Lucille was in the kitchen while her boys were in the back yard.
She was filling up the flour container when she accidentally lost grip on the big package and dropped it. She managed to catch it before it fell to the floor but there was a big cloud of flour. She sneezed repeatedly. She looked down at herself and the floor. She had a big mess she now had to clean up. She sighed and muttered "shit."
She was about to go get a towel when the doorbell rang. She huffed and ran to the door trying not to get flour all over the house. She saw Maggie whose smile fell when she saw her aunt covered in flour.
"Are you alright?"
Lucille sighed and smiled a bit "I'm fine I just dropped the flour when I was filling the container. Come in!"
She followed her aunt into the kitchen and gasped when she saw the mess.
Lucille said "I know. I know. Grab a towel and help me clean before Henry finds out! He would love to see me mess up."
Maggie laughed and did what she was told.
Maggie cleaned the counter "Speaking of Uncle Henry how was your date last night?"
Lucille was on her hands and knees cleaning the floor. She smiled softly as she remembered their date.
"It was wonderful. Worth the wait. Thank you for watching Jacob."
Maggie smiled "no problem. I enjoy spending time with him. He's a fun kid. Marty and Jenny enjoy being around him as well."
Lucille smirked and said "speaking of Marty did you get a chance to talk to him yet?"
Maggie sighed "no! I don't even know where to begin. I don't want to make a fool out of myself. Do you have any suggestions?"
Lucille stopped cleaning and stood up. She guided her niece to the table. They sat down.
Lucille said "well what if you take him out to dinner? No wait make him dinner! That's more personal."
Her eyes widened and she began moving her hands in a negative motion "me cook! That would be a disaster. Remember when I nearly caused a fire I your kitchen? There was so much smoke! No way. Try again."
Lucille smiled at the memory. Try as she might Lucille could not teach the poor girl to cook. She laughed "your right that'd be a bad idea. I can still hear Henry's laugh. What about take out? That way there wouldn't be any pressure and he wouldn't suspect anything."
Maggie started nodding but stopped "crap! I forgot about Jenny. I can't have that discussion with her there. She has already asked Marty why he wasn't married. He looked at me like I was supposed to make up an excuse."
Lucille laughed "Henry and I can watch her. We love that little girl to pieces and Jacob adores her."
Maggie said "I couldn't ask you to do that."
Lucille said "you're not asking. I'm volunteering besides you've watched Jacob the last few days. It's our turn to help you out. It will be nice to hear the sound of children laughing and the pitter patter of little feet."
Maggie knew her there was no getting out of this now. It seemed like her aunt had an answer for everything. She sighed "okay. If you insist."
Lucille noticed he change in Maggie "honey what is it?"
Maggie said "I've just been avoiding it for a while and now that it's here I'm starting to chicken out."
Lucille smiled "being in love is a scary thing at least until you know if the other person likes you; but I'd think not knowing is even worse."
Maggie had her arms laying on the table and banged her head on her arms. She groaned "this is why I became a doctor. I think with my head and not my heart. Love sucks!"
Lucille laughed and rubbed her niece's hair "the pain is worth it sweetheart. Having someone you can rely on is an amazing feeling; especially God forbid something tragic happens."
Maggie looked up and saw the far away look on her aunt's face. She stood up and wrapped her arms around her aunt's shoulder. Lucille sniffled and rubbed her niece's hand.
Lucille said "I'm okay. I just had a flash back. Anyway what I meant was being in love is a magical feeling especially when your with the one."
Maggie smiled "I'm tired of being alone. I've really enjoyed having him at my apartment. Okay,I think I'm ready bite the bullet! I tell him tonight."
Lucille smiled brightly "that's wonderful sweetheart. Drop Jenny off around 6 if you can!"
Jacob went upstairs and Henry walked into the kitchen. He saw Maggie and hugged her. He froze when he saw Lucille still covered in flour. He began to smirk.
She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger in his direction and said "not a word!"
He bit his cheek to keep from laughing "what did you do?"
She heard the laughter in his voice and glared at him "shut up Henry! I dropped the bag when I was filling up the container if you must know."
Maggie smirked at their playful interaction.
He reached out and wiped some flour off that was on her cheek. He smiled "I think you look adorable."
She rolled her eyes and said "I'm going to change! Oh we're watching Jenny tonight."
He watched her go upstairs and Maggie said "are you sure you don't mind? She kinda suggested it."
Henry laughed "sounds like her. I don't mind. Jenny is a sweet girl. Lu enjoys having them over. It always puts a smile on her face. It's like it fills a void in her heart that I'm not able to."
Maggie smiled sadly and asked "why didn't you have more kids? You both seem to love them."
Henry's face fell and Maggie said "oh I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked that! Sometimes my mouth works faster than my brain. Please forgive me."
Henry smiled sadly at his niece "there's nothing to forgive. It's just a touchy subject. Two years after Jacob died I asked Lucille if she would like to have another child. She didn't speak to me for weeks and fell into a deep depression. I was beginning to think I had upset her so much that she was ready for a divorce. I never brought up the subject again."
Maggie nodded. Before she could say anything else Lucille came downstairs. She could feel the tension in the room.
"Did I miss something?"
Henry and Maggie both shouted "no!"
Lu jumped and narrowed her eyes. She crossed her arms "why don't I believe that?"
Henry kissed her head and said "it's not important. We were just talking about Marty."
Maggie groaned inside but nodded.
Lucille sighed and dropped the subject.
Maggie said "I guess I'll be going. I'll see you guys tonight. Thanks again for the advice."
Lucille smiled and watched her niece leave. She saw Henry staring at her.
She reached up to her face "did I miss some flour?"
He shook his head negatively but said nothing.
She said "are you okay?"
Henry grabbed her arms and kissed her passionately. She yelped because she was surprised by the kiss but soon relaxed. She pulled her arms out of his grip and slid them around his neck. He grabbed her butt bringing her even closer. He finally let her go and watched her eyes flutter open.
She said "what was that for?"
He ran his finger down her cheek and said "for being you."
She smiled softly and grabbed his wrist "are you sure you're okay?"
He smiled "I'm fine just thinking about us."
She smirked and playfully said "you're not having second thoughts about us are you?"
He laughed "never!"
She smiled "good. I'd miss you too much."
That evening Maggie had dropped Jenny off. After dinner the kids were playing outside while Henry and Lucille sat on the porch.
Lucille was smiling while she watched the kids.
"Henry, do you wish we had more kids?"
His head whipped around to face her. He was shocked that she brought up this topic. He wanted to tread lightly so he didn't upset her.
"Well?"
He quickly said "no!"
She wasn't convinced. She sighed "Henry, I want an honest answer. I need to know the truth. I promise I won't get upset."
He sighed "I don't know. I always wanted a big family but people change. After Jacob's death you were my main concern."
She looked at him "you still didn't answer my question!"
He sighed and ran his hand over his face. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her. He said "do you?"
She realized she wasn't going to get a straight answer so she dropped the subject.
Maggie and Marty were sitting at the table eating. She took a deep breath and said "can we talk?"
He nodded "sure."
She said "how do you feel about staying in Arcadia permanently?"
He looked at her and said "what do you mean?"
She said "well, I just meant you don't really have any family back home and you've kinda made a life here for yourself. I guess I meant if your going to stay here I will probably need a bigger place. I just wanted to know if you had any plans."
He shrugged "I hadn't really thought about it. I hadn't expected to stay this long in Arcadia but it's a nice town with a lot of nice people. I could see Jenny and I staying here."
Maggie's face lit up "that's great! Can I tell you something?"
He nodded.
She swallowed and said "I've missed this. It's kinda hard to talk about certain things when there is a child in the room."
He raised her eyebrow "what things?"
She took a deep breath "there's something I've been meaning to tell you but I'm worried you will look at me differently."
He waited for her to speak.
She said "when you moved in here I was expecting it to be awkward because I've never lived with a man before but it wasn't. I like having you around. It's nice not to come home to an empty apartment."
He looked at Maggie and in a hopeful tone said "what are you trying say?"
Before she could stop herself she kissed him. He responded with the same amount of passion.
Their tongues fought for dominance. She moaned into his mouth. He gently pulled her onto his lap. They eventually broke apart and a smile began to spread on their faces.
She rested her forehead against his and whispered "I take it you feel the same way?"
He looked into her eyes and said "I wasn't expecting to find love in Arcadia but I think I have. Maggie I love you."
She gasped "I love you to Marty."
He kissed her lips and pulled back. She smiled and giggled "I don't know why I was so worried about having this conversation."
The Langston home:
The Langston's tucked the kids in bed and they were in the living room.
"Yes."
Henry was startled and looked at her "yes what?"
She played with her hands and softly said "I regret not having more kids."
She looked down terrified of his reaction. He was shocked. He lifted her chin up and rubbed her jaw.
"So do I."
She breathed a sigh of relief and snuggled into his embrace. She pulled his arms around her and laid her head on his chest.
She said "I'm so glad you feel the same way. I've felt so guilty for thinking it."
He kissed her head "why didn't you ever tell me?"
She shrugged "I was scared. Margaret was right. I wasn't able to protect the one child we had. I always thought we would have a big family but after losing Jacob I didn't feel like I deserved another child."
His heart broke for her. He tightened his hold and said "how long have you felt like this?"
She sighed "do you remember when you asked me a long time ago about expanding our family?"
He nodded.
She said "I was never mad at you Henry. I know that's what you thought. I knew it was your dream to have a big family and since I was not in the right frame of mind to give you the family you longed for I panicked."
He cocked his head "panicked?"
She whimpered "I knew how badly you wanted another child. I just couldn't give you what you wanted at the time. I had been dreading the moment I knew would come about expanding our family because it was only a matter of time before you would divorce me. That's why I didn't speak to you for weeks. I was trying to prepare myself for being alone but as the weeks went on I finally began to realize you weren't going anywhere. Once we really talked and made love again I knew you would always be there."
He was incredibly hurt that she thought so little of him.
She frowned and turned in his arms "Henry?"
She saw the look on his face and said "hey, what's wrong?"
He glared at her "what's wrong? All this time I've been dedicated to our marriage when you've had one foot out the door! I thought you trusted me!"
She was stunned and said "I do trust you!"
He scoffed "obviously not!"
She jumped when he slightly raised his voice "why are you getting so upset? I thought it would make you happy that I opened up."
He was mindful of the children upstairs and lowered his voice. He said "guess again! I thought our vows to each other meant something Lucille."
She whimpered and grabbed his arms. She desperately said "they did...they do! I love you Henry."
He remained silent.
With tears in her eyes she grabbed his face and said "say something!"
He cleared his throat "do you really think so little of me? I was here before Jacob and I will be here after Jacob. Hell! I came back from the dead to be with you shouldn't that make you realize how much I love you. No one could ever come close to you Lucille. You're my past and my future. I wanted kids with you so there could be a little piece of you and me running around. I Ioved the idea of sharing something so special with you again. That's why I wanted kids. I also thought it would feel the void. If you can't realize that then maybe we shouldn't be toge..."
She interrupted him with a kiss. She forced her tongue in his mouth. She straddled him and clung to him. She eventually broke the kiss and looked deep into his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I've always trusted you. Part of me died when we lost Jacob. I couldn't bare the thought of losing you too. I kept having nightmares about you leaving me. I guess I let them take over and I would panic, so you see I've always trusted you Henry. I was just insecure. Please believe me."
He cupped her face and said "I guess I understand. I'm sorry I got upset."
She hugged him tightly and breathed in his scent "I never meant to hurt you Henry."
He rubbed her back "I know. Don't worry about it. Let's just drop the whole topic. It's obviously too late to even think about having another kid and I know it's a touchy subject."
She pulled back slightly trying to read his face. He cupped her cheek and smiled "I'm not upset. My family is complete. I have a beautiful wife and our child returned from the dead. How many people can say that? I'm a lucky man."
She smiled and said "I love you Henry. You know that don't you?"
He kissed her nose "of course I do. I love you too. Now just relax."
He guided her head to his shoulder and she buried her face in his neck as she continued to straddle him.
