Ready Or Not

Ch 32 - Our Little Secret

** Jordyn's POV **

We spent the next two weeks transitioning from my apartment to the new house. It was a fun time, especially since Jodie and Jonathan helped out every chance they got. There was never a dull moment.

But once that task was out of the way, it was time for Luke to go to Australia to begin promo with the band.

I had hardly been out of the state before, let alone the country. And I had never been on a plane. I was kind of looking forward to it, but also dreaded basically losing an entire day sitting on a plane, with a two month old baby. But it all worked out fine.

We let Liz keep Landon, at her insistence, that first day so that we could sleep. Well, we mostly slept. We took advantage of the time alone to do other things, too.

Then the next day, Michael, Calum, and Ashton came over. They fell head over heels in love with Landon. Luke and I didn't get a chance to hold him the entire day. The boys wanted to do everything, including changing diapers. At one point, they actually had a serious argument about whose turn it was to feed him. And even when he was sleeping, he was cradled in someone's arms.

The highlight of the day was when Michael earned bragging rights when Landon's first smile was directed at him. Michael had been making up goofy songs and adding crazy facial expressions and Landon apparently thought it was great.

There was one more day before the boys had to get back to work. And it went pretty much the same as before: the guys spent the day with us, taking control of Landon.

Later that afternoon, Liz came over. She demanded that Luke and I go out and enjoy ourselves for a while, as we wouldn't see each other for almost two weeks. I would be staying behind because it would be too rough with Landon being so young.

Luke told her, "Yeah, about that. Good luck with getting him away from those fools." He nodded in the direction of the guys.

Ashton had Landon sitting up in his lap, burping him. Calum tried to rub his little head and Michael smacked his hand away.

Ashton reprimanded them, whisper shouting, "Fuck off, you two. Wait your turn."

"But I'm his favorite. Aren't I, little buddy?" Michael said, tickling Landon's round belly. His timing was horrible, because that's when Landon decided to let out the burp, and with it came a bit of stomach contents, landing right on Michael's hand.

"Dude! That's not how you treat your favorite uncle!" Michael exclaimed.

Calum shoved Michael out of the way and said, "Na-na na-na boo boo." Then he topped off his childish reaction by sticking his tongue out at Michael.

Liz laughed at the scene before her until she cried.

Luke continued, "It's been like that for two days. We literally haven't been able to touch our own baby."

Liz said, "I must say I never expected this, but it's priceless. I'll keep an eye on these three stooges and you all go out for dinner, or whatever you want to do. And take your time. We'll be fine." I'm not even sure the boys realized that we left.

We had a blast just being together and talking. We did go out to eat, then Luke showed me around, pointing out some landmarks and places that were special to him.

Then, as cheesy as it sounds, we took a walk on the beach. And everything about it was perfect.

We sat down for a while and watched the waves in silence. I watched as Luke drew a heart in the sand, with our initials in the middle. I noticed that he used an H instead of an M for my last name. I didn't say anything, but I'm sure the curiosity showed on my face.

He broke the silence saying, "I dread not being with you and Landon the next couple of weeks. I know it's just not feasible for you to go with me right now with him being so small. But you better believe that when we get back on the road in a few months, I want you by my side. And hopefully by then..." he trailed off.

"Hopefully what?"

"Hopefully by then you'll be Mrs. Hemmings."

That was so not what I was expecting him to say. "Luke Hemmings, you better not even be teasing me. You really want to marry my dull ass?" I was suddenly nervous and let out one of those stupid snorts that happen sometimes when I laugh.

"Personally, I don't see anything wrong with your ass. It's definitely not dull." Typical Luke.

"Okay, smarty pants. You know what I mean."

He hugged me to him and kissed me. "Hell yes, I want to marry your dull ass. I've known that's what I wanted ever since Landon was born. I mean, don't take this as a proposal, because you deserve a proper one of those, with a ring and all that shit. But I promise it's gonna happen because I can't imagine not being with you forever."

"Well, don't take this as an answer, but I'd totally marry you right now if I could."

"Good. Then I guess it's official: we're not engaged."

"Cool. I'll make sure to not tell everyone that we're not engaged."

"That's a good idea. We don't need rumors of an engagement flying around. Especially since we're not engaged."

"So, we're keeping our non-engagement a secret?" I didn't know what to make of our ridiculous conversation.

"Yeah, let's keep it our little secret for now." He held out his pinky and I wrapped mine around his to seal our deal with a pinky swear. Though, I really didn't even comprehend what the deal I had just made was.

We returned home just as Calum, Ashton, and Michael were leaving. It was Landon's bedtime, so Liz told them it was time to go home. She really was like a mother to all of them. Actually, I think they probably listened to her better than their own parents.

When Liz and I were alone for a moment, she gave me the biggest hug and said, "I want to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" I couldn't think of anything she should be thanking me for.

She patted my hand and said, "For loving Luke. He's become a better person since you came along. And he's so happy. You and Landon are his everything. I hope he tells you that."

I blinked rapidly to keep my tears from spilling. "He tells me all the time. And I love him so much I can't stand it. I'm the luckiest person in the world."

Luke's deep voice interrupted our conversation, "I beg to differ. I'm the luckiest person in the world." He walked over to me and hugged me.

Liz joined our embrace and said, "You're both equally lucky. I'm so happy for you two. I mean, you three."

We shared a few more sentimental words before she left, then we went to bed.

"I miss you already," I whispered to Luke as we got settled.

"Try not to dwell on it. Or think of it like this: The time apart will make for a really great reunion, eh?" He squeezed my side and winked at me. "It's crazy, isn't it?"

"What's crazy?"

"How this all worked out."

I laughed. "Crazy is an understatement. I had like a zero percent chance of ever meeting you, let alone being where I am now. I guess I should thank Ashton sometime for finding my sister attractive."

"Yeah, we should make a toast to him at our wedding reception or something," Luke chuckled.

"Because that wouldn't be awkward for Jodie at all."

"Right. I keep forgetting about that. Well, I'll just thank him privately tomorrow."

With the mention of "tomorrow," I grew sad once again. "I don't want to think about tomorrow."

Luke raised up and said, "Then don't. Just think about you and me, right now." He kissed me softly, but his intentions were clear. And I did as he suggested, focusing all of my attention on us.