Madeline

Chapter Nine - Your Lonely Face

Matt

I opened the front door of the house and rushed in, a million apologies for Lizzie in my mouth. When I walked into the kitchen I was surprised to find Gordo leaning against the counter and drinking a cup of coffee.

"Morning."

"Hey. Um, where's Lizzie?"

"She already left for work a few hours ago and left Madeline with me."

"Oh, thanks for coming over so early man, she would have killed me if I made her late for work."

"Well, it was no problem since I never left last night. . ." I stared at him for a while, trying to figure out just what that meant. "I slept on the couch, nothing happened. . .after Madeline got home."

"You know, as your friend I want all the details, but the fact that the details are my sister I'm going to have to pass. But, I'm glad things are good for you two." I reached around him and grabbed my favorite mug from next to the coffee machine and poured myself some and started drinking it black. College has a way of teaching a person the goodness of black coffee.

"I asked her to marry me." I nearly decorated the room with splatters of coffee but managed to only dribble it down the front of me. It was too early in the morning for a surprise like that.

"You, you what?"

"I asked Lizzie to marry me."

"What did she say?" I asked him after standing in silence for a few moments.

"Well, she said no, for right now." I wasn't sure if I should be happy or sad for him. He got a yes, just a yes he'd have to wait for.

"Oh. You know what's kind of weird? I think Miranda asked me this morning to move in with her."

Gordo gave me a look and raised his eyebrow. "You think? That's great. We both have a possible great thing happening in our lives, we're just not sure if or when they're going to happen."

I returned his smile and the small laughter that followed. "Well, seriously, the only thing that would keep me from actually moving in with her would be leaving Madeline and Lizzie alone, so you might have just made everything easier for me."

"Slow down Matt, she's still needing time to think it all through. She's afraid because of all the shit your parents have put you guys and themselves through. Plus, you know Lizzie will want a real nice wedding and those take time to plan out. You're still looking at months." I didn't like the thought of waiting anymore. If Miranda figured out what she wanted and she asked me tonight I really didn't see myself waiting very patiently.

"Of course, if Miranda were to move in here then there'd be no problems." I liked the sound of the idea as it left my lips. It made the most sense anyway, I mean, why move into a smaller apartment when we could have a house.

"That would work out good. There's that extra room and everything too."

Now it was my turn to give the weird look. "Gordo, I was thinking Miranda would be in the same room with me. Makes the whole making love thing a lot easier."

"You can't share a bed with her. You have to think about Madeline and I'm not really up for trying to explain that to her yet. You'll confuse her if she sees you two coming out of the same room every morning."

"Oh." This was one of those times when having a young niece was a big problem. I really hadn't even thought of all that. "Well, I still have a lot to work out in my head. It's not like I've put much thought into this. She just dropped the possibility on me like halfa minuteago so this is all new thinking for me."

"I didn't mean to tell you how you're going to live your life or anything. I just wanted you to take my daughter into consideration. Honestly, in the end it's up to you and Miranda, but the first time Madeline asks me a question about it I'm sending her to you."

I smiled and nodded at him as I reached over and poured myself some more coffee. "Now I know Lizzie didn't make this coffee because I actually want more than one cup, so I'm guessing I should send my compliments to you."

"Yep. Lizzie said about the same thing in regards to your coffee making abilities though, so I think the sooner I get into this family the better. How have you survived through college without good coffee?"

"Hey, I can make a good pot of the stuff, Lizzie just doesn't know what it's supposed to taste like when it's not disgusting." I acted as offended as possible, but the truth was that neither my sister nor I seemed able to properly work a coffee machine.

"Uncle Matt!" I barely had time to register the voice of my niece before her arms were wrapped around my legs in a hug. "I have something to show you that I learned!"

I bent down to eye level with the small girl and smiled as enthusiastically as I could before ten a.m. "What's that sweetie?"

"This." She placed her lips on my cheek and then proceeded to blow out all the air in her lungs as hard as possible and leave a nice wet spot behind on my face when she pulled away. "It's a zer. . .zer. . ."

"Zerbert." Gordo finished the word for her through his laughing. "I see my mom and Gabby were teaching you all kinds of fun stuff last night, huh?"

Through her giggles, Madeline nodded her little head yes. "Do you want one daddy?"

"I'd love one." Gordo bent over and picked her up. I saw the tears in his eyes before he dissolved into laughter while Madeline did her best. My heart ached slightly as I realized again all the things that were about to change in my life. I was both ready to ease into a life with Miranda and stay right where I was with Lizzie and Madeline at the same time. "You okay, Matt?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about stuff, sorry." I stood up and smiled reassuringly at him.

"So what's on the agenda for today? You got any of these supposed celebrities that you know showing up?"

"Actually I do, I'm meeting John Williams later this afternoon to go over what he's written for the soundtrack of my nearly finished movie. I was thinking of bringing Madeline along to meet him, he loves kids, so you would actually be a help if you came along."

"That's it? The soundtrack guy? Wow Gordo, don't spoil me here by dropping big names or anything." I laid the sarcasm on thick, hoping he would notmiss a single bit of it.

"Fine, but I was thinking you might want to slip him a copy of that demo you played me earlier this week."

"Gordo, we both know there was nothing on that demo that would interest a conductor of some of the best movie themes of all time."

"Ha! I knew you were a fan. Everyone loves his stuff. But, honestly he may not be the biggest record producer in the world but he definitely knows the ones who are." This really sounded like a bad idea to me. Tagging along with Gordo and dropping a demo of a band that may never want to speak to me again after I just left them without warning into the lap of someone so well known in music sounded just stupid.

"I can't, I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you or something."

"It's the way the game is played my friend. Come on, what do you have to lose?"

I looked him hard in the eye for a long while before finally giving in. "Okay, I'll do it. You know if you were that persistent with Lizzie you'd be married by next week." I left the kitchen and headed to my room. I had to get around for the day since Madeline was up and I had some hard phone calls to make. This still felt like a bad idea, but Gordo was right. I had nothing to lose.

A/N - I'm not sure when Gordo learned about Matt's demo. I think that got lost somewhere when I took this down or something, I don't know. You know, as I'm reading through this and editing, I have come to realize that I really liked this story, no wonder I actually finished it and began a sequel.