Author's note - Season Three! So awesome!
The music came to an end just after their bodies stopped moving together, so the only sound in the room was from their rapid breathing. Mindy insisted on a mix of slow jams with the occasional Beyoncé for good measure, because she couldn't deal with silence when they were together. Too many funny noises.
Danny was staring at her as they lay in the afterglow, pulses returning to a normal rhythm.
"You are so beautiful when you come." He murmured in a voice so low and sexy, she was halfway there again. He lazily slid a hand through her now tangled hair and rubbed a strand between his fingers.
If only she could return the compliment - Danny's o-face looked like he was trying to solve calculus problems while constipated. She just smiled at him. "Thank you."
"I mean, you're always beautiful. It's just, you look so completely free... I love it."
Danny had been waxing sentimental a lot lately. She wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but things were shifting between them yet again. Part of it was happening here, in their bed - sometimes they had sex, sometimes they fucked, but now more and more they were truly making love. Danny worshipped at the altar of Mindy, and she was a kind and benevolent goddess.
But Danny didn't usually spend a lot of time talking afterwards.
"Hey, you know Stevie's mom is dying." He exhaled and looked away, suddenly much more vulnerable looking than she had ever seen him. "I mean, she has some time, but still..."
Mindy stroked Danny's face and he raised his eyes to meet hers.
"I know, hon. It's never easy. Is he taking good care of her?"
"Yeah, but it's tearing him up. I told him I'd come out next weekend, talk to them."
"Okay. I'll come with you if you want me to" She leaned closer and snaked her arm around his torso. He nodded in response.
"Your mom is healthy as a horse, so don't go thinking..."
Danny chuckled and gave her a wry smile. "I know, she's fine, but you know, nobody lives forever."
"Well if anyone could, it would be her." Mindy slipped her hand off his back and reached for his, intertwining their fingers. "Are you worried about her?"
"No, I mean, not more than usual or anything." He squeezed her hand. "It just makes you more aware... how time passes." He paused. "I'm about to be 40."
Mindy bit her lip. For all the teasing she did that Danny was an old man, it was really more about his attitude than his calendar age. She hadn't considered athat maybe the upcoming event was significant to him.
"Is that what this is about, Danny? You're feeling over the hill?" She said it lightly, because she didn't want him to close himself off if he was reacting to the age thing. He had become so much more willing to express himself, though it was still an uphill battle to get him to discuss his feelings. But as they got closer, she saw parts of him that he was more comfortable sharing - his ridiculous fits of giggles, usually at her expense, for example. It never happened except in private, but it was adorable how he couldn't catch his breath or compose himself once he got started.
He sighed. "No, it's not that, exactly. It's just... It's kind of a milestone. I guess I thought I'd be more... established." He looked at her and smiled crookedly, almost shyly. "I haven't exactly left my mark on the world."
Mindy frowned. "You're crazy. Most people don't accomplish half what you already have in their whole life! You're an amazing doctor, you have a freaking hot girlfriend..."
Danny rolled his eyes. "I know, but Min. I look at lady bits all day, I'm not curing cancer."
"Okay, hello, let's try not to disparage the profession we both share." She pulled her hand free and slapped him lightly on the cheek. "Women's health is a very important issue. We prevent disease, we save lives, and we bring new ones into the world. That's pretty damn cool."
He grabbed her hand back and pressed it to his chest. "Yes, you're right, it is cool."
"Babies, Danny, we are responsible for their safe passage into the world. I'd say that's leaving a mark!" She grinned at him. "What's better than a baby?"
His expression suddenly became serious, and he took a deep breath. "Nothing..." He was gazing at her with a crazy intensity that left her feeling unsettled, especially as he was slowly rubbing his thumb on her wrist. "Nothing's better than babies." His voice cracked on the last word.
Mindy's chest was tight. It had been quite a while since that topic had reared its head, and that was after a near miss situation. She couldn't read Danny's expression, but it looked almost wistful, and she couldn't breathe.
"Danny." She managed to squeak out, and he smiled and squeezed her hand again. "Do you mean... us? Having a baby?"
"Well, I'm just... I mean... I didn't mean today..." He was stumbling on his words, something he often did when the conversation was too intimate.
"Well that's good, because I don't think I could quite manage that." She bit her lip nervously. Suddenly this was the scariest thing in the world, because if Danny was actually bringing it up, and was willing to talk about it, it was real. "Do you really think... Would I be a good mom? I know you'd be a great dad, Danny. But I'm... I can be a little self absorbed at times."
His face crinkled into a wide grin and he buried it against her shoulder to keep from laughing out loud.
"Stop laughing, Danny! You're supposed to reassure me and tell me I'm not."
He pulled back and looked at her, still holding back. "So, you want me to lie to you?"
"Ugh, Danny!" She tried to wrestle free of his grasp but he refused to let her hand go.
"Seriously, Min. You'll be an amazing mom. You have so much love to give..."
She felt tears sting at her eyes. His compliments were always appreciated, but somehow this one was the sweetest. "Geez, Danny. I don't even..."
He kissed her then, softly and swiftly, then kissed each of her closed eyes before tucking her head under his chin. She smiled against his neck before kissing and then nipping at it.
"Ow!" He pulled back in mock indignation. "I was being all sensitive and you bit me!"
"Sorry." Mindy sighed, soothing his skin with her hand before looking back up at him. "You really surprise me, Danny. You're so old fashioned - I wouldn't have thought you'd want kids without marriage."
Danny looked at her like she had two heads. "I don't. Mindy, what do you think we're talking about here?"
The tightness in her chest was back, or maybe it never left. "Us. Having a child."
His eyes softened and he looked hesitant, maybe a little confused. "Okay... maybe I... We... I shouldn't have assumed..." He stammered and stopped, his eyes searching hers.
"Danny, darling, I love you, but you have got to learn to use words sometimes. I can't read your mind." She usually could, actually, but with something like this it was far too risky.
He swallowed hard. "I thought we wanted the same thing. Am I wrong?"
Mindy smiled. "I don't know. What do you want?" She was dying under the intensity of his gaze, but unless he said the words, she wasn't going to let herself go there.
She waited as he seemed to gear up to speak.
"I want to... I want to marry you, Mindy."
The sting was back behind her eyes again. Dammit, if this man couldn't pack a punch when he finally decided to talk.
"Okay, then. You weren't wrong." She grabbed his face and kissed him before the sob tore out of her throat. They kissed till they rain out of air, and then Mindy clung to him as she inhaled, shuddering.
"Okay." Danny finally spoke again. "So, that's out there. Glad we had this little talk." He grinned at her.
Mindy felt like her head was too fuzzy to think. "So how long have you been wanting to talk about this?"
"Oh, a while. Remember when we were on that airplane..."
"Shut up." She giggled and pushed at him. "Be serious."
"Okay. It has been a while, but I can't say exactly when. I just know that somewhere along the line, I knew I wanted us to be forever."
"Oh god, Danny, that is like right out of a movie." She was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.
"Is that bad?"
"No! I love it. I love you. Let's fly to Atlantic City and get hitched next weekend."
"No, I gotta go to Staten, remember?" He said, looking all serious and sincere.
"I was kidding. You would, seriously? We're not doing that, but..."
"I would, if that's what you wanted. I'm glad it's not, though."
Mindy curled back up against him, wanting to just feel his skin on hers. "You know what Cliff said to me, at his party?"
"Hmmm?" Danny tensed a little.
"He cornered me when I came out of the bathroom and told me he thought it would be me that he'd be marrying. I was a little... taken aback." She wasn't sure why she hadn't told Danny this before.
"Wow. Do you think he meant it? Or was he just trying to twist the knife a little?"
"Probably both. I don't think that he loved me, but he was obviously feeling ready for marriage, since he dated Karen for like three months before he proposed."
Danny was quiet for a moment. "Would you have?"
"Married him? Probably." Mindy realized that kind of sounded awful, considering she just told Danny she wanted to marry him, but honesty was important to them both.
"Huh." Was Danny's enigmatic reply.
"But... I didn't know." She said quietly.
"Didn't know he would marry you?" Danny's voice was flat, and she sensed that was hurtful to him, though she hadn't meant for it to be.
She looked up, finding his eyes, with another inscrutable expression.
"I didn't know what I would have missed." She smiled and touched his face, stroking his cheek and jaw. "I didn't know I'd have love. I didn't really know what love was, till now."
Danny nodded. "I think I know what you mean." He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her on top of him.
"Hey now!" She giggled. "I don't think I'm quite ready to make that baby, dude."
"No reason we can't practice."
Mindy stopped him as his hands made their way south. "Hold that thought!" She reached over to her iPod and started the playlist over again.
