"Here's your mail, honey." Karen said as she walked through the door of Will's apartment. It was virtually empty from all of the moving that they had been doing and she shivered at the coldness of the place. She kissed his lips before sitting down next to him, placing his mail in his hand.
"Thanks." He leafed through his remaining bills, but stopped when he reached a letter. "Why would my mom send me a letter?" He asked as he opened the envelope and pulled out a beautiful white invitation. "Holy, shit. She's getting married."
"What?" She moved closer to him so she could read as well. It seemed that Will's mother was marrying the man that Karen had set her up with only months before. She began to giggle in excitement and reached for the phone to call Marilyn, but Will grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Honey, I was going to call and congratulate her. Aren't you happy?" The look on his face seemed to say it all. He wasn't exactly happy about the marriage.
"I can't believe she's getting married so soon after her divorce. How could she do that to Dad?"
"Will, he was cheating on her. Don't you think it's her turn to find someone?"
"It just seems so weird, wrong even."
"At least she's doing it the right way, you know, waiting until the divorce was final." She moved behind him and began rubbing his shoulders, relieving some of his tension. He took a deep breath and tilted his head forward as she leaned down and kissed his neck from behind.
"I'm sorry for getting testy, sweetie. I'm a little tense."
"I know, honey, it's alright." Her hands made their way over his shoulders and she began to unbutton his shirt, still kissing his neck, when Jack burst through the door.
"You two will not believe the day that I've had." He walked over to the refrigerator and continued his rambling about a cute guy he met. Neither of the lovers listened, Karen stopped her motion and laid her head on his shoulder. Jack finished his story and finally looked their way. "Oh, did I interrupt something?"
"No, Jack, we just like to sit here like this without any reason." Will's sarcasm and slight anger was lost on Jack, but Karen heard his tone. She was curious as to why he was so overly stressed when he should've been on cloud nine. He had been so fine towards the beginning of the week, but he suddenly became angry.
"Okay, then. I can tell you about what that snotty casting director said to me this morning at that open casting call downtown…"
After almost constant speaking from Jack, he finally left the apartment for his own. Will sighed and walked into his bedroom, not even speaking to Karen. He started a bath and got in, wishing the tension away from his body. Karen, however, stayed standing next to the table in the dining room area. She didn't understand what was wrong with him and it drove her crazy, left her wracking her brain for answers. Finally she gave up and walked into his bedroom and through the door of his bathroom, finding him in a hot bath with music playing.
"Honey, are you alright?" No answer was received and she sat on the side of the tub, hoping to get closer to him and a response. "If this is about your mom getting married…"
"It's not about that, Karen." His voice was testy and it hurt her feelings in an odd way. Normally things didn't hurt her feelings, but the tone he used was so cold. She stood from the side of the tub and lifted her shirt off over her head before taking off her pants. He watched her strip all of her clothes from her body and slowly step into his bath, sitting in front of him and intertwining their legs. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking a bath with you. I figured maybe we could fuck around and then you'll tell me what's going on with you." Her voice seemed cold, as his had sounded only moments before. She locked her eyes with his as she slowly slid her foot in between his legs. When her foot reached its destination she heard him sigh, but he quickly reached down and grabbed her ankle, maybe too roughly. "Ouch."
"Karen, I'm scared." His confession made her heart feel heavy. She had never heard a man admit that he was afraid of anything and it made her oddly nervous. "I don't know how to be a father, or a provider, or a husband. I don't want to ruin this. I'm afraid that if we move out of our apartments and into that house, you'll have the baby, and we'll grow apart. Look at my parents, look at…"
"My past marriages?"
"You know I don't mean it like that."
"Will, I love you. And if you think that I'm going to leave you or cheat on you then we won't work. I trust you with so much, honey, and if you don't have trust in me then there will always be something holding us back." He sighed, feeling ashamed for feeling the way that he did. She wanted to cry, for the first time in a long time a man had gotten through to her heart and left a small bruise over her love for him. "Do you want to break up with me, Will?"
"No, I want to be with you forever." He slid her closer to him, their legs wrapping around each other as far as her pregnant belly would allow. "I don't want to lose you and I don't want to disappoint you." She kissed his lips and placed her hands on each side of his face.
"Please don't worry. I've never felt like this before, honey." Tears began to fill her eyes and they soon flooded over, sliding gracefully down her cheeks. His heart melted. "You don't know how much you mean to me. I mean, I think it's so stupid when people talk to each other like this, but with you I can't help it. I love you so much. Please, just, stop being so upset, honey."
"Oh, Karen." He embraced her fragile body, running his hands up and down her soft back. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She quickly pulled back and looked into his soft brown eyes that had turned darker at the first instance of pain.
"You are a wonderful man and you are going to make a wonderful father. I know that you're scared right now, but you shouldn't worry because you're not going to end up alone. I won't let that happen." He softly smiled at her recollection of his biggest fear in the world. She was the one for him and he knew that he was the one for her, but he wasn't sure what would happen in the future. He wasn't sure if he had what it takes to be the head of a family. He was terrified, but he vowed to Karen, and to himself, that he would never hurt her; he loved her so much more than words could possibly describe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Grace had just stroked the last of her paint on the wall of the living room in Karen and Will's new home, she was finally finished. Her designs were warm and loving and it was so exciting, to Grace, to be able to bring that into the home. She also felt honored that they had trusted her with the design process.
"Oh, Gracie, it's so beautiful." Karen walked into the room and her eyes lit up. She hugged her friend and held her hand as she was shown the two rooms that she had yet to see. In her opinion it was perfect.
"I'm so glad you like it. Look, I even put a mini-bar in the corner." She pointed to a small island counter and released her hand.
"Oh, honey, you know me so well." The women giggled as Will and Jack walked into the house and gasped, having a similar reaction to Karen's. Karen walked over and kissed her fiancé on the lips before walking him over to the bar. "Look, Will, it's a bar."
"Pace yourself, Kare, you still have a month left." He ran his hand over her eight month pregnant stomach and smiled to her. The tender moment was soon broken by Felicity running down the stairs.
"Mom, Will, I have a surprise for you. Come upstairs." She giddily jumped and motioned for them to follow her. They all responded to her request and began walking up the circular stairs to the second floor, Karen moving a lot slower than the others. "Okay, cover your eyes." Will and Karen both did as they were told and stepped into the room, with Felicity guiding them. "Okay, now you can look."
"Oh, honey." The room was painted in a mint green color with a wooden floor. The moldings were done in a darker green that accented the walls perfectly. The young woman watched as her mother and her future stepfather looked around the room in awe and amazement. "Did you do this?"
"Yeah, I did." Felicity was enveloped in a sweet embrace by her mother and future stepfather.
"I love it so much. Honey, you have talent." She walked over to the wooden crib and touched the side of it, caressing the smoothness of the furniture. It was then that she spotted a rocking chair by the large window that was overlooking the backyard. She walked over to the chair and sat down, running her hands over the arms. "Thank you."