Harry opened the door with a smile. It was a nice change of pace, opening his front door to a guest and smiling about it. He didn't often have anyone come over to his house, and if people did drop by, he usually wasn't too pleased about it. But now Ruth was here and Harry was quite happy indeed.
"Hello, darling," he greeted, giving her a soft kiss as she entered his home.
She grinned in response. "Hello," she answered in return. She took off her coat and he took it to hand by the door. When he turned back, she had pulled her ring out of her blouse on its chain.
Harry unclasped the necklace and took the ring off it and placed it on her finger, kissing her hand. "There we are," he murmured.
Ruth was positively beaming. "I get to wear it all weekend. I'm so glad," she told him.
"You can wear it as much as you like, you know," he pointed out.
They started to make their way into the living room where Harry had already poured some wine for them. He ordered food to be delivered, knowing they'd spend tomorrow cooking for when Malcolm came over. And after the week they'd had—and after Harry had been shot at today—he really wasn't in the mood to cook tonight.
When Harry handed Ruth her glass, he saw a pensive look on her face. "What?" he asked warily.
"Well, I dunno, should I just wear the ring and leave it at that? I mean, no one knows we're together, do we want to tell people gradually or just open with the fact that we're engaged?" she wondered aloud.
"I don't know that it really matters either way. It's not as though we're going to call a meeting and make an announcement of it. Nor are we sending a department-wide email. I think it might be simplest for you to just wear the ring and have people find out as they find out."
Ruth shook her head. "No, that won't do at all. That's how rumors start and the mystery of it all will cause more gossip and be distracting for everyone. We can't do that."
"Then what do you want to do?"
She chewed her lip and stared at her wine glass.
"Christ, you do want to call a meeting, don't you?" Harry grumbled.
"Well, wouldn't that be easiest? Just be direct and open and then everyone can react and we can just move on?"
That sounded very good to Harry indeed. Moving on. Moving forward. Together. Yes, that did sound quite nice. "However you want to handle things, Ruth," he said. With a small smile, he added, "So long as you still want to marry me, we can go forward however you like."
"Yes, Harry," she answered. "I very much want to marry you."
And Harry found himself smiling again.
In fact, Harry nearly smiled all night. He smiled through dinner as he and Ruth decided to eat straight out of the cartons on the sofa together while half-watching a film on television and discussing their plans for the weekend. He smiled as Ruth reiterated how relieved she was that he was alright after the Nigerians attempted to assassinate him, thinking he was Robert Westhouse. He smiled as she snuggled up close to him after they ate and watched the end of the movie. He smiled when she let her hands wander over him and it became clear they weren't actually going to watch the movie at all. And he smiled as she crawled over his lap and kissed him and he fumbled with the remote to turn off the television so he could concentrate on her.
He couldn't be certain how they actually made it upstairs to his bed but he was glad they did. Harry was a bit old to be able to have a proper shag on the sofa. This was much nicer, having Ruth in his arms and comfortable on his proper mattress with his expensive, soft sheets.
Ruth turned and sighed happily as she rested her head on his chest. "I've run out of things to say," she told him.
"You don't need to say anything," he replied, stroking her hair.
"I wish I had a way to say it properly, I mean. I love you so much and I'm so happy here with you. It still hardly feels real that we've managed to find our way. I never thought I could be this happy. That we could be this happy," she said.
Harry hummed in agreement. "You can repeat yourself as often as you like with that, Ruth. I wholeheartedly agree. Every moment we're together like this feels like a dream, and I dread having to wake up cold and alone again."
"That won't happy, Harry," she vowed. "I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't mean it. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be. I'm not going anywhere."
He pressed a kiss to the part of her forehead he could reach. "We do still have to figure things out."
"Let's worry about it tomorrow. After we see Malcolm. I just want to see what it's like to tell someone before we try to sort things. Once we tell Malcolm, it'll be real. And then we can bring our happy dream into real life." She was putting things off, and they both knew it.
But Harry couldn't be bothered about it just now. Not really. "However you want to deal with it, darling. So long as we do actually deal with it." It had bothered him earlier today when they were worried about Ruth's stupid rule about not mixing personal on the Grid. She'd broken that rule more than he had. And since it had utterly failed, they needed to figure out something else.
"I promise," she said. Her voice started to slur with exhaustion.
Harry chuckled affectionately. "Let's get ready for bed," he suggested. They were still naked in their afterglow, and Harry assumed Ruth would want to put on her pajamas and such.
She grumbled sleepily. "No, thank you." She snuggled closer to him, wrapping one of her legs around his. "You can keep me warm."
"My pleasure," he answered softly. Harry had no problem sleeping naked, actually. And he certainly wouldn't stop Ruth from doing so. And he'd be lying if he said that the fact that she wanted nothing more than to curl herself around him and fall asleep wasn't the most charming, lovely thing he'd ever experienced.
Funny, Harry never considered himself a romantic. He wasn't a particularly soft person. Even when his children were little, he'd had trouble being gentle and patient and affectionate. He'd wanted to be, but it just wasn't something he was capable of. Not back then. And when he was with women, he was suave and seductive. He liked to tease and be self-deprecating as a means of charming a woman out of her knickers and into his bed. He always maintained the upper hand. He'd really only let his guard down with women a small handful of times in his life. With Jane, of course. Later with Elena and then with Juliet. And now with Ruth.
But this was different than those times. He'd been vulnerable with those women but still guarded. No, not guarded…perhaps the better word would be wary. Harry had allowed himself to fall in love with four women but not till this marvelous woman had he ever felt safe in doing so. He did not worry when the other shoe would drop. With Jane, he'd been inexperienced and distracted. With Elena and Juliet, he'd gone in knowing he was married and so were they, and there could be nothing more between them than what they'd already had. And now with Ruth, he felt hope and an optimism for the future that comforted him. All he wanted to do was lie with her like this forever. And in some small sense, perhaps he could.
Those happy thoughts filled Harry's head as he drifted off to sleep. They woke the next morning, still happy, but having shifted during the night. Harry's eyes opened to find Ruth's sleeping face mere inches from his.
As though sensing him, her long eyelashes fluttered and her blue eyes opened. "It'll be nice to be used to this," she commented groggily.
"Oh?" he questioned.
"Waking up with you like this. It's still a bit surprising to find you in bed beside me. Even if I am in your bed."
Harry scooted toward her and pulled her into his arms. "A good surprise?"
"Oh yes," she assured him. "But won't it be nice when we just know where we are and that we're together and it's just a fact rather than a nice surprise?"
"I suppose so," he agreed. "For now, though, I'm fine being surprised. Probably the only surprise I'll ever like."
Ruth smiled and kissed him. "Come on, I'm hungry. Let's start breakfast."
Harry let her roll away from him and found himself smiling, once again, as he watched his beautiful fiancée walk across his bedroom wearing nothing but the engagement ring he put on her finger.