Inspired by the song, "Hey Pretty Girl", by Kip Moore. I suggest you listen to at least a little of the song before you read this, or else you will be utterly confused.
This has been in my head for a while, and I needed to get it posted. I hope y'all enjoy!
Gale Hawthorne is not someone to fall in love easily. He doesn't believe in all of that romance crap, nor does he believe in love at first sight.
But when he sees that beautiful blonde from across the bar, he swears that he's going to marry her.
Most of the rest of the next two hours, he tries to catch her eye, without his friends noticing what he's doing. But she doesn't look his way. That is, until a slower song is played across the bar. Gale's friends all disperse to find some girl to ask to dance, leaving Gale awkwardly standing with a drink in his hand.
Screw it, Gale thinks, downing what's rest of his beer before sauntering over to the blonde. She seems to have moved to the corner of the bar, away from all of the movement, so Gale follows her. He must look like he's somewhat stalking her, the way his eyes have been following her all night, but he doesn't quite care.
Finally, after what feels like eternity, his body reaches the blonde. She's sat down in one of the chairs, her fingernail scraping a water ring stain from the wooden table. Gale slowly sits in the chair also by the table, and she glances at him quickly. Gale nearly falls out of his chair at the sight of her bright blue eyes.
"Can I help you?" She says, her voice soft and questioning.
At first, Gale's speechless. He has no idea what to say to this girl. Usually, he can make a girl melt at some of his words, but he seems to be having trouble with this one.
"I—" He swallows, "Uh—" Finally, "You're pretty." He nearly hits his head on the table. "You're pretty"? That's the stupidest pickup line he's ever said.
Luckily, she blushes, and smiles a little. "Thank you." Gale forces a nervous laugh and a smile.
"Gale," He says, holding out his hand and thankfully for him, she takes it. At her touch he swears there's a spark.
"Madge." Madge. That's a nice name.
"Well, Madge," Gale likes the way it sounds from his mouth, "Would you like to dance?" She blushes again, her cheeks turning a wonderful shade of pink, and then she nods. She slides off of her chair, and allows Gale to pull her to the dance floor, where his friends are giving him looks of surprise. He ignores them.
She's awfully short, he'll say that. But Gale doesn't mind. Just makes her more adorable.
"You're very tall." She laughs, which causes Gale to laugh. Hesitantly, he puts his hands on her hips, and hers slowly wrap around his neck. If it wasn't for the heels she was wearing, she wouldn't be able to reach his neck.
"Maybe you're too short," I tease and she smiles at him.
The song rushes in a blur. By the end of it, Madge's head has somehow ended rested up against his chest, and Gale arms have pulled her closer to him. It feels right, he can't help but think, to have her so close to him.
Later that night, Gale finally decrees that his family is going to freak if he's not home soon and that he needs to get home. He's almost reluctant to let go of the blonde he's become so fond of.
"Come home with me." He murmurs into her hair, and her blue eyes lock onto his.
"What?"
"Come back to my house. Meet my family."
She seems pretty shocked at first, and thinks about it for a little bit, but eventually nods.
"I don't want to forget about you." Gale murmurs, and once again, she blushes that wonderful blush.
Gale's friends are pretty far gone by now, so he just pays the bartender for his couple drinks and hopes his friends will do the same.
He tugs Madge toward him, and the two walk out together. Because Gale's truck is pretty beaten up, he has to pull on the passenger side door just for it to open. Madge laughs and he rolls his eyes at her.
"I know it's pretty beat up, but it's a work in progress." He says to her once he's started the truck.
"It's okay. I like it." Her fingers run along the couple tears in the seat, "Seems like it's been around a long time."
Gale nods, as he stops at a light. "It was my dads, now it's mine, next it's going to be my brothers. Just goes down the line." He keeps one hand on the wheel, another rested on her knee.
"How many siblings do you have?" She asks, fiddling with his fingers.
"Three," He says quietly, distracted by her tiny hands. "I'm the oldest, then two brothers, and one sister." I think quickly of little Posy. She's going to adore Madge.
"Only child." Madge says sadly, and Gale looks at her as they catch yet another light.
"Don't worry about that. My siblings will like you," Gale chuckles, and Madge cracks a smile, her fingers twining with his slowly. His breath catches in his throat.
"What if they don't?" She asks, and Gale shakes his head.
"I know that won't be a problem," He pauses again and smiles, "My mom is going to love you."
"What about your dad?"
Gale's smile drops. "My dad died when I was fourteen."
"I'm sorry." She says, squeezing his hand a little. "How'd he die?"
"He was in the military. It was just one of those bad days that everything went wrong, and then that happened." Gale turns onto his street, and glances at Madge. He hopes she isn't appalled by the state of his old house. She doesn't look appalled. She looks amazed. Gale's heart jumps in his chest as he pulls up the driveway, before putting the car in park.
He notices the living room light is still on. That means that his mother is still up.
Gale climbs out of his truck before jogging to the other side to tug open the door for Madge. She giggles when she slides out of the truck.
"Oh whatever." Gale laughs, tugging her by her hand up the steps.
When Gale enters the house, he expects yelling from his mother. Instead, he gets a quiet room with the small tv slowly playing an old movie. His mother's asleep in the chair.
"Ma," Gale says quietly, setting Madge next to the door before closing it. "Ma," Gale shakes her gently awake, and of course the first thing she notices is Madge standing behind Gale.
"Who's in my house?" She demands, sitting up straighter and glancing around Gale to see the blonde.
Gale motions her towards himself, and Madge hesitantly goes to stand next to Gale.
"Ma, this is Madge." Madge nearly hides behind Gale, but Gale rolls his eyes and pulls her from behind him. The girl gives his mother a small smile and a wave, and Gale prays to the Lord that his mother doesn't demand that she gets out. He nearly laughs when his mother smiles warmly, and stands and shakes Madge's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Madge." Madge lets out a sigh of thanks, and smiles back.
"You two, Mrs. Hawthorne."
"Please, call me Hazelle." Gale feels good in the fact that his mother and this amazing girl are getting along.
Hazelle doesn't question when Gale eventually herds Madge back to his tiny room, but says to him in an undertone that he's sleeping on the couch tonight. Gale rolls his eyes but nods anyways.
Thankfully, yesterday was laundry day, and everything in his room is clean.
He sits on the edge of his bed slowly, and she sits next to him.
"I told you," She knocks his shoulder, smiling.
"Are you staying in here tonight?" She asks quietly, leaning against him.
"I would, but my mom made it clear I'd be on the couch tonight." Madge laughs, and Gale wraps his arms around her tiny frame.
"Can you at least stay in here for a little? I don't wanna cause any trouble."
"You'll be fine." Gale murmurs. "My siblings know not to come into my room in the morning, or I might throw something at them." She giggles and Gale nods to her. "I'll stay here for a little bit. Until you fall asleep at least." Gale wishes he could stay with her the entire night, but his mom would skin him alive and then bury him alive. She buries her head into his chest, and Gale can feel his heart beat increase. He's never had this happen to him because of a single gesture.
Madge kicks off her heels, and the two of them lay down of Gale's bed. She's falling asleep instantly. Gale kisses the top of her head and he swears he sees her smile. A couple minutes after she's asleep, he pulls the blankets around her before grabbing a different one, shutting the door, and trekking out to the living room.
What he would give to feel her body pressed against his all night, Gale doesn't know. But he does know that he would love to know.
Thankfully for him, Madge is still there the next morning after he wakes up.
A few years later, after late nights and early mornings, fights and make ups, Gale finally marries the girl of his dreams. The two of them live in a very small apartment for a few months, while they build their house.
Because Gale got a great job in the military, just like his father, his family was awarded with quite a bit of money, some of which the newlyweds put away for their house.
Gale kisses her cheek when he wakes up the morning their house is supposed be to finished. "You ready?" He murmurs, and she nods, turning from the sink and the dishes she was washing.
"I can't wait." She replies brightly, smiling widely. She's waited forever for this house. It's one they designed together, and one they helped build, together.
"It's gonna be a good house." He says, wrapping his arms around her thin waist. "We can build some dreams. Make them come true." Kids, Gale thinks to himself, grinning.
"What're you grinning about?" Madge teases, standing on her toes to peck his mouth.
"What we could do together." He smiles into her kiss, which causes her to smile back.
Gale truck was eventually passed to Rory, and they've invested in a new one, one that doesn't involve having to practically break the door trying to get it open. Gale still opens the door for Madge.
The newlyweds walk up to the house together, and slowly walk inside. It's just like they had imagined. It's not too big, but not too small. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms. It's just enough for them, especially if there are kids on the way.
After walking through the house one last time, the two end up outside in the backyard where the giant oak tree stands. Madge wouldn't let them cut it down.
They sit on the ground under the shade, and look at their finally finished house.
"Are you happy, Madge?" Gale asks his wife, and she rests her head on his shoulder.
"Of course I am, Gale. I have an amazing husband, a roof over my head, and a family who loves me. I'm so happy, Gale." He smiles wider than he ever has before.
Gale can't stop pacing. Up and down the waiting room, down the hallway, out the maternity ward, and back. He can't stop.
The doctor's had to get him out of the room, because something was going on that wasn't good. It took a lot, but finally they forced him out. Neither Madge nor him were very happy.
It's two in the morning and he's exhausted. He just wants to see his wife and baby and then go to bed. Clearly, the child has different ideas. It seems to think that taking its sweet time is good, which keeps poor Madge in labor for over seventeen hours.
He's about to just walk back in there when one of the nurses comes out, and he stops abruptly in his tracks.
The nurse tells him that she's finally done, and that's about when he's stopped listening. Gale hurries back into the hallway, down to the room where Madge was when he left her.
In the room, Madge looks completely exhausted. There's no bundle in her arms though. Gale gets the worst feeling in the pit of his stomach.
She forces a smile and Gale quickly moves across the small room to the chair next to his wife's bed.
"Where's the baby?" He asks her quietly, pressing a kiss to her head.
"Being cleaned and stuff." She responds, sighing and leaning back against the pillows. "That was awful."
"I know, babe, I know. I'm sorry I wasn't here." Gale apologizes as the door opens again. He stands quickly as the nurse comes in with a pink bundle.
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne on a new baby girl." She says, smiling as she hands the bundle to Madge.
Gale sits back down in the chair and watches Madge interact with the baby for a few seconds. Then, he peers over her shoulder to see her.
Bright blue eyes, just like her mothers. Lighter skin than his, but the same dark hair, from what he can tell. Her tiny hand wraps around Madge's pinky finger and she smiles softly at the baby.
"She's so cute," Madge murmurs, looking up at Gale. He can see the tears glistening in hers, mirroring in his. He wipes from under her eyes and then watches the baby's eyes dart around the room, taking it all in.
Gale chuckles, before Madge slowly hands the swaddling child to him. He's unbelievable gently with the baby. He stares down at her, and he doubts that he'll ever look away from the ocean blue.
Many years pass, and Gale and Madge grow old together. Their daughter gets married to a wonderful man, and has children of her own.
Gale and Madge have been married for over 50 years. Such an achievement. He still loves her as much as he did when he proposed. He still manages to get lost in her eyes, the ones that his grandchildren have. He still doesn't regret his decision to bring her home that one night. He never will.
They've gone through everything together, whether good or bad, and he wouldn't change anything for the world.
The day comes when Gale's time on earth has come to an end. He lays in the bed, his beautiful wife sitting in the old rocking chair next to the bed, her frail fingers clutching onto his. His daughter and her husband stand next to the bed, the man's hands on his wife's shoulder, keeping her together.
"Take care of her." Gale manages to force out, glancing at his son-in-law.
"I swear on my life, sir." The man says, sincerity in his voice and eyes.
His daughters voice cracks when she speaks. "I love you, Daddy." Her blue eyes fill with tears and her husband squeezes her shoulders.
"I love you, too." Gale croaks, coughing deeply. Madge's hand squeezes his every time he coughs. Gale turns his neck slowly, looking at his wife of more than fifty years. She smiles weakly at him, unshed tears behind her eyes. He knows that she won't let them fall.
"I love you." Gale murmurs quietly to her, his voice raspy.
"I know." She replies, leaning down to kiss his cheek. "And I love you too. Always will." He smiles weakly at her, before pressing his lips against hers for the last time. His daughter chokes back a sob from the other side of the room Gale's arms weakly reaches up and touches her cheek, feeling the soft but aged skin under his fingers. Her hand rests over his for a moment, until his hand falls onto the bed again.
Gale's heart hurts. Not just physically, but emotionally, as well. He doesn't want to leave his family here. He doesn't want them to grieve. He knows they'll be okay. Sure, it'll be harder at first. But they can do this. He coughs again and his wife chokes. He blinks rapidly, trying not to let her see him in pain. It won't do her any good.
He stares into her ocean blue eyes again, for several moments, until his close. Madge's fingers find his again. He knows they'll be together again soon. He hopes that they can be strong, just like he knows they are. The last thing Gale thinks is that he thanks the lord for a pretty little girl, and a beautiful wife.