New Orleans, Louisiana

"Pammy?" speaking her name as she sat quietly listening to him, not jumping in to argue against his comments or assumptions, her lack of response concerned him. "Do you mean that or are you just saying it?" finally saying something, she looked directly at him, her eyes almost begging him to tell her that he had changed his mind; clearly something insider her had flipped and her will to continue their conversation was waning. "I mean it. I'm sorry that I got carried away and overwhelmed you with my thoughts about our future", feeling bad about how much he'd unintentionally upset her, he apologised, hoping she would forgive him, but quite aware that she wasn't a passive, meek woman.

"You did", hearing her agreeing with his statement rather than accepting the apology that preceded it, he immediately knew things had turned serious and he wasn't going to be easily forgiven. "I know", replying, he agreed with her again. He could see now that telling her about his plans and expressing his interest in their future had come as a bit of a shock to her. That wasn't because she didn't want to have a future with him but because he'd jumped quickly from the fun idea to actually trying to make it a reality, without even considering that she'd have an opinion on such a matter, or that her opinion might differ to his. She had a fair point, before today their lives had been very different to each other's, and marriage didn't just make everything before their wedding irrelevant or have less of an impact on them as individuals.

"You completely rushed ahead with your plans for other parts of our future too you know", referring to his assumption that they would live happily ever after, between cities, she still seemed unwilling to accept that that's what was best for them, even though in his mind it made sense. If she wanted to work then so be it, but she had no reason to pretend she was extremely loyal or dedicated to continuing in the exact job or line of work she was in now, not now that she had options, she could do anything and be anything she wanted to be now that income wasn't an issue. "I know", agreeing with her point that he had jumped ahead, he still held the belief that he had been suggesting what was right for them. Sure, it might be too much, too fast, to suggest expanding their family right now, but it didn't seem like too much to assume that giving her options with what she chose to do with her days was a bad thing.

"So what are we going to do about that?" asking him a simple but somewhat confusing question, she surprised him when she pulled the throw blanket off the end of the bed and wrapped it around herself as she slid out of the sheets and walked over to find a robe. "What do you mean?" looking for clarification, he watched her tie her robe around her waist and return to the bed, though distinctly sitting on it rather than in it this time. "Well, I'd like it if you at least asked me my thoughts on your new situation", answering him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, he felt as if they were having the same conversation they'd already had but he had no idea why. "Our situation Pammy", responding, he reminded her that they were married now and what was his was hers, including their lifestyle. His situation was their situation, she could choose to work if she wanted, in Dallas or College Station, but as he kept telling her, there was no real need to. Besides that, he already knew her opinion on the situation, she had been displeased by his assumption that she would quit working and they would start a family, and he now understood her displeasure. She'd also been displeased by the thought of not seeing her family as much as she did now, however, he'd thought he'd reassured her about that, clearly not though.

"Not yet. I told you, I have a life in Dallas and this is all news to me, I'd really like if you talked to me, asked me about my opinions, and we discussed it before making a decision. I'm not your employee and you're not my boss, you don't get to give me orders that I'm obliged to follow. I'm your wife and I'd like you to start treating me as such, starting with consulting with me about the details of your potential plans so I can know what I'm either about to agree to or what we're going to have to negotiate. I'd expect the same from our marriage even if we weren't talking about possibly leaving Dallas because that's called being respectful. I wouldn't tell you that I've got a new job in Austin and we're moving next week, or that I'd rented us a home and moved all of our things, I wouldn't tell you my plans and expect you to just blindly follow me. I'd tell you I had an idea or an opportunity ahead of me and it's going to affect both of our lives if I go ahead with it so by that logic it should be something we discuss together and make a decision about together. Small or large, we're married and rarely are big life changes going to just affect one of us anymore, I'd like for you to understand that and consider that before introducing them in conversation as if they are set changes".

Listening to her explanation, he felt stupid; he'd really thought he'd understood her perspective before, but it was extremely clear now that he'd been doing a lot of assuming on her behalf. "When you put it that way…" looking down at the sheets, he touched the back of his head nervously, looking up as Pam answered, "it sounds bad, doesn't it?" raising her eyebrow as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to sound as if I was trying to control you or ignore your opinions. Of course I want to know what you think and respect that and of course I don't want to push you into doing something you really don't want to do", quick to apologise, his feelings of foolishness stayed with him; he'd messed up, a lot, simply by being himself it seemed.

"I accept your apology, but I do expect this means it won't happen again", touching his hand gently as she spoke, she broke a part of the barrier between them, though not completely as she stayed sitting firmly in her place on top of the bedsheets. Taking her hand, he smiled bashfully at her, he hadn't had a girlfriend in a long time and now he had a wife and that was clearly going to take some getting used to, though considering everything she said made perfect sense, it really shouldn't have taken much getting used to; respect and consideration weren't too much to ask.

"It won't, starting right now", taking a deep breath, he decided to tell her exactly how he had come to his decision and then ask for her thoughts and opinions, just like she wanted and expected. "Pamela, I sat for hours mulling over the two choices I had when I found out I'd been accepted to grad school and I was going to have to leave Dallas. I could either ask you to come with me, or let you go and learn to live a life without you, because asking you to be in a long distance relationship with me wasn't fair to you. I decided I couldn't just break things off with you, because I love you, and seeing as it wasn't fair to ask you to wait for me, I started thinking of other options and eventually realised there was no reason to ask you to wait for me. I asked you to marry me because I only want a future with you and I still feel that way, I hope you do too. I acknowledge though that at no point did I actually discuss this with you, the moving I mean, and I can see how that would upset you. I really do love you though and I want to listen to you and hear what you have to say, I want us to come up with a plan that both of us are happy with, because I don't want to lose you, especially not over something like this, something that can be dealt with by talking".

Inching closer to him as she listened to him speaking, it was only when she brushed his cheek with her hand and spoke again that he realised how much more there was to their discussion than what was being said aloud. Everything meant so much more because of their feelings for each other and their want for a good, happy future together; they were married and suddenly there was no backing out, they'd made a choice and commitment and it was up to them to find a way to live with that.

"Oh Bobby, I love you and I am so glad you asked me to be your wife", looking him in the eye as she spoke, continuing to brush his cheek with her hand, he leaned forward and kissed the inside of her wrist before looking back up at her and answering her comment. "I love you Pam and I am so glad you agreed to be my wife. Now, I have another question to ask you", determined to get them back to where they had been not long ago, before their entire rough discussion had started, he felt optimistic when she smiled and replied, "go ahead". Something in her tone told him she wasn't quite as upset anymore, not now that he'd given her an insight into how he'd come to his decision earlier, though that wasn't to say that his comments had fixed the issue they were facing.

"We both have lives in Dallas, but I've been given an opportunity to start a new life in College Station; I want to take it and I want you by my side, so that it's our new life. I don't want you to feel like you're leaving everything you know and that's important to you though. I want you to feel satisfied and happy, I want you to have a job if doing so will make you feel useful and social. I also want you to feel like you're still connected to your family in Dallas and I want to reassure you that if we do move, we will be spending time there weekly. It might take some figuring out, but I want you to be happy, I want to be happy, and I want us to be happy, together". Trying his best, he was only made aware of the fact that maybe his best wasn't the point where they found a compromise when she responded, "you're right, it's going to take some time and effort to figure it all out, because I think we're on two different pages still, but I'm prepared to make that effort. I want this to work". Her comment about being on different pages said it all, she still wasn't happy, but at the very least it did please him to hear that she did want to make their relationship work.

"So do I Pammy, so do I", nodding, he considered what exactly there was to compromise about above what he'd already suggested and it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps she had no interest in leaving Dallas at all. She'd already told him she didn't want to be away from her family and she didn't like the idea of living somewhere where she didn't know anyone, so perhaps, subtly, she was telling him that moving out of Dallas wasn't something she wanted to do, not even if it was only part-time.

"There's no time like the present to start then, is there?" looking at him expectantly as she answered, suddenly he found himself completely dreading the rest of their conversation; if she was about to tell him she had no interest in leaving Dallas with him, then he had no idea what he was going to do. "Are you sure about that?" pulling at the knot on her robe, he knew he was playing the avoidance game, though when she didn't swat his hand away to bring his attention back to their talk, suddenly he didn't feel so guilty anymore. "Perhaps it could wait until tomorrow", catching on to his intentions quickly, it seemed that this time she was prepared to give in to what he wanted; maybe it was the fact that he'd explained some of his thought process, or maybe it was just that she was tired of arguing, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to ask.

"I was thinking Sunday", making a suggestion, he grinned boyishly as he played with the tie on her robe. "Oh were you?" giggling at his audacity, she shook her head and took hold of his hand, meeting his eye as he looked up at her again, smirking as she waited to hear what else he had to say for himself. "Well, this is sort of our honeymoon", justifying his suggestion, he knew he'd convinced her when she held his gaze and continued to smirk as she responded, "and honeymoons aren't really the time for serious discussions?" There was no seriousness in her voice as she spoke, only amusement and interest and he took that as a very good sign.

"Something like that", slowly moving forward, he met her lips before gently pushing her back, encouraged when she delicately stroked his arm as they now lay together. They would have to have the discussion he was dreading sometime, but considering how far away Sunday felt, he was happy to shelve it until then and if the way she reacted as he efforts, he thought this time it was safe to assume she felt the same way.

To be continued…