==========Expecting==========

There's a very real possibility that she's being a little ridiculous right now, but she can't tell for sure.

He's just seriously driving her crazy and she's not sure how much longer she can take it.

It's just that ever since they got back together, it's like he's trying to be perfect. Actually, he was doing it way before then, but she just thought it would stop once they decided to be together, but it hasn't. Sometimes she thinks that maybe it's gotten worse.

He always watches whatever she wants on television. He always lets her pick what they're having for dinner. He won't stop rubbing her feet whenever they're sitting on the couch, even when she insists that they aren't sore.

And if he wakes up before her in the morning, he makes her breakfast. Like a real bacon, eggs and toast breakfast.

And even more suspiciously, he lets her drive the truck whenever she asks.

Oh and every baby name she suggests, he claims to love. She even tried throwing in a few outrageous names just to test him. And yeah, he said they were great.

And he doesn't let her clean or do laundry or make the bed. The other day she was about to go get the mail when he insisted that he'd do it. Literally, if she wants to clean something, she has to wait until he's not around so she can do it without him giving her a hard time.

She knows that he has good intentions and that he's actually being really sweet, but she just can't deal with all of this perfection much longer.

It's actually got her a bit worried. She just can't help but wonder when he's finally going to crack. When is the pressure of being perfect going to be too much for him? I mean, it must be exhausting.

And she's kind of afraid that he'll start to resent her or maybe he'll just explode one day and then who knows what'll happen.

So yeah, she needs to put an end to it. Now.

She just doesn't know how to really go about it.

But they did promise to always communicate and be honest with each other, so she figures that's the only way to go.

"Hey, can we talk?" She asks him after dinner one night. Once again, he won't let her help him with the dishes and honestly, she kind of wants to smack him a little.

"Yeah, everything okay?" He asks as a flash of worry crosses his face.

"Yeah, come sit with me," she instructs as she pats the couch cushion beside her.

He walks over and sits down right next to her. "What's up?" He asks as he gets his hand on her thigh and squeezes it.

She takes a deep breath and looks up at the man she loves. He's staring at her and he looks concerned and a bit confused and he's definitely trying to read her eyes.

She desperately wants to reassure him, so she maneuvers herself up on his lap, so she's straddling him. Then, she throws him a little smile as she slips her arms around his neck and plays with the hair on the back of his head for a moment.

"You know I love you, right?" She asks.

"Yeah…" he replies, suspiciously.

"And you know why I love you?" She questions.

Now he's giving her a weird look- all furrowed brows and wrinkled forehead. So, she takes that as her cue to just keep going.

"So many reasons, actually," she begins. "Sam, you just… you really are the best man I know… You are sweet and generous and loyal and you would literally do anything for the people you love. You have always made me feel safe and like I could talk to you about anything and you would never judge me. I've never felt like I have to hide myself from you and you've always accepted me for me… And you've always been there for me, whether I needed someone to fix a woman's plumbing or I needed a shoulder to cry on or somebody to punch or just someone to talk to. And you're smart and you're silly and you always know how to cheer me up. And even when I'm feeling completely gross, the way you look at me makes me feel beautiful. And I could keep going, but I think you get the picture, right?" She asks.

"Yeah…" he says, still rather suspicious about the conversation. He's just waiting for the 'but' to come out of her mouth.

"I just… I really do love you for you, okay?" She says.

"Okay," he nods, still completely unsure where this is going.

"Sam, I uh… well… you know that I don't expect you to be perfect, right? Just like I know you don't expect me to be perfect," she continues.

"I know."

"I just… I feel like maybe you are trying to be perfect… like maybe you don't fully trust that I truly want us to be together and you're trying not to give me a reason to change my mind or something," she explains.

He lets out a breath and runs his hands up and down her sides. "Maybe I have been doing that," he acknowledges.

She nods her head and nibbles on her lip for a second. "I get it… I think I've been doing it a little bit, too," she confesses.

"Really?"

"Definitely not as much as you, but I think a part of me has really been trying to control the crazy in here more than I would have before," she tells him as she points to her head. "I guess there's still a small part of me that worries that all of the reasons you had for not wanting to be with me before will suddenly make sense again," she admits.

"Andy, that's not going to happen," he guarantees.

She nods and gives him a quick kiss. "And I'm not going to change my mind either, you know," she assures him. "I love you and I want to be with you no matter what. I don't need you to be perfect, okay? I don't need you to always agree with me or only ever do what I want to do. I want you to tell me when you disagree or if there is something that you need or want and you're not getting… And most of all, I want you to feel confident and secure in us," she explains.

He lets out a breath. "I guess there's a lot of things that we should've talked about before, but we never did," he tells her.

"What do you mean?" She asks with a slight tilt of her head.

"I guess… I guess it's just always been in the back of my mind that you'll wake up someday and feel differently about us," he clarifies.

"Why?"

"Because you have before," he reminds her. "You've changed your mind on me before and I… I guess part of me is still holding my breath, waiting for it to happen again… I know it's probably not fair, but I think it's maybe part of the reason I didn't fight for us before and why I couldn't let you in. I just… I couldn't let myself be fully invested when I was always waiting for you to change your mind, you know? After the blackout and when we were suspended… what happened… I guess maybe it stayed with me," he admits.

"Sam…"

"Look, I'm not bringing this up now to make you feel bad or anything, I just feel like… because I never told you and we never talked it out, it was always in the back of my head and it festered and it negatively affected our relationship and I don't want that to happen again," he explains.

"Me either," she responds.

He nods and pulls her a bit closer.

"Sam, I am sorry for hurting you back then… I made a lot of mistakes that I wish I could take back but just so you know… ever since we've been together… this time and last time… I never once had second thoughts about being with you… I know when I left for Tegamami, you probably thought I was running away from us, but all I wanted the entire time I was gone was to be with you… I just… I didn't want either of us to lose our jobs, you know? And I know you felt like I was choosing the job over you, but I… I honestly didn't think it had to be an either or… And maybe it wasn't the right decision, and I hate that I hurt you and that I made you doubt my commitment to us… I do wish you would've talked to me about how you were feeling… and maybe I should've seen it, maybe I should've forced you to talk about it… I just… I want you to know that I am committed to us… I am sure. This is what I want. You are what I want. I'm not going to change my mind," she guarantees.

"Okay," he says with a nod before he leans in and gives her a passionate kiss.

When they pull away, she shoots him a playful smirk as she runs her fingers through his hair. "So… once in a while you're allowed to fight me for the remote or go get drunk at the Penny or be grouchy in the morning, okay? And you're allowed to get annoyed and angry at me and you're allowed to tell me when you are. And you don't have to rub my feet every night or love every name I suggest for the baby. And you don't have to do the laundry and the dishes and make the bed… I just… I don't need you to be doing everything right all of the time. I want you to be real. I want you to be you," she tells him.

"I can do that," he promises before pulling her in for a kiss.

"Okay, good," she says with a grin. "Because you know… The Sam Swarek I fell in love with was the one who barely ever let me drive the truck and who hated doing the dishes and who would rather swallow a fork than watch a romantic comedy," she says with that teasing tone of hers.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, because that's also the Sam Swarek who always made me feel loved and heard and special and beautiful and who is the most amazing person I've ever known," she tells him as she runs her thumb along his jaw.

"I love you," he beams.

"I love you, too," she tells him with a smile. "For you, okay?" She adds.

"Okay," he nods.

==========Expecting==========

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