Fires of Autumn (35 page)

Hunter
shook his head. “I don’t mean that,” he said, suddenly growing somber. “My dad
made her cry a lot and I don’t want you to make her cry like that.   You need
to swear that you’ll make her happy.”

Colt grew
very serious. “I swear, Hunter.  I swear with all my heart.”

Hunter
gazed at him a moment longer, a sort of affirming stare, before looking at his
mother again.

“I’m okay
with it, then,” he said. “But he’d better do what he promised.”

It was a
threat and Colt took it seriously.  He knew that Hunter was just being
protective of his mother and he respected that. 

“I’ll make
you proud, Hunt,” he murmured, looking at Casey. “Now, there’s just one thing
left.”

She was
wiping the moisture away from her eyes.  “What?”

Colt
suddenly stood up from his chair and before Casey realized what he was doing,
he was down on one knee beside her.  He pulled something out of his jean pocked
and Casey could see it was a small box. A ring box.  Her heart began to pound
as he reached out and took her hand.

“Casey
Catherine Cleburne,” his dark eyes were glimmering at her. “I loved you from
nearly the first moment I met you.  You’re a sweet, intelligent, compassionate
and beautiful woman, and I would be deeply honored to be your husband. Will you
please marry me?”

Casey was
back to happy tears again as she nodded her head, throwing her arms around his
neck and nearly sending him off balance.

“Yes,” she
whispered, pulling back to kiss him sweetly. “I’ll marry you.  I love you so
much.”

Riley
began clapping and cheering, so the boys followed suit.  As Colt opened the box
to show her the three carat solitaire he’d purchased for her, Brody clanged his
knife against his water glass.

“Can we
eat now?” he demanded.

Casey
burst into laughter as Colt put the gorgeous platinum and diamond ring on her
left ring finger.

“Yes,
eat,” she shook her head at the boy, turning to admire the brilliant ring.
“Brody, you sure know how to spoil a beautiful moment.”

Colt stood
up, kissing her hand and kissing her again on her lips before taking his seat.
“He didn’t spoil anything,” he said, reaching for the big carving knife to cut
up the crown roast.  “Everything is still perfect.”

The meal
had an extra spark of joy as they devoured the delicious food.   The boys
plowed through it and then wanted to go out in the backyard to play in the
snow.  Casey turned on the flood lights, illuminating the winter wonderland
outside, as she and Colt and Riley remained at the table, drinking wine and
talking, as the boys tried to build a snowman outside in the dark.  A couple of
neighbor kids joined them and soon, there were about eight kids in the backyard
all trying to build a big snowman as the powdery snow continued to fall.

As the
evening deepened, Riley took care of the dishes and sent Colt and Casey to the
living room with the fireplace.  Alone in the dark room with only the firelight
for company, they sat on the couch and snuggled, listening to Riley washing
dishes in the kitchen and the kids outside playing.  Colt had his arms around
Casey, his face in the side of her head, as she watched the snow fall outside
of the living room window.

“Do you
like your ring?” he whispered.

She
admired the diamond again. “Absolutely,” she said. “It’s gorgeous.”

“Good,” he
kissed her ear. “It took me weeks to pick that thing out. I kept changing my
mind.”

“You did a
good job. It’s perfect.”

He sighed
faintly, turning his head to watch the snow fall also. “Perfect enough that
you’ll forgive me for giving Brody a skateboard?”

She
giggled. “Probably, but it’s going to take a few days for that one to wear
off.  I should have slugged you right then and there.”

He
grinned, nuzzling her cheek. “It’s like riding a horse. He’s got to get back on
the board sometime. Might as well do it now, while he’s still young. You know
you’re never going to get him away from a skateboard completely.”

“I know.
But did you have to buy him such an expensive one?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I
wanted to.”

She
grunted and shook her head. “You’re impossible.”

He
grinned. “No, I’m not,” he said, suddenly moving off the couch and pulling her
to her feet, “but I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve.”

Curious,
she cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

He pulled
her towards the front door. “Come take a look.”

“Take a
look at what?”

He opened
the front door and pointed to the curb. “At that.”

Casey
peered out of the front door, across the snowy front lawn, to a car parked on
the curb.  She couldn’t see it very well until suddenly, the lights and the
engine turned on.  Somewhat confused, she looked at Colt to see that he was
holding up a wireless ignition remote. 

“Merry
Christmas,” he said softly. “It’s your new Cadillac SUV.”

Casey’s
jaw dropped. “
What?
”

She was suddenly
running outside towards the curb with Colt behind her.  There was so much snow
that it was difficult to see the pearl-colored Cadillac cross-over SUV that was
sleek, sexy and beautiful.   She started jumping up and down.

“For me?”
she squealed.

He laughed
softly and handed her the keys. “For you, angel.  I’m sick of worrying about
you in that eight year old Ford.  Now you have a brand-new beautiful car to
drive the boys around in.”

Casey
could hardly believe it.  Shrieking with joy, she ran around to the driver’s
side and jumped into the luxurious tan interior.  It had ever feature known to
Man, including video monitors in the back seat, heated and air-conditioned
front seats, and a glove box that doubled as a refrigerator.  She was giddy
with joy.

“Oh, my
God,” she gasped as she inspected the space-age interior. “This is amazing.  I
can’t believe you got this for me!”

Colt was
bending down, looking into the driver’s door. “Do you like it?”

She jumped
out of the driver’s seat and bashed him on the chin with her head as she threw
her arms around his neck.

“I love
it,” she hugged him tightly. “Thank you so much. This is such a thoughtful
gift.”

Colt held
her snuggly, snow falling on their eyelashes as they shared a sweet kiss.  “I
can’t believe you didn’t notice this thing parked outside all day,” he said. “I
had it brought over this morning.”

Casey
shrugged. “I guess I just wasn’t paying attention,” she said. “Seriously, Colt;
this is such a sweet thing to do. I love it.”

He was
smiling broadly. “I’m glad,” he said softly “So I guess you got the best
present of all.”

Her smile
faded as she gazed into his handsome face. She suddenly grew very serious.  
“Maybe not,” she murmured. “As good as this is, I have a better one for you.”

His
eyebrows lifted. “Really? What?”

She shook
her head. “You can’t open it now.”

“Why not?”

“Because
you’ve got to wait until summer.”

“Why do I
have to wait?”

“Because
that’s when the baby is due.”

At first,
it didn’t register.  It took Colt several long seconds to process what she had
said.  Then, the dark eyes widened.

“Baby?” he
repeated. “What baby?”

She tried
to gauge his reaction. “
Our
baby,” she said softly. “I saw the doctor a
couple of days ago.  We’re going to have a baby in August.”

His mouth
popped open. “Oh, my God,” he hissed. “Are you serious?”

She
couldn’t figure out if he was happy or upset about it.  “Yes,” she said,
suddenly stricken by the look on his face. “Oh, God… you’re not happy about
this, are you?”

He was
still in a state of shock.  He shook his head and then he quickly nodded,
wrapping her up in such a hug that she could hardly breathe.

“I’m
happy,” he insisted, sounding breathless. “I’m just… shocked. Shocked as hell.”

“Is that a
good thing or a bad thing?”

He let go
of her, taking a moment just to stare at her as the snow fell softly and
silently around them.  Casey had never seen such an expression on his face; it
was as if the control he held so dear and the composure he was so practiced with
was suddenly gone.  His face was full of naked emotion.

“It’s a
great thing,” he finally whispered, the dark eyes fixed on her. “It’s the
greatest thing in the world.  I can’t… I can’t even….”

He threw
his arms around her again and held her tightly.  Then he let her go so swiftly
that she nearly fell over.  She was dressed in black pants and an oversized
cream-colored sweater, and he put his hands on her still-flat belly. 

“Are you
sure?” he hissed.

Increasingly
certain that he wasn’t horrified by the situation, she smiled. “Very sure. 
Doctors don’t lie about this kind of thing.”

“How…?” he
still had his hands on her torso as he looked at her. “How do you know? When
did you know?”

Her violet
eyes were twinkling. “I’ve suspected for a few weeks,” she said. “I haven’t had
my period since you and I first slept together. It’s been about six or seven
weeks. So I went to the doctor a couple of days ago and he did a blood test.”

“And it
was positive?”

“It was.”

He slapped
a hand over his mouth, absolutely overcome with giddy surprise. Now that the
shock was wearing off, he was starting to feel utter and complete joy.  He
wrapped her up in his arms one more time, holding her reverently.

“Oh, my
God,” he breathed again, rocking her sweetly. “I can’t believe this. We’re
going to have a baby.”

“Merry
Christmas.”

He burst
into soft snorts of laughter. “No kidding,” he chuckled. “This is the best
Christmas I’ve ever had.”

She pulled
away from him this time, looking him in the eye.  “Really?”

“Swear to
God.”

“So you’re
happy about this?”

“I… I
can’t even describe how happy I am. I’m beyond happy. I’m about ready to start
shouting this all over the neighborhood.”

She
giggled, putting her hand over his mouth. “Not before we tell the boys,” she
said. “We’re really going to have to treat this carefully, you know. How can I
tell them not to go get some girl pregnant when this has happened to us?”

He
shrugged. “Maybe we’ll just get married in the next few weeks and that’ll solve
the problem,” he said. “They don’t have to know this baby was conceived before
we got married.”

She cocked
an eyebrow at him. “They can count, you know. They’ll eventually figure it
out.”

“When they
do, we’ll explain it.  There’s no shame in two adults loving each other enough
to have a baby.”

As always,
he had a plan and he was decisive about it.  Colt Sheridan was always the man
in control and in charge, even with something like this.  Feeling satisfied
with how to handle it with the boys, a smile crept onto Casey’s lips and she
put her hands on his cheeks, grinning broadly when he hugged her tightly.

“I have to
tell you, I’m really happy about this,” she said softly. “I was kind of scared
at first, but not anymore. This is such a blessing.”

He kissed
her forehead. “Absolutely,” he agreed, kissing her nose. “Angel, your nose is
freezing. Let’s go inside, okay?”

She pulled
away from him, shaking her head. “I want to drive my car.”

He had her
by the arm, pulling her out of the car. “It’s too snowy,” he told her. “You can
drive it tomorrow.”

“No!” she
put on good act of a whiney little kid, gripping the steering wheel as he tried
to pull her out. “I want to drive it!”

He was
chuckling as he tried to pull her out but she kept putting up her feet and
pushing him away. “Come out of there,” he told her.

“No!” she
squealed, giggling. “I want to drive my new car!”

He had her
by both feet but she was holding on to the steering wheel with a death grip. 
He started laughing so hard that he couldn’t get a good grip on her as Hunter,
Brody and Riley suddenly came through the front door, seeing Colt and Casey
squabbling over a new car.  The boys descended on the car, trying to sweep the
snow off of it to get a better look.

“Mom’s got
a new car?” Brody was thrilled. “This is really cool!”

“It’s your
mom’s Christmas gift from me,” Colt let go of Casey’s feet as Brody tried to
climb on his mother in the driver’s side.

“This is
awesome!” Brody was excited as he threw open the back door. “It’s got a video
panel!”

Hunter
slid in from the other side and Colt could see that he wasn’t going to be able
to get any of them out of the car any time soon.  So he let Casey drive the car
around the block, very carefully, just so she could say she drove her new
present.  He sat in the front seat, listening to their excitement, and it made
him smile.  He was really looking forward to spending the rest of his life with
the Cleburne Clan, all of them, and the more he thought about the new baby, the
more excited he became.  All of his life was spread out before him like a
paradise he never knew existed.