| STORY 2 Page 32 |
| Jonathan was thinking about all this as he sat outside the hut leaning against the wall and drinking from his whisky flask. He didn't hear Gabrielle emerge from the hut door he was near, but should have expected it, there wasn't much place you could hide in this big family where nobody would come and call on you. "So when are we going to have one of our own?" Gabrielle's voice came from somewhere above him. Jonathan nearly pulled something trying to spit out his whisky and turn around to face her as he was sitting all at the same time. He looked up at her with a painful expression as he forced a swallow, coughing and choking. "One of what?" Jonathan's hand found Gabrielle's and he tugged her down next to her, pulling just a wee bit too hard and sending his darling to the ground on her arse quite hard. The next thing she said was also spoken at an inopportune time, while Jonathan was taking another pull from his flask. "One of what Nefret is having right now." Sputtering and choking was heard throughout the whole desert. Senbi even popped his head out the window where he was tending to Nefret to give the couple a repressive glare as Jonathan fought to keep himself composed. "What the bloody hell do you want one of those little buggars for?! Have you gone loony while I was gone, Gabrielle, honestly! You're mad!" Jonathan finally yelled. She laughed and wiggled in closer to him, linking her arm with his and leaning her head on his shoulder, "Oh, Jonathan, because it's a cute little buggar. Don't you want a big family?" Jonathan scowled at her, "I have already got one, thank you very much. No need for more diapers around, pooing on things and-" "You are so...silly, Jon, they don't poo on things, they have diapers, you just-" "That is beside the point, love. The point is...wait why are you even talking about this? I refuse to discuss this with you, it's not nearly relevant to the goings on of...right now." Jonathan was confused himself by the end of his sentence, but nodded firmly, fully intending to stick with his plan not to discuss it. But Gabrielle didn't seem to be making any move to argue with him. She merely shrugged, laughing a bit, as she kissed him on the jaw line. "...well of course, I should be worrying more about when you're going to give up and ask me to marry you..." she said softly into his ear, before getting up and picking up a basin from the front door. Jonathan watched, mouth wide open as she started off into the night, towards the stream by the hut. He scrambled to his feet and started after her, "Gabrielle! We need to discuss this!" Desiree ([email protected]) April 5, 2003 Alan Skarzinski ran as fast as he could- 'What was that place?' he thought to himself. As the ragged man raced towards camp, the Med-jai started coming towards him in what Alan liked to call the "angry-mob" position. The Med-jai had seen their old friend Ardeth pursue this stranger and knew that something was wrong. Alan sensed that he was not welcome and decided that the best idea was to make a run for it, even though he was tired as hell. Skarzinski saw that his belongings had already been picked up and put out of sight for safe-keeping. Alan started hurrying towards the horses and saw that they were being protected by a group of Med-jai. Alan knew that he had no escape, so he held up his hands in a sign of surrender and was immediately swarmed with some younger men who were tying his arms behind his back. The chief Med-jai walked up to Alan, "I do not yet know why my friend, Ardeth Bey, has the want to kill you, but I cannot allow you to leave without his consent. Ardeth will be back in the morning, and until then, you are to remain a prisoner." Alan would've answered, but he had already been bound and gagged and pushed towards a tent. ~*~*~*~*~ "Now, listen here, Gabrielle. I don't know where you got this bloody idea that I was going to ask you to marry me, 'cause it's a load of hogs wallop..." Jon was freaked out at the thought of another person to love, protect, and maybe lose. "You mean you don't want to marry me?" Gabrielle completely understood how Jon felt, but she loved scaring him and giving him a hard time, so she feigned a hurt look and tone of voice. "No, I didn't mean that... I do want to marry you!--- Someday... just..." Jon was seriously struggling. Gabrielle was giggling uncontrollably now, "I know, you idiot! I know you better than that! I know you're a commitment- phobic!" "Gabrielle, I..." Jon searched for the words. "I know, Jonathan. I know. I know you love me and that you want to be with me, and I know that you know that I love you, too." Gabs finally let him off the hook. "I do love you, Gabs. You know that." Jon smiled about how well his woman knew him, "I missed you." "Oh my Allah! I missed you too! It's been the underworld here with just Senbi and an emotional pregnant woman! I swear, I love Nefret and I'm really happy that she's having a baby with Ardeth and all, but the woman can get bitchy!" Jon laughed heartily and smiled at the woman he loved. It was right then that he knew. He wasn't afraid anymore, and he wasn't sure if he had ever been- maybe he was just afraid of being afraid, he didn't know: all he knew was that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman; he wanted to protect her and watch over her and love her more than anything he'd ever wanted in his entire life. Jon looked into Gabrielle's smiling eyes and he knew that she was the one for him. "Jonathan?" "Yes?" Jon was caught up in his decision and turned his head away for a moment. Gabs caught his chin, turned it towards herself, and the two joined in a sweet yet passionate kiss. Jonathan pulled away from Gabrielle and looked once more into her eyes, shining bright in the desert dusk of ancient Egypt. "Gabrielle?" he got down on one knee. Gabrielle's beautiful eyes widened in shock, "Will you marry me?" When Gabs was too shocked to reply, Jonathan kept talking, "I realized something when I saw you again: I'm not a, a ,uh, a commitment-phobic, you know?! Not anymore. I'm not afraid, Gabrielle. I'm not afraid! I want to be with you for the rest of my life! I want to protect you, not that you'll need it, mind you, but I want to protect you and make you happy! I want to get married and have kids and be with you forever! I'm not afraid, Gabrielle. I want you... I mean, I, I need you... and, well, I love you, Gabrielle..." Gabrielle started crying out of pure joy and broke into a huge grin, "Oh, Jonathan! Yes! YES!!!!" Jonathan stood up and hugged his new fianc� to his chest, "Oh, Gabrielle, I love you!" "I love you, too! I always have!..." Gabrielle was a teary mess, but Jon didn't care, he leaned over and kissed Gabs's soggy face and tasted the salty sensation of joy. The two embraced with complete and utter happiness in their hearts. "Oh, here..." Jonathan pulled out two rings from his pocket and slid one onto Gabrielle's left-hand ring finger, "These were my parents' wedding bands." "They're beautiful..." Gabrielle cried some more when she saw the ring go on her finger. He loves me... "Here, let me." Gabrielle took Jonathan's father's old wedding band and slid it onto Jon's left- hand ring finger. Gabrielle broke into another set of happy tears, and rested her head on Jon's chest. The two stood, hugging and smiling, until it occurred to Gabs: "Oh! We should tell everyone! How long have we been gone?" "I dunno. Who cares? We're together." Allah, he loved her. "Oh, Jon." Gabs smiled wide and Jon's heart melted. "I want to tell Evelyn. Oh, everyone'll be SO happy!... except Senbi." Jonathan gave a hearty laugh- "You're right- I wanna see that bastard's reaction." Gabs jabbed him in the side for cursing about her brother, but then the two started smiling and laughing uncontrollably at the comical thought. "It'll be great..." ~*~*~*~*~ Gabs and Jon walked into the kitchen of the hut only to find Evelyn washing her hands while Rick was boiling some water. |