Words Spoken at Midnight
Tom rolled over to look at his wife and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion inside him. She was still in the halfway stage between sleep and consciousness, her eyelids fluttering, her blonde hair spread over the pillowcase. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her, a small smile spreading across his face.
They were married. It had been a little more than forty eight hours since they'd left their reception and got on a plane to their honeymoon. And it had been wonderful.
Lynette had always wanted to visit Europe. Specifically Greece. And here they were, huddled in a cozy little hotel room on the beautiful island of Santorini.
She rolled onto her side, her back facing him and he used this opportunity to wrap his arms around her and gently pull her against him so that her back was pressed against his chest. He peppered kisses on the back of her neck, heard her sleepily murmur appreciatively and buried his face in her neck.
God, this was really true. They were here. They were really here.
"Lynette?" he said softly. He wanted to talk, but he wanted to make sure how sleepy she was.
If the psychology class he had taken for a semester in college had taught him anything, Tom knew that humans were most vulnerable at that halfway stage between being awake and being sleepy – which was exactly where Lynette was right now.
"Mmm."
Tom smiled to himself. God, he couldn't get over how adorable she sounded when she was sleepy. He hadn't really expected to fall in love with her – all his past girlfriends had never managed to get him to tell them he loved them enough to want to spend the rest of his life with them – but from the minute he met Lynette in the elevator of the company they both worked at, he'd known.
He'd known that she wasn't just a pretty face underneath a mop of blond hair. She was sharp, witty comments combined with an intellect that challenged his more than anyone else had. She was more creative than anyone he'd ever met and she had a single-minded focus that he found so very compelling. She never left any stone unturned in her professional work and outside the office, she was just as smart and interesting.
It had taken him so long to convince her to go on a date with him. "Just one date, Lynette," he remembered asking her, pretending not to notice the flicker of a smile that darted across her face before she managed to mask it behind an expression of cool boredom. "You get to decide if we can have another one."
She had sighed dramatically, running her hand through her golden locks, pretending to think about whether or not she was free the following night. "Just one date, then, Scavo," he remembered her saying. He'd agreed and felt like he'd been walking on clouds, for an entire day after that.
Tom pulled her closer, propping himself up a bit to take a look at her face. He dropped a kiss on her cheek and proceeded to kiss the soft skin beneath her ear. He heard her hum appreciatively.
"Tom," she whispered breathily.
Tom looked down at her and smiled. "I want to ask you something."
"Mmm…what?"
"What do you want from life, Lynette?"
"Life?"
"You know, our life. The one that we just agreed to start off…together."
"Oh…yeah."
"Well? What do you want, baby?"
"Hmm…"
Tom leaned in and kissed her neck before she fell asleep without answering the question. Her eyes fluttered open again before they close.
"Happiness."
He held her close, making a mental note to remember everything they said to each other at that moment. Maybe, about forty years from now, when they were old, he could surprise her by reliving this conversation. Reminding her what she'd always wanted, what they'd both wanted. He wanted to give her everything she'd ever wanted.
She wanted happiness? He wanted to make sure she'd never have a dull day in the rich, full life they were planning to lead together.
"Baby, you have no idea how happy we're going to be. What else do you want?"
"That's…that's it, I guess. For now."
"You know what I want?" He propped himself up again to look at her face. He wanted to be able to see her expression when he said the words he couldn't believe he was going to say. "I want kids."
"Kids?" The word seemed to kiss away some of Lynette's sleep. Her eyes snapped open. "You mean, like…babies? Small, kicking, crying, screaming babies?"
Tom held back a chuckle at her words. He'd seen Lynette around the kids of their colleagues. He'd seen the way her face lit up like a Christmas tree in December when they held out their little arms to be picked up. He'd seen her smile whenever she saw families stroll around, looking as if nothing could ever destroy the bubble of happiness that they were in.
"We don't have to have them if you don't want to," he told her softly.
To his surprise, she turned around to look at him. She was awake and there was a surprisingly tender expression in her eyes.
"I want to."
He blinked; did she just say she wanted to have kids with him?
"Y-you do?" He stammered. His heart felt like it's about to explode.
She smiled and it was a warm, radiant, overwhelmingly beautiful smile that stole his breath. "I know I said I don't want to quit my job and bathe and feed a bunch of kicking, screaming little kids, but hey. If it's with you, I want to take that step with you." She smiled at his stunned expression and leaned in and kissed him. It was a soft, sweet, tender kiss, full of promise for the years to come.
"Besides," she said softly and he noticed how her hand went protectively to her stomach, as if there was something growing in there already. "I'll be carrying a part of you in me."
He took her hand and kissed it. There were no words that could tell her how he was feeling at that point of time.
"Thank you," he managed to say at last.
She gave him one last kiss before turning away from him to go back to sleep.
"Tom?"
"Yes, darling?"
"When it does happen, I might complain about how I miss my job and how being a mom will suck the life out of me. So, don't take it too personally."
He chuckles. "If I know anything about you, Lynette, this step in our journey would be absolutely incomplete without you grumbling about how much you hate being a mom, but inside, you'll always be glad that you did."
She turns to look at him again and her smile is more glorious than anything he's ever seen. "Perceptive as always, Tom."