When I Lie With You

Chapter 38

Ian

“Are you comfortable, sweetheart?” I asked her as we were in the air headed to New York.

“I’m very comfortable. Thank you.” She smiled.

I had a business meeting in New York that I had to attend with Connor regarding the property sale for his art gallery. We were only going to be there a couple of days because Paris was waiting for us. Rory was so excited to see Ellery. I had overheard them talking on the phone last night about the pregnancy and babies. I grabbed us both a bottle of water and sat down next to her on the couch. I leaned over, lifted up her shirt, and kissed her bare stomach.

“Let’s talk names.” I smiled as I sat up.

“Okay. You first,” she said.

“I was thinking we could make a game out of it. I’ll say a name and you say another that starts with the same letter.”

“Gretchen,” I said.

“Gabby.”

“Beth.”

“Brianna.” She smiled.

“Lucy.”

“Lexi.”

“Madeline.”

“Margaret.”

“Really, Rory?” I asked.

“Sorry, I couldn’t think of anything else.” She laughed. Okay, let me say a name first.”

“Go ahead, sweetheart.”

“Ashley.”

“Ariel. Like the princess.” I smiled.

Rory’s face lit up. “I love Ariel.”

“And I love Ashley.”

“Ian, I think we just named our little girls.”

I leaned over and gave her tummy a light kiss. “Hello, Ashley and Ariel Braxton.”

Our time was well spent in New York with Connor and Ellery. After Connor and I finished up our final meeting, the four of us spent the day at Central Park with Julia. She was an adorable little girl and she loved to screech. My ears hurt every time she let one out. She was a very happy baby and I hoped to be the kind of father Connor was to her. Ellery and Rory took a walk to the hot dog stand and left Julia with us.

“She’s a beautiful little girl, Connor.”

“That she is, my friend. She’s my little princess and the joy of my life. You’ll see what I’m talking about when your daughters are born. Wow, Ian, two babies at the same time.”

I chuckled. “I know. It’s going to be quite an adjustment.”

While I held Julia’s hands up as she tried to walk, Ellery and Rory came back with the hot dogs and chips. Ellery put Julia in her stroller and we all sat on the blanket, ate our hot dogs, and had a good time.

Up in the air, again. This time, we were on our way to Paris. Rory was so excited to see Andre. I told him we were coming, but to act like he didn’t know when he saw us. Instead of staying at Adalynn’s, I rented us a suite at the Le Burgundy Hotel. I wanted this trip to be perfect for her.

“Where are we staying? Are we staying at Adalynn’s place?” she asked.

“No, sweetheart, we’re staying somewhere else. It’s a surprise.” Little did she know that I had a few surprises up my sleeve for her.

Rory began to shift in her seat. It was almost as if she was uncomfortable.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” I asked.

“My back is hurting a little bit. It’s hard to get comfortable in this chair.”

I got up from my chair and took her hand. “Come sit over on the couch and let me give you a massage.”

She smiled as I led her to the couch where she sat down with her back to me. I began to massage her lower back and she started to moan. She sounded so sexy and she was turning me on. Suddenly, she let out a scream and placed her hands on her stomach.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Did I hurt you? Did I hurt the babies?” I was scared shitless at that moment.

“Oh my God, Ian. I think I felt one of the babies kick!”

“No way! Are you sure?”

She took my hand and placed it on the side of her stomach. I held it there for a few moments and then I felt it. I gasped as she looked at me and smiled.

“See, I told you!”

“Rory, that’s amazing.” I got down on my knees and placed my lips against her stomach. “Can you do that again for Daddy?”

I waited and waited, and nothing happened. “Well, at least we both felt it,” I said as I looked up at her.

Our flight was long, but we slept a good portion of it. As soon as we landed, we took a limo to the hotel. Rory looked exhausted and I was worried about her, between the pregnancy and jet lag.

“You look tired,” I said to her as I took off her shoes and gently rubbed her feet.

“I’m fine. Are you saying that I look like shit?”

“Rory, of course not. You just look a little tired, that’s all. You could never look like shit, sweetheart.”

“Just making sure because I was ready to fight with you.” She smiled.

“Fight with me? Well, in that case, yes, you do look like shit and you really need to do something about yourself.” I smiled.

Whenever Rory and I fought, there was always the best makeup sex. I was pretty sure that was what she wanted.

“Is that so, Mr. Braxton? Okay, seriously, I’m tired. In fact, too tired to fight with you and then have makeup sex. I’m sorry, baby.”

I brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face and smiled. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I need you to get some rest because we’re hitting the town tonight. So, I want you to climb on this comfortable bed and go to sleep. I have something I need to go pick up. I’ll be back in a while.”

“Okay,” she sleepily said as she lay down.

A couple of hours later, I returned to the room and Rory had just woken up. I hung the garment bag in the closet and walked over to the bed.

“Did you have a nice nap?” I asked as I softly kissed her lips.

“I did, thank you. What did you just put in the closet?”

“Something for you to wear tonight.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around me, kissing me and thanking me for the dress she hadn’t even seen yet. She got up from the bed, walked over to the closet, and pulled down the zipper of the garment bag.

“Ian, it’s beautiful. Are you sure it’s going to fit?”

“It should. Try it on.”

“What’s the occasion? What are we doing tonight?” she asked in excitement.

“You’ll see.” I winked.

She took off her top and pants. Her belly was getting so big and she was so incredibly beautiful. “Come here first before you put on that dress,” I said.

She walked over and stood in front of me. I placed my hands on her belly and gave my babies tiny kisses. “You’re so damn beautiful, Rory. I love you so much.”

She ran her fingers through my hair as I laid my cheek against her. “I love you more, Braxton.” I looked up at her and smiled. She was my perfect girl.

“Go try your dress on,” I said.

She stepped into her dress and pulled it up over her expanding belly. She had to tug at it and I couldn’t help but laugh. She turned around and asked me to zip her up.

“Perfect. It fits perfect. I love it, Ian. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. I’m going to jump in the shower and get ready myself. We have dinner reservations at six o’clock.”

She looked beautiful. Stunning and radiant, to be exact. We arrived at the restaurant promptly at six and had a wonderful dinner. When we were finished, we climbed into the limo and I had the driver take us to the Eiffel tower.

“Where are we going?” Rory asked.

“You’ll see, sweetheart.” I smiled as I kissed her hand.

As soon as we pulled up, Rory looked at me and smiled. “Oh, Ian, the Eiffel Tower. I was so hoping we could see it again.”

I helped her out of the limo and we walked hand in hand until we reached a few feet in front of the tower. We stood there and looked up and, when I looked at Rory, she had the most incredible smile on her face.

“I’ll never get tired of seeing this,” she said.

I took both of her hands and turned her towards me. I gently ran the back of my hand down her cheek and smiled. “I love you, Rory, and I never want to lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me, Ian.”

“You’re my everything, sweetheart. You’re the reason I get up in the morning and you’re the reason I strive so hard to be a perfect man. You make me laugh. You make me smile, but most importantly, you make me happy. Happiness was something I thought I had until the night you laid across my lap in my limo and you looked at me. I’ll never forget that night, Rory. I instantly wanted to protect you and I didn’t know why. Something inside me needed you, and as hard as I tried to fight it, I couldn’t. The need was stronger than I was. You have made me so happy from the beginning. I know we’ve had our rough patches, and I know I was a complete dick about sharing my feelings with you. Then I screwed up again when you told me you were pregnant. I’m sorry for hurting you so badly because of my fears. I’ve come to realize that I don’t fear anything anymore when we’re together. You’ve given me unconditional love. You’ve given me courage and strength, but most of all, you’ve given me two beautiful daughters and I can’t wait until they arrive so I can tell them how much I love them, just like I’m telling you now.”

Tears sprung to her eyes. “Ian,” she whispered.

“Let me finish, sweetheart.”

I got down on one knee and pulled a small red velvet box from my pocket. “You’re the reason I breathe every day and I love you more than anything in the entire world, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and taking care of you and our children. I need you by my side. Will you do me the honor, Miss Sinclair, and marry me?”