* * * * *
Mary walked along side Kelsey, as they returned to their car after some coffee before they departed to go their separate ways to their works. Their conversation was ritualistic in the morning. Bosses, and men. The conversation was usually spilt halfway between the two women. Only this morning Mary was ranting about her boss, and Kelsey did all the talking about men. It wasn't until they were leaving did Kelsey decide to pry Mary for information about her and Travis. "Mary and Travis, sitting in a tree…"
"You have got to stop singing that."
"You have told me nothing since that surprise trip to the city last weekend. Are you ever going to tell me what you did?"
"You'll figure it out soon enough."
"I'll figure it out? What is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean what I say, and I say what I mean."
"Come on Mary."
"I want it to be a surprise."
"I'm surprised. Come on, I'll make a deal with you. I will help you grade tonight, for what you did."
"You really want to know?" Mary put a tape into the cassette player, and silence flooded the car. Kelsey looked confused.
"I think your tape player is broken."
"It's a scrambler. Scrambles the bug signals."
"Ok, so another spy thing."
"Yes."
"Now are you going to tell me?"
"Yes. I helped him translate some stuff at his shop. Kendall was having him decode some of Rambaldi's work, and Vaughn can't read Rambaldi. And Rambaldi took his writing out of Russian, so I had to translate from Rambaldi to Russian and then to English. And then we went for drinks at the Blue Note, and then he took me to the Lion King. We came home, and agreed to move in together."
"Why did you put the scrambler in?"
"You got the full story that way."
"And where along the lines were you planning on telling me that you two are moving in together?" Kelsey exclaimed.
"Sometime. He's coming here this afternoon after school and we're going to go look at houses."
"A house?"
"So we can start a family."
"You're not even-"Kelsey stopped before she finished her statement.
"We're not even what?"
"I was going to say engaged, but that isn't true."
Mary smiled, as she thought about Sydney and Vaughn's engagement. "No, that is not true."
"You are so in love with him."
"How can you tell?"
"That goofy smile on your face." Mary pulled up to Kelsey's office.
"I'll talk to you later Kelse."
"Ok, tell me if you see anything, where are you looking."
"We're not sure yet, somewhere in town though." All Kelsey could do was shake her head, as she went into work. Mary sped away to school. The clock seemed to take its time as it made its way around the face at school. She needed 3:00 to come. Vaughn was going to meet her at the school, and she couldn't wait to see him again. Finally, the bell rang, and the students eagerly packed their bags and rushed out of the classroom, leaving Mary all alone. She tidied the room, and packed her things, before her classroom door shyly opened.
"Hey Mary." Travis said, entering.
"Hey!"
"Sorry I'm late, I got a little lost."
"You're not late. I had to tidy the room before I left anyway."
"Come on, let's go." Travis put his arm around Mary, resting it on the small of her back. Gretchen was on her way to Mary's room when she saw Mary and Travis leaving.
"Mary!" Gretchen called, getting her friend's attention.
Mary quietly groaned. "Watch, we're going to get roped into a double date thing. I'm sorry honey."
"Don't be." Travis said amused.
"Mary, I need a final roster for the summer softball league. We need to know if you are going to play." Gretchen said. Mary raised her eyebrow amused. There was no softball league. Gretchen was just trying to start a conversation.
"Gretch, this is my boyfriend Travis. Travis, this is Gretchen." Mary introduced, shaking her head, and smiling at Gretchen.
"Nice to meet you."
"Nice to put a face with the name." Came Gretchen's reply. "Mary has only said good things about you."
"That's all I hear about you too. Mary only has good things to say."
"Yes she does. You know what we should do; you two, and then me and Trevor should double date this weekend."
"I don't know." Mary said.
"I'm sorry; I usually can't do things on the weekend. My shop is always the busiest on Saturday nights."
"Oh really? That is too bad. Trevor can only do things on the weekends, he works the night shift."
"Maybe we can work something out later." Mary suggested.
"Ok. I'll talk to Trevor about it."
"Ok. We have to get going Mary." Travis said, saving Mary from an uncomfortable situation.
"Nice meeting you Travis."
"Same to you Gretchen." Mary and Travis walked out.
"Thank you for saving us back there. Gretchen is nice and all, it's really Trevor that annoys me. I met him last month when she threw herself a birthday party." Mary quietly said, as they got out of the ear range of Gretchen.
"Anything for you."
Mary and Travis went over to the realtor. She escorted them around to several houses. As they pulled onto the street of the last house of the day, Mary pulled herself closer to Travis. "This is a cute street." She said. All Travis could do was smile and nod in agreement.
They pulled up to a modest sized Dutch colonial style house. Mary stood gaping at the wrap around porch, and the beautiful railing. The blue paint was freshly done, and stood as vivid as the sky above. She held her breath as they opened up their door. She didn't listen as the realtor told them about the house. The only thing she could do was watch as little children ran through the house. They were her little children, with Sydney's brown hair, and Vaughn's green eyes. As they walked through the bedrooms intended for children, she saw a nursery, where on the wall next to the light switch was a growth chart, with little markings measuring height. She saw a room intended for a teenager, with posters of bands, and movie stars. She saw the dusty attic as a place where she would take her grown children, and uncover their childhoods all over again. This was the house she could see herself raising a family. As they continued to walk through the house, Mary grabbed Travis' hand.
"What did you think?" Travis asked, as they arrived back at Mary's apartment.
"That last one was perfect."
"You think so too?"
"I could see us raising a family in that house."
"Me too."
"We are really going to do this."
"Yes. We are really going to do this." Travis said, as he held Mary in his arms.