Strategic Engagement

One hand slid from his neck to his shoulder, unzipping his sleeve pocket. He smiled, already planning his one-knee proposal once she passed him the ring.

Mary Elise inched away, the solitaire between two fingers. He reached to take it.

She pulled her hand back farther. "Wanna marry me, Danny Baker?"

Surprise nipped and he wasn't complaining at all. He was starting to like the way she assumed the aggressive role. "Yes, I do. Very much."

She placed the ring in his palm and extended her fingers. He slid the engagement diamond in place again. Forever.

He sealed its placement with a kiss on her finger, followed by one on her lips, and knew without question he would be challenged, entranced, in love with this woman for the rest of his life. A strong woman who would, hell yes, demand the best of him.

And would give her best in return.

Pulling back, he stared into eyes a shade of green he'd only ever found on one woman. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, Danny," she answered, her voice echoing with surety along the salty breeze. "I'm all set."

He hooked his arm around her shoulders as he'd done a thousand times before with Mary Elise, his best friend, his love. "Then let's go get the boys and start putting our family together."

Epilogue

Mary Elise paced around the oval table, spinning each empty chair she passed. Waiting sucked. But the reward for patience would be worth every lap on the industrial carpet in the private hospital waiting room.

"Settle down, boys." Daniel hooked an arm around each brother, immobilizing the hyper kids with a pseudo-wrestling match that landed them on the blue-plaid sofa.Thank goodness the hospital had provided a small conference room for gathering to meet the newest member of their family. The baby had been born nearly an hour ago, but Daniel had requested they not hear the gender until the infant was brought to them after the doctor finished the exam.

Even though the boys had only arrived a half hour prior, she had been waiting at the hospital with Danny from the minute the call came that the birth mother had gone into labor. Darcy and Max had brought the boys over later, and even now were down in the cafeteria picking up food. Maybe the boys should have gone with them, but she'd been so afraid they would miss "the moment."

Of course Trey and Austin had been more impatient in waiting for their new sibling than she would have expected. The aide from the adoption agency had suggested she and Danny might want to leave the boys home and bring them later.

The boys' crestfallen faces at the mere mention of delay had swayed her.

Danny gave both brothers noogies on .the head before releasing them. "Hang tough and we'll go to IHOP soon."

"No chocolate chips," ten-year-old Trey insisted.

"Roger that, bro."

Mary Elise extended her arms for Austin and hitched him on her hip. "How about we check out all the pictures again?"

"Nuh-uh." The wriggling four-year-old slid from her grip back to the floor, seeming more in need of a run to the snack bar than another perusal of a doctor's diplomas.

Snick. The door opened.

Last-minute nerves tangled in her tummy. They knew without question the birth mother was firmly committed to giving up her child. Still, what if the nurse entered empty-handed…

A nurse wearing surgical scrubs backed in, tugging a rolling basinet, the clear sides revealing the wrapped and squirming infant inside.

A newborn with a pink cap.

Mary Elise clutched Danny's arm, endlessly grateful she could share this moment with him. "A girl."

A tide of tender emotion wiped all the traces of nervous butterflies away. At long last, they had their baby.

Smiling, Danny looped an arm around her and drew her against him for a quick kiss full of joy and even tears. "Yeah, 'Lise, we have a daughter."

The past year as Danny's wife had been a gift worth waiting for, like this child. Sure, the path hadn't always been easy with long TDYs, the boys adjusting to their new life, her finding her way as an education columnist. But with Danny at her side again, loving her, she could conquer anything.

He palmed Mary Elise's back, nudging her forward. She almost charged ahead, then changed her mind. This was Danny's child, too. "Will you bring her to me, please?"

His widening smile, crinkling chocolate-brown eyes, made a hefty reward in exchange for the extra seconds' delay in holding her daughter.

The boys, now stunned silent, stared at the pink blankets with quiet reverence. Mary Elise clutched Trey's and Austin's hands while Danny crossed the small conference room. Stopping in front of the steel-framed wheeled basinet, he slid broad hands beneath the tiny bundle, cradling her like a pro.

Like a father.

He didn't turn right away, instead standing in profile, gazing down at the tiny face and whispering greetings. A boyish lock of hair fell forward over his brow with familiar regularity. As much as Mary Elise wanted to see her baby, she froze, mesmerized by the glow of love warming her husband's eyes as he met their daughter. An image she would always cherish.

And then he pivoted toward Mary Elise, placed their baby girl into the cradle of her arms as she'd imagined him doing so often.

Her arms filled as quickly as her heart.

How amazing that in a simple second, she couldn't re member a time when this precious little one hadn't been in her life. Mary Elise stroked a knuckle over her daughter's tipped nose, chubby cheek, along the softest skin ever.

"Well, hello, Mary Francis," she crooned her child's name—Mary Francis, after Daniel's father, Franklin, the man who'd given them all a second chance.

She sank to the sofa, Austin and Trey crawling up beside her, Danny kneeling in front of her. His flight suit stretched across his broad, reliable shoulders, almost pulling out the wrinkles she never could seem to iron free. Not that she really wanted to dispense with those creases. Danny suited her just fine as he was, with his rumpled uniforms and knee-melting kisses.

The nurse backed toward the door. "I'll leave y'all alone to get acquainted. Just buzz me when you're ready for her to go back to the nursery."

Mary Elise wasn't sure that time would ever come.

Trey tickled Mary Francis under the chin. "You're named for my dad, Austin's and your daddy's dad, too."

Austin leaned over, closer. "Ooh-rah. Okay? Don't be listening to Trey when he tells ya somethin' else."

Laughter chimed, then faded, smiles remaining as they became acquainted with tiny Mary Francis—her round face with wide eyes, her sprigs of dark hair and the sweet smell of baby.

Daniel cupped the back of Mary Elise's neck, pulled her forward for a kiss, his forehead falling to rest on hers after. "Life is good."

"Yeah, Danny, it sure is." Love swelled, flowed in their old connection, but broader now, binding them in a circle through the family they'd built together.

Years ago, Mary Elise had dreamed of filling her arms with Danny Baker's children. But she never could have envisioned anything quite this perfect.