His Greatest Pain (10 page)

“I
am so glad you two decided to come over for dinner. It’s been forever since
we’ve had you two together under our roof,” her mother said and started dishing
out the food.

Before
they started eating, she wanted to just get this out in the open, make it known
why they’d really come here. “I actually want to talk to both of you,” Lauren
said.

Her
mother stopped dishing food out and sat down. Lauren looked at her dad, saw the
focus he had on her, and then he looked at Ace. Lauren was so nervous right
now, and she hated that, hated that she even felt that way. She loved Ace more
than anything, and nothing should make her afraid to express her feelings, not
even the opinions of her parents.

“You
obviously have something big to tell us,” her dad said, but there wasn’t any
anger or worry in his voice. He looked at Lauren’s mom and smiled. “Your mother
told me about the talk you two had a while ago, about you and Ace.”

Lauren
looked at her mom, surprised. “You did?”

Her
father nodded and reached out across the table to take Lauren’s hand.

“I
love him, Mom and Dad,” she said and swallowed. She grabbed Ace’s hand under
the table and gave it a squeeze.

“I
love your daughter more than you’ll ever know. And although I know I’m not good
enough for her, I’ll do my best every single day to be the man she deserves in
her life.”

Oh.
God.
She might just cry right now.

“And
you’re together?” her mom asked no emotion in her voice, but a small smile on
her face.

“We
are, Mom,” Lauren responded.

“Well,
I don’t know what to say,” her mother said, looked at her dad, and her smile
grew. “But I guess I should say I’m glad you two are happy, and I hope things
work out.”

“You’re
really okay with this?” Lauren asked, her heart beating a mile a minute.

“Are
you happy?” her mother asked.

Lauren
nodded.

“And
you’re happy?” her mom asked Ace.

He
tightened his hold on her hand. “More than I could even describe with words.”

Her
father smiled, and her mom exhaled slowly.

“Then
we’re happy for you. I was worried at first when Lauren told me about you two,
about how she cared for you, and although I love you like a son, Ace, I also
know you have had a tough life growing up.”

He
nodded. “Yes, but I would only ever show Lauren love.”

Her
mom reached across the table and grabbed his other hand. “I know, honey. I
know.”

“I
actually figured this would have happened long before now,” her father said,
and reached across the table to grab the salad. “Now, can we eat?”

They
all started laughing, and her mother and father started talking about their day
at work. God, that was easier than she thought. Lauren looked at Ace, saw that
he was staring at her, this small smile on his face. He leaned in close, and
whispered in her ear, “I have never loved anyone as much as I love you, and I
never will.” And just like that everything was right where it needed to be.

Chapter
Twelve

One year later

Lauren
held Ronan in her lap, smiling at the way the little boy giggled at something
his father, Toby, did across the room. Lauren glanced at where Toby, Shoshanna,
and Ace all stood by the TV. Ace was talking about something electrical with
Toby, and Shoshanna was drinking a sparkling cider and looking at the pictures
Lauren had just hung up that morning.

She
stared at Ace again, felt her love for him grow, and knew that life had a funny
way of making the most unpredictable things work out. Ace was still seeing the
therapist on occasion, and although he still trained at the gym several times a
week, he hadn’t gotten into a fight in some time. Did she think her man would
ever be “normal”? She didn’t know, but she didn’t care. He was happy where he
was, and she was happy to be able to give him a smile when he was down and in a
dark place. There wasn’t anything in the world that could erase what Ace had
gone through, but she could try to make every day filled with something happy
and memorable.

Over
the last year a lot had changed between her and Ace, but it had all been so
good, and felt so right. She hadn’t signed her lease for another year on her
apartment, and instead had moved into Ace’s much nicer and bigger place. Living
with him was something new, and it felt like she fit right in, right in his
life.

Ace
glanced at her just as Ronan started getting fussy. Lauren stood and handed the
baby off to his father, but couldn’t help noticing how Toby had a scrunched up
face and looked over at Shoshanna helplessly. Shoshanna sighed, set the glass
on the table, and took the little baby.

“I
swear, Toby, you act like a dirty diaper will melt your face off if you change
it.”

Lauren
started laughing at what Shoshanna said. “You can use our room if you want.”

Shoshanna
gave her a smile of gratitude, grabbed the diaper bag off the floor by the
door, and headed into the back hallway.

“Man,
you better go help her or you’ll pay for it later,” Ace said and chugged some
of his beer. Amusement was on his face, and when he looked over at Lauren he
winked.

“Yeah,
you’re probably right,” Toby said, finished his beer, handed it off to Ace,
then
followed his new wife down the hall. They’d gotten
married only a month ago, with Ace being Toby’s best man, and Lauren sitting
with the other guests thinking about what her wedding would look like. She glanced
down at her engagement ring, the princess cut diamond that Ace had given her a
few months ago.

The
proposal had been so sweet. It hadn’t been anything over the top, and for that
she was grateful. What he had done was take her to the lake when it was dusk.
The sky had been painted pink and orange. He’d had a stack of classic books
with him and a bouquet of poppies, and before she knew what was happening he’d
started reciting the most romantic and sentimental passages out of each book,
even if he probably hated doing it. She knew Ace wasn’t a big reader, but he’d
done it to make her happy. And then he’d proposed to her, told her everything a
girl would want to hear from the man she loved, and of course she’d said yes.

But
she wasn’t in a rush to get married, even if they didn’t need to wait. She
wanted their wedding to be perfect, to be everything that they both deserved.
So, she was planning it, trying to make it something that would help replace
Ace’s bad memories with good ones. It was something she was looking forward to
immensely.

Ace
set the beer bottle down and pulled her close, leaned down to bury his face in
the crook of her
neck,
and inhaled deeply. “I love the
way you smell,” he said in that deep voice of his that made her toes curl. He
placed a hand on her belly and rubbed it around in circles. “Is it wrong for me
to say I can’t wait until my baby grows right here, Poppy?”

She
shivered from the intensity those words evoked in her. Leaning back, she looked
up at his face, reached her hand up and brushed his short dark hair off of his
forehead. “Is it wrong to admit I desperately
want
that?” she said softly.

He
made this low, growly noise. “After the wedding I’m going to fill you with my
baby, Poppy.” He cupped her cheek with his hand. “I’ve never wanted anything
more than for you to me mine, my woman, my wife, and the mother of my
children.” He leaned down and captured her lips with his.

“I’m
yours … only yours,” she said and smiled against his lips. “You’re stuck with
me.”

He
chuckled, pulled her in for a hug, and held her tight. “And you won’t regret
it, Lauren. You’ll never regret being with me.”

And
she knew that without a doubt.

Epilogue

Their Happily Ever After

Lauren
stood by the window and smiled as she watched Ace chase after their son. Kurtis’s
little legs weren’t taking him very far, but the big grin on his face proved
that the toddler didn’t care. Her son was the spitting image of Ace, his head
filled with dark hair, his eyes a light green. Even at a young age his features
were the same as his hard as nails father.

Daisy,
their newborn daughter, chose that moment to cry. Her wail was sweet, tiny, and
had Lauren smiling. Waking over to the swing, she lifted the little girl out,
held her tiny body close to hers, and started rocking her. Lauren ran her
fingers through daughter’s light reddish hair. She knew it would turn out to be
her own strawberry blonde color the older she got. Her daughter opened her big,
green-colored eyes, eyes so much like Ace’s that it warmed Lauren’s heart.

Lauren
was so happy she could give this to Ace, give him the happiness he so deserved.
Daisy continued to wail despite everything Lauren did, and so she sat in the
chair by the window to nurse her daughter. She fed Daisy as she stared out the
window, watching her son and husband. Over the last few years a lot had
changed. Lauren now ran the bookstore fulltime, and Ace had been promoted. He
was helping recruit larger companies for the contractor.

They’d
purchased land two years ago when she found out she was pregnant, and Ace and
Toby and even a lot of the guys Ace worked with, helped to build the house they
currently lived in. This was her dream, too, and she was living it with the man
she loved and the children he gave her.

She
looked down at Daisy, who still nursed. Lauren heard the door open and close,
heard her little boy’s feet pattering across the floor a second before he
slammed into her and wrapped his arms around her leg. Ace came in, his face
beaming with pride and happiness, and scooped Daisy out of her arms as soon as
the little girl was done feeding. Lauren picked up Kurtis and placed him on her
hip. Ace walked up to her, pulled her close with his free arm, and for a moment
the four of them were close enough together they were one. Ace leaned down and
gave Kurtis a kiss on the forehead.

“Have
I told you how much I love you?” Ace said.

She
pulled back, stared at her husband holding their newborn daughter, took in the
fact he was so strong and powerful, so handsome and intense, and all hers.
Daisy looked like a little doll in his arms, all perfect and tiny. “Yes, but I
love hearing it.” She smiled. “And I love you.”

“Daddy,”
Kurtis said, holding his chubby little arms out for Ace. Ace took Kurtis, held
both of their children, and Lauren felt a wave of emotion fill her.

Together
they were one, could get through anything no matter how ugly and dark it was,
and wasn’t that how love was supposed to be? She let her love for this man and
their children wash through her, knowing that she couldn’t have fully appreciated
this life without having this man in it.

The End

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Other Books by
Jenika
Snow:

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