“Warren, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too. I would be so honored to wake with you every morning.” Elise lowers her mouth to his.
“Elise, will you marry me?” Warren looks deeply into her eyes. “I should have waited and planned out a sweet romantic proposal, but after nearly losing you, I couldn’t wait any longer.”
“Yes! Yes of course I’ll marry you!” Elise exclaims and throws her arms around him and kisses him deeply. After they share some more kisses, Elise lays her head down onto Warren’s chest. She falls asleep straddling his body with her head on his shoulder.
Chapter 23
Two months have passedsince Elise was rescued from her kidnappers. Her parents had made a visit and were actually civil to Warren and his teammates. Elise has been happily spending her days with Charlotte and her nights in Warren’s arms. They haven’t disclosed their engagement just yet. They decided to wait until her brother is here so they can make the announcement to the whole family together. Edward is to arrive later this week. He is returning Stateside and has a couple of weeks leave before he is sent to his new base, Fort Hood, Texas.
Deadeye has been busy during this time. He and Elise have been house shopping. She fell in love with a beautiful one-story house with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. It had a large backyard that was already fenced in and had a large firepit and patio. It was in a nice neighborhood close to Hawk and Charlotte. The price had been more than their budget. Deadeye wanted to get the house for her despite to high cost, but Elise refused. She didn’t want them to be in a financial bind to start their life together. She insisted they keep looking. Deadeye knew she was disappointed, so he called the realtor and made an offer even though is was less than the asking price. A few days later he got the call that the sellers accepted the offer. Deadeye has been getting everything done and in place. He is planning to surprise Elise with it at Edward’s welcome home party.
A few days ago, Hawk called Deadeye with the information he had been hoping to get for months. The siblings of Lakia had been located in the refugee camp. The children were about to be sent to an orphanage, because their elderly grandmother that had been caring for them had passed away from complications of pneumonia. Deadeye had petitioned to adopt the two small children. He had gotten word just today that his petition had been approved. The children would be ready for them to pick up in a couple of weeks. Deadeye couldn’t wait to surprise Elise with the house, ring, and their children.
Deadeye has gotten a ring and with Charlotte and Hawk’s help he has planned an engagement party at the new house. Elise thinks they are having a gathering for everyone to welcome Edward at Hawk and Charlotte’s house. Their parents are coming, and Hawk has made sure the whole team will be there as well. Elise is so excited to see Edward again. Deadeye knows how important this is to her. He wants everything to be perfect.
Elise’s parents arrive today, and Deadeye is going to pick them up. He has something he wants to discuss with them. Elise wanted to pick them up, but he insisted he be the one to pick them up. He arrives early. It’s important to him to give a good impression to her parents.
“Mr. and Mrs. Sommers. It’s good to see you. I hope you had a good flight.” Deadeye greets the couple as they disembark from the plane. They both look up and to his surprise give him a little smile. Mr. Sommers extends his hand to shake it. Deadeye shakes his hand firmly. Mrs. Sommers gives Deadeye a hug after the men have shaken hands. He is surprised, but pleased. Perhaps this conversation will go better than he had expected. Once they have gathered their bags, Deadeye leads them to where he has parked his truck. He places their bags on one side of the backseat while Mr. Sommers assists Ellen into the other side. Deadeye gets into the driver’s seat as Mr. Sommers climbs into the passenger seat.
When they pull out of the airport and enter the busy city traffic, Mr. Sommer’s surprises Deadeye again by launching into conversation.
“Warren, I need to apologize to you for my behavior when you first brought Elise home to us.” Mr. Sommers holds his hand up when Deadeye starts to protest. “I was out of line. My only defense is that we were overwhelmed with worry and emotions after what had happened to Elise. I am not trying to justify it, but let you know where we were coming from. We came off as pretentious asses. I’m sorry about that. We aren’t the type of people to judge someone based on their income or background. We were wrong about you. You are a good man. You saved Elise not once, but twice. Ellen and I can see how happy she has been since being with you. We thank you for making her happy and for treating her well.”
Deadeye is thoughtful for a few moments while he gets his emotions in check and gathers his thoughts. When he finally is convinced, he can speak without his voice cracking, he tells Elise’s parents what is in his heart.
“Mr. Sommers, I love your daughter. I plan to make her my wife. I will love and protect her until my last breath. I know you are concerned about my income, my job, and our age differences, but I promise you none of those things will keep me from taking care of her. I will do my best to provide for her, make sure she is happy and loved.” Deadeye pauses to let them ponder on his words. “I would like your blessing to marry her.” There is silence in the truck for a several moments.
“Warren, you have our blessing. I could have looked all over the world and not found anyone better for her than you.” Mr. Sommers says as he glances over at Deadeye. “I know you will do everything in your power to care for her.” Ellen reaches from the backseat to pat him on the shoulder. Deadeye lets out the breath he had been holding. Now he could relax. The last barrier to their happiness had been eliminated. He was so ready for Edward to arrive so he could make it official that Elise would be his wife.
When they arrived at the apartment, Deadeye carried their bags into the guest room much to Elise’s surprise. Her parents had always stayed at a hotel when they visited before. Ellen hugged Elise tightly. Then is was her father’s turn. After they had all greeted each other, they settled down at the bar in the kitchen.
“Elise, we have already apologized to Warren, but it’s time we apologize to you too.” Her dad begins, but her mother cuts him off.
“We were so wrong to smoother you and try to keep you from Warren. We were so scared when you were taken, and we thought we would never see you again. When he brought you home, we were afraid he would take you away from us and we acted badly. Can you forgive us?” Ellen pleaded with tears in her eyes.
“Oh Mom, of course I forgive you.” Elise throws her arms around her mother’s neck. The two women hug and cry for a few moments. Mr. Sommers gets up and wraps his arms around both women. Deadeye watches the scene with pride in his heart. He knows now that they can have a happy life together with her parents blessing.
The next day Edward arrived. Deadeye had arranged for Tank to pick him up at the airport and bring him to the house he has bought for Elise. Everything was ready for a homecoming/engagement party. Deadeye can hardly believe that Charlotte hadn’t given his secret away. She had been so excited when she found out about the house. Charlotte had insisted she help decorate for the party despite her advanced pregnancy and Deadeye’s and Hawk’s protests.
“Charlotte, love. You need to take it easy. It would be better for you to keep Elise occupied while Deadeye, the guys, and I decorate.” Hawk cajoles.
“Hawk, I am more than capable of decorating for this party. I will not be sitting on the sidelines while you all treat me like an invalid.” Charlotte scolds. “I don’t remember you wanting me to rest last night.” Charlotte smirks at him. Hawk sighs as he knows this is a losing battle.
“Fine, but I will be with you the entire time. If you look like you are getting tired, I’m pulling the plug. Understood.” Charlotte rolls her eyes but smiles as she knows she has won the war.
“How am I supposed to keep Elise occupied?” Deadeye moans when he realizes that Charlotte is not going to give in and get Elise to hangout with her.
“Have Ace and his new lady friend occupy her.” Charlotte smiles sweetly. “I know they would be happy to do it.” Deadeye sighs and pulls his phone out to call Ace. Several hours later, everything is in place. Everyone is at the new house except for Elise, Ace, his girlfriend Dr Robertson, and Elise’s parents.
Once the decorating is done and the food is ready, Deadeye heads out to pick up Elise and her parents. He is getting nervous. He hopes that Elise is as excited about their future as he is. The more everything comes together the more he can see a long happy future for them. While he had never considered becoming a father, he was now looking forward to it. The more time he spent with Jesse and Joshua, the more he wanted a son and a daughter of his own. He hadn’t really discussed children with Elise, but he was hoping she wanted children too.
After picking up Elise and her parents, Ace and Dr. Robertson follow behind them. When they turn into the driveway of the house, Elise exclaims and covers her face with her hands. Deadeye spares her a glance as her parents shoot them worried looks.
“Oh Warren! What did you do?” Elise is looking at him in awe as he puts the truck in park. He reaches for her hand and looks deep into her eyes.
“I made the offer we discussed, and they accepted.” Deadeye says quietly.
“Really? Oh, my goodness! This is better than Christmas!” Elise cries. “I can’t believe you kept this a secret from me. Why didn’t you tell me?” Elise’s parents speak up from the backseat.
