Okay I'm back. I'll try to post get back on track and post at least once a day from now on. There's interesting times ahead. And you'll find out about the caller soon.

The Calm before the Storm

Sunday night after Emily was in bed, Ryan and Marissa were cuddled up on the sofa, both pretending to watch a movie, whilst their minds were busily preoccupied with thoughts of their own. Ryan glanced at Marissa, only to realise that she wasn't watching at all, but was looking out the window at the blackness of the ocean. He silently stroked her arm and Marissa looked over at him guiltily. She had been thinking about the phone call earlier in the day and wondering what he could have wanted. She had been considering whether she should talk to Ryan about it but she knew that it would only cause problems between them. He would be angry that she had kept it a secret and the longer she did, the harder it would be to tell him. Whatever the call was about, she wasn't interested. It was a part of her life that was over as far as she was concerned. She didn't want to be dragged back into it. If she told Ryan, she knew that there was no way that he would agree with the way she wanted to handle things. It would only lead to arguments. And she didn't want that. She was enjoying her time with him too much to do that. They had too many years apart to make up for. She wouldn't put what they had now at risk.

Ryan thought she was worried about the thought of them losing Emily. He wanted to talk to her about her reaction to Cheryl's words and to tell her not to get too attached to Emily but how could he do that when he was just of enamoured of the small girl himself. He knew that he was ready for them to start a family of their own when ever she was. And he thought that if Marissa was pregnant then, when the time came for Emily to return, it mightn't be so difficult. . But he also knew that Marissa wanted to wait until she had her life in order and he didn't want to put any pressure on her. He knew that she still had a lot of things to resolve, with relocating and work. He didn't want to add to it all so he wasn't going to pressure her. Yet, even though he knew that she wanted to make her own decisions, he just hoped that she would come to the right decisions herself. He just needed to let her know that he was there to support her with whatever she decided. He would be ready whenever she was ready. He went to open his mouth, trying to find the right words to tell her all that he was thinking … but the words wouldn't come.

She looked at him expectantly, knowing that something was on his mind. "What?" Marissa asked.

"It's nothing." Ryan answered. He'd changed his mind about trying to deal with something that there was no answer to. He decided there was no point in getting worried about something that they had no control over. They would just deal with it when the time came.

"I don't believe you. I could almost hear the wheels turning in there." Marissa said. She figured that as long as she kept the attention on Ryan then he wouldn't ask what she was thinking about.

Ryan quickly tried to find another topic to talk about. He could tell that Marissa wasn't going to let it lie. "What do you think about Emily being a flower girl?" he asked.

Marissa smiled. "I think she will be beautiful."

"Yeah." Ryan agreed.

"But I also think that she might send us mental before the time comes." Marissa added.

"She does seem to be excited by the whole idea. Do you think that is just because it is something new? Surely she will settle down? She won't be like this for the next nine months?" Ryan asked.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I think that Emily could carry this level of excitement for quite some time. Maybe, she is related to Summer. Summer certainly hasn't calmed down at all. This wedding of hers …" Marissa started and then stopped. She didn't want to sound jealous because she wasn't. Was she?

"You were saying?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing." Marissa shrugged.

"Not nothing. This time I'm the one that doesn't believe you." Ryan entwined his fingers with hers and continued. "I know it's hard listening to all of Summer's plans. But I was thinking …I guess there is no reason why we couldn't tell everyone about our plans now? You know …" he shrugged ... announce our engagement. Would that make things easier?" he asked.

Marissa looked down at their interlaced hands. She traced the veins in his hand with her free hand. She was amazed that she was intrigued with everything that made him … uniquely HIM. She shook her head and sighed then added. "Much as I would love to tell the world … I don't think that the time is right. I know they would all be pleased for us. Summer has even been hinting to me that I should give you a shove in that direction and it has been all I can do to stop her from doing it herself. But …"

"But ..?" Ryan urged her to continue.

"I'm a bit scared that she is hoping that if we do get engaged then we could have a double wedding. She has mentioned it. But I have just laughed and taken it in jest but I'm not sure that she is joking?" Marissa said,

"Would you want that?" Ryan asked. It didn't sound like his sort of thing at all. But he knew he would do anything for Marissa.

"God no. Summer and I might agree on a lot of things but our tastes in weddings are completely different. But I'm not sure that somewhere in Summer's mind she's not thinking that if she procrastinates long enough, then it could happen." Marissa replied.

Ryan thought about what she had said. "So what sort of wedding do you want?" he asked.

Marissa looked at him, the love evident in her eyes. "Something small and intimate." She replied softly, dropping her eyes to look at his hand again, not sure if she should give away just how much time she had spent thinking about the very question. "I figure we spend enough time in the public eye getting more attention than we want. The last thing I need is an audience. In truth …" she looked back into his eyes. "All I need is you."

For a moment, Ryan was stunned. It was all … she was all … he had ever wanted. He could feel a lump in his throat that was making it difficult to swallow. When he finally managed to get some words out, he said simply. "You've got me."

---

Life settled down in the Atwood/Cooper household. Ryan was busy at work but was commuting back and forth to LA each day, and except for his days being longer, he'd decided that it was definitely worth the effort. Marissa and Emily were enjoying their time together at Newport. With Keith's assistance they were able to move around pretty much as they wanted. It wasn't that the paparazzi had given up on them all together but with Keith around at least nobody was harassing them. Emily was spending hour's everyday in the pool and she was getting stronger each day. She wasn't allowed to be in there on her own, so the adults would take it in turns to 'swim' with her. Keith and Marissa would cover the day and as soon as Ryan walked through the door in the evening, she would drag him in to watch how much better she was doing with her 'swimming.' It was one of Marissa's happiest times of the day. And of course it had the added bonus that it tired Emily out completely so that once she was in bed, they didn't hear from her until the morning and that meant that Ryan and Marissa had a lot more time to themselves than they had when Emily had first come to stay.

---

Marissa took up her position in a chair beside the pool to watch Emily show off to Ryan. She knew that, as in previous evenings, when she got tired of watching Emily then she could just watch a topless Ryan in the water. She didn't think that she would ever tire of looking at him. To her eyes, he was perfect. She watched the movement of his muscles as he gracefully moved through the water. His wet skin glistening as the lights reflected off his gorgeous body. The chuckle that emanated from him when responding to Emily's antics sent goose bumps over her skin. He was totally unaware of the effect that he had on her as he played with Emily in the water. But in truth all Marissa could think of by that point was getting Emily fed and in to bed so that she could have that body all to herself. She couldn't get enough of him.

Ever since their visit to Cheryl, Marissa had been thinking about whether to confide in Ryan about the phone calls. Part of her wanted to. But she didn't think she could do it. She had too much to lose and she wasn't prepared to put all this at risk. Plus he hadn't called again. So maybe this time he had finally gotten the message. If she told Ryan, she could be jeopardising all this for no good reason. And that would be just stupid she convinced herself. Better to just enjoy every day as it came she figured. Hopefully they would never try to contact her again.

She should have known better.