The Question.
Mark was nervous. Like sweaty palms, pee your pants kind of nervous. He'd been this nervous before, but it was never as acute, it was always the ambiguous fear of death from people with guns. He'd never been this nervous about talking to a man before.
"Deputy Shannon Sir," Mark said as he walked over to where Jim was standing, reading over a report.
"How can I help you, Mark?" Jim replied, never looking up from his report.
"I actually need to speak with you, Sir. It's very important." Mark stood very straight with his hands clasped in front of his body, trying to look more relaxed than he felt. Jim Shannon looked up at the word important. He frowned and set down his report, crossing his arms over his chest and fixing Mark with a harrowing glare. He'd known this was coming. Jim nodded for Mark to continue.
"I know this is an outdated concept, but I have to do this right. I'm asking for your permission to marry Maddie." Mark said, only letting his voice shake once, on the word 'marry'. It sounded so serious, so official, not that he had cold feet, but the idea of forever scared him as much as it thrilled.
Jim Shannon sighed and rubbed his eyes. He glanced at Mark who was standing like a statue, desperately trying not to show how nervous he was about Mr. Shannon's answer.
"You really love her?" He asked the younger man, who nodded, not trusting his own voice.
"And you swear to me that you'll never hurt her. Maddie seems very strong, and she is, but you'd better not pull any funny business." Mark met Jim's gaze and realized that Maddie's father wasn't angry, he was sad.
"I swear to you, and to Maddie, that I will love her and take care of her for as long as she'll have me."
Jim Shannon smiled at his response, and clapped the taller man on the back. "Until she find's somebody better?" Jim laughed at Mark's insecurities. "You should hear how she talks about you. 'Oh Mark did this, Mark did that, Mark's so great!' We're all a bit sick of hearing about you, to be honest." He smiled and bumped Mark in the shoulder.
"I'm kidding, loosen up a bit. The hard part of this is over." Mark smiled slightly at his future Father-in-law.
"Sorry Sir, but the hard part hasn't even started yet."
Maddie was walking through the market picking up some of her favorite vegetables for dinner, because while she loved Mark's cooking, it just wasn't fair to let him make dinner every time.
She thought back to the night before, when they'd been out walking, looking at the stars. He'd seemed nervous, but when she'd asked, he'd just said he had a lot on his mind. She knew he had a stressful job, but he usually shared it with her. She wasn't worried per-say, but she was just concerned that he had something going on that he felt he couldn't share with her.
But whatever had been on his mind last night was going to be discussed tonight, because Maddie was going to make him dinner, and then make him talk. It probably wasn't what a nice girlfriend would do, but she wasn't going to let him get all bent out of shape over something stupid.
She grabbed the last of the dinner and paid, walking off to Mark's house to get started without him.
She let herself in and started on dinner, knowing he would be home in an hour or so. He would probably say that she didn't have to, but she did, cause she wanted to.
By the time Mark got back to his dormitory, he was starving. He opened the door and began to scan the house for food, anything edible would work.
"Mark?" Maddie called from the kitchen, "Is that you?"
Mark smiled at her voice; everything about Maddie made him happy.
"Yea, I'm here. Is there any food in the kitchen or should we go out, cause I'm starving." He called as he went into his bedroom and pulled off his sweaty t-shirt, replacing it with a slightly different, not as sweaty, shirt.
"I made dinner, come on, while it's hot!" She pulled him out of his room and over to the table, where she'd left the food all ready to eat.
He gave her a quick kiss then proceeded to eat like a maniac until he calmed down a bit.
"So how was your day?" he asked between mouthfuls.
"It was great! Malcolm and I have been isolating proteins that can manufacture different medicines for us, so we don't have to use lab techniques. It's really going to change how we give people medicine, because we'll have enough to go around!" She smiled broadly, and he returned her smile, even though he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about.
"And how was your day?" She asked.
He grimaced a bit. "It was alright, but it's really hard to do any kind of work with the soldiers when I'm so unfocused." He shook his head as if to clear it.
"I was going to ask about that." Maddie said, giving him a look that demanded an answer. She smiled slightly, but Mark knew she wasn't going to let him off easily.
Mark smiled and shook his head.
"I'll tell you later," he said while smiling.
Maddie smiled back, glad that he was smiling at least. There would be plenty of time to figure out what was on his mind later.
They finished dinner then went to walk through the orchards. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was just setting, turning the sky a brilliant orange with a purple horizon already visible. The orchards were in full bloom for springtime, and they walked between the empty rows talking quietly about nothing.
"It's so different here, you know? We never would have been able to do this back in 2149, what with all the smog and crime. It's just beautiful here." Maddie said and sighed, leaning on his shoulder as that walked slowly through the rows.
"We're lucky, and I'm lucky." Mark said, smiling down at her. Maddie blushed and looked down at her shoes, still uncomfortable with anyone other than her family telling her that she was worth something.
"It's still strange to have people who aren't related to me telling me that I'm worth something." Maddie said softly, turning to face him, not letting his eyes leave hers. Mark smiled softly and ran his hand down the side of her face.
"Maddie," He whispered, "You are worth everything." He gave her a kiss and squeezed her hand. She smiled fully and pulled him along down the row.
"Come on! I want to show you something!" She said as she pulled his arm. He smiled and followed along behind her, glad to see she's remembered that she was incredible.
She pulled him to one of the back corners of the orchard, where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, petals littered on the ground. The petals fell from the trees like rain, and Maddie stood in the middle, laughing as they fell in her hair.
Mark smiled and followed her into the flower storm; she looked so beautiful when she smiled. Maddie stopped spinning and walked over to Mark.
"What's got you all smiley?" She asked, smiling widely. She ran her hand down the side of his face over his stubbly jaw. He smiled and held her hand to his face.
"Because I talked to your father this afternoon," Mark began. Maddie frowned.
"Why would that make you so happy?" Maddie asked, taking a step back from him as he smiled nervously, and bent down on one knee.
"Because I had to ask his permission to marry you." Maddie gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes shining.
"Maddie Shannon, I love you so much, and I want to marry you. You're the most beautiful, brilliant, incredible person I know and anyone who doesn't belive that it just wrong." He paused and smiled, letting go of his nerves and speaking from his heart. "Every day I spend with you makes me a better person, and maybe someday I'll be good enough to be with you. Would you please do me the extreme pleasure of marrying me?"
Maddie got down on one knee to face him and nodded, swallowing hard.
"Yes," She whispered, "Yes, I would love to marry you, Mark." He smiled and put the ring on her finger with a wink.
"So this is what you've been all worried about this week." Maddie said as they walked, hand in hand, through the orchard on their way home.
"Oh no, I was much more concerned about asking your father, or at least, I thought I was, until I realized that you're way scarier than your dad." Maddie smiled and bumped him with her hip.
"You know it."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and please do leave me a review if you'd like me to continue writing for Terra Nova. I just have no more ideas!~M