“You want to have babies with me? And marry me?” There are tears in her eyes, and her voice shakes as she asks him.
“Chloe,” he leans forward over the table, and she leans in to match him, “you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you more than anything. Your moving here is a dream come true. And yes, I want to marry you, I want to call you my wife, and spend every day of the rest of my life with you. You’re the other half of me, and I’m incomplete without you. The only thing that would be better than being your husband would be being father to your children. If you don’t want these things, I’ll understand, they are not deal breakers for me. Getting to be with you is still the best thing in my life. And I know this is all quick, baby, but I can’t wait to start my life with you.”
She practically climbs over the table between them and kisses him firmly on the mouth. The tears are streaming from her eyes, and she can taste them in their kiss, but she doesn’t care. This big, strong, beautiful man has a heart of gold, and he has made her life infinitely better just by being in it.
“Yes, Axel. I want to marry you one day. And I want kids with you, too. You make me so happy, happier than I ever thought possible. I can’t wait for our life together to begin.”
“It already has baby, it already has.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Axel
Axel is revved up, raring to go. Excitement slices through him as he bounds into the lodge kitchen.
“Come on, Jack, put down your shit and let’s go.”
Jack looks up from the kitchen work station with a confused look on his face and answers with a “huh?”
“Didn’t you get my text? We’re going for a run.” Axel leans on the high bar that separates the counter between them.
“You know I don’t have my phone on me while I’m working. I’ve got dinner service to prepare for. I don’t have time to go on a run.” Jack shakes his head irritably, but Axel won’t have it.
“Maurice, can you take over while I borrow Jack for a bit?” Axel asks the part-time sous chef, who turns questioning eyes on Axel and Jack. Axel had never once pulled Jack away from the kitchen when he was working, but he feels it in his bones that he needs to connect with his brothers.
“Yes, of course. Most everything is ready to go for service, and I’ll finish prepping for the salads. I got this chef.”
Axel smiles broadly, and Jack looks at him more confused than ever. Axel knows he’s usually a reserved guy, not one to come in and demand time from his brothers, and definitely not one to come in beaming from head to toe.
He makes his way around to the other side of the counter, where Jack is still working, “arun,Jack.”
Jack looks up at Axel and finally begins to smile. He gets it now. A run, in their bear forms. One that they hadn’t done in way too long.
Jack undoes his chef coat, tossing it on a chair, and when the two men are in the hallway, Jack whoops loudly into the air and bounces up, pushing himself into the air off Axel’s shoulders.
As they turn the corner, Axel sees Gunner standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, looking at the ground, and Raif coming in the lodge front door with a toolbox in his hands.
“What’s up with this message, Ax? You want to go work out? I don’t have time for this shit right now.” Raif grumbles and sets his toolbox down noisily on the lodge front desk. Axel frowns at the appearance of the toolbox where they would greet guests, but he knows no one is scheduled to check in for the day.
Gunner doesn’t say anything but pushes his long hair out of his eyes with a stern look on his face. Axel huffs out a breath at his brothers’ mirth.
“Arun,assholes. Let’s go. It’s been fucking forever since we’ve gone. We have no activities scheduled today, dinner service is set, and no guests are checking in. Let’s go.”
Axel can hear the excitement in his own voice, and Jack mirrors it with a big smile.
Raif huffs and scratches his beard. “It has been a while. A long while. I’m down, yeah. Let’s do it.”
Even though his voice is gruff and his tone is flat, Axel can sense Raif’s excitement. Only Gunner is left.
Gunner frowns hard at his brothers and crosses his arms across his chest. Axel knows that it is a standard defensive pose for Gunner, one that says he isn’t going to back down.
“It’s not safe,” Gunner grumbles out.
Axel tries his best not to roll his eyes.
“Gun, we each go out individually and run. There’s no reason why we can’t do it together.”
“You may go out shifted. I sure as fuck don’t.”
