To Stoley for being such a great friend and a wonderful webmaster, to Kat for her friendship and proofreading prowess and to AJ for being the best sis a person could ever have…I thank you all!

Comments are happily accepted at Cruise1313@aol.com.

Part VIII

"Where's our boy dad?" Rayne asked proudly scanning the nursery for her nephew.

"He's the one with all of the nurses around him over there." He answered smiling equally as proud glancing at his daughter and then back to the baby.

"He's a Donnovan alright, with all the women coddling him!" Lark replied with a laugh shared by everyone and a kiss planted firmly on her cheek by her lover.

"Can we help it if the women love us?" Rayne cockily asked and chuckled receiving a warning glare from her lover who glanced up over her shoulder at Rayne. "But the only one I want to love me is you." Rayne reaffirmed with a sexy smile and captured the pouting lips before her.

"That's better my dear." Lark answered chuckling gladly accepting the kiss offered and looked back to the nursery.

"He is so adorable! What did Holly and Shay decide to name him?" Jayce asked proudly.

"Uhmmm...oh, there it is." Maria answered scanning the card with the baby's name. "It says Matthew Shayan Donnovan." She answered reading the card.

"Very cool name...I love it!" Jayce answered excitedly and looked at his nephew Cole who looked at the newborns in the nursery. "What do you think of your brother?" He asked proudly looking into his curious nephew's face for his answer.

"I'm looking forward to pushing my baby brother around like Brandon does to me!" He answered with a laugh along with everyone else.

"Holly's probably gritting her teeth knowing she's going to have three very mischievous boys in her house. I know she was hoping for a girl to level the household out." Lark answered with a laugh.

"Well...it seems like the first baby girl is going to have to come from the next in line...Rayne?...Lark?" Maria asked with a hopeful smile looking at her two stunned daughters and seriously putting them on the spot.

Lark glanced up at Rayne wondering what to say and Rayne decided to respond. "We'll think about it Mom and get back to you on that one." Rayne answered sarcastically and flashed a mischievous smile her way.

"Don't wait too long dear…I hear the biological clock ticking!" Maria quipped with a laugh shared by everyone else.

Lark breathed a sigh of relief when Rayne answered the question...well, stalled the answer and bought them some time to discuss their plan with both of Rayne's brothers before they made an announcement to the whole family. "That was a close one huh?" Rayne whispered in Lark's ear receiving a nod in acknowledgement.

Lark turned in Rayne's arms and looked deeply into the blue eyes she loved so much. "What do you say to going home?" She asked smiling her green eyes twinkling in the light.

"Lead the way." Rayne answered sexily and kissed her lover firmly.

Rayne broke the kiss and winked at Lark before turning to her parents. "We're going to head home and come back to see Holly, Shay and Matthew tomorrow. We'll take the boys to give Holly's parents a much needed rest." Rayne informed them with a chuckle looking at her two precocious nephews knowing what a handful they can be.

"Okay honey... we're going to stay for awhile. Have the driver drop you off and return to pick us up later." Rayne's father answered with a smile.

"Sounds good... Bye!" Rayne answered smiling and slipping her hand into Lark's. "Come on boys...let's go see what kind of damage Auntie Lark did to my lawn mower." Rayne teasingly laughed watching the boys run from their respective spots to join them walking down the hall and receiving a scrunched up face look from Lark regarding the comment.

"You mean to tell me Auntie Lark damaged your lawn mower and is still alive?" Brandon asked sarcastically and astonishingly pointing at his Aunt.

"Hey, Mister!...I'm seriously going to have to talk to your parents about you hanging around your incorrigible Aunt so much." Lark answered with a chuckle.

"It won't work Lark...it's in the blood. We inherited it from our mother." Jayce quipped catching up to the group sharing a laugh with everyone from his comment. "I'll help you to the limo with the boys." He answered with a smile propping Cole up on his shoulders much to his nephew's delight.

"Are you ready for these two little monsters at our house?" Rayne asked smiling regarding her shorter lover who walked closely beside her.

"Most definitely...how about you?" She answered excitedly flashing a wondrous smile to her tall lover.

"I'm just glad to finally be going home." Rayne answered happily and relieved that her life was back to the way it should be…with Lark a huge part of it.

"I am too...it's been very lonely in our home without you there." Lark stopped and kissed Rayne to let her know just how much she missed her.

Rayne broke the kiss her small smile growing in intensity when Lark's green eyes opened and peered into her own. "You'll never be lonely again baby." She answered confidently and led her lover towards the hospital doors firmly clutching her hand.

Jayce held the door to the limo open for his nephews to climb in stopping Lark and Rayne before they entered and closed the door so the boy's wouldn't hear his conversation. "Listen...if you two are interested in having a baby I'd be more than happy to be the donor if you'd allow me to. Well, assuming Lark is going to have the baby." Jayce seriously and sincerely offered firmly staring at the pair to let them know he was dead serious.

Lark smiled happily and looked at Rayne who did the same then looked back at her brother. "Funny you should offer little brother because we intended to ask you if you would and yes, Lark is the one who wants to have our baby." Rayne answered rubbing Lark's back and lovingly glancing at her lover before looking back to her brother. "We were sort of waiting for the right time." Rayne answered with a grateful smile that her brother would be so thoughtful to offer. She knew he would be more than willing to do it for them but she was glad he took it upon himself to offer…it meant a lot to her that he would do it without being asked to.

"Awesome!...I'm glad you considered me for the donor." He answered happily and proudly.

"Well...we know that it's probably out of the question for Shay to be the donor but, just the same we will ask him so he doesn't feel left out. Also, let's keep this a secret until we can announce it with everyone together." Rayne informed her brother.

"That's cool...he'll appreciate that and the secret is safe with me. Just let me know what I need to do to help in any way." Jayce offered smiling.

"You are such a sweetheart...thank you." Lark answered smiling uncontrollably and holding his face in her hands before kissing his cheek and hugging him.

Rayne laughed and teasingly replied, "Jayce...you're blushing!"

He broke the hug embarrassed and looked down. "Well...I can't help it! You know that if Lark wouldn't have misguided and lost her heart to you I would have captured her heart!" He teased with a mischievous grin.

Lark was now blushing and chuckled pinching Jayce's cheek. "Sorry honey...you're just on the wrong team."

They all laughed and Rayne put her hand on her brother's cheek and kissed him. "Thanks...it means a lot to the both of us that you offered...it really does…I love you." She answered honestly and gratefully patting his cheek and flashing a wink before ducking into the limo.

"Bye." Lark answered smiling happily and climbed in behind her lover watching Jayce close the door and wave goodbye. Lark slid her hand on Rayne's muscular leg and felt her lace her long fingers around her own and looked at her. "Well...that was a lot easier than I thought." Lark answered relieved.

"Yep...we got the awkwardness out of the way in a hurry." Rayne answered chuckling.

"Auntie Rayne can we go fishing when we get to your house?" Brandon asked in curious wonderment.

"No sweetheart...not today. Maybe tomorrow...okay?" She answered smiling and looking at her nephew checking his seat belt. "Cole are you strapped in?" Rayne asked looking over Brandon towards his younger brother.

"Yep...buckled in...see." He answered showing her his seat belt was firmly latched.

"Okay...perfect." Rayne answered confirming he was safely strapped in to his seat.

"You are so protective aren't you?" Lark asked with a proud smile looking at her lover who turned to her.

"It's in my nature babe." Rayne answered with a sexy smile and a wink.

"Our baby is going to have it rough...I can already tell that our child won't have a skinned knee with you around or a date until she's at least 18." Lark teasingly laughed.

"That's not true...they can have one and only one skinned knee with me around. Our son or daughter won't be dating until they're 30…by the way!" Rayne teasingly laughed.

After a short drive Rayne looked up and recognized the familiar neighborhood which sent her heart racing. It was her neighborhood...she was close to home. She could smell the ocean and had a nervous excitement about her. She couldn't wait to get there and feel all the familiarity of the house, the wondrous smell of Lark's favorite air freshener that filled the house…just to feel being home again. Rayne could smell it already...Vanilla Bean...Lark loved to have the house filled with the delicious aroma and she was looking forward to sleeping in her own bed...with the love of her life once again.

"You okay?" Lark asked worriedly noting the far off gaze her lover exhibited.

"Huh?...oh, yeah...I was just thinking about how good it is to finally be home." Rayne stammered her trance broken and smiled. She glanced back up and watched as the limo pulled into the long driveway approaching the very large home they shared. She smiled happily at the sight and felt Lark squeeze her hand then placed a kiss on it.

The driver parked and the boys immediately jumped out of the limo and headed for the front door. Rayne held her hand out for Lark to exit the limo and sucked in a deep breath of fresh ocean air and smiled happily when her lover kissed her on the cheek. The driver handed Rayne their bags and the pair headed hand in hand to their home. Rayne stepped into their house and was greeted by the familiar scent she loved so much and looked around the house, noting...it looked the same as it did the day she left. Nothing had changed…just as Lark had informed her.

Her nervous excitement subsided as she felt completely secure in her home once she entered. She laughed when she saw Lark attempting to regulate…unsuccessfully, the amount of cookie's the boys raided from the cookie jar and headed down the hall towards their bedroom. It felt as though time slowed down and her heart raced for some reason...her breathing becoming labored as she approached their bedroom door. Her hand shook as it reached for the doorknob and she had a flashback to that fateful day when she came home unexpectedly and found Lark in bed with another woman. Rayne wasn't sure why she was having that vision and felt a comforting hand on her back.

She looked over her shoulder and stared into a sea of warm green. "Honey...this is not our bedroom. Remember I told you I made one change? That was the change. Here's our room." Lark comfortingly assured her nervous lover and slipped her hand into Rayne's leading her to their new bedroom directly across the hall which previously was a guest bedroom.

Rayne inhaled and exhaled deeply feeling her racing heart begin to calm. "I'm not sure why I had that feeling...it was so freaking weird." Rayne replied softly in disbelief and slightly embarrassed entering the spacious bedroom that Lark led her into.

Lark stood before her dark lover and wrapped her arms around her waist looking up into her stormy blue eyes. "I'm sorry...I should have told you but I was distracted by the boys. Sometimes we suppress certain memories that are triggered by certain things…maybe that's why you felt that way. Are you feeling better?" Lark asked worriedly and slowly ran her fingers through Rayne's dark hair.

"Yeah...I guess, you're right. I'm better now...thanks." Rayne answered with a slight smile and hugged her shorter lover.

Lark broke the comforting hug and looked up at Rayne. "Are you sure?" She asked to reconfirm.

"Yeah...I'm fine babe." Rayne reassured her with a smile and leaned down kissing her blonde lover. She broke the hug and looked around the room. "Wow...I didn't realize the guest bedroom was so big." Rayne replied in awe.

"Well, that's because the only time we ever came in here was in the heat of passion and in the dark!" Lark answered with a devilish grin and a wink.

Rayne smiled mischievously. "Oh, yeah...I guess so. Hey, what's this?" Rayne asked and walked over to a very large covered package.

"I have no idea." Lark answered bewildered and curiously approached the package, as did Rayne. "Jimmy must know what it is." Lark answered looking the package over and referring to the caretaker of their home.

Rayne found a note on the package and opened it. "It's from Sal...he sent this over as a thank you for us doing the photo shoot and he says he thought we would love this for our home." Rayne answered reading the note and shrugging her shoulders when she looked at her bewildered lover.

"Well...let's check it out!" Lark replied with wondrous curiosity and began to tear the brown paper off the parcel.

"Wow!...that is out there!" Rayne exclaimed completely astonished when the contents of the package were revealed and rested her hands on her hips in disbelief looking at the picture before her.

"It's absolutely gorgeous!...I love it!" Lark exclaimed exuberantly and tore the remaining paper off the large picture. "This is one of my favorite pictures of us from the photo shoot Rayne." Lark replied smiling adoringly and looking at the picture of the pair with Rayne lying prone and Lark on top of her sexy lover...both naked.

"Yeah...it's a great picture, but it's way to big of me." Rayne stammered embarrassed by herself in the picture and wrapped her arms around Lark who stood in front of her still admiring the picture.

"No...it's perfect of you. I love how those beautiful blue eyes of yours just jump out and scream sexy!" Lark answered with a chuckle and placed her hands on Rayne's that rested around her waist.

"They scream...I'm so embarrassed!" Rayne drawled laughing and joined by Lark. "No, they scream...I love you Lark." Rayne answered softly leaning down and kissing her lover on the cheek.

"Yes, they do and that's why I want the picture to go on that wall so, when I wake up every morning I look into them and see that." Lark answered admiringly and pointing to the place she wants the picture mounted on the wall facing their large king sized bed.

Rayne turned Lark around in her arms and smiled when her lover wrapped her arms tightly around her neck. "Now, sweets...you don't need that picture up on the wall to see that when you will have the real thing staring at you live and in person." She answered sexily flashing a mischievous grin and capturing the inviting lips before her.

"Yes...that is so true...but, I still love the picture and that's where I want it." Lark answered adamantly through her kiss before deepening it.

"Well...whatever my little princess wants…she gets and I always surrender to your whims." Rayne sexily teased and briefly kissed Lark again.

"Oh, I have a surprise for you my love! Come with me my darling!" Lark replied excitedly dragging her lover towards their old bedroom and stopped at the door.

"I knew this room would be a problem for you if you ever decided to return so, I put your anniversary present in here hoping that one day you would come home for good and claim it." Lark explained rubbing Rayne's arms lovingly.

"You are such an optimist aren't you?...You just knew we would one day be joined again didn't you?" Rayne questioned in amazement.

"Yes, how could I not?...I mean, we're soul mates and I truly believed in my heart that our souls would one day be as one again in this life time. Didn't you?" Lark answered confidently and looked into Rayne's blue eyes for her answer.

"Honey...I was so full of anger and pain that I wasn't as confident as you. I hoped we would be back together but, I was so full of hate that I couldn't see past anything else." Rayne answered sincerely and regretfully stroking Lark's cheek before kissing her. "Can you forgive me?"

"I already have and you know that...I understand how you felt. We're past that now." Lark answered and kissed Rayne to confirm it. "Come on and see your present...you're going to love it." Lark answered exuberantly and led Rayne into the spacious room.

"Whoa!" Rayne exclaimed in awe and excitement looking around at the room which was now turned into a game room with a bar, big screen TV, Rayne's large sports memorabilia collection and a billiard table. "This is so awesome!" Rayne replied smiling and walked slowly towards the billiard table.

"I'm glad you like it. I bought the pool table for you as an anniversary present and with everything that happened I redecorated the room making it into a sports/game room." Lark explained and grabbed the sheet that covered the pool table. "You're going to love this." She replied with a sly grin and pulled the sheet off revealing Rayne's initials.…RD...entwined in very large red text on the black felt centered in the middle of the billiard table.

"That is freaking awesome honey!" Rayne excitedly answered with a large smile and hugged Lark. "Thanks...I love it!" She exclaimed and kissed Lark passionately letting her know just how much. "I can't wait for us to try it out." Rayne whispered through her kiss before deepening it sending Lark's passions soaring.

"Honey...you know I'm not a good pool player. I just like watching you play." Lark answered breaking the kiss and looking up into sexy inviting, loving blues.

"I wasn't talking about shooting pool Lark...I was talking about christening it by making mad passionate love to you on it." Rayne whispered seductively and wiggled her eyebrows capturing the partially parted lips before her.

"I look forward to it!" Lark answered sensually and deepened the kiss reveling in the fact that she was in the arms of such a devastatingly gorgeous woman…her desire for Rayne escalating by the minute as it always does from Rayne's touch or her kiss. Rayne's hands began to roam Lark's taut body wildly both hearts pounding and filled with desire for each other…their tongues seeking out one another in a desperate desire to meet.

Rayne and Lark quickly broke their kiss and stood up straight attempting to catch their labored breaths when they heard both Brandon and Cole shouting for them as they made their way down the hall. "Damn...forgot about them." Rayne whispered in a laugh shared by Lark who ran her fingers through her hair and straightened her shirt before the boys entered the room. "We're right here boys!" Rayne shouted lightly tracing circles on Lark's back when the boys entered the room.

"This is so awesome!" Brandon exclaimed excitedly and headed straight for the big screen TV and plopped his small body down on the black leather couch picking up the remote control. "Oh, yes!...Cole...come here! They have Sony play station!" He exuberantly exclaimed thoroughly excited by all the new electronic gadgets.

"No way!" Cole answered equally excited and ran over to join his brother in front of the TV.

Rayne and Lark both chuckled and looked at one another. "Well...they'll be busy for quite awhile. Looks like I won't get to whip your butt in our new football game on play station." Lark boasted cockily.

"Oh, really?...you whip my butt huh?" Rayne laughed in disbelief.

"Just you wait until our turn...I've been practicing!" Lark answered confidently smiling and led Rayne out of the room towards the kitchen.

"We'll see...we'll see." Rayne answered sarcastically and followed her lover.

"Yes, we will." Lark confidently teased sexily glancing over her shoulder at her tall lover and thoroughly happy by the fact that Rayne was back where she belonged…with her in their home.

Rayne and Lark spent the next hour unpacking and getting settled back into the house. Rayne felt a sense of well being, calm and a wonderful sense of being 'home' once again. Nothing had really changed since she left except the change in bedrooms but everything else remained the same including the exact way Rayne had left all her clothes in the closet. She chuckled at the fact that Lark was able to put her clothes back into the same order she liked them in considering the change in bedrooms...either that or she totally forgot how she had them arranged before.

'Nah, I'm too much of a creature of habit. I like my clothes in order.' Rayne thought scanning the closet and the way her warm weather clothes were to the far right, then dress clothes, then casual wear to the front…just as she liked them to be organized.

"Honey...I've got to take a call from a magazine for a phone interview. Elaine promised it wouldn't be anymore than 15 min. How about I have some Chinese food delivered and we eat it out on the beach?" Lark asked approaching her lover.

"Sure, sounds great to me and I'm sure the boys will dig eating out of the cartons of food." Rayne answered with a chuckle placing a fleeting kiss on Lark's lips. "I'll take them down to the beach and throw the football around with them so, you'll have some peace and quiet for your phone call." Rayne thoughtfully answered with a smile brushing an errant whisp of hair off Lark's forehead.

"Thanks...I appreciate it but, you know what? I really love hearing a child's laughter around here. I can't wait until we have our baby and hear the pitter patter of little feet all over our house and the adorable giggles only a child can make." Lark adoringly answered smiling ear to ear wrapping her arms tightly around Rayne.

"Me too baby...me too." Rayne smiled happily and winked before kissing her blonde lover and engulfing her in warm embrace. Rayne kissed Lark's head and broke the hug. "Go get your interview over with and I'll see you shortly." Rayne replied kissing Lark's lips briefly before leading her out of their bedroom.

"I'll miss you baby." Lark lovingly answered with a sexy smile.

"How could you not sweets?" Rayne cockily teased with a mischievous smile. "Come on boys...let's hit the beach!" Rayne shouted towards the game room.

"You are so damn cocky....but, I love it." Lark laughed and pinched Rayne's firm backside receiving a sexy smile and a chuckle from Rayne in return.

"Let's hit the beach!" Brandon excitedly replied coming to a screeching halt in front of his tall aunt followed close behind by his brother.

Rayne tousled his dark hair with a laugh. "Go on ahead of me and grab the football out of the garage." She replied watching the pair tear out of the house with both Lark and Rayne laughing at the excitement of the two boys. Rayne held Lark's hand who walked her to the door and kissed her tall lover before watching her exit through the back door thoroughly enjoying the sexy sight of her lover confidently striding out to the backyard reacquainting herself with her home.

The phone rang and Lark picked up for the conference call with her agent Elaine and the magazine reporter. She was glad Elaine was on the line as she could have some semblance of order with the interview and could make sure it was ended at the said time and effectively halting any questions Lark wasn't comfortable answering.

Rayne walked down the steps of the large deck overlooking the large pool and backyard with the Atlantic Ocean serving as a beautiful back drop and took in the fresh scent of the ocean air. "Aah...Auntie Rayne." Cole cautiously approached.

Rayne slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her small nephew. "What's up little dude?" She answered with a chuckle before becoming worried by the look of concern in her nephew's face.

"Brandon told me to get you. He said you should come and look at something in the garage."

"Okay...is it something bad?" Rayne asked worriedly and followed him.

Cole looked up at Rayne and attempted to flash a smile not to worry his tense aunt and reluctantly replied, "you're going to have to see for yourself." He answered as the pair walked into the garage.

"Brandon...what's going on?" Rayne asked in an irritated tone entering the garage and standing before him.

"There's something you should see but, you should be sitting down for this one." He answered in all seriousness and pointed at the lawn chair he had placed there for his aunt and motioned for her to sit down.

Rayne sat in the chair wondering just what in the hell the two little buggers had done in the garage to be acting so indifferently. "Okay...so, what's up?" She asked settling into the chair and felt Brandon's hand on her shoulder who stood behind her. He looked at Cole who approached the covered object in front of their Aunt. "Now, just remember how much you love Auntie Lark and try not to be too mad okay?" Brandon informed his Aunt and nodded for Cole to remove the covering which he did much to Rayne's dismay when she saw what was before her.

"I'm going to kill her!" Rayne angrily answered looking over the extremely damaged lawn mower before her.

"Now, Auntie Rayne...you can't do that to Auntie Lark." Cole answered placing his hand on his Aunt's other shoulder to calm her down.

"Why not?" Rayne answered looking at him. "Do you see what she has done to my mower?"

"Well...you have a point but, maybe killing her is a little too much. She can't help it if she's a princess and doesn't know how to drive a lawn mower. Besides, I'm sure we can fix it and it make the mower look brand new." He answered confidently and smiled to ease his Aunt's dismay.

"Okay...you're right but something must be done to her as a pay back." Rayne answered teasingly and looked over the lawn mower which was far more damaged than Lark let on. She circled around the lawn mower shaking her head in disbelief at the damage it had sustained as Brandon sidled up to her.

"This definitely can't be fixed with duct tape." He answered with a chuckle.

"Well, thanks for informing me of that wise guy!" Rayne answered sarcastically looking down at him as she caught Lark approaching out of the corner of her eye and she exited the garage with a purpose.

Lark froze when she saw Rayne and the serious look on her lover's face when she exited the garage knowing she had seen the damage to the lawn mower. 'Oh, shit...I'm in trouble now!' Lark nervously thought with the palms of her hands becoming clammy from her anxiety and tried to figure out what the best option for her would be right at that moment. 'Should I face the music or make a run for it?' She asked herself watching her lover intently approach her…not at all happy. 'Make a run for it!' Lark told herself and turned on her heels to run away but, was captured before she could even make a break for it.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rayne replied tightening her grip on Lark.

"Just remember how much you love me honey!" Lark pleaded and tried in vain to squirm free from the tight grip her lover had on her.

"Oh, I remember and that's why I'm not going to kill you but, I will get you back for destroying my lawn mower!" Rayne answered picking Lark up and throwing her over her shoulder and heading towards the pool.

"No!…Rayne…don't you dare!" Lark protested and vehemently struggled to break free from her captor.

"Lark…don't fight it…just except your fate…you're gonna get wet!…no, make that drenched!" Rayne answered with a devilish laugh drawing closer to the pool.

"Hey, boys! Help me!" Lark pleaded desperately watching the boys follow the pair who giggled incessantly.

"Sorry…no can do." Brandon answered nonchalantly stuffing his hands in his pockets watching the pair get ever so closely to the pool.

"I can't believe it…you're going to take her side in this?" Lark asked in disbelief.

"Well…yeah, she's bigger than we are and no way are we getting on her bad side." Brandon answered sharing a laugh with his brother.

"I'm bigger than you too!" Lark shouted and felt Rayne let her go. "Rayne!" She screamed and met the ice cold water stunning her and momentarily taking her breath away. Lark scrambled to the surface of the water seriously pissed off...no, livid is more like it.

Rayne saw the evil glimmer in Lark's eye when her head exited the water and stared her down. "Don't even give me that look Miss. Thing…you deserved it!" Rayne answered with a sly grin resting her hands on both hips.

"I can't believe you did that Rayne!" Lark answered angrily swimming to the steps. "I can't believe you two boys didn't help me either and to think Christmas is just around the corner! Well, I guess I'll just have to take your presents back. It's a shame too because I know how much you two were going to love your presents." Lark informed the boys whose eyes grew very large with regret.

"Aah…here let us get you a towel Auntie Lark." Cole stammered running towards the poolside cupboard containing towels.

"Here let me help you out of the pool." Brandon replied rushing over and holding his hand out to help Lark.

"Oh, I see how you're both so helpful now…where were the both of you two minutes ago?" Lark answered sarcastically and squeezed the excess water out of her shirt gladly excepting the offered towel from Cole.

"You two are a couple of brown nosers! Unbelievable!" Rayne answered in disbelief shaking her head at her nephews' desertion.

"Hey, if you gave great presents like Auntie Lark we'd suck up to you too!" Brandon teased back helping Lark towel off.

"I say we pounce on that incorrigible Aunt of yours…what do you two say?" Lark whispered to the boys who nonchalantly glanced at Rayne then back to their soaking wet Aunt.

"We say the same as you Auntie." Cole answered with a familiar sly grin.

"Let's all get her then!" Lark answered and all three sprinted towards the unsuspecting Rayne.

"Whoa!" Rayne replied and turned to run but, was taken down by the three instigators and began to laugh.

"Hello honey!" Lark laughed and rubbed her wet body all over her tall lover who laughed harder.

"Hey, you little wet rat and you little brown nosers!" Rayne laughed enjoying the fact that Lark was laying on her…a place she loved having her and tickled her nephews who laughed harder.

"Miss. Morgan!" A voice called out.

Lark looked up towards the house and saw the new housekeeper Marcia standing on the back deck waving to her. "Yes?" Lark asked looking at her.

"The food has been delivered. Would you like me to bring it down to you there?" She shouted back.

"Do you still want to eat it down here?" Lark asked looking down at Rayne.

"Yeah, sure…it might be better seeing as how you're soaking wet and we wouldn't want to have to file an insurance claim for flood damage." Rayne answered with a laugh.

"Hardy har har!" Lark answered sarcastically and looked up at her new housekeeper that Elaine hired while they were on vacation. "Yes, please…we will eat down here by the pool. Also, could you bring me a robe so I can get out of these wet clothes please?" Lark asked pleasantly with everyone climbing off of Rayne before they all sat up.

"Ooh, can I watch you undress?" Rayne sexily whispered in Lark's ear flashing a mischievous smile while wiggling her dark eyebrows suggestively.

"If you're a good girl and eat all your supper I'll consider it!" Lark teased and kissed Rayne's cheek.

The four were devouring their Chinese food and making idle chit chat as Rayne changed the subject to a more serious conversation. "Lark…what do you say to us having our commitment ceremony the Saturday after Thanksgiving?" Rayne asked hesitantly and looked at Lark.

"You mean two days after Thanksgiving?" Lark asked surprised. "What's the rush? We won't have time to get everything prepared by then."

"Lark…I think we've waited long enough for this and I would really rather not make it a huge affair…just us, a few close friends and our families. How is that with you?" Rayne asked delicately hoping the plans would be fine with Lark and slipped her hand on Lark's.

Lark smiled at the thought of a simple, romantic ceremony shared only with the favorite people in their lives and couldn't think of a better way of expressing their love for one another than that way. "I love the idea baby…let's do it." She answered ecstatically and kissed Rayne's cheek. "I'll call Elaine and give her a list of people we want there as well as the menu for our special occasion tomorrow."

"Sounds good…just tell her that it's a post Thanksgiving party so, we won't have the friggin media crawling all over the place and ruining everything." Rayne answered sarcastically and grabbed a box of food looking for something else to nibble on.

"No problem…she's very diplomatic with things like that so, it won't be a problem. Let's just keep it from the family until the last minute and that way nothing will be leaked out accidentally to the press." Lark answered reassuringly and smiled happily at the thought of committing herself to Rayne in front of their close friends and family.

"Hey! Who ate all of my spare ribs?" Rayne teasingly asked looking into the empty box and then towards her nephews.

Brandon burped under his breath and looked down at his plate containing the eaten spare ribs and looked back up at Rayne. "Sorry…you snooze you lose." He answered with a laugh joined in by Cole and a snicker from Lark.

"Oh, really?" Rayne asked sarcastically. "Well, I guess that means that we don't have to share any of our mint chocolate chip ice cream with them now do we Lark?" Rayne teasingly asked and flashed her lover a mischievous grin.

"Nope…it's all ours honey."

"Oh, Auntie Rayne…please say you'll share the ice cream with us? I'll do anything…I'll clean up the dishes from dinner?" Brandon pleaded flashing his Aunt an innocent look hoping she would relent and share the ice cream.

"You are one serious suck up!" Rayne answered with a laugh looking down at her nephew who was kneeling by her side.

"You taught me well master…now, back to the ice cream. Can we have some?" He sarcastically answered.

Rayne and Lark both laughed at his comment. "I think you're mistaking me for that suck up Uncle of yours…Jayce." Rayne teased and sipped her soda.

"If I remember correctly you were sucking up for something recently when we were in Greece. Now, what was that you wanted?" Lark playfully stated and rubbed her chin pretending to be thinking hard about what it was that Rayne wanted.

"Very funny…Okay…I'll share my ice cream with you both as long as you promise not to eat it all!" Rayne answered with a laugh.

"We promise!" Brandon and Cole both answered excitedly.

"Let's get this stuff cleaned up then." Lark responded and stood up as did Rayne along with Cole. They cleaned up their dinner mess and headed off towards the house.

Rayne and Lark spent the next week getting settled back into their normal routines and taking care of the boys. Rayne informed her boss that she would no longer be accepting covert assignments much to his dismay but, agreed to a change in jobs for Rayne. He didn't want to lose his top agent and when she gave him the ultimatum of giving her a change in assignments or she would retire he relented. He informed her that her new assignment would be dealing with extradition orders which Rayne gladly accepted as it was a desk job and she could be closer to Lark.

Lark had began shooting her latest film and loved having Rayne unexpectedly stop by the set occasionally when she was finished with work early. It was something Rayne had rarely ever had time to do before and Lark welcomed the change gladly as it gave her more time to spend with her sexy lover. They met with Lark's Gynecologist to discuss their options regarding the planned pregnancy and decided to pour over the information Dr. Garzon gave them regarding Artificial Insemination and the ways they could successfully conceive a child together.

Thanksgiving was to be spent at Holly and Shay's house as it was more convenient with Matthew finally returning home after staying in the hospital for close to a week to insure no other medical complications from him being born pre-maturely. Holly and Shay were informed he was perfectly healthy other than needing to gain a little more weight. The doctors wanted to take precautionary measures with him to make sure that he was able to gain the so desired weight and delayed his discharge from the hospital until they felt confident he was safe to go home.

Lark and Rayne had discussed their plans with one another to make the announcement to their families at dinner of the commitment ceremony plans. They both were excited to fill their families in on their joyous plans and hoped they would all be as receptive to their plans as they hoped they would be. Rayne and Lark had all the arrangements made for the ceremony and all they needed was for the family's to be there to share in their wondrous day.

They arrived at Holly's and were greeted happily by Holly and Lark's parents as well as by Rayne's parents. Lark, Rayne and Holly's parents all shared holiday's together. The Morgan's and Donnovan's became very good friends when their daughters began to date. They consider everyone family and love spending the holiday's together. Everyone took their respective seats at the very large table as Rayne stood before her family with her glass raised before her in motion for a toast. "I aah…wanted to say a little something." She bashfully replied flashing a shy smile looking at everyone who intently stared at her waiting for her response. "I have a lot to be grateful and very thankful for this Thanksgiving. I'm thankful to have such a wonderful and loving family as well as extended family members." Rayne announced with an appreciative smile looking at Holly and Lark's parents acknowledging them all with a smile and a tip of her glass. "It's very unusual to have such loving and understanding people who have accepted mine and Lark's relationship as you all do and we thank you." Rayne replied smiling and put her hand on Lark's back who smiled and winked looking up at her tall lover.

"Most importantly, I'm extremely grateful to have a second chance to share my life with the woman who captured my heart from the moment I first laid eyes on her and the only one I could ever love so completely." Rayne professed sincerely and smiled looking into Lark's watery green eyes. "I can promise we will need no other chances from now on as I'm never allowing you out of my life again." Rayne smiled lovingly at Lark and looked at her family to emphasize her point grasping Lark's hand and pulling her up next to her. "I've asked Lark to be my partner for all of eternity and she's accepted my offer of my heart forever." Rayne answered smiling happily and wrapped her arm around Lark's waist who leaned against her lover with an equally ecstatic smile.

"That's wonderful!" Maria exclaimed followed by everyone else's accolades.

"When will the ceremony be?" Mrs. Morgan asked excitedly.

Rayne and Lark both smiled mischievously and looked at one another before looking back at their families. "This weekend, on Saturday…we wanted it to be a surprise and to be amongst family without the media discovering what we have planned and ruining our joyous day. So, that's why it's on such short notice." Lark informed everyone with a blissful smile enjoying the feeling of Rayne lightly rubbing her back.

"Oh, that's fabulous!" Holly exclaimed happily.

"Congratulations!" Shay exclaimed equally excited.

"We won't have time for proper gifts." Holly's parents replied regretfully.

"Don't sweat it…we have everything we need…each other." Lark answered lovingly her smile growing in intensity and leaned up to kiss Rayne's cheek.

"Well…we've got a lot of planning to do in such a short time!" Maria announced worriedly.

"No!…we've got our own plans for the commitment ceremony!" Lark answered sharply to fend off any other discussion regarding their special day noticing the hurtful looks she was receiving from their family members. 'Damn…I think I just hurt some feelings. I knew this would happen.' Lark thought regretfully and nervously. 'But, it is our day and the way we have planned it is the way it's going to be!' Lark thought adamantly.

Continued in Part IX.

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