Chapter 18

Will was standing hand in hand with Lizzie, facing a covered easel. "Is this one of your new pieces?" He smiled as he looked at her.

She shook her head. "No. You aren't allowed to see any of the pieces for my next show. This is a piece for you." He felt her lightly squeeze his hand before she let go. "Happy anniversary."

She pulled off the sheet and Will saw something wonderful. The black canvas was covered with neon paint splattered into shapes almost resembling fireworks.

"Lizzie..." He took some tentative steps towards the painting.

"Guess." She was trying to hide a smile.

"What?"

"Guess what it is." She was failing at hiding a smile now.

"What is it?" He saw how much she was dying to tell him what it was.

She walked forwards so her hands were around his waist. "Our first kiss."

"Thats what I saw, too. Except, it had a little more blue in it." She hit him playfully on the shoulder. It still managed to hurt a little. "I love it. You gave me something so much better than the things I got." She hit him again.

"You introduced me to Jane, got me an engagement ring, and sent me an office full of flowers. This is the least I could do."

"But you gave me you. You let me in. You let me love you in my own awkward, special way." She gave him sad eyes. "Don't give me that face! I know I'm awkward!"

She smiled. "Okay. Do you really like it?"

He sighed. "I think it will go well with a silver frame. What do you think?"

Her smile grew. " I think that will do very nicely."

He put a hand over hers, feeling the scabs on her knuckles. it was then he realized that she hadn't healed fully yet. "Lizzie are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"

"You just came home from the hospital."

She frowned. "I want to ask you something..." She bit her lip.

"You know you can ask me anything,' He pulled her into a hug.

"I know its only seven weeks, but when the time comes, do you want to know?" She looked at him with the most probing eyes he had seen.

"What do you mean, Lizzie?" He sighed lightly, relishing the feeling of her in his arms,

"At four months, you can find out. I'm almost done with two. I was wondering if you wanted to know." She rested her forehead against his chest.

"That didn't answer my..." He understood. "You want to know if I want know if the baby is a boy or a girl?" He pushed her slightly away. All she did was nod, "Do you?"

"I don't know. I kinda want it to be a surprise. I didn't know with Jane, but Charlotte did. She found out early."

"Why don't we not, and if curiosity gets the better of us, find out." He thought that was a reasonable idea.

"Okay. Now, let's go design that treehouse fort.

Jane came back on Wednesday. She greeted both of them with a hug, she kissed Charlie on the top of the head, and settled into the couch.

"Tell me the story you promised."

"What?"

"The story about the house!" She shifted deeper into the couch cushions.

"Alright. The man who built it is very smart." Lizzie took her place next to her. "He designed and built the house when he was a young man."

"Was he handsome?" She interrupted.

"Very. Now don't interrupt. Anyway. He wanted to build a house that was very unique, so he did something very sneaky. He built a secret room." Jane gasped. "I know. Theres an extra room on either this floor, or in the basement, with a secret passage, and a hidden door, and everything."

"Do you know what's in it?" She bounced a little.

"No. He didn't tell me."

"You met him?"

"Oh yes. He and I are good friends." She smiled.

"Who is he?" She jumped off the couch.

"William." Lizzie smirked.

"Thats the same name as you!" She ran over to William.

"It is him." Lizzie said not acknowledging that Will was actually in the room. The energy that Jane put into trying to convince William to show her the room made Lizzie laugh. When Charlotte and Jane left, William and Lizzie plopped down onto the couch, exhausted.

"She made me research the entire top floor." Lizzie sighed. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because. Half the fun of the fun is finding it." He smiled slyly and kissed her on the forehead. "Want to order Chinese?"

"Yes please."