Sunny's Love (26 page)

“
I only have one question, doctor. Is it okay for me to get pregnant, or should I wait?”

“Sunny, I see no reason why you can’t conceive a child and have a normal pregnancy. If that
’s in your immediate plans, I wish you the best of luck, my dear. What a wonderful way to rebuild your life, after what’s happened to you.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, with tears in her eyes, she replied, “Thank you, Dr. Jessup, you have no idea what that means to me.”

“After what you’ve been through, yes, I think I have a pretty good idea.” He shook her hand and walked her to the desk, where he told the receptionist, “Mrs. Dupont is as fit-as-a-fiddle. I’m releasing her today.”

“That
’s wonderful news, Doctor. Congratulations, Mrs. Dupont, you must be thrilled.”

“You have no idea.” Sunny smiled at the girl.

She walked out of the office and to the parking garage with George. Once in the car, she breathed another sigh of relief, before asking George to make a stop at the pharmacy. She made a purchase and went home to wait for Chase.

***
*

“What
’s going on, Detective?” Chase asked Detective Carson.

“I have some news for you regarding the case. I’ll get right to the point
, as I know you’ve been anxious to hear this. Mr. Thomlin and his daughter have decided to take the DA’s plea bargain.”

“And what exactly does this mean?”

“There won’t be a trial. Thomlin will get ten years prison time, with the possibility of parole in five. He didn’t know the extent of his daughter’s plan, but he knew she was mentally unstable, and that she was up to something. He did nothing to stop her. Lindy will be spending the next several years behind bars, but in a woman’s psychiatric prison, as you requested. You and your family can rebuild your lives now. You can finally put this behind you.”

Chase sighed and said,
“If that’s possible. I feel so responsible for what happened to my first wife and most of all for what happened to Sunny. I’m so grateful I didn’t lose her, too.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Mr. Dupont. Lindy Thomlin has some serious issues. She
’ll be receiving the best psychiatric care in prison.”

“And what
’s her father’s excuse? He knew what she was up to. He let her get by with it, all because he wanted my company.”

“I can’t answer that, Chase, but if you are ever going to move on, you have to try and let it go.”

“Thank you for all your help. I’ll be forever grateful to you.”

“Good luck and tell your wife I said hello. I hope she gets good news today at her appointment.”

“So do I. Thank you again,” Chase shook the hand of the man who helped put an end to the terror his family had faced.

As he drove home,
he knew what he had to do when he met with Sunny.
I’m going to tell her what I should have told her the day I asked her to marry me.

He let himself into the house and ran up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with Sunny
, to see if she was back from her appointment. He found her sitting in a chair staring out the window.

“Sunny, is everything okay?” He went to her and kneeling in front of her, took her hand
. “Baby, what is it? What did Dr. Jessup say?”

She looked into the eyes of the man she so desperately loved and said, “I got a clean bill of health. What did Detective Carson say?”

“Oh, Baby, I’m so happy. I’ve been so worried about you.” He rose from his knees and held her close to his chest.

“Chase, what about Detective Carson?” she asked again.

“It’s over. They took the plea bargain, so there won’t be a trial. They’ll both be going to prison. Lindy will receive the psychiatric care that she needs.”

“Thank God. Now we can move on with our lives. We no longer have to fear Lindy
, or her father. We don’t have to worry about the company. We can concentrate on our family and our future.” She looked into his eyes, wondering how to tell him the things she wanted to say.

“From your lips to God’s ears.
” He kissed her. Scooping her up into his strong arms, he carried her to the bed.

“I wanted to get more comfortable, Sunny. We need to talk.”

“Chase…is something wrong?”

“Oh, no,
baby, something is right, very right. I’m going to do what I should have done months ago.”

“Chase, you’re scaring me.”

He kissed her to reassure her. “No reason to be scared. I hope you’re going to like what I have to say. It’s something I should have told you a long time ago. I had the mistaken notion that I needed to hear you say it first. None of that matters anymore. When I thought I might lose you, I realized that.”

“Chase, what is it?”

He looked into her eyes. What she saw in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet Chase, tell me…I need to hear you say it.”

He took her hand in his and softly said, “Sunny, I love you.”

With tears in her blue eyes, she replied, “Chase, I love you
so much.”

“You do? You really do, Sunny?”

“I was in love with you even before you proposed to me. Why do you think it was so easy for me to agree to a marriage you said would last forever? I was ecstatic, even though I thought you didn’t love me, I could live with it, as long as things stayed so good between us.”

“Oh
, my precious angel, I was in love with you the day I proposed. I thought the only way I could possibly get you to agree to marry me, was to tell you it was a business arrangement. If you only knew, how happy you made me the night before our wedding, when you told me you wanted a real marriage. We’ve both been so stupid. We have the perfect marriage, but we were both too stubborn to be the first to say those all important words. All I’ve ever needed was my Sunny’s love.”

“Oh, honey, I love you so much and I promise to tell you that
, at least once a day, for the rest of my life.”

“Ditto.
” He kissed her showing her without a doubt that she was the love of his life. “So you got a clean bill of health. Does this mean…we can…resume…?”

“We can
, but don’t forget I haven’t been taking my birth control pills since the accident. I stopped at the pharmacy on the way home this afternoon and bought these….” She pulled a box of condoms out of the nightstand drawer.

“Sunny, what would you think if I told you to throw those damn things in the trash? Would you be upset?”

“What exactly are you saying?” she asked.

“What would you say
, if I told you I’d like to make a baby with you?” He grinned as he continued, “I’ll leave that decision up to you, of course, but I’m ready whenever you are, baby.”

She threw the box of condoms on the floor, pulled him to her and said, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

He kissed her, gently laying her back against the pillow. “Only you, baby, always and forever…only you,” he whispered. “I love you, Sunny.”

He finally had the thing that had eluded him for so long…Sunny’s love.

The End