Chapter Twenty-One: Maybe In The Future

Eric paced the living room waiting for Ruthie to come downstairs. Annie and he had finally come to a conclusion as to what to do with Ruthie and Peter. It wasn't what they wanted but it was a good compromise and it was only for a couple months to see how it worked out.

"So...What did you want to talk to me about?" Ruthie asked as she stepped into the kitchen. Her mother patted the table signaling Ruthie to sit down beside her. Ruthie walked over and took the seat next to her mother. Her father walked over but stayed standing.

"Your mother and I...we've thought about it and we think we've come up with a compromise for you and Peter. We don't think that you and he should get married, you're too young and—"

"Dad I know. You've already made it perfectly clear we can't get married." Ruthie cut in. Eric nodded and took a deep breath.

"And as you know we don't agree with cohabitation before marriage—"

"Yes I know." Ruthie said getting somewhat annoyed. "How does any of this help me?"

"Let your father finish." Annie said impatiently. Ruthie closed her mouth and listened.

"We've come up with a plan..."

"Hello, is Peter there?" Ruthie asked. She spun the phone cord around her finger nervously; she was excited about her parents plan and couldn't wait to meet up with Peter to tell him.

"Yeah. I assume your parents talked to you about their plan?" Paris asked.

"Yeah, and I'm really glad that you approve." Ruthie paused and thought carefully about what she was going to say next. "Mrs. Patrowski--"

"Paris," Paris said.

"Paris...I'm sorry about everything that's happened between me and Peter. We both really messed up, and while I love Emma and know everything happens for a reason...we still messed up even if something good came out of it." Ruthie said. She was sorry that she'd slept with Peter and screwed everything up, but she wasn't sorry about Emma. Not anymore, Emma made it all worthwhile, but she still knew she and Peter had been wrong.

"Thanks, but there's no need to apologize. Like you said everything happens for a reason and I think you and Peter have learned from this and have grown and that shows." Paris said. Ruthie smiled. "I'll get Peter." Ruthie heard Paris calling out to Peter and then a couple of loud thumps followed by some heavy breathing before she finally heard Peter.

"Hey!" He wheezed.

"What did you run around the house to get to the phone?" Ruthie asked sarcastically.

"Uh...Something like that." Peter said taking a deep breath. "So, what's up?"

"We need to talk."

"What? What about?" Ruthie heard the panic in Peter's voice.

"Let's meet at the park in an hour. I want to talk face to face." Ruthie waited. "I'll see you then."

"Okay." Ruthie hung up and lay back, she looked over at the crib where Emma was sleeping peacefully.

"We're going to make things work, for you! I promise!" Ruthie said quietly.

Ruthie spotted him sitting alone on the bench, exactly where she'd asked him to meet her. This was going to be a tough conversation especially since she was so confused. There was no easy answer, and there was no right solution. Slowly she walked over to him and sat down. He smiled sadly at her and took hold of her hand, she was glad that he didn't say anything. She wanted to sit with him, at least for one more minute.

"I love you. You know I love you." Peter said finally. He turned to face her, tears welling up in his eyes. "I want this to work. I know we can make it work!" Ruthie shook her head and watched as the tears fell from his eyes.

"We can't. It's not the right decision. My parents are right, your parents are right. We're too young to get married and move in together...on our own." Ruthie looked at him holding his gaze. It took all her will power to keep from crying herself.

"I can't lose you, or Emma. You guys are everything to me. I need you." Peter cried. "You said...You said this was the only way it would work for us."

"But I was wrong Peter. We've made a lot of mistakes, let's not make anymore. We need to be able to make this relationship last before we go and get married. Marriage is supposed to be forever, and how can we make that kind of commitment when we can't even commit to stay together as Boyfriend and Girlfriend?" Ruthie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She loved Peter, and this was hard to do no matter how right it was. "I don't want to break up with you. I want to be with you, and I want to eventually marry you. But I also want to finish school and go to college. I want you to do what you want to do."

"I want to be with you!" Peter said wiping his arm across his face. Ruthie pulled her hand slowly away and removed the ring from her finger. She was still wearing the promise ring he'd given her. She handed him the ring.

"For now, this promise ring is all I need. I don't need an engagement ring. When the time is right, for both of us, for all of us then we can get married. But not now." Ruthie said, her voice shaking slightly. Peter clenched the ring tightly in his hand.

"How are we supposed to make it work? What will be different now?" Peter asked. Ruthie took his hand back and waited for him to look up at her.

"My parents have agreed to let us move in to the garage apartment until the summer, on a trial basis. To see if they can trust us living together, they think it will be better then us going off and getting married." Ruthie said. Peter's face lit up.

"Do my parents know?" He asked.

"Yes. My dad talked to them and they agreed, since they live down the street your mom thought it wasn't such a bad plan." Ruthie smiled. "But Peter, we're sleeping in separate beds...until we get married." Peter looked at her and nodded.

"Of course...honey." Ruthie smiled and wrapped her arms around him. He hadn't called her honey in a long time.

"I want you to keep working though, but not as much. I'm going to look for a job too, maybe helping out parishners. I think it would be good for us both to have our own things, especially if we're going to be together so much." Ruthie said.

"I agree." Peter smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too." Ruthie smiled and kissed him gently on the lips. "Now let's go home." Peter smiled, maybe this time it would all work out.

Authors Note: Hey everybody sorry for the delay but I finally know what's going to happen. Sadly the next chapter will be the last one. I think everybody will be happy with how the story turns out, I took into consideration how people reacted to the engagement. It was a rash decision that I made and looking back it works because after everything that had happened they weren't in the most stable mind set and they were looking for an easy way out and it just seemed to work.

I am going to take my time writing the last chapter because I really want it to come out well. I'm not going to give any hints cause I don't want to ruin the surprise.

Katie