Page 23 of Love’s Patient Journey (The Relinquished #2)

The truth was, she would love to stay home with Zac and this baby, but she was afraid of letting her dad down.

And her parents’ opinion of her was holding her back from saying yes to Ryan.

He asked her every day, while they lived in the cabin, to marry him.

She knew that if he had his way, he’d tie her up, throw her in his truck, and drag her off to a justice of the peace.

Honestly, that sounded pretty good to her, too.

She had a big wedding planned with Jake, and it ended in a shambles.

Jake had gotten drunk and beat her sister.

If Drew hadn’t stopped Jake, he probably would have raped Karlie.

The thought still made her physically ill.

Jenna was still stupid enough to believe Jake’s lies and marry him at the courthouse the next day.

She was so desperate to make her relationship work, for her baby’s sake, that she looked past how evil Jake was.

Ryan saved her. He didn’t judge her for her stupidity.

He saved her and Zac from the monster that Jake had become.

He saved her heart from becoming completely closed off to the possibility of love again.

He was her everything, and she was still allowing her fear of letting her family down to keep her from giving Ryan what he desperately wanted--a family.

The truth was, they already were a family.

Jenna stopped folding the laundry that she was working on, packing to go home.

It was time to make her life with Ryan a possibility.

She was going to give him everything that he had given her.

He would have his family; she would make sure of it.

Jenna’s first call was to Tom, her lawyer.

Her second would be to her parents and Karlie.

If she were going to make Ryan’s dreams a reality, she would need to enlist all their help.

It was time to stop hiding. She needed to stand up to the bullies who threatened to take Zac from her and make her life what she had always dreamed.

∞

Ryan knew Jenna was in a hurry to get home, but she was excited to be there. About a mile from her house, her phone rang. She sent it to voicemail, glancing sideways at Ryan.

“Unknown caller,” she smiled.

“Uh-huh,” Ryan knew she was up to something, and sneaky Jenna scared the crap out of him. “You sure you don’t have anything to tell me, princess?”

“Nope,” she giggled like a giddy teenager. Yeah, she was up to something, and no good was going to come from it.

As they rounded the corner to her little house and Ryan noticed unfamiliar cars. He was worried that they were walking into a trap, and he couldn’t allow that.

“We are going to head over to Drew and Karlie’s.” Ryan started to turn around when he noticed Drew standing on Jenna’s front porch. “What the hell is he doing here?” Ryan was starting to worry that something was up. Had someone tried to break in again?

“It’s okay, Ryan. I asked him to be here.” Jenna jumped out of his truck as soon as he parked in her driveway. Ryan got Zac out of his car seat and followed Jenna into the house to find about twenty of his and Jenna’s family members standing in her family room.

“Do we shout surprise in a case like this?” Drew asked, looking at Karlie.

He was holding Jem, who immediately squirmed to get to Zac.

The toddlers ran over to Zac’s train table and picked up playing like they had just seen each other yesterday.

Drew and Karlie hugged Jenna and acknowledged her growing bump.

Family members started hugging them both, and Ryan still couldn’t make out what the hell was going on.

“Can someone please tell me why you all are here? Not that I mind seeing our family, but what the hell is going on?”

“Mommy,” Jemma shouted, “Uncle Ryan needs the swear jar.” Zac nodded and plowed his train into Jemma, making her squeal with delight. All the adults just laughed, but Ryan was feeling more pissed off by the minute.

“Ry,” Jenna grabbed his hand, “I arranged all of this. I think it’s about time that we get hitched.” Jenna was smiling up at him, glowing. He was still having trouble catching up.

“Hitched?” he asked, trying to get his brain to work.

“Yeah, well- I figured you asked me every single day, for the past three months, to marry you. I think it’s about time I said yes.

So, I arranged for everyone to be here. My mom called Pastor Donavan, and he agreed to marry us.

I called Tom to arrange our marriage license and to also have him draw up adoption papers for Zac.

” Ryan froze, now understanding that Jenna was saying yes—to everything.

“Baby, you mean—we are going to be a real family?” Ryan’s voice was gruff with emotion.

“I’m going to be your husband and Zac’s dad?

” Ryan looked over to find the toddler smiling at him, nodding his little blond head.

“Yeah, you my daddy, Ry.” Zac seemed to be on board with Jenna’s plan.

Again, all the adults laughed, and Ryan couldn’t help himself; he laughed too.

“Well, then I guess we’re getting hitched!” Ryan lifted Jenna and swung her around. “So, we’re doing this now, right?”

Jenna giggled, “Yep, right now. So, if you’ll put me down, we have some vows to exchange.”

∞

The ceremony was beautiful, everything Jenna could imagine.

Karlie was able to get a caterer to take care of the food.

With less than 24 hours’ notice, Jenna was thrilled that one of the little barbecue places was willing to provide food.

Ryan seemed pretty happy with Karlie’s choice; he loved barbecue.

Karlie also made Jenna a bouquet of lilies, her favorite.

She even managed to get a cake from their town’s little bakery.

Of course, she had to take what they had in stock.

Luckily, someone named Donna never picked up her birthday cake.

The wedding cake was a sheet cake with white and pink flowers, with “Happy Birthday Donna” written in the middle. And Jenna thought it was perfect.

Jenna’s parents were so wonderful about everything.

She was able to talk to her dad, privately, for a few minutes.

He told her how happy he and her mom were that she was married to Ryan and having a new grandbaby for them.

She told him that she wanted to stay home with Zac and this baby, and he was in total agreement.

He wanted her to do what was best for her and her family.

She got choked up when he told her how proud he was of her and how strong he thought she was, being a single mom to Zac for the past two years.

Jenna’s parents took Zac home with them for a few nights. Jenna didn’t have time to plan a honeymoon, but she was thankful for the alone time with her new husband.

“Well, Mrs. Jackson,” Ryan walked behind Jenna and wrapped his arms around her belly. He froze when he felt the soft push. “Did the baby just kick?”

Jenna nodded, covering Ryan’s hands with her own. “Yeah, she’s been doing that all day. I think she likes that her mommy and daddy are married now.”

The baby kicked Ryan’s hand again, causing him to laugh, “Yeah, I think he likes us married.”

“He?” Jenna shook her head. “She is definitely a girl.”

“How about we go tomorrow to get a sonogram? Will the doctor be able to tell yet?” Jenna shrugged. I’m not sure, but I would love to see how our little peanut is doing.”

“Well, I think that right now, our little peanut should close his or her eyes because daddy is going to have a bath with mommy and then, I plan on loving you all night long.” Jenna turned in Ryan’s arms, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

He lifted her, carrying her up the steps and into the bathroom.

He gently set her on the side of the tub to turn on the water.

Ryan added her favorite oils, and she smiled at the way he took such good care of her.

“You sure look happy, Mrs. Jackson.” Ryan stood her up and unzipped her white sundress.

“Did I tell you how beautiful you looked today?” Ryan slipped the dress down her hips, realizing that she didn’t have anything underneath her dress.

He hissed out a breath as she stepped out of her dress, only wearing her heels.

“Yes, you told me many times, Mr. Jackson, thank you.” Jenna stood by the side of the tub in just her heels; Ryan looked her up and down in approval.

“Fuck baby, that’s so hot. You had nothing on underneath that dress all day?

” Ryan sank to his knees and gently helped her step out of each heel, kissing his way back up her body.

He pressed his nose into her pussy, parting her lips, he sank his tongue into her sensitive folds.

Jenna felt like she was going to fall over.

This man always knew how to bring her to her knees.

“You smell and taste good too, baby.” Ryan spread her legs further apart, licking and sucking her into his mouth until she came, while she held onto the side of the tub for balance.

He looked so satisfied with himself as he undressed and got into the tub, pulling her in with him.

She reclined back on top of him and could feel his hard erection on her lower back.

She wiggled her hips, teasingly, causing Ryan to wrap his arms around her to hold her still.

“Minx,” Ryan teased.

“I think I know what I can do to make you feel a little more—relieved.” Jenna turned to face him, sloshing water from the tub.

“Thank fuck, princess. I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable.” He kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth, imitating what he had done a few minutes ago to her pussy.

Jenna straddled Ryan, and he took that as his invitation to slide into her.

He was completely inside of her with just one hard thrust, causing them both to moan.

He grabbed her hips to help her ride him, hard and fast. Just before he was ready to come, he took one of her nipples into his mouth and bit down just hard enough to make her lose control.

She could feel his release, at the same time as she found hers, and collapsed against his chest, both of them breathless.

“I can’t believe that I just made love to my wife,” Ryan whispered, kissing her head. Jenna, tired from two mind-blowing orgasms, could only laugh.

Ryan gently washed her hair and her body. He took complete care of her, drying her body and hair, carrying her to their bed. He got into bed behind her and pulled her into his warm, hard body. Jenna snuggled in, knowing that she was right where she belonged.