung to him as we made slow, sweet love.

I was so glad now that the boys had connected at school, and arranged that Valentine's sleepover without even asking. Or I'd never have the life I have now. So happy and oh, so in love with the man of my dreams.