Chapter 31 Will You Marry Me?

Allie

The morning was a whirlwind of activity. I had decided to wait to list the house until after we've completely moved out, which hopefully will be within a week or two. After discussing the logistics with Nico first thing this morning, we decided to try moving the boxes and clothing a little at a time ourselves, rather than calling movers in which would attract attention. I plan on taking a few pieces of furniture I have a sentimental attachment to, but everything else will stay in place to stage the house until it sells. At that point, I'll donate it all to a local organization that helps homeless families with children find stable housing.

The media attention that resulted from the release of our statement created a paparazzi swarm outside his house and mine, with a few hanging out around Michael's office. I had strict instructions from Michael that I was not to even attempt to come into the office for the next few days, and he had one of Lana's assistants covering the social media updates that I normally did for the band. I was relegated to answering emails and making a few phone calls from home. Nico had arranged for Michael to post additional guards outside both houses, and we were both going to be driven everywhere for the next several days at least. That was another reason to wait to call a realtor. You can't expect a realtor to run a gauntlet of paparazzi with prospective buyers in tow, just to show a house.

So, now we were packing up most of my kitchen stuff since Nico really only has the basics at his house. I had already packed a couple of suitcases of clothes for Gracie and me, and we had three big totes filled with her most cherished toys, books, purses and hairbows that we'll take with us today. We'll sort, pack, and transport the rest later.

"You're taking all of your baking shit, right?" Nico asked, opening the cabinet where I keep cookie sheets, cake pans and cooling racks.

"Of course. I think just about everything from the kitchen will be going to your place, except the breakfast table and chairs and most of the dishes."

"You aren't taking your dishes?"

"No, I like yours better. Mine are kind of a mishmash of several sets, most of which I've had for years. I am taking all of my mugs, though."

"Got it. I'll get this cabinet emptied out, and then I think that's all we'll have room for in the car today," he said, reaching up to pull everything out. His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his back pocket to answer it.

"Hi Lana, what's up?" he greeted her, reaching up to get the last pan out of the cabinet. He paused, distracted by whatever she was saying. "You've gotta be kidding me. I swear, that shit is like herpes - it spreads, and you just can't fucking get rid of it!" He started pacing back and forth as she continued to speak to him, a sure sign he was getting pissed off.

"Yeah, I know, it just pisses me the fuck off that he's getting away with this." More pacing. "No, I get it, and I appreciate it, I'm just over it." He looked up and caught me watching him. "OK, I gotta go. Allie and I are at her place getting started on the packing, so just send me an update later. Thanks."

"Do I even want to know what that was about?" I asked dryly.

"She's still working on getting that fucking Sesame Street video shit pulled, but it keeps popping back up as people download it and repost it on their personal accounts. I know she's doing everything she can, but it's complete bullshit that those assholes get away with it!"

I walked over to him, and he wrapped his arms around me. "It's OK, honey. Just try to forget about it and let's get this stuff finished up. I'll call Marco and see if he can bring the bigger SUV that he mentioned this morning when he comes to pick us up."

By the time Marco arrived with the bigger, blacked out SUV, we had everything ready to load. He backed into the garage, and helped us load it all in, then we managed to make it out of my driveway without hitting any of the paps standing around out there. By the time we'd made it back to Nico's and unloaded everything, I was ready for lunch and caffeine.

Nico disappeared into the sound studio after lunch, while I unpacked the suitcases and Gracie's stuff that we'd brought back earlier. He reappeared a couple of hours later as I was rearranging and organizing the kitchen cabinets to make room for everything we would bring from my place.

"Hey, Sunshine," he greeted me, looking a little sheepish. He walked over and kissed my cheek, then held out his phone. "I did something, and I don't want you to get upset."

Yeah, that was never a good start to any conversation. "What did you do?" I asked suspiciously.

"I got pissed at that asshole who posted that video, so I posted a response to him, and it's gone pretty much viral in the last hour or so."

"Oh, is that all?" I said, rolling my eyes. "Give me the phone, honey."

His Instagram account was pulled up for me already, so I hit play on the video at the top of the screen. He had filmed it in the studio where we had recorded our joint statement.

"Hey guys, bear with me for a minute, because I need to get something off my chest. A few days ago, some asshole created a video montage that's gone viral. It had a bunch of pictures of women, some of whom I went out with briefly over the years and others I don't remember ever meeting before, along with a picture of Allie. This asshole thought he'd be clever and added a song from Sesame Street to his little video production, without permission might I add, which is a copyright infringement for which he could be sued. The song is called 'One of These Things Is Not Like the Others.' He included some mean-spirited and disparaging remarks which he claims were meant to be funny, or what the fuck ever, when in reality it was cyber-bullying that perpetuates the misogynistic and fucking ridiculous standards by which women are judged. It was blatantly unfair to all of those women to be included, without their permission, in his pathetic little creation. So, here's my personal message to the piece of shit who created the video."

"You know what, asshole?You're right. One of these women is not like the others. One of these women is the love of my life. One of these women is so beautiful she literally takes my breath away every time I look at her. One of these women has curves so sexy I can't keep my hands off of her. One of these women has been my muse and has inspired six of the songs we've recorded over the last three years. One of these women is the mother of the little girl who is my daughter in every way except DNA. One of these women will be my wife as soon as I can get her to walk down the aisle to me. One of these women will have my babies, lots of them if I get my way. One of these women will be curled up next to me 30 years from now, as we watch our grandchildren playing in the yard. One of these women cried when she watched your video, and it almost broke my heart. One of these women doubted herself because of you, and that will never fucking happen again, I guarantee that."

"So, I'm gonna kindly invite you to go fuck yourself sideways with a rusty chainsaw. You claimed in your video intro that you are a fan of Storm Front. I can tell you right now - and believe me, I'm also speaking for Matt, Tony, and Josh when I say this - we don't want fans like you. We don't want fans who think it's OK to post hateful shit about people who have never done any-fucking-thing to warrant it. Unlike you, Allie Donovan is a kind, caring, compassionate human being, who is so filled with love and joy that it radiates from her. I call her Sunshine, and that's exactly what she is. She is a ray of sunshine that cuts through the darkness, and she lights up my world in ways you can't possibly ever fucking imagine."

"To our true fans, thank you. To those who spoke out against that stupid fucking video when it came out, thank you. Take care of yourselves. Be kind to yourselves. I hope you all find your own ray of sunshine to light your way in a world that can be dark and shitty at times. Thanks for listening to me vent. Talk to you soon."

Oh. My. God. My hands had been shaking by the time I'd finished watching it, and tears were running down my face. Nico had held me while I'd watched it, and his arms tightened around me as he tried to comfort me.

"Shit, Allie, please don't cry. I didn't think before I posted it, and I hate that I upset you."

I had turned and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tightly.

"I'm not upset. I can't believe you said all those things about me," I gave him a shaky smile and tried to wipe my tears. He reached around and grabbed a paper towel from the holder next to the sink and dabbed at my face.

"So, these are good tears?" he said hesitantly.

"Very good tears, my love."

"Let's go up to our room for a bit before we need to leave to pick up Gracie. I want to hold you for a little while and relax," he said with soft smile and a kiss on my forehead.

I took his hand and walked with him up the stairs, hoping we would do a lot more than hold each other. As I approached the bed and started to take my shirt off, he stopped me.

"Not yet, Sunshine. If you get naked now, I'll forget about everything else." I looked at him in confusion as he led me over to sit on the end of the bed.

"I tried to figure out some big romantic gesture for this, but it just didn't feel natural," he started off nervously. He grasped both of my hands in his and slid off the bed onto one knee in front of me, holding a small box in his hand.

"Allie, you are the love of my life, and I want the whole world to know it. I want to live with you, I want to be Gracie's Daddy, I want to have more babies with you. You are my best friend and my lover, but I want you to be my wife, too. Will you marry me, Sunshine?"

I could barely see him through the tears in my eyes as I threw my arms around him and held him close.

"Yes, yes, yes! I love you so much, and I want to be your wife more than anything in this world. I want babies with you, and I know you'll be a wonderful father to our princess."

He slid the ring on my finger, and I realized I hadn't even looked at it yet. It was a huge princess-cut diamond with two slightly smaller emeralds - one on each side of the center stone. The ring had a vintage feel to it, with the stones in a delicate filigree setting on a platinum band. It was gorgeous, and absolutely perfect, and I cried again as I told him so.

"The emeralds represent Gracie and me, since we both have May birthdays. They also remind me of your beautiful eyes."

I kissed him then, a deep kiss designed to show him every ounce of love I had for him. He groaned as he rose up to join me on the edge of the bed, never allowing his lips to leave mine. He cupped my face, and then slid his hand down to wrap loosely around my throat. He pulled back so we could drag in a much-need breath.

"I love feeling the beat of your pulse when we kiss," he said huskily, pressing his fingers a little tighter on my neck for a second. He moved his hand to fun his fingertip back and forth over my pulse point, then down to the crook of my neck and along my collarbone. The featherlight touch made me shiver, and he gave a satisfied smile.

"I love your ticklish spots, and I love kissing them even more." He lowered his head as he spoke, gently nibbling his way down along the same path his fingertip just took. I moaned and broke out in goosebumps, my whole body shivering again, making him chuckle against my skin.

He looked up at me and I gave him a wicked smile. He breathed deeply and reached for the hem of my shirt.

"I want to see you wearing nothing but my ring and that naughty, naughty smile, sweetheart." He kissed me as he ran his hands up under my shirt, caressing the soft skin on my back before breaking the kiss. He stood up, pulling me up with him, and whipped my shirt up and over my head before I could even blink. He wrapped me in his arms again, his hands working to undo the back fastener on my bra. He slid it down my arms, loosening his hold on me just enough to have room to pull it off completely before he held me tight again. His hands roamed down over my hips to grab hold of my ass. He used his tight hold to pull me up to my tiptoes, all while exploring every inch of my mouth with his.

We both groaned as his hard erection rubbed against me, and I broke the kiss to step back and unfasten the button on my jeans. I slid down the zipper, and Nico yanked them down to my ankles. With a slight push from him, I bounced back on the bed, and he grabbed my legs, pulling the jeans off completely and tossing them aside before doing the same to my panties. He stood next to the bed, fully dressed, with his gaze trained on me as I lay sprawled out just as he'd demanded - wearing his ring and a smile. He whipped off his own shirt, then popped the button on his jeans and opened his zipper. He slid the jeans off his hips, along with the black boxer briefs underneath, and stepped out of them. The sight of his hard cock made my mouth water, and I knew what I wanted to do. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed, spreading my thighs so that Nico could stand between them. I wrapped a hand around his hard length as he moved closer, and he inhaled sharply and let out a small groan of pleasure.

"I won't last if you do this, love. I'm too close to the edge right now," he confessed with another moan as I cupped my other hand around his balls and gave a gentle squeeze.

"That's OK. There's always round two." I grinned up at him, before swiftly lowering my mouth and licking him from base to tip. I swirled my tongue over the top, tasting the salty tang of his precum, then closed my lips around him and sucked him in. His hips bucked and he let out a loud groan as his hands came up to clasp either side of my head.

I kept up a steady rhythm of licks, sucks, and flicks, sliding my hand up and down the base of his shaft in tandem with my mouth. I cupped and gently rolled his balls, tugging just a little when he seemed to like it.

"Fuck, Allie, that feels so damn good."

I sucked harder, flattening my tongue and swiping it along his shaft as I bobbed my head up and down, taking a little more of him in with each pass until my jaw started to ache. I pulled off of him and looked up, to find him staring down at me with a fierce expression on his face. I slid one hand tightly up and down his spit-slickened shaft, adding a little twist at the top before gliding back down, while my other cupped and tugged his balls. His hold on my head tightened as he slid one hand down to hold the back of my neck while the other tangled in my hair to hold me in place.

I wrapped my lips around the head of his cock again, creating a strong suction just on the head for a second before releasing him to flick my tongue along the underneath side of his crest, repeating the action a few times as his hand clenched in my hair and his grip tightened on my nape. I moaned and he gasped.

"Oh shit, do that again, love. The vibration on my cock feels amazing."

I wrapped my lips a little tighter around him and sucked him in, moaning loudly and his body jerked.

"Holy fuck, Allie, your mouth is incredible," he gasped. "You're making me feel so fucking good, sweetheart."

He groaned loudly as I swallowed him down to the base, gagging a little before I pulled off. That seemed to drive him wild, and his hips bucked into me again, driving his cock even deeper before he pulled out a little. I ran my lips and tongue up and down his shaft again, before dipping my head lower so I could reach his balls. I licked a stripe along the crease of his thigh, grazing the side of his sac with my tongue, before sucking one into my mouth, then switching my attention to the other. While my mouth was occupied, I kept jacking his cock with my hand.

I could feel his balls tightening and drawing up in the split second before he pulled away with a roar.

"I need inside you," he demanded, pushing me onto my back and throwing my ankles over his shoulders. He leaned forward and rubbed a finger over my pussy, groaning again when he realized how wet I was.

"Oh, thank fuck," he said, right before he slammed his cock home. He leaned over my body and pounded into me over and over, grunting with every thrust. "God, you're...so...damned...tight," he ground out between clenched teeth. "That's it, love, take it all."

"So good, Nico, so fucking gooooood," I moaned in a breathy little whimper. The sensations were overwhelming. It felt like I had electricity running through my veins, zapping every nerve ending. When he reached between us to rub my clit, then gave it a little pinch, I detonated. My body tensed and shuddered, and my pussy clamped down hard. I gave a high-pitched cry before screaming Nico's name. He gave one last mighty groan and collapsed over the top of me, his body jerking with the force of his release.

After several long moments, Nico rolled to the side a little, so his full weight wasn't on me. He buried his face in my neck for a few seconds, then cupped my cheek and pressed a gentle kiss on my lips.

"I love you, Allie, and I can't wait to do this for the rest of our lives."