Chapter 45: Dinner and a Show

“You know you do,” I said. David kissed me and went to the fridge to get us drinks.

The microwave chose that moment to ding, and I gratefully pulled steaming hot plates out, and promptly burned my hands.

“Ow! Dammit!” I shouted.

“What happened?” David asked, turning around.

“I hurt myself, hence the ‘ow’.”

David rolled his eyes at me. “I figured that part out, smart ass. How?” he prompted.

“By doing something stupid, hence the ‘dammit’,” I quipped.

He growled at me, eyes dancing. “Woman, you are getting on my very last nerve,” he teased, advancing on me.

I skirted away from him, and he followed, chasing me down the hall. I squeaked when he caught me, and wrapped me in a hug so fierce I thought he would break my ribs.

“Hey, don’t bruise the merchandise, Joker,” I said to him, swatting at his shoulders.

David relaxed his grip, and leaned back to look at me. “You know that you mean the world to me, right?”

I nodded. “Yes, I know that.” I trailed a hand over his hair and clasped his neck. “You know that I love you more than own life, right?” I answered him.

He searched my eyes for a minute, and sighed, smiling. “Yeah, baby, I know.”

Once we had something to eat, and got David’s things settled in my room (and, made love again, if you must know) David headed to the shower, and I jumped on the board. I let the girls know he got there OK, and told them we were going out to dinner, then having “the talk”. I don’t know why I felt badly about not agreeing to marriage, but I do. I mean, we’ve only known each other a couple of months, though it seems like forever. It’s the battle of heart vs. head. I hate this one.



Hath and David set out for a nice dinner at a local steakhouse. After selecting their steaks from the meat counter, they settled into a quiet booth together. The waitress thought it was cute that they sat on the same side of the table, so they could sit next to each other. They whispered to each other, and shared light kisses, and David told Hath about Australia and New Zealand. His descriptions made the places seem wonderful and exotic, and Hath put them on the list of places she wanted to visit.

A few people approached them tentatively, to ask David for an autograph, and he complied happily, smiling and chatting briefly with the fans. They all slid sideways glances at Hath, who smiled and waved to them, making them chuckle.

After an excellent dinner and a quiet drive home, they settled on the couch in the living room. “Hath,” David started, “I’m sorry for the way I reacted when you told me about LJ.”

Hath looked at him, cocking her head. “What do you mean?”

“I went all caveman on you, telling you we had to find someplace to live and get married – I didn’t talk to you about anything, I sorta talked at you.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Hath said. “I bristled at that, and leapt right in without really talking to you.” She sighed. “So…” David interrupted.

“Wait a second, Hath, please.” He kissed her gently. “I just need to tell you a couple of things. I love you, and I want to raise this child together, no matter what. Whether that means we get married or not, whether we live together here, Jersey, somewhere else altogether, or not, I want to do this with you. I love you, and want to be with you forever, whatever it takes.”

Hath’s eyes teared up. “Oh David, I love you too, and I want the same things. I just got all nervous when you started talking about moving and getting married, and I was still reeling from the news of the pregnancy – I want to be parents with you, whatever that means.”

“So, what do you think we should do?” David asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” Hath said, wiping her eyes. “You’re on tour through the summer, and don’t quite know what’s happening after that. I have things going on here at work that I need to be around for, so I can’t make major geographic changes right now, and I don’t really want to quit my job.” She let out a shaky breath. “I do want to be with you, though. To live with you, I just don’t know how that will work.”

David nodded. “I know, it won’t be easy. I will be gone a lot, and I know it’ll be hard, but we can work it out. I have some breaks in there, and I need to split my time between you and my kids.”

Hath agreed. “Yes, you do. You can’t let them think that you’re not going to be there for them just because of me and LJ,” she said. “Let me talk to my boss tomorrow,” Hath started. “We have an office in NYC, and I have a laptop. There’s no reason why I can’t spend some time in our New York space while you’re home, then I can see you and get to know the kids a little better, and still do what I need to do at work.” She shrugged. “I can take the train to work from Jersey just as easily as here.”

David hugged her. “That’s a great idea. Thank you. Then we can figure out what to do on a permanent basis, and not be rushed about it.” There was still a shadow in David’s eyes, though, and Hath knew what that was about.

She took David’s hands. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to spend my life with you – that isn’t it.” She ran an impatient hand through her hair. “I’m just not ready to take that step right now. I can’t handle that on top of everything else right now. My mother is pretty pissed at me for not jumping on the wedding wagon, but everything is happening so fast, I just can’t think.” She looked at David’s face. “You know I love you, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know that.”

“But do you know that? Really, in your heart of hearts? LJ or not, I’m yours. You are a part of me now, and I can’t imagine my life without you in it – I don’t want to,” Hath was talking softly, and David could see she was struggling with her words.

He covered her hands with his. “Hath, look at me.” He waited until she did. “I know that you love me, and I know you know I love you. I want to be with you, whether it’s married or not, for as long as you can stand me. I can respect that you aren’t ready to get married, but know that I’m not going to give up. I want you forever, and to me, that means sharing my name with you.”