Nature Boy

Her words hung in the air for the longest time as Dave considered a response.

"I am," he finally confirmed and lowered his eyes. There was no way he was walking out of the house alive.

"There is no reason I should give you a second chance," she stated angrily. "Except for one." Reaching between them, Ash took Dave's in hers and held it tenderly. Then she placed it on her abdomen.

Feeling as thought the air had been sucked out of the room, Dave kept his hand on her stomach. It was too soon to feel anything, but the realization that his child was in the woman he loved was more than enough to bring tears to his eyes.

"My father died when I was twenty one," Dave said softly. "He worked two jobs to provide for us; he was a good, God fearing man, and though he did what he could to make sure that I had everything a kid could want, he died before I could get to know him. I never got to ask him the things I wanted and needed to know. Deep down inside, I'm afraid that could happen to my child." Dave used every bit of strength he had to fight back the tears that ended up falling like rain.

Ash pushed herself into a sitting position. Gently her hand cupped his cheek. "Dave," she comforted, "I know how you feel. I would be lying if I said I didn't have my fears about parenting. At least your dad was a great guy; mine went down in the annals of criminal history. You met him; you know what a monster he was," she reminded him. "And that gene could be passed on to our child. I'm so afraid I could be bringing another George Seaver into this world."

"The odds on that are very low," Dave tried to reassure her.

"I know. But that doesn't stop me from worrying. What if I fail and our child takes that path? Is there a guarantee that he or she will turn out good?" Ash wept openly.

Dave took the hand cupping his cheek and pulled it down to press a kiss to it. "I've seen too much to lie and say yes. You know as well as I do that there is no guarantee in life." His eyes flicked down, then up to look into Ash's teary blue ones. "We won't fail, Ashley. I won't let that happen."

"How do you know?" she whispered.

"Because we have love between us and for our child. Without love, things fail. Your father couldn't love, but you can. You can give our child something you never had," he encouraged as he brushed the tears away.

"How do you know?"

"Because you gave me something I never had before. I love you, Ashley Rossi."

Ash tried to speak, but the words failed her. "What…? What did you say?" she asked when she could find her voice.

"I said 'Ashley Rossi'," Dave repeated. "Unless you object."

"You're asking me to marry you?" Her eyes searched his for any hint that he might be joking.

He gave his infamous crooked smile. "That was the idea, yes."

"Is it because of the baby?"

"And if I said yes, would you say no?" he asked honestly.

"I'm not sure. What if this doesn't work? The fourth time is not the charm."

"Maybe it is. The three times before, I did it by the book, and look how it turned out. Who says the carriage can't come before marriage?" he rationalized.

"That does make sense," she smiled. "I guess things happen for a reason." She took a deep breath. "Yes, I will marry you -"

Dave didn't need to hear anymore. Covering her mouth with his, he kissed her with all the love and passion he had held back on for so long. As he outlined the seam of her lips with his tongue, he tasted her tears and vowed that he would make sure that all of her tears from that moment on would be happy. The thought of loving her for the rest of his life danced in his head. With a moan, he deepened the kiss until they both had to break for air.

"Wow!" Ash gasped. "You never kissed me like that before." She relished in lying in the protective embrace of his strong arms.

"I've never been in love before."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe everything that has happened up until now was the lesson I needed to learn in order to get my reward."

Ash looked flummoxed. "I don't understand."

"A long time ago, I heard someone say 'the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return'," he quoted. Then he laid his hand on her stomach. "I have…and then some."

"I love you." She didn't try to hide her tears of joy. Her arms hugged him tight.

"I'm going to love you every day of my life," he vowed. Ash pulled back to look at him.

"I can't wait," she teased. Her eyes full of love.

Dave laid her on the mattress and covered her body with his - taking care not to crush her.

"Good," he growled. "Because, 'every day' starts today." Dave cut off her response with a hot kiss and showed her how it was going to be for a lifetime.

And she wasn't disappointed.