Chapter 13 - A Birthday Proposition

It was the closing performance of Sleeping Beauty, and Howard had brought a bouquet as well as the flower arrangements he usually sent to Sadie for every performance. He was also waiting backstage while everyone took their encore bows. He wasn't surprised at all that the ballet had gotten rave reviews, and to top things off, it was Sadie's birthday that weekend.

So he had plans to take her out — candlelight dinner, fancy dress, jewelry… the whole nine yards. He'd even gotten her a necklace, though it was more understated than the diamond one he'd given her for Christmas and instead had sapphire fairy wings on a white gold chain. The gift was waiting for them at the private dinner — after she got done hugging all of her family members.

Since he already knew that he'd get to spend the after-show with her, he simply hung back and let all of the X-Men and her friends and family congratulate her on yet another amazing show. It was actually surprisingly easy to hang in the background even for as recognizable as he was, simply because there were so many people around the cast.

Sadie was in the middle of a sandwich of her sisters when Howard couldn't help but tip his chin at James when he saw him. "Shopping around for the next one now that you're on the market again?" he teased.

"Pretty sure that's not how it works," James called back. "But it's nice to know where your head is."

Howard smirked. "Hey, it's just nice not to be the only one in the headlines," he said with a laugh. "To hear the news, you're the hottest bachelor on the block."

James couldn't help but throw it right back. "Well …" He gave Howard a once-over. "Wouldn't hurt you to hit the gym once or twice."

Howard laughed out loud. "Yeah, alright, thanks for the ego boost, man."

James gave him a crooked sort of grin. "Have to do it," he said. "In the lab and out."

Howard chuckled, though he stepped back when Malin insisted that James and John had to join them for the full sibling hug around Sadie as well as a group picture. And to Howard's amusement, once the photo was over, one of the other ballerinas did come over to say hello to James — which had Howard in stitches.

All in all, Howard was in a great mood by the time Sadie did finally get away from her family to go change, and he was still smiling as he waited outside. Right up until he realized that he had an accidentally perfect vantage point to overhear the director talking with the costume manager.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised she's got a few eyes on her. We'd better get her on contract for the theater before someone else snatches our star," he was saying — which had Howard smirking to himself, since he knew who they were talking about. Though the next bit had him frowning as the director added, "And she'll be eighteen before you know it." The tone was unmistakable, as was the snicker from the costume director.

Howard took a step forward and was about to — well, he didn't know what he'd do, but he was going to do something. But Sadie stepped out of the dressing room right at that moment and interrupted him with a hug that had him switching gears to try to catch her and spin her around with the force of her jumping hug.

"Hey, handsome," she said before she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Have you been terribly bored?"

"Actually, I got to see one of the fairies try to hit on your brother, so I've been fairly entertained," Howard said with a little smile.

Sadie shook her head at that. "There have been a few that tried to ask me to introduce them," She smiled at the thought. "And he's too nice to brush them off."

"It's kinda fun to watch someone else be the hot new bachelor," Howard laughed. "Seeing as I'm so very, very taken with you."

She leaned closer. "It's even funnier when they're bold, because he hasn't quite mastered getting them not to touch him, either."

Howard leaned in as well. "It's an acquired skill," he said before he stole a kiss. "But let's not talk about your brother. I have a celebratory dinner just waiting for us."

"Oh, see, I thought you were entertained, but … if you have plans lined up … commence with the sweeping."

Howard couldn't help but literally pick her up off her feet at the invitation, spinning her around before he set her back down and offered her his arm to lead her out to where his limo was waiting. By that time, it was well-known that they were dating, so there were a few photographers, but the dinner itself was someplace his dad swore by for privacy. So, a car change later, it was just the two of them and a candlelit dinner overlooking the city skyline.

"So," he said conversationally, "are you thinking you'll stay with that theater, or are you going to branch out?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'd like to get into a bigger group — and this one really tops out with college-aged girls."

Howard frowned and then shook his head. "I think you can get in wherever you like," he said. "I just know… this director's kind of…."

"Skeezy?" she offered. "Yeah, I know."

"You deserve better than that," Howard said earnestly.

"You know, it's fairly common for directors to be sleazes," she pointed out. "This one is dumb enough that I don't think he knows who my family is."

Howard watched her for a moment and then nodded to himself, trying to get back the good mood he'd been in before, since she clearly wasn't as bothered as he was and, really, she knew how to take guys like that down way more effectively than he did. "Well, hey, I got you something for your birthday," he said, reaching under the table to spring open the box hidden in the wood. "Because you're you — and because I couldn't let your closing show pass without celebrating."

"Is it kisses?" she asked.

"Well, yes," he said with a laugh as he leaned over the table to kiss her, then sat back down again and pushed forward the box with the delicate necklace. "And something else too."

"Howard, you didn't have to do anything like this," Sadie said earnestly, though she was clearly touched by his selection when she opened it up. He'd taken her advice about not wanting to be bought, but she could tell it was still expensive.

"I wanted to, though," Howard said. He paused and seemed to steel himself before he added, "And if I'd been thinking, there'd be a ring, too."

She stopped at that and looked up at him. "A ring?"

"Well, yeah," he said, starting to ramble as his words got ahead of him. The idea of a physical symbol of how much he loved her and how much he didn't want anyone else hadn't been at the forefront of his mind before he'd heard the director talking, but he had already decided that Sadie was it, that he wasn't going to love anyone else like he loved her. And giving her something that would show her he was sticking around forever... that felt right as soon as he said it out loud. "I mean, think about it. You'd probably have a lot fewer people skeezing on you if you were, you know, engaged to a Stark, right?"

"Howard, you're sixteen," she said. "We can't get engaged."

"I'm seventeen in a matter of days," he pointed out. "You're not that much older than me. And — and it could be a long engagement!"

"But I am so much wiser," she had to tease, not at all realizing how serious he was, seeing as he's started off the proposal talking about the director.

"You are," he said with a smirk. "But I'm definitely the prettiest."

"Yes, you are," she agreed. Then, with a sigh, she added, "But … Howard … I don't want to get engaged to chase creeps off. I can just stab them."

"Well, yeah, you could," he said, then bit his lip. "I just thought… I didn't really think this through and do what I wanted to do…"

She gave him a warm smile. "Would you put the necklace on me?" Sadie asked, already pulling her hair out of the way.

Howard couldn't help but grin as he quickly came around behind her to clasp the necklace, leaning in to kiss her when it was clasped. "Happy birthday, Sadie," he said with a smile.

"Thank you, Howard," she said and stole a kiss before he could move back to his seat.

"I just wanted to — you know — tell you that I love you," Howard said, still looking a bit flustered, but not nearly as much as before as he sat back down across from her.

She was smiling crookedly at him for that. "Well, I love you too."

"And, you know, the offer's still on the table," he said. "You don't even have to agree to marry me. I'm not above just… giving you a ring to ward off creeps."

"Howard, if and when we ever get to the point where you want to propose to me for real, we'll talk about it. But I'm not afraid of some creeps. My father taught me how to handle those guys."

Howard let his shoulders drop. He could tell he'd screwed up the moment, and he knew he'd have to try again, but still, he had to say: "If you change your mind…"

"If I change my mind, I can just pick up a ring myself," she pointed out. "But honestly, lots of girls do that, and it doesn't work."

"Yeah, but other girls wouldn't have a ring I'd buy. It would be gorgeous. I'll get a custom job done. Two rings. One for you to wear when you're dancing and you don't want it to catch, one that's actually got the queen style you deserve…"

She smiled wider at him. "Really, that's overkill. You know I don't catch anything I don't mean to."

Howard shrugged with both palms up. "Yeah, but you've met me, right? The king of overkill? Trying to impress the girl out of his league?"

"Prince of overkill," she laughed.

"I've been demoted!" He put a hand over his heart and looked properly shocked. "Crown prince at least, though, right?"

"No, you just tried to steal the crown from your dad prematurely. I've seen what he does when he thinks he screwed up."

"And that's just what you've seen from Westchester." Howard laughed. "You should see the more private apologies. Mom has some amazing teddy bears… and like fifty spa days that she hasn't cashed in on."

"I've seen your mother in action," Sadie laughed. "You know two weeks ago when she gave him the cold shoulder?"

"Oooh, yeah," Howard said, wincing. "He forgot he'd promised to take her out and ended up spending the whole week in the lab…"

Sadie smiled and shook her head. "She told me he never promised that. She just wanted to see if she could get him to jump."

Howard looked surprised and then had to laugh. "Devious. Please never do that to me, because I would absolutely fall for it."

She grinned and reached for his hand. "I don't think I'd ever need to."

He couldn't help but smile as he ran his thumb over her knuckles. "Good. I'd be an idiot to ignore you, Sadie."

"Well … that and you really only get lost in the lab when you have to. That was a believable snookering."

"I actually like the business side of things more than the lab," Howard admitted. "The lab… gets busy when I'm a technopath. And it just feels… easy." He paused. "I think Dad's kinda mad that I pick things up fast and he had to work for it."

"You did hear that James set up something for him, right? Because he grumbled about how you put in a new twist into your dad's last repulsor?"

"Yeah, he was picking putty out of his hair for weeks." Howard smirked. "But I like tinkering. Just … tinkering. I'm not in the labs all the time like Dad is. I like people too much."

"I don't think that it's because he doesn't like people," she said, with her head tipped to the side. "More like … he gets overloaded. And, you know, can't admit it."

Howard nodded. "Yeah, there's a lot of that too. And don't get me wrong. I love him, and you should see when I show him something he's never thought of and he lights up." He lit up himself as he thought of it. "It's just … I can't work in the lab with him at the same time. He's too competitive, and I didn't get that gene… at least, not with tech." He smirked her way. "With girls, maybe."

"Well. If I'm cramping your style," she said with her chin tipped up.

He laughed and then moved his chair around so he was sitting beside her and not across from her. "Weren't you listening earlier when I told you I loved you?" he pointed out and then pulled her into a long kiss.

She smiled into another kiss, this one initiated by her. "I've heard most girls like to hear that stuff from time to time."

"Then I'll have to make it a point to tell you that often," he decided. "And send you cards when I'm on trips and can't tell you myself."

"You haven't really been gone too much," she said.

"Well, Dad was saying once I'm eighteen, I should really get more involved in the company. By the time I'm twenty-one, he wants me on the board," Howard admitted. "Mom thinks I've got her head for business. Which is kind of intimidating, since she's a genius."

"I'm not surprised," she said.

"That makes one of us." He waved his hand before she could try to get him to see his worth. "Point is, I'll be busy and you'll be taking the world by storm, so… lest you forget I love you? You're getting cards. And flowers. And if it's a really long separation, I'm pulling out all the stops and sending a ring."

She shifted to lean on him. "You're assuming that I'll get into a touring group, too, of course."

"You're a queen, Sadie. The world will never be the same," Howard said and kissed the top of her head. "I mean it. You're so out of my league."

"I'm pretty sure that's not possible," she argued. "But … you know, if I do get too many creeps coming around, I could go full circle and turn out like Aunt Tasha."

Howard couldn't help but laugh at that. "She'd be so proud."

"She already cries when I tell her the roles I'm getting," she whispered. "Shhh."

"Like I don't know she's squishy," Howard said. "I live in the same house. I've seen the look on her face when Nikki comes home from his SHIELD internship and tells her about the actual agents he's wiping the floor with."

"She's easy to please," Sadie said. "Clearly."

Howard smiled and pulled Sadie into a much longer kiss. "Well, I don't know about you, but I think we can probably skip dessert and find a more comfortable setting."

"I need a more comprehensive kiss to consider your alternate timeline," Sadie said in a perfectly businesslike tone.

"Right of course. Cards on the table for negotiations," he teased, catching her in a long kiss that wasn't nearly as polite as his hands started to wander too.