Caleb pulled up to the emergency room and swallowed hard. Eleanora called him and said they were on their way to the hospital and that if he still wanted a chance with her daughter, he better show up.

He walked up to the counter. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Maria Delsante."

"And you are?"

"Caleb Jackson, her fiancée."

"Go inside the doors. She's in room 3."

"Thank you."

That was easier than he'd expected. He thought that he'd have a small fight on his hands to see her, but they let him right in. Why would Maria need to go to the hospital? The thought didn't sit well with him. Taking a deep breath, he wandered towards her room. Inside, he could hear her and her mom talking.

"Why would you call him?" he heard her screech.

"Because you weren't going to."

"I told you why!"

"Look hun, I'm not thrilled about how you ended up in this position, but you love him. I can tell by the look in your eyes and that type of love doesn't come around very often, and I wasn't about to let you be miserable the rest of your life."

"But he deserves..."

"Forget about what you think he deserves. Do you love him?"

Caleb paused, waiting for her answer before he intruded.

"Yes, damn it."

"Hey, watch that mouth!' her mother scolded.

"Don't treat me like a kid."

"Then don't act like one," her mother rebuttled. "Sweetheart, look. When I was your age, I fell in love with someone, but I let him get away because my family didn't like him. And I have always wondered what our lives would have been like had I not given in so easily. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love your Father and wouldn't change my life for anything, but you only live once dear. If you love him, don't give up without a fight."

Caleb smiled. He didn't exactly expect her mother to be fighting for his cause, but he'd take it. In his pocket sat the ring he'd given her. He decided to bring it with him to the hospital, just in case she decided to take him back. And now more than ever, he was optimistic that he'd actually be able to slip it back on her finger.

He knocked on the glass to announce his presence from behind the curtain. "Hello?" he called. "Can I come in?"

Maria groaned. "Fine."

Her mother squeezed her hand. "Remember what I said. I'm going to go get a drink and give you two time to talk."

"But—" she protested.

"You'll be fine."

He looked down at his lover, his heart, his future wife. She was pale and looked so fragile lying there, covered in a hospital blanket. "Are you okay?"

"That depends on your definition of okay," she said flatly. "Why are you here?"

"Your mother called me."

"I know that, but why? Don't you have a family to take care of?"

"Sweetheart, you're my family."

She looked away. "You have a child, Caleb, and her mother. You don't need me."

He sat down on the bed beside her, running his finger down her bare arm. "I'm always going to need you."

Keep your resolve, girl! She wasn't going to let him melt her heart so easily. She had to be tough for his sake. One day, he was going to regret choosing her over Karen. "I know you think you do, but you have everything you need with them."

"You mean with the women who is keeping my child from me, and her father who is threatening me with a lawsuit? I assure you any love I had for her is gone. You are my love. My everything. And I'm going to be a pest by your side until you believe me."

"Why me?"

He shifted his weight, and rested his hands on the bed on either side of her, leaning down slightly. "Don't you feel it? That energy connecting us together from the very first day we met. The one that made you give yourself to me in the elevator?"

Adrenaline started pumping through her veins. Oh she knew the feeling all too well. It was the same force that made her want to reach out for him, but she kept her hands still on the bed. She had to resist the urge to touch him.

"Tell me you don't feel it, and I'll leave you alone."

Maria groaned. There was no way she could lie to him. Every nerve in her body came alive when he was in the same room, and despite her current predicament that brought her to the hospital, her parts were making her underwear wet again.

"You know I do."

"Then trust me when I say that you are the only woman I want."

"You might not want me after you hear what I have to say," she said sadly.

"That's not going to happen."

"We might be losing our baby."

"Ba-baby?" He glanced down at her belly, a range of emotions racing through his eyes. "You're pregnant."

Maria nodded and then lowered her head, fighting back the tears that sought to make their way to the surface.

"Is that why you're here? Is something wrong?" he asked, taking her hand.

"We might be losing the baby. I started bleeding this morning," and after she said those words, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Caleb took her in his arms and held her as she cried.

"Oh sweetheart. I wish you would have called me."

"I wanted to. I really did. But..."

"No more buts. We are in this together from this point forward. I want you as my wife, and I won't take no for an answer. I'm not leaving your side until we come to an arrangement."

"I wanted you to have a chance at the family you had always dreamed of."

"I have that, with you."

"I mean her. You have a ready-made family with her."

"Maria, she doesn't want me and I don't want her. I used to think I did that's what hurt me so much, but after meeting you, what I felt for her paled in comparison." He took her face in his hands, brushing the tears away. "I want you. It will always be you."

"I want you, too, but I'm scared you'll regret choosing me. What if I can't give you what you want?"

"You give me everything I want."

"I mean kids. What if losing this baby means I can't have another."

"Baby or not, I choose you. You and you alone. So, sweetheart, what's it going to be? Do I have to tie you to a bed until you say yes?"

"Hmm, that sounds tempting." She looked up at him from beneath lowered eyelids, her lips curling into a seductive sultry grin. She had no hope in hell of refusing him, so might as well join him. "Think you have what it takes to satisfy me?"

"Is that a dare, Ms. Delsante."

"Maybe," she said, running her finger along the front of his pants, where a bulge was beginning to make its display.

"You are my kind of woman!"

"Who would have thought," she replied, as she grabbed a hold of his shirt, pulling him in for a kiss.

The moments their lips touched, whatever had joined them together at the beginning of their journey formed a three-fold cord that could never be broken. And Maria knew in that instant that she had found a once in a life time love, and no matter what came their way, their love would withstand it all, because God had joined them together from the beginning of time and nothing was ever out of his control.

Soon, a doctor disrupted their intimate moment, wheeling in an ultrasound machine. "Let's have a look and see what we can find out, shall we?" he said.

Maria lifted her shirt and watched as the doctor dropped some cool gel onto her stomach, and waited with baited breath as the machine powered up, and he pressed the small wand against her stomach and moved it around until he found what he was looking for.

"Look, there's the sac," he pointed to a dark circle on the screen, and then he flicked a switch, and then moved the wand around again slightly. He pushed a few buttons and they got a closer look. She could see a small blob, then suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a fast heart.

"Well," she asked breathily.

"That, my dear, is the sound of your baby's heartbeat."

Maria breathed a sigh of relief as a grin broke out across Caleb's face. They were still having a baby after all.