Oy, you guys! It's been a while, hasn't it? That's what happens when life hits you all at once AND you get writers block. I've got my freshman year of college coming up in a couple of weeks (eep!), some romance of my own (squee!), and my 18th birthday was July 31 (yay!), so I've been busy, and on top of that, I could not get inspired to write something that I actually liked (boo!).

But I FINALLY managed to write a chapter that I'm satisfied with. Sorry it took so long!

This is for Blair Bear Tate Monster, who originally asked to see first dates for all the characters. I ran out of good, original ideas for dates, but she said that fluff was fine as well, so hopefully you'll like this!

Please ignore any spelling or other mistakes. I didn't proofread this very well, and I wrote it in a really weird order 0_o. Sorry!

Enjoy!


"Hey, Jim!"

"Hmm?" Jim questioned absent-mindedly as he was finishing up cleaning the dishes after lunch one day.

"Can I, uh, talk to you, um, for a second?" Cason asked nervously.

"Uh... sure. What is it?" Jim questioned as he stacked up the last of the clean plates and dried his hands on a towel.

"No, er, not here," Cason said, glancing around worriedly. "Let's... go upstairs."

Jim eyed him questioningly, but didn't debate it as he followed Cason up to the room he and Rylee were currently residing in. Half-filled suitcases were laid out on the bed, stacks of clothes yet to be packed beside them.

Cason locked the door behind them and anxiously turned to Jim. "I need your help."

"Um, okay?" Jim answered. "What do you need?"

"I..." he hesitated for a second, then took a deep breath. "I'm... I'm going to..."

Jim stared at him expectantly, but Cason couldn't formulate his thoughts into words. Instead, he sighed, walked over to the bed and rummaged down to the very bottom of his suitcase, extracting a small, black box that had been wrapped in the folds of clothes. He held it on his open palm and stared nervously at Jim.

Jim gaped at him. "Really?"

Cason sighed and began fiddling with the box. "Yeah... Why? Is it too soon? Should I wait?"

"No, not at all. It's about time you made an honest woman out of her." Jim laughed when Cason looked like he was trying to figure out whether to be embarrassed, or angry, or just flat out happy. "When did you decide?"

Cason took a deep breath. "Well, I... I-I've known I was in love with her since Lacuna, but at that point we'd only actually been dating a couple of months, so... I was waiting, to make sure that... I... I'd really fallen as hard as I thought. And then, well, a-about a month ago I... the idea just kind of hit me, and it... it seemed so right, so I went ahead and bought the ring, a-and..." He sighed. "I've been trying to figure out when to do it."

"Speaking from experience, do it as soon as you can," Jim laughed. "Trust me on this: you do not want to get stuck waiting months because something came up. That ring may be small, but it weighs a lot."

"Yeah. O-Okay..." Cason nodded as he started to pace.

Jim crossed his arms amusedly. "What are you worried about?"

"I..." He paused, looked up at Jim, then sighed and went back to walking. "I don't know."

Jim sighed and walked over to his friend, stopping the incessant walking when he placed his hands on his shoulders. "It's Rylee. She loves you. You love her. If it feels right, it is right. Marriage is hard, but if you really love someone, it's the best decision you'll ever make. Don't worry about anything that comes after that yet. Cross that bridge when you get to it. You can't plan out your whole life ahead of time." Jim paused and grinned. "And there's not a chance that she'll turn you down. She's going to say yes."

Cason breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jim."

Jim laughed. "Can I see it?"

Cason handed the box over to Jim. Silver band, one heart shaped diamond. Classic and girly - completely perfect for Rylee.

"You think it's okay?" Cason asked nervously as he took it back from Jim and surveyed it himself.

Jim nodded. "Yeah, she'll love it. So... when are you going to do it?"

Cason sighed. "I don't know. That's part of what I wanted your help on."

He threw his hands up. "Whoa, I am not the person to help you with that."

"Of course you are! You're the only guy I know who's proposed to someone."

"Yeah, and I did it randomly in the rain one night!"

"Please, Jim," Cason begged. "I don't know where, o-or how, or - "

"Okay, okay. Fine," Jim agreed. "What are you thinking?"


It took nearly an hour of going around in circles before the decision was finally made - he would propose at dinner, on the last night of their trip back to Rylee's home on Alegria. Cason tried to get Jim to help him practice what he would say, but Jim refused, telling him it would sound better if it didn't come across as rehearsed. Cason argued that coming across as rehearsed would be better than coming across like a babbling idiot, but finally relented to Jim's advice. However, that didn't stop his mind from trying to plan ahead on its own. Cason was constantly trying to write a speech in his head, but nothing ever sounded the way he wanted it to.

Cason was scared. There was no other word for it. This wasn't nerves, this was flat out terrifying. And it seemed like every moment that got closer to the set date when he would propose, his fear increased ten-fold. They said goodbye to Jim and Tabitha and left Montressor, then they were on a cruise ship for three weeks, and all Cason could do was wait and pretend like his nervousness wasn't eating away at him.

Cason tried to hide his anxiety from her. In fact, he was so concentrated on coming across as calm and collected that he didn't notice Rylee seemed to be having some anxiety of her own... That is, until one night at dinner, about two weeks into the trip.

"Are you alright?"

Rylee looked up from the salad she'd been picking at with her fork. "Hmm?"

"Have you not been sleeping well?" Rylee looked at him questioningly, so he explained, "You've got bags under your eyes. I just noticed."

"Oh..."

Cason frowned. "Have I been keeping you up? Because there's a chair in our room. I can sleep on that and let you have the bed if you want - "

"No, it isn't... I, um... I... " Rylee stammered.

"Babe, what is it?" he questioned as he reached across the table for her hand.

"I... I can't..."

Rylee shook her head, unable to explain. Shock seeped into all of Cason's features, and without another thought, he threw down more than enough money to cover the bill, took Rylee's hand - even though she refused to raise her eyes and look at him - and led her back to their room.

"Rylee," he began as soon as the door clicked shut behind them. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

Rylee sat down on the edge of the bed, so Cason followed, staying impatiently silent as he waited for her to speak.

"Rylee..." he said, his voice a bit more sharp with worry.

She looked up and he found that she was silently crying. In a second, he'd pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her as she began to sob into his chest.

"Ry, you're... you're really freaking me out," Cason admitted.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I didn't mean for it to happen like this. I'm sorry."

"Didn't want... what? What is it?" he repeated. "Why are you crying?"

Rylee just kept crying, so Cason just kept holding her. He wasn't kidding when he said it was freaking him out; he was really scared. He'd seen Rylee cry before, but it took a lot to make her break down into heaving sobs like this, and he'd never seen her do it so out of the blue. It was beyond him what the problem was, and his mind immediately went to worst case scenarios... What if he'd done something wrong? What if there was something wrong with her? What if there was something wrong with them? Was there bad news?

Eventually, Rylee's tears slowed and her sobs died down, but she didn't move away from him. She kept her hands and her face pressed tight into his shirt, still not speaking.

"Baby, I'm sorry if... if I did something, or - " No, that didn't make sense. He highly doubted she'd be crying against him if he was the cause of her tears. "Will you just tell me? Please, Ry..."

Rylee finally pushed herself up. "I... I-I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you like this."

"Tell me what?"

"Cason..." she began, her voice trembling. "I-I'm late."

"Late for what?" he asked naively.

Rylee's face flushed pink. "My... m-my cycle. It's... It's two weeks late. I should have started around when we left Montressor, but I-I still haven't."

Cason's eyes widened. "That... th-that means you're... y-you're..."

"Pregnant," she finished. "I-I might be."

"Pregnant..." he breathed. He could feel the blood rushing from his face, his head getting lightheaded...

"Cason, I'm sorry - " Rylee managed to choke out before she started to dissolve into sobs again.

"No, don't - " He stopped her, putting his hands on either side of the face and looking into her eyes. "Don't apologize. We knew it was a possibility."

"But wh-why didn't we think about this b-before we..."

"I don't know," Cason sighed and released her. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I should have... done something. I never should have - "

"I didn't do anything to stop it either," she argued quietly. Cason didn't seem to accept this idea, so she sighed and grabbed his hand. "Cason, we've only... um... I mean... "

"Had sex? Er - " He began to rephrase when he realized how blunt that sounded. "Sorry. Been intimate?"

"Right. We've only... been intimate - " She blushed a bright pink. "Twice."

"Yeah," he sighed. "But that's two times too many if - "

"Wait," she demanded softly. "The first time, we... we got caught up in the moment - "

"Yeah, and I shouldn't have! I should have had enough self control to stop it before - "

"Wait, Cason, listen to me," she begged. "I... I love you, a-and I'm glad that... y-you were the person I got to... share that with. I don't regret it."

Cason smiled sadly. "I don't regret it either... but I wish we would have thought about what might happen before we - "

Rylee shook her head and he stopped. "Do the math, babe. That was almost three months ago, when Tabitha and Jim got married."

Cason hadn't realized it had really been that long, but she was right. "So that means..."

"That means that, if I'm pregnant, it happened the second time, the night you lost that contest thing," she explained. "So this isn't your fault."

"You just said that it was the night I lost!" he argued. "How is that - "

"Do you not remember why you lost? It was all because of me. I talked you into it." Rylee lowered her head as she unwillingly started to cry again. "It's my fault."

"No," Cason said fiercely. "No, it isn't. I didn't have to... give in, but I did."

"Because I seduced you! I practically forced you to - "

"No, Ry, you - " he sighed and tilted her head back up to look at him. "We aren't going to argue about this. The point is we didn't think about it, and now you... might be pregnant. It was just..."

Rylee sniffled. "Just what?"

Cason looked away thoughtfully, his mind racing faster than ever. He didn't know it was possible to think about so many things at once. But finally, it stopped on one thought...

"I was going to say it was just a mistake..." he began. "But... I don't think it was."

After a moment of internal preparation, he took both her hands in his and took a deep breath.

"Okay, if you're pregnant... then we're going to keep it. I don't want to put it up for adoption. I know we aren't financially stable right now, but I'll get any job I can to make sure that I can support both of you. I love you, and I promise to love the baby just as much. I will be there with you, through everything. You won't have to do this alone. We'll be together and - " He paused, surprised he'd made it this far without choking. He gulped and dropped to one knee in front of her. "A-And I'd like it if we could be together as a family," Cason stated as he pulled the small box from his pocket and flipped open the lid. "Rylee... M-Marry me?"

Rylee couldn't even gasp. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't look him in the eye. All she could do was stare at that diamond ring, trying to convince herself that this was real life, not a dream... This wasn't what she'd expected at all. It wasn't even close. She'd gone through what she thought was every possibility of what he might say or do - maybe he wouldn't want to keep it, maybe he'd tell her he wasn't ready, maybe he'd be angry, maybe he'd be thrilled - but in all of that, 'maybe he'll propose' never once crossed her mind.

"You want to marry me?" she finally managed to whisper.

"O-Of course I do," he answered, despite the fact his voice and confidence were wavering now. "I-I care about you... more than anything else, and I... I..." He groaned, letting the hand that was holding the ring fall to his side and the other hand catch his head as he lowered it in frustration. "Damn it. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to say it all... romantic or whatever. I just... " He moved closer, placing the ring down beside him so he could take her hands in his. "I love you, Rylee. That's it. I... I-I still don't know how I ever managed to earn a-a date from you, let alone your love... b-but now that I have it, I don't want to lose it."

There was a pause that seemed to last an eternity, where all Cason could do was stare at Rylee and silently plead that she would say yes. Rylee still looked like she was in shock, because she was in shock. Finally, she gasped in a huge breath as her breathing returned to normal and sank to her knees in front of him.

"Rylee?" Cason questioned, his voice hardly even audible.

She flung her arms around his neck, crying as she pressed her face into his shoulder. "Yes."

"Yes?" he repeated in shock, pulling her back. "You said yes?"

She laughed through the tears and nodded. "Yes. I-I love you. Yes!"

Cason's breath caught in his lungs and he couldn't speak. He pulled her back to him into another tight embrace, burying his face in her hair as he fought back tears of his own, unsuccesfully. Rylee pulled back, looking slightly amused at the idea of him crying.

"I'm not crying!" he defended before she could speak. All Rylee had to do was smile and he suddenly started laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm just so relieved."

"Did you think I would say no?" she gasped.

"I wouldn't have been surprised! I... I don't deserve you. A-At all. On any level. Babe, you're way too good for me."

Rylee leaned over and kissed him. "Don't ever say that again. Don't even think it. Think about how you reacted after I was kidnapped on Lacuna. You tried to come rescue me as soon as I'd been kidnapped, even though you'd been shot. Then after Abigail came back, you searched day and night, everywhere she could think of, trying to find me. We'd only been dating a couple of months, and we were only eighteen, but even then you acted like... like... like your life depended on my survival."

Cason laughed nervously. "That's exactly what I told Tabitha after you were kidnapped - I-I couldn't live without you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I had to get you back. I-It wasn't an optional thing.

"See? How could you think you don't deserve me? After all that you've done, you..." Rylee choked and gave up on fighting the tears. "Cason, you deserve me much, much more than anyone else in the Etherium."

That did it. Cason's chest shuddered and he threw his arms around Rylee once again as he started to cry. "Thank you. Thank you, baby. Thank you so much."


The last week passed in strange combination of excitement and worry. They were thrilled with the engagement and the new feelings of love it sparked, but their was that ever present concern that hovered at the back of their minds.

"Still nothing?" Cason asked the last morning of their trip.

Rylee shook her head as she exited the washroom. "No."

Cason put down the two suitcases he was carrying and grabbed her hands. "Hey," he smiled. "It's going to be okay."

Rylee smiled. "You seem so sure."

"Because I am," he stated.

They shared a quick kiss before each picking up a suitcase and, with Rylee's arm wrapped around Cason's, headed down to the dock.

"So you're parents are meeting us here?"

"That's what they said in the letter," Rylee answered, surveying the crowd for the sight of them.

"Okay... And what am I supposed to call your father again?"

Cason and Rylee's parents had met only once before, after everyone's families had ended up at the Benbow after their trip to Lacuna. In the brief visit, Rylee's father, Dr. Hamilton, had made it clear that he did not approve of Cason dating his daughter. Not that Cason blamed him.

Cason Deason had grown up on the backwoods planet of Albator. Their family owned a farm, and they all helped out on it. His family wasn't poor, but making ends meet was always a challenge, even for his small family of four. The only reason Cason had been able to go to the academy was because he'd miraculously gotten a scholarship. That combined with his work study had helped ensured he had just enough to pay for schooling.

Rylee Hamilton, on the other hand, had lived the life of a princess. She'd grown up on Alegria, a planet thriving with new industries. Her father was a doctor, and her mother ran a daycare more for her love of children than for the money. Rylee didn't need scholarships for the academy - her parents had more than enough to cover it. She'd also never worked a day in her life until they'd reached academy. While she didn't have the attitude of someone who had been spoiled, the fact simply was that she had been. She'd always had everything she wanted.

So in the end, it made sense that Dr. Hamilton wouldn't want some boy from the nearby, rundown planet of Albator to dating - let alone marry - his daughter, but Cason didn't care. He wanted her father to like him, of course, but he wasn't going to let the man stand in his way of being with Rylee... or so he hoped.

"Um," Rylee hesitated, knowing that her father wasn't fond of Cason. "Stick with sir."

Cason nodded just as their was a shout from somewhere behind them.

"Rylee!"

Rylee and Cason turned around and came face to face with a slightly plump woman with bleached blonde hair, who looked much too young to be the mother of the nineteen year old girl standing in front of her. She was clad in a white blouse and a high-waisted skirt that was a horridly bright shade of pink that Cason hadn't even known existed until just then. Accompanying her was a tall man, also with blonde hair, albeit more natural looking. He was dressed in a crisp, white doctor's coat and kept one arm wrapped around his wife as they approached the young couple.

"Oh, Rylee! I'm so glad you're finally home!" the woman cried as she embraced her daughter, kissing her repeatedly. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, mom," Rylee returned the hug.

While the two women greeted each other, the men just stared at each other. Cason gulped, trying not to be too intimidated by the harsh glare he was currently getting from his fiance's father. Though Dr. Hamilton didn't compete with Cason muscularly, he dominated Cason in height, and his proud, upright stance only seemed to emphasize this.

"Hello, Cason," the man greeted tensely.

"Hello, sir," Cason returned.

The men continued to stare at each other, with Cason feeling more uneasy by the second, until they were interrupted by a large gasp from Mrs. Hamilton.

"Rylee, what is this?" she asked in awe, holding out her daughters left hand.

"Oh!" Rylee squeaked, having completely forgot about the ring she was wearing that clearly gave away her relationship status with Cason before she'd had a chance to carefully bring it up in conversation.

"Did Cason propose?" Mrs. Hamilton exclaimed, glancing over to the young man.

Cason felt his face grow warm and he gulped, trying to keep his gaze focused on the women and ignore the hard glare he was receiving from her father. "Um, y-yes, ma'am, I did. I... um, hope that's alright - "

"Oh, it's wonderful!" Mrs. Hamilton exclaimed, wrapping Cason in a tight embrace before turning back to her husband. "Honey, did you hear that? Cason and Rylee are engaged!"

"Yes, dear, I heard," he said seriously. "I'm just a bit confused because I would have assumed that Cason would wait to ask for my permission."

"Oh, uh, well, I-I... I actually didn't think about that..." he trailed off, glancing over at Rylee.

"Is that not how things are done where you come from?" Rylee's father inquired bitterly.

"N-No, they are. Usually, yeah. But, um, I just... I mean..."

"The perfect moment came around, a-and he couldn't pass it up," Rylee filled in, lacing her fingers through Cason's.

"How romantic!" her mother smiled, placing a hand to her chest.

"I-I'm sorry that I didn't, sir," Cason apologized. "I... I could now, I guess..."

"It's a bit late now, isn't it?" Dr. Hamilton snapped.

"Daddy..." Rylee pleaded.

He broke off his harsh glare and smiled at her. "Alright, sunshine. We'll talk about this later," he added with another sharp look at Cason.

"Come along, dear," her mother said cheerfully.

"Um, actually," Rylee stopped them. "Cason and I had a couple of errands we needed to run. Would it be alright if we met up with you at the house later?"

Her parents reluctantly agreed, not happy about the delay in getting to spend time with their daughter. After the Hamilton parents had taken the young couple's suitcases and flagged down a cab, Cason turned to Rylee.

"Where are we going?"

Rylee took a deep breath. "The doctor."


There were lots of words that could have been used to describe the trip to the doctor's office - awkward, tense, nerve-racking, bittersweet, exciting... But in the end, it was flat out frightening. Every second seemed to last an hour, every minute a day. Cason was sure they'd never find out whether or not their suspicions were true...

And then the doctor came back into the examination room, beaming a bright smile at the couple and showering them with congratulations, shortly followed by a long list of rules they had to follow for the next nine months. The couple sat there, in a strange daze of confusion and shock, nodding at what they hoped were appropriate times.

And then it was over. They left the doctor's office and started off down the street, neither speaking a word. They just walked. Hand in hand. Past hundreds of people. Past stores and offices and restaurants. They walked through until there was nowhere else to walk.

They'd reached the end of town and arrived at a construction sight, where even more shops and companies were being built. The couple stopped in unison and stood staring at the construction yard, left abandoned for the night.

"Rylee, you've got to say something about all this," Cason finally said. "I have no idea what's going through your head right now."

He turned to look at her. After a second, she released a shuddering breath and turned to look at him.

"I don't think I can do this," she whimpered.

Before he could say anything reassuring, she dissolved into sobs and fell against Cason's chest. He started just slightly before wrapping his arms around her. "You can, Ry. We can. I promise." He sighed. "Look, I'm... I'm not going to lie about it. I'm scared."

"Cason Deason? Scared?" she laughed lightly.

"Terrified," he chuckled, his worries lifting slightly at the sound of her laugh. "But also thrilled. Shocked, definitely... but mostly happy. I'm going to be - "

Rylee's looked up at him when he abruptly stopped talking. "Cason?"

Cason's voice disappeared as the full realization hit him. He released her, looking down at the ground as he laughed in shock. Rylee surveyed him anxiously, wondering what was going on. He pressed his palms against his eyes, laughing nervously, before he looked back up at her, his eyes now filled with tears.

"I'm going to be a father," he choked through tears of joy.

Rylee laughed and nodded. He threw his arms around her, lifting her slightly off the ground as buried his face in her hair, unable to stop crying.

"Stars, Rylee, I know this wasn't what we planned - " He kissed her and grinned. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

They remained locked in the happy embrace, somehow reassured that this was all going to work out for the better. They knew they'd have a lot of challenges to face, but it somehow didn't seem so hard anymore. They could do this - together.

Suddenly, Cason dropped Rylee back to the ground, looking terrified.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly.

"Your father is going to kill me," Cason mused.

"No, he isn't," Rylee assure him, squeezing his hand. "He might be... upset at first, but - "

"No, I don't mean it figuratively! H-He's going to literally kill me," he replied in shock. "He's going to go and grab his shotgun and shoot and kill me."

She rolled her eyes. "You know he's not that mean."

"Yeah, maybe not to you. You're daddy's little girl. I'm just the backwoods kid who impregnated daddy's little girl."

They locked eye contact for a second, and then Rylee began to giggle.

"Well I'm glad you think my upcoming death sentence is so hilarious."

Rylee laughed harder, and soon they were both laughing hysterically. When they finally managed to catch their breath, she stood up on her toes and kissed him.

"He does like you," she explained. He shot her a look of disbelief and she smiled. "Okay, maybe he doesn't yet, but he will. He's just... skeptical. He wants to make sure I'm being taken care of. Once he understands how much you care for me and how you stepped up to be a father, then he'll warm up to the idea. I promise."

"Well..." Cason sighed. "Let's go find out."


"We're home!" Rylee shouted as she and Cason entered her house. "Mom? Dad?"

"There you are."

They jerked around to see Rylee's father entering from the kitchen, followed by her mother, wringing her hands warily.

"We need to have a talk," he said fiercely.

"Y-Yes, daddy?" Rylee stammered.

"Not you. The boy." He marched past his daughter and grabbed Cason's shoulder, roughly pulling him away from his daughter.

Cason stumbled slightly, but regained his footing. "Sir, what - ?"

"Would you care to explain to me why I was just congratulated on becoming a grandfather?" he demanded.

Cason gaped at him, trying to stammer out an answer, but nothing came out.

"Daddy..." Rylee tried to intervene from where she still stood by the front door. "W-We were going to tell you - "

"So it's true?" her mother suddenly spoke up. "You're pregnant?"

Rylee nodded, tears springing to her eyes. Mrs. Hamilton gasped and raced forward to hug her daughter. At the same time, Dr. Hamilton stepped closer to Cason, backing him up into the living room.

"What in stars name were you thinking, boy?" he glowered.

"I... I... We..." Cason stammered.

"Is this the only reason you proposed to her? Because you got her pregnant?" he accused.

Cason tumbled backwards into a recliner when the back of his legs hit it. "No, I-I didn't..."

"You better start coming up with answers, or so help me, I'll - "

"Daddy, don't!" Rylee called out from her mothers arms. "He's okay. He didn't - "

"I'm talking to the boy," he retorted, never taking his gaze away from Cason. "And he'd better start talking back."

Cason glanced over to Rylee, who nodded. Then, gathering up every ounce of courage he had, he stood back up determinedly to face his future father-in-law. "I'll tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking that your daughter is the most amazing girl I've ever met. If you think I'm not worthy of her, then you're right... a-and it makes perfect sense that you're trying to protect her. She's beautiful, and funny, and smart, and kind... a-and I'm lucky to have her. That's why I proposed. Because I recognized how lucky I was and I couldn't let her get away from me. I am in love with her."

"And what of this baby?" he questioned.

"What of it? It's my kid, and I'm going to take care of it. Even if Rylee had turned down my proposal, I would have stayed with her and made sure she had everything she and the baby needed. I've already promised to get any job I can to make sure that we can make ends meet. I wouldn't run off and leave her at a time like this. I'm a man who steps up to my responsibilities, and right now, those are your daughter and your future grandchild, and I love the both of them more than anything else in the Etherium."

Dr. Hamilton surveyed the boy seriously. "Cason... if I refused to let you marry my daughter and told you I never wanted you to see her again, what would you do?"

Rylee gasped from the other side of the room, but Cason didn't waver.

"Would you leave, or would you go against me and get married anyway?"

Cason thought long and hard before finally sighing. "I..." He looked over at Rylee. "I just want her to be happy. If following your rules would make her happy... I-I'd leave. But if marrying me would make her happy, a-and I think it would, then... we would get married."

Dr. Hamilton continued to look him over silently.

"Look, sir - " Cason continued. "I don't mean this disrespectfully... but it this has nothing to do with you. Rylee and I are both adults, a-and we're free to make our own decisions."

"That doesn't stop her from being my daughter!" Dr. Hamilton exclaimed. "And I'm not sure I want her to marry someone..."

Cason gulped back his hurt and took a deep breath. "Someone like me?"

The father didn't answer, but his silence was enough.

"Honey, I think you're being a bit rash," Mrs. Hamilton intervened. "Remember everything he did for our daughter back when they were on Lacuna? If it wasn't for him, our Rylee might not be here right now."

Dr. Hamilton blinked and looked back at his family contemplatively.

"Sir, I..." Cason began, catching the attention of his fiance's father once again. "I know that she's your daughter, and you want her to be taken care of, a-and I understand if you're worried about me being able to provide for her. I-I don't have much, and I can't promise her a life like she has now. I can't promise that she'll have a huge house, or tons of clothes, o-or everything she wants, o-or the very best of everything... but I can promise to take care of her. And I do; I-I promise to make sure that she has everything she needs. I promise to do... everything I can to make her happy. A-And I promise I'll love her forever." He sighed. "If that's not enough for you... I-I'm sorry, but... I-I'm completely in love with your daughter... a-and I just can't walk away from that."

By the end of the speech, Cason had lost all his resolution and lowered his gaze to the ground. Dr. Hamilton stared at him, his harsh facial expression unwavering. Rylee stood at the sidelines, wrapped in her mothers embrace, her chest heaving as she tried not to cry.

"Rylee," her father spoke harshly, finally taking his gaze off of the boy and turning to his daughter.

"Y-Yes, daddy?" she squeaked.

His face finally softened into a slight smile. "Get over here and hug your fiance."

Cason's head jerked up hopefully at the word. Rylee laughed in shock, then quickly raced into Cason's arms, throwing her arms around his neck and knocking them both back into the chair. He released a huge sigh of relief as he held her close. Slowly, he placed one hand on the back of her head. She smiled and fell into their kiss, where Cason couldn't hold back a smile.

"Ahem."

The couple pulled away and looked at Dr. Hamilton, who was eying them severely. "I said hug, Cason."

Cason gulped as they stood up and separated from each other. "S-Sorry, sir."

"Mhmm," Dr. Hamilton said skeptically, yet amusedly.

Rylee rushed over to her father and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Thank you, daddy."

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Of course, sunshine."


"Cason, I need to speak with you for just a moment," Dr. Hamilton said at the end of dinner that night.

"Oh. Um... okay," Cason hesitantly agreed. Dinner had gone smoothly enough. Things were still a bit awkward, but Rylee's father really did seem to be warming up to him. Now, though, his tone sounded rather harsh, and Cason felt his pulse increase dramatically as he began to panic.

"I'm going to bed." Rylee quickly kissed Cason's cheek, whispering in his ear, "I love you. You'll be fine."

Cason grinned at her, watching as she said goodnight to her parents and followed her mother up the stairs before turning back to Dr. Hamilton. "Um... what was it you needed to speak with me about, sir?"

"Cason," he sighed. "I know I haven't made things easy for you, as far as dating Rylee goes, but I think I owe you an apology."

"I, uh... what?" Cason asked in shock.

"An apology," the man chuckled. "It wasn't fair of me to judge you simply by your social status, and I'm sorry I did. You seem like a smart lad, and you've show a tremendous amount of responsibility, stepping up to take care of the baby despite the circumstances."

"Well, what else could I do?" he asked. "It's my kid. I-I love it already."

Dr. Hamilton smiled. "You see, it's statements like that that reassure me you will be good for Rylee. I... hope I haven't ruined our relationship before it's even had a chance to begin, son."

Cason blinked in shock at the last word, and again when the man held out his hand for him to shake. Hesitantly, he reached out and shook it. "Um, n-no, you haven't. We're good."

They let go a moment later. Cason smiled awkwardly and turned to leave.

"I also never got the chance to say thank you."

Cason stopped in the doorway and turned around. "For what?"

Dr. Hamilton started to walk, leaving the room and starting up the stairs, so Cason followed. "For saving Rylee's life," he answered. "To be honest, I'd forgotten about everything you'd done fore her until my wife reminded me this evening."

"You're welcome, sir, but... to be honest, she kind of saved her own life."

Her father chuckled. "Well the way I heard it, you did everything you could to save and protect her, despite being injured yourself."

"Don't make me out to be a hero," Cason muttered. "It... was purely for selfish reasons." Dr. Hamilton raised an eyebrow at him. "I had to save her because... I love her, and I wanted her back."

"I hardly consider that a selfish reason," the man laughed as they reached the landing at the top of the stairs and started down the hallway. "And whether it is or not, I see you as a crucial part of the reason my daughter is still alive today."

"It was no trouble. Really," Cason smiled.

The men stared at each other for a minute, then nodded and turned to their respective doors. However, Dr. Hamilton cleared his throat as soon as Cason reached for the doorknob of Rylee's bedroom door. Cason froze and slowly turned back to face him.

"Wh-What?" the boy stuttered nervously.

The father raised an eyebrow. "The two of you aren't married yet, boy."

'Boy' was never good; if he was addressed as 'boy', there was a problem. "W-Well... I... that's how we usually... I mean," Cason laughed nervously. "She's already pregnant. What else could hap - " He stopped when he realized his attempt at humor was failing miserably. "Okay... Guest bedroom. Right. I'll just... yeah."

Dr. Hamilton looked Cason over skeptically as he entered the door to the guest bedroom. Cason shut and locked the door behind him, leaning against it with a large sigh. After a second, he reopened his eyes and let them adjust to the dark room. A moment later he was able to see that his bed already seemed to be occupied, and he smirked, knowing exactly who it was that had stolen his place. He sat down on the edge of the mattress, lowering the covers just enough to gaze at Rylee, chuckling lightly at her. He wasn't entirely sure what she was doing here, but it was still a pleasant surprise.

"You are so beautiful, Ry," he whispered as he carefully brushed her pale golden hair out of her face. "I love you."

As Cason leaned down and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead, there was a quick knock at the door and then it opened.

"Cason, I forgot to mention - " Dr. Hamilton began before stopping suddenly at the sight of Cason jumping to his feet. His gaze wandered from the guilty looking boy to the bed, where he could see his daughter laid out.

"Sir, I... I didn't... I mean," Cason stammered quietly, glancing back and forth between the girl sleeping in his bed and her father. "I wasn't..."

Dr. Hamilton glared at him. "Look, boy, I want to trust you, but - "

"Shh..."

"Did you just tell me to - "

"I'm sorry, but she's asleep!" Cason begged in a harsh whisper.

He stared at him in confusion for a second. "What?" He walked over, shooting Cason a disbelieving glare, and looked down at the girl, observing her curiously.

Cason gulped. "Sh-She was just here when I got here. I-I wasn't going to... I mean, I'm... I'm..."

Rylee's father turned back around. "The door doesn't lock."

He blinked in confusion. "Um... sir?"

"The door doesn't lock," he repeated. "It's broken. I forgot to mention that."

"Oh. Okay. I... I kind of figured that out now, actually," he mumbled.

Dr. Hamilton laughed lightly and placed a hand on the boys shoulder. "Get some sleep, Cason."

Cason stared at the man in absolute shock. "But..."

The father patted the boy's shoulder before exiting the room. Cason remained standing in the middle of the floor, gawking at the closed door, completely stunned. He shook his head and quickly pulled off his boots and his belt. He started to unbutton his shirt to remove it as well, but stopped; if for some reason Rylee's father ended up walking in unannounced (again), it would probably be best if they were both wearing the majority of their clothes. Resigning to be mildly uncomfortable tonight, he pulled back the covers and carefully slid into bed next to Rylee. She rolled onto her side so that they were facing each other and sighed dreamily, a smile spreading across her lips.

Cason grinned and tucked the hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear. "Stars, Rylee... if it's possible, you look even more beautiful when you're asleep."

Rylee shifted closer, so Cason took the opportunity to pull her to him, rolling onto her back and letting her rest her head on his chest. His left hand gently stroked her side while his right hand held the hand she'd absentmindedly laid across his abdomen.

"Rylee," he whispered into her hair. "I love you. You are amazing, and beautiful, and the nicest girl I've ever met. Thank you so much for saying yes when I proposed. I don't know how I could live without you." His right hand slid up her arm gently while his left came to rest on her waist. "I know we're young and we didn't plan to become parents, but I'm happy that we are. You're going to be a wonderful mother, I know it, and I'm going to make sure that you and the baby have everything you need. I would do anything for you, Ry. Like I told your dad, if me leaving would make you happy, I would do it. I'd cross the Etherium and back just to see you smile... But I hope that you'll be happy just being my wife, because all I want to be now is your husband and the father of our child - or hopefully children," he laughed. "All I want to do is spend every night for the rest of my life just like this." He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued. "I will never, ever do anything to hurt you, Ry - mentally, or physically, or emotionally. I will always be there to protect you. I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you. I wan't lying when I said I couldn't live without you. I'd give my life for you, Rylee. I - "

Cason was cut short when Rylee suddenly made and odd sort of choking noise.

"Ry?" he questioned worriedly, trying to turn to look at her.

She buried her face into his chest and began to sob.

"Babe, what is it?" he asked. "Are you awake?"

Rylee rolled over, propping herself up onto her arm so she could look down at him. "I was never asleep."

Cason blanched. "Wh-What - ?"

"I was faking," she laughed through her tears, drying her eyes off with her sleeve. "I wanted to be with you, so I snuck in here, and I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice. I decided to wait when my dad came in, a-and I-I thought that you would notice when I moved closer to you, but you just..."

"I... I..." he stammered in embarrassment. "I had no idea you were awake. I-I was sure you were asleep."

"I'm glad I wasn't. I never would have gotten to hear all those nice things you said," she smiled, her eyes still tearing up. "You told me that you couldn't say it 'all romantically'."

Cason laughed nervously. "I can't if you're awake."

"Why not?"

"Um... I don't know. Not as much practice, maybe." Rylee looked at him questioningly and he chuckled in an unnaturally shy way. "I, um... I've done this every night since the first time we shared a bed."

"That was... back on Lacuna, the night after we found the fortune..."

"Yeah," Cason admitted.

Rylee smiled, her eyes still shining. "Every night?"

"Every night," he grinned. "I love you, Rylee."

Rylee continued to gape at him until Cason tentatively reached out and ran his fingers through her hair to the back of her head, lowering her lips to his. She couldn't help it - a few more tears escaped her eyes. He pulled back to look at her concernedly, wiping away the tears with his fingertips, but she just smiled.

"I love you, Cason."

Their lips met again for the briefest of moments before she lifted away. Rylee settled back against his side, wrapping one arm around his torso. Cason wrapped his arms around her, holding her there securely.

Within minutes, they fell asleep, locked in each other's embrace, for what was certainly not the first, and certainly not the last, time.


So parts of it are a bit rushed, but hey - at least it's a chapter.

I'm sure I'm going to think of a hundred and fifty things I need to say down here after I post it, but none are coming to mind right now...

Oh, by the way, if any of you have picked up on the small continuation errors... just ignore them. Lol. After re-reading a lot of my work, I realized there have been several contradictory things (ex: In 'Fearless', Amelia didn't know that Jim had never told his mother the whole story of the voyage to Treasure Planet, and in 'Sparks Fly', she's there for the explanation.). Anyway, none of them contradict anything super important, so just pretend like they aren't there. :P And if you haven't noticed them... then don't start looking for them now. :D

You can still ask characters questions if you want!

Hope you liked it!

-Emily

+Responses to Comments+

anon: Wow, thank you so much! Sweet, long review! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am working on profiles of friends, I promise! They will be up asap!

NeverTooLate03: Ha I may need a Writers Anonymous meeting, but Disney world sounds fun too! lol. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy my non-lemon fluff! :D

23jk: Haha No way Jim would give up like that! Tabitha would tease him for the rest of their lives! :P Glad you liked it!

malisa: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Well, I made it kind of vague in the last chapter (how long they'd been married), but it had been around 2-3 months. Not too long.

S.A.M. Fonceca: Thanks! Haha I'm glad you liked the tie! I kind of think Tabitha won too - she wouldn't have given up that easily if he hadn't said that. lol

Blair Bear Tate Monster: Glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one as well! :D

MistressTaco: Thank you so much! Aw, that's sweet! It is a cute song, so I don't blame her for crying! I probably would have too. :)

Tsukasa-kun: Thanks! I did have fun on my trip. Haha I know! I'm surprised they made it as long as they did. :P

Kristy: No worries! I understand about being busy. I'm glad you liked it! Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad you think so, because writing is definitely what I plan on doing for a living. Haha When is Jim not adorable? Yep, only Tabitha can make him blush like that. Yes! Sexy Jim is yummy! :P I was so thrilled when I thought up that part. lol Yeah, poor Cason. But it worked out well!

Horsygirl 96: I'm glad you liked it! Thank you so much! Your chapter is still in the works, but I promise it will be awesome when I put it up since I made you wait so long. :P

SweetAngel183: Oh, don't apologize! It's fine. :) In fact, I think your out of the blue comment from a couple of days ago was just the motivation I needed to get this chapter up! Yeah, Tabitha can be quite devious and Jim... Well, it's Jim. What else can I say? :P Yeah, I'd never actually said anything about Cason/Rylee being intimate, but as you can see by this chapter, they have been. Glad you liked it!

rdollar: Thanks for reading! :P