A/N We own nothing!

Chapter 3

Matthew's POV

My pulse was racing. I was beginning to sweat bullets as David told me, "You've been summoned. Good luck, Lil' Bro!"

"Thanks…," I said with a frown.

"Call me if you live," David teased.

"Yeah…," I muttered.

"Just a little bit of Big Bro humor. Geez, lighten up!"

Easy for him to say! I felt like I was gonna pass out.

"Not a good time, David."

"Ok. I get it. Call me," he instructed, slapping me on the back. I surveyed the empty hallway grateful our families left to get dinner. I steadied myself, took a deep breath and tried to be encouraged by the fact that Destiny kept her gift and wanted to see me.

"Hey," I smiled as I opened the door.

"Hey," Destiny replied brightly.

Okay! You can do this, Buchanan! I chanted as I tried to pump myself up!

I walked over to Drew's bassinet and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "Wow! He's still sleeping," I said softly.

"Yep. I think he's tired from his trip," Destiny giggled. That's something I hadn't heard her do since we arrived at the hospital. I smiled at her and let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding.

"You better?" Destiny asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I bolted earlier. I was a little stressed." I paused then quickly added, "My mood improved when I heard you didn't throw your gift out the window." Destiny looked anxious, afraid of what might tumble out of my mouth next. "Okay… Don't worry. I'm not going to push or say anything stupid. In fact, I'm going to shut up right now."

"Good idea. Come sit with me," Destiny nodded with approval, as she waved me over with her hand.

Holy crap! What's going on here? I thought as I moved to sit in the chair next to the bed.

"No, sit right here where you were," Destiny offered rubbing the spot next to her on the bed.

Something about a spider and a fly came to my mind. I was terrified as I took my seat next to her knowing this conversation could determine my future with Destiny, our future as a family. Destiny and I stared in silence for what seemed like hours. My thoughts began to wander.

I'm scared! What's she thinking? Then, Destiny licked her lips nervously and my 18 year old male hormones turned my fear into thoughts of something else. My God, she is so beautiful! How does she look so perfect after all those hours in labor? I can't stop staring! Am I making her uncomfortable? Her lips are so luscious! Man, what I wouldn't do to have them wrapped…

Finally, Destiny spoke interrupting my very naughty thoughts. In fact, her words made me cringe. "Dorian and I had a Nice. Long. Talk."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Get a grip Buchanan! Don't hyperventilate! I challenged myself.

I prayed to God that my sister-in-law had not told Destiny the embarrassing details of my time in D.C. Not my finest hour and not something I wanted the woman I loved and wanted to love me again to hear about with any detail. For a few seconds, I thought about pretending I hadn't heard her and changing the subject, but I knew that wouldn't work. Destiny would see right through me! So, I decided to take it like a man! Sort of.

"Really?" I somehow managed to ask.

"Yep," Destiny popped the p for emphasis and smirked as her eyes danced reveling in my misery. I tried to prepare myself for whatever came next.

"On what planet was it okay to mention my Snoopy birthmark to your brother and his wife?!" Destiny demanded punching me in my shoulder.

"Oow!" I grimaced, conscious not to yell and wake Drew. "I can't believe she told you about that!"

"Matt, how could you?!" Destiny pouted.

"We were watching Charlie Brown Christmas. It just slipped out." Destiny tried her best to look angry, but she couldn't hold back her laughter. Destiny laughed so hard, she had tears running down her face. Frankly, it made me a little uncomfortable, because I really didn't know what was so funny. I smiled cautiously.

"OMG, Matt. Only you would mention an intimate moment during a holiday cartoon."

"I didn't talk about us being intimate, just your birthmark," I admitted sheepishly as Destiny continued to laugh. I still didn't get what was so funny, but figured that was a good time to let her know how much our night together really meant to me. So, I looked her straight in the eye and told her, "But I had been thinkin' about it- that night. I think about it all the time." I heard my voice get lower and felt the lust in my gaze.

Too much! Too much! She's going to send you packing for sure. I thought, panicking.

Surprisingly, Destiny looked me in the eyes and simply said, "You know you sound like a perv, right?"

Whew!

"Yeah, I tried sincere earlier, but you didn't believe me. Maybe pervy will get me better results?" I asked hesitantly.

Destiny smiled, "What am I going to do with you Matthew Buchanan?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah?" Destiny asked, instead of answering seemingly afraid of what I might say.

"Love me again." I looked into her beautiful chocolate eyes, touched her cheek and decided to push my luck. "Let me show you how much I love you. You're it for me. You have my heart Destiny. Please say you'll give us a chance- not just for Drew, but for us, our family, and our future."

Big words for a tongue-tied, scared loser! I thought anxiously.

"Matthew," Destiny said as tears began to slowly fall. "I don't know if I can. You hurt me so much. I've forgiven you so many times already."

I hated to see her cry. I'd rather she yelled or hit me. Anything, but the tears. I wiped the tears from her eyes with my fingertips and pulled her into my arms. As I held Destiny, I recalled all the times I caused tears to pool in her beautiful eyes. It made me sick to my stomach.

When Destiny's sobs quieted, I collected my thoughts and spoke from my heart, "I know Baby. I know you have. I've been a stupid jerk. I was dumb and selfish. I wish I could go back and erase all the stupid things I did and said. I should have told you from the beginning how I really felt about you. I never deserved you. I still don't. But truth is I'm miserable without you."

Destiny's tears began to flow again breaking my heart more and more.

"Baby, please don't cry. You're breaking my heart. I hate knowing that I've hurt you so much. I wish I could get a do-over for the last few months. I was a coward! I should've never let my fear make it ok for me to lash out at you. You trusted me. You gave me your love and your beautiful body, even when you thought I had done the unthinkable. Then, I accused you and my mom of ruining our lives! I'm so sorry, Des." I pulled Destiny closer as she continued to cry in my arms. "I was so caught up that night. I didn't think about keeping you safe, protecting you. I screwed up!"

We sat in deafening silence for what felt like forever until Destiny finally asked against my chest, "Are you sorry we were together? That we have Drew?"

"No. No. Destiny, look at me!" I lifted her chin with my finger and held it in my hand. Destiny reluctantly lifted her eyes and looked into mine. "The night we were together was the greatest night of my life. It was Intense! Hot! Electric! Magic! I've never felt so connected to anyone or anything. That night, when we kissed, touched, and tasted, I knew that I had always been and would always be in love with you." I kissed her cheek and traced the tracks of her tears with my knuckles.

"Why are you just sayin' this now? Why didn't you tell me then?

"I didn't think I could," I sighed and continued, "Des, my future was iffy; I thought I'd killed a man. I couldn't offer you a real relationship, ask you to be with me, and wait for me while I was in prison. I didn't want you to suffer for my mistake. But when you ignored my calls and texts and avoided me, I was losin' my mind. I knew I couldn't be without you."

I took a deep breath as I considered what I had to say next. Destiny, once again, sat up and looked at me expectantly. I gathered the courage to continue, "So, when I finally confronted you at the hospital that night, I talked about caring and seeing where our relationship would go. I didn't want to scare you away or make you feel obligated to tie yourself to me by telling you the truth." I stopped talking, contemplating whether or not to let the truth out now. "Look, Des. The truth is even though we were a couple of 17 year old kids, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life kissing you, holding you, laughing with you, even crying with you, just loving you." I felt Destiny tense up in my arms. Clearly, I'd overwhelmed her. She wasn't ready for this.

Too much, Matt! You've gone too far. But it's too late to take it back! Tell her… I thought as I tried to encourage myself.

"The whole time I was in the coma, I dreamed about you, about us and our future together. When I woke up and found out I was free, that I hadn't killed Eddie, all I wanted to make those dreams come true. I don't know, maybe that's why I was so freaked out about the pregnancy. Des, I had created the perfect future in my mind. I'd planned our lives together, Destiny: Senior year, college, seeing the world together, eventually a wedding and then kids." I felt her eyes boring holes into me as she waited to hear something she could latch on to. "I didn't know about our baby, Des. So, Drew wasn't a part of my dreams then. But he is now. Today changed everything."

Destiny gave me a puzzled look and asked, "What does that mean exactly?"

"I can't imagine our lives without Drew in it."

"You're not sorry we have him?"

I pulled her into my arms again, using it as an opportunity to pull her close and put this question to rest once and for all. "Not for a second. When I saw him today, stuff got so real, so fast. We have this little guy, because of a mistake I thought we made. It was no mistake Des. You fought me, your mom, and in some ways yourself to bring him into the world. Drew's the best gift I've ever gotten." She smiled faintly into my chest. "Well besides you."

Destiny sat up and moved the stray hairs that had fallen into my eyes. She looked at me gauging the truth of my words. I watched as Destiny weighed each word in her mind. She then smiled mischievously and said sassily as only she could, "So, I'm a gift am I?"

"Did I say that?" I teased.

"Matthew…," she whined.

"Yes, Des! You are a gift just for me from God and my Grandpa Asa!" I exclaimed smiling and pulling her closer.

"Really?"

"Really." I leaned down resting my forehead against hers, looked into her sparkling eyes and confessed, "I love you Destiny Loretta Evans with all my heart, my soul and everything I am and hope to become."

"Isn't that from a movie?" She quipped.

I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't sure if I had stolen those words or not. I explained, "Not sure, but it's how I feel. Do you think you could ever feel the same?"

Destiny hesitated, sighed, looked at me and finally said, "Matthew, I do love you. I've always loved you. That's not the issue." I grinned so hard I thought my jaw would break. Then, Destiny placed a cautionary finger on my mouth and added, "I'm not sure love is enough."

"Can we agree that it's a place to start?"

Destiny thought about my request. "Look Matt, so much has happened. How can I be sure that things will be different, that you wanting to be a dad and a couple isn't just a phase? I don't want to give us a chance only to have you running after the first pretty girl who gives you the time of day!"

"Des, I wish I could magically make you see how much you mean to me. If I had handled things better, you wouldn't have to question how I feel, but I didn't. So, I'm living with the consequences. I understand that my loving you is new to you, but I've felt this way for a long time."

Briefly, I thought about confessing to some of the stupid things I'd done since I realized how much I loved Destiny, including threatening Nate Salinger to stay away from her and my using our friendship to come between her and her ex-boyfriend Darren. But I decided against bringing up things that might make Destiny mad. Instead, I appealed to her sense of fairness.

"I know I don't have the right to ask, but Des, I need you to just give me one last chance. I promise this time things will work out. Please?!" I pleaded.

Finally, Destiny responded, "I don't know, Matt. We have a lot to work on- to talk about, a lot of healing to do. Definitely, some changes need to be made. I won't be your doormat anymore."

Doormat? What? Whatever! It doesn't matter now cause whatever she wants I'll do! I thought. Say yes! Please just say YES already!

"But…" Destiny gave me a beautiful smile and mercifully said, "Okay."

"Yes!" I pumped my fist in the air and began showering Destiny's face with kisses.

"Matt, slow down. Let me finish!" Destiny exclaimed grabbing my hands. "I still think that for now, we need to focus our attention on Drew."

"Ok, but can we work on us a little bit?" I asked putting on the puppy dog face she couldn't refuse.

"Matt? The face? Really? Ok… Yes, as long as we move slowly."

"Can we kiss and I tempt you with my coolness?"

Destiny laughed loudly. "The fact that you said that proves that you are so not cool."

"Okay. I'm a little behind the times. I was out of commission for a while." I kissed the back of Destiny's hand. "So, are we together now? Are you my girlfriend?" I asked moving toward her luscious lips.

"Not so fast. Slowly, focusing on our son remember?"

"But I need to know. What am I going to tell people when they ask about our relationship?" I pouted raising my eyebrow seductively. I honestly didn't care what people thought. I just wanted Destiny to say yes to being my girlfriend or even my wife.

Where did that come from? Wife? We're barely 18. I chuckled at myself, because I knew that if I was being honest, I wanted nothing more than to take Destiny and Drew to the nearest church and marry her TODAY before she could get away from me!

Destiny considered my question momentarily. "Tell them we're Partners," Destiny offered smiling.

Huh?

"Partners? Doesn't that mean something else?" I inquired.

"For other people I guess, but for us it means that we're raising our son together and we are two people who love each other with a lot of baggage to sort out." Destiny stated emphatically. Then, she gave me a smile, batted her eyes at me and winked with a hint of naughtiness. "Ok, Partner?"

Oh my God! How did I ever refuse this woman anything?

"Ok." I agreed. "Now, can we kiss on it?"

"Shake; then kiss," Destiny responded as she extended her hand to me. I grabbed her hand, pulled her to me and crashed my lips into hers. I swiped my tongue across her bottom lip desperate for entry, which she granted. Our tongues danced, becoming reacquainted until we both were lightheaded and Destiny collapsed in my arms.

"Ok. You do realize I just had a baby? I'm exhausted and you need to stop trying to drain the little energy I have left," Destiny giggled.

"Not my fault you're so sexy," I whispered in her ear.

"Tone down the pervy, Matt."

"Okay, I'll try," I offered, knowing I had no intention of really trying. Destiny giggled, knowing I would not be trying very hard. I was about to say something really naughty when I looked over and saw her gift sitting on the nightstand. I grabbed the box and handed it to her. "Could you tell I wrapped it myself?" She just smiled and nodded "yes". Destiny then began examining the box trying to figure out where the wrapping paper began and ended. She found a good place to start.

"Wait!" I urged grabbing her hand. "Before you open it, I want you to know that I ordered it last spring. Actually, the morning after we made love…" I paused briefly waiting to see if she objected to my terminology. We loved each other now and then. It wasn't just sex. Hearing no objections, I continued, "I hoped to give it to you at Junior Prom, if I managed to stay out of prison. But then, prom didn't happen. So, when I first woke up and my parents were talking to me about the coma and what happened over the last six months, all I thought about was giving you this gift and telling you how much I loved you. Then, I found out about the baby and was a jerk. Honestly, I thought I would never have the chance to see you wear your…." For the third time that day, I felt the sting of tears in the back of my eyes. "Go ahead and open it before you regret loving a wimp."

Destiny kissed both of my eyelids and said, "I like it when your wimp shows for our son and especially for me."

I wiped my tears and smiled at her knowing she was telling me the truth. Destiny carefully opened the box. Her eyes opened incredibly wide and sparkled as she lifted the gold heart shaped locket from the box. On the front of the locket the words "My Destiny" On the back, "I love you. Matt."

"Matthew, it's so beautiful!"

"Open it." Inside, there was a picture of me wearing my favorite sweater that Destiny gave me for my 17th birthday.

"I love that picture!" She squealed.

"My dad has a great shot of Drew. He's going to have it printed for me. So, tomorrow…"

"I will have both of you close to my heart."

"Yes." I grinned so hard that my face began to ache. I felt myself staring again. I couldn't help it. I couldn't believe that I was actually here with Destiny and our son. I didn't deserve either of them, but here I was being given a chance to make everything RIGHT.

"Matthew, can you help me put my locket on?"

"Of course" I smiled as I carefully clasped the locket, taking the opportunity to place several soft kisses on her neck. Destiny purred a little as I began to massage her shoulders careful not to let my hands drift to where they really wanted to go.

Destiny held the locket in her fingers, as I continued to massage her shoulders. She looked at me and then looked at Drew's bassinet and smiled. "Mmmmmhmmmm!" she sighed. "And Matthew…"

"Yeah, Des?" I responded with a low whisper in her ear just touching it with the tip of my tongue.

"You are not slick! Don't get any ideas. Partners remember?" She asked breathlessly.

"Partners." I nibbled her ear a little, took a deep breath and removed my hands from her shoulders. "Hands off!" I raised my hands high in the air. Destiny looked at me, laughed and pushed me down on the bed and snuggled into my side. I took a few moments to mark how great she felt in my arms.

"Well, Ms. Evans, I hate to tell you, but I don't know if this snuggling is sanctioned in the Partner Handbook" I joked as I held her close to me and rubbed her arm. When she didn't respond, I looked down at my beautiful girl. She was sound asleep.

It's been a little shaky, but we're off to a good start. I thought as I began to whisper silent prayers giving thanks for my gifts.

tbc…

A/N Again, thanks so much to all of you who read, followed and favorited our story! We are so grateful to you! And cyber chocolates go out to our chapter 2 reviewers: rexjdk, lilnate13, mestinylover, oltlfan and Guests! You guys are rock stars!

Next up… Matthew and Drew do a little father son bonding.

Blessings, Smiles & Please keep the love coming,

Allie & Lee