Chapter210 The Proposal

Chapter210 The Proposal
Third Person POV
Emma didn't argue with Alistair.
She took off her lab coat, cleaned up the broken glass from the bench, and left the building.
She went to Redstone City General Hospital alone.
--
Two hours later, Emma was sitting in the OB-GYN consultation room.
The doctor looked at the blood panel results and the ultrasound printout that had just come through, then looked up at Emma.
"Congratulations, Ms. Emma." The doctor slid the report across to her, her voice warm. "You're pregnant. All the fetal indicators are currently stable, and development looks good."
Emma sat in the chair and didn't move.
She didn't reach for the report. She watched the doctor's lips form the words, and her head filled with a low, continuous ringing.
"Pregnant?" Emma's voice wasn't quite steady.
"Yes." The doctor placed the report on the surface in front of her. "You're at six weeks. Make sure you get enough rest and come in regularly for your prenatal checkups."
Emma looked down at the thin sheet of paper on the desk.
She reached out and picked it up, her fingers not entirely steady. She read the printed text. She looked at the blurred ultrasound image.
Her eyes started to redden.
She had sat in a hospital room before and been told that the damage to her body was permanent.
She had believed, without any room for doubt, that she would never be a mother. She had made herself accept it, because holding onto the possibility had hurt too much.
But this baby had come anyway, quietly and without warning, and was already settled inside her.
Emma held the report and walked out of the consultation room.
She didn't go straight to the exit.
She walked to the window at the far end of the corridor and stopped there.
She stood with the report held tightly in both hands. She brought her right hand up slowly and placed it against her stomach, over her clothes, just resting there against something she couldn't yet feel.
She stood at that window for a long time without saying anything. Tears slid down her face and dropped onto the back of her hand.
--
Emma came back to the dormitory as evening settled in.
She had planned to wait until after dinner and find the right moment to tell Klaus.
She got her key out and opened the door.
Klaus was standing at the living room window on a call. He heard the door and ended it immediately, turning to face her.
His senses read her the moment he looked at her. Emma's eyes were faintly red and swollen. Her breathing was slightly faster than usual. And she carried the antiseptic scent of a hospital.
Klaus crossed the room and pulled her against him.
"What happened?" He looked down at her face, something urgent in his voice. "You went to the hospital? What's wrong?"
Emma leaned against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, which was moving faster than normal.
She lifted her head and looked at him.
She was quiet for a long moment.
Then she reached into her pocket, took out the folded report, and put it in his hand.
Klaus let go of her and opened it.
He read down the page. When he reached "intrauterine early pregnancy" and the data that followed, he went completely still.
He stood there without moving. His body locked in place. He forgot to breathe for several seconds.
Emma watched him. She thought maybe he hadn't understood what he was reading and started to open her mouth.
Klaus looked up.
His eyes had gone red.
He was holding the report so tightly the paper had started to crumple. His throat moved several times. His eyes were unmistakably wet.
He looked at Emma with something uncontrolled and raw in his expression, the shock and the joy and the ache of it all tangled together at once.
"Is this real?" His voice came out hoarse and unsteady.
Emma looked at his red eyes and nodded.
Klaus dropped to one knee.
His knee hit the floor with a solid, heavy sound.
It wasn't a performance. He wasn't trying to make a moment out of it. His legs simply didn't have it in them anymore. The weight of what he was feeling hit him all at once, and his body gave out under it.
He knelt on the floor and looked up at her.
His eyes were bright and wet. He took her hand and pressed it against his cheek.
"Emma. Marry me." He held her gaze without wavering. "Really marry me this time."
He kept going before she could respond. "A proper ceremony. Your name. Your place beside me. A real home. Our child. Everything I failed to give you before, I'm going to give it to you. Every single thing."
Emma stood there looking at the man kneeling in front of her.
Her tears finally fell.
She didn't say a string of words. She didn't make him wait to be dramatic.
She pulled her hand from his, bent forward, and took his face gently in both palms. Her thumbs passed across the corners of his eyes where the skin was wet.
Klaus raised his hands and covered hers.
He turned his face into her palms and stayed there, feeling the warmth of her hands against him, making sure this was real and not a dream he was about to lose.
Emma looked at him for a long, quiet moment.
Then she gave a small, slow nod.
Klaus smiled.
It broke across his face without warning, wide and real, though his eyes were still wet.
He stood up and wrapped both arms around her, pulling her completely against him.
When he finally loosened his hold, he looked down at her.
"We're going back to the Golden Moon territory. You can't keep living here. The conditions aren't good enough."
"I'll have Steven start on the nursery at the estate immediately." He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Andrew will take over all your prenatal care. I'll arrange someone to properly hand off the project with Alistair. You need to rest."
He turned and picked up his phone from the table. He dialed Steven.
"Steven." His eyes moved across the room and settled on Emma.
"Notify the Elder Council and every affiliated pack leader. Next month, I'm holding a formal mate bonding ceremony at Golden Moon Pack. Emma will be returning to the pack as its Luna."
He paused for a moment.
"One more thing. I'm going to be a father."
Klaus hung up and set the phone down.
He came back to Emma and pulled her close again. His chin rested on top of her head. His arms didn't loosen.
"No one will ever hurt either of you again," he said quietly.
One hand stayed against her back. The other moved down slowly and came to rest over her stomach, the touch careful and light, as though he was afraid of disturbing something fragile.
The room was very still.
No one else. No noise. No grand occasion.
But this moment was more than enough for both of them.
They had lost so much. Between them lay betrayal, death, amnesia, and years of separation.
So to be here now, held together in the quiet, waiting for a child to come into the world and waiting for a future that would finally belong to them both, that was already everything.