Love and Marriage

Chapter Eighty-Four

When Monday morning rolled around, Martin came into the office with a huge smile on his face while whistling a happy tune. Neither Vivian nor Danny was expecting that from him. They figured he would be devastated about leaving his family back in Houston. This happy attitude was confusing.

"Ok, spill it." Danny commanded as he walked up to Martin's desk.

"Spill what?" Martin asked with a laugh.

"What's got you in such a good mood this morning." Viv explained as she joined Danny.

"Can't a guy just be in a happy mood for no reason?" Martin asked.

"No." Danny shook his head. "Not when that guy is you. No offense, but you're supposed to be sad and mope around the office. Yet you're not. Hence, you need to tell us why."

Martin looked back at the two of them, trying to decide whether or not it was ok to tell them about the pregnancy. Sam had prohibited them from telling Claire about it yet, but hadn't asked him to keep it a secret from everyone else—especially these guys. They were like their second family. Surely Sam wouldn't mind if he let them know. "Well, if you must know…"

"And we must." Danny interrupted impatiently.

"Ok." Martin smiled and got up from his chair. "Guess who's pregnant."

"Really?" Viv smiled. "Congratulations!"

"Yeah, congratulations." Danny smiled, deciding to have a little fun at Martin's expense. He moved to put his hand on Martin's stomach. "I think you're the first man to ever get pregnant. How did you do that?"

Martin swatted Danny's hand away from him. "Not me you goofball! Sam."

"Well this is great news!" Viv told Martin, giving him a quick hug. "I'm happy for both of you."

"Thanks." Martin grinned.

"Yeah, this is definitely a good reason for you to be smiling." Danny nodded.

"I'm glad I have your permission to smile." Martin joked. "But there's also another reason why I'm smiling."

"Do tell." Danny prodded. "Don't keep us in suspense."

"I'm going to be moving down to Houston in two weeks." Martin replied, waiting for their reactions to that. As much as he couldn't wait to move down and be with his family, he had to admit that he was really going to miss Danny, Viv, and Jack. They had been through a lot together. Shootings, deaths, births, marriages, graduations. They had shared it all and now it seemed it was all coming to an end.

"Two weeks?" Viv questioned. The smile that was on her face turned into a look of contemplation as she thought about what this was going to mean. It was bad enough to say goodbye to Samantha, but to now also have to say goodbye to Martin was…well it was going to hurt.

She understood that Martin wanted to go and be with his family, especially since Samantha was pregnant. That's where he belonged. And while she knew that their break wouldn't last forever, she had been dreading the moment when Martin would leave too. But she couldn't begrudge him happiness, and this would make him happy. She consoled herself with the fact that she still had Danny and Jack.

"Yeah. Two weeks." Martin nodded. "That gives me just enough time to give Jack my two weeks notice, pack up the house and put it on the market."

"Well if you need any help, you can count on me." Danny volunteered. It made him really sad that Martin was going to be leaving because Martin was his closest guy friend. He was also the guy that Danny went to whenever he had a question about parenting, which was often because he was never sure he was doing the right thing with Kyle. Who would he turn to now?

Of course, he wouldn't say that to Martin. The last thing he wanted was for Martin to feel guilty about following his own path to happiness and that's what he was doing. Martin wouldn't be completely happy until he moved in with Sam and Claire again because Martin was a family man. And although Danny selfishly wanted to bring Sam, Claire and Martin back here to New York, he realized that wasn't going to happen. They had to follow their own path.

"Thanks Danny." Martin replied. "I may have to take you up on that offer. There's a lot to do in very little time."

"Have you told Jack about this yet?" Viv asked.

"Told Jack about what?" Jack asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere behind Martin.

Martin turned around and saw his boss standing behind him. "Actually, can I talk to you in your office for a moment?"

"Sure." Jack replied, heading towards the office. Once inside, he closed the door. "How was this weekend?"

"Great." Martin replied with a huge grin on his face. "Sam's pregnant."

"Congratulations." Jack smiled, making a mental note to call her later and congratulate her. "I bet Claire is going to love being an older sister."

"Let's hope so." Martin laughed.

"That's good news but I'm guessing that's not why you wanted to talk to me." Jack could tell that there was something else on Martin's mind.

"You're right." Martin nodded. "Sam and I discussed it and we've decided that I'm going to move down there in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Jack questioned. "So that means that the break would have lasted a month?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Martin replied.

"I'm happy for the both of you." A huge grin appeared on Jack's face. "But Danny and Viv better be ready to pay up."

"Pay up?" Martin asked. "What do you mean by that? Did you guys make a bet about this?"

"Possibly." Jack shrugged.

"What exactly was the bet about?" Martin wasn't really mad that his friends were betting on the details of his life. In fact, he was actually more intrigued than anything.

"It was just about how long we thought this break would last. Viv said two weeks, Danny said three and I said four." Jack was feeling pretty smug with himself for being able to guess the correct number of weeks that they break was going to last.

"And how much did you all bet?" Martin was extremely curious now.

"$50 each." Jack replied.

Martin laughed. "So you all bet $50 to try and guess what was going to happen with my life?"

"Pretty much." Jack nodded. "You aren't mad, right?"

"No." Martin laughed. "I'm not mad. I'm amused."

"Good." Jack was glad. Some people got mad if they found out that their friends were betting on personal things like this.

"Well congratulations on winning the bet." Martin smiled.

"Thanks." Jack replied. "But this also means that I'll be losing a great agent in two weeks. Have you found a new job in Houston yet?"

"No, not yet." Martin shook his head. "I haven't heard anything from Van Doren about an opening."

"Well don't be surprised if she comes looking for you shortly." Jack told him. "I heard from a very reliable source that there is a senior agent in Houston retiring in three weeks. He's in the White Collar division. I'd been more than willing to put in a good word for you."

"That would be great." Martin couldn't believe the way his luck was going lately. Everything seemed to be going really well. "So since there might be a job opening up soon, should I give you my two weeks notice or just take a leave of absence?"

"I'd just take a leave of absence. There's no need for you to quit since you probably have another job lined up." Jack advised.

"Thanks Jack, for everything." Martin shook his hand.

"No problem." Jack shook his head. "I'm just happy for you and Samantha. You're a lot luckier than I was when I was in your position. You actually have a wife that wants you in her life."

"Yes, I do." Martin answered. "And believe me, I know how lucky I am."

"That's good. Never forget it either." Jack advised. "Because it can all change in an instant."

"I'm aware of that." Martin nodded.