Love is in the Air

"You could join us if you like," she said with a smile.

Ezra looked at Dawn then said, "No thanks. I think we'll stay in tonight."

The two of them found themselves doing quite a bit more than just kissing once the girls were asleep, although doing too much more was out of the question.

It was nearly two weeks later before Ezra's back was strong enough to attempt something he and Dawn had wanted to try since that first late evening together but didn't dare. They'd gotten close a couple of times after the girls went to sleep, and by then they'd explored one another's bodies to the point where there was nothing left to discover.

The first time she'd seen his scar Dawn felt sick. Not so much because it was hideous, even though it was. It was mostly because she hurt for him. She wanted to take away the pain but knew she couldn't. When she gently touched it she asked if it hurt.

"Not when you're with me," he told her.

It was then she realized she loved him, but had no intention of telling him that. They'd still only known each other a few days, but Dawn knew. She thought he might already love her, too, but were she to say it, and were he to not say it back, it would destroy her. So she kept her secret to herself and waited patiently as they spent every possible moment together.

This night, the girls were sound asleep when Ezra said, "I felt really good today."

"Oh, and how good would that be?" Dawn asked as she nibbled his ear.

"Well, if you'd like to maybe go lay down, I could show you," he told her.

As she lay beside him, their naked bodies trembling with anticipation, Ezra said, "I think it might be best if you were on top. My back is better, but not that much better."

Dawn smiled and slowly got on top of him being very careful not to push down on his body.

"Like this?" she teased.

"Just like that," he told her as she began to gently grind the moment she felt him coming to life.

"Wait," he said causing her to stop, fearing she'd somehow hurt him.

"Did I hurt you?" she asked with true concern.

"Hurt me? No. Never," he told her. "I just need to say something first. That's all."

He pulled her down until her face was on top of his, her blonde hair cascading all around them.

"I wanted to tell you...I love you, Dawn."

Before she could say it back he told her, "I think I've loved you since the first time I kissed you at the playground. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn't want to scare you away. And if I'm doing that right now, I..."

She put a finger on his lips then said, "You can't. You can't scare me away, Ezra. Because...I love you, too."

She kissed them said, "I love you so much."

As he grew harder, she carefully slid down his hard, young body and took him in her mouth, moaning with pleasure as she did so while never taking her eyes off of his. Ezra groaned loudly and told her how good it felt and how beautiful she was.

"Are you ready?" she asked with a smile a few minutes later.

He nodded and she climbed back up on top. She reached behind her and guided him to the edge of her larger, softer lips then slowly lowered herself onto him for the first time.

The bedroom was filled with quiet moans and groans and sighs of pleasure as they made love, slowly and carefully, and...deliciously.

Dawn didn't care that the man she loved couldn't actively make love to her yet. All she cared about was being with him and loving him and just being loved in return. As she slowly slid up and down his thick, hard shaft, they looked into each other's eyes knowing no other words need be said.

Another two weeks passed, and as Dawn began to realize they only had two weeks left, new fears welled up inside of her. Ezra sensed something was wrong and asked her what was bothering her.

She knew he was doing much better, and that doing better meant his time at home wouldn't be extended. He'd even walked a half mile for the first time earlier that day. His back was well enough that he'd also made love to her with him on top for the first time the night before, and yet she'd never felt more empty or afraid in her entire life.

Ezra realized what was bothering her and finally coaxed it out of her.

"You have to leave in just two weeks, and...and my whole life is here," she told him, trying not to cry.

"I've been in long enough to get out," he told her. "Officers have an initial commitment, and mine was five years. I have just over five years in, and I could get out if that's what you want. I have to give four months notice, but I can leave the Marine Corps."

"What...what are you saying? I told you I'd never ask you to do that, Ezra. Not for me, not for anything."

"Then come with me," he said as he gently touched her face.

"Come...with you?" she asked as her heart began to pound inside her chest.

"I borrowed my mom's car today and drove into town today. I also managed to walk into a store," he said as he reached for something. "I wasn't sure when I need this, but I knew it wouldn't be long."

"What...kind of store?" she asked as her body began to tremble.

"One that sells these," he said as he opened a small black box exposing a large, beautiful solitaire diamond mounted on a white-gold band.

He didn't even wince as he got down on the knee that still didn't bend too well and used the other that did as a prop.

"Dawn, I know we haven't know each other all that long, but I also know I'm very much in love with you. So in love it hurts."

He smiled then said, "Not like my leg or anything..."

Dawn was on the verge of crying but still playfully hit him.

"My mom was right. Life is short, and all we have is today, and the promise or the hope of tomorrow. Honey? I can't imagine my life without you or...our girls...in it," he said.

Those words caused her to lose it, and Dawn began to cry as he said, "If you think you put up with being a Marine Corps officer's wife, and all the time I'd be away, and the..."

"YES!" she said. "Stop talking and ask me to marry you already!" she told him, not needing to hear one more word.

"Oh. Pushy—are we?" he teased as her left hand was out waiting while she used her right to try and wipe away the tears.

"Dawn? Honey. Will you marry me?"

"Oh, my God! Like you have to even ask!" she squealed as he slid the ring on her finger.

The girls were sound asleep so they quietly went next door to share their good news. When they told Claire shortly after walking in, she shrieked as loudly as Dawn had, then grabbed her future daughter-in-law and swung her around in a circle.

"I am so happy for you both!" she said, as tears streamed down her face just as they were again on Dawn's.

"What did they girls say?" Claire asked as she dried her eyes.

"We wanted to tell you first, Mom," he told her. "We'll tell them first thing tomorrow morning."

Tell us what?" Chloe asked after breakfast the next day.

"Let's sit down and talk," her mom told her and her sister. They were very used to Ezra being there at all times of the day or night, so his presence was nothing new.

Both girls got a look of fear in their eyes Dawn had only seen once before after being told to sit down first.

As they sat down Zoe asked, her voice choked with sadness, "Is Mr. Ezra leaving us, too?"

Dawn clearly remembered the day she told them Daddy wouldn't be staying with them anymore, and that was the look both of them had had.

"No. He's not leaving us, girls," their mother assured them. "But how would you feel about us leaving...here...and going to live with him in a new place?"

Both girls sucked in loudly, then Chloe said, her eyes wide open with surprise, "For reals?"

"Yes. For real," their mom told them. "Would that be okay?"

Ezra was sitting right beside their mom then said, "Girls? I love your mom very much, and last nigh I asked her to marry me."

"You did?" Zoe said, her eyes just as wide with surprise.

"Yes, I did," he told them.

"What did you say, Mommy?" Chloe asked.

Dawn smiled, held out her hand and showed them the new diamond ring.

"I said, 'yes'."

The girls were impressed but didn't really understand the significance of the ring.

"So...will Mr. Ezra be our new daddy?" Zoe asked, now getting very excited.

"Yes. If...you want him to be. But remember, your father will always be your father. But Ezra would be your dad, the man who lives with you and raises you, and..."

"And loves you...very much," Ezra said, chiming in. "I do love both of you girls very, very much. You know that, right?"

They slid off the couch and threw their little arms around his neck, and said together, "We love you, too, Mr. Ezra!"

Zoe looked at her mom then asked, "Can we call him 'daddy' now? Pleeeease?"

"That's up to Ezra," she said sweetly.

"I'd like that very much," he told them.

Chloe grabbed his hand and said, "Come on, Daddy. Let's go play!"

Ezra stood up, almost without pain, and as Charlie had said, "Duty calls."

Dawn's eyes were again wet with tears as she said, "Go ahead. Go play with our girls, sweetheart."

He leaned down and whispered, "Can I play with you later tonight?"

Dawn laughed happily then said, "You better."

Fifteen days later, Captain Hancock flew back to North Carolina alone where his friend, who'd been keeping his car, met him at the airport then drove them to Marine Corps Air Station New River, where he was stationed.

Dawn stayed behind and put the house up for sale and got it ready while Ezra continued his therapy, and increased his daily walking to two miles. The following day he tried running for the first time, and limped around the quarter-mile track on base for the first time since the crash. His leg hurt like hell, but he made it. A week later he ran a mile.

By the time Dawn and the girls joined him three weeks after that, he ran three-miles again, and was put back on full duty, and began flying again the next day.

Ezra still loved flying, but now there was something far more important in his life than the Super Cobra, and that was the three beautiful blonde girls he loved even more.

He flew his mom out three months later for the wedding which took place at the Air Station chapel. Charlie flew out with her, and no one asked any questions, when they stayed in the same room at the nicest local motel in town.

Dawn had never seen a military wedding before, and she loved every part of hers, especially when she, dressed in white, and her handsome new husband, wearing his dress-blue uniform and followed by their two little girls, held her hand as they passed under a sword arch created by other officers from his squadron who had since returned home from Afghanistan.

Claire agreed to stay in Dawn and Ezra's new home off base and watch the girls for a week while they honeymooned in Cancun, but the biggest surprise came when she told them she was quitting her job.

She and Charlie were sitting on the couch sipping coffee just before the newly-married couple got ready to leave.

"How can you afford that, Mom?" Ezra asked without thinking.

Charlie spoke up and said, "Because as of last night, she's got a rich sugar daddy."

Claire held out her hand and showed off her own diamond ring, and now it was Dawn's turn to pick her up and swing her around.

"Oh, my goodness! Love really is in the air!" Dawn said as she congratulated her mother-in-law who wasn't quite ten years older than her.

Claire took her fiancé's hand and said, "It most certainly is, isn't it, honey?"

"Roger that, sweetie," he quipped, causing everyone to laugh.

All of them laughed, hugged, and to no one's surprise, Dawn and Claire both cried while the girls happily jumped around celebrating the best way they knew how.

Following their love-filled honeymoon, Ezra was home the better part of two years before deploying again, and this time it was on a six-month cruise to the Western Pacific which every called WestPac. Being away was hard, but at least he wasn't at war.

But the most important change happened a year after they were married when Dawn gave birth to a baby boy, on whom she, Ezra, and the twins doted like nothing else.

When she asked her husband what he wanted to name her the first time they were all together after his birth, Ezra said, "Anything but Ezekiel."

Dawn laughed then said, "How about Liam or Oliver or..."

She stopped, laughed again, then said, "I almost said 'Noah'."

Ezra made a face then said, "Hmmm. Oliver Hancock. That has a nice ring to it."

His beautiful wife smiled and says, "So does Dawn Hancock, for that matter."

He'd adopted the girls who happily said, "So does Zoe Hancock!"

"And Chloe Hancock, too!"

Ezra, his heart filled with happiness, brushed his wife's hair back and said, "I love you and our family so much."

"And I love you," she told him as she held their infant son.

"So...Oliver?" she asked.

"Yeah. I think so. Oliver it is," he told her before he kissed her softly then held his son.

He and Dawn had also gone to Arlington for his friend's memorial, and Ezra knew full well it really could have been him instead being laid to rest. As he held his little boy, all he could do was be grateful for having lived, knowing that without that horrific event, he'd have never met his mother or the two little girls he loved as his known, let alone be holding this precious little boy in his arms.

He smiled when he thought once again about the way many things often happen 'suddenly', as well as how every now and then, some of them turn out to be amazing and even wonderful.