Amy stirred as the sunrise of the next morning streamed in through the window and warmed her face. Immediately she felt Ben's presence, and she remembered where she was. In the delirium of sleep, she'd nearly forgotten. His hand was still on hers, left arm circling her waist and keeping her close to him. With some effort and a great deal of care, she turned onto her back to see if Ben was awake. If he was not, she hoped not to rouse him.

"Good morning," he replied sleepily as he felt her move. He opened his eyes slightly.

"Oh, I didn't mean to wake you," she replied apologetically. "Good morning."

"You didn't wake me, Ames. I was already awake." He said, kissing the crown of her head and then stroking her hair gently. "You look so peaceful when you sleep. Did you know that? You're absolutely beautiful." She blushed and stretched. "Well, what do you say we make a day of it? It is Saturday, after all. No distractions, no schoolwork - just you, me and the baby." He asked, touching her stomach.

"I'd like that," she whispered. It had been ages since they'd gone on a real date outside of spending evenings in Ben's room. "I'll have to call my mom. I'm sure she'll already be wondering why I didn't come home last night."

"My dad probably already called her," Ben replied. "If not, she'll understand. She likes me."

"Of course she does. I was in very trustworthy hands," she replied with a smile, and kissed him.

"I'll go see if I can't rustle us up some breakfast," he said. "Will it be okay if I let go, now? Just for a few minutes," he asked sincerely.

She giggled at his thoughtfulness. "Yes, Ben. Thank you," she replied. "Good morning, little one," he added, kissing her stomach. He looked back up to Amy and she smiled, brushing his face with her hand. He pulled himself up, slowly moving away from her, but allowed his hand to linger on her as long as possible. Ben looked in the mirror, ruffled his hair a bit and then left the room, but she laid there another moment, not wanting the events of last night to fade too far away.

The alarm clock at the bedside read 8:55 a.m. as she reached for her cell phone. Her mother would surely be up by now.

--

"Morning, Amy!" exclaimed the always boisterous Leo Boykewich, as she entered the quaint, but fairly large kitchen. "Bit of an unexpected sleepover, huh? Did you and Ben sleep okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Thank you," she replied with a smile. Her clothes were rumpled and her hair was a bit messy, but luckily she kept some clothes at Ben's house in case such an occasion ever occurred.

"How about some sausage and eggs?" Ben asked with a chuckle. Amy turned to see Ben flipping eggs in a frying pan.

"You're cooking?" She asked a bit dismayed, leaning on the marble island, just across from him. "It smells delicious."

"Of course I'm cooking," Ben nodded with a smile. "You've had my wings," he replied, somewhat distracted by trying not to burn Amy's breakfast.

"I know, but breakfast too? Wow."

"Ben's a great cook," Leo chimed in, looking over his newspaper. "Took to it like a fish to water with his Mom. Loves to do it, don't you, son?"

"I do," he confirmed, serving up the food onto two plates and meeting Amy at the table.

"This looks really good," she replied with a smile. "Thank you," she added, pouring some orange juice from the pitcher into her glass.

"Well, better be off. The Sausage King doesn't even get Saturdays off," Leo said, pushing his chair in and leaving his dishes in the dishwasher. "You two have a nice day."

--

After both had showered and put on new clothes, they were ready for their day together.

"So, I was thinking," Ben began, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him, "we could go to the zoo, today; unless you don't feel up to the walk? You used to really love the zoo, and it looks like a beautiful day out."

Amy smiled and nodded. She really did really love the zoo. Animals – and nature in general – always fascinated her. "Yeah, I'd really like that."

Ben took her by the hand and together they walked out to the car. At the zoo, they saw it all, but they made a special point of catching the dolphin show at noon. Amy loved dolphins. As the dolphins leapt in and out of the water, doing tricks and fascinating the crowd, Amy and Ben sat hand in hand enjoying not only the show, but their time together. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. Ben smiled but did not disturb her. This is how I want us to be forever, she thought. Neither of them cared or even really noticed the few sideways looks that people gave them. It didn't matter what they thought.

--

"Thank you for dinner, Ben; and for the day at the zoo," she said as Ben walked her to her front step. "It was so nice to get outside and go on a real date," she added breathing in the crisp evening air.

"You're welcome," he replied with a smile. He moved to stand in front of her and took both her hands in his. "I haven't told you yet today, have I?" He asked. She looked a little confused and tilted her head to the side. He understood her confusion; she didn't need to say anything. "I love you, Amy Juergens," he whispered softly, kissing her innocently on the cheek. He hoped she wasn't tired of hearing that, but it was the truth and he meant it just as much this time as he had the first - perhaps more.

As he kissed her, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a flat, black velvet box and held it out to her.

"Ben," she exclaimed. "What's this?"

"I've wanted to give this to you for a while now. I thought about saving it for our six month anniversary, but I really wanted you to have it now." He smiled, tucking a hair behind her ear and tracing the side of her face with his hand. She took the box from his hand and ran her own over the smooth outside.

Other than the ring that he'd proposed with, Ben hadn't given her many physical objects to show his affection. He preferred to spend time with her, to be near to her and to tell her he loved her. Amy was excited; she didn't mind getting a gift every once and a while.

"Go ahead. Open it," he urged her.

Excited to see what was inside, she lifted the lid and revealed a small, pink, heart-shaped stone attached to a slender silver chain.

"Oh, Ben!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in embrace. "It's absolutely beautiful."

"Just like you," he replied, kissing her again. Their eyes met for a second, and he took the box from her, removed the necklace from it and did the clasp around her neck. "It was my mother's," he explained. "When she died, I kept some of her most important things packed away. I was looking through them a few weeks ago and I was struck by this. It just seemed perfect for you. I wanted you to have it. She would have wanted it to be used, not getting dusty in a box."

"Ben, this is too much," she said, touching the stone heart which now sat just above her own.

"Nothing is too much for you, Amy. Mom would have loved you," he answered, pulling her close again and touching his forehead to hers.

"I know I would have loved her too," Amy said, trying her best to keep eye contact with him at such a close distance. "Thank you," she whispered, tentatively pressing a kiss on his lips. That kiss was followed by another and another. She gently wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Wear that, and I'll always be near to you, even when I can't always be there holding your hand," he whispered back. "I hope it can remind you that no matter where I am, my heart is always next to yours," he added. She tightened her grip, and he did the same.

She knew that words were not necessary. She knew that no words, no matter how eloquent, could ever compare to the feeling they shared just holding each other. Still, she nuzzled her head even deeper into his shoulder and whispered to him. "This means so much to me. You do. I know I don't say it as often as I should, but you do. I love you, Ben. I love you so much."

With that, Ben cupped her face in his hands and kissed her with the most passion and force he'd ever used. "I'd better go," he said reluctantly.

"Do you have to?" she questioned breathlessly. Neither of them wanted the night to end.

He nodded. "Just remember, I'm always with you. Right here," he said, placing his hand over her heart. "Goodnight."

He blew her a kiss as he walked down the sidewalk and got into the car. She watched as he drove off slowly.

Now, in her own bedroom – curled up in the covers of her own bed – she held the heart pendant in the palm of her hand. She closed her eyes and she felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world.

"I hope you love him as much as I do," she whispered, holding the bump which grew larger and larger each day. As those words escaped her lips, she fell into a sound and peaceful sleep.