Happily Ever After?? (Third in the Through The Dark And Free series)

Chapter 36

Julie looked up towards the door when she heard a soft knock. She smiled as Marcus peeked his head in. "Hey, come in, please." She looked down at Grace sleeping in her arms still in quite a bit of shock and a whole lot of awe that this beautiful little thing was all hers.

"Hey." Marcus replied walking in. Careful to maneuver the balloons and stuffed animal he held through the door. He looked around the room. "Where is everyone?" And then he laughed a little. "Yeah, I'm glad I went with the balloons instead of flowers," noting the profusion of bouquets which made it seem more like a florist's shop rather than a hospital room.

Julie looked up at Marcus and his gifts and then smiled at him again. "Harry, you know him. I think he may have gotten a bouquet every time he walked by the gift shop." She watched Marcus set the pink congratulations balloons on the stand near her. "Amanda and Niall are home. I imagine they will be back sometime. I just got Harry to leave a bit ago. They had taken Grace to wash her up and do some monitoring. He hadn't slept nor gotten to shower. It's been a crazy couple of days. They just brought her back a little while ago. I just finished feeding her before you got here."

Marcus played with the little stuffed penguin in his hand. He wasn't sure why, but he was nervous. He almost hadn't come. Certainly, he was happy for Julie and Harry. They were his friends, but when he had to rescue her the other night, something about it awoke something in him. Julie would always be special to him, and whether he liked Harry or not, she would always be the one that got away. It was just a little bit harder to push all the feelings aside right now seeing her. No matter how many times he scolded himself for thinking it, he sometimes saw himself in Harry's place. Asking himself the dreaded 'what if' question. 'What if' he would have fought for her just a little bit harder? Or even at all. But he knew, every time he looked at Harry and her together, he'd made the right decision. Her happiness was what mattered. And Harry's birthday fiasco aside, Harry was the one that did that for her. "Motherhood suits you."

"You look like you're about to walk into the lion's den. She's just a baby, Marcus." Julie scooted over a little on the bed. "Come meet her, and bring me that cute little penguin before you mangle all the stuffing out of her."

"Yeah, sorry." He relaxed a little on the poor penguin and stepped closer. "She's just...so tiny." He stopped at the side of the bed and set the penguin next to Julie. He looked down at the tiny little thing wrapped up in Julie's arms. Eyes closed, Grace looked just like a perfect little fragile porcelain doll. "She really is beautiful, just like her mommy."

Julie blushed a little and smiled at Marcus, taking one hand and resting it over one of Marcus's that was resting on the bed. "Always the sweet talker." She looked into his eyes. "You know I can never be thankful enough for you coming to my rescue the other night. If it wasn't for you, things might not have turned out as well as they did."

Marcus took his thumb and rubbed over the top of Julie's hand with it. He got lost in her ocean blue eyes for a few moments before shaking his head. "Not true, if it wasn't me. Someone else would have taken you. And everything would have worked out, just the same."

"Not true. You didn't hesitate. Not even a second. You were up and out of your house so quickly without a question. I needed you, and you were there. I know it's not always easy for you, even though things have gotten better the stronger your friendship with Harry becomes, but you never, ever, let me down. I'm so happy that Grace gets to see that. She gets to be influenced by such wonderful people. And you're at the top of that list." Julie shrugged when Marcus stared at her stunned. "Yeah, well, apparently giving birth and seeing my baby for the first time has made me a little sentimental. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Marcus was a bit taken aback by everything Julie had just said to him. He just stared at her. When she realized he was shocked and said her final words, he started to laugh. "Yeah, I guess so. I don't know if I can take it though, so don't be too sentimental." He looked down at their hands still together resting on the bed.