Rising From The Ashes

Chapter 26

*September 2013*

Madelyn was laying on Marshall's couch when he came home from the studio. She was there with the girls. He smiled when he saw them. He could get used to this. She looked over at him and smiled.

"Hey babe," he said.

"Hey handsome," she replied.

"What are you ladies up to?"

"Just relaxing."

He nodded and joined them. He lay on the couch with Madelyn in front of him and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. She giggled a bit. They were watching a movie. She relaxed into his chest.

"What's for dinner?" Whitney asked suddenly.

"What do you want?" he asked her.

"Chicken nuggets or tacos,"

"We can order and you can get whatever you want."

"Ok."

They ordered dinner and sat at the table. Hailie was telling them about the video camera that Kim had gotten her. She was excited about it. They were all having a good time at the house. Hailie had the camera out, telling her dad that she wanted to film their life with him.

"Come kiss me," he told Madelyn.

"Nope," she laughed.

"Baby,"

"No way."

She ran from the kitchen. He chased her with Hailie right behind him. Hailie had the camera in her hand. Marshall chased Madelyn up the stairs. She was laughing as she tried to take them two at a time.

"Get your butt back here and love me," Marshall playfully demanded.

"No way, you have cooties," Madelyn laughed as he made a grab at her ankle.

"You already have my cooties, babe."

"No way, Hailie don't let him catch you and give you his cooties."

Madelyn made it up the stairs and ran for the bedroom. Marshall was close behind her as she shut the door in his face. He shoved it open and yanked her into his arms. She shrieked with laughter as he began to pepper her face with kisses.

"Now you have my cooties too," he said.

"Gross, now I have to get a shot," she whined.

Marshall laughed. She smiled and kissed his lips. He glanced over seeing his daughter with her camera.

"This is why I love this woman," he said.

"Why?" Hailie asked, confused.

"Because she treats me right and loves on me all the time."

"Gross."

Marshall laughed. Hailie ran from them both with the camera in hand. Madelyn looked at him as he looked like he was debating on chasing her. Madelyn shook her head at him.

"'Now she thinks you're weird," she said.

"What else is new?" he asked, laughing.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"We should go play a game with the kids or watch a movie,"

"Sounds good."

They went back down the stairs. Alaina looked at the two of them.

"It is nice not to have all the screaming all the time," she said.

"What do you mean?" Marshall asked.

"You and Aunt Kim yelled at each other a lot when we were younger and you two were together. You and Madelyn don't do that."

Marshall was quiet. Madelyn looked at him as he slowly nodded. He and Kim were toxic together and he knew it. He had more with Madelyn and he loved every minute of it. She smiled at him as she sat on the couch.

"Girls, do you want to watch a movie or play a game?" she asked.

"Movie with popcorn," Whitney said.

"Sounds good."

Madelyn rose from her seat again to go make popcorn for them all. Whitney had taken a liking to her popcorn and said that Marshall couldn't make it anymore. He had just held his hands up and let her do it. Madelyn just chuckled. She made the popcorn pretty quickly and they sat down to watch a movie. Marshall had Madelyn in his arms. He was thinking of how much he never wanted this to end and he had to lock this down. He had been thinking about it for a while now and he wanted the girls opinion on what he wanted to do.

Madelyn was falling asleep in his arms on the couch. He was going to talk to the girls about what he wanted in the morning as long as Madelyn stayed asleep longer. She was making him warm and he was drifting off as the movie played. Once it was over, they all went to bed.

The next morning, he got lucky. Madelyn was still asleep when he woke up. He went to the kitchen to find the girls eating cereal at the breakfast bar. He was slightly nervous but he was ready to do this.

"Girls, I have a question," he said.

"What?" Alaina asked.

"You know I love Madelyn a lot, right?"

"Yeah, are you gonna ask her to marry you?" Hailie asked him.

"Is that something you girls would be ok with?"

"Of course, we would. We love Madelyn. She makes you happy and she's fun."

"I'm thinking it will be a short engagement and hidden from the public. Mads doesn't seem to like the idea of going public with everything."

"She doesn't need the fame, Unc. She just needs you," Alaina said.

"When did you all get to be so smart?" he asked.

They laughed. He was feeling a little better about having their blessing to ask Madelyn to be his wife. He was going to have to go ring shopping quickly without her knowing what he was doing. She was going back to work on Monday, and he was going to be back in the studio. He needed this to be done so he knew that she wasn't going to go anywhere.