Meet The Parents

chapter 5

by GrEyEyEdGiRl : )

written April third, 2006, 3:30 AM. : )

Burke laid in the bed staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the clock to hit 5 AM. Although he had collapsed onto the bed the night before, he had only managed to get a few hours sleep, before, plagued by bad dreams, he had awoken and propped himself on his side, not being able to get back to sleep.

He had wanted Saul to like him. That had been very important, because the biggest reason he was so nervous when they first arrived was, he'd wanted Saul's blessing before he finally got up the nerve to propose.

And now that was all over. He hadn't done anything on purpose to make Saul hate him, and it wasn't like he could blame him...When he and Cristina finally did conceive their beautiful little girl, he wasn't going to let another man near her even if he was successful, well-respected, and a gentleman.

He wanted Saul's approval though.

Preston was startled out of his thoughts by a gentle rapping on the door, then the knob started to turn. "Burke?" He heard coming softly, from just outside the door.

Burke stood up, his pajama pants uncreasing, and opened the door to the guestroom. "Hey."

Cristina smiled up at him, a slightly guilty look twinkling in her mischievous eyes. "Can I come in?"

"It's your house," Burke said laughing.

She nearly collapsed on the bed, leaning her back against the wall and covering her legs with the blanket. Burke sat next to her, careful not to be too close. "Seriously, though," he said, almost in a whisper. "If your father finds out... I don't want him to have anything else to hold against me."

Cristina stared at him pointedly for a moment, then snuggled closer, covering him with the blanket. Burke sighed. "Why do you care? We leave tomorrow night, and then we may never have to see him again. And we won't, either, I only agreed to this dumb thing so you'd shut up about meeting them."

Burke frowned, then spoke, ignoring her last comment. "This is your family. I want to be part of your family."
Cristina sighed quietly, leaning her head against his chest. "We promised your parents we wouldn't sleep together," Burke said, sighing as he brushed her hair around her neck.

"Who's sleeping?" Cristina asked tiredly, raising her eyebrows and yawning. Burke smiled.

"I couldn't sleep," she continued quietly, her voice suddenly soft. "No, I couldn't either," Burke responded, bending his head sideways so it was touching hers, closing his eyes. "Set the alarm for an hour from now," he murmured to Cristina. He briefly heard her fingers reaching out and adjusting it, before she wrapped her arms around him, eyes closing, as they drifted off to sleep.

"Sir."

Saul Rubenstein looked up from his spot in the living room, a drink sitting next to him and a newspaper on his lap. "Where's Cristina?" He asked.

"I believe she's taking a shower. Can I-Can I talk to you?" Burke fidgeted his hands. Saul looked at him, raising one brow. Well, both brows. Unibrow.

"All right. What is this about?" Saul looked at Burke fully for the first time, as Burke closed the door to the house, leading them out into the court yard.

"I know. I know you don't like me. I don't even blame you. That's your daughter, and you want to protect her. I understand." Burke sighed, his eyes drifting out over the yard, flowers scattered along the path, a pool and tennis court not too far in the distance.

"What's your point, Preston." Saul said it quietly, dangerously, almost, stating it instead of interrogating.

"My point. My point is that she's the love of my life. She's everything to me, and I would never hurt her! My point is that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and you're making that a hell of a lot harder than it's supposed to be!" Burke felt his pulse racing, the logical part of his brain chastised him for making such an emotional outburst, but he concentrated on looking Saul straight in the eye.

"You're going to propose." Saul's voice was calm, but there was the shadow of surprise in his eye.

"Yes," Burke managed.

"You know she won't say yes." This time the question was there.

Burke felt his chest tighten. "Maybe not."

Saul's eyes drifted away for a moment, resting on the flowers a few feet away, then he focused them back onto Preston. "And you're telling me this."

"I was hoping for your blessing."

Saul didn't answer for a moment, simply looked back at the lilies growing farther down the path. He looked back at Burke, and he was almost smiling. "Well, Dr. Burke. That had better be one hell of a ring."

"I need to get out of here."

Burke smiled down at his suitcase, his grin widening as he heard Cristina close the door to the guestroom, then felt her arms wrap around his waist. "Where would you like to go?"

"I could take you to the beach."

Burke smiled, as she turned him around slowly, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "I'm not really a beach person."

Cristina grinned. "There's a coffee shop I used to go to. You might like it."

Burke laughed. "That sounds fine. There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Cristina had sat down on the bed, and was now in the process of unfluffing his cushions. "Oh, what's that?" She asked smiling. Burke grinned at her, feeling the small velvet box inside the pocket of his jacket. "It's a surprise. Come on, are we going?"

"One large frappuccino, a medium mocha latte, and um, a family order of fries," Cristina said to the tacky looking teenager, donned with tan apron and pointed cloth hat. Burke smiled at him, taking the tray they were offered, handing him some cash with his other hand. "Come on, let's get a table in the back," he said softly, as Cristina wrapped her arm around his waist. "Here, can you take your jacket off, something's poking me-"

"It's fine," Burke said sharply, feeling his pulse racen. Cristina raised an eyebrow, confused. "Bur-?" She started.

"-I'm cold," Burke interrupted defensively, then smiled, kissing her forehead before setting the tray down on the table.

"I wouldn't have pegged you for the fast food, uniform hat, type of girl," Burke said smoothly, sitting down.

"It's not fast food. It's a coffee hut. That sells some food. That's why they call it Kappa's Corner Coffee house. It's a coffee hut."

Burke smiled, putting ketchup in a pile on the side of the small plastic basket holding their fries. 'What'd you want to talk about?" Cristina asked, taking one and chewing.

"Well," Burke said smiling. "I'm sorry," he said, quieter now, his voice breathy. "I don't know how to start off..." His voice seemed to drift away.

Cristina paused with her latte poised at her lips. "Burke? You okay?"
"Cristina."

Cristina sat looking at him.

"I...I love you. You are...The...most beautiful, sexy, brilliant woman I have ever met..."

Cristina blushed, smiling at the basket of french fries she had brought closer to her.

"And," Burke said. Cristina looked up.

"And you make me happy...Happier than I ever thought...You," Burke broke off, and suddenly as if he realized what he were doing, he grabbed his coffee and gulped the scorching liquid down. Cristina stared at him.

"I always thought," he said hoarsely, "I knew just what I wanted, and I had no doubt about getting there. But then...when I had it, when everything seemed right, I met you and I realized I didn't know what happy was."

Cristina gaped at him, her face screwed up with emotion, biting her lip so hard she thought it'd bleed.

"Cristina. I love you. I...I want to be with you, forever. Cristina," he whispered. He stood up, and to her horror, came closer, bending in front of her. "Cristina. I love you, will you marry me?"

Cristina stared down at him, not being able to breathe, then suddenly, hand clenched over her mouth like she was going to be sick, stood up and ran out of the coffee shop, leaving Burke kneeling on one knee.

FIN on April fourth, 2006, 8:17 PM.

BTW, I know how much some of you like my author's notes. (For those of whom they annoy, lol, ignore me and skip right to the review) Well, I started an LJ (as in livejournal) community for EVERYONE'S author's notes, what I mean is, it's like how GA has a writer's blog, only this one is for GA fanfic. If you have a username on and you write fanfic, feel free to post for a blog, any writer can do it. The link is All you do is write your writer's blog in your journal, then link to it in a post in the community. If you aren't familiar with LJ, feel free to email me. But anyway, you can go there and read sort of extended author's notes, what the writer was thinking what they wrote the story or chapter, hints about what they're planning, etc. Anyway, hope to see some of you hanging there soon: ) I'm posting my writer's blog for this chapter on there, look for a post by 'bang2009.' Just go to the link above (you might have to copy and paste it) and then click on the link once you're in the community. : )