Sparks ch 8

"Dating?" Elizabeth repeated after her mother Grace told her about her plans. "You are dating?"

"I'm going out with a man I know from church. He's very kind and handsome."

"Mom, you and Dad…"

"Have been divorced for three years, dear. Its time to move on."

She knew it was a childish dream but she had always hoped her parents would get back together. They were supposed to be together forever. That's what the vows mean. That's what hers and Jack's meant and if she ever married again, hopefully to Lucas, that's the way she would take them too.

"Beth?"

"They just called my plane, Mom. Have fun on your date."

"Plane? Where are you going?"

"San Diego. Just for the weekend. Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Beth."

Elizabeth sighed as she found her seat at the back of the plane. She sent Lucas a quick text.

"Found my seat. Miss u. Love u. C U soon!"

"Love u 2."

That made her smile. Pulled her out of her slump from her Mom's news. She couldn't wait to kiss him and give Aria a hug.

She let her thoughts drift to the future as the plane took off a few minutes later. She wanted to carry a baby of her own. She'd love to be Aria's mother but she also wanted the whole experience of carrying a tiny human inside her body. It seemed so magical.

She was thirty though, so she didn't have too much time but within the next couple years, that would be great. Maybe she and Lucas could chat about that. Hopefully without freaking him out too much.

The six-hour flight was long, but she napped, ate lunch and read a novel that she had recently bought but never read.

Finally, they landed at San Diego International. She texted Lucas that she had landed and grabbed her overnight bag from the overhead as soon as she was allowed to take off her seatbelt.

"I'm here."

"Me too. Meet u at the gate."

As soon as she walked out the door, she saw a large black SUV pull up. It made her nervous with the tinted windows but then he rolled down the window.

"Hey, beautiful. Hop in."

She smiled and hurried over, climbing in the passenger seat. "Hi."

He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. A peck really.

"Oooo," Aria said from the back seat with a giggle.

"Well, hello Aria May."

Someone cleared her throat and that wasn't Aria. "Hello, Elizabeth."

"Helen, um, hi." She had just kissed the woman's son in front of her and she had zero idea what to do with that.

Helen nodded at her, with that tight smile Elizabeth also didn't know what to do with.

"Nice ride, Luke," Elizabeth blurted, changing the subject.

"It's Mom's," he told her, looking over his shoulder to pull into traffic.

"It gets me from here to there," Helen mentioned.

It was a large vehicle for one person, but she wouldn't judge.

"Mom refurbishes furniture she finds at Estate sales," Lucas told her. "Then she delivers them to people she sells them to."

"Oh, that's cool. I wish I was creative like that."

"You are creative," Lucas assured her, grabbing her hand, holding it on the console. "You helped me decorate the house and I've seen the paintings that you and Aria have done."

"Aria is the talented one in that example."

"Really, hon. You are creative. Not everyone is the same."

She nodded at him and gave him a smile. He winked and then put his attention back on the road, keeping her hand in his though.

"Maybe Elizabeth can help you paint your room, Nana," Aria suggested.

"I'm sure she has better things to do than help me," Helen said.

"I'd like to help, if you are okay with that," Elizabeth told her. "I know how to wield a paintbrush."

"Well, sure."

"Great. I want to thank you for allowing me to use one of your guest rooms, Helen. I've never been to San Diego before and now I don't have to worry about where to stay."

"We should go to the zoo, Daddy!" Aria squealed. "We can see the killer whales and the seals and get our faces painted and I love the monkeys!"

"Maybe, Aria."

"But we go every year and since Elizabeth hasn't been here, it would be really fun for her."

"I know, but she's only here until Sunday night. Its not much time."

"Its three days, Dad," Aria said, plenty of sass in her voice.

"Aria…"

"Sorry, but you're being silly. We don't have other stuff to do."

Elizabeth thought it was weird too. Three days was enough time to go to the zoo. She squeezed his hand and raised her eyebrows.

"I have plans for us," he whispered.

"Like a date?" she whispered back.

"Yeah."

"I'd like to go to the zoo too. In addition to our date."

"I guess the zoo will be good, Aria," he told her a moment later.

"Yay! Nana, will you come too?"

"I wouldn't miss it, sweetie."

"Awesome."

When they arrived at Helen's beach house, or beach mansion in Elizabeth's eyes, Aria ran in with Helen right behind her.

Lucas opened Elizabeth's door for her and helped her out of the SUV. He stayed right in front of her though, blocking them with the door.

"Its good to see you," he said with a big grin.

"You too. I can't believe you kissed me in front of your mom."

"Why not? She knows we are dating."

"But…I don't know her well. It was weird. What must she think of me?"

"Um that you are my girlfriend and we are getting serious enough to kiss in front of other people."

She slid her hands up his chest to the back of his neck, clasping her hands and staring into his eyes. "So, how serious are we, Doc?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we serious enough to have some chats about our future?"

His hands rested on her hips, but he moved them around her waist to pull her closer. "We can have those chats."

"Okay."

"Like tonight after Aria goes to bed. We can maybe have a glass of wine and curl up on the couch in the family room."

"I'd like that."

She'd more than like that. That felt like a date too and they didn't have a whole lot of those, not without Aria around anyway.

"So, since there's no one here with us," he said, looking around them and stepping as close as he could. "May I give you a proper kiss?"

"Daddy! Elizabeth! Come see what Nana and I are making for dessert!" Aria yelled out the door. "It's going to be so good!"

"Tonight, before that talk, we will make it happen," he promised, taking her bag and her hand, and leading her inside.

Dinner was pork loin, green beans with French onions on top, because that was the part Aria liked, and a Caesar salad. It was delicious.

Dessert, made by Helen and Aria, was a lemon cheesecake and it was beyond amazing.

"Will you read to me tonight, Elizabeth?" Aria wondered as they were unpacking her things in her room.

"Of course I will."

"I'm glad you're here."

Elizabeth kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad too."

"I love you," Aria said quietly, hugging her waist tighter.

"I love you more, sweetie. Now, you better get in the bath like your dad said or we will run out of time for a book."

Aria giggled, found her pink pajamas, and headed to the bathroom. Lucas had stopped helping her with her baths as she was old enough to get herself clean. He still reminded her to wash her hair occasionally but other than that, she was growing up.

Lucas was in his room so Elizabeth wandered to the kitchen, looking for something to keep her busy until Aria was ready for a book.

"Hey," Lucas whispered, scaring her.

"Oh good heavens, Lucas! I thought you were in your room. What are you doing down here?"

"Just waiting for you. I thought we could talk and have that glass of wine."

"Aria is in the bath and then she wants me to read to her. But after that, I'll meet you on the couch."

He nodded and kissed the corner of her mouth. "I'm looking forward to it."

That move created goosebumps on every inch of her skin. It made her want a real kiss so badly but they heard footsteps behind them so they stepped apart.

"Lucas, dear," Helen said, walking in the kitchen.

"Yes, Mom."

"May I speak with you for a moment?"

"I'm listening."

"I mean, privately?" she asked, looking quickly at Elizabeth.

"I am going to go check on Aria," Elizabeth said, taking the cue. She wandered up the stairs and went into Aria's room to wait for her. She was definitely curious about Helen and Lucas' conversation but she'd be patient. If it involved her, Lucas would fill her in.

"Okay! I'm ready for a story!" Aria yelled as she ran and bounced on the bed, her wet hair slapping against her back.

"You smell good, girlie," Elizabeth said.

"Daddy bought it for me. It smells like peaches. They're my favorite."

Aria got under the covers and Elizabeth sat down next to her, grabbing the book that was on the side table. "This one?"

…..

Downstairs….

"Mom, she's sleeping in a separate room. There's no need to be worried about Aria's perception," Lucas said in a loud whisper.

"Good to know. I'm still not sure about you kissing her in front of her."

"Mom, she's seen us kiss before. She knows we are 'going out' as she calls it. We don't do anything inappropriate in front of her."

"Are you going to marry her?"

"That's between Elizabeth and me, don't you think?"

"It affects all of us."

"I don't understand where this is coming from. You said you'd be delighted to have her here but you're acting the opposite."

"What would Clara think? Its only been…"

"Four years, Mom. Clara would think that I'm trying to take care of Aria to the best of my ability and that I am trying to be happy. She would like Elizabeth and I was hoping you would too."

"Lucas, dear."

"Mom, I want her here with me and Aria. You are off the hook, though. You don't need to go with us to the zoo anymore. I want this trip to be something she remembers as a good time. Not the opposite."

He walked upstairs and closed the door of his room, shooting Elizabeth a text.

"Hey."

"Hey back. I'll be down in a few minutes. Aria is getting drowsy."

"I'm not downstairs. Can we maybe talk in my room?"

"Sure. Everything alright?"

"Of course. Just a change of venue." He wasn't going to be discussing anything about his conversation with his mom. She didn't need to know that.

"Lol."

About ten minutes later, Elizabeth knocked and walked in wearing a big sweatshirt and a pair of flannel pants. She was swimming in them.

"Comfy?" he asked, holding his hand out as he lounged on the bed.

"Very," she said, laying down in front of him. "So, change in venue?"

"Yeah."

"Anything you want to tell me?"

"Nope. I thought we would have that talk that you mentioned earlier."

"Okay." She sat up and stared at him long enough that he sat up too.

"So I want to have a baby," she blurted. His eyes got big and she giggled. "Not now. Just in the future and I am thirty so I only have like five or so years to do that."

He smiled and then started laughing. "Well, I'm almost forty."

"Yes, but you don't get to carry the baby. My age is the important one in this conversation." She then froze. "Unless you mean that you don't want to have another baby."

"That's not what I meant."

"Good. So how do you feel about it? I mean, we should be on the same page, I think."

"Agreed. I think Aria would love having a sibling and I think it would be good for her."

"But you, Luke. How do you feel?"

"I'd like to have a child or two with you."

"Yeah? Great!" She said, grinning. "There's something more," she told him.

"What's that?"

"If we have a baby or two, I want to stay home with them."

"I like that idea."

They just smiled at each other for a long moment. "Do you think there's still cheesecake left?" she asked him.

"Pretty sure there is."

She got up and headed to the door. He walked up behind her though, stopping her exit.

"There's one more thing, Beth."

"Okay."

"So it seems like we are alone here."

"Yep."

"And its my room."

"Very good, Luke," she teased. He just smiled at her.

"Well, maybe you could stay for a while?"

"I could." She threaded their fingers together and looked at the large king sized bed over his shoulder. "Just remember we are in your mom's house and she and your very smart daughter are only across the hall."

"Just to sleep," he assured her. "And maybe a few kisses."

"And maybe some cheesecake?"

"Yeah."

"Deal."

He backed her up against the door and slowly tucked her hair behind her ear.

"What are you waiting for, doc?"

"I guess I'm just loving that you are here with me in my room."

"Its a nice room. A nice house."

"It is. Too big for just her but she won't let go of it. She says there are too many memories with my dad here."

He leaned down, his breath hot on her cheek, his lips close but not enough. She was going crazy waiting for his proper kiss.

"You're killing me, Luke."

He chuckled and softly covered her mouth with his. She tilted her head just enough to encourage a little more, that deep connection they were both craving.

She could see herself loving this man forever, as long as he promised never to stop kissing her like that.