“You two will be wanting to start your life together after all, having a teenager on your hands won’t be easy,” Margaret said.“Cheryl has always wanted a sibling closer to her own age, and there’s an empty bedroom since Kathy left for college.”
“Oh, well…I’m not sure I can say no, but I think we should all sit down together and discuss this,” she said, then looked over at Malcolm, who didn’t look a bit surprised by his parents' offer. “I don’t want to shove my responsibility off on you, that wouldn’t be right.”
“Oh, Chloe wouldn’t be a responsibility, my dear, she’d be a gift,” Margaret said. “All children are, even if they aren’t your own.”
Before she could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, and Malcolm’s dad got to his feet. “That will be Marcus,” he said. “I’ll get the door.”
“I called him while you were upstairs. He lives down the road a couple of miles. He and Dad went to school together; they’ve been friends forever,” he said, then saw the nervous look on her face. “Hey, don’t worry, he’s a nice guy, and he’ll be able to help us, I promise.”
“I just want this to be over,” she said. “I’ve been fighting with Chet for six years. I want it to end, I want to live like a normal person, I want…”
He put his arm around her and held her close. “I promise when this is over, we’ll have the most boring life you can imagine,” he said, making her laugh. “Until then, we’ll lean on each other when we need to.”
CHAPTER 21
***MALCOLM***
Malcolm watched Marcus’s face the entire time they were recounting the events of the last few days, but couldn’t tell what the older man was thinking, so when he abruptly stood up, he was expecting the worst. Instead, he looked around the table, then focused his attention on Rose, who remained calm as he stared at her, making him proud once again of the woman he’d fallen in love with.
“I need to speak to Rose alone,” Marcus finally said. “Is there a quiet place where we can talk?”
“You can use the study,” his mom said, getting to her feet. “Do you want me to show you the way?”
“It hasn’t been that long since I was here,” Marcus said, giving her a rare smile. “But thank you, Margaret.”
Rose looked nervous when she got to her feet, but she lifted her chin in the air and followed Marcus out of the room without protest, leaving the three of them sitting in silence. He jumped to his feet and began to pace back and forth across the kitchen, watching the minutes tick by on the clock and worrying about what was happening behind the closed doors of the study. His mom finally pulled him to a stop and forced him to sit down next to her, an understanding look on her face.
“They’ll be done soon,” she said, patting his hand. “Just try to relax. Let’s watch some television that will get your mind off it.”
His mom walked over and switched on the little set on the kitchen counter, and the news popped up. “Oh, we don’t need to watch this,” she said and started to change the channel, but something caught his attention.
“Hold on, don’t change it,” he said, watching the scene on the screen unfold. “That’s Sandra, it looks like they finally caught her.”
“Well, that’s a relief, I’m sure Rose will be happy to hear that,” his mom said. “We’ll have to tell her when she comes back.”
He looked over at the clock. “What’s taking so long?” he asked, getting to his feet again. “They’ve been in there forever.”
Before his mother could answer, Rose and Marcus appeared in the doorway, both with smiles on their faces, and he let out a sigh of relief. “Steven and Margaret, your boy has good taste in women,” Marcus announced. “The council won’t be happy that another one of our boys has bonded with a regular human, but they’ll come around when they see what an asset she’ll be to the clan.”
Rose crossed the room and slipped into his arms, “Marcus pledged the clan’s protection. Chet won’t get his hands on Chloe now for sure,” she said. “He’s not a bad guy, he just looks like he’s angry all the time. He’s really very sweet.”
He could only stare at her, his mouth hanging open for a minute. “That doesn’t sound like the Marcus I know,” he said, shaking his head. “Whatever you did, keep doing it.”
She laughe., “That’s a deal,” she said, then gave him a quick kiss.
“Well, then, I guess we just have a few details to work out,” Marcus said. “I can guarantee the council’s protection. Frankly,this is going to look really bad for Chet when it blows up in his face, and they’re going to be pleased with that.”
“Details?” he asked. “What details?”
“Oh, I’ll let you work those out on your own, just make sure the wedding is very public,” Marcus said. “The more witnesses you have, the better. I would be happy to attend with my family if you let me know when and where. Right now, I have to be going. I’ve got meetings all day.”
They were all silent as Marcus walked out the door, then just looked at each other for several long seconds, before his mother broke the silence. “Oh, dear, it looks like we’re planning a wedding,” she said, then looked over at them. “I guess you’re going to need rings; we’d better call your uncle right away.”
Rose looked up at him, her face full of confusion. “My uncle makes jewelry,” he explained, then shrugged his shoulders. “This isn’t exactly the way I planned on proposing to you, but what the heck. Will you marry me, Rose?”
She looked stunned, then a smile slowly spread across her face. “Yes, yes, yes,” she said, then threw herself into his arms. “I would love to marry you.”
The restof the day was a whirlwind of wedding preparations and he barely had enough time to tell Rose about Sandra’s arrest before his sisters suddenly descended on them and whisked Rose off to Kathy’s bedroom, then refused to open the door except when his friends arrived to let Abby, Emily, and Stephanie into the room. The house felt like it was bursting at the seams before it was time to leave for the recreation hall where the ceremony was to be held, and he happily let his friends lead him away.
