Gooey Hearts

I tucked the mail under my arm, smiling like an idiot, as I jogged up the steps to my apartment.

Ms. Granger was standing in her doorway just like every other day; smoking a cigarette.

The woman has got to be in her sixties.

"You're looking good, Ashley." She comments as I walk by.

The old lady kills me sometimes with the comments she makes.

I just smile and thank her; my mind on something more pressing and insistent.

"Thanks, Ms. Granger. Have a good evening." I tell her while still walking away.

I climb the next case of stairs eagerly wanting to get home faster.

Big things are afoot.

I unlock the door and lock it back once I'm inside.

I kick my shoes off and bound to the kitchen where I throw the mail onto the table and continue through the house.

When I get to the bedroom I hear the shower, so I flop onto the bed and wait.

When the bathroom door opens, filling the bedroom with steam, my beautiful girlfriend steps out in only her bra and panties.

I sit up on the bed.

That moment makes me realize that what I've planned on doing is the best thing that I could ever do.

When she notices me she freezes up for a second and then relaxes again when she realizes it's me and she lets out a squeal while she tackles me onto the bed.

She covers my face and neck in kisses while I laugh.

"What was all that for?" I ask curiously, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

She only smiles slyly and shakes her head.

I flip her over swiftly and pin her underneath me.

"What're you smiling so hard about?" I ask wanting to know what has my girlfriend all giddy that I don't know about.

"Go get out of these scrubs first." She suggests, yanking on my clothes.

"Yes, mam." I hop up, pull my pants down and off and throw them at her.

I miss and they land in the floor by the bed.

She laughs at me.

While I'm pulling my shirt off in the bathroom, I hear Spencer say she went to the doctor today.

I stalk back into the bedroom in only my bra and panties.

"What? Why? Are you okay?" I ask her; my heart in my throat and my stomach does a weird somersault.

"I'm fine, Ashley. We're more than fine." She says cryptically with a cute smile.

The confused look on my face makes her laugh.

"I'm pregnant, Ash."

My jaw drops into a gigantic smile and I run and scoop her up into my arms kissing all along and around her stomach.

She laughs and giggles; it's a symphony to my ears.

"Are you for sure?" I ask excited out of my mind.

"I am for sure, for sure." She kisses my forehead. "We're going to have a baby, Ashley." She smiles happily.

I grin like a little kid on Christmas and kiss my love on the lips and stomach over and over again.

I notice tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes.

"What's wrong? Don't cry, honey, tell me what's wrong?" I put my arms around her and she welcomes them with a watery smile.

"Nothing's wrong. You just make my heart melt." I swear when she looks deep into my eyes, she can see my soul. All the good and all the bad; and she loves me for every bit of it.

I grin, my brow crinkling in the process, and run my hands up her thighs and rest them on her hips.

"You make my heart all gooey and no one else but you can hold it." I shake my head, "I don't want anyone else holding it but you for the rest of my life." I stand up off the bed and she sits on the edge while I get down on one knee; both of us still in only our bra and panties.

Her breath hitches and she covers her mouth with her hands when I pull a little square, black velvet box from the pocket of my pants that were still lying in the floor.

"On the way to work this morning I stopped for coffee because I overslept and didn't have time to make a pot and I had to park two blocks away because there just wasn't a closer parking spot. I walked past this jewelry store on the way to the coffee shop. All I could think about while I waited in line for coffee was that jewelry shop, you and how I want to keep you forever." I open the velvet box and hold it with one hand and intertwine my other hand with hers.

"Spence, will you marry me so that we can keep each other forever?" I ask her sincerely.

She nods silently but vigorously and I slip the ring onto her finger and lift her up into my arms, then let us fall onto the bed.

She kisses me when she lands on top of me with her hair all wild, then she stares at me; smiling that beautiful smile of hers.

"I love you more than everything, Spence." I tell her and her beautiful smile turns into a sly grin.

"I love you more, Ash. You completely melted my heart and now it's all gooey like yours." I roll my eyes at her ridiculousness and flip us over and start my tickle assault on her.

It made my gooey heart all warm and fuzzy when I thought about hearing that laugh every day for the rest of my life.