Marriage and Family

Chapter Nineteen

"Right this way please." The waiter told Martin and Sam before leading them to their table.

Sam looked around at the restaurant Martin had chosen and smiled. He had brought her to the Spindletop, Houston's revolving rooftop restaurant. They had been here a few times before, usually on their anniversary, but they hadn't been here for many years.

She couldn't help but remember the first time they came here. It was their anniversary, but it was also the day that she told him about being pregnant with Rachel.

They were finished with their meal and Martin had decided to give her the anniversary present that he had picked out for her before they ordered dessert.

"I hope you like this." He said as he presented her with a long, narrow box.

She smiled at the jewelry box, pausing for a moment before opening it. Inside was a gorgeous diamond pendent. It was a simple design, just the way she liked her jewelry. She didn't own many diamonds and the only ones she did own were ones that Martin had given to her—like her engagement ring and some earrings he had given her for Christmas. "Oh Martin, it's gorgeous. But you didn't have to…"

"I know, but I saw it and immediately thought of you." He interrupted, getting up from the table and moving over to her side so that he could put the necklace on her. "Here." He picked up the necklace and moved all of her hair off to the side. Then he placed a couple of light kisses on her neck before clasping the necklace together.

"How does it look?" She asked.

He went back over to his seat and stared at her. "Absolutely breathtaking…and the necklace looks good too."

She couldn't help but blush slightly at his words. "Well I guess now it's your turn for your present." She reached down and picked up the small gift bag she had brought with her. "I have to admit though, I didn't spend nearly as much on your gift as I'm sure you did for mine."

"That's ok." He assured her. "I'd be happy with just a tie."

"Damn!" She chuckled. "Maybe I should've gone with the tie."

"I'm sure whatever this is," he pointed to the bag, "I'll love it."

"Let's hope so." She grinned.

He opened up the bag and pulled out something wrapped in tissue paper. After removing the tissue paper wrapping he saw that it was a picture frame with three slots for pictures. There were already recent pictures of Claire and Sean in the first two slots but the last one was empty.

"I thought that this could go on your desk at work." Sam told him. "I thought it would be nice for you to have more pictures of your family around."

"It will be nice and it's definitely going to be put on my desk Monday morning." Martin nodded. "But what am I going to put in the third picture slot?"

"That's the thing." She explained. "You're going to have to wait about a few more months before you put another picture in there."

He was confused. "Why a few more months?"

"Because that's when our new son or daughter will be born." She grinned.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" He asked, almost afraid to hope that she was telling him that she was pregnant.

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "I went to the doctor yesterday and he confirmed it."

"This is great!" He smiled, moving over to her side of the table and kissing her. When he pulled away though, the smile had turned into a look of concern. "That is great, right?"

After Sean was born healthy they had agreed not to tempt fate and weren't going to try for more children. He understood because even though Sam had done well in therapy and wasn't nearly as anxious about being pregnant, she still wasn't fully comfortable with the idea.

She knew what he was thinking about and smiled to reassure him. "It is great."

"So you're happy about this too?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm happy." She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I don't think I can find the words to explain how happy I am."

He kissed her one more time before returning to his own seat. "I guess we should have known that it wouldn't matter if we planned to have another child or not. All of our other children have been…surprises. Why should this one be any different?"

"Sam?" Martin looked at her questioningly. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Sorry." She apologized with a slight chuckle. "My mind decided to wander there for a moment."

"Did it go anywhere nice?" He asked.

"I was thinking about the time we came here on our anniversary and I told you about being pregnant with Rachel." Sam confessed.

"Ah yes." He grinned at the memory. "That was a good night."

"Yeah. It was." She agreed. "But it also reminded me that we only come here for special occasions. So what is the special occasion for tonight?"

"We're celebrating the fact that you are back home again." He explained.

"That's it?" She asked. "That's not really a special occasion."

"Maybe not to you." He countered. "But I missed you a lot and I thought that bringing you here would be a nice way to show you that, just like I thought that taking you to the movie earlier was a good idea."

"I still don't think that qualifies as a special occasion, but I do like coming here." She looked around before letting her eyes settle back on Martin. "It's nice. Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome." He smiled.