Disclaimer: I don't own- blah blah

A/N: Sorry it took so long to upload! Hope you enjoy. I've been trying to make the paragraphs smaller for an easier read. Thanks guys! Imperio! Now, of course, I command you to write a review. Thanks again!

Of course realizing that in fact I wanted to marry the man who slept next to me each night had little affect over me. Was I just supposed to blurt out my future aspirations to him in the middle of supper? I laughed just at the thought. Besides that we've only been dating for 3 months so I was sure that the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

I laughed as I remembered when I was 14, I pictured myself 10 years later already married with a baby, and now here I was 26 and just now getting into a serious relationship. I thought of my mother, married at 20 and she had me at 21. I sighed. I tried not to let my heart beat to fast as Stan bid me a goodbye kiss. Just a kiss on my cheek got my heart pumping. I couldn't help but picture Stan stark naked as he kissed me goodbye and it took me several minutes to calm myself enough to even consider apparating.

I arrived at my mother's house at 12, just in time for our weekly lunches, instated when we had been reconnected. She let me in and let me see the food she made. I could see the proud look on her face and I knew she had worked all morning on the foods. Cooking had never been Mother's strong suit. In front of me lay macaroni and cheese with green beans and mashed potatoes. Mother looked at with happiness while waiting for my views.

"It smells great," I said truthfully and sat down across from her. The macaroni was good although slightly rubbery and the instant mashed potatoes really did look like a runny soup, but I ate all of it hoping not to hurt my mother's feelings. Mother told me about her work, she was an office clerk for some big shot company. Really I didn't care whom Linda was dating, or that Rob missed that promotion. With all her talking I had barely any time to get a word in.

"You know Stan, right?" I started dumbly when Mother had returned to her green beans after a particularly long-winded speech about her coworkers. Mother nodded at me. Well, duh, they had only eaten together like 5 times. "Well, you know we're dating, right?" I asked. Mother nodded and swallowed the green beans in her mouth with a gulp. "Well, we told each other that we loved each other," I said with a rush and my face turned to beet red. "I think he's you know… the One." I mumbled quickly. Mother just stared blankly at me.

"Ok," She said nothing afterward. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair I begged Mother to say something else. She seemed perfectly happy with the silence and continued to eat her macaroni with a smile. I sighed loudly to show her she should say something more.

"What?" She said and cocked her head. "Do you want my approval or something?" Her tone said she was being facetious. I felt an unwanted blush rise to my cheeks. What had I been expecting? I needed friends. I was trying to have a girl talk with my mother for Merlin's sake! I sighed again for my own sake. I left soon after with a thought in my head. I had only one girl friend in my entire life. Her name was Rachel and she was bubbly and talked more than anyone else I knew. She was loud and assertive yet smarter than Einstein. She was a fellow Ravenclaw with me. She was a highly respected pureblood and because of that she had an arranged marriage. We hadn't talked since the summer after graduation; she was married with in seconds of receiving her diploma. She moved to America with her new husband in tow and started working on Merlin knows what. We owled each other over the summer but when she after a rather short and rude letter we stopped conversing. Last I heard, she had 3 kids already and was graying. I shuddered. Three kids at our age? We were only 26! I opened the Shunpike's with my new key and was surprised to find it eerily quiet.

Oh crap. I suddenly remembered that the night before I was bestowed the chore of getting rid of the trash. I had completely forgotten. Mum was going to kill me. Act cool, I told myself as I headed warily to the kitchen. A figure came from around the corner suddenly.

"I swear I forgot! Please don't kick me out! I'll do it for the next three months I swear!" I yelled and squeezed my eyes shut. Wait, the figure that came around the corner was much too small to be Mum's.

"What are you talking about?" Abby said and I opened my eyes, suspicions confirmed.

"Oh nothing," I said not looking her in the eye. I looked outside to the melting snow. The days had slowly started becoming warmer even though it was only the middle of February. Abby's snowmen were now reduced to balls of snow. "Where's Mum?" I asked her as I said a vanishing spell to the undisturbed trash I found still in the place I had left it the day before.

"Stan and her went to lunch. I was left alone. I'm old enough now, you know." Abby said proudly. She had brought up her now 10 year old status in every conversation since her birthday on January 5th.

"Why?" I said getting out bread and peanut butter, Abby's new favorite lunch. I got out two glasses of milk and made lunch for the two of us. I could tell by Abby's loud stomach rumblings that she had yet to have lunch.

"I don't know. It was super secret. Maybe they're going to…" She trailed off deep in thought.

"Buy a rocket ship." I responded immediately

"Get me my own pygmy puff." Abby retorted with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Conquer the world."

"Get me my own owl."

Truth be told, my suggestions were outrageous as Abby's. Mum had expressed her dislike for pets constantly. She even went as far as to mention destroying the owl barn where the stray owls stayed. Abby and Stan had jumped all over her at even the notion.

Abby and I spent the rest of the day reading books in silence and shifting positions on the couch until we were comfortable. When Mum and Stan came home we were both lying upside down on the couch with out heads on the floor and the books perched in front of our noses. I jumped up and smoothed my skirt down as Abby followed suit. Stan chuckled. I immediately smiled. I had read 200 pages of an old wizarding book and was practically bored to tears. I needed to see that smile. I glanced at the clock; it was already 3. I mean who eats lunch for that long.

"Mum! Stan!" I said excitedly. I was already on Mum's heels as she steered herself into the kitchen. Stan followed after me, and Abby trailed after him. "Where were you guys?" I said suspiciously. It must have been important to leave especially Abby home alone and me out completely.

"Oh you know. We went out to lunch. I thought Abby told you," Mum said as she got out the croc pot.

"You go out to lunch without your daughter now?" I said picking up an apple and biting into it.

"Yes, she's getting a little plump in the middle you see," Stan piped in and we all laughed, even Abby who knew how ridiculous the comment seemed to her toothpick frame.

"We would have invited you two but I never get time alone with my son anymore." Mum said without much emotion. "He's too busy playing tonsil hockey with you, Brooke, or he's working." I blushed. I got it now. Her words and tone translated to drop it. A subject I was not included in as a biological part of the family. I couldn't help but feel excitement rise up in me. What if they were at Stan's dad's house? What if they made up? I squealed and slinked over to Stan. If she wouldn't give me any details I would make her suffer. Oh poor Mum didn't know what she was getting herself into. I had to suppress a giggle as I wrapped my arm around Stan and seductively rubbed his arm.

"Darling," I said in a low tone. I drew out the word so it seemed much more than two syllables. Stan stiffened and looked at me. I was aware of Mum's gaze on us. "What do you say we go up to your room and do a little bit of that… what was it? Oh yes, tonsil hockey your dear mother was talking about." I tried to imitate a voice I had once seen in a movie and the huskiness seemed to be working. Mum had tears in her eyes as I led Stan from the room, whether it was from laughter or sadness I would never know.

We did go up to Stan's room and we did play a rather brutal game of tonsil hockey. When we were finished and lay on the bed I tried to get it out of Stan. Of course, I thought mentally face palming myself; I could always seduce it out of Stan!

"So baby," I started, using one of the many dreaded pet names I hated.

"Don't even start." Stan said rolling over onto his back and placing his hands under his head. "You won't get it out of me. It's not even that important if you must know."

"So it's you dad, right? Did you get to visit him? Is all forgiven? We could go over and meet him again. You know, I haven't ever met your half siblings. What were their names?" I said forcing them out of him.

"Avery and Riley," He said and swallowed loudly, something I knew he only did when he was nervous. Aha!

"Oh, did you get to meet them when you went over there today?" I asked him with a smile. The only reason he didn't want to tell me was because he was too proud. He was always too stubborn admit that he was wrong.

"Brooke," He said suddenly and loudly. I jumped out of my fantasy.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Want to go on a date tomorrow?" He said clearing his throat.

"Uh, sure?" I said. I mean we had just gone on a date yesterday I added mentally. "I get to pick this time though!" I said with a smile and he frowned.

"No, I have to pick it this time. The next two times you can pick." He said sternly.

"Fine," I said grumpily and got up. I was thankful just a little bit though. Where would I take Stan? A restaurant and movie? I shuddered as I went down the steps as Mum called us for dinner.

I woke up early the next morning at 5. 5 hours of sleep for me was not good. I needed at least 8 to be pleasant, 9 if I would be nice. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't fall back asleep. I kept my eyes closed hoping for sleep to lull me back into my unconscious but after an hour I realized that this wouldn't be possible. I got up and sat on the bed staring at the wall opposite of me, trying to wake up fully. Then I realized what was wrong. Stan wasn't there. The lump in the blanket I considered to be Stan's body was in fact just a blanket. I sat at the wall pondering this piece of news, too tired to do much else. I woke up again when the sun began peeping out of the windows. Instead of the slow wake up I had had some hours before I jumped straight out of the bed, landing with a crash. Where's Stan? I forgot I was supposed to be looking for him.

"Whoa, eager much?" I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around and caught the gaze of Stan's mousy brown hair. I laughed and threw myself in his arms. The unsuspecting Stan fell back into the bed yet that did not stop me.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't here," I said feigning a bad mood though truthfully I was a little upset. Wasn't it Stan's job to hold me all throughout the night? I thought Stan kissed my temple when I was sleeping as I did to his.

"I just couldn't sleep. I was downstairs, drinking milk," He said. Surprisingly I believed him. My mind was only on one thing. Where in the world was my morning kiss? Merlin, I loved him. "Love you," Stan managed to say as we gasped for breath. My hands were entangled in his hair. His hair was so soft. His hands were wrapped around my hips, pulling me in even closer than I could possibly imagine. I remembered when I was in 4th grade, my science teacher told us all that two atoms can never be in the same exact space at the same time. This statement shocked me and I spent hours pressing my fingers together to see if the would somehow occupy the same exact space. But now, with Stan, I felt we were getting pretty damn close. His hand slipped under my shirt and traced patterns on my stomach. His hand slowly slipped upward, unlike the night before I didn't stop him. He fondled my breast through the bra and goose bumps rose on my arm. Before I knew what I was doing I pulled away with a red face gasping for air.

"Sorry," We both said at the same time. I didn't know why I was getting so nervous. We had had sex before. It wasn't even good though. 17 and clumsy we had no clue what to do with our bodies. I had seen all the times in movies and in the occasional romance novel I had slipped past my mother all the men and women screaming in lust and having the times of their lives. With Stan all I remembered was pain and Stan's sweaty body rolling off of mine. I had only had one orgasm in my life. It was with Hunter and he was drunk and passed out seconds after it was finished. Jerk.

"Listen Brooke," Stan started. 'Listen Brooke,' he always started whenever he wanted to say something important. I rolled my eyes, what was I going to do instead? Get out my earplugs? "I love you." That would make it about the 15th time Stan had said those three words since the night before, yet they didn't seem any less sincere.

"I love you too," I said and blushed again.

"So let's go out to lunch."

Stan loved muggle places. I knew this based on the other dates we had had so I was surprised when he took me to Diagon Alley.

"Hmmm," I said as Stan led me to Foretescue's. I tried to hide my face as we passed by Bill's Steaks, Merlin forbid someone recognized me, but I was left unnoticed as we entered the ice cream parlor. We ordered out desserts and dug in.

"Ice cream for lunch? Stan! Your mother would be shocked!" I said in mock horror. Stan laughed along and pointed his spoon at me.

"Your mother would be horrified! Weren't you locked in a basement and fed nothing but 3 full meals a day? No dessert for you!" He said and I started laughing.

We spent the day browsing and re-browsing the aisles of the bookshops, the junk stores, anywhere that seemed friendly. Diagon Alley had expanded immensely since I had last been there before Christmas. The shops were bustling and people were actually lining up outside the shops. The alley itself seemed to have been expanded three fold and the sidewalks were large enough to fit 4 cars across. I had fun gripping Stan's hand as we worked ourselves in and out of the crowds. We were stopped every few minutes or so by a customer coming to thank Stan for his work on the Knight Bus. People I had never even dreamed of came up to him. A goblin even stopped Stan to thank him. I couldn't help but beam with pride and Stan couldn't get this really goofy grin of his face. Of course not all of it was perfect.

"Stan how's your father?" I said nonchalantly as I picked up a love potion and examined it as we walked through Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Stan smiled and looked over to me.

"I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine," he looked over some gag gifts and smiled again.

"Stan, I know you are to stubborn to admit that you rekindled things with your father but I can read you like an open book!" I said a little too aggressively. Maybe I was projecting my own lost cause of a relationship with my father on to Stan. Probably I was, but you'd have to kill me to get that out of me. But if you think about it, Stan's feelings towards his father are important, Abby Maddy and Tyler all have forgiven their father. Just to think of all the luxuries Stan would be able to afford now that he didn't have to pay for the kid's school expenses.

"You can, can you?" He said with a smirk.

"Yes!" I said exasperatedly. "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push you. But I just want what's best for you." I tried to sound sincere but that grin remained on his face. His eyes slid off of mine just long enough to glance at his watch.

"It's already 4. We should head home." Stan said and smiled wider. Before I had time to respond he had grabbed my arm. The feeling of being squashed into nothing barely had time to reach me before I felt solid ground under my feet. I opened my eyes and looked over at Stan, he squeezed my hand. Why was it that- Wait, where the hell were we? Did we get splinched? Did Stan not pay attention to the 'destination' part of apparation? In front of us stood a small building, three stories high but skinner than Abby's body. It was squashed into a row of similar looking house. I looked over at Stan in confusion but he just had an all too familiar smile on his face. Then it hit me. My breath caught in my throat. Was he really-? No, it couldn't be. But it might be! No it wouldn't, we just came here by accident.

"Brooke, here's home," He whispered. My confusion grew, my doubts slowly making way for elation.

"No," I squeaked in disbelief. My hands automatically covered my mouth and my eyes watered with tears.

"Listen Brooke, would like to move in with me? I bought the place, you see, just a few days ago. That's what I've been doing even before Valentine's Day. It's where I went to lunch today. I don't to feel like you have to. You can always just live with-" He started but I threw my arms over him. Oh Merlin! I couldn't believe this was happening! Stan and I, me and Stan, were moving in together! I was crying and laughing and kissing Stan's cheeks all at the same time.

"Are you serious?" I said still not fully believing it.

"No, I was joking about the whole thing. Ready to go to Mum's house?" He said and his eyes twinkled. I hit his arm and threw myself into his chest again.

"I love you," I said quietly again.

"I'll take that as a yes," Stan whispered in the same tone. I giggled as tears coursed done my face.

"Yes!" I said jubilantly.

We went back to Mum's place a few minutes later, work was just minutes away. Judging by Mum's expression she knew what had happened.

"Oh baby!" She said and ran towards me with her arms open for a big hug. I hugged her back tight. I love her. I love this family. I love Stan. I was just so happy. I even did a twirl on the way up the stairs. I quickly changed into my black robes and apparated to work. Time passed quickly as I daydreamed about Stan and me waking up late on a Sunday and reading the Daily Prophet together. I arrived that night in the Shunpike's abode and crawled right next to Stan who had his arms outstretched for me. I snuggled in deeper into Stan's chest as he murmured words of love into my hair. We fell asleep in each other's arms and awoke the same way, Stan snoring gently. I couldn't wait until I could officially spend the rest of my life with the man whose head rested so close to mine. Merlin I loved him.