Page 108 of Forever Fallen

The dark-haired woman immediately hugged the larger man, who kissed her unabashedly, not caring who was looking, while Ryan stood there holding the baby still.

“Okay, okay…” Alpo interrupted, throwing his hands up in the air and grinning. “Enough of this mushy stuff. We are supposed to be having fun and my baby brought some marshmallows to roast, and I brought beer.”

“That sounds like a horrific combination,” Ryan uttered flatly, before smiling.

“Guess you’ve had that swill he buys too…” Valkyrie grimaced – causing Marisol to laugh.

Armadillo was sitting beside Delilah, who was feeding their newest little one, while Luke was perched on his daddy’s lap – wearing a bright blue little cowboy hat almost shaped like Armadillo’s, the brim curled slightly.

Romeo and Dixie were holding hands, talking softly, and smiling at each other… and Sophie realized that each couple, each person, had found their own corner of heaven where they least expected it.

Just like her.

She never would have imagined the arrogant man that occupied the seat on the plane beside her, the man who snapped the magazine in front of him, was obnoxiously rude, or came up with the craziest idea to get married?

That same man would turn out to be the best thing that had ever happened to her. His smile made her feel alive and she couldn’t wait to experience every moment, every second, of their lives together.

Eventually, Tobias was handed back to Marisol and Ryan drew Sophie into his arms, hugging her from behind, and resting his chin on her shoulders as he swayed softly to the music playing in the distance. Their friends were cutting up, laughing, and just unwinding amongst each other – and she felt blessed to be a part of this world.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m trying to plot how we can get out of here early – or get at least ten minutes alone,” she teased intimately.

“Ten minutes? That’s it?” he laughed softly, before kissing her temple.

“I just need you,” she sighed, “… and when we are alone, loving each other, there’s something so magical about you sharing your soul with me.”

“I know what you mean.”

* * *

Time seemedto fly by incredibly fast over the next few days. They spent most of their time in bed, holding each other, talking, or just lying around the house together. It was like they couldn’t get enough of just being in contact with one another.

In the evenings, they shared their innermost thoughts, sitting on one of the porch rockers beside each other, watching the rest of the world go by, almost as if they were content to watch it pass before them.

She could cheerfully freeze this moment in time and stay here for eternity with Ryan – and knew he felt the same.

When the week was up, it hurt… but it wasn’t so devastating as before. They made love all night and laughed as they teased each other in the stillness of the evening about falling asleep or making inappropriate snoring noises randomly – which would start another round of laughter or tickling again.

She loved playing with Ryan and being a part of his world.

At the airport, she smiled at him tearfully, knowing it would be for a few months – maybe longer – and felt accepting of it. This was a time that would pass, and they were already getting closer to the moment he would be home for good.

“How are you holding up, flyboy?” she whispered gruffly, smoothing her hand over his uniform as he stood there looking breathtaking.

His uniform made her knees weak… and did so every time she saw him in it. It didn’t matter if it was his dress uniform, or daily, or even a coverall like she’d seen him in once at Flyboys. Her husband was incredibly handsome in her eyes.

“I’m trying not to think about things and picturing better moments in my head,” he admitted softly, tracing her jawline as his eyes watched her, as if he was trying to memorize everything to hold him over for the next few months.

“I know,” she whispered, trying not to cry, and giving him a brittle smile as she heard the announcements over the intercom. “That’s you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” she sighed, drawing in a deep shaky breath, and plastering a fake smile on her face. “Things are okay, and I’ll see you soon, you know?”

“Or in nine months,” he countered tenderly, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. “When I was holding one of the babies at Flyboys, I could see our daughter in my mind, Sophie…”

She nodded tearfully, looking up at him.

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