Life was busy for the Anderson family. Connor and Brooke concentrated a lot of their time on Annabelle and work, they all settled in just fine into their new home. Hank stayed a few times during the week, it seemed his retirement had hit a stage of being somewhat lonely. But the family openly accepted his warm company.
Annabelle had matured since becoming part of the family, the paperwork was all done and she was officially Brooke and Connor's daughter, though the media had a field day about it. 'The Deviant Hunter Becomes A Father.' Brooke remembers reading a news article about the somewhat deep information about her relationship with Connor and some details about the android child that they had adopted.
Brooke was never upset about the article, she found it quite nice to see the writer describing Connor as a person and not just a robot. Many found the article warming towards androids and it made life easier for them all. More freedoms were won and nearly everything was in place for them, the full freedoms and free speech as any human.
Connor had been noticeably distracted over the last few weeks, Brooke caught on very quickly when he would leave for hours on end without any explanation on his disappearance. He just said it was 'work' issues and he'd quickly drop the conversation.
Connor had finally returned from another of his late-night adventures, he tried climbing into bed quietly. But Brooke stares at him, her hooded eyes judging him. "Where have you been this time?" she asks, mostly annoyed at him missing their usual evening routine.
"I got called into work," he replies. Patting the duvet around his legs and stomach. Brooke rolled her eyes and turned over, turning the lamp off with a heavy sigh.
"I called work, Gavin said he hadn't seen you all day. Let me know when you have finished lying to me," she grumbles before closing her eyes. Connor sat, mouth agape. He didn't think about maybe letting Gavin of all people know to cover for him.
He was keeping the secrecy for them both, but he was now becoming paranoid that Brooke may think he is cheating, hiding or just not wanting to be around the family. He decided in the morning he had to tell her before an argument breaks out about all of it.
"Morning dad," Annabelle calls as she kisses Connor on the cheek and sits down next to him. Connor smiles at her, she had changed slightly since coming to them. Her demeanour was more mature than that once scared little girl.
"Good morning, darling. I have something I must ask of you." Annabelle stops with her glass of milk to her lips, looking up at him. She instantly wondered if she'd done something wrong.
"Is this about the chocolate I took from the fridge? I'm sorry, Hank-hank said I could have it," she says with tears in her eyes. Connor chuckled at her, shaking his head.
"No, but, I now know why your mum thought she was going crazy about her chocolate going missing." Annabelle giggles at him. "I wanted to know if you'd be happy to stay with Hank for a week? I have a surprise for your mother and we need to leave Detroit for it to happen."
Annabelle sat back in her chair, a spoon of cereal to her lips. She nodded as she chewed, thoughts of abandonment came back, but she then remembered. She'd be Hank the whole time, not alone in that dark and cold house. "I'm happy with that, dad. I will miss you and mummy."
Connor holds his arms out to her, inviting her to sit on his lap. "You will not be alone without us for long, my darling. I promise. We will be gone for just a week, it's more like a holiday for myself and your mum." Annabelle wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him close for a tight hug.
"Good morning, darling," Brooke announces as she walks in, fixing back the last strands of her hair into a ponytail. She looks at Connor before turning towards the fridge. "Morning, Connor," she bluntly says.
Connor felt as if he'd been kicked in the stomach, Brooke always called him babe in the morning. She was still pissed off about the night before. He put Annabelle down and walked over, snaking his hands around her waist.
"I want us to go on holiday together, just the two of us," he whispers against her ear. Brooke moves without letting him let go, leading him around the kitchen island as Annabelle sat and giggled at them both.
"What about Annabelle and work? I'm sure you have more late-night appointments to keep," she coldly replies. Connor sighs, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"It's all sorted. You'll know the reason for my... absences soon, I promise." Brooke grunts but finally agrees before pulling away from him and sitting with Annabelle to eat. Connor hoped she'd forgive him for keeping this secret for a few weeks, but it was in her best interests.
Connor decided to bring the trip closer than waiting until the end of the week. They both left the same day in the late evening after making sure Annabelle was happy with Hank and constantly reassured they'd be back for her. Connor was even able to open a channel just for him and her, she could contact him anytime and even get his exact location.
They both arrived at the airport around 10 pm. They were departing on the plane at midnight, but Brooke still couldn't get Connor to tell her where they were going.
"Just one clue, please?" she begged for the seventh time that hour. Connor shook his head with a smile, they both stood in the queue for security checks. He hoped she would give in at that point, but anytime he'd look at the flight times she would also look to figure out which flight he was looking at. Little did she know, she was doing that to trick her, he could look at their flight times through his own processes.
"I will tell you when we take off, I promise." Brooke nearly growled at him but finally dropped it. They were cleared through security and went around some of the late-night shops, finding some of Brooke's favourite wine.
"Boarding has now begun for flight 375," the feminine voice announces over the tannoy. They both rush to their gate, letting the welcoming flight attendants show them to their first-class seats.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen and thank you for flying with us on this late-night flight to Santorini, Greece." Brooke shot her head at Connor, the biggest smile spread across her face. "This will be a thirteen-hour flight with no layovers. I hope you enjoy your flight with us and be welcomed by our amazing flight attendants."
"Greece? I've always wanted to go there," Brooke said with tears in her eyes. Connor nodded, being able to find out from her father that she had dreamed of going to Greece since she was a kid.
"I have another surprise for you once we get there. You need to get some rest as we are busy the moment we land." Connor wouldn't give her anything else to go by, she would just have to wait a few more hours.
"How did you know I wanted to go to Greece?" she asked, as she felt the plane jolt with it being moved onto the runway.
"I called your dad, he said you couldn't stop talking about Greece and all its wonders," he explained with a smile. It made him chuckle to think of a younger Brooke being excited and asking all the known questions about Greece.
Brooke slapped her palm into her head, feeling embarrassed. "I did talk about Greece quite a lot, I used to draw pictures of the islands."
Connor placed his hand over hers, squeezing tightly. He looked away before speaking, "that's why I have been so secretive, I'm sorry for making you worry," he says looking back at her. "I just want this to be perfect."
Brooke offered him a small smile before cupping his cheek. "You could take me on a caravan holiday and it would still be perfect. I trust you with my life, Connor," she says with a small kiss to give him her confidence.
"Thank you, my love," he whispers, pulling her head onto his shoulder as he traced small circles on her thigh.
Fourteen hours and a car journey to their hotel, they'd both finally settled in and Connor wasted no time pulling Brooke back out. They had the full tour of the island the first day, Brooke wasn't sure how she kept herself awake for most of it.
Connor felt bad for dragging her along the whole day, but he had to give her all he'd planned. The second day they both walked hand in hand along the beach, the early morning breeze gave them both a fresh scent of life.
"This is perfect," Brooke comments as she closes her eyes and opens her body to the hot sun and cooling wind. Connor watched her, desire spread across his face.
"You're perfect," he whispers. Brooke looks at him, smiling lopsided, she wraps her arms around his waist.
"You know how to talk to the ladies, Mr Anderson," she comments with a playful slap to his jacket.
Connor smiles but feels the heat rush over him. He pulls himself away from her, stepping back a few paces. Brooke watches him with a stern smile, her brows levelled. "What's wrong?" she asks, now worried she'd don't do something to upset him.
"I want you to be Mrs Anderson," he blurts. Brooke's brows shoot up, she steps closer trying to reach for him. "Wait," he says, holding his hand up for her to stop moving. She quickly stops herself and steps back.
Connor rummages through his jacket pocket, finally pulling out a small box. "I did have another reason for my disappearance," he explains as he slowly lowers himself onto the warm, white sand. "I know we will be the first, but I want to spend my life with you, Brooke." He swallows hard, feeling the dryness in his mouth. Brooke stood shaking, her hand over her mouth.
"Will you marry me?"...
A/N: Ahh, cliffhangers. Well, I'm sure we can all guess what the answer will be, do we really need to guess? There will only be three more chapters left. I have two endings that you as the reader can choose for Connor and Brooke. But first, the next chapter will be the last step in their relationship together, until then!