True Love Blooms

TANNER*

"I love you, Kaysen," I whispered into Kaysen's ear as I came inside her.

I have never in my life felt so intensely for someone as I do with Kaysen. The thought of losing her makes my heartache in ways I never thought were possible. Kaysen has somehow walked into my life and knocked down all of the walls I've held up for twenty-one years. I don't know how to deal with this, but to let go of all of my hurt and pain and let Kaysen in.

I will do everything in my power to get my head on straight so that I don't hurt Kaysen. I'm going to spend all of my free time with her and Cora, her parents will most likely get annoyed with me being around so much, but I don't care. I meant what I said; I want to be with Kaysen throughout her whole pregnancy, I don't want to miss a thing. If something happened to Kaysen and the babies and I wasn't there, I would go off the deep end.

I tried to be as gentle as I could with her just now, with her not needing to be involved in strenuous activities. I needed to keep myself away from her until we saw the doctor. Making love to Kaysen is a fierce need, though, just as the need to have air that feels my lungs.

"Tanner, please don't say something you may regret later. I wouldn't be able to bear you changing your mind. I have fallen for you, but I can't say that I love you yet. Not now; it's too early in whatever you want to call us," Kaysen said as she ran her hand through my hair.

I removed myself from Kaysen and moved to the side to not put so much weight on top of her and gazed into her vibrant sky blue eyes. I never thought I would say the words that flowed from my mouth.

"Kaysen, I want you to be my wife. Im not proposing right now, but I do want to marry you. You are all that I want. I know I sound crazy, but I know in all of my heart and soul that you are the love of my life. You have swooped in and saved my soul. I have been a wreck my whole life. You make me want to become a better man, to look past all of my ignorance regarding marriage and family. I would be lost without you; I need you in my life Kaysen," I said as I caressed her face.

"You want to get married; I'm so confused Tanner, you said you would never be married," Kaysen said as she looked into my eyes with confusion.

"I was an arrogant, stupid son of a bitch, Kaysen; before I met you, I didn't know what love was. I have never felt so intensely for anyone in my life. I love you, Kaysen, and I would never say something I didn't mean," I said as I nuzzled my face into Kaysen's breast and hugged her tightly to myself.

I rose from my bed and bent down to pick Kaysen up, and walked us to my bathroom. She was incredibly quiet and not saying anything as she processed everything I had just told her.

I sat Kaysen down on a towel I had placed on the counter earlier this morning and walked over to the tub, and turned the water on. Once the water was to a decent temperature, I pushed the stopper in so that the water would rise. I grabbed a hairband and began to put Kaysen's hair up in a bun so that it wouldn't get wet and then retrieved the coconut body wash I had gotten for her and placed it on the edge of the tub. I turned off the water and walked over to Kaysen.

"Let's get cleaned up and go back downstairs and relax for a bit. If I haven't scared you half to death, I would like to do some online shopping as I suggested earlier," I said as I kissed Kaysen's forehead.

"I'm not scared, Tanner; I'm confused. I don't know what to say, what we have is well, this sort of thing doesn't happen, does it. What was meant to be a one-night stand has turned out to be love in the most potent form; I was married to Michael and didn't feel for him as strongly as I do for you, Tanner. Please don't hurt me," Kaysen said as she pushed her fingertips through my hair.

"I promise I'll do everything in my power not to hurt you again, Kaysen, not intentionally anyway. I am an asshole, though, so if I ever say or do anything to hurt you, call me out on it, ok," I said as I picked Kaysen up and walked us over to the bathtub.

KAYSEN*

Could it be that Tanner has changed? Could we possibly have a chance of marriage and raising these babies and Cora together. I'm so afraid, but I would love for us to be in a relationship and get married at some point. My views were close to Tanners up until recently. Until now, I was hell-bent on never getting married again and raising Cora alone.

***

"So you are good on all black leather furniture, and silver end tables and silver coffee table," Tanner asked me as we glanced at the shopping cart we had accumulated.

"Yes, so much better than everything being white like what you have in here now, no offense," I said and chuckled.

"Oh no, this place came furnished. The only things that are mine furniture-wise are the bed upstairs and the entertainment center. Which reminds me, I would like us to pick out a new mattress, one that is ours, that only you and I have been in. I'm not proud of who I was before you came along, Kaysen. I've been with countless women over the past several years," Tanner said as he went in search of bed frames and mattresses.

"That would be nice. I think it would be good for you and me to start fresh on all things. Let's forget about the past, ok. We both have baggage; neither one of us is perfect. Let's start on a fresh, clean slate, ok," I said as I placed my head on Tanner's shoulder.

"That would be nice; thank you, Kaysen. That would be good for us both. How about this one, you can adjust the firmness, and it's adjustable, which would be good for you when you get further into your pregnancy? Blaze and Lyra got a bed like this one when she was pregnant with Christopher and Adelaide," Tanner said as he pointed out the items on the screen to me.

"Ok, looks good to me," I said, and Tanner proceeded to the checkout. Tanner and I just made Furniture row extremely happy for sure.

"Shit Kaysen I'm sorry I forgot about Cora. Let's go back and order some things for her. That way, you can keep what she has with your parents. I'm sure your mom will want to have her now, and then after you, both have moved out," Tanner said as he went back into the website.

"Oh yes, you're right. I didn't even think about Cora, so don't feel bad. What about paint and stuff? Should we paint the rooms before moving in?" I asked as ideas started coming to me about wall colors in the rooms.

"Yes, me and the guys, not you, your pregnant and don't need to be around all of the fumes. We can pick out the colors on here and have them shipped to Home Depot if you would like to do that," Tanner said.

"Ok, that sounds like a great plan to me. Online shopping is so much better than braving the crowded stores; I've never done online shopping before," I said.

"It's the only kind of shopping I do. On the exception of food shopping and even then, I eat out mostly," Tanner explained.

"That will change when we move in together," I said confidently.

"How so?" Tanner asked with his eyebrows raised.

"I love to cook; I can cook just about any Italian or Southern meal out there," I said.

"I will be hiring a maid and a cook, so you don't have to be up on your feet so much. With you being high risk, I don't want you having to do anything. I will also be hiring a nanny to be there with you and help you with Cora when I'm at work, so if something happens, you're not alone," Tanner said.

My goodness, Tanner is freaking out over all of the news I've told him today. I'm not going to break.

"Tanner, dear, Cora is about to start at the early childhood center. So she won't be home during the day. You could help by taking her and picking her up. As far as the cooking, I can do that; we don't need to hire someone. I will take you up on the offer of having a maid, though, since I'm supposed to stay off of my feet as much as possible. I'm not going to break Tanner. Relax, please," I said, and Tanner nodded.

"I happen to know an assistant chef whose wife is a housekeeper. He only works four days a week. What would you say to let them stay with us in the guestroom those three days? He can cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and his wife could clean and keep you company?" Tanner asked.

"You're not going to let this go are you, Tanner?" I asked.

"Nope, so just let me take care of you, ok. This couple wants to start a family; I will pay them generously. Hopefully, this will work out, and they can work for us until after you have the babies," Tanner said.

"You are an amazing man. You know that right. After what you did today for that family, and now you're going to do what you can to help this couple. I love that about you," I said, and Tanner smiled widely.

"Let's get the paint ordered real fast, and then maybe tomorrow night we can get together and order furniture for Cora's room. The timing is perfect on all of this; we were all about to go on our two-week break from the office. I'm sure I can get Jace, Blaze, and my cousins Connor and Wade to help me next with painting and so on. Then the weekend after next, we should have everything ready for you and Cora to move in if you decide you are ready by then," Tanner said.

"Ok, let's hurry. I've got to leave soon to pick Cora up," I said, and Tanner and I went in search of paint to order.

TANNER*

Kaysen just left a few minutes ago. I'll be going over there tonight to have dinner with her family. It's so crazy how things are turning out.

I hopped in my truck and headed towards Thacker Jewelers. Time to pick out a ring for the love of my life.

Writer's Note

Hello Everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think will happen in the next episode? Will Tanner and Kaysen be able to let their past free so that they can move on with their relationship? Feel free to👍 Hugs and Love Sapphirian J.❤