Jamie looked up sharply at Kaim as he pulled back the curtain, revealing the flowering plant, and she could have sworn her heart literally stopped for a second. Moving closer to her boyfriend, she reached out her hand and gently stroked the soft petals, a breathtaking smile curving her lips, “Kaim” she breathed before turning and wrapping an arm around his neck, bringing him in for a passionate kiss. Pulling back, she cupped his jaw and softly stroked her thumb over his cheek. “Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me,” she confessed, her eyes straying back to the flowering pomegranate tree. Just then, Ryan let out a shrill giggle from her arms, bringing her attention to her small son. The picture that awaited her brought a loud laugh past her lips. Ryan had apparently gotten a hold of the Nutella jar, and had proceeded to stick his little hand inside of it to scoop out and eat it off his fingers. “Umm . . . oops?” she said sheepishly, smiling innocently at Kaim.

Severus stared incredulously at the beautiful ring that lay nestled in the middle of silky black fabric, the diamonds sparkling in the light, a nice contrast against the black box. For a moment he was speechless. Sure, he had known that eventually the two would end up marrying before the incident happened, but seeing the evidence beneath his nose was a lot to take in, especially now. “Jamie would have definitely said yes. She still would. In the . . . cell, we would come up with stories about what would have happened if we have not been abducted. Jamie had been wondering why Kaim hadn’t asked her yet. She even claimed that she was near doing it herself, just to end the anticipation,” Sev admitted with a chuckle, looking at Cooke and Marlee in turn with a smile.

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“See? Look what you’ve done now,” Kaim sighed in exasperation as he gently moved the jar away from Ryan, and wiped the boy’s hand clean with a paper towel. “Buddy, you need to use a spoon, using your hand isn’t good,” he chuckled as he smiled at Ryan before wrapping his arms around Jamie. “I should plant pomegranate trees more often,” he chuckled, kissing her softly as he pulled her against his chest.

“C’mon, let’s put it on the dresser in the room, Kaim will never see it coming,” Cooke cmirked deviously as she started walking towards the room for Kaim and Jamie to set the open ring box down on the dresser where Jamie would see it once entering the room.
“Kaim’s not going to be happy with you,” Marlee stated as she walked beside Sev, wondering if he was still strong enough to carry her on his back like old times.

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Jamie melted into Kaim’s arms, her lips molding around his, taking everything he was offering and giving her whole self back. She was so happy to be back in his arms, with her son between them. “Please so, you can never have enough pomegranate trees,” she agreed eagerly, perhaps she could con him out of some more. Looking down at her shirt, she blew out an exasperated sigh as she noticed the various Nutella stains now upon it. So much for changing. “Thanks a bunch, buddy, now mommy has to go get another shirt,” she complained to Ryan, kissing his cheek before holding him out to Kaim.

Severus chuckled, giving Cooke an appreciative look. “You really are an evil genius, aren’t you?” he commented, a grin planted firmly on his muzzle. He wished he could see Jamie’s reaction when she saw the stunning piece of jewelry. Looking down at Marlee, his grin softened into a smile as he bent down, motioning his head towards his back. “Come on, you lazy feline, hop on,” he teased, figuring he still had the strength to carry the small ringtail.

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“I dunno, I was thinking about planting some other fruit trees; wouldn’t want to discriminate. I hear pineapple grows well in this region,” Kaim suggested with a teasing grin as he kissed her forehead and took Ryan from her arms. “I see you inherited your mommy’s crazy taste,” he chuckled as he walked over to the sink to clean off Ryan’s fingers “C’mon, I’ll let you have something much better than Nutella,” he insisted, grabbing a jar of creamy peanut butter and a spoon for him and Ryan. “Here bud, taste this,” he chuckled as he scooped out a bit on the tip of his spoon. When Jamie left to change her shirt, he’d make a glass of pomegranate seeds for her to help her relax, and simply so she’d have something to eat.

Marlee purred loudly and gently jumped up onto Severus’ back, trying not to put too much strain on his back at once as she spread herself out with her tail curling lazily along his side. “Much better, just like old times,” she purred happily as she nuzzled his neck.
“Yeah, I am. Shall we go show them?” Cooke asked eagerly, more than a little anticipation bottling up in her over what her uncle’s reaction would be.

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