This is Prompt No. 100-Notes
For the next several weeks, Shane came to call on Mitchie, trying to win her hand. Her father was pleased with the match and readily agreed to let Shane court Mitchie, as long as the traditional escort was in the room. Mitchie asked if Louisa could act as her escort, and her father approved. In this way, the arrangement benefited all parties involved. Louisa was given her much-needed breaks from her many duties, Mitchie and Shane could see each other, and since Louisa knew that they weren't what they said they were, she also acted as a lookout.
Shane would bring a few Confederate notes, barely worth anything, each time he came, and he would sit and talk to Mitchie as sewed them into the skirt of her travel dress. "I plan to wear this for my wedding travel dress," she told Shane once. Then, she had looked up at him and asked, "You are planning to marry me, aren't you?"
Shane had laughed, but had quickly assured her that he had every intention of marrying her. "Again," he had added with a smirk.
Mitchie's gown was soon stuffed with Confederate notes. Shane had slowly depleted his division of the army, slipping in and out of the general's tent each night thanks to another agent soldier. She tried the dress on and was surprised at the weight. "You may have to walk slower so that I can keep up with you," she had teased when she had modeled it for Shane.
Shane had stood and tried to pick her up, putting her down swiftly in mock pain. "Well, carrying you across the threshold is definitely out of the question," he told her, earning a slight slap from her.
Once the gown was filled with notes, Mitchie and Shane both agreed that it was time to get back to the base. They began to plan out just exactly how they would go about getting married after such a short time of courtship. They were sitting in the sitting room, thinking through different plans, when Mitchie came up with a plausible one.
"I'm pregnant," she offered, knowing that if her parents thought that she was pregnant, they would force the wedding to as soon as possible.
Shane, however, took it the wrong way. He leapt up from his chair and came to kneel in front of Mitchie. "Really?" he asked excitedly. "I'm going to be a father again!"
"Whoa! Shane, stop!" Mitchie called, trying to get to him before he became too excited. "I'm not actually pregnant again. I just thought that that might be a good reason to hurry up the wedding."
"Oh," Shane said, his face falling slightly, but then he brightened up again. "Oh well. It's a good idea, but I think I have a better one."
"What?" Mitchie asked suspiciously.
Shane shook his head, teasing grin plastered on his face. "Mitchie, Mitchie," he crooned, "didn't your parents ever tell you that what your beau tells them remains a secret?"
Mitchie rolled her eyes, knowing that such a "secret" was not part of courting. "No," she said tartly, "and I think-"
"I think you talk too much," Shane told her, pulling her up from the chair and kissing her in one smooth motion.
For a long time after that, Mitchie was too far gone kissing her husband to care what he was planning. All she knew was that he wasn't holding her as tightly as she wanted him to. With a slight push, her body moved closer and his arms tightened around her just the way she wanted them to.
Shane called on Mitchie's father right after dinner, and by the smirks Mitchie was receiving from him, she couldn't help but feel that he knew exactly why Shane was calling. To his credit, Mr. Torres simply nodded when Shane asked for a chance to speak to him, putting his arm around Shane's shoulders and saying, "Why don't you join me in my study?"
Shane nodded and shot Mitchie a smile. "Sounds perfect to me," he said and the two gentlemen left Mitchie and her mother alone at the table.
"May I be excused?" Mitchie asked her mother, already rising from her chair.
Her mother nodded absently and waved her hand in dismissal. "Go," she said.
Mitchie left the table, forcing her steps to be slow and determined, not the quick, eager steps she wanted to exhibit. She ascended to her room, pacing up and down for almost an hour before she heard a slight scuffling and then there was a tap at her window. She rushed to the window and opened it. There, clinging to the side of the wall, was Shane. Her eyes widened and she immediately helped pull him into her room.
"What are you doing?" she hissed. She walked back over to the window as he brushed himself off and asked, "How on earth did you get up here?"
Shane shrugged. "That was easy," he told her. "I've climbed up harder. How do you think I got into your room the night of the party?"
She rolled her eyes, trying not to blush. "I let you in the front door."
"Oh," Shane teased flatly. "Right."
"I've married a monkey," Mitchie muttered, shutting the window and latching it securely after she had cast one more disdainful glance at it.
"A monkey?" Shane asked, and his face fell in mock disappointment. "Well then, I guess my offer's no good to you."
"What offer?" Mitchie asked.
"I came all the way over here from the camp to talk to your father," Shane began, shaking his head in disappointment. "I poured out my heart, telling him how much I was in love with you and how I would go mad if he didn't let me marry you. He gives me permission and I climb all the way up that treacherous wall, only to find that you've gone and married a monkey while I was otherwise occupied."
Mitchie raised an eyebrow, unmoved by his mock rant, and said, "I thought you said that you've climbed up harder things than my wall."
"I lied," Shane responded tartly.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Mitchie said, trying very hard to hide her amusement, and not entirely succeeding. "It pains me to say this, but now I have two reasons for refusing you. You proposed to me, a married woman, and you lied to me as well." She shook her head. "Soon, I'm going to have to start making a list."
Shane's eyes darkened predatorily and he strode towards her, grasping her wrists but leaving her plenty of room to move, and backing her up against the bedpost. "I think that you'd better forget about your list," he said, his voice comically threatening. "I know far too much about you for you to refuse me. So I suggest that you accept the fact that I'm going to marry you and act ridiculously pleased about it as well."
Mitchie knew that he was trying not to laugh by the way he was screwing up his eyes, and she had a hard time not laughing as well. "Very well," she said. "I'll marry you, and I'll be ridiculously happy about it as well." She let out a slight laugh before she caught herself, tossing her hair back behind her and asking haughtily, "Better?"
Shane grinned and leaned in to kiss her. "Much," he whispered.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! I only received 2 reviews for the last chapter, so please review because that made me so sad. :(
