“Thought you guys might be hungry,” Linda says.
“Jim?” I say.
He nods. “Yeah, I could eat something. It was a long flight…and the landing sure got bumpy.”
I don’t laugh at his analytical play on words, I just chalk it up to his quantitative mind. He’s a math guy. He needs time to work through this. To see how it can play out. Once it makes sense to him things will start to be okay. That’s not necessarily going to be today, or tomorrow, or maybe anytime soon. Time will show him how much I care about his daughter and at that point his mind will complete the circle and we’ll all fit comfortably back inside.
As we eat the girls try to mix in some small talk. It seems to be helping. Jim almost smiles once or twice and the angry cloud is starting to lift.
We finish and the girls offer to clean the few dishes we dirtied. I tell them not to bother, that we still have some talking to do.
“First, I need to apologize to Aria.” Her chest shoots back in her chair. She looks confused.
“I should have told you first exactly how I feel. I would never apologize to anyone for loving you, but I do apologize for you for not telling you first. I love you.”
A tear runs down her cheek as she stands up from her seat and throws herself at me in a hug. “I love you,” she says.
Jim and Linda can see how real this is, even though it’s happening beyond fast.
“I know this might seem to be happening very fast, but I can assure you our feelings for each other are real.”
Linda takes Jim’s hand between hers and brings it to her lap.
“Considering we met and married while Jim was on a ten day leave, I would say you two are right about on schedule for the Miller family,” Linda says.
Aria and I both smile as Jim does the best he can to fight back a smile of his own. Fortunately for everyone, a few moments later some sort of a half smile wins out.
“I guess we’re a bit more old-fashioned than the two of you love birds,” I say. I get down on one knee and Aria starts shaking, her hands to her cheeks.
“Aria, when you know, you know. And I know. I know without a doubt that you are the one and only woman in this whole galaxy for me.”
A quick laugh interrupts her tears. The galaxy joke another of our geekish aviation bonds via humor only the other can appreciate.
“Will you do me the honor of making the world’s happiest man even happier? Will you marry me?”
She throws herself into my arms and hugs me tight. She pulls back quickly. “Yes!” she says. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” she says alternating kisses in-between.
EPILOGUE
Aria
Six weeks later
I arrive home and decide it’s a good time to light a fire before Ryker gets home. He’s been teaching all day so I’ll surprise him with a massage when he gets home, but first I need to get in a quick nap.
I’ve been feeling tired lately and my back has been hurting. Who knew an extra couple books from Ryker’s class would have been just enough to push my backpack to the limit, and take me to the limit with it.
After the fire is lit, I lay down on the couch. I roll over onto my side and exhale from the pain. My breast is on the pillow and the pressure is too much to take. A little tear wells up in my eye. I don’t know why I’m so sensitive or acting so emotional. Then it hits me.
I jump off the couch and retie my shoes. Luckily Ryker has a faculty meeting for the next couple hours so I’ll be able to make it to the pharmacy and back before he’s home. I stand up from the couch and hear a key entering the front lock. Well, that plan totally didn’t work.
Ryker walks in with his arms wide and I go to him and fall in his arms.
“You lit a fire,” he says.
I don’t say anything. I just look up at him. He immediately notices the concern on my face.
“Aria? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say, but there’s no way he’s buying it.
“Tell me what happened?”
I haven’t taken the test yet so I can’t really tell him I’m pregnant, at least not for sure. Should I tell him I might be, which is going to freak him out the minute he’s just walked through the door after a full day of lecturing?
I know we’re a team and there’s no way I’d ever lie to him. Lies of omission are also lies in my book, so I know what has to be done.
“I’m having some signs that say I might be…pregnant?”
His head shoots back and his grip loosens. He backs away about two feet and just takes in the sight of me. “What? Are you serious?”
“We did have sex with out a condom, and there were more than a few times you didn’t pull out right away.”
He crosses his arms and stares at me. He’s expressionless and it’s freaking me out. A few seconds pass.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks in a lowered voice. I can’t tell if he’s trying to keep the mood from going chaotic or he’s reverting back to his Marine Corps days.
“I just realized it right now when I was lying on the couch.”
“You didn’t do the test?”
“Not yet. I was running out to get one right now.”
“How are you feeling? You okay?” he asks as he moves back in closer. He runs his hand through my hair, placing a locket behind my ear.
“I’m not sure how I am. Everything just hit me literally less than a minute before you walked in. And then you came home early. Everything is happening so fast.”
“Let’s take a deep breath together,” he says. It sounds crazy but just taking a minute to breathe makes everything feel a little bit better. “The meeting was cancelled so I thought I’d come home and spend some time with you. I didn’t know it might include a third.” He smiles and puts his hand on my stomach.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I say. It might just be stress.
“Aren’t you excited?” he asks.
“Why? Are you?”
“Are you kidding?” We laugh at the irony of his word choice. “Of course I’m excited. This is great news.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, don’t you think so?”
“Yeah. I mean it’s still all just hitting me right now, but yeah, this is great news. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Right.” he says. “And it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had some things I had planned to say at the conference in San Diego, but since it was cancelled I didn’t get to say them.”
“Okay?”
“Well, the timing was right to finally say those things just after I took the teaching position here, but instead of saying what I wanted to say I decided to write it down. I knew written words would have a much better chance of spreading globally than spoken words. With services like Google Translate the knowledge could be shared almost instantly.”
“I still don’t follow you.”
“As crazy as it sounds, I’ve borrowed some aerodynamic theories and applied them to learning to create a system that will block out so much of the outside noise, like social media, that kids are exposed to today and get them focused on the actual act of learning in our classrooms.”
“That’s great.”
“Not only is it great, but since I didn’t release it until I was a faculty here it is considered published research material. And, and you’ve got to keep this between us, this work is going to result in my winning professor of the year! I was notified earlier today, but wanted to tell you in person so we could share this moment.”
“You’re joking me? That’s amazing!”
I forget all about my troubles and jump up into his arms. We kiss deep and he pulls back. “And that’s not even the most amazing part.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Some extremely influential and wealthy individuals in our beautiful world like it so much that I’m going to be receiving a grant to pursue this.”
“Co
ngratulations.”
“Five million congratulations,” he says.
“Five million dollars?”
“Five million dollars. And it’s a grant so it doesn’t have to be repaid.”
“And I know you’ve already worked through all the math.”
“Of course. It’s one hundred percent air tight. And the money is a nice bonus, but I think it will be best to funnel a lot of it back into the project. To provide some computers and software for students in need. And not to get ahead of ourselves, but if we are pregnant, then this transformation of the learning process is an amazing gift to give our child.”
I can’t even express how much I love this man.
“Come on!” he says. “Let’s go see about that other great news.” He realizes I’m still in his arms. He smiles and carries me out the door and away we go.
Half an hour later we’re in the bathroom staring at a plus sign together.
“Wow,” he says. “It’s a plus. As in plus one. As in I’m going to be a father.”
“That didn’t take us long, did it?”
“We knew our bodies were a perfect fit, but this means they are really a perfect fit.”
“What am I going to do about classes?”
“What do you mean? You’re going to go. It’s your passion. It’s our passion.”
“But I have a baby inside me.”
“There are great hospitals here. We’re super close to Chicago too if we want to go that route.”
“But my future?”
“Don’t you mean our future?”
“Of course, but I want to graduate.”
“You will graduate. This is your final year. I’m still expecting to see you at the top of the class.”
“While I’m preparing to have a child?”
“While we’re preparing to have a child.” He wraps me in a hug and holds me tight. “My coming here was the best thing that could have happened. I have plenty of time off and next semester I can schedule fewer classes or just teach in one of the bigger auditoriums. We’ll do this together. It will be fun.”
“Fun?”
“Yeah, we’re going to have a baby. Won’t that be fun?”
“A lot of work.”
“It will be, but it will still be fun. I mean, come on…this will be the sexiest and smartest baby ever.”
“I can’t argue with you there,” I say. I playfully tickle him in the ribs. “You’re right. It will be fun. It will be fun because it will be with you. But are you sure you want a family right now?”
“One million percent. Look, I know this is all happening very fast.”
“That seems to be a theme with us,” I say.
“True, but hear me out. I’m old enough and wise enough to know an amazing thing when I see it. And I’m also the type of guy who goes for what he wants and doesn’t give up until he gets it. I want you. I did, I do, and I will continue to. Forever. And I want this baby. Our baby. We’ll do it together. We’ll look back years later and laugh. Sure it will be a lot of work, but it will be way, way, way more than worth it.”
“Ryker, I want the baby too. It was never a matter of that. It’s just that I don’t want my studies to get pushed to the back burner or even worse, never completed.”
“Believe me, they won’t. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll be right here with you. Right by your side. Though the undergrad, postgrad, and all the flight hours. And I’m a faculty member, so although we won’t need it, I can always call in a favor or two if your delivery comes during exam time.”
“You would do that?”
“Of course. I’d do anything for you. You’re mine and that means forever,” he says. He looks back down at my belly. “And you sure are mine too,” he says as he places his hand back on my stomach.
My emotions are going crazy. Fear and happiness alternating currents inside me. My thoughts are spinning and of course Ryker leans down and kisses me on the forehead and everything makes sense again.
“I love you, Aria,” he whispers to me. “You know it. I know it. The whole world knows it.”
His words make me feel incredible. “I love you, too.”
“This is exactly what I want. It’s earlier than we planned, or didn’t plan for at all…yet, but that’s even better. An incredible surprise.”
“Of course you’re right.”
“And that fireplace is just asking for us to join it. To lay in front of it so I can make love to the man who will be the father of my child. The father of our child.”
He takes my hand and leads me over to the fireplace. He lays out a rug and we’re quickly on top, rolling around exploring each and every inch of one another. I’m high on his kisses and hot from his touch. The combination of the fireplace and our heat for each other burns too hot and soon our clothes are off. We’re moving in unison slowly and tenderly and my head is in the clouds.
I can’t wait to have this baby with this man. My baby. My man.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you.”
The End
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