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  Matthew gave her one of his soul-searching looks. “Why not? I mean, you’ve been thinking about it for a long time.”

  “Well, it’s a decision that affects a lot of people. It would mean me moving a really long way and finding a new job. It would mean your dad having to make room at your house for me. You guys would have to get used to having someone else living there. What if it didn’t work out? Then all those lives would be changed for no reason.”

  Matthew nodded solemnly. “We promise to behave if you marry us.”

  “Oh, Matthew, I want you to be my little boy. It has nothing to do with you and Michael’s behavior. It has everything to do with your dad and me. I have to be sure that I’m making the right decision before I destroy a bunch of lives.”

  “Would it help if we signed a contract saying that we’d make our beds every day?” Michael asked.

  Susie grinned. “Not really. Now if your dad would sign a contract saying that he’d be in love with me forever, maybe I could agree.”

  Mark tilted his head to the side. “Michael? Go get me some paper. I can sign that contract.”

  Susie laughed. “But there has to be a penalty for breaking the contract!”

  Mark thought about it for a second. “I tell you what. If I cheat on you, or hurt you like I did twelve years ago again, you get custody of my boys, and I have to be the one to move out of state.”

  She looked at him, startled. “You’d actually put all of that in a contract?”

  “I don’t ever plan on hurting you, so I’d put anything in that contract. I want you to marry me and be the mother of my boys and any others that come along.”

  Michael ran back with the paper and a pen. Mark scribbled in his messy scrawl that seemed to have only gotten worse since she’d last seen it. After a moment he handed the pen to her father. “Will you witness this please?”

  Her dad read it, a smile lighting up his face. He signed it quickly and handed the contract to her mother who also read it, signing at the bottom. She gave the contract to Susie. Susie’s eyes met Mark’s across the table and then she looked down at the words he’d written.

  “I, Mark Pagano, do hereby promise to love, honor, and cherish Susie Long, soon to be Pagano, for the rest of my life. If I betray her, she will automatically receive full custody of my sons, my house, my truck, and all of my money. Her parents will also revert back to her and refuse to talk to me from that moment forward. If I betray her, I will move out of state immediately never to return to Texas. My love for her knows no bounds, and this contract will never be exercised.”

  Susie brushed the tear off her cheek. His signature, as well as that of both of her parents, was scrawled across the bottom of the note. She folded the contract in half and ripped it up, stood up and threw it in the trash. She returned to her seat and resumed eating without saying a word.

  Everyone was staring at her as she ate a bite of her scrambled eggs. Finally, she looked up and met Mark’s eyes across the table. He had a hurt look that she had to erase. “Mark? I want my ring back, please.”

  His entire face lit up. He walked around the table and knelt next to her on the floor. “Susie Long? Will you do me the great honor of being my wife and the mother of my children?”

  “Yes, I will.” He stood up and scooped her out of the chair and into his arms, twirling her around so that her feet were dangling off the floor.

  He set her down, and turned to the boys. “Aren’t you guys going to come hug your new mom?” Both boys stood and flew across the kitchen almost knocking her down in their exuberance.

  When they finally settled down, Mark asked, “When?”

  She shrugged, looking over at her mother who said, “There’s a three day waiting period in Texas. You have your dress.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Do you think it still fits?”

  Beth shook her head. “Only one way to find out.” She grabbed her cane and started down the hall toward Susie’s room. She took the dress from the closet where it had been stored in a garment bag for twelve years.

  Susie removed the dress from the bag, rubbing a tear from her cheek. “Do you remember the day we picked this out?”

  Beth smiled. “What a day. You were home from UNT for the Christmas holidays. You were so tired from your first hard semester, but glowing as you talked about the wedding.”

  Susie quickly stripped off her shorts and tee-shirt. She pulled the dress over her head. She turned her back to her mother to be zipped. “It’s snugger in the chest than it was,” she complained.

  “It was too loose there before. Turn around.”

  Susie spun in a slow circle. “Well?” She asked the question before she saw the answer in her mother’s eyes. It was perfect. She pulled the dress off and changed back into her shorts. Now that her decision was made, she didn’t want to waste a single moment.

  Walking back into the kitchen, she asked, “Daddy? Do you think you could get this week off work?”

  “I have several weeks coming to me.” He hefted himself out of the chair. “Let me make a call.” He left the kitchen while she talked with her mother quietly.

  “Would Reverend Hall preform the ceremony at such short notice?” she asked.

  Her mother shrugged. “Give me your phone. We’ll find out.”

  Susie turned back to Mark. “Can you get time off this week? We could be married Thursday and have a long weekend for a honeymoon.”

  He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, and punched some buttons.

  “Who do you want us to call?” Michael asked.

  Susie laughed. “I guess I seem pretty bossy right now, huh?”

  Matthew shrugged. “No bossier than a mom should be.” He walked over and rested his head against her shoulder. “Thanks for agreeing to be our mom.”

  “You know? I’m so glad I get you guys when I marry your dad. Marrying him is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl. But you two are a bonus.”

  David walked back into the room. “I have until a week from tomorrow.”

  Beth called from the kitchen. “Reverend Hall is free on Thursday and would be honored to perform the ceremony. I told him we wanted to do it out by the pool around nine in the morning. It’ll be cooler then.”

  Susie smiled. “That’s perfect. Thanks, Mom!”

  They all watched as Mark talked into the phone. Finally he hung up. “I can’t get the week off,” he told them.

  “Well, darn!” Susie exclaimed. Everything else had fallen so easily into place; she should have known something would go wrong.

  “But I can be off tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. That should be enough.”

  The boys whooped.

  *****

  Thursday was a clear sunny day. Susie walked slowly from the house down to the pool on her father’s arm. Mark and both boys waited for them at the edge of the pool. Mark wore a dark suits, and both boys wore miniature versions of his suit, even down to identical ties.

  When the minister asked, “Who gives this woman in marriage?” David happily responded.

  Susie cried as she repeated her vows. When the minister declared them husband and wife, she turned and saw her mother sobbing softly into a handkerchief. Mark leaned down and gave her the kiss that sealed their vows.

  They’d chosen not to invite a lot of people. Susie didn’t need to be surrounded by people she hadn’t seen in a decade. She only needed the people that she loved the most close to her.

  After a quick reception that included no more than cutting the wedding cake, Mark zipped Susie off to a hotel in Dallas.

  He opened the door and scooped her up in his arms to carry her over the threshold. After setting her down, he tipped the bellhop, and turned to his wife.

  “I can’t believe we’re actually married,” he said in wonder. It was over 23 years since he’d proposed to her in front of her parents’ house.

  She smiled. “I can’t either, but I’m sure not going to complain!”

  “I’m gl
ad your parents were willing to watch the boys this weekend.”

  “Are you kidding? They’re really their grandkids now. They’ll want to see them more than ever.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He kissed her softly. “What do you say we get started on making some more grandkids for them?”

  Epilogue

  Susie waddled slowly across the yards to her mother’s house. The boys had been playing there while she’d had her doctor’s appointment. She went into the back to watch the boys jump off the side and see who could make the biggest splash.

  “How’d it go?” Beth asked.

  “Good. The doctor says anytime now. I hope it’s yesterday.”

  Beth laughed. “I remember those last few weeks of pregnancy. You feel fat and slow and you hurt. But holding you in my arms at the end made it all worth it.”

  Susie sighed. “I’m sure it will be. I just hope it’s soon. My due date is tomorrow,” she reminded her.

  There was a sound behind them and Susie turned. Mark slid his arms around her and kissed her softly. “Happy anniversary.”

  She dropped her forehead against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I forgot all about it!”

  “You have a lot on your mind. And your bladder.” She’d been up and down so much during the night that he’d offered to build her a bed in the bathroom.

  She sighed. “I don’t feel like I have a mind right now, but there is definitely a lot on my bladder.”

  “What did the doctor say? How’s my baby girl?” He hated that he couldn’t go to every single appointment with her.

  “She’s doing great. He said any day now.”

  Mark rubbed her lower back with his hand. “You need to sit down. Your back must be killing you.”

  She sighed. “It is. I’m so ready to not be pregnant anymore.”

  He grinned. “I’m so ready for you to be healed from this pregnancy.” His teeth nipped her ear so she’d be in no doubt about what he was saying.

  “Down, boy. It’s gonna be a while before any of that is possible.” She loved that he was still thinking about it, though.

  *****

  Twenty four hours later, Mark handed the wrinkled baby to Susie. “Punctual isn’t she?”

  Susie sighed happily. “Do you have any idea how few babies are born on their actual due dates?”

  “She’s perfect,” he sighed, staring down at the beautiful infant. “She looks just like you.”

  Susie eyed the baby skeptically. She had a sprinkling of white hair, but had yet to open her eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe she’ll have your brown eyes.”

  He smiled. “Maybe the next one can have my eyes.” He wanted this one to have his Susie’s eyes.

  “I just went through twelve hours of labor and you’re talking to me about the next one?” she teased.

  “Yup. You’re thinking about the next one.”

  She nodded. “I am. I want a boy next time.”

  “We’ll need more boys to guard this one. She’s going to be just as pretty as her mama.” He’d never felt so fiercely protective of another human being in his life.

  She smiled up at the man who’d made the last year of her life the happiest ever. “Thanks for being so persistent and not giving up on me.”

  “Thanks for believing in me,” he whispered back.

  The boys tiptoed into the room with Beth. “Can we see her?” asked Michael.

  “I want to hold her,” said Matthew.

  Susie and Mark exchanged looks. “Meemaw will hold her, and y’all can touch her feet,” Mark told them.

  Beth took the baby from Susie and sat down in the chair across the room. She felt like a queen sitting on her throne surrounded by her grandchildren. She wondered if any woman had ever been happier.

  Susie watched her mother with the baby and her two sons. Having Mark back in her life had made all the difference in the world. She wasn’t just a wife. She was a mother. Could life get any better than this?

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