| Chapter 54 Brian sat drinking his coffee watching Lyn run around the house getting ready. "I swear, I'm gonna be late," she said, rushing past him to grab her keys. He giggled at her, "You're the boss what are they gonna do?" She grinned, "True. I'll be gone most of the day." "That's OK, I think I'll go into town for a bit," Brian said. "You sure your up to it?" she asked. He nodded, "It's been three weeks, I'm getting cabin fever here." "OK, I'll call if I'm gonna be late," she said, bending down to kiss him on the forehead. "OK, have fun," he called after her. She laughed, "Yeah right. There's a reason they call them board meetings honey." Brian shook his head laughing, "Sorry, forgot. Have a good day." "You too, don't buy out the stores," Lyn teased, walking out the door. Brian smiled as he heard the car leave the garage, "Little does she know...." he laughed, going to get ready for the day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kira walked by the door to their nursery. She could hear Howie humming to himself as he worked. He'd been in there for almost a week now, almost since the minute they got back, working. She wanted to peek, but knew if she got caught he would be angry at her. He wanted this to be a surprise, and although it was killing her to know what in the world he was doing, she walked on by. Kira made her way down to the kitchen, starting lunch for them both. The phone rang and she grabbed it, "Hello." "Hey woman, how are things?" Kristin asked. "Good, you guys?" Kira asked. "Pretty good. We where wondering if you guys wanted to come over tonight for supper," Kristin said. "Um, let me ask, hang on," Kira said, walking up the stairs and standing at the end of the hall. "Howie!" she called. He opened the door sticking his head out, "Yeah?" "Kev and Kris wanna know if we want to go for supper tonight," she said. "Sure, sounds great," he said, moving back inside the door and closing it behind him. Kira headed back down the stairs, "Kris?" "Yeah I heard. He still working on the nursery?" she asked. "Yup, won't let me near the door," Kira laughed. "I hope you like it after all the work he's put into it," she said. "I hope so too," Kira agreed. "OK, seven sound good?" Kristin asked. "Yeah, see you guys then," Kira said, hanging up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian walked down the mall hallway looking for the store he wanted. He smiled when he saw it, ducking in before any fans recognized him. He looked over the counters for a moment before he was approached by a sales clerk. "May I help you?" the young lady asked. "Yeah, I called earlier about engagement rings," Brian said. "Aw yes, Mr. Littrell right?" the lady asked. "Yeah, you can call me Brian though," Brian said. "OK Brian, my names Tammy. Anything in particular you where looking for?" she asked. "Um I'm not really sure," he said, eyeing the display. "Well, why don't you look for a second, maybe something will strike your fancy," Tammy said. "OK," Brian said, still looking down at the display. "I'll be right back," Tammy said, leaving to take care of another customer. Brian scanned the rings. Not really seeing anything he liked. "Excuse me?" a woman said. Brian looked up. "Are you Brian Littrell?" she asked, timidly. He smiled, "Yes I am." "I hate to bother you, but could I have your autograph? It's for my daughter," she said. "Sure," Brian said, reaching out to take the pen and paper from her. He almost jumped when she gasped, "Oh my God, what happened to you?" Brian glanced at his wrists, seeing the woman's eyes on them, "Um ... I um ... was in an accident," he stumbled. "I'm sorry, are you OK?" the lady asked. Brian nodded, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. What's your daughters name?" "Oh Sara, without the H," the woman said. Brian quickly signed the paper, handing it back to her, "There you are." "Thank you," the woman said, still somewhat fixated on Brian's wrists. "Mr. Littrell, could you follow me please," Tammy said, seeing Brian's predicament. Brian turned and followed her behind the counters and into a small back room of the store. "I'm sorry I didn't bring you in here sooner," she said. "It's OK," Brian said, sitting down at the table. "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked. "No thank you," Brian said, looking down at the floor. "Did you see anything you liked?" she asked. "Not really. I want this to be special, ya know," Brian said. "Well, let's see if I can help. Tell me a little about the lucky girl," Tammy said, smiling at Brian when he looked up at her. "Oh well, she's my best friend. We've been through a lot together. She's my heart and soul, and really the only reason I'm still here," Brian said. "Sounds like you love her a lot," Tammy commented. "I do, with every fiber in my being," Brian said. "So does she have a favorite color?" Tammy asked. "Yeah, pink," Brian said. "Hmm, I think we may have something for you, I'll be right back," she said, quickly leaving the room. Brian sighed, looking at his wrists again. He hadn't thought about how people would react to the scars, now he knew. He could see the disgust and horror in the woman's eyes. And as he looked around the store, he could see the people staring at him, whispering to each other. It was almost like he was some sort of freak or something. He fought to keep the tears at bay. He knew what the scars meant, but no one else did, or ever could. He looked up when Tammy entered the room carrying a tray. "We got these in just this morning. They're part of the �Fire and Ice' collection," she said, setting the tray down in front of Brian. He smiled, looking at the various rings in front of him, all pink diamonds. "I thought this one might be a good one," Tammy said, pointing to a ring in the middle. It was a rosy pink diamond in the shape of a heart, set in 14 ct gold. Brian pulled it out looking at it. He turned it letting the light reflect off the stone, gasping when he saw something inside. He looked closer, amazed to see a cross inside the stone. "Is this intentional?" he asked, "This image in here?" Tammy took the ring from him looking at it, "Well I'll be, I never noticed that before. It could be a crack in the stone that's making it do that, I can check and see," she said. "No, that's the one I want," Brian said. "You're sure, we could get one that isn't flawed," she said. Brian smiled, "I like the flaw. Can I take it now, and if it needs to be resized bring it back later," he asked. "Yes, of course," Tammy said, "Can I get you anything else?" "Um, I noticed that you do custom work. Do you guys make like wrist bands?" he asked. Tammy smiled, "Yes we do. In fact our designer is here, I'll send him in." "Thanks," Brian said. "If it's any consolation, I don't think they're that bad," she said, walking over to the door. Brian smiled at her, "Thank you, that means a lot." "No problem, I'll have this ready when you're done," she said, leaving the room. Brian spent the better part of three hours with the designer going over sketches of what he would like. They finally found a design he was happy with and Brian left to finish the rest of his shopping. He stopped by the florist on the way home getting a large bouquet of pink and white roses. He made it home just in time to hear Lyn's message on the machine. "Hey Bri, I guess your still out shopping. I'll be about an hour late, someone brought up the forbidden merger, so we're behind as usual. I'll see you soon, love you," she said. Brian smiled, "Great, I'll have plenty of time to set this up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jade walked up to Gideon, "The crew is finished." "Great, have you seen it yet?" he asked. She nodded, "It's gorgeous, they're gonna love it." "I hope so, so now all we have to do is move their things and we'll be done," he said. "Already on it," Jade said, "In the next few days we'll go and take care of that." "Well, looks like all that's left is for the sleeping beauties to wake up," Gideon chuckled. "Looks like it," Jade agreed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn walked through the door, completely exhausted. "Bri, honey I hope you didn't want to go out tonight cause I'm just really to ......" she started, then stopped. The house was empty, all the lights were off except for a small lamp on one of the end tables in the living room. Lyn walked over, seeing a glass of wine, and a note. She picked them up, reading the note: Hey baby, Meet me out on the beach. Love, B. "What are you up to?" she asked, kicking her heels off and heading out the door. As soon as she stepped out, she noticed a trail of roses. She bent down, picking them up as she made her way down to the waters edge. Brian was standing with his back to her, his pants legs rolled up and bare foot. Letting the water lap around his ankles. Lyn stood back for a moment, admiring the view. Brian looked lost in thought, the setting sun shining in his hair. Damn that boy don't even know how sexy he is, she thought, then approached him. "Hey, I got your note," she said, "These roses are beautiful." Brian turned to her smiling, "I'm glad you like them." Lyn looked at him suspiciously, "So ... what's all this about?" He grinned, "What? I can't ask the woman I love to join me on the beach to watch the sun set without having some ulterior motive?" "Um, no you can't," she laughed, as he wrapped his arms around her, both looking out over the ocean at the setting sun. "Lyn, I love you," Brian said. She turned to face him, "I love you too." She watched him bite his bottom lip and could see the nervousness in his eyes. "Lyn, the entire time I was gone, all I could think about was how much I loved you and how desperately I wanted to see you again. I don't ever want us to be apart, ever. You're my everything, my heart, my soul, my best friend. I can't imagine living a day without you, and I don't ever want to," he said, getting down on one knee, just as the sun dipped into the water casting a warm glow on everything. "Lyn, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Brian asked, holding out the ring, "Will you marry me?" Lyn dropped the roses, letting them fall to the sand. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at the ring in complete shock. Brian waited patiently for her to find her voice. After a few moments she realized she hadn't answered him yet, "Oh God Brian, I'd love to." He smiled the biggest smiled she'd ever seen on his face, "Yes?" "Yes," she repeated as he slipped the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. Lyn held it up, staring at it, "Brian this is beautiful." He got back up to his feet, pulling her close, "Now when you look at it you will always know that you have my heart." Lyn looked deep into his eyes, seeing the love he felt for her shining through them, "I love you." Brian leaned in, caressing her lips with his, "I love you so much," he whispered. He then scooped her up in his arms, turning back toward the house. "The roses," Lyn said. Brian turned around, bending over and letting her pick them up before heading back to the house. He carried her through the house and straight to their bedroom, setting her down. Lyn no more got her feet on the floor before Brian had her in a passionate kiss. He slowly walked her to the bed, never breaking the kiss as they went. Brian had already unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. Lyn stepped out of it on their journey to the bed. She dropped the roses on the floor as they went, then pulled Brian's shirt over his head. Brian stopped, suddenly feeling self conscious about his scars. Lyn smiled at him, walking around behind him and gently running a finger over the marks on his back. She then placed soft gentle kisses on them, tracing the scars criss cross pattern. When she had finished there, she moved around to face him, bending down and doing the same to the scar on his side. Then she stood up, taking each hand and kissing his scars there. Brian had tears in his eyes when she looked back up at him. "Baby, I love you. I don't care about your scars," she said. He smiled through his tears, knowing she was telling the truth. There was no look of disgust on her face, only one of love. He picked her up and sat her in the middle of the bed, crawling in next to her. Lyn wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight, "You don't have to be self conscious with me." "Thank you," Brian said. "For what?" she asked. He looked into her eyes, "For seeing past the scars. For loving me. For agreeing to walk with me for the rest of your life, For ..." Lyn put her finger on his lips to silence him, "You're welcome. Now kiss me." Brian laughed, then leaned in and did as she asked. Chapter 55 |