Darling, why don't you stay home another week?' Twain suggested, as he slipped on his shirt.
Macy and Parker had partly moved into Twain's luxurious home ... their home now. Macy had packed sufficiently for the week. They would complete their move by the next weekend. She was in no hurry. There was nothing that she had in her home that Twain did not have a bigger, or fancier version of.
Macy clutched the towel around her body. Though Twain intimately knew every inch of her body, she was not comfortable prancing about their bedroom in the nude, like her husband was freely wont to do. She looked over her shoulder at him.
'What should I do at home?' She smiled. If he stayed with her, she would agree, but alone... that held no appeal.
'You can sleep longer, ' Twain walked to where she stood at her wardrobe, the buttons of his shirt still undone. 'You can go shopping, it's an absolutely natural tendency amongst the rest of your species,' he laughed, as if it was a foreign concept to his wife.
'I don't need anything,' she wrinkled her nose, clutching her towel more tightly. Already his proximity was testing her self-control.
'Or you can stay home and just rest,' he flicked her towel off with one swift movement.
'Twain!' 'What are you doing?' she reached for her towel, but he held it out of reach.
'I have to ___ we have to get to work,' she looked at the bedside clock. Okay, they still had about thirty minutes, before they needed to leave.
'Twain ___ please, give me back my towel,' her face scarlet, she grabbed a dress still on a hangar and held it in front of her to protect her modesty.
Twain lifted his head and laughed. 'Darling, we're husband and wife, you're still shy!'
She looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. They needed to get to work. What was his problem?
'You're beautiful ... gorgeous,' he murmured draping one arm around her. He used the other hand to jerk away the hangar hindering his view of her luscious body. 'Don't hide your body from me,' he whispered with a soft groan, pressing a kiss to her throat.
Involuntarily, her head angled, her eyes closed, 'I still need to dry my hair,' her voice dropped to a whisper. His caress so enthralling, she really did not want him to stop. Her eyelids flew open at his soft laughter.
'What's funny?' She questioned, her betraying eyes fell to the wall of rippling muscles filling over his chest.
'I believe the more recycled version is, "I have to wash my hair."'
Macy's eyes lifted to Twain's. 'I can't imagine any female fed you that line,' she hated that her tone could not hide her jealousy of his past lovers.
He smiled lazily. His fingers gently brushed through her damp curls, smoothing them out. Greedily her eyes lowered to his lips, then to the broad chest visible through his still unbuttoned shirt, as if she had not had a feast of him last night. Twain pulled her naked body roughly against his hardened torso. Her palms framed his chest. Her lips parted before his mouth devoured hers. Macy ripped off his shirt. A whimper escaped her throat as his lips left hers, and traced a part down to her aroused nipple.
'Twain ... ,' she clung to him, lifting his head back to her mouth.
He lifted her into his arms, carried her to their bed, without his mouth breaking contact with hers. He lowered her gently onto the bed, his mouth worshipping every inch of her body with his lips and fingers before immersing himself deep inside her. Their sweat glistened bodies embraced, damp wisps of her hair clung on her skin. Macy pressed her lips to his. Her eyes meshed with his before her lips indulged in another slow, satiating kiss again.
'What are you doing?' She exclaimed as Twain lifted her out of the bed.
'Just enough time for a quick shower,' he offered her a dazzling smile.
'Together?'
She didn't want him in the shower with her; although she did relish the idea of lathering suds of soap over his naked flesh. She giggled girlishly as Twain indulged laboriously just as much as she did with the soap. Oh boy, they were so late back to work on their very first day back.
'Twain we are so late,' Macy sighed.
'Darling, you're my wife. You're not going to be in trouble with anybody, trust me,' Twain walked her to her surgery.
'But I still report to Dr. Jensen,' she tried to remove her hand from his, but his grip was too firm.
'Jensen's not going to give you any flack,' Twain smiled arrogantly.
'Did you say something to him?' She accused, 'and why aren't you going to your office?'
'No, I don't need to say anything to him, he knows who your husband is,' Twain replied smugly, and I'm attending a function here.'
"'Function?" In my ward? What function? I was not invited.'
'Oh but you were,' he whispered in her ear as he opened her door and ushered her in.
'Surprise!' A chorus of voices cheered.
Macy's eyes widened. 'What's going on?' She reached for Twain's hand. 'We're not supposed to have any secrets,' she accused.
Twain chuckled softly. 'No more after this,' he vowed. 'They could all not be at our wedding. Duty called. So they wanted to celebrate with you and I.'
'You knew!' she whispered. 'That's why you ... delayed me?'
'We were expected thirty minutes ago,' his eyes locked with hers cheekily.
'Oh.'
'Thank you everybody,' Twain smiled, draping his arm around Macy. 'On behalf of my wife, may I thank you for this lovely gesture.' He lifted two glasses of orange juice from a tray and toasted his glass to Macy's.
'To our love and ... eternity together,' he whispered.'
'Our love and eternity,' she repeated.
Twain bent his head and kissed her lips. Husband and wife looked up when they heard cheers and applause directed at them. Macy smiled shyly. Everybody surrounded them to welcome them back and congratulate them.
20 months Later ...
'Parker don't give your sister chocolate!' Macy groaned.
'Why? It's better that carrots and broccoli.'
Twain playfully smacked his son over the head. 'You have scientific proof to back that up?'
Parker laughed. 'Come on dad, you're supposed to agree with me.'
'Need some help darling?' Twain stood behind Macy, his palms positioned on her waist, his lips teasing at her throat.
'Just fixing Shannon's dinner,' Macy murmured with a smile, leaning her back against Twain's chest.
'Arling ... arling,' the gorgeous little fourteen month old, lifted her tiny arms up to her daddy. She had dark hair and grey eyes just like her mum and brother, but the one characteristic, she shared with her father was the distinct Crawford trademark on her chest. Twain had, had tears in his eyes, when he'd witnessed the birth of his little girl into the world, sporting the clover-shaped Crawford branding.
Twain laughed, picking up his bundle. 'No I am daddy. Da...ddy.'
'A ...ddy ,' she tested through her petite lips.
'See we're making progress,' Twain gave his wife a triumphant grin.
'And you are Shannon,' Twain continued to tutor his daughter.'
'Nin __ nin,' Shannon pronounced.
Macy laughed softly, shaking her head.. Her husband was just too eager to improve their daughter's lexicon. She however, was just thrilled to hear every sound that their daughter uttered, including her cooing and delightful gurgles.
'Time for dinner, Shannon,' Macy smiled, attempting to get a spoonful of chicken and rice into her daughter's mouth as her father held her in his arms.
'Addy. .. addy,' Shannon pointed to her dad's mouth, wanting Macy to feed him as well.
'Err ... I'm not hungry,' Twain made a face at the contents of Shannon's dinner bowl.
'If it's good for Shannon. It's good for you,' Parker laughed, seeing his father's reluctance.
'Open,' Macy bit on her bottom lip, holding the spoon at Twain's mouth.
Reluctantly, Twain opened his mouth and instantly swallowed the contents, wrinkling his face. A smile broke out on his face when his daughter applauded his good behaviour.
'Addy ... addy,' Shannon pointed again, wanting her mum to give Twain another helping.
'Okay, I think it's time to induce steaks and spare ribs into your diet,' Twain promptly settled Shannon into her dinner chair.
You and Parker set the table for our dinner,' Macy instructed as she fed Shannon the remains of her dinner.
After dinner, and putting both their children to bed, Twain and Macy were relaxing with a bottle of wine upstairs on their private balcony that led from their bedroom.
'I am truly blessed,' Twain laced his fingers through Macy's, his tone impassioned.
Macy smiled, her eyes searched his face, waiting for him to finish his sentence.
'I wondered in my early adulthood, if I would ever marry,' he studied their hands entwined together. 'I didn't think I'd find somebody who could love me ... for me,' he murmured. 'I didn't know there could be anybody out there, who would understand my professional commitment,' he stated. 'You're so tolerant, whenever our private time is interrupted.'
'I took the same oath as you,' she whispered, her palm cupping his face. 'And you save people's lives.'
'Our destinies were sealed twelve years ago,' he smiled.
'I understand that now,' she murmured, reaching towards him and kissing him.
'I love you with all my heart ... for eternity,' Twain vowed.
'I love you too,' she whispered.
-the end-
THE OTHER CHARACTERS ...
Don Skye never married. He is a bachelor and doting uncle to this day.
Claudia, coerced by her grandson, came to live with the newly married Crawford family.
Parker Crawford grew up and qualified as a neurologist, following in his grandfather Talbot Crawford's footsteps. He will eventually take over the Crawford Clinic, when his father retires.
Little Shannon, followed in her mum's footsteps and became a pediatrician.
Ethan Crawford qualified as an orthopaedic surgeon and joined the full time staff. At age thirty he married a fellow colleague, he finally fell in love with.
Carla never returned. Her only redeeming characteristic was that she bowed out gracefully, when she finally got revelation that Dr. Twain Crawford finally fell in love.
She had known him to be a ladies' man and that no female lasted very long with her boss. She harboured a secret desire that one day he would settle for her. Her hatred for Dr. Macy Skye stemmed from her observation that her boss looked at Dr. Macy Skye differently that he did with his other casual affairs.
He had never entertained any other female in his office, but he did entertain Dr. Skye and too frequently for her liking. She tried to sabotage the relationship, in the hope that she could offer her shoulder for her boss to ... permanently lean on.
Dr. Alec Stuart married a medical student he met at a bar.
Heather eventually married a fellow colleague in the teaching fraternity
Every Christmas the Crawford and Skye families came together to celebrate life and love
(*__*)