Finding Faith (21 page)

“How dare she? Cooper is a grown man,” she spoke into the air. Becoming more agitated by the second, she began pacing back and forth, waving her hands erratically as she spoke to herself. “She knows nothing about me. Nothing about my relationship with Cooper. How in the hell am I supposed to handle this.”
 

Feeling the breeze on her face and the hearing the sounds of fun and laughter, she stopped suddenly. Why was she hiding? They had nothing to be ashamed of and they weren’t doing anything wrong. There was no reason for his former mother-in-law to dislike her.
 

Other than the fact that she was not, nor would ever be, Heather.
 

The front door opened behind her and even before she heard his voice or felt his arms wrap around her body, she knew it was him.
 

“Hey, baby. Why are you out here,” he asked.
 

“I’m just taking a break. There were too many people in the house,” she tried to interject some happiness into her tone. She realized it didn’t work when Cooper turned her around to face him.
 

“Whoa. What’s that tone I hear? That might fool anyone else, but not me. Tell me,” his dipped down and looked her in the eyes.
 

Not willing to keep her feelings hidden, she told him what she had overheard. At the end of her speech, she took a deep breath. “You should have told me she would be here, Cooper. I can’t battle the memory of a dead woman. I can’t stop her mother from wishing she were here with you instead of me.”
 

“You don’t have to, Faith. I told you before, I don’t answer to her. I never have. I’ve respected her and Stan’s feelings these past years, but that has nothing to do with us. With you and me.”
 

“Yeah, well, tell that to her,” she tilted her head toward the house. Face screwed up, she wore a look of utter frustration.
 

Laughing at her, Cooper kissed her on the lips and pulled her body closer to his, “Don’t be mad. I’ll take care of it.”
 

“I’m not mad,” she responded in a tone full of piss and vinegar. ‘Okay, yes, I am. And no, you won’t handle anything. We’re in this together, right?” Her tone of voice dared him to say otherwise.
 

Turns out, Cooper is a pretty smart man after all, “Yes, together. You and me, sweetheart.”
 

Sighing deeply, she laid her head on his chest, inhaling his uniquely masculine scent. “I won’t let you go, Cooper. Not for anyone, dead or alive. You’re mine. And I will never apologize for that. For loving you.”
 

“And you don’t have to. She had no right to say what she did and I—,” he stopped when she lifted her head and glared at him. “I mean—we, will handle it. You are a part of my family now. Madison knows it, my mother knows it, and anyone whose opinion I care about knows it. That’s all that matters to me. It should be the only thing that matters to you. Got it?”
 

Smiling up at him, she fell in love with him all over again. God, this man was amazing. “Got it.”
 

“Come on, let’s go back inside. Madison is in the back playing with her cousins. You and I need to put someone in her place. You with me?”
 

“Absolutely,” she said as he released her from his arms. Grabbing her hand, he walked back into the house and went straight to the kitchen.
 

Standing behind him, she heard him call out to his former mother-in-law, “Marge. May I—”, he stopped when she nudged him in the back. “May we have a word with you?”
 

Wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, she turned to Cooper with a smile. Once she saw Faith standing next to him, her smile dropped. Moving to stand beside Cooper, Faith grabbed his hand in hers and looked up at him.
 

“What’s up, Cooper? Why do you and Faith both need to speak with me?” Her face held a note of confusion.
 

“Can you excuse us, Aunt Olivia?” Watching the other woman leave after giving them a smile and a thumbs up, Cooper turned back to Marge before stepping into the room, bringing Faith along with him. “Listen, I know it’s hard for you to understand, but Faith isn’t going anywhere. You understand that, right? Continuously bringing up Heather is not going to make me stop loving her. She’s here because I want her here. I would like you to accept her in mine and Madison’s life, but if you don’t, then it’s your loss. I’m still not giving her up,” he told the shocked woman.
 

Lips pursed, Marge glanced from Faith to Cooper and back again. If there was anyone unhappy about their relationship, it was Marge. “Cooper, what would Heather say about this?
You...you and this...woman. Dating? Are you serious? How can you have her around my granddaughter? You’re a married man!” Yelling that last bit, her voice carried into the other room.
 

Faith felt, more than saw, heads from the other room turn in their direction. The kitchen window was open and Eileen must have heard the commotion because she excused herself and came toward the house. Entering the back door, she was about to speak when Cooper raised his hand in a signal for her to hold.
 

“Marge, because you’re Heather’s mother and Madison’s grandmother, I will try to be respectful,” he said in a tightly controlled voice. Gripping his hand tighter, Faith tried to share some of her support for him through her touch. “Heather is gone.”
 

At the woman’s outraged gasp, Cooper’s face became a controlled mask of anger. “Are you shocked that I’ve accepted that your daughter, the mother of my child, and MY WIFE, is dead?” His outrage was growing each second. “I KNOW she’s dead, Marge, because I was the one who had to bury her. Now you stand there and question me? You question what Heather would think of me moving on with my life almost four years after she passed away? If you knew your daughter, you would know exactly how she would feel. I honored her during our marriage and after her death. I loved her for almost half of my life.” Pausing for a second, he looked down to Faith.
 

She mouthed, “I love you” and he smiled at her. She knew everything would be okay.
 

Bending his head down, he kissed her briefly on the lips, and whispered, “I love you, too.” Turning back to Marge who stood in the same spot, wringing her hands, “Faith is good for me. For Madison. She loves both of us fully and unconditionally. I will not give her up simply because you cannot accept that I want to move on. It’s time for me to continue living life. You can either accept it or not. Either way, I’m going to marry this woman someday. It will be up to you whether or not you have a place in our life or not.”
 

“What? Were you going to ask me?” Faith couldn’t help but ask the question, especially considering how casually he had mentioned it.
 

Looking away from the frowning Marge and his mother’s smiling face, he turned to Faith and pulled her into his arms, “Would your answer be anything other than yes,” he asked.
 

“Well, no. But, it still would have been nice for you to ask me,” she responded.
 

“How about this, we go upstairs and I can make it up to you?” Smiling down at her, she recognized the look on his face and almost forgot where they were.
 

Whispering up at him, “We can’t do that, Cooper. Your family is looking at us. Everyone will talk.”
 

“So what,” he said, all but dismissing everyone in the room. “Mom, can you keep an eye on Madison for us? We’re going to go upstairs and ...unpack.”
 

“Cooper!” Faith couldn’t help but exclaim as she hid her face in his chest, sure that her brown face had exploded in a ferocious blush.
 

“Sure, honey, you two take your time,” his mother yelled out to them from her perch by the door. “Faith, honey, remember what I said to you outside? I told you so,” she quipped.
 

Just as they were turning around and she was being pulled out of the room, she heard Marge say behind them, “Cooper, this is not…”
 

Stopping where he stood, but not turning around, he said, “Marge, you and Stan are only here because my family is committed to making sure our two sides remain connected.” Facing her for a brief moment, he continued, “I care for you a great deal, but stop questioning my relationship with Faith. I will honor my past, but my future is standing right here beside me.”
 

Faith smiled behind Cooper as he led her up to the room at the top of the stairs. Luckily most everyone else was outside or in the living room. But she was sure they would be the talk of the weekend. The old Faith would have been nervous and shy about what they were about to do, but not this new version—the new her was bold and willing to shame the Devil to get what she wanted. Walking further into the room, she sat on the bed as Cooper closed the door behind him. Pressing his back against the door, he put his hands inside his pockets and smirked.
 

“What are you standing there smirking for?” Taking off her shoes, she looked at him standing there and licked her lips. Damn, her man was so fucking sexy. To imagine, all those months ago, she had been feeling dejected, alone, and unloved. Not anymore. Things had changed so much.
 

“I’m looking at the woman I love. My future. Why shouldn’t I be happy?” Pushing away from the door, he began unbuttoning his shirt. “Now, as I said, I need to make sure that I show you again, in no uncertain terms, just how much I love you. Which means, I need you to get naked. Because right now, all I need is to be inside of you.”
 

Looking at him as he continued undressing in front of her, she didn’t say a word. Lifting her hands to her blouse, she let her actions speak for her. Within seconds, she was fully unclothed and lying back on the bed. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
 

“Mommy Faith, it’s time to wake up,” Madison’s soft voice pulled at Faith as she woke up from a deep slumber.
 

“Hey, sweetheart. Good morning,” she said as she sat up in bed. Squinting her eyes at the bright light coming through the room, Faith turned to look at the clock and noted the time. Seeing that it was almost nine-thirty in the morning, she moved quickly to untangle herself from the bed covers. “Oh no, not today,” she exclaimed. Standing up quickly, she looked down at Madison, “You’re already dressed, honey? Um, where’s your daddy?”
 

Hopping up on the bed in front of Faith, Madison swung her feet as she responded, “He’s downstairs with Mimi and Papi. Mimi’s cooking breakfast for everyone. Said she had energy to burn. How do you burn energy, Mommy Faith?”
 

“Um…” Faith was still trying to force her brain to wake up.
 

Not waiting for her to answer, Madison continued, “Dad said I needed to let you sleep, but I couldn’t wait.”
 

Trying not to grumble out loud when she heard that Stan and Marge were already here, Faith forced a smile, “Oh, that’s good, honey” she responded distractedly. “How about this? Give me a big morning hug and then go on back downstairs. Tell daddy that I’ll be down in a bit. Can you do that for me?”
 

“Okay, but don’t tell dad I woke you up, okay?”
 

“I won’t, sweetheart. Now go on downstairs. Make sure you eat your breakfast and drink your milk. Got it?” She said while standing at the large walk-in closet and pulling out some clothes for the day.
 

“Got it,” Madison responded as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
 

Alone in the room, Faith sighed deeply as she thought about their houseguests. She knew this day would come. Six months ago, almost one-year to the day after meeting, she and Cooper had gotten married. It had been the most beautiful ceremony she could have ever imagined. Having pictured her dream wedding many times before, the real thing had come pretty damn close.
 

The weekend with Cooper’s family had turned out to be everything she had hoped it would be. After putting his foot down with Marge, they had settled into simply enjoying the days and nights with his family. Practically everyone had welcomed Faith into the fold, except for Marge, but Faith had not been bothered and she did not allow that to steal her happiness for one second. Never once during that long weekend had she felt unwelcome or out of place. Even Stan had been nice to her, going out of his way to respect her place in Cooper’s life, which she appreciated.
 

They had been home for two weeks when Cooper had surprised her one night. Sitting in their favorite restaurant in Arlington, VA, Faith had just returned from visiting the ladies room and grabbed her napkin to place it on her lap. Right there in front of her, in the middle of the
empty place setting, was a black velvet box with the top open. Resting inside was a beautiful princess cut diamond in a platinum gold setting. Her mouth fell open in shock and her hand came up to cover her mouth, but not soon enough to hide the loud gasp that escaped. Feeling a movement by her side, she looked over to see Cooper on bended knee.
 

“Faith, finding you has made me whole again. The love you give to me, and to Madison, can never be replaced. I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life. I want to argue with you, laugh with you, and make love to you every night, morning, and sometimes in the afternoon,” he said with a smile. Laughter could be heard from patrons around the room who made no attempts to hide that they were eavesdropping. “Marry me, Faith. Be mine, for now and for always.”
 

Tears fell unchecked from her face as she saw the love she felt for Cooper reflected back at her. There was no other answer, “Yes. Yes, Cooper, I’ll marry you.”
 

Sighing as she thought about her blissful, and sometimes hectic life with Cooper, she was so pleased with how life had turned out for her. While she was ready for whatever happened downstairs, she was still on edge about Marge and Stan staying at the house. No matter what Faith had done or how many overtures she made, Marge had never seemed to warm up to her. Faith knew she thought that her daughter would be forgotten or hidden away, and that wasn’t something she could help her with. That was, until a few months ago. She wasn’t quite sure what happened, but one day out of the blue, Marge had called. Instead of asking to speak with Madison, like usual, she had asked to speak with Faith.