189|It Will Always Be Yes

189|It Will Always Be Yes
Later that evening, when Eden walked into Liam's ward with Aiden in her arms, she was surprised to find him clean-shaven and fully clothed in joggers, sneakers and a hoodie as if he was ready to go somewhere.

"Dad!" Aiden shrieked with joy as soon as he saw his father rolling around the room in a wheelchair.

Liam roared right back at him, his voice thundering through the room as he opened his arms. "Kool-Aid!"

Eden set their son down, and he ran to his father.

Liam scooped him up despite his visible agony but yelped out in pain when he tried to throw him up in the air.

Eden was instantly at his side, worry dancing in her eyes, the travel bag in her hands falling at her feet with a dull thud.

Aiden, too, looks just as concerned.

"I'm okay," Liam assured them, but the anguish on his face told a different story.

"Why are you even out of bed?" Eden scolded him, much to Aiden's disapproval.

"Mom, no!" He shook his head at her and babbled away in a long rant.

"See, even Kool-Aid knows I'm sick, and you should handle me with care."

With that, Liam turned all his attention to Aiden, and for a little while, Eden watched the two of them, completely enamoured with each other, her vision blurry from her tears.

But it wasn't tears of sadness or joy.

It was tears of gratitude.

She was so thankful that her prayers—and bargaining—had worked, and God had delivered the miracle she had hoped for.

"How do you like my new wheels?" Liam asked, a small frown in his eyes when he caught her wiping her tears away.

"Are you allowed to use it?"

"The doctor said I should try moving around a bit. And I want to go for a walk. But I don't think I can make it on crutches." He explained, blowing kisses on Aiden's cheeks.

Their son's delighted squeals drew the attention of the nurses passing by. They popped their heads in, venturing deeper into the room when they saw Aiden; they were all now familiar with him from his visits throughout the week.

They all fussed over him for some time until a code blue went off on the intercom, and they scrambled out of the room to save a life.

"So, can we go now?" Liam asked, and Eden nodded.

"I'm assuming you'll push yourself?" She jerked her head at the wheelchair. "Aiden is heavy as it, the two of you in that chair—"

"You will not go to heaven at the rate you're going," Liam complained.
"You've been nothing but mean to me since I woke up, and you know I'm sick!"

"Oh God, I can't wait for you to get better so you'll stop playing the sick card," Eden said as she rolled him out of the room and closed the door behind them.

"So, where to?" She asked while they waited for the elevator.

"The pond in the west gardens," Liam replied. "It's not too far from here."

Eden wheeled them into the elevator, and as Aiden waved at everyone inside, she couldn't help but think he was Liam's son through and through. He wasn't even two years old, but her son had perfected the art of working the room, and by the time they jumped out of the lift, half the grannies were already smitten with him.

Outside, the early June afternoon chill hit her hard, and Eden was glad she'd bundled Aiden up in a bulky jacket despite him being unhappy with her.

"Are you cold?" Liam turned and looked up at her.

She was, but she shook her head because this walk seemed important to him. After being asleep for so long, she couldn't fault him at all for wanting to get some fresh air, and she'd brace the cold if being out and about like this made him happy.

"Look at the jacarandas over there!" Eden pointed at a grove of decades-old trees blooming with purple flowers up ahead.

"You like them?"

"I love them," Eden smiled. "I wanted to plant one in my backyard."

"My parents have a few," Liam said.

"I know," Eden replied. She'd seen them the last time they had lunch with his folks.

"Let's go check them out." He suggested.

"But I thought you wanted to feed the ducks?"

"Nah," Liam shook his head. "I think those trees are perfect."

"Of course, they're perfect. They're jacarandas!" She squealed with joy as she pushed him and Aiden down the winding path, going as slowly as she could because even the smallest bump made Liam wince.

"Did you get a chance to collect my package?" He asked.

"Yep," Eden replied as she paused, looked through her handbag and pulled out a small, dull-looking box. "Next time, don't send me to pick up your drugs. That place is very dodge."

If she hadn't been to the industrial part of town before, she would have been scared out of her wits. But the place where she had to collect the package wasn't too far from Franco's, so finding it wasn't hard at all.

"Did you look inside?" Liam asked as he took the box from her.

"No, I didn't." Eden shook her head and explained. "Plausible deniability and all, in case I got stopped by the cops or something."

Liam burst into roaring laughter, but he quickly caught himself gasping for air as he held his side tightly.

"Are you okay?" She asked, leaning over to check on him. "Should we go back? I think we've walked enough for one day."

"No," he refused to turn back and pointed at the trees instead. "We're almost there."

A few more steps and an even slower pushing pace from her, they were under the trees.

She looked up in wonder and held out her palms as the purple petals fell around them like confetti.

"Make a wish," she brought her palms close to Liam's face, and he closed his eyes as he gently blew the petals away.

"What did you wish for?" She asked.

"It won't come true if I tell you."

"Fair enough," Eden laughed as she stooped down to tie one of his shoelaces. It had come undone at some point during their very slow walk.

When she looked up, her heart lurched to her throat at the sight of the ring box in his hand.

"Oh, God!" She whispered, unable to believe her eyes. But everything suddenly made sense—the clothes she didn't bring him, their out-of-the-blue walk and the shady-looking box that was hiding the ring all along.

"So that's what this walk was," she murmured again.

"I wanted to do something cheesy, you know, fireworks and all that jazz. But the doctor with the fancy title said I'm stuck here for a while. So I asked Clara to bring me the clothes because I didn't want you to remember this day and think of that horrid-looking hospital gown and I brought you out here, so you never associate the smell of disinfectant in that room with this moment—"

By now, Eden was a blubbering mess of tears and snot and her sobs, louder than they had ever been. If Lydia had been here, she would have told her to stop her ugly crying.

"Mom, sorry!" Aiden said as he slid off his father's lap flung his arms around her neck, and kissed her cheek.

"I'm okay, Aid," she wiped her tears away and smiled at him, but as soon as she looked at Liam, she was crying uncontrollably again.

"Princess," Liam began as he brushed her hair away from her face and wiped her tears with his thumb. "You wanted to know what I wished for? Well, for you to say yes."

"Yes!" Eden said quickly.

"I haven't asked you yet." He laughed and kissed her slowly, the tears in his eyes mirroring hers.

"Mom, look!" Aiden pointed at the falling petals, and they pulled apart, both smiling guiltily like teenagers caught canoodling.

"Normally, I would have to go down on my knee, but I think you'll have to take one for the team today," Liam said, and Eden burst into tearful laughter.

"And since you're already on your knees, Eden Anderson—I mean Eden McBride, will you do me the honour of being my —"

She kissed him hard before he'd even finished his question, her tears mingling with his.

"Yes." She smiled on his lips. "Yes."

"I was going to say, sidekick!" Liam whispered, holding her face close to his. "Will you do me the honour of being my sidekick?"

"And my answer is still yes," Eden replied. "It will always be yes. Tomorrow. Next week. Next month. It will always be yes if it's you that's asking."

"Open the box."

She did. After a couple of tries, though, because her hands were shaking so much.

Her breath faltered, and her eyes widened when they fell on Cleopatra's ring nestled inside the luxurious velvety cushion inside, the Emerald glowing a rich green in the fading sunlight.

She pulled it out and gawked at the ring until Aiden, thinking it was candy, snatched it from her.

But Liam's quick reflexes kicked in, and he caught his tiny hand before he could put the ring in his mouth. He slipped it on her finger and cupped her cheek gently. "When I saw you looking at it at the auction, I had to get it for you. But I didn't know then I'd use it to propose because there's a family heirloom that all Anderson men use for marriage proposals. So if you don't like this—"

"I love it." Eden cried quickly.

Wearing something that was so insanely expensive on a daily would give her heart palpitations for sure. But she loved it.

"It has a lot of history." She added. And not just because Cleopatra had worn it. But it was part of their history, a reminder of a critical turning point in their relationship and the man who tried to destroy them but had unknowingly brought them so much closer.

"I love you so much!" She said as she kissed him again.

"And I, you. Mrs Anderson!"