Is there any place more beautiful than the French countryside?

Actually...Don't answer that.

My mind welcomes the peace and tranquility that comes with the grassy plains beside the road as Lex drives through a small town. It's been a heavy forty eight hours. I've been on edge since Matteo's "warning".

For the past two days I've been finding myself going over his words.

"If I were you, I'd be wary of her".

My mind argues that Matteo could be exaggerating a bit. But the pit in my stomach seems to say otherwise.

Alexander has been the more rational thinker out of the two of us and he has assured me that Belle won't get near me.

So I am leaning on his words and believe in his promise to keep me safe from any and all harm that may come for me.

The sight of a beautiful manor brings me out of my thoughts as the car passes through big iron gates. The house is gorgeous. The yard is huge and wide with green neatly trimmed grass. A few trees are scattered around as they sway in the early Autumn wind.

The ivory colored exterior walls lined with small trimmed hedges.

Lex had refused to tell me where we were going, he just said it was a surprise.

A familiar voice calls out my name as Alexander helps me out of the car, "Rosa!".

"Pierre?!" I shout in shock. My feet run towards him as he stands in front of the open front door. His deep voice is music to my ears as I wrap my arms around his waist in a hug. He hugs me back and places a kiss to the top of my head.

Am I surprised?

Heck yes!

I missed this man so much. The house back home has not been exactly the same since he left. My mind sometimes expects to find him standing in the kitchen when I walk in there.

"Xander my boy", he pulls him in for a hug. Lex smiles as they pull away.

Pierre ushers inside the house and the interior is as beautiful as the outside. Dark wood accents and framed pictures line up the walls.

This is not just a house. It's a home.

Warm and inviting.

A woman with long, waist length blonde hair walks out of what I assume is the main living area of the house. She has on a pair of blue faded jeans, an oversized knitted jersey and fuzzy slippers on her feet.

She walks up to Lex and they hug. Before letting her go, he places a kiss on the top of her head.

Her petite frame stands next to Pierre as he drapes an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

Smiling at me, she introduces herself, "Bonjour, I am Jocelyn". Her French accent is thick as she speaks to me.

"I'm Rosalie", I say with a smile of my own.

She moves from her husband's side and pulls me into a hug. She is only a few inches taller than me.

"I've heard a lot about you. I'm so happy to have you here".

"Come meet the rest of the family", Pierre says to me. We walk further into the house into the room Jocelyn emerged from a minute ago.

The living room is big and spacious. The furniture is arranged in a way that is not too clustered. An L-shaped stone grey couch takes up most of the space in the middle. A fireplace with framed family pictures on the mantle.

What takes my breath away is the view. The collapsable glass wall leads to a patio overlooking a vast green backyard.

It's a beautiful sight. I would not mind living here. The place looks serene and calming to the mind and soul.

As we stand in the middle of the room, the sound of footsteps on the hardwood floor becomes increasingly louder as they come towards us. Four adults, two males and two females emerge from the hallway, joining us in the living room.

"Rosa, these are my kids", Pierre says with a smile.

"Technically we are his biological children", A woman with long blonde hair says, gesturing to her and a dark haired male. As I analyse their features they both look like younger copies of their parents.

The woman looks more like Jocelyn with the long hair and petite frame than the male is the spitting image of Pierre minus the chef belly of course because this guy has the body of a rugby player.

"I'm Valerie but you can call me Val", her smile so bright and beautiful. The man next to her shakes my hand as he introduces himself .

"Oliver. I'm Val's husband". He has a British accent. I'm almost shocked to hear it because everyone I've spoken to so far has French accent.

Pierre's young look-alike speaks up next, "Marco and this is my wife, Charlotte". I like the way he pronounces her name.

There is an emphasis on the 'r'. It sounds like "Charrrlotte" when he says it.

Charlotte seems like a shy person. Marco's arm wraps around her shoulders as she smiles at me.

"I'm Rosalie. Nice to meet you all". I'm usually nervous about meeting new people but right now I feel at ease. It could be because of the warmth of Lex's hand on my shoulder. His thumb moving in lazy circles on the exposed neck skin.

They then greet Lex and have a mini conversation. Since they are all friends.

It's refreshing to see how relaxed Alexander is around these people.

We sit in the living room, having a great time getting to know each other over warm cups of tea and sandwiches. They even brought out Pierre's home-made chocolate eclairs.

Yum.

Throughout the course of the late afternoon, Marco leaves and walks back in with an adorable two year old girl. She is so cute with her dirty blonde hair in two pigtails. She looks so much like him but has Charlotte's hair.

Marco and Charlotte or Charlie, as he so lovingly calls her. They have three children. Two eighteen year old twin boys who are currently out. I am informed that they will be back later just in time for dinner.

Val and Oliver also have three children. Eighteen year old Henry who is out with the twins, Elizabeth who is fifteen, and seven year old Anya.

Seems we're the only ones without children.

Jocelyn shows us to our room. It is just like everything that I have seen so far in this house, gorgeous.

"Get settled in. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes". She says right before she leaves us.

Walking around the room, I admire the Nimbus Gray painted walls. The ceiling is a slightly curved outward so the room feels like an upside down dish. A beautiful chandelier hangs in the middle.

Three large arch-shaped windows bring in what is left of the natural light, I can't wait to see how the morning light floods in.The bed placed in the middle of the room. The upholstered bed frame and headboard, the same color as the walls. White covers on the bed with a knitted gray throw blanket.

The cherry on top is the fireplace not so far from the bottom of the bed. It's not too big or too small, just the perfect size. Two large white empty frames decorate the top of the wall above the fireplace.

"This is beautiful", I say more to myself than to Lex.

I feel him stand behind me. His arms wrap around my small frame as we look out the window, watching the remnants of the setting sun, "Jocelyn is an interior designer".

That explains why this place is this pretty. Now I can't wait to see the rest of the house. Val promised me a tour.

Instead of unpacking we sit near the lit fireplace in one the two balck velvet tub armchairs. He sits with me on his lap. He places a soft kiss on my lips as we listen to the crackling of the wood.

"I know I already said this but...Thank you for this" I softly say to him. My fingers play with his hair as he looks at me with a dazed look.

"You're more than welcome", he responds before kissing me again. He nips at my bottom lip before his tongue meets with mine as he deepens the kiss.

I'm lost. Swimming in a sea of pleasure.

After a few minutes of an intense make out, a knock pulls us away from each other.

"Dinner's ready", he whispers with a grin.

***

The children are a delight. The twins whose names are Reign and River are total flirts. When I was eighteen, I don't remember boys being this flirtatious. They both have Marco's dark hair. It's a nice mess of curls that flops over their eyes.

Their olive skin shows that they spend a lot of time in the sun. their brown eyes, shimmer under the lighting at the diner table.

Henry, who's Val's son, has his mother's hair and Oliver's dark blue eyes. He is the more level headed one out of the boys.

All three boys play a lot of sports which include rugby, tennis and soccer. That is something I could have guessed just by looking at their fit bodies and tall height.

"Rose, how was your visit to Paris so far?", Oliver asks.

I swallow the food in my mouth, "It's been amazing. Part of me just wants to stay here forever".

"That would be awesome, we could see you as much as we like", Reign says with a smirk.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?", his father asks.

Reign looks at me once more and shrugs, "Yeah, but I would leave her for Rose."

River joins in and helps his twin out, "I'm sure Uncle Xander won't mind", This kid has the nerve to wink at me before sharing a high five with his brother.

"Idiots", Henry mutters and rolls his eyes at the two stoogies.

Lex's arm wraps around me as he grins at the boys. "Keep dreaming son".

The table bursts into laughter.

After dinner, the kids clean up around the table while the adults relax in the living room. I'm snuggled against Lex with his arm wrapped around me on the couch. Pretty much everyone is almost seated in the same position as us.

The fireplace floods the room with warmth as conversation flows around.

I take a look around the room. The smiles on these people's faces warm up my heart. The man next to me holding me close, making me giddy inside. This is something I could get used to.

Relaxing with friends and enjoying each other's company.

***

Waking up to the sound of birds chirping outside with the love of my life spooning me is such a wonderful thing to experience. The clock on the bedside table notifies me that it's half past six. Which is still too early for me.

Slowly shifting my body around his arms, I lay his head on my chest and take the time to admire his sleeping form. His face is more relaxed, his lips slightly parted and his long eyelashes fanned out on his cheeks.

My fingers play with his messy bed hair, this elicits a small groan from him and his arms pull me closer to him. Placing a kiss on his forehead I close my eyes and go back to sleep.

Small featherlight kisses rouse me from my second round of sleep. Lex has his lips on my hip continuing to plant kisses all the way down to my foot.

"What are you up to?", I ask, keeping my body still. I am enjoying the feeling of his lips on me.

I always enjoy having his lips on me.

"Good morning to you too", his face pops up with a cheeky grin plastered on it.

He moves up the bed to lay next to me again. His arms pull towards him and places a kiss on my cheek.

"You didn't answer my question".

His hand moves to my exposed hip, "I'm appreciating what I've got".

I can't help but snicker at his words, "You're so cheesy".

I am surprised by him playfully shoving me. In retaliation I hit him square in the face with a pillow. My actions initiate a pillow fight as he hits me back. Kneeling on the bed, I swing the pillow his way which he gracefully dodges.

He has the reflexes of a cat.

My fluffy weapon falls on the floor so he then takes the opportunity to pull me by the leg and hovers over me as I lay on my back. He has my arms pinned above my head.

There's no way I can escape, so I accept defeat, "You win", I say out of breath.

Who knew pillow fights could be such a workout?

"I win", he sounds calm. Like the physical exertion didn't even do anything to him.

The smile on his face slowly disappears. His eyes dart between mine and my lips. Leaning down towards me, he waits as we're only a few inches apart.

"I love waking up next to you", he says right before he kisses me.

His grip loosens on my arms and I wrap them around his back. His muscles ripple under my touch.

He bites my lower lip then pulls away only a few inches.

A smile makes its way to my face as I caress his face, "I love waking up next to you too".

He does not say anything but leans back in to kiss me again. His hands move down to grab my butt cheeks, causing me to squeal which he swallows up since our lips are still locked.

He moves to kiss my neck and nibbles on the sensitive spot right below my left ear.

I let the pleasure take me as I release a breathy moan.

I really love waking up next to you Alexander Cain.

***

Two year old Juliette loves being around Lex.

She is practically glued to his arms, which makes Marco happy, because for him this is a break from having to entertain her all the time.

Lex is obviously loving the attention he's getting from her. So far I've seen him feed her and change her pull ups, without anyone asking him to do so. I walk past the living room on my way to the kitchen when I spot him sitting on the couch with her on his lap as they watch Sofia The First with Anya seated on the carpet near his feet, her head leaning on his leg.

He is going to be such a great dad.

Before I follow my instincts and ask him to put a baby in me this instant, I walk away and get into the kitchen.

"I have a bone to pick with you", I say to Pierre as I sit on a barstool.

He looks up from the recipe book, a pink highlighter in his right hand. That smile of his that I have missed appears, "Is that so?" he asks.

I nod, "Yes".

He replaces the cap on the top of the highlighter and closes the book then sets them aside, giving me his undivided attention.

"You said that you were leaving for a while", I say to him.

"I did" he replies.

I shake my head, "A while is not five months"

He chuckles at this, "Rosa, your definition of a while is different from mine", he states matter of factly.

I smile.

"Alright, fine", I look at him. Taking in his casual attire. A sweater and jeans. I've only ever seen him in his chef's clothes whenever he was at the mansion. The only other time I recall seeing him in casual clothing was when he left.

He looks so relaxed.

"I missed you", I say. I always felt his absence back home. I got so used to seeing him that when I walked into the kitchen after he left, it felt weird.

It felt...empty.

His hand holds mine over the counter, "I missed you too Rosa".

Something compels me to get off the chair and walk around the counter to give him a hug. He returns it as his arms engulf me.

"Now, do you want to help me pick out dinner for tonight?", he enthusiastically asks once we pull away from each other.

My smile widens, "I would love to help".