A Convenient Proposal(77)

She looked up at him. “Will you take me back, Griff? And will you take me home?”

“If you’ll take me back and forgive my foolish, stupid pride.”

“Oh, yes, I will.”

Then he kissed her over and over, and she kissed him, until they dropped to their knees in the warm sand. And still he held and kissed her, stretched out beside her with their bodies pressed tightly together, celebrating the return of joy.

At last they could relax a little, and breathe. With perfect timing, Igor ran up to be petted, to sniff and nose and lick both their faces, before running off again to chase a seagull.

Arden said, “And in the interest of divulging secrets, I got some news this morning.”

Griff brushed her hair back from her face. “What news was that?”

Instead of answering, she reached into the breast pocket of the shirt she wore and pulled out a stick.

A wand, his mind corrected. A small wand with a plus sign at one end.

“You’re pregnant?” he whispered.

She nodded, her face as bright and beautiful as he’d ever seen it. “I guess I was too late with the diaphragm.”

He grinned. “That’s a good omen…for a big family.”

Arden nodded. “It is. And I only found out this morning. I wrote because I wanted to be with you, Griff, baby or no baby.”

“I believe you.”

Her smile dimmed as she gazed into his face. “I’m still losing my hearing. I may very well become completely deaf.”

Griff took a step backward. Using his arms, hands and fingers, he gave her his response in American Sign Language. “It’s not a problem,” he signed, “I love you. Forever.”

Arden’s smile returned, more brilliant than ever. “I love you, too,” she signed. “I’ve been studying,” she said, “Thinking about working wtih deaf children.”

He put his arms around her once again. “So who needs words, anyway?”

The kisses they shared said it all.