DISCLAIMER: I haven't been able to get a hold of Zidler's Chick, but I just wanted to say that Lottie is own by her and is her original character. Lottie is going to be in the story in an upcoming chapter as well, so keep an eye out for that…if you're reading, thanks Zidler's Chick! Oh yeah…before you guys dive into the story, I have an awesome announcement! I've started a Signs fanfiction board on EZBoard.com! If you go to EZBoard.com and go to the 'Find' option, type in 'Signs Fanfiction' and it's there…my stupid word processor won't let me put in the direct link…LOL…I would love it if we could start a huge forum there. We can share more about our stories and get to know each other..So please become a member (it's FREE!) and leave messages and comments!

Chapter 16

It was later on in the evening, around 8:30. Merrill and Alicia had just come back from going out to dinner and were relaxing in their room at the Hollyleaf.

"So what do you want to do?" asked Merrill.

"I don't know. I'm perfectly content just being in this room with you."

Alicia looked out the window by their bed, staring out at the acres of land.

"This is where I belong," she said to Merrill, "Not in a big city like Manhattan. I belong in Pennsylvania. I mean, look at this. This is the kind of place most people only dream about living."

She turned her head and gave Merrill a tiny grin that melted his heart.

"I'm so glad you're here with me, sweetie."

"I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else."

Merrill was more attracted to Alicia in the moment then he had been in a long time. The rain from earlier has caused her hair to form slightly imperfect waves. She had changed into a floral-print blouse that seemed to float on her body, resting just above her navel. Her low-rise jeans hugged every curve of her lower body and she stood barefoot as she looked out of the glass door that led to the balcony. As she turned around, her beauty took Merrill's breath away. She put her hands in her pockets and grinned.

"I love it here," she said softly.

He didn't answer. He just kept gazing into her eyes.

"Merrill, hello?"

"Oh, sorry."

"What are you thinking about?"

"How incredibly beautiful and mind-blowing you look right now. I don't know whether or not to kiss you, hold you, make love to you, or just keep staring at you. I don't think I've ever seen you look so amazing before."

"Honey, I look horrible. The rain threw everything off- my hair, my makeup.."

"Come here."

Alicia laid on the bed next to Merrill and he pulled her close to him.

He kissed her nose and whispered, "You're always beautiful- no matter what."

"Let's stay in this exact moment forever. It's so perfectly romantic."

"You sure you don't want to go outside? I think some of the other guests are sitting on the back lawn and drinking lemonade."

"I'm so happy right now, I don't want to budge. I just want to lie here in your arms and stare into your eyes. But you know what would make this moment even better?"

"What?"

Alicia moved her face closer to Merrill's, so that her lips were resting against his.

"If you kissed me."

Merrill gave Alicia a quick peck and then smiled.

"There. I kissed you."

"Merrill, not that kind of kiss."

"Well, what kind of kiss then?"

"A good, wet one."

"Demonstrate for me."

Alicia closed her eyes, slightly parted her lips, and let her tongue slowly glide into Merrill's mouth. He gave into temptation and began kissing her in return, only more passionate and deeper. Then he moved from her mouth to her neck, as she softly purred his name. Then he lifted up the bottom of her blouse and planted fragile kisses along her stomach, letting his tongue play with her navel ring.

She asked, "Why don't you just take off my shirt?"

"Because I want to save that for later."

"Really? What's later?"

"A night that you won't forget for quite some time, my love."

Alicia wrapped her arms around Merrill and they held each other so tightly, they could feel one another's heart beating.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to my life?" Merrill whispered as he played with Alicia's hair.

"I think I have a slight idea, but refresh my memory a little."

"Well, before I met you, I didn't believe in commitment whatsoever. I thought it was pathetic and all I wanted to do was date as many girls as I could. Not necessarily for sexual reasons, but just for fun. I wanted to drink and smoke and do the whole party singles scene. When I met my ex-girlfriend Lottie-"

"Lottie?"

"Yeah. I thought I had told you about her before."

"Nope. What kind of name is Lottie?"

"Anyway, when we were together, I almost proposed to her."

Alicia sat up a little and said, "Really? You never told me any of this, Mr. Let's-Not-Keep-Secrets-From-Each-Other. I've told you everything about Harrison and I."

"You never asked me. I asked you about Harrison."

"Fine, fine. Tell me more about Lottie."

"Well, I loved her a lot. She was spunky and cute, and I adored her. But I just couldn't envision committing myself to loving her and only her for the rest of my life. I didn't want to stay in a relationship that was going nowhere- it was unfair to both her and I, so we broke up."

"When was the last time you talked to her?"

"A little while before I first met you."

"I see."

"But do you know what's really weird? I think that after our second date, I knew I wanted to marry you."

"And how's that?"

"It was like something sparked in my head. I could see us having kids and growing old together- it was the weirdest thing. I still feel that way about you."

Alicia closed her eyes as Merrill softly kissed her. Then she decided to take on a touchy subject.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do…do you ever think about the baby?"

Merrill sighed and stroked Alicia's arm.

"Every day," he whispered.

"Me too. You would've been an amazing dad."

"And you would've been an incredible mother."

They let silence come between them for a few moments before Merrill spoke again.

"How come you never told me that the baby was a girl?"

"The doctor told me when you were out of the room, and it was like someone had ripped my heart and soul out. I wanted to die- Colleen was gone and so was the baby. The only things I had left to live for were the kids, my parents, and you. I didn't want to tell you because I knew that it would make things harder to deal with."

Merrill smiled halfheartedly and let out a little snicker. It was obvious that he was holding back tears as he spoke.

"I have daydreams about her sometimes. She looks just like you and Bo is playing with her. She always begs for me to teach her how to play baseball and I don't want to because she's so tiny. And I think about us going out and people telling us what a beautiful family we are."

"We can still have that, Merrill. We can have a whole bunch of kids if you want to."

"I know we can, but..I think that until we get on our feet with our new jobs and have the garage remodeled, we should just get to experience married life by ourselves."

Alicia ran her hand along his face and said, "I agree."

"Are you sleepy? You look a little tired."

"I'm fine. I'm just relaxing."

Merrill moved his lips to her neck and started planting kisses along it.

"That feels so good," she cooed, "Keep going."

"My pleasure."

He re-adjusted his body so it was resting comfortably on top of hers. As he kept kissing her neck, she grasped his shoulders and bit her lip. Then he stopped and looked into her eyes.

"Why'd you stop?" Alicia asked.

"Because I have an idea. Stay here."

Merrill went into the bathroom and Alicia heard him turn the water on in the bathtub.

"What are you up to?" she asked.

"You'll see."

Alicia thought to herself, He is so perfect and amazing.

She stretched out on the bed and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, Merrill emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He leaned against the doorframe Alicia found it hard to even speak.

"Wow…I, um…wow."

"Care to join me? Just me and you..and the bathtub."

"Did you really need to ask?"

Alicia hopped off of the bed and met Merrill at the door to the bathroom. Before she went in, she stood with him at the door and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You look so sexy right now, it makes me want to.."

"Want to…what?"

"Let's go in the bathroom and we'll see what happens."

Merrill gave Alicia the deepest kiss he possibly could and slipped her shirt off. She gently pushed Merrill away as she unbuttoned her jeans and took them off. Merrill walked to the bathtub, took off his towel, and climbed in the water. He watched carefully as Alicia slowly took off her undergarments. Holding his hand out to her, she took it and stepped into the water. She sat in front of Merrill and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"This is heaven," she whispered, "and where did you get the bubbles from? They smell awesome."

"I found them under the sink."

"You're a genius."

Alicia's breathing became heavier as Merrill's fingers crept along her inner thighs, higher and higher. She whispered his name as he nibbled on her earlobe.

He kissed the side of her face and said, "You have no idea how bad I want you right now, Alicia."

Alicia breathlessly whispered, "Then have me."

They switched positions so that Merrill was somewhat on top of Alicia. Almost immediately, their bodies connected as some of the water splashed over the sides of the tub. Alicia bit her lip to prevent from screaming in pleasure, afraid that the other guests might hear. After the finished, they sat on the floor, covered in nothing but towels as the tub drained.

Merrill kissed Alicia's cheek and whispered, "I don't think words can describe how incredible that was."

"I'm still recovering. It was so hard not to scream at the top of my lungs."

"Was I really that good?"

"We're quite conceited now, aren't we?"

"So I wasn't that good."

Alicia kissed Merrill between each word she said.

"You..were..absolutely..incredible."

"Mmm..those lips of yours are gonna be the end of me, sweetheart."

She kissed him one more time and then said, "What time is it?"

"Almost 10."

"Let's go sit outside. The sky is so clear outside..you would've never known that it rained today."

"OK. Let's throw on some clothes and go."

"Nah, I was thinking we could go down naked."

Merrill laughed and said, "I think they'd kick us out and we'd have to go to Motel 6."

They got up and changed into comfortable clothes. Then they left their room and headed outside to the large porch. Merrill led Alicia across the flourishing landscape and into a dimly lit garden with a bench. They melted into each other's arms and looked at the sky.

"Merrill, this is probably the most romantic night of my life. It ranks right up there with the night you proposed to me. Thank you for everything tonight."

"It's the least I could do after the way I treated you today. You went through a lot emotionally and the last thing you needed was for me to get upset with you."

"Like I said earlier, what's done is done. All I know is that I love you with all my heart and nothing will ever change that."

After Alicia finished her sentence, she gasped and pointed to the sky.

"Baby, did you see that?!"

"No, what was it?"

"A shooting star!"

"Shut up."
"I'm serious. We have to make our respective wishes now."

"OK."

Merrill closed his eyes, spoke to himself silently, and then looked at Alicia.

"Your turn."

Alicia closed her eyes and thought to herself, I wish that Merrill and Graham will come to peace and forgive each other.

"Done," she said.

"What'd you wish for, sweetie?"

"I'm not telling you. Then it won't come true."

"Sure…hey, look. There's the Big Dipper."

"Wow. You really know your constellations, huh?"

"I took astronomy in college and aced it. I loved it."

"I never knew that. I'm learning so much about you tonight. Anything else you care to tell me?"

"Hmm…well, I love you."

"I knew that. But it's nice to be reminded."

Merrill lifted Alicia's head and kissed her passionately. He loved how her feathery lips would cling to his when he would finish kissing her. He pecked her one last time to feel the sensation again. They sat in silence for about 45 more minutes. No one disturbed them as the sat on the bench- kissing, embracing, and enjoying each other's company.

After that time passed, Alicia said, "We should go back in."

"I agree."

Alicia took a deep breath and said, "Graham's first sermon is tomorrow morning."

Merrill looked down and replied, "Then we should get some sleep if we want to make it to the 11:00 service."

"You mean…you want to go?"

"I was thinking while we were sitting here…what Graham did was inexcusable and I'm sure it's something all of us will never forget. But I remember how you were talking about forgiveness earlier. You forgave me for treating you the way I did. So there's really no reason why I shouldn't forgive Graham. He's human..for all I know, I could've done the same thing if I would've been I his shoes. It's just that…he knows damn well how much I love and cherish you. If I had ever done that to Colleen, he probably would have reacted the same way I did. And he also would've forgiven me- that's Graham for you. And I should know more than anyone how short and precious life is- if something were to happen to Graham without me forgiving him, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Is this making any sense to you?"

"It's making perfect sense."

They smiled at each other as they stood up.

Merrill said, "Hey, do you think the TV gets cable? We could watch a Skinemax movie."

Alicia hysterically laughed and said, "Why would we want to?"

"I don't know…to get us in the mood…"

"Or we could create a movie of our own."

"Now you're talking…"

As they walked back to their room, Alicia looked up to the sky.

Thanks for making my wish come true.