His Last Request (Slow Uploads)

From Chapter 13 ~MDMW~:

           “I suppose, but I’m still nervous about having another big gathering,” she confessed.

            He squeezed her hand and assured her, “It will only be your friends and our families, so don’t worry. I will protect you, Leanna, and that is a promise.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Chapter 14

            Murdoch wheeled Leanna to the den and the crowd greeted her happily. Rory stepped forward and introduced her to his sister’s family and she got a hug from his niece. The others did the same, each taking the time to introduce Leanna as who she was to them under their new name, and she tried to take in all of the new names and faces without getting flustered, but it wasn’t easy. She looked around and asked Murdoch, “Where is your family?”

            He said nothing for a moment, checking to see who was paying attention, then lightly rubbed his hand over her stomach for a moment before hugging her and kissing the top of her head. He whispered, “This is my family. You, the babies, Silent Eyes, and your friends – you are my family. I have no one else and I don’t need anyone else.”

            Leanna teared up at his words but he gave her a smile as he chided, “This is a pretty big family, Princess, so don’t feel sorry for me.”

            “I guess so, but don’t you want someone that you can have all to yourself?” she asked and he grinned.

            “When I do, I’ll just kidnap you for the day and we’ll catch a movie or something,” he replied with a wink and she nodded slowly.

            “I just don’t want to hurt you because I’m not romantically interested, Dragon. I don’t want you to feel like you’re being toyed with or something, you know?” she asked and he hugged her again.

            He released her and whispered, “I won’t push for more, but friends go out sometimes, right?”           

            “Right, I guess that’s true, but I don’t want to upset Garrett or Tiernan either,” Leanna agreed hesitantly and he nodded.

            He assured her, “I know. I wouldn’t want them upset either, Princess.”

            “Then I don’t mind being your friendly date from time to time, and you know that I expect you to treat the children as if they were at least your niece and nephew, if not your own. Tiernan and I had discussed that and settled it before Garrett came back and Garrett said that he was happy with the arrangement,” Leanna assured him, smiling and trying not to flinch at the nearness of one of Silent Eyes’ cousins, who was giving her dirty looks.

            Murdoch didn’t see the look, but he did see the flinch, and murmured, “You’re doing fine. Would you like for me to take you back to your room for a nap? I could take the blame.”

            “I would like to get away from the crowd. With everyone in here, I feel like I can hardly breathe, but you don’t have to say it’s your fault. I’m a big girl,” Leanna reasoned but Murdoch shook his head.

            “I’ve got this,” he informed her and then raised his voice a little to say, “But it’s time for your nap and you’re going, so don’t argue. The babies need you to sleep and it’s much too noisy in here.”

            “But I wasn’t arguing,” Leanna protested and he gave her a wink, “Sure you weren’t. Let’s get you settled. Tiernan and Garrett should be back soon.”

            Leanna huffed at him and blushed when several of those gathered chuckled and looked over at her with apparently knowing looks. She fixed a glare at Mamba and hissed, “They think we’re going to do something naughty! Are all of the families perverted, or is it just me?”