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23 | THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM

โWhoโs at the door at this time?โ Nearly 1am, Tallulah, Rocks and Caroline are back at Rockโs grandmotherโs home, they where they filled her in on the dastardly dinner. They are just settling in when someone presses the bell.
Rocks looks through the peep hole, โRocco?โ She opens the door. โYou alright?โ He looked like heโd walked over in the rain that started shortly after JJ brought dinner to an unceremonious end, as if the weather was in cahoots with her mood.
โIs JJ here?โ
โNo. Isnโt she at the hotel?โ She stands aside to let Rocco, his brothers in law and JJโs brothers in the house. All are wet. Nobody thought to carry one umbrella? They have several with the concierge.
โSheโs not they’ve looked everywhere in the hotel for her.โ
โDid you track her phone?โ Caroline and Tallulah are already on their phones.
โShe didnโt take it with her.โ
โDo you think she would have gone back to New York?โ Rocks asks.
โHer passport is still here.โ Rocco runs a hands through his head, this is not what he intended for the holidays and quite frankly he should have headed JJโs worries about having the family around for the holidays but he wanted to have a memorable Christmas. More fool him.
โWhen she left the dining room did the staff see where she went?โ
โYes, back to our suite.โ Roccoโs answers the question scrolling through his phone for the millionth time, as if expecting her to ring.
โDid she change?โ
โYes. Either that or sheโs out there naked.โ
โSheโs in the village. She must be.โ Tallulah says
โMaybe she went for a run.โ Albert, Roccoโs brother-in-law says, โshe loves to run.โโ
โNot in the rain.โ Jason replies.
โWell, people need to do crazy things sometimes.โ Tommy says.
โOkay Iโll alert the village search team.โ Rocks says already on her phone to put out the alert.
โYou have a village search team?โ Roccoโs other brother-in-law asks.
โOf course we do. For times like this?โ
โAnd how often do you have times like this?โ Tommy asks.
โNever so it’s high time they got to work.โ Rocks reads the message that comes through her phone. โTheyโre here, weโll split into two groups.โ
The rain is pelting down hard but the search team appear undeterred. Martin is also involved in the search, no one has the heart to tell him what to do with himself, though most would like to. He was on his way out when one of the concierge informed him of his missing daughter.
Torches in hand, raincoats, and wellies on, the two teams split up to look for their missing friend.
…
JJ wishes she hadnโt run this far but she was too wired especially after that fucking dinner, she needs to run the stress out her system but the rain started and at first she did not mind, but she doesnโt know these woods well. Sure she’s taken a turn somewhere because she kept coming back to the same spot. A round hut in the woods. In the horror movie there would be something waiting to kill her in the dark so she sits outside it, despite the rain. She very much welcomed the rain it gave her room to think.
After leaving the dinner table sheโd gone to their suite, changed out of her evening gown, into her running clothes and decided to go for a run, sans phone. It felt like a good idea at the time and she thought she would be back before midnight but she lost her way. As with everything in her life, sheโd lost. Rocco must surely be done with her now. All this time he knew about Barnaby. He mustโve felt so betrayed when she did not tell him about her past engagement. What an absolute fool sheโs been, and now she is going to lose the man she loves above all else, a kind-hearted and generous man who always wants to make peace for her happiness. She knows this holiday is more for her than him, he wanted her to make up with her parents, patch things up with her father especially and bring them closer, her ever loving peacemaker-
โJJ!โ Rocco spots her fluorescent pink running shoes a short distance away. He’d know them anywhere, she has had them for over two years despite buying a new pair for her every year, she kept coming back to these. He hurries over to her.
โRocco!โ Thank God. It isnโt only him, her sister Fen, Penelope, Tommy, Rocks and some other people she does not recognise are with him too.
โAre you okay?โ
โYes. I went for a run and got caught in the rain and couldnโt find my way back.โ
โAnd you didnโt think to tell anyone you were going for a run?โ Tommy says, if anything had happened to her he would never have forgiven himself, because he is part of the reason the dinner ended the way it did.
โI needed to clear my head.โ She averts Roccoโs face too embarrassed.
โWe were worried about you.โ Rocco raises her chin to look at him.
JJ looks down at her feet, โIโm sorry you were worried.โ
โOf course, we were worried about you. Iโm sorry.โ
โYou have nothing to apologised for Rocco. I should be the one apologising.โ
‘For what JJ?โ
โEverything. Dinner. Barnaby. My father.โ
โI donโt care about any of that. I love you.โ
โEven with everything? You still love me? You donโt want to break up with me?โ She wipes her tears that get enveloped by the raindrops.
โIโll never want to break up with you, youโre my girl. I told you, youโre my ride or die for life and beyond.โ
โMarry me.โ JJ blurts out without a thought.
โWHAT?โ Theyโd forgotten they have an audience, who were privy to every word said.
โWhat did you just say?โ Rocco is sure he misheard.
โLook, I’m a mess as you’ve gathered for the last nearly a decade that you’ve known me, I’m an emotional mess, I come with baggage and I am probably never going to know what position you play on the team-‘
Rocco laughs a little, ‘third baser as you like to call it.’
‘Leftie third baser.’ JJ corrects him in her wrong term, ‘but I know also hit seventy home runs this year and ended with a point three hundred and eleven batting average.’
‘Damn sweetheart.’ Rocco didn’t know she knew his stats, it is just one the things he shrugs off in their relationship.
‘I pay attention.’ JJ says with a smile.
‘JJ there you are. We have-‘
‘Shhh!’
‘We have a proposal unfolding.’ Rocks informs Caroline who just arrived with the other search party including JJ’s father.
‘A proposal?’ Jason asks, he too confused as to why they are standing in the rain having found JJ.
‘The bottle line is,’ JJ continues, ‘I love you, not because of the position you play or your stats on the field, but because of who you are, the man who would wait up all night setting up a silly surprise for the girls in the morning, who would put getting best pliรฉ in daddy and me ballet right up there with winning the platinum glove, the man who would help me open up a hundred flower petals right before taking to the field. The man who told me I was pregnant with Roma even before I knew it and who let me freak out for however long, certain he was going to be all in. Just like you were from that start, like you have always been. I love you Rocco. Will you marry me?โ JJ affirms her questions.
โYouโre really asking me to marry you?โ
โYes, she clearly is.โ Fenmore says, and the others laugh.
โAre you going to answer the lady’s question so we can get out of the rain?โ Rocks inquires, just as thunder bolts through.
โYes. Of course Iโll marry you.โ And there, he seals them with a kiss. โThird timeโs the charm huh.โ
โIโll bet it is.โ Penelope whispers.
โLetโs get married tomorrow.โ JJ says.
โHuh?โ
โWeโre here, our families are here, so why not.โ
โI think we can get the vicar to do it. Is the church is free tomorrow Rocks?โ
โIt is and I would love to bless you two in marriage.โ An elder gent says.
โThereโs your answer.โ Someone says, making everyone else laugh again, the vicar is also part of the search party.
โAre you serious?โ Rocco isnโt sure she is.
โI am.โ JJ on her tiptoes kisses this man she has come to love so much and so deeply for nearly a decade of her life. โYou are my ride or die in this world and the many worlds to come. It will always be you Rocco Rossi.โ
โAwwwโฆโ