Grateful

When he got up to move the bed Nelson said, "No, silly. I meant...closer."

He didn't need to be told she meant beside her in bed or that because the children were there it only meant beside her in bed.

Nelson rolled over to make room for him and raised the sheet.

"I think it would be safer if I stayed on top and you underneath it," he told her as he settled in.

"You're right. I can't say I like that, but you are right," she agreed.

"I'm not wild about it either, Nelson," he told her as he touched her face.

"You're a very handsome man," she said out of nowhere. "And also very kind and caring."

"And nearly 50," he reminded her.

"What's your point?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"Well, I'll be um, Wilbur's age when your mine."

Nelson got serious all of a sudden and said, "Kane? I married the love of my life when I was just 21. I thought we'd be together forever, but that wasn't meant to be. But I wouldn't trade one day even if I knew we would only have those few years together. So if, let's say, you and I realized we like each other, and were we to...well, let me just say I'd take whatever amount of time I had with someone I truly loved over decades with someone I only married for convenience of some other reason. And as far as that goes, I could be the one who only lives a few more years. Sadly, I know that to be true from personal experience."

"Don't talk like that, okay?" he said in a whisper.

"Not talking about it is no guarantee it won't happen. Nor is not thinking about it. Trust me. I know," she said, also in a whisper.

"You are so beautiful," he told her after several more seconds of silence.

"I'm not, but thank for saying that," she told him.

"I'm not just saying that, Nelson. I thought you were beautiful even in my baggy shirt. And after getting to know you, you're even more beautiful."

"Beautiful enough to want to kiss me?" she asked ever-so quietly.

"Very much so," Kane told her before he moved closer as they looked into one another's eyes which closed as their lips met for the first time.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she said when the kiss ended.

"Of course."

"I had feelings for you from the moment you pulled up in the boat. I know it might have just been gratitude, but looking back, I know it was more than that."

He went to kiss her again when Cocoa Puff jumped up on the bed scaring Fluffy who'd been laying near the end of the it, and startling Nelson enough to make her yelp again. When she straddled her and licked Nelson's face, she laughed out loud then said, "Shhh! Shhh!" as though someone else was making the noise.

To their surprise, the dog and the cat settled down and quietly shared the bed with their 'mom' the rest of the night.

And to his surprise Kane realized he couldn't ever remember sleeping with a woman he hadn't slept with, but as first times went, this one was at the top of his list. They'd kissed for a while, smiled a lot, and fallen asleep in each other's arms.

Wide awake at 0530, Kane quietly got up, took a leak, then pulled on a tee-shirt and took Cocoa Puff out to do her thing before coming back in to shower and shave. Just as he was finishing, Nelson walked in and said very sweetly, "Hi, and good morning!"

"Good morning," he said back, a big smile on his face.

She looked at him as though she wasn't sure what had happened last night so Kane put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her.

"I was hoping you'd do that," she told him.

She smiled happily then said, "And now I'm hoping you'll leave so I can pee."

"Um, yeah. That won't be a problem," he told her.

After a reasonably filling but not-at-all nutritious breakfast, they were back on the road again still headed to I-10 where they'd head west back to Beaumont.

"We haven't even watched the news," Nelson said at some point after they'd been on the interstate for a while.

"It's pretty depressing," Kane replied.

"I just feel so bad for everyone who wasn't as lucky as me."

When she said that Kane reached over to take her hand and when she let him, Cassie noticed and immediately said, "Mom! What are you doing?"

"Oh, um...well, I guess maybe Kane and I kind of, you know, like each other."

She turned around, smiled, and asked if that was okay.

"It's totally okay," her daughter said with a smile of her own. "I already knew you liked him, remember?"

"Is Momma gonna marry Kane?" Joey asked once he realized what was going.

"No, Dorkus. She just likes him," his sister said.

Then, a few seconds later, Cassie asked, "Are you?"

"Honey, it's...we just started liking each other so..."

"True, but anything's possible," Kane said with a smile as he looked into the rearview mirror.

Cassie's response of, "Yes!" surprised both of them and drew a little laugh, too.

"I want you guys to get married!" Joey announced.

"Can we maybe slow this down just a little?" Nelson said although she couldn't stop smiling.

"But I really like Kane!" the six-year old said.

"And I really like you and your sister," Kane said.

He smiled again then added, "And...I really like your mom, too."

Not long after, Cassie asked if they could play the ABC game where each person had to spot a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet in order. Joey got frustrated when he got stuck with 'Q' but his mom helped him out with a license plate from Virginia that started with that letter.

After playing that for nearly an hour, they began signing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore", and that's when Kane realized this was exactly what he'd wanted for some time now. He'd probably always wanted it, he'd just never been in a place where having it made sense. But with Nelson, the kids, the dog and even the cat, it not only made sense, it felt right; more right than anything he could ever remember.

It was dark when they rolled into Beautiful Beaumont, and as they approached their street, they cheered when they saw the lights were back on.

"Hallelujah!" Nelson said even though her house was still dark and black.

The AC was back on in Kane's house, and after cleaning it up a little (which didn't take long) it looked good as new. Too new, in fact, as the emptiness stood out even more.

"Yeah, you really need some help around here, Marine," Nelson told him during a quiet moment alone.

"If you're the one who'll be doing the helping, and if you're offering, I accept."

"You sure you won't get tired of me?" she asked as he held her close.

"I'm sure," he told her before pulling head into the crook of her neck and kissing the top of her head.

"Have I told you how grateful I am to have you in my life?" Nelson asked quietly.

"Maybe once or twice," Kane quietly replied.

She pulled back a little, looked up at him, then said, "Kane? I honestly don't know where this is going, and I'm not assuming you'll always want me...us...around, but for however long it does last, I'll be very gr..."

"I'd like very much for this to last the rest of lives, Nelson," he said before she could finish her thought.

Her eyes were moving rapidly back and forth as she looked into his. As his words sank in, Kane saw tears well up in them.

"I didn't think my offer was so terrible it would make you cry," he quipped.

When she didn't answer, and the tears began to fall, Kane wondered if perhaps he'd overstepped. Maybe she didn't feel that way and was looking for the words to let him down easily.

"I don't think you know what you're saying, Kane. My home is destroyed and I have no way to rebuild it. It'll end up forcing me into bankruptcy, and I can't ever let you be responsible for that. I just can't," she said as the tears fell.

"Money? You think what matters to me is money?" he asked as gently as he could.

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm only letting you know that I come with a very heavy price tag and a lot of baggage. That's all."

"First of all, your children are anything but baggage. They're absolutely wonderful, and I already love being around them. As to money, I put nearly everything I earned in the bank for 30 years, Nelson. And while I loved my career—maybe too much so—I never once knew love. All that money just kept piling up, and it never meant a thing to me. Then I found myself retired and floundering to the point of being lost. Nothing made me happy. I bought this house hoping to one day fill it with laughter and love, but as you can see, it's just an empty box."

He put his hand on her pretty face then said, "But now, since I met you, since you and the kids moved in here, it feels like a home. And I don't want you to ever think I'm just glomming on to the first beautiful woman I ever met. I'm no Romeo, but I've met many beautiful women before. I've just never...fallen in love with any of them. Until now."

Nelson never took her eyes off of his as he spoke, his words searing themselves into her heart. When she was sure he was done speaking, she waited a few moments then said, "I really needed to hear you say those words because...because...I'm falling in love with you, too, and I needed you to know what you'd be getting into."

Kane smiled with relief then kissed her softly before saying, "I've already fallen in love with you, and you and the kids are everything I want to get into."

Nelson was sure he meant what he'd just said, but the thought of getting hurt, and more importantly, her children getting hurt scared her more than anything.

"Please don't say that if you don't mean it. I don't want to play the role of the martyr here, but I've lost so much in my life. I can't let myself think you love me like I love you then lose you if you don't."

Kane brushed her hair back then said, "I guess that depends on how you love me, and that's something only you can know. But what I do know is I love you in a way that means I can't imagine spending another day without you and the kids...and our pets...in it."

Just then Cocoa Puff came in sniffing and wagging her tail. When she saw them holding each other, she sat down and barked.

"I think Cocoa Puff feels the same way," Nelson said with a happy laugh.

She looked up into Kane's eyes then told him, "Just like me."

"I love you, Nelson Montgomery," he told her.

"I love you, too, Kane Archer," she said as they kissed one another with more meaning than ever before.

Nelson did eventually lose her house, but in doing so she gained a home. A home with a man who loved her more than he loved life itself. It took her some time to truly know just how much he loved her and the children he would later adopt. He even loved the dog she'd brought into his life with the same kind of zeal he brought to everything he did.

When he proposed to her just three months later, Nelson said 'yes' with tears of joy in her eyes, her children and Cocoa Puff by her side and Fluffy in Cassie's arms.

"This is my life," Kane said as he got down on one knee and looked at the people he loved the most. "I often dreamed of having a loving family. I just never once thought it would happen because of something so tragic. But to use a word I've come to appreciate so very much, I am truly grateful for the adversity that brought you and these two amazing children into my life."

As if on cue, Cocoa Puff barked causing everyone to laugh.

"Yes, you too, girl," Kane told her. He even looked at Fluffy, who as it turned out, was also a girl. "Okay, you too, Fluffy."

Once the ring with the big diamond was on Nelson's hand, Kane held out his arms for the kids who moved closer and threw their arms around the man they would soon call 'Dad' as he picked them both up and told them how much he loved them.

As he held them in his arms, Cocoa Puff pushed her way in between them and barked as Kane smiled at the woman he would marry in just four months. Through more tears of joy the future Nelson Archer smiled back, kissed her new fiancé, and said, "I love you so much."

"I love you, too, sweetheart," he told her before looking first at Joey and then at Cassie before saying, "I love you, too," to both of them.

Everyone laughed again when Fluffy meowed and Cocoa Puff barked causing Kane to look down and say, "Yes, you, too!" as Nelson put her arms around all of them, grateful beyond words for a second chance at love.