Love and Marriage

Chapter Thirty-Six

When Martin saw Danny walk into the bullpen, he marched over. "Why did you leave me alone with her?"

Danny chuckled and gave his friend an innocent look. "With who?"

"Don't play innocent with me." Martin glared at him. "Bethany! Why'd you leave me with her?"

"You're a big boy now Martin. You can take care of yourself." Danny explained. "Besides, I had a really nice breakfast today that I didn't want to lose it. So I left. What did I miss?"

Martin sighed. "I was stupid to not see it earlier. She really wants me."

Danny nodded. "Did she stand too close to you, use that high-pitched sugary-sweet voice and smile a lot?"

"Yeah and then she touched my arm." Martin added.

"A touch or a grab?" Danny needed some clarification.

"Oh it was definitely a grab." Martin answered. "And it lasted way too long."

"I'm glad I left then." Danny grinned.

Martin frowned. "What am I going to do?"

"Tell Bethany the truth. Tell her that she's wasting her time and should focus her energy on someone who would be better suited to meet her needs." Danny explained, looking at Martin suspiciously. "She is wasting her time, right?"

"Of course she is!" Martin exclaimed. He couldn't believe that Danny even had to ask him that. "I love Sam."

"Just checking." He hadn't wanted to ask Martin that question but he had to double-check and make sure that Bethany didn't stand a chance. "So then like I said. Tell Bethany the truth. It will hurt her, but not as much as if you lied to her or strung her along."

"You sound like you've had experience with this type of thing." Martin noted.

"Yeah, I used to be in your shoes a lot before I became a one-woman man." Danny admitted sheepishly.

"I'm still impressed that Michelle got you to settle down." Martin grinned. "To be honest, I never really thought that you would. I always figured that you'd be one of those confirmed bachelors that was still dating a different woman every night when they're eighty. But I'm very happy for you. Married life can be wonderful at times."

"Yes it can." He smiled as he thought about his family. Michelle and Kyle meant everything to him and they were his whole world. He would do anything to keep them happy and safe. "To be honest, I never thought I'd find someone who completes me the way she does."

"Be sure to hold on to her and don't let her slip away." Martin advised.

"Shouldn't I be the one telling you that about Sam?" Danny asked.

"No because believe me, I know not to let her slip away." Martin said before heading to his desk to start working.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Martin apologized, entering the break room and approaching the table that Sam was sitting at. He kissed the top of her head and flashed her a smile before sitting down. "Jack really wanted that report finished before I took my lunch break."

"That's ok. I understand." Sam assured him. "I've only been waiting a few minutes and I was early anyway." Even though she was starving, she had waited for him to come in so that they could eat together. Now that he was here she could finally eat her ham and cheese sandwich.

"Slow day?" He asked, biting into his turkey sandwich.

"Very slow." She groaned. "I used to love working slow days when we were working together. But now…" She trailed off, thinking about how much she hated her co-workers. While she was sure that they were nice people, she also was sure that they were the least compatible people to be teamed together. The rest of the team had their own jokes, their own slang words, and their own culture. She didn't fit in with them. Their personalities clashed on a daily basis and she felt isolated from them.

He noticed that she was lost in her own thoughts and knew that she was most likely thinking about how much she hated her job. Leslie had said that it was one of the problems that they still had to address and he felt that she was right. They needed to find a solution to this that would make both of them happy.

He didn't want to make her continue to work at a job that she hated. He had a few ideas about how to change the situation they were in and realized that maybe now was the right time to actually do something about his ideas.

"Anyway," Sam shook off the depressing thoughts about her job, "Claire asked me this morning if Sarah could sleep over at our house this Friday. I said yes because Claire's stayed over there so many times and since Friday is their last day of school I…"

"That's fine." Martin interrupted. "Maybe we can order some pizza and rent that new Disney movie that came out."

"That's a good idea." Sam nodded.

"Then we can rent a more grown up movie for after they go to bed." He added.

She narrowed her eyes. "Just what kind of grown up movie are you suggesting we rent?"

He realized the way his earlier statement sounded and smiled. "I…I didn't mean the adult kind of movie. I…I meant more of the…"

She watched him stumble around his words and thought it was cute. "I understand what you meant. I just liked watching you fumble around for the right words."

"Oh really?" He grinned. "That's not very nice."

"Sorry." She shrugged.

"So anyway, I was thinking that you could choose the movie and we could have a Friday night movie date."

"A movie date?" She repeated. "We haven't had a date in…forever. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. I just thought that maybe we should return to old habits, like sharing lunch together, going on family picnics, and having Friday night movie dates." Martin explained. "Do you have any objections to that?"

"No." She shook her head. "Actually I think that's a great idea. I like the way you think."

"I'm glad." He smiled, leaning in to kiss her.

Later that day when Danny came by his desk to drop off a file, Martin called out for him to stop. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Another one?" Danny questioned. "Yeah I guess. But maybe I should start charging you for my advice."

"Maybe you could just start a running tab?" Martin suggested jokingly.

"Maybe I will. That's a good idea." Danny grinned. He took a sip of his coffee. "Ok. I'm ready. What's your next question?"

He waited a few seconds, checking to make sure that no one else was around, before continuing. "If you had the power to do something that would make Michelle happy, but in order to do it you had to give up something you loved, would you still do it?"

"What are you thinking about giving up for Sam?" Danny asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I don't want to say right now." Martin replied. "I just want to know. Would you still do it?"

"Absolutely, but only if I was sure that it would make her happy." Danny replied. "I'd do anything to make her happy and see her smile."

"That's the same way I feel about Sam." Martin sighed.

He took another sip of his coffee. "Would this mystery act really make Sam happy?"

"I'm sure it would." Martin nodded. He was certain that it would make her happy because it was something that she has wanted for a long time.

"Then I don't think you should be asking for my advice. I think you need to decided whether or not you are willing to give up whatever you'd have to give up." Danny replied.

"I guess you're right." Martin stated. "Thanks Danny. I appreciate the fact that you put up with my incessant questions."

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Your incessant questions aren't so bad. They allow me a chance to do something other than paperwork for a few minutes."

"Then I'm glad I could help out." Martin chuckled.

Before he left to go home, he passed by Van Doren's office. Lucky for him, her lights were still on and she was still in her office. He knocked softly, briefly wondering if he was doing the right thing. "Do you have a minute?"

Paula Van Doren looked up and saw Martin standing in her doorway. "Well I was about to head home…"

"This will only take a moment." Martin assured her, taking a few steps further into her office.

Paula sighed and stepped out from behind her desk. "Ok. What can I do for you?"

"This." He handed her the piece of paper that he had brought with him.

She read over the document and then looked up at him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely." Martin nodded.

"I see." She walked around her desk and placed the piece of paper on top of a file folder. "Have you talked to Samantha about this?"

"No. I was hoping to surprise her." Martin replied honestly.

"It will definitely be a surprise." Paula sighed. She should have left to go home while she had the chance and dealt with this tomorrow but it was too late for that now. "Martin, I think there's something that you need to know. Please sit down…"