Monday
Ally opened her eyes and looked around. She tried to recall the last 24 hours but it was difficult. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection with fright. She was pale and her hair looked as though she hadn't washed it in a week. She returned to her bed and noticed a note on the nightstand.
Ally,
Had to be in court this morning. Stay in bed and drink plenty of juice. If you are feeling up to it, I'd like to continue our conversation at my place. Call you later. PS In case you were wondering, it was me who changed your clothes.
Ally looked down and realized she was wearing something different. Larry had been there, it wasn't a dream. She looked over at the blanket covered sofa realized that he spent the night. He had taken care of her.
Using the number in the note, she dialed.
"Larry Paul's office."
"Yes, is Mr. Paul in?"
"No, I'm afraid he's in court. May I take a message?"
"Yes, please tell him that Ally is feeling much better and will see him this evening."
"I will certainly pass along the message."
Ally hung up and giggled. Larry secretary was nothing like Elaine.
Ally decided to order up lunch and see what was going on in the gift shop. But first, a shower was in order.
Larry returned to the office late in the afternoon. Mrs. Marston followed.
"How did it go?"
Larry opened his briefcase and began to go through it. "We should be finished by tomorrow. Any messages?"
"Several. The staff meeting scheduled for Thursday has been pushed up to tomorrow. And you had a message from an Ally."
Larry's head shot up. "Ally called? What did she say?"
"She said that she was feeling better and she would see you tonight."
Larry gave her a big smile. "Mrs. Marston, you have just made my day."
"Is this a new lady love?"
"More like the one that I let get away. But I won't make that mistake twice."
Ally knocked on the door and stood back when Larry answered.
"There aren't any sick children in there, is there?"
Larry took her elbow and walked inside. "There are no sick children anywhere. No well children either. No one but you and me."
"I suppose it's better that way." She sat on the couch.
"So, how do you feel?"
"Like I was never sick. It was so kind of you to take care of me like that."
Larry felt a very odd vibe. She was being nice but there was a coolness beneath it. He had a bad feeling.
"Since it was my son who got you sick in the first place, it seemed only right that I help you."
Ally smiled. "What ever the reason, thank you." She cleared her throat. "The reason for my visit. When you left last year, I was devastated. Completely devastated. I was a basket case."
"I wasn't in that great a shape either."
Ally stood up. "I'm not concerned about your feelings. You left me. You broke my heart. What I felt when you left was 100 times worse than when Billy died because he didn't leave me on purpose."
"I didn't mean…"
"Shut-up, Larry. Just shut-up. I have waited all this time to say these things to you and you better believe you are going to hear them. I haven't been able to move on since you left. I try but you ruin everything."
"I ruin everything?"
"Yes you do."
Larry stood up and faced her. "What do you want from me? You want me to apologize? Fine, I'm sorry I left. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Do I regret hurting you? Every day of my life."
Ally sat down on the couch. "I want closure from you. I want to move on with my life free from the past. I want a relationship with Victor without you in my head."
"Victor? Who is Victor?"
"Victor is the man I've been seeing."
"Do I know him?"
"No, he was sent by the bank to do some work on my house."
"Is it serious?"
"Not yet."
"May I say something?"
"I'm not stopping you."
He pulled her to her feet and kissed her. At first Ally tried to pull away but something stopped her and it wasn't long before she forgot everything around her.
Eventually Larry pulled back. "I can't tell you how long I have been wanting to do that."
The fog began to clear from Ally's head. "Um, yeah.."
They stared at each other for a moment and then the couch. All else was forgotten.
Tuesday
"Ooh, I can't believe we did this." Ally exclaimed as she stared at the ceiling in Larry's bedroom.
Larry propped him self up on one elbow and stared down at her. "Which time? Because I counted three mind blowing times."
"Ooh, don't remind me." Ally pulled the covers over her head. "The first time I could chalk up to animal lust. But what about the second and third? There is no excuse for what I did."
Larry pulled the sheet down over her face. "You have no reason to feel guilty for what we did. We didn't do anything wrong."
Ally sat up. "How can you say that? I cheated on Victor. He trusted me enough to come here and say good-bye to you and we end up in bed. I'm a horrible person." She looked around the room. "Where are my clothes?"
"In the den on the couch. But listen, Ally…"
But Ally wasn't listening. She grabbed one of Larry's button down shirts, put it on and walked into the den. Larry grabbed some pants and followed her.
"You did not cheat on Victor."
Ally stared at him with her arms filled with clothes. "Oh really? How am I going to explain that part to him? Sorry, Victor, I know you trusted me and I blew it."
"Dammit, Ally, Victor knows what happened."
Ally face turned pale. "What?"
Larry rubbed his hands over his face. "I didn't mean it that way. When he told you to come here and find me, he knew that this was a very real possibility. He knew the way we felt about each other; the way you still feel. He took a big risk letting you come. He sounds like a great guy."
Tears filled Ally's eyes. "He is." She wiped them away with the heal of her hand. "I'll be right back." She headed towards the bathroom.
He straightened up the den and then thought about breakfast. He looked at the clock. 5:50. "Can I make you some breakfast?"
Silence.
"Ally?"
Finally the bathroom door opened and Ally walked out perfectly dressed. "No thanks on the breakfast. I have a plane to catch."
Larry was startled. "A plane? You mean, you're leaving?"
Ally nodded solemnly. "I'm hoping to be back in Boston by lunch."
Larry felt sick. "I thought after last night…"
"that we would try again? I don't want to try again. I don't want what we had. I need something more. A lot has happened to me in the last year. I have a new purpose in my life. I still love you, I probably always will but what I need you can't give."
Larry felt his heart break. "And Victor can?"
"Maybe Victor is the man for me. Or maybe it's someone else. I have to close the door on us before I can open it to anyone else."
She walked over to him. "You were my great love." She leaned in and kissed him. "Good-bye." She walked out the door and closed it behind her. Outside the door, the tears began to fall. Inside the door, the same.
"Hey Victor, I'm sorry I missed you. It's around 7:30. I'm going to be turning in soon so call me tomorrow. Bye." Ally hung up the phone.
"Who do you think you're fooling?" Billy had joined her on the couch.
"Isn't there someone else you can haunt, Billy?"
Billy grinned. "Nope, tonight it's hassle Ally. You knew that Victor wasn't going to be home. He's volunteering at the community center like he does every Tuesday night. Why don't you want to talk to him?"
"Because I don't know what to say. He'll want to know what happened in Detroit and I can't do that."
"Do you love Victor?"
"I care about him, a lot."
"But do you love him? The same way you love Larry?"
Ally opened her mouth to correct him but she couldn't. "No, I don't. But it's irrelevant since I left Larry in Detroit this morning."
"Don't be so sure. Answer the door, Ally."
The knocking on the door brought her back to reality. She peeked out the curtain. It was Larry.
She opened it and he walked inside.
"What are you doing here? And how did you find out where here is?"
Larry took a quick scan of the house. "It's nice."
"Thanks."
"Second question first. I found you by looking in the phone book. Not that many A.M. McBeal's listed. As for the first question, I came for you. If you think that I'm going to give you up twice, you really don't know me."
Ally sighed. "There isn't anything left to say. The door on the past has been closed."
"Well, I'm reopening it. You had your say in Detroit. Now I'm getting mine in Boston. I love you. I have loved you every day since the first day and I still love you."
"Yeah, that love was real clear the day you left me."
"Good, let's talk about that." Larry took her by the hand and walked into the den.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Then just listen. Do you recall the last time when we went out to dinner?"
Ally thought for a second. "Yeah, you were acting all weird, all nervous like."
"I was nervous. I had planned it with the waiter. He was going to bring you desert and inside the desert there was going to be a ring."
Ally was stunned. "A ring? An engagement ring?"
Larry nodded.
Ally was confused. "There was no ring. I ate every bite of the desert and there was no ring."
Larry cast his eyes downward. "That's because the waiter mixed up the desserts and the man next to us, who was planning on breaking up with his girlfriend got my ring."
"Did you get the ring back?"
Larry nodded.
"Why didn't you try again? Were you afraid I would say no?"
"I was stupid. I took that as a bad omen. I began to have doubts of my ability as a husband. So I went to see Helena."
"So that's why you went to see your ex-wife. And what did she tell you? To run?"
"No, she told me to grow up and marry you."
"So why didn't you?"
"I got scared. Terrified actually. I wasn't a good husband at all to Helena and I was afraid that I wouldn't be a good one to you and that you'd leave me the way she did."
"So instead of talking to me about what you were thinking and feeling, you left me and moved to Detroit." She jumped up. "God!! What is it with the men in my life leaving me for Michigan!"
Larry jumped up too. "Don't compare me to Billy. He couldn't see what he had in you."
Ally snorted. "And you did? You would rather leave me than marry me."
"Leaving you was the worst thing I have ever done in my life and I have done some not-so-good things. But none of them compares to what I did to you, what I did to us."
"Then how come you never came back?"
"Because there was no excuse for what I had done. I couldn't forgive my self much less ask you to forgive me. You deserved better than me. The door was shut. But when you called, a window opened. I had my second chance and I wasn't going to waste it." He sat her down on the couch. "I have made some mistakes where you and I are concerned, but I want to try again. I want us to have the life we were meant to have. I love you, Ally and I want us to be together. I want to be your husband. I want you to marry me."
Ally walked to the window and looked out. "I trusted you and you broke my heart. So that leaves me with two choices. I can stop loving you and move on. It would take some time but I could do it. Or I can put my faith back in you and we can move forward. Do you know how many times I dreamed about this very conversation? Each time I would say yes and then cry in my sleep because it wasn't real."
Larry walked over to her. "It is real. I am really here and I asked you to marry me. I can't say how sorry I am for hurting you. But I promise I will make it up to you. You won't ever loose faith in me because I will give you no reason to. I want us to grow old together, have children together, take care of each other."
Ally turned and looked him in the eyes. She dug deep inside to what her heart was telling her. "Yes," she smiled. "Yes, I will marry you."
Larry's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He pulled her close. "I love you. This belongs to you." He pulled out a diamond ring and slipped it on her finger.
"It's beautiful."
"So are you." He kissed her but she pulled back. "What is it? Is it the ring?"
"No, the ring is perfect. There is something we need to talk about."
"More important than celebrating?"
"Children."
Larry stepped back. "You want to get started on children right away?"
"No, we need to talk about Maddie."
"Who's Maddie?"
"My daughter."
Larry went very pale. "I need to sit." He headed for the couch. "You have a daughter. How old?"
Ally studied him for a second. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"How old is Maddie?" Larry asked in a very strange voice.
"What is wrong with you?" She could see he was still very pale. "Why are you asking …. Oh, oh no, Larry, Maddie isn't your daughter. She's ten."
Larry nodded, his heart still racing.
"Oh, Larry, I'm so sorry. If I had been pregnant, I would have told you, no matter what."
Larry took a deep breath and began to cough. "You adopted a girl?"
"No, Maddie is my biological daughter."
Ally grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to him. "Why didn't you tell me about her? Is Billy her father?"
"No, Billy isn't her father. It's quite complicated. When I was in college I participated in a fertility study. I donated my eggs with the promise that if they were ever used, I would be notified. That notification came a few months ago in the form of a 10 year old girl who showed up on my door step claiming to be my child."
"Did you do a DNA test?"
"Yes and it came back positive."
"Are you suing the clinic?"
"No. I got a daughter out of it. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Larry looked around. "Where is she?"
"She's with her aunt on a cruise for spring break. She's due back Saturday. I can't wait for you to meet her."
"What's she like?"
Ally thought about the problems they had. "She's my kid. She's great."
"What about her parents?"
"I don't know all that much. Her mother died when she was a baby. Her father just recently. She was living with her aunt until she came to stay with me."
"So when you said you had a new purpose this morning, you meant being a mother."
Ally nodded. "It has been such an adventure for me. I never would have made it without Victor. He's amazing with her." A thought dawned on Ally. "All this talk about our future, I didn't think about Maddie. What is she going to say? I mean, when she left she told me to spend the time alone with Victor. Not only did I not see Victor, I got engaged to another man entirely."
"Does she know about me?"
"A little. She knows how I feel about you and that it stands in the way of me getting together with Victor"
"Oh great. Now she will hate me."
"No, she won't. She will hate me. But we will work it out. So when did you want to get married? June? September?"
"Saturday."
"Saturday? This Saturday? As in 4 days from now? You can't be serious."
"I am serious. Very serious. Ally, I don't want to wait. I wasted an entire year. I don't want to waste another minute. You said Maddie comes home Saturday. Great, we will get married Saturday evening. Just you and me, Maddie and Sam if I can get him. We will find a cozy little chapel and asked Whipper to perform the ceremony. What do you say?"
Ally thought for a minute. "No, that's not what I want. I want something more." Ally looked around her house. "I want to get married here. I want to get married in my house. I want to wear a wedding dress and have a maid of honor. I want guests and my parents here. I want a real wedding, Larry."
Larry smiled. "Then a real wedding you shall have. Can we do it by Saturday?"
"I think so."
"Can we practice the honeymoon tonight?"
"I think so."
Ally opened her eyes and looked around. She tried to recall the last 24 hours but it was difficult. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection with fright. She was pale and her hair looked as though she hadn't washed it in a week. She returned to her bed and noticed a note on the nightstand.
Ally,
Had to be in court this morning. Stay in bed and drink plenty of juice. If you are feeling up to it, I'd like to continue our conversation at my place. Call you later. PS In case you were wondering, it was me who changed your clothes.
Ally looked down and realized she was wearing something different. Larry had been there, it wasn't a dream. She looked over at the blanket covered sofa realized that he spent the night. He had taken care of her.
Using the number in the note, she dialed.
"Larry Paul's office."
"Yes, is Mr. Paul in?"
"No, I'm afraid he's in court. May I take a message?"
"Yes, please tell him that Ally is feeling much better and will see him this evening."
"I will certainly pass along the message."
Ally hung up and giggled. Larry secretary was nothing like Elaine.
Ally decided to order up lunch and see what was going on in the gift shop. But first, a shower was in order.
Larry returned to the office late in the afternoon. Mrs. Marston followed.
"How did it go?"
Larry opened his briefcase and began to go through it. "We should be finished by tomorrow. Any messages?"
"Several. The staff meeting scheduled for Thursday has been pushed up to tomorrow. And you had a message from an Ally."
Larry's head shot up. "Ally called? What did she say?"
"She said that she was feeling better and she would see you tonight."
Larry gave her a big smile. "Mrs. Marston, you have just made my day."
"Is this a new lady love?"
"More like the one that I let get away. But I won't make that mistake twice."
Ally knocked on the door and stood back when Larry answered.
"There aren't any sick children in there, is there?"
Larry took her elbow and walked inside. "There are no sick children anywhere. No well children either. No one but you and me."
"I suppose it's better that way." She sat on the couch.
"So, how do you feel?"
"Like I was never sick. It was so kind of you to take care of me like that."
Larry felt a very odd vibe. She was being nice but there was a coolness beneath it. He had a bad feeling.
"Since it was my son who got you sick in the first place, it seemed only right that I help you."
Ally smiled. "What ever the reason, thank you." She cleared her throat. "The reason for my visit. When you left last year, I was devastated. Completely devastated. I was a basket case."
"I wasn't in that great a shape either."
Ally stood up. "I'm not concerned about your feelings. You left me. You broke my heart. What I felt when you left was 100 times worse than when Billy died because he didn't leave me on purpose."
"I didn't mean…"
"Shut-up, Larry. Just shut-up. I have waited all this time to say these things to you and you better believe you are going to hear them. I haven't been able to move on since you left. I try but you ruin everything."
"I ruin everything?"
"Yes you do."
Larry stood up and faced her. "What do you want from me? You want me to apologize? Fine, I'm sorry I left. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Do I regret hurting you? Every day of my life."
Ally sat down on the couch. "I want closure from you. I want to move on with my life free from the past. I want a relationship with Victor without you in my head."
"Victor? Who is Victor?"
"Victor is the man I've been seeing."
"Do I know him?"
"No, he was sent by the bank to do some work on my house."
"Is it serious?"
"Not yet."
"May I say something?"
"I'm not stopping you."
He pulled her to her feet and kissed her. At first Ally tried to pull away but something stopped her and it wasn't long before she forgot everything around her.
Eventually Larry pulled back. "I can't tell you how long I have been wanting to do that."
The fog began to clear from Ally's head. "Um, yeah.."
They stared at each other for a moment and then the couch. All else was forgotten.
Tuesday
"Ooh, I can't believe we did this." Ally exclaimed as she stared at the ceiling in Larry's bedroom.
Larry propped him self up on one elbow and stared down at her. "Which time? Because I counted three mind blowing times."
"Ooh, don't remind me." Ally pulled the covers over her head. "The first time I could chalk up to animal lust. But what about the second and third? There is no excuse for what I did."
Larry pulled the sheet down over her face. "You have no reason to feel guilty for what we did. We didn't do anything wrong."
Ally sat up. "How can you say that? I cheated on Victor. He trusted me enough to come here and say good-bye to you and we end up in bed. I'm a horrible person." She looked around the room. "Where are my clothes?"
"In the den on the couch. But listen, Ally…"
But Ally wasn't listening. She grabbed one of Larry's button down shirts, put it on and walked into the den. Larry grabbed some pants and followed her.
"You did not cheat on Victor."
Ally stared at him with her arms filled with clothes. "Oh really? How am I going to explain that part to him? Sorry, Victor, I know you trusted me and I blew it."
"Dammit, Ally, Victor knows what happened."
Ally face turned pale. "What?"
Larry rubbed his hands over his face. "I didn't mean it that way. When he told you to come here and find me, he knew that this was a very real possibility. He knew the way we felt about each other; the way you still feel. He took a big risk letting you come. He sounds like a great guy."
Tears filled Ally's eyes. "He is." She wiped them away with the heal of her hand. "I'll be right back." She headed towards the bathroom.
He straightened up the den and then thought about breakfast. He looked at the clock. 5:50. "Can I make you some breakfast?"
Silence.
"Ally?"
Finally the bathroom door opened and Ally walked out perfectly dressed. "No thanks on the breakfast. I have a plane to catch."
Larry was startled. "A plane? You mean, you're leaving?"
Ally nodded solemnly. "I'm hoping to be back in Boston by lunch."
Larry felt sick. "I thought after last night…"
"that we would try again? I don't want to try again. I don't want what we had. I need something more. A lot has happened to me in the last year. I have a new purpose in my life. I still love you, I probably always will but what I need you can't give."
Larry felt his heart break. "And Victor can?"
"Maybe Victor is the man for me. Or maybe it's someone else. I have to close the door on us before I can open it to anyone else."
She walked over to him. "You were my great love." She leaned in and kissed him. "Good-bye." She walked out the door and closed it behind her. Outside the door, the tears began to fall. Inside the door, the same.
"Hey Victor, I'm sorry I missed you. It's around 7:30. I'm going to be turning in soon so call me tomorrow. Bye." Ally hung up the phone.
"Who do you think you're fooling?" Billy had joined her on the couch.
"Isn't there someone else you can haunt, Billy?"
Billy grinned. "Nope, tonight it's hassle Ally. You knew that Victor wasn't going to be home. He's volunteering at the community center like he does every Tuesday night. Why don't you want to talk to him?"
"Because I don't know what to say. He'll want to know what happened in Detroit and I can't do that."
"Do you love Victor?"
"I care about him, a lot."
"But do you love him? The same way you love Larry?"
Ally opened her mouth to correct him but she couldn't. "No, I don't. But it's irrelevant since I left Larry in Detroit this morning."
"Don't be so sure. Answer the door, Ally."
The knocking on the door brought her back to reality. She peeked out the curtain. It was Larry.
She opened it and he walked inside.
"What are you doing here? And how did you find out where here is?"
Larry took a quick scan of the house. "It's nice."
"Thanks."
"Second question first. I found you by looking in the phone book. Not that many A.M. McBeal's listed. As for the first question, I came for you. If you think that I'm going to give you up twice, you really don't know me."
Ally sighed. "There isn't anything left to say. The door on the past has been closed."
"Well, I'm reopening it. You had your say in Detroit. Now I'm getting mine in Boston. I love you. I have loved you every day since the first day and I still love you."
"Yeah, that love was real clear the day you left me."
"Good, let's talk about that." Larry took her by the hand and walked into the den.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Then just listen. Do you recall the last time when we went out to dinner?"
Ally thought for a second. "Yeah, you were acting all weird, all nervous like."
"I was nervous. I had planned it with the waiter. He was going to bring you desert and inside the desert there was going to be a ring."
Ally was stunned. "A ring? An engagement ring?"
Larry nodded.
Ally was confused. "There was no ring. I ate every bite of the desert and there was no ring."
Larry cast his eyes downward. "That's because the waiter mixed up the desserts and the man next to us, who was planning on breaking up with his girlfriend got my ring."
"Did you get the ring back?"
Larry nodded.
"Why didn't you try again? Were you afraid I would say no?"
"I was stupid. I took that as a bad omen. I began to have doubts of my ability as a husband. So I went to see Helena."
"So that's why you went to see your ex-wife. And what did she tell you? To run?"
"No, she told me to grow up and marry you."
"So why didn't you?"
"I got scared. Terrified actually. I wasn't a good husband at all to Helena and I was afraid that I wouldn't be a good one to you and that you'd leave me the way she did."
"So instead of talking to me about what you were thinking and feeling, you left me and moved to Detroit." She jumped up. "God!! What is it with the men in my life leaving me for Michigan!"
Larry jumped up too. "Don't compare me to Billy. He couldn't see what he had in you."
Ally snorted. "And you did? You would rather leave me than marry me."
"Leaving you was the worst thing I have ever done in my life and I have done some not-so-good things. But none of them compares to what I did to you, what I did to us."
"Then how come you never came back?"
"Because there was no excuse for what I had done. I couldn't forgive my self much less ask you to forgive me. You deserved better than me. The door was shut. But when you called, a window opened. I had my second chance and I wasn't going to waste it." He sat her down on the couch. "I have made some mistakes where you and I are concerned, but I want to try again. I want us to have the life we were meant to have. I love you, Ally and I want us to be together. I want to be your husband. I want you to marry me."
Ally walked to the window and looked out. "I trusted you and you broke my heart. So that leaves me with two choices. I can stop loving you and move on. It would take some time but I could do it. Or I can put my faith back in you and we can move forward. Do you know how many times I dreamed about this very conversation? Each time I would say yes and then cry in my sleep because it wasn't real."
Larry walked over to her. "It is real. I am really here and I asked you to marry me. I can't say how sorry I am for hurting you. But I promise I will make it up to you. You won't ever loose faith in me because I will give you no reason to. I want us to grow old together, have children together, take care of each other."
Ally turned and looked him in the eyes. She dug deep inside to what her heart was telling her. "Yes," she smiled. "Yes, I will marry you."
Larry's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He pulled her close. "I love you. This belongs to you." He pulled out a diamond ring and slipped it on her finger.
"It's beautiful."
"So are you." He kissed her but she pulled back. "What is it? Is it the ring?"
"No, the ring is perfect. There is something we need to talk about."
"More important than celebrating?"
"Children."
Larry stepped back. "You want to get started on children right away?"
"No, we need to talk about Maddie."
"Who's Maddie?"
"My daughter."
Larry went very pale. "I need to sit." He headed for the couch. "You have a daughter. How old?"
Ally studied him for a second. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"How old is Maddie?" Larry asked in a very strange voice.
"What is wrong with you?" She could see he was still very pale. "Why are you asking …. Oh, oh no, Larry, Maddie isn't your daughter. She's ten."
Larry nodded, his heart still racing.
"Oh, Larry, I'm so sorry. If I had been pregnant, I would have told you, no matter what."
Larry took a deep breath and began to cough. "You adopted a girl?"
"No, Maddie is my biological daughter."
Ally grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to him. "Why didn't you tell me about her? Is Billy her father?"
"No, Billy isn't her father. It's quite complicated. When I was in college I participated in a fertility study. I donated my eggs with the promise that if they were ever used, I would be notified. That notification came a few months ago in the form of a 10 year old girl who showed up on my door step claiming to be my child."
"Did you do a DNA test?"
"Yes and it came back positive."
"Are you suing the clinic?"
"No. I got a daughter out of it. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Larry looked around. "Where is she?"
"She's with her aunt on a cruise for spring break. She's due back Saturday. I can't wait for you to meet her."
"What's she like?"
Ally thought about the problems they had. "She's my kid. She's great."
"What about her parents?"
"I don't know all that much. Her mother died when she was a baby. Her father just recently. She was living with her aunt until she came to stay with me."
"So when you said you had a new purpose this morning, you meant being a mother."
Ally nodded. "It has been such an adventure for me. I never would have made it without Victor. He's amazing with her." A thought dawned on Ally. "All this talk about our future, I didn't think about Maddie. What is she going to say? I mean, when she left she told me to spend the time alone with Victor. Not only did I not see Victor, I got engaged to another man entirely."
"Does she know about me?"
"A little. She knows how I feel about you and that it stands in the way of me getting together with Victor"
"Oh great. Now she will hate me."
"No, she won't. She will hate me. But we will work it out. So when did you want to get married? June? September?"
"Saturday."
"Saturday? This Saturday? As in 4 days from now? You can't be serious."
"I am serious. Very serious. Ally, I don't want to wait. I wasted an entire year. I don't want to waste another minute. You said Maddie comes home Saturday. Great, we will get married Saturday evening. Just you and me, Maddie and Sam if I can get him. We will find a cozy little chapel and asked Whipper to perform the ceremony. What do you say?"
Ally thought for a minute. "No, that's not what I want. I want something more." Ally looked around her house. "I want to get married here. I want to get married in my house. I want to wear a wedding dress and have a maid of honor. I want guests and my parents here. I want a real wedding, Larry."
Larry smiled. "Then a real wedding you shall have. Can we do it by Saturday?"
"I think so."
"Can we practice the honeymoon tonight?"
"I think so."