"Morning." Tony said, somewhat surprised.
Ria turned and walked back into the kitchen with Tony following her. She put her mug on the counter and pulled out another mug, which she promptly filled with the bitter liquid. Before she could finish, Tony approached her, put his arms around her waist and leaned his head on her shoulder. "I like waking up to coffee, but I would have liked to wake up to you first…" He said, honestly.
She looked at him. "Sorry…had some things on my mind…"
"Good, bad, or ugly?" He asked, gently pushing her to speak to him.
A gentle, yet slightly sad smile graced her lips as she turned, the coffee mugs still on the counter. She put her arms around Tony and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. "A little of everything…" She admitted.
"Something I can help with?" He asked, gently rubbing her back as he held her tightly in his arms.
"You already have…" She whispered.
"Okay…"
She chuckled as she pulled away for a moment, just to observe his facial expressions. "You have NO idea what you did, do you?"
"Nope…I'm just a man…I don't understand that complexity of the female mind."
She chuckled. "It's more a question of whether you understand the complexity of the female heart…"
"That too…"
She sighed. "Last night was romantic…something I've never really had before…sure, there were ups and downs, but…I felt like…Cinderella."
"That was the point." Tony said, softly as he let his head lean against hers.
She smiled. "Thank you…it really was magical."
"Ria, you deserve nothing but the best…"
She nodded as tears started misting her vision.
"But I can't give you what you deserve." He finished.
She looked up sharply and he continued quickly.
"But I still love you like I've never loved anyone else…and…even though it seems really soon, I know I can't live without you…"
She gasped. "Are you asking me to marry you?"
"I…well…that's sure what it sounds like, isn't it?" Tony said, surprising even himself. "But…if…"
She placed one finger on his lips. "When?"
"What?" Tony asked, shocked.
"When? When do you want me to marry you?"
"You want to?" He asked, still stunned by the suddenness of the proposal and plans. "I mean…I don't have a ring or anything…"
She nodded. "That's okay…we can get one…but that's not important."
"It's not?" Tony asked, trying to understand the female psyche…
"Not to me…right now, all that is important is that you love me…you really love me. And you want to spend the rest of your life with me…"
"Really?"
She nodded. "And, you know what, Tony Dovolani?"
"What?"
"I love you too." She said, leaning close to him before stealing a kiss.
"You do?" He asked, dazed from the kiss.
"Yes. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, I accept your proposal."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Wow…"
She chuckled. "Oh come on…I thought I was the one with self-esteem issues…"
"You're not the only one…" He admitted softly.
"I know." She said, quietly. "I saw you with Elena backstage for a little while, and then…I saw you with Inna…"
"Yeah…one relationship ended up all right, but the other…"
"You're still expected to be her knight in shining armor…" She whispered, softly.
He looked at her, trying to decipher her meaning, and she looked down at the floor. "It's okay…I just…I needed to know…"
"No," He said, shaking his head. "From now on, it's one professional to another in that relationship. If she needs a shoulder to cry on, I'll send her to Louis." He said, a tiny gleam in his eye.
She chuckled. "Okay…"
"Okay…" He said, pulling away and picking up his mug of coffee. As he sat down, he noticed the time on the clock. It was nearly ten o' clock. He choked on his coffee as that time sunk in.
"What?" Ria asked, worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"You're supposed to be at work!" He sputtered.
She smiled and shook her head. "Nope. I'm here today…and for the next week or so…I'm on leave…"
"You are?" Tony asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Janet told me yesterday that I'd been working too hard and deserved a week off…"
Tony nodded. "You have been working a lot lately."
She shrugged. "I love my job."
"Yeah I know…" Tony said, almost sadly as another thought occurred to him. "Are you sure you want to marry me?"
"Are you trying to back out?"
"No, of course not!" Tony said, empathically. "But…I live in New York, and you live here…one of us is going to have to move our base of operations…"
"Me." She said, sitting upright.
"You? I…I wasn't trying to…"
"I know…I've thought about this. You have a studio that you're running, and your partner's in New York. You need to stay in New York."
"But…"
"There are plenty of hospitals in New York that could use a nurse practitioner, aren't there?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"No buts, Tony…you're planning on being here for a few weeks, right?"
"Yeah…"
"So, you could move in with me while you're here, I'll give my two weeks' notice and let the landlord know that I'm going. Then, when you're ready, we can go back to New York."
"You're sure."
"Yes, Tony, I am."
He looked at the clock and then at his coffee and then at her. "So…how do you feel about Vegas?" He asked with a grin.
--
At ten o' clock, there was a knock on the door to the O'Neill residence and inn. Sam and Lena were at the kitchen table, visiting and eating breakfast. Sam stood to get the door, but Lena placed a hand on her arm. "I'll get it."
"Thanks."
Lena walked over to the door, and opened it to find Valentin Chemerkovskiy, Slavik's young pupil, standing on the stoop. "Val." She greeted, surprised.
"Mrs. Kosovich."
"It's Lena…what can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to apologize for what Slavik said about you last night. It was inappropriate, and I can only give my sincerest apologies for the viciousness of those remarks."
Lena bit the inside of her cheek. "It's not something that you need to apologize for, Val."
"Perhaps not, but I felt that someone should, and I knew that Slavik wouldn't be the one to do so."
A tiny smile managed to return to Lena's features. "Thank you."
"May I speak with your husband?" He asked, hesitantly.
"Of course. Come in, and I'll get him." Lena said, opening the door a little wider.
He nodded, gravely as he stepped inside. "Thank you."
Lena hurried down the hallway, and stepped into the guest room to find her husband struggling to get dressed.
"Let me help you." She said, as she walked over quickly.
"All right…" Nick said, somewhat surprised at her haste. "Something wrong?"
"Valentin Chemerkovskiy is here. And he'd like to have a word with you."
Nick took a deep breath. "Okay…"
She put a hand on his arm. "He came to apologize about last night…"
"Oh." Nick said, not without a sigh of relief.
"He's beating himself up about this…so, don't be too hard on him…"
"Lena…"
"Nick."
"I'll try."
She smiled and kissed his temple. "That's all I can ask you to do…"
A few minutes later, Nick hobbled out to the entry, leaning fairly heavily on his cane. Mornings were not friendly to his healing limb. "Hello."
"Mr. Kosovich." Val said, giving a slight bow in the older man's direction.
"It's Nick."
"Nick." The young man agreed.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
"Well, first of all, I would like to apologize for Slavik's actions last night. They were immensely inappropriate, and for that I apologize."
"You don't need to apologize, Val. It's your coach who should apologize."
"You've known him for a long time, Nick…when does he ever do what he SHOULD do?"
"I can't deny that you've got a point." He sighed.
There was an awkward silence as Val looked at Nick's injured leg.
"Something wrong?" Nick asked, noticing the studiousness that Val was employing.
"You're not teaching, are you?"
"Teaching? Uh…not at the moment…"
"Slavik kicked me out of his studio when I suggested that he should apologize, and…to be honest, I don't think I want to work with him any longer."
"Well, if I were going to be in New York soon, I would offer you to join my studio, but I'm working on another project right now. But let me call my friend, Tony Dovolani."
"I already tried to reach him, but I haven't gotten an answer."
"Well, I have his personal cell phone. He may have turned off his business cell."
Val nodded. "Well, this is the hotel that I'm staying at. I'll be there for another week. Then, you can call my home number."
Nick accepted the business card with the information on it. "Well, I'll let you know what I find out."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
He closed the door as the young man walked out of the house, and sighed. "Lena?" He called, looking at the business card.
"Yes?" She asked, stepping out of the boys' room, little Nicky O'Neill at her feet.
"Have you seen Tony?"
"Nope."
"Funny, 'cuz Val tried calling him, but hasn't been able to reach him on his work cell."
"Well, he doesn't answer that one quite as often as he probably should." Lena admitted.
"Yeah, but…he and Ria disappeared after the competition last night…and we haven't heard from him since…"
"He's probably over there."
"Lena!"
"What?"
"I do NOT want to think about that!"
"You were just asking for it!"
"But that doesn't mean that I wanted it!"
"Anyway…I'm sure Tony'll be here in a little while…he's got to get his suitcase before heading back to New York."
"You've got a point." He said, nodding.
She chuckled. "I ALWAYS have a point…"
"Right…how could I forget?" He chuckled, kissing her quickly. "I need to get back to that costume order…I'll see you at lunch."
"All right. Go forth and sew…" She laughed.
He shook his head before sobering. "I love you…"
She looked at him, somewhat surprised before she returned his sentiment. "I love you too…"
He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I don't know what I would do without you…"
"Nick…you're scaring me."
He shook his head with a chuckle. "Yeah…sounding a little "doomsday-ish" aren't I? I'll see you at lunch."
She nodded, her eyes clouded with worry. "Yeah…"