After All by Peter Cetera

Chapter Nineteen: After All

The night was warm as Luka and Abby strolled the path by the lake after the game, hands entwined. Abby had forgotten how much fun baseball games could be. She was strictly a White Sox fan and whenever they ran a home run, she screamed herself hoarse. Luka, adorable as he was, had not a clue what was going on and Abby had given up trying to explain it to him in the first inning. While he was fascinated by the sport; he also was simply content to watch her watching the game and buy whatever she wanted. Personally he thought that foam hands were ridiculous, but Abby had looked so cute waving it around and cheering for her team.

A walk along the lake had seemed to be the perfect ending to a wonderful evening.

They reached a bench overlooking the water, a nervous Luka glanced at his girlfriend. The location hadn't escaped Abby; it was the bench where she had told him she wanted to keep the baby. Didn't think he'd ever be that happy, this happy, again after his family died. But Abby brought back the laughter that, for him, life had been missing.

"Do you want to sit for a little while?" He asked, pointing to the bench.

"Please, my feet are killing me and I'm sure my ankles are the size of cantaloupes by now." Abby tried to look down, but being as far along as she was made that almost impossible while standing. "I can't even see them." Uh- oh. Luka thought. Here we go again.

"Your ankles are fine, Abby. Sit down, look." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. One glance at her ankles and her eyes welled up. Shit.

"They're huge!" Abby said as big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"They are not. A little swollen, yes, but you're pregnant. It's all part of the process."

"That doesn't help. I'm tired of being fat." Luka learned to deal with her mood swings, the cravings, and the fatigue. But this was something he just couldn't get through to her about. Abby was a very rational person; pregnant Abby, not so much.

"You aren't fat, you're pregnant. And beautiful, might I add."

"You're lying." He sighed. At least she had stopped crying.

"No, it's true and there's not a thing you could do to change my mind… because I love you. I don't think I'll ever stop… loving you. And it's more than just being in love, what we have here is the real thing." Abby rested her head against his arm, taking his hand.

"I know." She said quietly. "It scares me sometimes… with the intensity."

"Yeah… me too. But I want this, Abby, with all my heart. I want you." She looked into his eyes.

"You've got me. We're together… finally. I mean, come on, we're having a baby for crying out loud."

"That doesn't mean anything, and you know it. I don't want to lose you again."

"And I feel the same way. I'm happy with the way things are."

"Are you really?"

"Yes. I am." Abby replied, almost indignantly.

"I'm not. Don't you want something more permanent than this? Because I want to make this… us, official. I want to marry you, Abby."

"Marry?" She shook her head adamantly. "Oh no, I'm not traveling down that road again. Marriage may have been a happy time for you, but mine ended in a divorce, remember? I don't want to ruin this and marriage would do that."

"You don't know that. Don't we love each other?" Luka asked, a little hurt. Abby softened.

"Yes, but that isn't it. I just… don't know if I can do it again."

"You never thought you could go back to med school, but you did. You never thought you would have children, but here we are. You are a different person now. You've changed a lot since you were with Richard. We can do this, Abby, I know we can." She looked down at their clasped hands, thinking. With a sigh, she gave in.

"Okay. As long as it's after the baby is born." Luka's face lit up with a smile. He leaned over and kissed Abby softly.

"After all the stops and starts,
We keep coming back to these two hearts,
Two angels who've been rescued from the fall.
After all that we've been through,
It all comes down to me and you.
I guess it's meant to be,
Forever you and me, after all"