Taylors POV

I was difficult not to speed down the highway. Stomach bugs were pretty common here, I don't know why I'm so worried about her. I guess it's just mothers instinct.

I parked beside Thomas' car, gathered my things and walked towards the house.

"I'm home," I called softly, in case Paula was sleeping. My keys dangled as I hung them on the key hook. The house was silent. No answer. Concerned, I walked towards the kitchen. No one there. "Where are they?" I mumbled under my breath. I decided to check Paula's room. Before I could reach the stairs, Paula, along with Jamie and Ellie jumped out from behind the couches. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Joy and Arthur were also here. Everyone yelled, "Surprise!"

"What's all this?" I asked confused. My birthday is not for another four months. Paula ran up to me, hugging my legs.

"I love you, mommy!" She grinned from ear to ear. 

I bent down to her height, "I love you too, but aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

She shifted from leg to leg, "Um...I feel better...?" That moment when you know your kids are lying. 

"Where's daddy?" I asked her. As if on cue, Thomas walked towards me with a bouquet of flowers. I got up. Shock and confusion must have been written all over his face because he couldn't stop smiling.

He handed me the flowers, "Best mother award goes to..."

My heart pounded. Though that was cheesy, I couldn't help but feel loved and...I looked down at Paula and put one hand on my hip, "So you lied to the nurse to you can come home early?"

Paula gave me a nervous smile, "Does that mean daddy doesn't get to kiss you?"

I stared at her, dumbfounded. Kiss? I could already see Joy holding Arthur's hand and drawing a heart with the other. I looked over at Thomas, who was looking back at me with the same expression. He was the one who broke the silence first.

"That wasn't a part of the plan,"

"So you're behind all this?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yep, and our surprise isn't over yet."

"There's more?" 

"It's not that bad," he smiled. "Which reminds me, we have to leave now,"

"But Thomas," I glanced at Paula and everyone else.

"I told you, I'll take care of it, didn't I? Come on,"

I finally cracked a smile, unable to hide it anymore. "Thank You," Most importantly, I still can't believe that Joy went along with the plan with no questions.

Thomas grinned and led me to the door, saying goodbye to everyone else. At least he did a good job in asking Joy to stay with Paula. For that, I'll give him a ten-pointer.

We walked to his car and he started the ignition. "I would ask you to put a blindfold on, but then you'll jump to conclusions."

"You know me so well," I laughed, putting on my seat belt, "where are going?"

"You'll see," his smile held secrecy, and it bugged me a lot. Probably more than it should.

"Will I like it?"

"I'm sure you will,"

"Is it a restaurant?"

"Not really,"

"Picnic?" After what happen on our last picnic, I really hope that wasn't the surprise.

"Nope," He continued driving down the road, the smile never leaving his face.

"How long have you been planning this?" 

"About two days," he admitted.

"Oh." Was all I said before finally retrieving back to my silence. The soft melody of a song I didn't recognize played over the radio.

I felt Thomas's hand softly resting on top of mine. Looking down, his fingrrs were curled over my palm as his other controlled the steering wheel.

"So is this a date?" I smirked, glancing up at him. 

He looked at me with the same smirk, "If you agree to it, then yes it is."

"I know I'm beautiful, but eyes on the road," I laughed.

He chuckled, looking away. "So is that a yes?"

"Hmm..." I said loudly, "though I have billions of reasons to decline your offer, I'm afraid you leave no choice," I paused when I see a flock of geese flying overhead. Thomas cleared his throat. "Don't interrupt my train of thoughts," I joked.

"I don't have all day,"

"Funny how you're just asking me out on our way to this..." I thought for a correct word, "surprise you have planned." 

"Maybe I feared you'd reject," he parked the car in a free parking lot. The sun was just setting and the stars were slowly coming out. I didn't recognize where we were.

"We can get a bite later if you get hungry, okay?" He said, getting out. I followed him out.

"That sounds good," I agreed. We walked down to the shimmering lake. I slipped my hand in his, words couldn't describe how right it felt. The soft breeze blew against my face, blowing my loose locks out of my eyes, and the moon illuminating our faces.

"So," Thomas started, letting our hands sway back and forth, "how was work?"

"It was alright, managed to finish all those papers, so Paula never felt sick?" I questioned.

"No, it was sort of last minute,"

"I see, how are you feeling, though?" Deciding not to ponder over the idea of Thomas taking Paula put of class. We walked slowly down the lake.

"Better than ever,"

"That's good," I looked up at the sky. The horizon was painted with pink, purple and blue. The big yellow-orange fireball was over the trees, making the breeze feel cooler.

"When do you want to go back to see your family?" He asked timidly, unsure if he should say it or not.

Fear gripped me, I had to stop for a minute. Immediately, I felt Thomas's thumb rub my hand. I realized he does that when I get anxious or worried. "I don't know, they probably don't want to see me."

"Of course they do," Thomas smiled, "your mom was devastated when the policemen couldn't find you, your siblings never gave up looking for you. Oscar, the little furball almost went into depression."

I laughed at the thought of my hamster, I remember how hard it was to part with him. "He's still alive?"

"Who would have thought, right? He's probably waiting until you get home,"

"I don't think I can call that home anymore," I said sadly, laughter dying down. "I live here now, this is where I belong."

"You fit in here just fine," he agreed, "I don't want to take you away from here,"

I smiled at how understanding and honest he was. Thinking about my family back in Indiana is still painful. Especially with a constant thought that they still don't know where I am. Whether I'm alive or not. 

"But you still need to visit them," He continued.

"With Paula?" I asked.

"Of course, we're not leaving her here,"

"If mom sees Paula, she'll freak," Here I go again. Over thinking the situation.

"We should have told her the truth from the very beginning, even though I didn't know you were pregnant."

"I know," I said, keeping my gaze away from his, "I sort of ran away from my problems before they began."

"You're not the only one," Thomas said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused, looking back at him, he looked ahead, avoiding my eyes. "Don't tell me you have another daughter somewhere..."

Thomas laughed, raising his hands up, "Of course not!" His eyes wandered back to me, "After you know, that night..." He didn't have to finish the sentence, I already knew what he meant by that night, "I felt so stupid and foolish that when my parents brought up the university of Massachusetts, I agreed to it, thinking that it's better that I leave you so some other guy can make you happy. At the time, I hadn't realized that I was running away from the problem. And I didn't even make sure you were okay, I just kept running. I only realized that after a year of your disappearance. I missed you every day from  then on. No girl could ever match up to your standard."

"Tom," I searched his eyes, but all I saw was regret, hurt, and a much deeper love. By then, we stopped walking.

"Taylor, I love you, I want to be a much better person to you and a good dad to Paula,"

My eyes softened, he looked so sincere in his words, "I love you too," The full moon had enough light to make it a beautiful evening. Just then, the ends of Thomas's lips lifted up into a smile. He took my hands and bent down, looking up into my eyes.

"If it not too soon, Taylor Harlem, I meant every word I said, I want to wake up every morning to see your face beside me, your loving and accepting nature, your positive attitude, I want all of you. I want to kiss you and Paula every night..." I was so lost in his eyes that I couldn't concentrate on every word he was saying. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. This was really happening. Like for real. A long forgotten dream. "...Will you marry me?" I was speechless, looking at my grandmother's blue ring in his hand. All I could do was nod as he slipped it on my finger. "When I was a boy," Thomas started, "your grandmother wanted this to be your wedding gift, which is why we had it engraved,"

"You were the one who engraved it?" I asked, taking the ring gently off and looking inside. I expected to see the usual 'Forever' written down, but instead, it now read, 'Forever Yours'.  "Tom," I looked up at him, quickly slipping my arms around his neck, his arms found their way around my waist. "I love you."