"Alan?" Ellie whispered through the darkness.

"Yeah, honey?" he replied. He made a little grunting sound as he turned over in bed to face her.

She immediately felt a twinge of guilt. "Did I wake you?"

He reached out and brushed her hair off her face. "No, I wasn't asleep yet. What's up?"

Ellie felt a warm, light sensation fill her upside. It was a feeling of comfort and safety and of being absolutely loved. It was hard to believe sometimes, even still. Alan Grant was in her bed and he loved her.

"Are you thinking about Ethan?" Alan asked.

She sighed. "I was, yeah. But I don't really want to dwell when there's nothing we can do right now." And that was the truth. She'd texted Ethan and told him that she and Alan would welcome him and Hailey to their new house in California for as long as they needed. But they were two hours ahead and it was the middle of the night, so Ellie knew they wouldn't be getting anything else other than Ethan's response of Thanks, we'll talk. Love you.

Alan put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a supportive squeeze. "I know you want to be doing something, but you can't. I know how you hate to just wait around, but you've gotta be patient, Ellie. You can't push him."

"I know you're right. I just want to know what's happening so we can make a plan," she pouted.

He chuckled. "I know you do. And we will. Or you will, more like. Just not right now. Try and get some sleep."

She scoffed, "Not very likely."

"Alright, then we've gotta distract you," he reasoned.

The first thought in Ellie's mind was to roll Alan onto his back and climb on top of him. Sex would certainly distract her and give her a very good night's rest. But with all that had happened today, she wasn't really in the mood to have sex. Alan might be able to convince her, but she could tell he was tired.

When she didn't immediately answer, Alan suggested, "Tell me about your dream again." He took her left hand and brought it to his lips to press a gentle kiss on her finger, just in front of her engagement ring.

Ellie smiled. They'd been engaged for a couple months now. It still felt new.

It was more than two years after Biosyn, nearly two whole years they'd been living together, and Ellie had wondered whether this was all there would be for them. Back when they'd been together the first time, Ellie had wanted to get married and start a family, and Alan was the one to insist that they had time, that there was no need to rush. They'd talked about marriage like it was a given, like it was only a matter of time before Alan got around to finding a ring and proposing properly. And then after Jurassic Park and everything fell apart, they went their separate ways. Now, though, Ellie was divorced with two grown kids, and she didn't really want to be married again. But she was pretty certain Alan did. After all the years they were apart, Ellie saw very quickly that Alan hadn't really changed. He was doing the same thing and in the same places and living just as he had when they were together. There were only three things about him now that were different: he had a beard, he'd learned about wine, and he wasn't afraid to claim what he wanted. And when he finally said he wanted to be with her, that was all Ellie needed to pick up where they left off.

She had asked him point blank if he thought that they would get married. And Alan gave her the most perfectly Alan response in the world: "Of course I want to marry you, but you're divorced and you like your freedom, so I'm not going to tie you down."

It really was so sweet of him to remember what she'd said that first day in his tent at the Utah dig site. But god was he obtuse sometimes. Ellie had then kissed him and said, "I don't think I'd mind being tied down. And if you asked me to marry you, I wouldn't say no."

About three weeks later, Alan proposed. And Ellie said yes.

They were in the midst of looking for a place in California at the time, as Ellie had already accepted the teaching position at Stanford. And when they arrived in the Bay Area and explored to find their home, she found exactly what she didn't know she'd been looking for. And when she told Alan, she called it her dream.

"My dream is that you and I will get married with my kids and a few of our friends with us, and it'll be up on a hill somewhere looking out over one of these beautiful forested valleys, and when we have our first kiss as husband and wife, the sun will just be setting and the sky will be full of color. And then we'll toast with champagne and we'll dance together and I can spend the whole evening in your arms and the rest of my life as your wife," Ellie told him now. He was still holding her hand and tracing his thumb over her engagement ring.

And god that ring was pretty. Alan had done extremely well choosing it. Three rows of tiny diamonds around half the platinum band, one square-cut diamond in the center. Simple but not boring. Beautiful but not ostentatious. Definitely not impractical. It was a ring she'd be able to wear always and not be too worried about. She loved it so much. Even if Alan did admit to having Ian Malcolm help him pick it out.

Ellie's thoughts returned to the present, unfortunately. She was happy to talk about her dream for their wedding, happy to think about his sweet proposal and her perfect ring. But try as she might, she could not be distracted from Ethan and Hailey. "We're going to have to wait until the kids are settled," she said aloud.

"Yeah, I figured," Alan responded. "We'll know more after this summer, and we can plan for next summer, maybe. Or spring, depending on how things go."

There was a hint of something in his tone. Something Ellie barely caught, but it didn't escape her. A little sting of worry. She scooted herself closer to him in bed to hold him in her arms. "I'm not going anywhere, Alan. We can go to the county office and get a marriage license tomorrow if you want."

He kissed her cheek. "Thank you, honey. But that's not what we're gonna do. That's not your dream. And we're gonna make that dream come true. We'll figure it out," he promised.

That feeling of bone-deep comfort washed over her again, and Ellie suddenly found herself quite sleepy. "Yes we will," she agreed, fighting off a yawn.

"Bedtime," Alan insisted. He gave her ass an affectionate pat on the ass, making her smirk to herself as she rolled herself over into a more comfortable position.

Alan moved with her so he was spooning her from behind. His beard tickled her neck in the best way. He slipped one hand under her pajama shirt to rest on her bare stomach. Ellie put her hand on top of his and sighed happily.

If this was how she could go to bed each and every night for the rest of her life, she might never have a bad night's sleep ever again.