Rumour Has It

Chapter: 11

Rating: PG

Lou throw his coat over the back of Mary's tan sofa. That was the compromise. His apartment but her furniture. He thought that it was a sacrifice worth making. They had officially been living together for a week. Once they took their new positions at work they started being less cautious about who saw them and where. But so far they hadn't really ran into anyone.

He headed for the bar. "We need to tell more people about us." he said. "I need more people to interact with other than Ted and Georgette."

"Oh, it's not that bad."

"Are you kidding me?" he poured a little scotch into his glass. "They're the only other couple we've interacted with in three weeks, not counting your parents and my kids."

"Well, when you put it like that." Mary sat down on the sofa. "Maybe we could have a dinner party."

"You give awful parties."

"Okay." she smiled. "How about we just invite Murray and Marie?"

He joined her on the sofa. "I guess that would be okay."

"We could always invite Sue Ann." she teased. "She might come unglued but at least the entertainment part of our evening would be covered."

"Unglued?" he laughed. "I think explode would be a better description."

"I can just imagine the theatrics." she said. "Maybe we should invite her."

He took a sip of his drink. "Not a chance." he replied. "Since I've taken the new job she hasn't hit on me nearly as much."

Her eyebrow arched. "Nearly as much?"

A smile played on his lips. "What's the matter, Mary?" he teased. "Is that a little jealousy in your voice?"

"Of Sue Ann Nivens?" she asked. "I don't think so. I just don't like the idea of her brazenly flirting with you."

"Oh, you are jealous." he said. "I'll guess I'll just have to tell her about us the next time she corners me."

"Corners you?"

"Yeah." he replied. "You know how Sue Ann is."

"Uh-huh." she sighed.

Lou couldn't hide the smile on his face any longer. "I never took you for the jealous type." he teased her. "I think it suits you."

"I'm not jealous." she defended herself. "I'm just a little...possessive."

"Same thing."

"Yeah, well, I have a right to be, you know."

He was enjoying this. "You think so?"

"Of course I do." she told him. "You and I are living together."

Lou nodded. "You're right, babe." he agreed. "I'll tell Sue Ann that she can't be bringing chocolate eclairs up to my office anymore because you're...possessive."

"Yeah, I'll tell her myself." she said. "If I know you, and I do, you wouldn't say a word while she has a tray of tarts in her hand."

A smile played at his lips. "Interesting choice of dessert."

Mary relaxed against the sofa. "It was the first thing that came to mind."

"I guess you'll just have to learn how to bake."

"Hmm." she breathed out. "I can bake."

"Cream filled eclairs?"

"I could learn." she said. "It can't be that difficult."

"Maybe you should stick to Betty Crocker." he told her. "If I wanted a housewife I would have picked one. Besides I'd much rather you spend your time in other areas of the house."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means that I love you and things like chocolate eclairs don't interest me." he pulled her into his arms. "Unless you'd like to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen."

"Mmm." she sighed. "Now that's an idea."

"So you're ready for marriage and a baby?"

"I've been giving it some serious thought."

"You want to get married?" he asked. "Because if you want to we can, you know. All you have to do is say the word."

"Right now?"

"Sure." he replied. "We'll grab a few witnesses, drive to a little chapel and get married tonight if you want."

Mary smiled. "I was hoping for an actual wedding." she told him. "You know flowers and music and Rhoda."

"And Rhoda." he laughed. "I see where you're going with this. You want your wedding day to be special."

"You don't?" she asked.

"I think our wedding day would be special no matter the circumstances." he told her. "I must admit I do like the thought of seeing you in a wedding dress."

"You almost sound serious about all this."

"I am." he said, firmly. "Very serious in fact."

"Well you did promise me romance." she said. "And so far you've more than delivered."

Lou smiled. "I try my best."

"I don't think you have to try, darling. It just comes to you naturally."

That was certainly a way to stroke his ego. "You flatter me."

"I'm serious." she told him. "I never thought that a tough, no nonsense man could be so charming and romantic. You've swept me off my feet."

"You mean that don't you?"

"Yeah, of course." she smiled. "You, Lou Grant, are the man of my dreams. The prince charming to my Cinderella."

"There's no reason to go overboard." he said. "But if you want to continue to stroke my ego I think we should move this to the bedroom."

xxxxx

It had been one hell of a week. Everything at work that could go wrong, did go wrong. And on top of it all Mary felt herself coming down with something. Her entire body felt flushed and she was absolutely freezing. A steaming hot shower was nice while the water lasted, but the warmth of red skin didn't last very long before chill bumps started to reappear. Dressed in flannel pyjamas and loaded up with medicine she climbed into bed at only eight o'clock.

Lou came home to an unusually quiet house. The sound of music was almost always filling the apartment. An excuse to get him to dance. Not that he minded in the least. As he ventured into the bedroom he found her sleeping, but restlessly. He sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed his hand over her forehead. She was burning up. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What time is it?" she asked.

"A little after nine." he replied. "Did you take anything?"

"Yeah." she breathed out. "I think I took a little bit of everything in the medicine cabinet."

"Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm freezing though."

"Maybe a little chicken noodle soup will warm you up." he said. "And keep you hydrated."

"Okay." she agreed softly.

He placed the palm of his hand against her forehead again. "What was your temperature?"

"A hundred and two." she answered. "I feel like I'm dying."

"You're not dying."

"Uh." she sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Lou brushed damp hair away from her face. "I'm going to make you some soup and some hot tea." he told her. "I think you'll feel much better once your fever breaks."

She smiled, weakly. "Thank you."

"That's why I'm here, to take care of you." the love he felt for her he couldn't always put into words, but he hoped his gestures helped to make up for it.

"And you do such a good job."

Lou practically spoonfeed her chicken noodle soup. And made sure she drank all of her honey lemon tea. He proved to be right when a few hours later she awoke in a cold sweat, her fever broken. When she returned to bed after a nice, cleansing shower she did so to fresh linens.

"Feel better?" he asked, turning back the covers for her.

"Much better, thank you." she slid into bed beside him. "Not one hundred percent yet, but I feel pretty good."

"You'll feel much better after you get some more sleep." he said. "I want you to take a sick day tomorrow so I know that you're back to a hundred percent."

"But I'm already feeling better."

"Mary." his voice was soft and full of concern. "Just humor me, okay? If you're not feeling back to normal and you go to work then you could get sick again."

She nodded. She knew that he was right. After all her father was a doctor. The body always needs time to rest so it can heal properly. But more importantly she absolutely loved it when he doted on her. "I do like a three day weekend."

"That's more like it."

xxxxx

It was her birthday. And Lou wanted to make sure that it was a damn good one. One that she would never forget. They went to dinner with her parents and then headed back to their apartment. Lou had arranged for Georgette to come over after they left and set everything up. As they rode the elevator up to the fourth floor he glanced at his watch for the tenth time.

"Is there somewhere you have to be?" she asked.

"No, no, not at all." he tried to be casual. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you keep looking at your watch."

"Yeah, I, uh, I don't think it's working right." he said, tapping the face of the watch. "Needs new batteries."

"Mmm." she sighed. "There's not a baseball game or something on, is it?"

"No of course not." he replied. "And even if it was I wouldn't watch it. Not when we're celebrating your birthday."

"We just celebrated my birthday." she stepped out of the elevator. "It's over now for an entire year. Unless you have something else planned."

Lou couldn't help but smile. "Now why would you think that?" he followed her down the hallway.

"Oh, I don't know." she replied. "It's just the little things,"

He reached in his pocket for his key. "Little things?" he questioned, sliding his key into the lock. "What little things?"

"Other having your eyes glued to your watch, you've kind of been antsy all evening." she said. "And the fact that you can't stop smiling."

Lou put his key back in his pocket. "You mean you didn't like my birthday present this morning?" his eyes sparkled. "You seemed rather enthusiastic about it."

"Oh, no, I liked it just fine." she smiled. "Are you going to open the door or are we going to stand out here in the hallway all night?"

He reached for the doorknob. "Of course we're going to go inside." he pushed the door open. "After you."

Flickering candlelight flooded the room. Soft music floated through the room. And a bottle of champagne and two glass were waiting on the coffee table. She turned around and smiled at him. "This is why you've been so anxious to get home."

"Yeah." he breathed out. "I wanted to make sure that we got here in time."

She put her purse on the coatrack. "In time?"

"Yeah right after Georgette left but right before the building burnt down."

She laughed. "Then you have excellent timing."

Lou took her hand in his and led her over to the sofa. "I've been trying to come up with the perfect words all day." he said, sitting down beside her. "I thought that I would be able to express myself a little better, I mean being with you has really helped me with all that emotional stuff."

Mary's hand covered his. "I think you express things just fine." her voice was soft and encouraging. "Big productions aren't always needed, you know?"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out." he told her. "I realized it's not really important what I say as long as I can let you know how I feel. I love you. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm...I'm so afraid I'm going to mess this up and I want it to be right..."

Tears sprung forward in her eyes. "You're doing fine." she assured him.

"Marry me?" he asked, simply.

And when she answered him it was without thought or hesitation. "Yes."

He leaned closer and kissed her, softly on the lips. "Happy?"

"Very." she kissed him.

Lou shifted on the sofa and pulled a ring out of his pocket. "I hope you like it." he reached for her hand. "I picked it out and Murray okayed it." he slipped it down on her finger.

"It's beautiful." she smiled, wiping away the trickles of tears on her face. "I think you did an excellent job."

He wiped at her tears. "So a June wedding?" he asked. "Or is that not enough time?"

"I think that's plenty of time."

tbc...