Chapter 6: The Right Time

They woke up in a very uncomfortable position. Rick was still laying on the couch but Evy found her way behind him. She had one arm around him, the other tucked under her, and her leg was being squished by his. Rick on the other hand was half on half off the couch, an arm around Evy and his other placed above his head. She smiled and tried not to show pain being that he was the one that had is leg on hers. He got up and allowed her to stretch out on the couch for a while and then she got up and went upstairs to her room to get dressed and ready for work. When she came back down, Rick was in the kitchen fixing pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon. There was coffee in the pot, orange juice on the table, and four plates and sets of silverware on the table. She found Jenny and Jonathan sitting at the table talking about the movie that they watched the previous night. They allowed Evy and Rick some time to get off the couch but found them sleeping on it together this morning. Evy sat next to her brother and Jenny was across from her as she started to put food on the plates, Jenny grabbed her hand, "You don't have to do that you know?"

"I know I don't but I thought it would be nice instead of me just digging in for myself and leaving you guys to get your own food." Evy smiled and finished what she was doing. Rick came to the table shortly after he finished the eggs.

"So, I guess you guys ended up doing something that you didn't want to do in the first place." Jonathan smiled and Jenny laughed and grabbed his hand.

"Shut up Jonathan. You know it was because of that movie. It made me sad to see the guys wife die in the end." Evy looked at Rick for reinforcement but none came. Rick was to busy eating his meal.

"It's not that funny Jonathan. Besides, it wasn't like they weren't sleeping during the movie." Rick was looking at his sisters hand on Jonathans. He didn't know about them going out together and wasn't happy to see her touching him.

"Why do you have you hand on his?" Rick was trying to keep his cool.

"We're going out. I forgot to tell you about that. While you were gone I told Evy that I would talk and get to know her brother like you guys did that day at London Café. We got to know each other and started to date." She smiled at Jonathan again and pat his leg. Rick still wasn't happy that the information hadn't been past to him but was feeling happier knowing that his sister wasn't touching him for no reason.

After breakfast the four parted ways. Rick and Jenny to their place of business and Evy to hers. Jonathan was staying home to call some people about a job, Evy almost laughed at that, and to do some grocery shopping at the market, also shocked Evy. Jenny was the only costumer that Evy saw for awhile. She came in to tell her that Rick wanted to meet her at lunch for their next date. It was in 2 hours so Evy had time to straiten books, order some on the internet, and tend to a costumer that came in looking for a book about Czech Republic. It was 11:00 exact when Rick came in to retrieve Evy for the date. When they got to the China Palace they talked about how things went the two weeks that Rick had been gone and Rick was pleased to hear that Evy didn't give up on him. He took her back to the library and Evy got settled into her roll chair. She was just about to get comfortable when Jenny walk in to go to the reading room.

"You got your next book?" Evy smiled at her knowing that she had it.

"Nope. You have it. How was your date?" Jenny smiled back and grabbed her book.

"It was great. We got caught up on everything that he had missed, mostly about you and my brother. We got back here and he wouldn't let me out of the car. He said that it was to hard to let me go but I told him that he would see me at my house."

"What do you mean? Are we coming over for supper again?" Jenny was a little puzzled but didn't think to much into it. The truth was that she wanted to move in with Jonathan so she could be closer to him. She also knew that Rick was wanting to move in with Evy but thought that if he asked would be totally out of line.

"We talked about living arrangements and I told him that he could move in. You have to stay at the other house of course to look out for it but he said that he would rather have you waiting at the house so you could pay the bills on it."

"WHAT! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM. WHERE IS HE? I WANT TO KNOW SO I CAN JUST MURDER HIM NOW AND NOT WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE." Jenny's face was going redder than the strips on the British flag outside. She started for the door but Evy beat her to it.

"I was only kidding. You will stay with us too. You just have to put up with Jonathan, Rick, and me if you do. I'm so sorry that I did that. I just thought that now that I'm going to be your sister-in-law, I could play tricks on you…" Evy just realized what she said. She had given the secret away and wasn't suppose to. She was suppose to wait till Jonathan was there.

"You and Rick are getting married? That's moving a little fast isn't it. Hell if you were going to do that you should have slept together by now."

"We did remember, last night on the couch. We didn't get to far before we fell asleep, actually we didn't get anywhere last night before we fell asleep. I'm not so sure that Rick and I are getting married anyway." She was trying to cover it up but knew it wasn't working.

"Well someone has to get married before you can be my sister-in…" Jenny could help but stop after think over the possibilities. Rick wouldn't want to get married right now because he thought that moving in together was just a little to early. "Did Jonathan mention something to you about us getting married or are you and Rick getting married?" She was going to get it one way or another. If she had to pin Evy down and tickle it out she would.

"I can't say. You'll have to wait till tonight when the time is right. If I told you now the surprise would be ruined. I don't think you need to know until all of us are together at dinner tonight. Now go read your book." She shooed Jenny back to the reading room.

It was time to leave for home so Evy went back to the reading room to get her and take her to their new home.

"We have to pick Rick up from the old house if that ok with you." Evy got into the car as Jenny locked the library doors.

"I say we leave him there for awhile." Jenny smiled at Evy and climbed into the back seat.

"Why are you sitting back there? You can sit up her you know. At least till we get Rick."

"I don't want to get out of the car and get back into the car just to let my brother sit by his beloved Evy."

They picked Rick up and went to Evy's house. She hadn't let the secret out with Rick for fear of getting him mad. She didn't know how he would take it if he knew that his sister was marring a man that he didn't approve of from the first day he met him. When they got home, to most everybody's surprise, Jonathan had dinner ready and on the table. He had candles set around the table and the nice silverware out.

"I take it he knows already." Rick and Jenny said in unison.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well Evy let slip and I've been trying to figure things out. All I've gotten out of it is confusion. She wouldn't tell me what exactly was going on and said I would know tonight." She sat down at her place near the kitchen sink.

"Rick, don't tell Jenny you don't know what's going on. I don't want her to know that my brother is going to propose." Evy gave him a kiss before he could say anything. "If you do this for me, you might get more than a kiss." She smiled and Rick shut his mouth immediately.

After supper Jonathan helped Evy put things up and wash the dishes all the while talking to her about how he was going to do it and if she thought that he was rushing into things.

"I have no control over you. I found that out along time ago. As for timing make sure she doesn't know your going to do it. If you get down on one knee now she will know that you are going to ask her but if you get her mind on something else she might be shocked when it happens and that is what you want. Not to shocked where she'll say no but shocked enough to be in tears after she says yes." Jonathan looked a little confused but Evy didn't know how to make it easier. She thought of something they could do to help explain it. "Jonathan, join me in my bedroom." He was looking puzzled now more than ever.

"Why?"

"I have a way to explain this better."

They went up to the bedroom after telling Rick and Jenny that they were going to get ready for the news that was going to be told. Evy sat on the bed as Jonathan stood there in bewilderment.

"Now show me how you are going to propose to her." He got down on one knee and Evy stopped him, "Don't do that. She won't be shocked. What you want to do is get her into a movie or show or something and then ask her if you can ask a question. That's when you pull the ring out and show it to her. You get down on one knee then and ask her to marry you. If she is extremely shocked she'll say no but if she is still on Earth after that she'll say yes." They went back down stairs and that's when it hit Jonathan that he needed to watch a movie he had been wanting to see since Monday.

He started the movie and about half way between it Evy nudged him to do it.

"Jenny can I ask you a question?" He sounded a little nervous and Evy thought that Jenny had figured it out by that.

"Sure. What do you want to ask babe?" She stroked his hair and looked into his eyes. Rick looked away as he got down on one knee.

"Will you marry me? I know it's kind of soon but we've known each other longer than Evy and Rick have know each other." He looked back at Evy who glared at him for bring up that small but true fact.

"Oh my god Jonathan. You're right it is a little soon but you're also right about us knowing each other really well. I don't know what to say. Wait yes I do, I will." She was crying just as Evy said she would and jumped up to give Jonathan a big hug along with a kiss on the cheek.

"Congrats Jonathan. I thought you would never get married." Evy was impressed by the way that he did the proposal.

"Well I don't think you'll be getting married anytime soon so there." Jonathan got up and ran upstairs not only out of pure fear that his sister was going to pound his head in but to get ready for bed. It was almost midnight when everyone decided to go to bed.

"Rick, are you ready to sleep in my room now? Don't think that you're going to get something. I'm just asking because I need to feel safe like I did last night but I don't want to sleep on the couch again. It felt safe but wasn't very comfortable when I got up this morning." She rubbed her leg and smiled at him. She wasn't going to allow him to get any tonight because she wanted to be married before anything like giving up her body to him happened.

"I was ready last night to sleep in your room but we slept on the couch and I'm glad we did. That was the first time I have been that close to a woman without her smacking me in the face or trying to kill me." He smiled and together they went upstairs. Jenny soon followed and went into Jonathan's room.

"What are you doing? We're not suppose to sleep together before we get married. I don't want to break tradition." Jonathan hated himself for saying that but he didn't want to end up giving her something that he might wake up and not remember.

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you and good night, jeez." She rolled her eyes in a joking way and walked over to him, kissed him, and went to her room right next door.

Jonathan sat on the bed for a while think over how the wedding would go. He started think of the worst. He would get cold feet and walk out of the church leaving Jenny alone at the alter crying on Evy's shoulder, smearing eye shadow on her vale. Or she would run out on him in the middle of the 'I dos' then meet a guy that was more handsome or something like that. He fell asleep, not wanting to have nightmares of his wedding he changed the subject to the good sides of getting married. Being with the woman you love, and have kids together.

In the other room, Rick and Evy were laying together and talking about the very thing that Jonathan had been thinking about before falling asleep. Rick was trying to figure ways to ruin the wedding like say that he had a reason that they should not be wed but couldn't come up with the reason when Evy asked. Evy, however, was thinking about how she was going to give her brother and best friend the biggest wedding they have ever seen. She was trying to keep it within her limit of money but kept come up with extravagant ways to make the wedding more beautiful. She figure that tomorrow at the library she would tell Jenny some ideas and they could talk all about it with out the guys being there to say that they were being to girly or they were coming up with ideas that no one would be able to pay for. They fell asleep, Evy with her head on Rick's chest again, and she couldn't have been happier. Her brother was getting married and she was with the man she loved.