| �ibhleann smiled at Mark as he walked toward her, a black leather bag in his left hand. He smiled brightly in return, his eyes twinkling as he neared her. He dropped his bag at his feet and pulled her into a warm hug, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. �God, I missed you,� he whispered in her ear. She smiled and pulled away slightly. �I missed you too.� Once they had driven the half hour to her house, Mark slouched down on the couch, his eyes closed. She stifled a laugh as he yawned, roaring his exhaustion. She sat down in the chair across from him, and he frowned. �What?� He wiggled his finger and patted the cushion next to him. She laughed and stood, plopping down next to him. He let his arm snake around her, pulling her halfway onto his chest as he slowly rubbed her bulging belly in small circles. She sighed contentedly and let her head fall back against his shoulder. �You�re showing,� he said quietly. She snickered. �No shit. I think I should be, considering I�m six months pregnant.� He smiled. She sighed. �What are we going to do?� He kissed her cheek and intertwined his fingers with hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. �Well, we do have several options, you know.� Her eyebrow rose. �But let�s talk about this a little later. Right now I just want to be right here with you. I haven�t seen you in forever.� She smiled. �I know. But you did say we�d talk about this while you�re here.� �And we will. Just not right now.� �You don�t have it figured out yet, do you?� she guessed with a sly smile. �I do have an idea, but I don�t know what you�ll think. And it�s a surprise anyway.� �A surprise, huh?� She laughed slightly. �Well there�s only so many options. Not really much of a chance of surprising me.� �You�d be surprised.� Mark paused. �No pun intended.� She laughed. �How�s dinner sound?� �It�s only three o�clock, Mark.� �I know,� he groaned. �I meant later.� �Oh.� She smiled. �Yeah, sure. Sounds great.� *** Mark couldn't help smiling as he watched �ibhleann laugh, her eyes twinkling. He chuckled back with her, his eyes meeting hers again. He shivered and gulped down the nervousness rising in his stomach. "Something wrong?" she asked, the seriousness returning in her voice. "No, nothing," he lied. Her eyebrow rose, and he sighed. She could read him like a book and he knew it. There was no sense trying to lie to her. "I'm just a little preoccupied. That's all." She shook her head. "Preoccupied, huh?" She snickered slightly. "With what?" He sighed. "That didn't come out right. I'm just..." He sighed. "I don't know." He reached across the table to take her fingers in his, giving them a slight squeeze. She smiled slightly. "I know. Me too." They sat there for a few moments, just looking at each other, not knowing what to say. Their waiter came by a few seconds later and interrupted their gaze with a slight clearing of his throat. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked quickly. Mark shook his head, his eyes silently questioning �ibhleann. She shook her head also as she smiled up at the man quickly before turning her attention back to Mark. She watched him watch the waiter leave before turning his eyes back on her. "Look, I wanted to ask you something, but I'm not quite sure how to say it." "Well, just spit it out," she said with a slight smile sliding across her lips. He smiled in return, his warm brown eyes reflecting it. "Let's go for a walk," he said suddenly, standing as he tossed a couple of twenties on the table, enough for an extremely generous tip. He took her hand as he led her out of the restaurant and down the street. "Do you know where you're going?" she asked, laughing slightly. "Actually, I do, believe it or not." With a smile, she let him lead her around the small town situated a few miles from her house. They rounded a corner and she found herself in a park that she didn't even know existed. She looked over at him, surprise registering on her face. He smiled down at her and squeezed her fingers. He took a breath as if he was going to say something, but then let it out slowly. She laughed. "God, this harder than I thought it would be," he said quickly. He shoved his hands in his pockets and let his head drop. "I have no idea how to say this," he continued. She smiled. "Men are so bad at this," she laughed. His eyes met hers, and he shook his head. She just smiled up at him coyly. He leaned down slowly, his lips catching hers in a gentle kiss. "Marry me," he whispered, his lips still barely pressed against hers. She pulled back suddenly, shocked. "What?!" He gulped. This wasn't the reaction he'd expected. But then again, he hadn't known exactly what to expect either. He pulled the ring box from his pocket and opened it. Her breath came in slow gasps as she watched him kneel down and take her hand in his, slowly slipping the ring onto her third finger. "Please say you'll marry me," he said slowly, his eyes pleading with hers. She looked down at him, stammering. Finally, she cleared her thoughts. "Mark," she sighed. His eyes fell. "I need some time." He nodded. She smiled slightly, reaching down to take his hands and pull him back to his feet. "It's not a no, but I'm not sure if it can be a yes yet, okay?" He nodded slowly, obviously disappointed. "Look, Mark. I love you. You know that. But I'm not sure if I'm really ready for this kind of a commitment, you know? I mean, you're never around anyway, and I don't know if I can raise a kid without you let alone be married to you if I'll never see you." "I never said it'd be easy, Ayvee" "I know that." She took a breath and stopped, rubbing her forehead. "And that's why I need some time." He nodded. An awkward silence fell over them as they stood there, just staring at each other. She cleared her throat after some time. "Feel like some ice cream?" she asked quietly. He shook his head, and she nodded, taking her keys from her purse. He followed her wordlessly to the Jeep. The ride back to the house was silent. *** �ibhleann walked down the hall without a sound, her bare feet sliding across the polished wooden planks without so much as a shuffle. She crept toward Mark's bedroom door and looked in on him, a slight smile playing on her lips. He was asleep, though not soundly, on his back. His face was twisted as though he was in pain, and every now and then, a snicker-ish snore would escape him and he would thrash around before finding another comfortable position. Her face became serious the more he shifted, finally realizing that he was so worried about what she would say that he was losing sleep. Stifling a sigh, she padded toward the bed, kneeling down beside him. She reached out and ran her finger down the side of his face, watching his eyes flutter open slowly. He smiled slightly, letting his eyes close again. "Hey," he said, his voice froggy. She smiled again and kissed his forehead. "What's up?" "Nothing. I just wanted to see you." He laughed slightly. "Like it's been a long time," he joked. She snickered. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her onto the bed with him. She giggled, flopping back into the over-stuffed pillows with a contented sigh. He reached out and settled a hand on her swollen belly. Her fingers intertwined with his, and she let her head fall to the side, a few inches from his. He leaned forward to kiss her, but then pulled away suddenly, looking down at his hand on her belly. "What?" "I just felt something." �ibhleann smiled. "She's kicking or something." "They do that, you know," she teased. He smiled and rested his head on her shoulder with a happy sigh. "You know, I'm really starting to like the idea of being a dad." She smiled. "Well, I'm glad. It's about time." He chuckled. "I think at first I was just really--" he cleared his throat. "Really scared. But now I think I've finally gotten used to it. Not like I could change anything if I didn't get used to it though." �ibhleann's smile fell. "I'm really sorry about all this," she said quietly. Mark's eyebrows furled and he turned his head to look at her. "Don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry about. It's not like you planned this or anything. And now we're bringing another person into this world - a part of us. And I like that idea now. We're gonna be a family." She nodded slowly as he reached out to smooth a stray strand of hair from her forehead. "All three of us." He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him before mouthing "if you say yes" over her shoulder so she couldn't see him. |