It Must Be Love - Jacob and Connie

Chapter Forty

It had been a few weeks, and Jacob and Connie had adapted really easily to their lives together. There were days when they'd drive from work  to their separate homes, and other days where they'd spend every minute with each other, but no matter what happened during the day, they wouldn't feel right sleeping apart from now on. Jacob didn't want to bombard Connie, which was why he hadn't mentioned anything about moving in permanently, and Connie didn't want him to feel as though they were rushing in to things, hence why she hadn't asked him. However, one night, after having dinner, and watching the television while Grace went upstairs to do her homework, Connie settled in to bed beside Jacob and plucked up the courage to ask him.

"Jacob," she began, turning in to face him. "I know we're still finding our feet in this relationship, and perhaps the baby has pushed us both a little faster than we originally expected to go, but I've had a question brewing in my mind for weeks now that I've been meaning to ask you." He shuffled so he was sat upright facing her, showing her that he was intrigued by what she was about to say. "Jacob, how do you feel about moving in? Permanently? I mean, you're basically here all the time anyway, you're an excellent role model for Grace, and I want you here. With me. All the time." Jacob waited until she had finished speaking before he laughed and settled back comfortably against the headboard. "What's so funny?" She asked, bemused.

"I've been waiting for weeks for you to ask that," he laughed, and she lay beside him, snuggled up on his chest.

"So that's a yes?" She seemed to fall more in love with him with every passing second, and she never thought that it was possible, but every time, her heart surprised her even more.

"I'd be a fool to say no."

"Well, you are a fool, but please say yes," she teased, causing him to squeeze her arse a little.

"Yes," he whispered eventually, and she leant up to kiss him softly. Over the past few weeks, even though Grace had been home, their sexual activities hadn't ceased. He loved to push her close to her limits, and she loved being able to trust him to always take care of her in the bedroom, and he did - every time. However, on this particular night, Connie was tired, as was Jacob, and so curling up in the sheets together was a perfect end to their day. They had just settled down when Jacob's phone buzzed beside him, and it lit up. He reached over to check it.

"I've got an email," he said. He opened it, and began to read the email out loud to Connie. "Jacob Masters, congratulations. Your boss has nominated you for an outstanding achievement award regarding your skills in the department. This email is to tell you that you have been one of the 100 shortlisted individuals who will now get the opportunity to partake in the following course, giving you the chance to get higher qualifications in nursing, allowing you to pursue your career. The fifteen people who achieve the greatest overall results in this three day course get offered to go to another training scheme, where you are guaranteed to leave with an average hourly pay far greater than what you entered with. You have been highlighted by your boss, Mrs Constance Beauchamp, as a fantastic nurse with people skills, self-confidence, and a natural talent for helping your patients, but our course strives to make you even better. Please respond to this email as soon as possible telling us whether you can participate in this course." He looked over at Connie. Connie looked back.

"It wasn't favouritism or anything," she laughed. "I nominated everyone I could, as even being nominated reflects brilliantly on our department as a whole. I nominated Robyn, Louise, and Lily too as our best senior consultant. I meant to email them actually - to be shortlisted is absolutely fantastic! There were over 50,000 nominations originally, so only one out of every five hundred people have been shortlisted." Jacob smiled. He had never been noticed for his actions before, and so to be shortlisted was a great achievement for him. He was going to take the course, so he set about filling in the form, while Connie drafted an email for the rest of the staff she'd nominated. She addressed the first to Robyn, but she intended just to copy and paste the message and change the names.