Week Twenty - UDC 8 - Small steps to think about bigger ones...

96. Outrage

Sitting here in his own home, at the table, felt so normal. For a moment, he could let himself forget... and then her hand brushed his and he blinked at her, startled. She drew her hand away slightly. "I lost you for a moment, didn't I?"

Victor looked away, bile rising in his throat. "I..."

"Victor, look at me." The steel in her tone caused him to obey, and then her hands were cradling his. "It's natural to mourn. You and she told me that, remember? If it's too soon, then I will simply be a friend and nothing more."
He found himself nodding in acceptance. Put that way, it didn't feel like a betrayal.

97. Outright

As he saw Hannah out, they both heard voices coming from the living room. Victor paused momentarily and looked in to find his mother-in-law and oldest son reading together in a sight so familiar that his eyes stung. A soft push from behind caused him to spin and stare at her, and she nodded into the living room. "Go on and join them. I'll see myself out."

"It's rude-"

"Your son needs you," Hannah told him gently. "And you need this. Go on." She watched him enter the living room and sit down in an armchair close to the couch.

98. Maps

"Why do we have to learn this?"

Hannah paused in washing a plate to turn and look at Mark, seated at the table with a textbook, open to a map of the 48 U.S. States. Victor had had to work late, so she'd volunteered to babysit with Mark's help for the evening. "Because history is good for you. Makes you think."

"It's dumb," Mark complained. "Why do I need to know the Capital of California? It's not like I'm ever actually going there!"

Hannah fought an urge to chuckle at him as she dried her hands and paused to check on where Natalie and Gilbert were, then picked David up off the floor where he'd been playing with a toy at her feet. "Maybe not. And... Sacramento. Repeat, please."

"Hannah!"

"What? I'm serious." She sat down next him, smiled. "Dave here wants you to tell him all about State Capitals!"

Mark eyed his little brother. "He's a year old and can't even talk correctly yet."

"Too?" David asked, staring wide-eyed at Mark.

Hannah laughed and hugged him. "Yes, David! Too!"

99. Keys

A familiar man was waiting at her apartment door when she dragged herself home after a long shift on the ward, and Hannah smiled tiredly as she fumbled for her apartment key. "Who has the kids?"

"Winifred has Dave and Gil," Victor answered, shifting the bag he was holding from hand to hand. "Mark is at Becca's, and Natalie is with Hazel."

She eyed the bag, then unlocked the door and let him in. "What's the occasion?"

"Dinner," Victor admitted as he moved to unpack the food. "Do you like cheesecake?"

Hannah set her things down and frowned at the containers. He'd gone to Juniors, just to bring dinner to her? "Of course I like Cheesecake. Is that brisket I smell? Victor, you shouldn't have!"

"Why not? It's what friends do, after all. Have dinner together?"

Somehow, she got the feeling it was more than that...

100. Home

After dinner, Victor pulled another box out of the bag and handed it to her. She frowned at him as she opened it, only to pause at the ring nestled on a square of velvet along with a key. "What is this?"

"I like you," he admitted after a moment. "The kids like you."

Hannah stared at him. "Mark barely tolerates me."

"He's coming around," Victor said with a smile that caused her to blink, startled. His smiles hadn't gone all the way to his eyes since before... "And I'm willing to take the next step if you are. Move in with us?"

"So this isn't a proposal?"

"This," Victor told her as he pulled the simple ring out of the box and showed it to her. "Is first step to think about a bigger one. You were right, you know. I wasn't ready when Rebecca and Winifred and Hazel pushed us together the way they did. I might be, now."

Slowly, she leaned closer and cupped his cheek with her hand. She wanted to ask what brought this on, what had changed over the months since that awkward first dinner. Wanted to, but was willing to wait for those answers. That he was asking at all meant something. "Then... yes."