Devin rang the doorbell, then stuck his hands in his pockets as he waited. On the front of the house, beside the door, was a plaque with two little handprints on it. He smiled and held his own hand up to the plaque, noting how far his own fingers extended past the green-paint ones.

"Daddy!"

He dropped his hand and smiled as Honey opened the oak door, then pushed open the screen door. "Hey, princess!"

Honey leaped into his arms, and he hoisted her up to his hip. "I see your mom did your hair this morning."

She made a face, tugging on one of her uneven braids. "Daddy, will you redo it?" Dropping her voice, she added, "I don't want to hurt Mommy's feelings, but she never does my hair right."

Suppressing a laugh, Devin told the five-year-old that he would fix her hair, promised he wouldn't tell Mommy, and stepped into the house. "Cal?" he called, walking down the hallway, still carrying Honey.

"Devin!" Callie emerged from her bedroom, her hair in a messy bun, a frenzied look on her face. "Hey, I know you just got here, and I don't want to be rude and run you out or anything, but I have so much work to do before tomorrow, and she's hungry and bored… can you please take her somewhere?"

"Aww," he whined, "but I came over here to watch your cable."

"Devin, please, I am begging you."

"Chill." Devin grinned at her. "I'm kidding. I'll take the kid out so you can get your work done. We'll have fun, right, Hon?"

"Right!" Honey wriggled in his arms, and he gently set her on the floor. "I'm gonna get my shoes!"

As she scurried off, Devin turned to Callie and slid his arms around her waist. "So. You're tense."

She sighed and ran her hands over her face. "I fell so behind last week when Honey was sick, and there's a huge deadline for something tomorrow, but I'm not even completely sure what that is…"

Devin pulled her into a hug and stroked the back of her head. "Well, I'll take Honey to lunch and the zoo, and you just go get your stuff done, okay?"

Callie nodded into his chest, taking a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. "Okay."

"And if you're not done by the time we get back, she can sleep over at my house."

"Okay." She leaned on him a moment longer, then sighed and pushed away. "Let me get you some money-"

"Nope, I'll pay." He caught her as she started to walk away. "Come back here."

"Devin, I need to get back to work."

"You can't stop three seconds to kiss your boyfriend?"

Callie growled under her breath as she turned in his arms to face him. Before she could say anything, Devin was holding her flush against him and kissing her senseless. She went along with it, kissing him back, pulling away for air but then going in for another, and another.

"Okay…" she whispered after a couple minutes of this. "I really need to go."

"Okay." Devin kissed her mouth one more time, then her cheek and her nose. "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

She slipped out of his arms and stepped back into her bedroom. He watched her start over to the desk in the corner of the room, where there was a computer and many stacks of paperwork, and then called to her retreating form, "I love you."

Callie looked back at him, a smile softening her stressed features. "I love you too, Dev."

0000000000

Two hours later, Devin and Honey were standing in front of the polar bears, holding hands, watching them intently. A few people gave second glances to the blonde young man standing with the Chinese girl, but Honey didn't notice, and he just ignored them.

"They're so pretty," she whispered.

"I know," Devin agreed, watching her dark, wide eyes as she took in the huge white bears wading through their swimming hole. After a moment, she looked up at him.

"Daddy, are those polar bears married?"

He looked back at them. Having no actual idea whether they had mated or even if there was one bear of each gender, he just nodded. "Yep."

Honey cocked her head to the side, the braids he had redone at the restaurant falling over her shoulders. "My friend at kindergarten, she thought it was weird that you and Mommy don't live together. She said her parents are married. Why aren't you and Mommy married?"

Devin ducked his head, avoiding her gaze. At twenty-five years old, after dating for four years, most guys would have proposed by now, but Devin had only gotten his college degree two years ago, and his first real job just a few months earlier. Up until then, Callie had had the better job. When the social worker she assisted retired, she referred Callie to take her place, and she accepted the position. He wasn't sure whether it was manly pride or guilt that kept him from entering a marriage where his wife would be the breadwinner. Maybe a little of both.

That had been half a year ago, though. And now, he was making plenty as a graphic designer for a publishing company, as much money as she was. Something was still keeping him from asking… fear, maybe. The fear of rejection. If he didn't ask, he didn't risk being told no.

"Daddy?"

And then there was that. Her daughter called him "daddy". She wouldn't say no to the person she called the father of her child, would she?

Devin looked down at Honey. "I'm not sure why we aren't married, sweets."

"Well, you should get married." She hugged his leg tightly. "I'd love for you to live with us."

He smiled and ruffled her hair. "I'd like that, too. We'll see what we can do, okay?"

Honey smiled back, then returned her attention to the polar bears. She leaned against her father's leg, clutching his hand in both of hers. "When you and Momma get married, we'll be just like the polar bears," she said softly. "With the mommy and daddy and baby."

Devin started to say that he didn't see a baby polar bear anywhere, but then he saw the little ball of fluff, considerably smaller than her parents, emerging from the artificial cave. Her parents immediately moved toward it, surrounding her, leading her to the swimming hole, where they hovered protectively as their baby jumped in.

0000000000

One week later, Devin went to Callie's house, hoping to actually be able to watch her cable TV. He rang the doorbell, but nobody answered, which he found odd- it was Saturday; both of them should be home.

Frowning, he got out his keys and opened the front door. As he stepped inside, he heard faint music coming from the kitchen.

"Callie?" he called, but there was no answer. He walked toward the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, then exhaled in relief, and grinned.

Callie was wearing a leotard and skirt and her pink ballet shoes, and was spinning around the kitchen. Every movement was graceful, done with precision, even though she was just having fun. The radio sitting on the counter was playing some song he didn't recognize, and she was singing along.

"What we got is, just like driving on an open highway, never knowing what we're gonna find, just like two kids, baby, always trying to live it up, oh, yeah…" She almost hit the corner of the table, but quickly dodged it and got back into her rhythm almost immediately. "That's our kind of love…"

Devin watched, not saying anything, and Callie was so wrapped up in her dancing that she didn't even notice him until the song was over and she was standing in front of him, her feet crossed, her finishing pose. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, ducking her head to hide her red cheeks and grabbing a folder off the table in an ill-conceived attempt to pretend like she was doing work.

"Just enjoying the show," he smirked. And he was. Watching Callie dance was like seeing the eighth wonder of the world.

"Are you here for a reason?" she asked, still pretending to be engrossed in the contents of the folder.

"Yes, actually. I came over to watch your television."

"And what's wrong with yours?"

"No cable."

Callie sighed.

Devin then realized that even with the radio still on, now playing a thumping beat with a guy singing about a ragin' Cajun, the house was quieter than usual. "Where's Honey?"

"At her friend's house."

She finally closed the folder and set it down. Devin moved behind her and put his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her head. Callie gave in and leaned against him, holding his hands where they rested on her stomach.

They stood like that and listened to the rest of the upbeat song. It drew to a close, there was a short radio identification ad, and then something else came on.

Well, my heart didn't skip a beat, when I saw you standing there, looking like some kind of angel, like you were walking on air…

With a sudden urge to be a part of Callie's art form, Devin let go of her and gently turned her around to face him. He put his hand on her waist and took her hand, entwining their fingers.

"What are we doing?" she asked, but he just shook his head as they started moving from side to side, the simplest dance in the world. "I thought you came over here to watch my cable."

"Shut up, Cal," Devin sighed, pulling her closer to him. "I'm trying to be romantic here."

"Wow, trying on new hats, are we?"

He wrapped his arms all the way around her, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "Why are you being so difficult?" he whispered against her skin.

Callie made a sound similar to a growl. "You annoyed me."

"Why?"

"Because you were standing there watching me, and I had no idea you were there."

Devin sighed and rubbed her back, long strokes from her shoulders, down to the top of her skirt, and back up again. "I was watching you because you're beautiful, Callie. Especially when you dance."

Her muscles relaxed underneath his hands, and he knew he was forgiven. In the background, the song had moved into the second chorus: This ain't no love song, I just felt like gettin' my guitar on and singin' a tune, singin' 'bout you…

The lyrics suddenly hit home with Devin. This song was about a guy pretending he wasn't in love with a girl when he obviously was, and wasn't that what he was doing by putting off this proposal? Pretending that he was fine living in his own apartment and dropping in when he wanted to watch TV, pretending that he didn't want to be with her for the rest of his life, pretending there was any remote possibility that he could be happy with someone else?

"Callie."

"Yeah."

Stupid. He didn't have a ring, on him or at home. Why hadn't he bought it? But now that he had started, he wasn't going to stop; he might never get the courage to do this again.

The song faded out, and then a jingle about carpet cleaners came on. Devin pulled away so that he could see Callie's face. It was not hostile; it was slightly weary, but her eyes were alert as they took in his expression. Her messy bun was falling out; he gently removed the hair tie and let her curls fall onto her shoulders. He combed his fingers through it, working through the tangles, marveling at her effortless beauty and, yes, avoiding the question.

"What is it, Devin?" she asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Cal…" Should he get down on one knee? Give a long speech detailing everything he loved about her? Those seemed to have a corniness factor that he wasn't capable of. And so instead, he twirled a piece of her hair around his finger and said, "Callie, I want to marry you."

Callie's facial expression did not change at all. She met his gaze and did not waver. "I want to marry you, too."

Devin's chest swelled with joy and relief. "Okay, that's great. That's great-"

He moved in to kiss her, but she held up her hand to stop him. "Wait."

His heart dropped into his stomach. She changed her mind. "What is it?"

"You have to acknowledge that you are also marrying the United Nations of Callie."

A smile was inching across her face; for the first time today, she had decided to stop being a hard ass. He mirrored it. "Baby, I agreed to that a long time ago. Am I allowed to kiss you now?"

"I guess," she teased, and then closed the gap herself. They stood in the kitchen with their arms around each other and their lips locked for a long time, and all Devin could do was wonder what had taken him so long.

There are three references in here to country music songs! Anybody who can tell me what the songs and artists are gets a virtual chocolate chip cookie! (All very good songs, recommended.)

I only got a few reviews last chapter, which saddened me, because I loved that chapter and was very excited to post it. :( I really hope I get more reviews for this one!

Also- this was originally a three-shot, but I am going to be posting an epilogue soon. THEN it will be over. So this isn't over quite yet!

Have a good day :) And make mine good- please review!