Trust in You

Chapter 63 - Madeline

Ethan's kiss is different. This one is full of emotions. I notice in an instant that he really appreciates the gift. I can feel it from the kiss.

"PG rate please."

I jump back and look at the voice. Damn you Christian! You ruin the moment. Meredith comes behind him and laughs too. "Now I understand why the magazine said that Ethan Hall couldn't wait to claim his girl." She grins at us.

My face blushes, and Ethan puts his arm around my waist. "Thank you for the most perfect time to ruin the moment, guys," he says dryly, shaking his head.

Christian and Meredith laugh. We embrace each other. I study my best friend; she smiles widely but I'm sure she is unhappy. What happened, Mer? Last time I called her, she didn't want to talk about her relationship with Christian. Something happened between them, especially after the charity in the Hall. But I will not probe her. She will tell me when the time is right.

"Come to the dining room. Helen and Consuela make a grand dinner for us," Ethan says.

"Mads, I bring these wines for us," Meredith says and lifts the paper bag. I recognize it, it's my favorite wine. I beam happily. "Yaay! Let's go to the pantry and open it." I take her hand.

We walk together, leaving Ethan and Christian. I need some time with her.

"How are you Mer?" I ask her while we're walking in the long hall.

"Good." She smiles at me.

I narrow my eyes at her. "I don't understand why you still trying or thinking that you can lie to me, Meredith Underhill."

She chuckles and shakes her head. "Leave it, Mads. I know what I'm doing, but I just want to keep it to myself for a while. Okay?"

I pout, but nod anyway. "You promise you will come to me if something happened, okay?"

She smiles and nods. "Promise, Mom."

"I mean it Mer! I don't want you to hurt. Once is more than enough!" The events of 5 years ago are still fresh in my mind, and I'm sure in Meredith's mind, too.

She caresses my arm. "I'll be okay, Mads. I promise. Don't worry about me. Enjoy your life with Ethan. My life is another story that still needs some time to reach a happy ending." She smiles softly at me.

***

The Thanksgiving dinner was great, even though there were some awkward moments from Helen and Christian. They really need more time to fix their relationship, but Ethan told me this is the first time Christian spent Thanksgiving with them after 10 years. At least there is some progress here.

After the dinner and dessert, Christian and Meredith went home. Helen retreated to her room, said she was so tired. So, here I am and Ethan, standing in front of the Christmas tree. His eyes still focus with the pictures that hanging on the tree. Thanks to Helen, Consuela, Christian and Kim from Hall Media. They helped me with these pictures. The Christmas tree is so huge. It shocked me the first time I saw it. I was afraid the picture couldn't cover the tree perfectly. But thank God it did. Not the best one, but still ok.

I hug Ethan from behind. "You like it?" I whisper to him.

He encloses my hand and pulls me to stand in front of him. "Yes, Sweetness. I love it. Thank you so much." I feel his kiss on my head.

"Tell me about the photos." I point at the one photo. Ethan was with his grandpa and dad. "How old were you in this picture?"

He chuckles softly. "I was 12. We went fishing. I got the big fish and my grandpa was so proud of me. Dad was the worst. Grandpa told me Dad had no luck in fishing. He always got the smallest one in the group. Including the one in the picture," he tells, pointing at the fish in the picture.

I smile. Somehow my brain can picture Ethan with our son going fishing, while me and our daughter are in the house baking for them. I blink. Where does the vision come from? Crazy, crazy brain!

Ethan points to one picture, a picture of little Ethan holding flowers. "This is when I was 8 years old. I was having my first crush back then. I arranged these flowers for her by myself. The flowers were from grandma's garden in Julian Town."

I look up at him and grin. "Really? Tell me about her!"

"She was our neighbor. Every day, we played together. She is younger than me. Maybe at your age. I couldn't remember her name now, but back at that time we were so close." And suddenly he chuckles. "I stole her first kiss, well actually, that was my first kiss too."

"Really?" I laugh. "Little brat!"

He laughs too. I love to see Ethan this relax. We talk some more about the picture. Ethan keeps choosing the picture of his childhood. Far from the one when he was a teenager, near his father's accident. I realized all the photo stops after Ethan's father died. Helen said, "because since the accident, we're not the same anymore. Everything has changed since then." My heart ache for Ethan and Helen. How could one beautiful, happy family become like that?

Ethan skips to our picture together from Kate's engagement. "It surprised me you put this one."

I laugh. "I don't want to. But It looks perfect there, isn't it?"

Ethan kisses my neck. "I like it when the world knows you are mine," he whispers hotly in my ear. My body start quivering. How can someone arouse me just by the way he talked? I turn around and start kissing Ethan. I'm there is no one here. Everyone retreated to their own room earlier. I think Ethan and I can make love here, under the Christmas tree. The carpet looks good for us. I wouldn't mind.

Ethan pulls back. "Ethan, don't stop," I whine and kiss him more, but he holds me in place. "Wait a minute, Sweetness. I have a present for you."

"Huh?" My brain still fuzzy with my desire for him.

"Yes I have, so keep your libido in check for a while." He chuckles and my face turns beet red. Ethan pulls me to the Christmas tree. There are two small boxes I didn't notice was there before. He gives them to me. "I put it when you and Meredith opened the wine."

I take the boxes. "Are you going to give me another ridiculous jewelry?" I narrow my eyes at him.

He laughs. "Open them."

I open the first one. I grin widely when I see the presents. "Strawberry dipped Belgian dark chocolate." I kiss him. "You are my hero! How do you know I love this?"

"A little bird told me." He grins and takes the chocolates box from me. "We can eat this later. Preferable, when you are naked," he whispers to my ears. My face hot. He pulls back. "Open the second one."

I open it, There are set keys. I stare at him, confused.

"I know you're not ready, Sweetness, but I still want to give you the house's keys. Whenever you are ready, the keys are yours. I don't want to pressure you, but I want you to be sure that I'm serious with us. I want you to move in with me. Be the queen in this house. Live together with me. I promise nothing will change between us, except I will make you happier day by day."

How can he be this perfect?

I did a lot of thinking about this. Ethan really wants us to live together. And he did nothing except showing me how much he loves me. "I forgot to tell you I have 2 presents for you too."

He frowns. Maybe it annoyed him I changed the topic abruptly. I kiss his lips softly. "Yes, Ethan, I want to move in with you."

His eyes widen and he pulls back, looking deeply into my eyes, like he's going to find the answer there. I still smile at him. "What... what do you mean?"

I kiss him one more time. "I'm ready to move in with you, Ethan Hall. To wake up every morning next to you and to sleep every night with you."

If I thought his smile when he saw this Christmas tree was the happiest, I was wrong. This one it is.

"I love you, Sweetness." He spins me around, our laughter burst. Ethan kisses me until both of us breathless. He looks at me with the most beautiful hazel eyes. "Thank you," he whispers softly to me.

"Now, make love to me here, Ethan. Make love to me under the Christmas tree."