"Are you absolutely sure about this?" I asked for what seemed like the thousandth time in several weeks. From behind, I watched as he dropped his head and gave it a shake before shutting the back of the moving truck.
He turned to face me, sweat causing his bangs to start to cling to his forehead. "Well, considering I am no longer employed with Cornell and the keys to my place are turned in…" he let his sentence hang with a cute smirk.
"What's your point?" I asked sarcastically, matching his facial expression. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him, kissing me deeply. All thought escaped me in that moment.
"Ready to start our lives, my lady?" He asked once we separated for air.
"Let's go home, Nard Dog." I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him one more peck. Handing me the keys to his Prius, I was going to drive it back to Scranton while he drove the truck. The drive wasn't terrible, a little under two hours.
Inside his car, I pressed the ignition button while putting on my seatbelt. I connected my phone to the car so that I could listen to Pandora on the way. Andy started pulling away from the curb, so I threw the car into drive as I followed him to I-89 going south.
That night, around midnight, the final empty cardboard box was broken down and put into the garage. Andy was officially moved in and I couldn't have been happier. Insanely guilty, but happier. I sighed as I plopped on the bed, having folded the last of his casual shorts into his dresser drawers.
"Thanks for helping me," he said coming to sit next to me and putting a hand on my leg.
"You're welcome, roomie." I grinned at him and went to plug my phone into the charger. I glanced at the clock and noticed the time, "It's officially Sunday."
"Yeah, so?"
"So that means your first day of work is tomorrow." I commented.
"You're not going to ask me if I'm sure about this, are you?" Andy teased.
I rolled my eyes and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
"Aren't you nervous?" I asked, popping my contacts out and putting them in solution.
"No, I'm actually excited. It'll be nice to be in a familiar place." I heard his voice float from the bedroom. "Hey, why don't you come and eat lunch with me at the office? I can show you off to everybody."
I slipped on my glasses and grabbed my toothbrush.
"If you would like me to, sure! You think they'll like me?" I asked, making quick of cleaning my teeth.
"If they don't then fuck 'em." Andy crassly replied. "Well, okey dokey then." I laughed. Wiping my face on the hand towel, I shut off the light and walked back into the bedroom.
Gasping, my hands flew to my mouth, eyes wide.
Andy was down on one knee, holding a black ring box out for me to see. "Holy shit." I blurted, suddenly feeling dizzy.
The dazzling three quarter carat oval engagement ring glistened in the light as he pulled it out. I slowly stepped closer to him, grinning wildly as I finally focused on his face.
"You have made me the happiest man in the whole world. A happy that I didn't know was attainable or that I even needed in my life. In the time I've known you, you have made me a better person- and now you're going to make me a father. I will try to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me and make you proud. So, Katherine Marie Fletcher, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
"Oh, hell yes!"
His face glowed as he stood up and kissed me hard. When I pulled back to look up at him, his eyes were glistening but his face showed pure joy. Mirroring his expression, I silently held up my hand to give him the all clear to put the ring on my finger. He did so, and it fit absolutely perfectly.
"I'm going to enjoy you showing me off tomorrow." I grinned, admiring the beautiful piece of jewelry.
"Me too, sweetheart." His fingers weaved their way into my hair as we embraced once more, lips locking in a heated match for possession.
I broke the kiss after a few moments, putting my head against his chest and wrapping my arms around his middle. "Thank you." I said softly.
"For what?" He replied, stroking my head soothingly.
"Everything! Loving me, flipping your whole life and moving back here for me, making me a mom…" I let my sentence hang.
"Kate, you don't have to keep doing that. I never want you to feel bad for my moving. We're a family now. And Scranton is a good place to raise a child. You know, I watched Jim and Pam's marriage hit a huge wall when he was starting Athleap. And it was terrifying in a way because they are absolutely perfect for each other. Even then, I told myself I wasn't going to let something like that stand in my way when I found the right girl. Like I told you, you and the baby are more important to me than working at Cornell. To be honest, I've been obsessing over my college years more than anyone probably should. But now that I'm going to be a dad and a husband, it all seems so…insignificant. My priorities have changed."
He placed a kiss on the top of my head, and I smiled. "Okay, I'll drop it."
"Let's go to bed." He murmured into my hair.
The next morning, I woke before Andy. I wanted to make sure he got an awesome breakfast in for his first day back at Dunder Mifflin. I quietly changed into leggings and old t-shirt before heading to the kitchen. I began grinding coffee beans while grabbing the essentials to make a frittata.
By the time I pulled the skillet out of the oven at 8:10, Andy came downstairs in navy suit pants, white button-down shirt, and a maroon patterned tie. His brown dress shoes added a modern touch to his ensemble. "Hey handsome," I greeted as I set the breakfast bar with plates and cutlery.
"What's all this?" He asked with an excited smile, coming to plant a kiss on me. He tasted of peppermint toothpaste.
"I wanted you to have an awesome breakfast for your first day." I replied like his question was ridiculous. I cut us each a wedge of the frittata while he filled his mug with coffee. "Can you have coffee now?" He asked, stopping himself before filling one for me. I smirked, "Yeah one cup is fine."
We tucked into our breakfast, chatting about the weather and what he wanted me to bring for lunch. After deciding on take out salads, Andy glanced down at his watch. "Crap, I need to leave in a few minutes if I want to get across town." He started to eat a little faster.
Suddenly, I felt my stomach roll and knew it wasn't going to end well. I unceremoniously dropped my fork, which hit the plate with a loud clang. "Uh oh," I said before booking it to the downstairs bathroom. After emptying the contents of my stomach in record time and catching my breath, I washed my hands and rinsed my mouth. "This sucks." I said to myself. I wondered what foods and smells I wasn't going to be able to handle now.
I came out of the bathroom as Andy was slipping on his suit coat. "You okay?" He asked in a concerned tone. "Yeah, guess we should probably get used to it." "I'm so sorry, sweetheart." He pulled me into a hug before kissing my forehead. "If you don't feel up to lunch just shoot me a text. But I'll let you know when I'm taking my lunch break."
"Okay, I hope you have a great first day." I smiled, feeling more like myself. "Thanks sweetie, I love you. Thanks for my amazing breakfast." He kissed my forehead one more time. "Love you, too." He walked back to the kitchen and grabbed his keys off the counter, exiting through the garage. I set about putting the leftovers away without trying to breathe in too deeply.
I was so depressed that the morning was ruined by my bout of morning sickness. I hoped that our lunch date wouldn't turn out the same. I went upstairs to pick out a great outfit to debut myself to the whole office- something cute that I could still fit into for the time being.
