136Incredibly Long Author's Note: Okay, so this is the last chapter. It's possible I'm working out an epilogue, since it cuts off a little abruptly at the end, and I kind of had this whole other scene planned... Anyway, we'll get to that when we get to that. Also, I feel the need to remind people that this story is a gift for a friend; it's all in good fun.
I want to thank everyone for reading this, and apologize again for the over-the-top-ness of the whole paint/sex thing. It was a scene I'd originally planned for Sarah and Cooper, but since I wasn't sure when we'd all be coming back to the lake house, I thought I'd better use it while I had the chance. And honestly, the thought of not using it was killing me.
Probably you've realized by now that in this story, nothing goes according to plan. This chapter is no exception. For those of you who've expressed concern with S/A getting busy where there are children present, rest assured this is also a concern of mine, but uh... I think I'm with the majority when I say that they probably just do it all the time and literally can't help themselves. Sorry about that.
As a side note: I know you have all probably forgotten about The Witness. But I have two chapters very close to completion and am getting help figuring out a character map to help you remember who everyone is :) Merry (Late) Christmas. Also, this should serve as a warning...Ch 7 is absurdly long. So maybe mentally prepare yourself.
When Sam walked into the house twenty minutes later, Andy was sitting in her flannel PJ's in a chair in the kitchen with a towel wrapped over her shoulders, a bowl of spaghetti cupped in her hand, and Sarah was doing her best to get a comb through her hair. Her eyes rose to her brother and she shook her head.
"You're an idiot."
His eyebrows shot up. "Hey, she started it."
"You better still love me when I'm bald," Andy grumbled, pulling apart a thick section of hair still streaked with purple.
"You're not going to be bald." Sarah set the comb down and went to the cupboard. "We're going to try one more thing." She took down a bottle of olive oil. She rubbed a thick layer of oil over the comb and started again. This time, it slid a little easier. "Aha... works every time."
Andy snickered. "Every time, huh?" She glanced up as Cooper popped his head in and immediately avoided Andy's eyes, looking at Sarah.
"Carly's down, Jake's in bed." He turned to Sam. "By the way, I just had to give my eleven-year old another talk about sex; so, thanks for making me relive that experience. He's asking for you."
Sam's eyes found Andy's and they both grinned. Cooper glanced back at Sarah. "He's asking for you too. When you're done in here, we should probably talk to him about that thing." Sam saw Sarah nod, and then saw her hand fall to Andy's shoulder and squeeze firmly, just once. Then a small smile played over Andy's lips before she shoved another forkful of spaghetti into her mouth. Sam looked at her curiously for another moment and then followed Cooper back down the hall.
They split up in the hallway. Cooper went into the room he shared with Sarah, and Sam turned towards Jake's. When he entered the bedroom, Jake was still alert, playing his Nintendo DS in bed. Sam reached out and grabbed it. "You know you're not supposed to have that at bedtime."
"You're no fun."
"Yeah, I hear that a lot. Lay down." Sam pulled the blankets up to his armpits and then pulled the desk chair over and sat. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I know what you and Andy were doing in Sarah's shed." No beating around the bush with this kid. There was no doubt in Sam's mind about where he'd gotten that bluntness.
"Uh…" What exactly was he supposed to say to that?
Jake was looking at him, his smirk rapidly becoming a grin.
"What's your point, kid?" Sam muttered.
"Are you getting married?"
"Did Sarah put you up to this?" He ran a hand over his head, fingers catching painfully in the parts where the paint was sticking.
"Do you always answer questions with more questions?"
Sam's eyes widened in surprise and he say back in his chair. "Did she tell you to say that too?" Jake just stared at him; owl-like, eyes wide and unblinking. Genetics were shit. The kid had far more of Sarah in him than Sam had ever realized. Finally, he just nodded. "Yeah, I guess sometimes I do."
"Well, I think you should get married."
He shook his head. "I'll bet," he said wryly. "We are getting married. I just uh…" Sam rolled his eyes. "I just haven't asked her yet."
"Why not?"
"Well, I'm going to. I just haven't found the right time. Plus…" He drummed his fingers against his leg. "Plus, I'm a little afraid she might say no," he admitted reluctantly.
"She won't."
He snorted. "You don't know that."
After rolling onto his side, Jake looked at him very seriously, expression full of concern. "Sarah said you should just do it already, that Andy doesn't like to stand still. She might get bored."
Sam looked at him in disbelief. "Sarah shouldn't be talking to you about that stuff. And Andy's not getting bored." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and then leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Does she seem bored?"
Jake shrugged. "Not really. She seems happy."
Sam smiled quickly. "That's what I think too."
"Sarah said you should stop overthinking it and just ask her."
Sam stood up and replaced the chair and then leaned over and switched off the lamp. "Quit listening to Sarah. She's a bad influence. She'll get you in trouble someday."
Jake laughed.
"See you tomorrow, kid." Sam left the room, closing the door quietly behind him and started back. The shower was running in the bathroom and he moved past it into the kitchen where Sarah was cleaning up.
She glanced over at him. "You're up next." Sam sank heavily into the chair in front of her, and she put her hands in his hair; trying to pick apart the chunks that were stuck together. "Good talk?" she asked quietly.
"You're pathetic, you know that? Getting Cooper's kid to do your dirty work."
His sister snorted. "I think you should take a look in the mirror before you start throwing that word around. And he's sort of my kid too. I figure he owes me one tiny favor after eight years." She stuck the comb in at the crown of his head and he winced as she pulled. "I know you're scared she's going to say no," she said quietly. "You're so unbelievably transparent sometimes, it just kills me."
"I'm not scared."
"Fine, worried, or apprehensive, or whatever."
"I just…ow!" She muttered an apology and he felt the cold wet slide of oil as she poured a little more into his hair. "I just want it to feel right. And it won't feel right if you pressure me to get it done on a schedule."
Her hands stilled. "This was your idea. You wanted this."
A short, harsh laugh burst out of him. "Now who's transparent?"
"Fine. I want it too. I can't help it; I love her. She fits into this family. And I just don't see the point of waiting if it's something you want." She scraped a huge chunk of paint off a tuft of hair and dropped it in front of him on the table. "That girl's going to need to cut off the bottom two inches of her hair. And if you asked her, she'd probably do it all over again. She'll say yes. Just do it."
"I don't get it," he said crankily. "You don't even believe in marriage. What happened to 'it's just a piece of paper'?"
Sarah mumbled something.
"What was that?"
"I said…" He could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "That I was wrong."
He stuck his hand in his pants pocket and fished out his phone; he monkeyed with the video function and then held it up, camera facing her. "Can you repeat that? I'd like to get it on the record."
She jerked the comb through his hair and he yelped.
"I'm allowed to be wrong, you know."
"Yeah. I just never thought I'd hear you admit it."
She worked on him quietly for another minute or so and then Sam drummed his fingers on the table. "So, what part were you wrong about, exactly?"
Sarah took a few seconds, and then she spoke quietly. But her voice didn't waver in the slightest. "I guess, when I said it wouldn't change things. It does. It feels different."
"Different how?"
She shrugged. "I don't know exactly. But with the two of us and Jake…and now this baby… It just feels like I'm finished. You know? Like it all fits together in a way I didn't expect." She ran the comb through his hair from hairline to nape, this time feeling barely a catch. "That girl in there?" she said quietly. "She wants to spend the rest of her life with you. Maybe she hasn't said it in so many words, but she does. Don't make her wait for that feeling."
Cooper stuck his head around the corner. "Hey, Sarah. You about done? He's gonna be out in like two minutes." He yawned. "And I think I've got maybe ten left in me."
Sam raised his eyebrows. "You realize it's only a little after nine, right?"
"Yeah, well, we're old now," Sarah explained. "Just wait. The day will catch up with you." She stepped around in front of him and ran her fingers through his hair, picking at a bit of dried green near his ear with her nails. He winced as she yanked at it. "I'll be right in," she tossed over her shoulder.
Sam bobbed his eyebrows at his brother-in-law and watched Cooper unfold his lanky frame from around the door frame and went back to the bedroom. Sarah gave Sam a small smile and then kissed the tips of her fingers. She pressed them to the top of his head. "Maybe you should just wait until you're someplace quiet and alone, and then you should just talk to her about it."
"I almost did tonight," Sam admitted. "But your husband sort of ruined the mood."
She smirked. "That doesn't sound like him," she murmured. "Usually he's pretty good at turning on the romance."
"Ugh. Can you just not?"
"Sorry." She held back a grin as she brushed the chunks of greasy, dried pant from his shoulders. "Besides, the doctor says we have to wait six weeks."
"Come on."
She chuckled. "Okay. Sorry. For real this time."
He took a deep breath as she grabbed the oil and tucked it back into the cupboard and turned to face him. Then he nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna do it. But it's not going to be a family discussion. It's just going to be her and me. No proposal around the tree, no bended knee. That's not us. We're not those people."
"That sounds reasonable." She tossed the comb into the sink and started walking past him. As she hit the doorway, she glanced back. "Make sure you wash your hair really good, okay? I don't want grease stains on the sheets."
By the time he got the oil washed out of his hair, and the dried paint mostly scrubbed off his skin, it was late. Sarah and Cooper had gone to bed, the house was dark. He walked into the living room and froze. Andy was digging through his duffel.
"What're you doing?"
She jumped in surprise. "You scared the hell out of me," she said with a laugh, eyebrows raised as high as they'd go. And then she turned back to the bag. "I can't find my little bag, with my makeup and my lotion. I think Sarah might have thrown it in with your stuff when she was cleaning." Sam looked around the room. Everything was neatly pushed into the edges, leaving space for movement. All of their belongings had been stacked neatly near the mantle. She'd apparently gotten bored while everyone was out running around.
"Here." He stepped up next to her and kind of…nudged her out of the way. It was more of a hip check actually, and she sort of bounced into the bed.
"Something in there I'm not supposed to see?" she asked with an irritated smile.
"It's Christmas, McNally. What do you think?" he said, grinning.
She gave him a wide smile and crawled across the bed, shoving her legs down under the covers. As he turned to face away, shifting things around inside his bag, she caught a look at his back and burst into laughter. He shot a curious look over his shoulder as he pulled her makeup bag out of the end pocket and tossed it back at her.
"What's so funny?"
She caught it and pulled the lotion out. "You didn't really get all the paint off."
He frowned and walked over to the picture window, facing away from it as he tried to catch a glimpse over his shoulder at the reflection. Sure enough, Andy's name was still written, large as life, across the widest part of his shoulders. He looked at her sheepishly, hand scrubbing over his head. "Maybe you should get in with me next time and make sure I get it off?"
She smirked and started smoothing lotion over her leg. "Get what off, exactly?"
"God, you're funny." He rolled his eyes and climbed over her, getting down under the covers. He glanced at her as she leaned over, still rubbing the lotion into her skin. "You've still got some on you too. Right here." He rubbed a fingertip behind the shell of her ear and she squirmed, pulling away.
"My skin hurts." Sam knew he still had a few streaks left on his legs, possibly a couple of smudges on his arms, and of course, his back. But she looked clean, skin fresh and still pink; well-scrubbed. He took the bottle away from her and tossed it onto the floor.
"Come here." He pulled her down into the bed, pulled the blanket up to her shoulder and put his hand on her hip, stroking gently. She relaxed against him and reached back, pulling his arm over her until he was flush up against her back. He nosed into the hair at the back of her neck and he put his mouth on a bare patch of skin at her shoulder. "Does it hurt here?" She shook her head and he tightened his arm around her. He moved to her neck. "What about here?" Again, the head shake along with a little hum. He propped himself up on an elbow and reached up, tipping her face toward him.
As he kissed her, she turned over onto her back and he sank into her, pressing her into the mattress. He settled a thigh between her legs and pulled back, sliding his hand into her hair. He tried to hold back the grin as she winced, feeling his fingers against her tender scalp, but the memory of the previous hours was too strong.
"Sorry about your hair." His fingers gently smoothed over it, touch infinitely light, and she relaxed again, smiling guiltily.
"I think this one was probably my fault."
She tipped her chin up, yawning, and he saw that below her jawbone, under her ear, there was a small purple thumbprint. For some stupid reason, the sight of it made his heart swell, and he pressed his thumb against it, smiling as the slight pressure in that place made her raise her mouth to his. He dropped a kiss onto her lips, nibbling at the lower one gently. She leaned closer and he rolled, gathering her to his side.
He lay back on the pillow and she tucked her face into that spot between his shoulder and his neck and slipped her arm around him, holding him tightly.
"What was that whole thing in the kitchen?" he asked, suddenly remembering the weird communication that had passed between Sarah and Cooper and then Sarah and Andy.
She laid a quiet kiss on his neck. "Jake's just feeling a little left out. With the baby and everything."
Sam snorted. "Well, after he sees the haul he made this year, I really doubt that'll be an issue." He yawned.
Andy reached over him and grabbed the chain on the lamp and tugged it, cloaking them in darkness. Then Andy lay back down, and lifted a knee, curling it over him, settling into one of her favorite spots. She was pressed against his side, and he thought he maybe had another three minutes before she was completely out. In truth, he was suddenly halfway there himself, bundled into bed, warm body alongside his.
And then he got another one of those urges. One of those proposal urges. Even after talking to Sarah, he hadn't really been planning it. In fact, this was probably one of the last places he would have considered asking her. Originally, he'd wanted it to be somewhere private, somewhere special; not lying on the pull-out in his sister's living room, the family sleeping right around the corner. But now that the idea was there, it wasn't going away.
"I ah…" He glanced at his bag, at the small bulge in the end pocket, just a touch too far out of reach. He stretched his arm towards it, leaning ever so slightly. And then he heard it.
Carly was starting to wail in the other room and he pulled his arm back, let his head fall back against the pillow. He heard scuffling, softly spoken words as Sarah climbed out of bed to take care of the baby. The floor creaked in the hallway and as he looked over, he saw Cooper's large form walking through to the kitchen. He could hear the refrigerator opening and closing, the very slight squeak of a chair rocking in the next room.
"Yeah?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep. Andy's breathing was beginning to even out, her fingers relaxing against his chest and he blew out a frustrated breath.
He kissed her forehead, brushing the hair back from her face. "I guess I'll ask you tomorrow."
The next morning, they woke early. Andy was jarred awake by the strong high wail coming from the bedroom and Sam was awoken by an elbow in his gut as Andy scrambled over him on her way to the bathroom.
She peeked out the window on the way back and when she entered the living room, she went right for her duffel.
"What're you doing?" Sam mumbled as he rolled over and pressed his face into the pillow. Then he looked at his watch. "God, it's early."
"It's after seven. I think we should try to squeeze in a run before everyone gets up."
"You're kidding, right?" He didn't move. At all.
"We just started training again and I don't want to fall off the wagon already. C'mon, we'll just do five."
"I'm pretty sure if we worked at it, we could burn the same amount of calories and increase our endurance right here." He tried to sound lascivious, but it came out tired.
"Unless you feel like doing it with an audience, I think that option's out," Andy said quietly as Cooper walked through the hallway behind her. "C'mon. Get dressed. I'll grab us some water and a snack. Come on." She reached out and shook his shoulder. "Let's go running."
She walked away and started quickly pulling on her clothes. Andy pulled her shoes out of her duffel and then started digging through Sam's. She pulled out a pair of sweat pants, a few shirts and tossed them onto the bed. "I'll buy you breakfast after. You know. Like we used to."
Finally, Sam rolled over. "We run together all the time, Andy. And we grab breakfast every day."
"Yeah, but now we're training. And uh…maybe when we're done, we can do that thing we do sometimes," she suggested, giving him a wink.
They managed to get out of the house with barely a word to anyone, swinging up into the truck and pulling out of the driveway quickly. The gravel roads around the house were covered in snow, but in town, they were clear, salted and sanded on a regular basis.
Sam pulled the truck into a parking lot near a park and they got out and started walking briskly, doing a very easy warm up. They'd run in town a few times before, on other visits. Andy had been all over the place when she'd been training for the last marathon, and on more recent visits, they'd taken one morning each time to come and run on the trails. But this time, they ran on the roads, following familiar paths. It was warm out, the clouds low and heavy. Snow was coming.
After a few minutes, Andy slipped her ear buds in and started tapping at her GPS tracking watch, and then they sped up. They ran side by side at a comfortable pace. It was a training run, but it was a slow one, meant simply to get the heart pumping and their muscles engaged. They ran a couple of loops through the park and then turned right, circling around another mile or so before turning back towards the truck.
By the time Andy snapped the ear buds out and released the Velcro of her armband, she'd worked up a pretty decent sweat. She grabbed a water bottle from the cab of the truck and drank down half of it before passing it off to Sam, and then dropped into her stretches. She held onto the truck as she stretched her calves, closing her eyes as she felt the tight muscles loosen. Beside her, Sam was doing the same, and she listened to him, to the satisfied noises he made as he stretched his arms across his chest, loosening his shoulders.
She finished up and leaned back against the truck, shoulders and ribs pressed against the cold metal, hips slightly out, arched away. When he was done, he moved over and stood close to her, running his hands down her back and pulling her flush against him. She laughed throatily and twined her arms around him.
"I don't know why you always resist when this always ends the same way," she murmured as he pressed his mouth against her, sucking at a patch of salty skin at her neck. She tipped her head down, pressing her face against the damp shirt covering his shoulder and she inhaled, grinning as she felt a familiar heat spread through her. She pulled back a little, smirking. "Do you ever think about how gross this is? Sweaty and slimy, and all we can think of doing is-"
She broke off as he slanted his mouth across hers, pulling her hips tight against him. That noise he was making, sort of a growl, told her that he thought it was anything but gross. And his hands were sliding up under her shirt, letting the cold air move up her back, over her damp skin, making her shiver against him.
"We should…mmm…" His mouth was doing things, moving against the skin below her ear and for a second, she forgot where she was going with this. "We should go."
"Where?" he mumbled against her skin. Cars were passing them, not many, but enough so that Andy was hearing horns blaring every now and again, telling them to move it along, to get in the truck and take it somewhere else. Or maybe it was like passing a wedding, honking in congratulations. Either way, they needed to leave.
"Um…." And his fingers, skimming the waistband of her workout pants, sliding against the muscles of her stomach, they made her flip flop inside, made her press her hips harder against his. And it was possible she moved her hand down, ran her knuckles over him through his sweatpants. He grabbed her hand in his, pulling it away as he laughed softly in her ear.
"Think Sarah would care if we stayed in town tonight? Give Cooper his couch back?" Immediately, Andy started shaking her head, sucking in a quick breath as her earlobe was sucked between his lips. "Okay, then." He let go of her and stepped back. She let out a frustrated whine of protest and he gave her a wide grin as he backed around the truck. She slumped against the metal, trying to slow everything down, trying to get her breath back.
After a long moment, she shook her head and opened the door, scrambling up into the cab.
He was laughing, at the pink of her skin, and the slight way her hand shook as she shoved her iPod into the console.
"You're a goddamn tease," she snapped, buckling her belt across her hips.
He put the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, possibly a little faster than normal. "Who's teasing?"
Of course, check-in at any hotel wasn't until after noon, which meant that they still had a couple of hours to kill. So they ended up having breakfast after all. They tucked into a corner booth next to the too bright window in a restaurant across the street from the nearest hotel. They sat across from each other, because when they'd first slid in, they'd been pressed together, hip to hip, and Sam's hand had been having a hard time remembering they were in a public place.
Even now, as he dug into his omelet, he was grinning; a full-on sex grin. And Andy couldn't help it. Every time she saw the arrogant twist of his lips, saw his eyes sweep over her, over her messy ponytail and sweat-stained shirt, her smile grew so large that she had to look away. And very soon, they were finished with their breakfast, and still had time to kill.
"What're we supposed to do now?" Andy asked quietly. Under the table, she propped her ankles up on his knee and his hands ran down over them, alternating firm and light pressure as he rubbed up her calves.
"I'm actually pretty tempted to take the truck out of town and just park somewhere," he said, staring at her for a long moment.
She stared back, pulling at her bottom lip with her teeth as she considered it. And then she shrugged. "It's not like it'd be the first time." She shifted her legs as his hands traveled up behind her knee, trailing feather light against the skin. "I hate it when you do that," she said on a breath
"Liar." He kept it up and she swallowed thickly, and then pulled her legs away, tucking them against the bench seat.
"We need to leave," she said, grabbing her jacket. "Now."
He chuckled, reached across the table for the bill. But he paused as a shadow fell over the table. He looked up, and a smile split his face.
"Kit."
"Hey, loser." Andy looked up and grinned. Sarah's best friend looked as great as always. Pixie-ish, with wispy blonde hair kept short, and brown eyes that slanted just slightly, the whole package wrapped up in a light blue wool coat.
"Should've known we couldn't get through one visit without being graced with your presence," Sam remarked with a sarcastic tone.
"You guys remember Kevin, right?" Andy glanced behind Kit, and smiled at the dark-haired man standing a few steps behind her. When she first met Kit, Sam had told her about her husband, how she'd lost him in a car accident, only months after their twins were born. And though she'd been casually dating over the last couple of years, everyone was still a little surprised when she brought Kevin to Thanksgiving in October. But he was kind, and polite, and great with her kids. And at the time, even though they were only six months in, they'd seemed very in love.
As Sam stood up to shake Kevin's hand, Andy looked at Kit. She didn't know her all that well, had only a few lengthy encounters at family functions, but there was something different. There was a sort of light behind her eyes that Andy didn't remember seeing. As Sam and Kevin moved away, presumably to pay their checks, Kit slid into the booth across from Andy and pulled off her gloves. And that's when Andy saw it.
Like Sarah, Kit was slim, except where Sarah had a strength to her, leanly muscled all over, Kit had always seemed a little more fragile, almost bird-like, with small light features. In accordance with that, her hands were small, finely boned with a tracing of tendons and veins, and long slim fingers topped with well-manicured nails. And circling the third finger on her left hand was a very impressive-looking diamond ring.
"Holy mother-" Andy said, reaching out to grab her hand.
Kit laughed, a light joyful sound and when Andy glanced up at her face, she was turned, staring across the restaurant at Kevin. "Yeah," she said when she turned back. "He asked me last night."
"Does Sarah know?"
"Uh, no." Kit's voice dropped a level in enthusiasm, and another in volume. "Listen," she said, conspiratorially. "Don't tell her. I want to see the look on her face. And I know she's probably got people all over her right now, so I wasn't planning on heading over there for a few days. I want to let her get settled or whatever."
Andy raised her eyebrows and gave her a wide smile. "Yeah, no problem. Wow. Congratulations." She couldn't stop staring at the ring. She tried, almost frantically, to remember what Kevin did for a living, but came up blank. Maybe something banking or real estate? She reached for her water glass and took the last few sips.
"Yeah, you too," Kit said. "I swear, if someone had told me five years ago that Sam would be settling down and getting married, I'd have never believed it."
Andy choked on a mouthful of water, and her eyebrows shot up and together in confusion. "Excuse me?" she asked around a sputtering cough.
Instantly, Kit's eyes flew to Andy's hand, to her bare hand. "Oh…uh…shit." She made a face and again, glanced over towards the men, this time panicking a little. "It's just that I thought I heard something about it over Thanksgiving. And I mean, I saw the book, so I just assumed…" Again, her eyes flew to Sam and Kevin. "Maybe he just…ah…"
"What book?" she asked automatically, barely even hearing her own words. Andy's heart was pounding fast and erratically, and she could hear it echoing through her head. Thanksgiving was two months past. She tried to think, tried to remember what had happened over Thanksgiving. They'd all gathered at Sarah's, they'd eaten, and then she and Sam…
It'd started with work. A half dozen patrol officers had been sent in to clear a house, and even though he'd told her to stay close, to stay with the group, she'd split off. She hadn't been by herself; she'd been partnered with Traci. But when they'd finished, he'd been furious. It'd been her fault, and she knew it. But he'd come down on her much harder than she'd anticipated; much harder than she thought she'd deserved. So, she'd yelled back. The issue hadn't been resolved before they'd headed down to St. Catharines for the holiday.
And because of that, they'd been on edge all weekend; snapping at each other over little things. Making pointed remarks around the very small, very inconsequential issues that had been grating at them. Like the way their closet was so full, and so cluttered, that Sam was literally pulling out dozens of items just to locate a shirt. And how he felt the need to clean up after her like she was a child, even though she was an adult, fully capable of picking up after herself; when she felt like it. That really pissed her off.
And then there was the matter of the bathroom. Every time he got into the shower, because there were literally a dozen bottles lining the wall, he'd knock a couple into the tub, causing them to land heavily on his toes. All of these were things that should have been dealt with months before, but months before, they'd still been deeply lost in that fog. The new relationship fog where everything was perfect, or nearly so, and those little things, they didn't really seem to bother them too much. And then, very abruptly, the honeymoon was over.
Anyway, after a full weekend of that, they'd gotten back into the truck, Monday after dinner, barely speaking to each other, desperate for a little breathing room. And then one of them had said something. Probably, it had been her. Something extremely out of line, and malicious about how he always had to be right, and how he always had to have it his way. Which of course was ridiculous, because he was right a lot. And really, she liked it when he was in charge; most of the time anyway. But that had started a screaming match that lasted a good ten minutes, and was finished off by another hour of silence. They'd returned to Toronto and Sam had headed into the bedroom and slammed the door, and Andy had pulled on her shoes and gone for a run.
It'd taken another couple of days before everything got smoothed out between them. They'd worked it out. All the bottles went into a basket between the toilet and the tub. The closet got cleaned out, clothes bagged and sent to Goodwill; Sam had gone to town installing an organizational system rife with wire baskets and multiple rods. And he'd stopped picking up after her; let her do it on her own time, even though it ate at him to see dirty dishes on the coffee table. And all the other things. They'd worked them out.
But it had been a bad fight, and the things they'd said hadn't been funny or easily forgotten. He'd made her cry, fat angry tears, and she'd ripped him apart, and they'd done it on purpose. But they'd apologized. Over and over again, in fact. And they'd made up; several times over the next few days. But even so, there was only one explanation Andy could come up with.
"Maybe he changed his mind," she said quietly.
"No!" Kit said emphatically, shaking her head. "He's probably just waiting until Christmas."
Andy sat back in the booth, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes went to Sam across the room. He saw her looking and grinned at her, expression dimming only a little when she didn't smile back. She took a deep breath. "We're supposed to do Christmas with Sarah tonight. We've gotta go back tomorrow."
"Well, see?" Kit held her hands up and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure it'll be tonight." Except, she didn't really sound like she believed it. "Look, maybe you should just ask him."
"Yeah," Andy laughed. "That wouldn't sound desperate at all."
"Well, maybe ask Sarah about it. She was there. And obviously, she knows him way better than I do, so…"
Andy suddenly went very still and raised a questioning eyebrow. And then after a long, uncomfortable moment, she nodded. Of course Sarah would know. "Yeah, maybe I will."
She fell silent as the men returned to the table. Sam held out his hand, and after a moment, Andy reached back, grabbed her hat and gloves, and then let him pull her up. The four of them walked out the door together, saying a brief goodbye as they split up in the parking lot. Andy couldn't meet Kit's eyes. Suddenly, she was feeling very unsure of herself, and she didn't want to see that giant rock on Kit's finger. She needed to talk to Sarah.
When he handed her up into the truck, and closed the door behind her, she faced forward, put her belt on and laid her head back against the seat. He got in next to her and reached over, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips. "So, are we taking a trip out of town?" he asked, teeth nipping at the tips of her fingers. She cringed a little; she'd somehow forgotten about that plan.
She shook her head. "No. I got a text from Sarah while you were paying the check. She wants us back there to help." The lie flew out of her mouth so fast, so easily, she couldn't even believe it.
But he frowned. "Sarah has Cooper and Jake to help her."
She shrugged. "That's just what she said."
Sam let out a frustrated sigh, but kept ahold of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers as he pulled out of the parking lot. "She's always a little moody around the holidays," he muttered. "I swear, when we get to Vancouver, we're not answering any calls from her," he said emphatically, raising his eyebrows.
"You mean Hawaii, don't you?" Andy asked with a reluctant grin, still not quite willing to give up her first choice, even if she was slightly upset.
He laughed. "So the Chicago Marathon's out then?"
She propped her feet up on the dash. "I just think if we're going to go on vacation, we should really go on vacation, you know? Like all-inclusive, new time zone, wearing a bikini eight hours a day vacation."
The corner of his mouth curled up and he gave her a sidelong glance. "Now that is an argument I can get behind. Feel free to wear a bikini eight hours a day any time you want." She rolled her eyes, but when he looked at her, she calmed a little, like she did every time. And it was the same look he always gave her; normal. So, everything was okay, really. She smiled, then turned away and looked out the window, returning the pressure of his hand. Everything would be sorted out once she talked to Sarah.
They walked in the house and Sam took one look at his sister bent over the desk in the kitchen and rolled his eyes, striding back to the living room.
"What the hell's his problem?" Sarah asked Andy as she stepped into the room.
She shrugged. "No idea. What's going on?"
Sarah turned and dropped a stack of take-out menus on the table. "Our fake Christmas dinner. We don't feel like cooking. Do you?" Andy shook her head. "Okay, so pick something. We'll eat whatever."
Andy picked through them, and then looked up. "How about something from a few places? Like a buffet?"
Sarah nodded. "Sounds good." She looked at her watch. "We usually do dinner and then presents, so obviously, the earlier we eat, the better," she said with a grin. "We like presents." Andy held out the three menus she'd chosen and Sarah took them. "I'll just go see what the guys want and we can order. Let's say dinner at three?" She rushed out of the room without waiting for an answer and Andy just sat there. She couldn't decide if she should ask now or later, after they'd done the whole Christmas thing.
In reality, it was probably the most un-Christmas-like Christmas Andy had ever been involved in, but somehow it worked for them. Clearly for the Laffertys, the holiday was more about everyone getting together than any real long-standing tradition, and bringing up the marriage thing might put a strain on all that.
So… She exhaled loudly and stood. So, she'd wait. She'd just suck it up and wait until the festivities were over. If nothing concrete came from it, she'd talk to Sarah. No need to screw up everyone's day.
She was about to walk out of the room when she heard vibrating. She turned to the desk and scanned the surface until her eyes came to rest on Sarah's cell phone. Kit's picture was brightly lit on the screen; probably calling to warn Sarah about her slip. Andy reached out and pushed "Ignore." Sarah was one of the best liars Andy had ever met. The only way she'd really know the truth is if she caught her off guard. She hit one of the buttons on the phone, turning it from vibrate to silent, and then tucked it into the drawer. With no heads up from Kit, Andy would have the element of surprise.
When she entered the living room, Sarah was swiveling a little in Cooper's recliner, watching while Jake and his dad battled it out on the Xbox. On the couch, Sam had Carly lying on her back on his thighs, and Andy sat down next to him, pulling her legs up underneath her. He looked over.
"Do you want her?"
Andy smiled and held out her hands. "Always." As she put Carly in the crook of her elbow, she leaned back into Sam's arm stretched along the back of the couch. He rubbed his hand over her shoulder and pulled her in, settling her against his side. And then he reached over, ran his other hand over the top of the baby's head. Andy smiled, feeling something heavy move through her chest, finding it suddenly a little hard to breathe as she turned her head and looked at him. In that moment, his eyes shifted from Carly to Andy and there was something in his expression…. Something new. He reached up and ran his hand around to the back of her head, pulling her face to his. He dropped a couple light kisses onto her lips, smiling back at her when she let out a somewhat surprised laugh; hand up against his face.
It had to be Christmas; had to be today. He wouldn't be looking at her like that if he wasn't planning to ask her. Her eyes skittered over to Sarah who was watching them, camera in her hands, a curious expression on her face.
"Let's bump up dinner." Everyone's eyes shot to Andy. She shrugged and looked at Sam again. "And the presents. And then maybe we could go to that place we were talking about?" she finished with a conspiratory whisper.
He raised his eyebrows at her and then nodded. "Yeah, sure," he said, his voice a little husky. "Sounds good." He kept his eyes on her but held out his hand to Sarah. "Give 'em here." Andy watched as she passed the menus to Cooper and he handed them to Sam. And then Sam looked away from Andy, pulled out his phone, and leaned into the couch, towing her back up against him.
Quickly, he ran through each of the numbers, ordering what seemed like way too much food for the five of them. Sarah was still taking pictures. She'd finally stopped watching Sam and Andy, and had turned her attention to her husband and step-son, but every now and again, her eyes would float over to the sofa. Finally, Andy stood, holding a sleeping Carly up to her shoulder.
"You mind if I go put her down?"
Sarah raised her eyebrows, but shook her head. "Not at all."
"I think I'll maybe clean up a little after that." She ran her hand over her limp ponytail. "Still haven't showered." The glance she threw over her shoulder to Sam was an attempt at subtlety. A failed attempt.
Cooper took a look at her and his eyes shot over to Sarah. "I guess Jake and I will uh, run into town to pick up dinner."
"Daaaad," Jake whined as he continued to click away at his controller. Cooper reached over and snagged it out of his hands.
"Sorry, buddy. We'll be back soon." As he said the last word, he shot a reproachful look at Sam, who looked like he couldn't care less about Cooper's opinions at the moment. His eyes were locked onto Andy, watching her as she walked slowly out of the room.
And so after she'd made her way back to the bedroom, laid Carly carefully in the bassinette and made her way quietly back to the bathroom, she wasn't surprised to see Sam waiting for her, testing the water with one hand, while toeing off his running shoes.
"You realize that they know we're in here, right?" he clarified with a laugh, eyes on her as she whipped off her shirt.
"You realize I don't really care, right?" The grin she gave him was challenging, heated. And when they'd both dropped their last stitch of clothing to the floor, she pushed up against him, pulling the curtain out of the way as they stumbled and laughed their way into the tub, wrenching it closed behind them.
When they emerged, Sam flipped down the lid and sat on the toilet, towel wrapped around his waist as he watched Andy struggle to comb through her hair. "I have a confession to make."
Her eyes moved to his as she dragged the comb down through the ends of her hair. "Oh yeah?" she asked casually, all the time feeling her heart start to race.
He laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back against the toilet tank. "I know we made a deal, but I sort of got you something." She bit her lip and looked down as she felt the smile spread across her face. "Don't get too excited," he warned. "It's not a big thing."
She shook her head, swallowing the grin. "Not getting excited. But how not big are we talking?"
He laughed. "It's just something I bought before we decided to take the trip."
She ran her toothbrush under the sink and then loaded it up and stuck it in her mouth. "Is it something I can wear?" she asked around it.
Sam raised an eyebrow in mock consideration. "It is."
"Um…" Andy ran it quickly over her teeth, brushing hard for a few moments. "Is it expensive?"
He snorted. "Wasn't cheap, that's for sure."
She rinsed her mouth, then turned to him and made a face. "I didn't get you anything. Other than the underwear, I mean." He reached for her, got a hand around the curve of her thigh and pulled, getting her between his knees.
Her hands fell to his head, ran through his hair as he pressed his face to her middle, breath hot against her. "I guess you'll just have to make it up to me tonight." His hands ran up under her towel, over the backs of her thighs and as they rose higher, she leaned into him. "Or now would work," he laughed. He was in the process of removing the terrycloth, working out the knot between her breasts when Sarah rapped briskly at the door.
"Play time's over, children. Food'll be here in five minutes." She paused and then she hit her knuckles against the door again. "And for future reference, we don't rent rooms by the hour."
Andy rolled her eyes as Sam's hands fell away. "She sounds pissed. And she has like the worst timing in the world," she murmured before she leaned down and pressed a noisy kiss against his face.
"Screw her," he muttered as he caught her mouth one last time.
Quickly, they dressed and by the time they got out to the living room with wet hair and bare feet, Cooper and Jake were walking in the door, heavily laden with bags of takeout.
Sarah hadn't been kidding when she'd said they liked presents. Dinner took less than fifteen minutes. In fact, Andy blew through a plate of honey chicken, lamb curry and a healthy scoop of ziti in less time than it took to unpack the bags. On the couch next to her, Jake was doing the same, shoveling food into his mouth, eyes constantly flickering back to the Christmas tree and the presents stacked underneath. Sarah had switched off the Xbox and turned on the stereo; some weird, heavy-sounding alternative music was playing. Not exactly the normal Christmas fare. Cooper walked in, glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye and grabbed the remote from her, switching it to something more appropriate and light.
After the food had all been eaten and the leftovers safely stowed in the refrigerator, they all sat down on the floor, and Jake passed out the presents. They took turns, going around the circle, each person opening something until the stash of gifts was depleted. By the time they were done, the adults all had a small stack in front of them. While they'd been conservative with each other, they'd gone completely overboard on Jake. He had a massive pile stacked around him consisting of: hockey equipment, more video games, a few books and DVD's, a new iPod, some clothes (which had been stealthily shoved aside) and a very expensive remote control helicopter that Sam had picked up the week before.
Sarah and Cooper had worked something out between them, buying each other only a few small things: a couple of books, a new set of imported paintbrushes Sarah had been eyeing for a few months. Sarah also gave Cooper a large picture frame with room for three prints. Two of the places were already filled; one with a picture of him with Jake as a small child, cradled against his chest as they both slept on the sofa, and another with the three of them sitting on the dock with their legs hanging over the edge, taken the previous summer. The empty spot was obviously for a new picture of Cooper and his daughter.
It was this gift more than anything that illustrated the affection between them. It was clearly Cooper's favorite. He tucked it safely against the wall so it wouldn't get damaged in the activity of the day, and then he put his arm around Sarah and hauled her up against him, smiling down at her as she leaned her head into his shoulder. His hand splayed across the point of her hip and she sort of curled into him, suddenly looking very small against his large frame. Andy looked down at Sam's fingers as they laced through hers, and then up at his face, unable to contain her smile. She dragged his hand into her lap and held onto it tightly as she started stacking her small pile of gifts.
Sarah and Cooper had given each of them a $50 gift card to the running store, a large box with a complete set of dishes, handmade by Sarah and glazed with various shades of purple, red and orange. Cooper had bought Sam a new driver, which was sort of a joke, because Sam had bought the same thing for him. Sarah had also given Andy a delicate-looking cuff bracelet she'd made herself out of strips of silver and some peridot beads.
In return, Andy and Sam bought the Lafferty family three hockey tickets for a game scheduled in January, complete with a promise to babysit Carly. Also, they'd picked up some CD's and $50 bottle of scotch for Sarah, now that she was no longer pregnant. It would still be a while before she could enjoy it, but as Sam explained, it was the thought that counted.
As they started clearing the paper and boxes away, Andy ran her fingers over her new bracelet, frowning as she realized that it was the only piece of jewelry she'd received. Sam was talking animatedly to Cooper about their drivers, already pulling them out of the boxes to check them out. Sarah was slowly picking through the dozen or so CD's Andy had picked out at the secondhand music store; checking out liner notes and song lists.
In truth, any other year, it would have been great, but she'd been expecting something a little different and when Sam took her hand again and gave it a squeeze, she gave him her best smile, although she wasn't really feeling it. But her head snapped to the side when Jake suddenly said, "Hey." He was digging around under the tree. "There's two more."
He came out with a large, heavy, flat package and another, much smaller; a cube that almost fit into the palm of his hand.
"The big one's Andy's," Sarah said distractedly, as she looked back down at the CDs.
"So's the little one," Sam said with a small smile. Andy didn't miss the look of pleased surprise that came over Sarah's face as she looked up at her brother.
Jake passed them over to Andy and looked on in interest as she grabbed them both and held them on her lap. She set the small one off to the side, grinning wide as she slid her fingers along the large flat one, slitting tape and tearing the paper away.
"Wait!" Andy's eyes shifted quickly to Sarah whose eyes were suddenly as big as saucers and looking quickly back and forth between Sam and Andy. After a second, she leaned forward, as if she were going to rip it from her hands. But Andy held it closer, out of Sarah's reach and looked down at it.
"Oh my God," she said quietly. She looked up, her eyes huge with disbelief. "Sarah…" Then she looked back down. She was holding Sarah's book. The one she'd started putting together the past summer. From the beginning, she'd had problems with it; with organizing the pictures, with matching the descriptions, the prose chosen to face each picture. When they were supposed to publish it in September, they'd decided they needed even more pictures, and Sarah, already six months pregnant had trucked all over Toronto and St. Catharines taking more shots.
On the cover, under the words "Girls Play Hard," was a picture of Andy. Sarah had taken this picture after one of her training runs. Andy was dropped into a crouch, her right leg thrust out to the side in a deep stretch. Her ponytail was hanging down low over one shoulder, her hands were braced against the grass, holding her body up, and she was staring directly out at the camera. Andy barely even remembered Sarah being there that day, couldn't remember her taking the picture at all, but obviously, she'd gotten close. In fact, she'd probably taken dozens of shots just to get this one.
Andy blinked away the wetness in her eyes and started flipping through the book. It was large, hardcover and heavy, with stiff pages and an inch-thick spine. Inside, there were other pictures. All sorts of black and whites of girls playing basketball down at the rec center, of the girl from down the road on a skateboard, pads and helmet solidly in place, some from the marathon she'd run last May, and others, of women doing all different sorts of sports, doing all sorts of different activities. Andy couldn't stop paging through it, couldn't stop flipping pages until she finally came to the front, to the table of contents and the dedication page. But when she started reading that paragraph, Sarah cleared her throat, and after a brief moment, the book was snatched out of her hand before she had a chance to finish.
"What're you doing?" she asked as Sam passed the book back to Sarah, who clutched it against her chest.
She shrugged. "I forgot…ah.." Her eyes went to Sam for an instant and then back to Andy. "I forgot to sign it for you. I'll let you look at it when I'm done." She jerked her head to the small box sitting near Andy's foot. "Maybe you should just open the last one," she said with an excited smile. "Don't worry about this one yet."
Andy looked down and picked it up, sufficiently distracted for the moment. Her eyes rose then to Sam's. He was suddenly looking very tense and he and Sarah were making some sort of silent conversation, punctuated by raised eyebrows and widened eyes. Andy nudged Sam with her foot and his eyes swung back to her. And his face, although still unbelievably tense, softened into a distracted smile.
"This is the one you were talking about?" Andy asked, holding up the cube.
"Uh, yeah." He said, nodding. "But don't get too excited. I didn't get a book published or anything." Again, he glared at Sarah and Andy frowned as the two of them started making faces at each other again.
Suddenly, the present in her hand seemed far too light to be what she'd been hoping. The container was far too pliable. Her thumb pressed against it, and it gave a little. She held her breath anyway and tore away the paper to reveal a flimsy plastic box holding a pair of red, black and silver ear buds.
Andy just held the box in her hand, trying to slow her heart, trying to hold the smile on her face so he wouldn't see her disappointment.
"What the hell is that?" Sarah asked shrilly, face screwed into a confused expression. "Ow!" she yelped as Cooper dug his elbow into her ribs and gave her a look.
Sam raised his eyebrows at his sister. "I said it wasn't a big deal," he said with an irritated smile.
"Yeah, but…" Sarah snorted. "Headphones? Seriously?"
"Hey! These are high tech," he shot back defensively. "They're made for runners; sweat proof and everything. It's not like they're some $5 special from Wal-Mart or something."
"It's fine," Andy said loudly as Sarah raised her voice to counter. Instantly, Sam's eyes moved back to her. "I love them. Really." She nodded to reinforce her statement and then looked at Sarah. "Really, we weren't even supposed to buy each other anything. So these are…" She held them up and nodded again. "These are great," she finished in what she hoped was a convincing voice.
Sam gestured with one hand towards Andy while shooting an annoyed smug look at Sarah. Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head, obviously frustrated. She got to her feet and stormed off to the kitchen, Andy's book held tightly to her chest.
Cooper looked around the circle, first at Jake and then at Sam and Andy before he bobbed his eyebrows and drew his lips together into a silent whistle. Then he rose to his feet and followed his wife into the kitchen.
"Sorry about that," Sam muttered as he started packing more paper into the empty boxes, readying it for the trash. "I told you. She gets moody during the holidays."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Andy said as she leaned over to kiss him. "But I think I'll just go check on her anyway. Alright?" He nodded and slid over to Jake who'd been putting batteries into the controller for his helicopter, watching the whole interaction with a furrowed brow.
Andy got to her feet and with the ear buds still clutched tightly in her hand, she entered the kitchen. Sarah and Cooper were standing chest to chest in the corner near the sink. Sarah's head was tipped back so she could look him in the eye, his was tipped forward, and they were whispering loudly together. She was gesturing wildly with both hands, her back to Andy.
Cooper saw her immediately though, and quickly silenced his wife with a single word. She spun around and instantly, a hospitable smile plastered itself across her face.
"Andy. What can I do for you?" She asked it like she was talking to someone in line at the grocery store; polite, but cold.
"Is everything okay?" Andy asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Everything's great."
Andy paused. "I'm only asking because things kind of got a little intense in there…"
"Yeah, well…ah…hormones." Sarah shrugged. "Apparently, they don't just disappear after you give birth. Who knew?" She didn't say anything else and in fact, looked kind of like she wanted Andy leave so she could continue to talk to Cooper in privacy.
Andy didn't leave. Instead, she stepped closer, and leaned up against the table and just stared at Sarah. "Can I ask you something?"
Sarah rolled her eyes impatiently. "Yeah. Knock yourself out." Andy's eyebrows hit her hairline and Cooper's hand settled on Sarah's shoulder and he squeezed gently. A warning. Sarah closed her eyes briefly, and then opened them again, flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'm a little tense, I guess. Not your fault."
Andy crossed her arms. "It's okay. Look, I uh..." She studied Sarah's face, hoping to get a baseline before she really started in on her. "I ran into Kit today and she said something and I don't really know what to think about it."
Sarah shrugged. "What'd she say?"
Andy tipped her head back a little and took a breath before she spoke. "She said that over Thanksgiving, Sam talked about proposing." Again, she watched her carefully, searching for anything. A flicker of recognition, any indication at all that she'd heard what Andy'd said, but she was stone still. A perfect statue. "Did he ever say anything like that to you?"
Slowly, Sarah shook her head, squinting a little like she was trying to remember. "Nope. Not to me."
Andy stared at her for a long moment and then, again, stepped closer, putting her hands on her hips. "You'd lie for him." Sarah said nothing, but the proud jut of her chin told Andy she was spot on. "So maybe if he had said something and then changed his mind… You know, decided he didn't actually want to marry me, you'd lie for him. Keep his secret."
"Andy," she said, her face suddenly soft with sympathy. "That's not what's going on here, I swear."
"Then what is it?"
Sarah licked her lips and glanced uncomfortably at Cooper who still had his hand on Sarah's shoulder. He kept his eyes on hers and gave his head an almost imperceptible shake. Then she took a deep breath and turned back. "You're going to have to ask Sam."
"What about you?" Andy asked suddenly, looking slyly at Cooper. "You're a terrible liar. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
He froze and in anticipation of the lie, a deep red twinge started creeping up over the collar of his shirt. He pressed his lips together in frustration and shook his head again.
"Andy, it's not my place."
Andy took two more steps forward, staring him right in the eye. "Cooper," she said. "You saw me naked yesterday. I think you owe me." The blush rose to the roots of his hair and he averted his eyes. Sarah glanced back at him and then threw a glare at Andy.
"Leave him alone. He doesn't have anything to do with this." Andy gave her a hard stare and then, as she took a deep breath, she lifted her eyes guiltily to Cooper
"Sorry," she mumbled with a shrug. "This isn't your problem. Neither of you." She backed away a few steps and then, feeling incredibly embarrassed, she turned on her heel, ready to stride out of the room.
But Sam stopped her. He was just walking in when she hit the doorway and he put his hands out, grasping her upper arms. "Whoa. Where's the fire?" His eyes shot curiously to the end of the room, to his sister and then back to Andy. "Are you guys holding some sort of secret meeting, or something?" She shook her head quickly, too quickly and as he moved his gaze from her to Sarah, any real trace of humor faded from his face and he pulled Andy a little closer. "What's going on?"
Andy looked at him, and suddenly, all the frustration and fire came flooding back. She stepped back, out of his grasp and narrowed her eyes at him. "Is there anything you think I need to know?"
He raised an eyebrow, clearly lost. "Uh, not that I know of…" He trailed off and as Andy watched, his eyes went over her shoulder to Sarah. After half a beat, Andy thrust herself into his eye line.
"Oh no." She shook her head. "Don't even think you're going to pull that silent sibling communication thing on me."
"I don't even know what's going on here," Sam argued, his volume increasing just a slight amount. Andy pursed her lips, steadying herself, and then flattened her hands against his chest and pushed him out of the room. When he was backed into the entryway, she snagged his coat off the hook and shoved it at him and then pulled hers down and around herself. She stepped into her shoes, then, threw open the storm door and stomped out into the yard, leaving him with nothing to do but follow after her.
He caught up to her halfway to the truck. It was still pretty warm out for late afternoon. The sun was sinking at a steady pace, and the shadows were starting to gather over the snow. The game had flattened most of it down, leaving just an icy path below their feet, and two trampled blankets of snow covering the yard on either side, neither one more than a few inches thick. The wind was starting to pick up; the clouds were beginning to gather. The storm Andy had predicted earlier in the day was well on its way. And when Sam grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back, spinning her roughly, she took in a deep breath, feeling the icy air sting and burn the back of her throat as she opened it to yell.
"What the hell is your problem?" he snapped, staring at her like she was a lunatic. "Did she say something to you?"
"What? Fighting over the holidays seems to be our thing," she replied condescendingly.
"It's not a holiday. And what do you mean 'our thing'?"
"You know what I mean. Thanksgiving."
"What about it? We fought." He shrugged. "So what? We fight all the time."
"The big deal is that it's the only reason I can come up with."
"The only reason? The only reason for what?" He was looking at her like she was crazy, which she hated. And it made her just a little crazier.
"For why you don't want to marry me!"
"What?" He practically yelled it, in total disbelief, hands up and sliding through his hair, like he'd had absolutely no idea where she'd been headed with this. Which, if Andy had to admit it, he probably hadn't.
"Kit said you were talking about it two months ago, so I mean… Obviously," she said, wide, hands moving all over the place. "That has to be it. Because the only other reason I can think of is that she had some freak hallucination and you just never wanted to marry me." Her voice got a little quiet at the end, like she was just now realizing what that meant.
"Andy…" His voice was suddenly patient, suddenly sympathetic and that helped; it kept her angry. "It's okay."
"No! It's not okay. I mean, there has to be some reason, right? So, why don't you want to marry me? Is it just marriage in general or is it me? Am I like, unmarriable or something? Is this about my cooking?" Yes, she knew that was possibly the dumbest thing to come out of her mouth yet.
And all of a sudden, he was grinning, that obnoxious toothy grin, dimples popping out all over the place. And he stuck his hand into his pocket, then dragged it out again, along with something else. A small little box, gray, soft-looking, just the right size for…
"Would I have been carrying this thing around for two months if I didn't want to marry you?" he asked, taking a step towards her.
She felt every muscle in her body stiffen and her eyes swung back up to his, humiliation starting to flood her face. "Maybe," she argued, just for the sake of arguing, and she shrugged. "I mean, if you actually wanted to marry me, it'd probably be on my finger."
He rolled his eyes; and then he frowned a little. "Wait, probably?"
She crossed her arms defensively; clearly feeling a little embarrassed. Possibly feeling a little stupid. "Well, you know. If I said 'yes'."
"If you said 'yes'? Five seconds ago you were practically begging me to marry you."
"Yeah, well, that was when I thought you didn't want to. Now that I know you do…" She looked him up and down, and then shrugged again. "Eh."
He put his hands on his hips, ring box wedged between two fingers, and he stared at her, shaking his head in amazement. "You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"
"Takes one to know one." Inwardly, she winced. Probably the best way to get a guy to propose was to not act like a four year old.
"I mean, really." His eyes widened. "You're lucky I love you so much."
"I'm lucky?" She barked out a laugh.
He nodded, eyebrows up to his hairline. "Uh, yeah."
"Why's that?"
He smirked. "You think any other guy would put up with this shit?" She made a face and then reached out and shoved him, hard. His feet slid a little on the icy path and he reached out, grabbing her, holding her to him as he regained his balance.
But after he'd found his footing, Sam didn't let go. His arm wound around her waist, pulling her up against him, grinning down at her as her hand came to rest against his chest, nails scratching lightly over the zipper of his coat.
"So, um…" She'd gone quiet all of a sudden, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, waiting. "So, can I see it?"
He barked out a laugh. "You think I'm gonna give it to you now? After all that?" He smirked. "Think again, sweetheart."
Her mouth dropped open and then a sly smile appeared. "But you bought it for me. I should at least get a look at it before I turn you down." She quirked an eyebrow.
"Go ahead. Keep digging that hole." He grinned at her, shaking his head in mild amazement. "You're gonna have to do some pretty smooth talking if you ever want to get your hands on this thing." He held the box up in front of her face, swinging his hand away when she reached up to snatch it.
She narrowed her eyes, knowing a challenge when she heard one. "We both know that if we were at home, I'd have that ring in five minutes flat."
He shoved the ring back into his coat pocket. "Well, we're not at home," he murmured as he flipped the buttons open on her coat. He put his hands inside, around the curve of her waist, thumbs brushing against the bare skin under her shirt. At the slightest touch, her breath came a little shallower, and her eyes darkened, just a tiny bit. "Better start talking."
"You know," she started, leaning back a little, looking him up and down. "I think you're the lucky one."
"If this is you sweet-talking me, you should know, you're doing it wrong."
"No seriously," she said, her tone suddenly suspiciously sedate. "You're moody, and you're cocky, and God knows you're like the slowest runner on the planet."
"McNally…" His eyes were narrowed, his voice a little husky with warning as he pulled her a little closer.
"But for some reason," she rolled her eyes and grinned. "For some reason, I love you anyway. More than I ever thought I could," she said, serious in an instant. She leaned close then, pressed her cold cheek against his as her fingers curled at the back of his neck and she pressed her lips to his ear. "And I want to marry you. I want to be your wife." There was a small tremor shaking her voice; the tiniest thing really, but he heard it. "So, are you gonna marry me, or what?" she whispered roughly, squealing a little when his grip on her tightened, and he grinned against her neck.
And then he was kissing her; his aim was a little off, but she didn't care because he was everywhere, hauling her up, pushing his body against hers, hands under her coat gripping at her waist, fingers at her lower back. And then they were falling. Andy didn't realize it until they hit the snow and their foreheads cracked together.
For a brief moment, she saw stars, and blinding white, and they tipped apart, groaning. She was on her knees, one on either side of him; both pressed their palms to their heads. And then as the pain cleared, he leaned up on his elbows, and she bent down again, slower this time, running her mouth over his. After a moment, she pulled back and sat on his stomach, hands braced on his chest as she stared down and smiled.
"So, if you didn't change your mind, then what were you waiting for?" she asked, a little quiet. Around them, he could hear the wind blowing gently, noise from inside the house leaking out, echoes from other families across the icy lake. And he could hear her breathing, kind of fast and shallow, like it changed every time things started to get a little out of hand between them.
He ran his hands up her thighs slowly, calming her just a little. "I don't know. Part of it I guess was that I wanted it to be special. You know. Memorable."
Andy rolled her eyes. "Well, mission accomplished. Why else?"
"I guess I was a little afraid you'd say no."
She rolled her eyes and clenched her fingers in the stiff fabric of his coat. "Remember when we first got together," she began quietly. "And you said you'd take me any way you could get me?"
He smiled back at her. "Yeah. But I'm kind of surprised you do." She gave him a light thump with her fist.
"Did you mean it?"
"Obviously," he said with a laugh.
"Well," she shrugged. "Me too. Except I don't want you any way. I want you every way." She gave him sheepish smile. "We could do this, what we're doing now; living together, just kind of going slow. Or we can pick it up a little. Move forward." He just looked up at her, blinking a little as the wind picked up around them. "What Sarah and Cooper have?" Andy said quietly. "I want that for us. Obviously, it hasn't been as long. But I'm sure about this. About you."
"You know we're still going to scream at each other, right?" he asked carefully, checking her face for a reaction. "I mean, we're talking knock-down, drag-outs. And my sister. Forty plus years of the same shit."
She bent down and ran her lips over his. "I like your sister," she said against his mouth. "And more of the same shit also means more holidays, and make-ups and babies. All very good things."
"Babies, huh?" he asked. "You wanna have my babies, McNally?" He grinned at the way she froze on top of him, stiffening throughout her thighs, hips and spine. He gave her thighs a squeeze.
"Well, yeah. But later," she finally relented. "Probably not right away."
"Probably not," he agreed, nodding and swallowing a smile. "But uh…just out of curiosity. How many babies?"
She gave him a look. "Ask me after the first one," she said with a laugh.
He rolled her then, grinning as she gasped at the shock of snow against her neck. He leaned down, one thigh between hers, weight on his forearms, and he got his hands up to her face, fingers digging into the mess of her hair. As he felt the snow melt into the leg of his jeans, she tipped her face up and squinted, raising a single eyebrow.
"So…?" she said quietly, voice lilting a little.
He brushed the hair back from her face, looked at it all spread out, dark against the white of the snow beneath her and he flashed his dimples, giving her a nod. "So, I guess we're getting married."
He pressed his mouth to hers for a few seconds and then pulled back. Andy licked her lips. "We're getting married," she repeated, face splitting in a grin.
Yay! right? So, the plan original plan was to end this with no proposal at all. B/c I like to make you all squirm a little. But I was not-so-gently convinced that it would be a wrong move.
Also, sorry to burst the bubble. Andy's not pregnant. This story was more warming her up to the possibility. Just in case I have one more sequel in me ;)
Thanks again for reading and all the alerts. I appreciate them, and your reviews :)
