Chapter 7: Must Be The Time Of Year

"Don't you think that's enough flowers? You didn't need to bring another bouquet! Do you know I actually hate watching flowers die in my house?" Ashley shook her head slowly as Christian entered her apartment again, just like he did at least once every week for the last couple of months.

"No, I don't know! There's flower food there too to make them last longer! Don't you use them?"

"That's not the point Christian! I told you feng shui says all the persons in the house would suffer if something like this poisons it! You're not listening! I've told you before!"

"Isn't somebody snappy today? Since you're always talking, it's hard to know when it's important to listen and when's not," Christian tried his way out the situation half jokingly. It wasn't exactly how he'd imagined the encounter.

"And you're late. Justin was asking about you and didn't wanna get to sleep till you got here. If you promise something a kid, you do it." It was pretty much the only area of her life Ashley didn't know any compromise.

"Overtime," Christian explained, "and then I thought with the matter I'd like to talk to you about would be better if Justin was already asleep." The last thing he wanted to do is hurt the little boy. Justin was very important to him and he spent ages thinking his decision over. He was part of that fantasy he couldn't get out his mind, that they could be a family. But it had to work, he had to make sure of that, otherwise he'd just be using the innocent child's presence to fix his own problems. He's done some down right evil things in the past, but never wanted to hurt a child, even unintentionally. Enough kids got that treatment without him joining in. And then there was Ashley. One surgery she would need and that would've been to make her less annoyingly talkative. Yet, she was more than the others, she cared about him, maternal attention filling all her actions, her compassionate being. The others were just women, there were some women he loved too, but it didn't work out. Was any point to waiting for the next one he felt he could love? It didn't make any sense and he felt as if he was running out of time. He had to try. Jump right into it. He held out his hand and took hers, a soft look in his eyes, "will you marry me?"

"What??" Ashley was, for once, muted.

He did expect her to be surprised so he asked her again, "will you marry me?"

Ashley's heart skipped a beat. It would've been wonderful, more than she could ever hope for. Justin and her would never have to worry about money anymore, she could stop working at the strip bar for good. But how could this all be possible? "Are you serious? Why? Why do you want me to marry you?" Inside, she begged for it to be true.

"Answer me first!"

"Eeee...I'm lost. I'm would be in the seventh heaven about this, normally, but it's just so sudden and I don't understand your reasons. I never would've thought a doc like you would accept a exotic dancer for a wife. With a kid!"

"You're not gonna be an exotic dancer. Nobody needs to know you were. Unless you want people to start looking funny at you?"

"Of course I don't want that. Especially not for Justin's sake. But...I don't know...you're sometimes so on a hight horse...of course you are, but..."

"You don't wanna marry me."

"It not like that... I...love you so much. I just never imagined us with a future together. I can't believe it can be true! Yes, of course I'll marry you! Why you doing this again?"

"For my own happiness?" Christian mused, telling the truth anyway.

The End.