“Why do they need to see you naked?” he says, getting up. His cock is already at half mast, but it’s always at half mast.
“You never know. I could get into an accident,” I say, putting on the robe and tossing him his shorts. “It’s still dark outside.”
“I know,” he says, slipping on his shorts. “You know I like to slide into you when the sun rises.”
I shake my head. “You like to slide into me no matter what time it is.” He laughs, holding my hand and pulling me outside. I look down, but when we step outside, the soft yellow lights make me look up. I stop walking when I see that the backyard has been transformed.
There are tea lights hanging from every tree branch and lanterns form a path to the middle of the yard. “What’s going on?” I ask, looking around at how magical it looks in the moonlight. “What’s all this?”
“This,” he says, looking at me, “is part of your fifth birthday gift.” He kisses me, bringing me to the middle of the yard. The lights hanging from the trees above my head light up everything.
“This is so beautiful,” I say, smiling. “When did you do all this?”
“As soon as you fell asleep, I got to work. I mean, I had some help. Quinn and Keith started before I came out.”
I gasp. “We had sex in the kitchen.” I hold the robe closed at my chest. “And then the counter.”
“I closed the shades,” he tells me.
“But,” I start to stutter. “We aren’t exactly quiet.”
“No.” He taps my nose. “You aren’t quiet.”
I put my hands on my face. “What if they heard us?” I close my eyes now and put my hands to my stomach. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I teach Keith.”
“They didn’t hear anything,” he tries to tell me. “Trust me, if they did, they would have told me about it.”
“I don’t know if that makes it better or worse,” I say and see that he is looking at me strangely.
“Sunrise,” he says my name, and then I smile at the softness of his voice. “I don’t even know what to say,” he starts, and my heart beats faster.
“Oh my god,” I say, putting my hand to my mouth. “You’re leaving.”
He looks at me, not saying anything. “I can’t believe this is happening.” I put my hand to my mouth. “Oh my god.” The tears come automatically. “How could you do this?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, holding my face in his hands. “Baby, I am not going anywhere.” He kisses my lips. “It’s the opposite of that.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, not sure what he is trying to say.
“It means …” he says, getting down on one knee in front of me. My hands fly to my mouth this time. “It means that I’m here to stay. When I woke up in that hospital bed five months ago, my mind was all over the place. They tried to fill in the blanks,” he says. “Tried telling me about the mission that went wrong, but I didn’t hear it. I didn’t see it. I had nightmares for months. I spent night after night piecing everything together. The doctor told me that it was my brain's way of protecting certain things. Then one night, it just all came crashing back. I had spent the day sitting by the lake near the house, dissecting every single dream. That night when I went to bed, it was as if I was transported back.” The tears run down both our faces. “The guy was beating the shit out of me. Kicking my ribs, and then he took his gun out and shot me. The sound echoed so loud in the room, all I heard was loud buzzing, and then they came in and rescued me.”
“Oh my god.” I put my hands on his face and sob while I kiss his lips.
“I kept calling for you,” he tells me, breaking my heart that I wasn’t able to be there with him. “I whispered your name over and over again. All I wanted was to see you one more time before I left this earth. I just wanted one more chance to tell you how much I loved you. I wanted one more chance to tell you that you made my life magical. I wanted one more chance to marry you and be the father of our children. I wanted one more sunrise.” He smiles through his own tears.
“Sunrise, I want to watch every single sunrise with you. I want to hold your hand while we sit side by side. I want to fight with you just so we can make up. I want to be the one who dries your tears and makes you smile. I know I asked you this before, and I know that I don’t deserve another chance, but it’s always been you.” He reaches into the pocket of his shorts and takes out the brown box he held just five years ago. “I gave you back everything that was yours last time except this.” He opens it, and there is the ring. “Emily, will you marry me?” he asks. “Will you make my nightmares become sweet dreams?”
I nod my head as my body shakes with sobs. “Yes.” He slips the ring on my finger and gets up, pulling me to him and kissing me softly. “I’ll marry you,” I say, wiping the tears away from my cheeks.
He picks me up and turns us in a circle, celebrating. “I love you,” I say, and he carries me toward the back door. “What are you doing? We have to celebrate in the hammock.”
“No way in hell,” he says, walking up the stairs. “I don’t know if Quinn and Keith are out there.” I throw my head back and laugh just as the sun rises.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ethan
“Why are you so quiet?”
