Page 51 of Soaring and Saucy

“First – let it be known that I really like you calling me ‘husband,’” he joked and then got quiet, looking around him a moment later as he began to whisper. “Second and most importantly – what brought on this sudden change that you are now considering coming here? Did something happen?”

“Yes,” she began, and he interrupted before she could get another word out.

“Are you okay? What happened? Who bothered you? I’ll handle it. Don’t you worry about a thing if someone…”

“Lance!” she hissed, smiling at how protective he suddenly got. “Let me finish, please?”

“Proceed.”

“Well, thank you, your majesty,” she retorted and winked at him, just like he did to her several times. He looked pleased as punch at the slight movement, even though she felt so stupid doing it. “As I was saying before, I was so rudely interrupted…”

“Gonna do it again if you don’t hurry, woman,” he added, speaking over her deliberately, his eyes sparkling as he smirked at her – and she ignored his words.

“That something did change – me,” she began, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she started to get teary-eyed. “I felt our baby move, Lance… and it was like something clicked in my head.”

“You felt… the baby?” he whispered thickly, and she choked out a tearful laugh as she nodded, beaming at him.

“It was right after you left to get on the plane like he or she could tell that Daddy was leaving and wanted to wave ‘bye’…” she wept, reaching for a tissue. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to cry.”

“Heck, I might,” he volunteered, yanking up his shirt collar to wipe the corner of his eye.

“And I realized that I wanted to grab and fight for happiness. Not just mine, but our child’s,” she admitted tearfully, not looking away from him. “So much has changed, and it feels like it’s for the better – you know? I never imagined getting pregnant or married, but I’m so happy to have both things in my life, and I want to hang onto them plus discover my next bit of happiness. Does that make any sense?”

“It sounds like you might miss me, princess.”

His voice was so tender and warm. The playful smirk was gone and there was a humble yearning in his tone that matched the hope in his eyes. It was almost like this was his way of asking if she loved him.

“Maybe you miss me as much as I miss you?” he added in the softest, most hesitant voice as he held her eyes.

“I do miss you,” she admitted emotionally. “More than I ever imagined.”

“I miss you too,” he confessed hoarsely before he glanced up and looked back at her. “And now I’ve got company. Let’s fix that privacy issue soon, huh?”

“Very soon, in fact; why don’t you see what date they have to move in while you are there – just in case,” she nodded, smiling as she wiped her eyes.

“Guess I’ll take my checkbook in case I need to put down a deposit.”

“I guess so, husband.”

And to her surprise, Lance let out a heavy sigh of happiness.

“Can you say that again?”

“What? That I miss my husband terribly and can’t wait to see him soon?”

“That’s perfect, princess,” he chuckled softly, smiling at her – before he leaned forward to make a kissy face. That sweet movement was almost too much for her, and just as she started to do the same, she saw Lance roll his eyes as he cursed fluidly. Not two seconds later, there were three butts that appeared on the screen, rubbing against his head, as Lance struggled to get away from them frantically.

“DANG IT GUYS! GET OFF OF MEEEEE!” he yelped angrily – and Stephanie laughed so hard she thought she was going to pee in her pants at the scene before her. The screen of the phone was jumping. Lance was flailing, she had no idea who was doing that to him, until a second later someone obviously took the phone from him. She could hear Lance hollering, even more irate now. “GIMME BACK MY PHONE, TIC-TAK! GUYS, GET OFF OF ME AND GO TAKE A FLYIN’ LEAP, WILL YA?”

Three smiling faces, all shoving each other to be seen, appeared on the screen, waving, and she recognized them from New York City. They had been drinking at the bar where she met Lance.

“Hey-a, Mrs. Trophy! Nice to see you again. When you get tired of this loser, feel free to look up a… OH CRAP!” one of them exclaimed wildly before the phone clattered to the ground, giving her a view of girders and metal above. She heard several curse words, a few men laughing, and Lance yelling something before he picked up the cell phone one more.

She couldn’t help the smile on her face as she saw his perfect hair was all mussed up from the guys having some fun with him – as he had this grumbly, angry look on his face.

“I’m going to whip those same backsides that just… ugh,” he shivered bodily and grimaced. “Now I owe Memphis and Orion an apology.”

Stephanie laughed.

---