Hank had been acting strangely for some reason. Whenever Marie had tried to make plans for a date, he would either say he had to work overtime or that he had some errands to run. In her heart, she could see where all of this was leading. It was obvious- Hank didn't want to be with her anymore, but didn't have the heart to tell her so.
She didn't know how she felt about this. As hard as she had fought her feelings for him, in the end, Hank's devotion, adoration and protection of her had won out. Without the slightest intention, Marie had found herself totally falling for his charms and affections and it hadn't taken long for her to realize what she'd been denying to her sister and to Walt and to everyone who asked- Marie was in love with Hank, and had even been allowing herself as far as to start to picture a life with him.
As she found herself staking out in front of Hank's place, waiting for him to come home so she could confront him, thoughts of the past that she hadn't thought about in years came to her mind.
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She had known she was a beautiful woman ever since she was little. It all started with hers and Skylar's father- to him, Skylar was the 'smart' one, while Marie was the looker. It was understood that Skylar would go on to college and have a future, maybe as a lawyer or a doctor, while Marie would do well for herself if she found herself a lawyer or a doctor and made her living as little more than eye candy.
Growing up, Skylar had resented Marie for these labels. There was so much she wanted to do with her life, maybe become a famous and respected author. She had always taken to writing as a way to deal with the stress of her home life. For some reason it was easier to express her feelings on paper than it would have been to address her hurt feelings with her parents.
So naturally their parents spent more money on Marie's wardrobe, and the one time Sklar questioned her mother about it, it was the explanation that her mother gave that would only increase Skylar's low self-worth.
"Skylar, dear, it's so hard to find clothes that would look right on you. When you're a certain size like your sister is, clothes are available left and right."
It had never occurred to Skylar that there was anything wrong with her weight. To any outside observer, Skylar was a fit, attractive young woman, but due to her mother's constant criticism, Skylar had always grown up feeling like things would be better if only she had lost those extra "three or four pounds."
There was one time when Skylar had a party to go to. Her mother had bought her some plain, vanilla looking dress, but when it was time for Marie to go on her first 'date', she had received a beautiful purple dress that was sure to be quite pleasing for Marie's date.
Yes, Skylar was aware that she was older than Marie. But just for once, she wanted to know what it was like to be Marie, to feel beautiful and confident and sure of herself as her sister seemed to be. So a seventeen year old Skylar tried on the purple dress, and took her time admiring herself in the mirror.
But to her dismay, Marie, instead of afternoon cheerleading practice, had came home early and caught Skylar in her room, wearing the dress that their mother had bought her.
"Mom!" Marie called out while not taking her eyes off of Skylar.
When she arrived, their mother took one look at Skylar and instead of being supportive or affectionate, she just snickered, then turned to Marie. "It's okay, dear. We can buy you another one."
"Maybe.." Marie looked over at the hurt Skylar, and spoke up. "Maybe she can keep this one. I don't really need it. I have lots of clothes anyways."
"But Marie..."
"No, Mom. Skylar looks pretty, and I want her to have it. It's okay." She smiled at Skylar and then walked away, leaving both of the other female members of her family to wonder what had gotten into Marie.
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Marie didn't know why she had been thinking of her sister. She'd always heard that twins had a special sense of intuition, that told each one when the other was in trouble. But on that night she decided to call Skylar.
What Skylar had to tell her was most shocking. She was pregnant. The idea of an unplanned pregnancy to an unwed young girl who was working as a secretary to help pay for her college was kind of crazy. All through their lives, Marie was the crazy one, the spontaneous one. For some reason, even though she herself had lost her virginity years ago, Marie had just assumed that Skylar was too "good" to ever do anything like that with a guy.
It was at that moment that the tables truly turned in the family dynamics. No longer the center of her parent's world (that spot was reserved for their first grandbaby), Marie started to question her own identity. For so long she had had it easy, easier than most and certainly easier than Skylar. So with the new turn in the relationship Marie now felt neglected, misunderstood, unappreciated.
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Ultimately Marie had been thrilled when Skylar and Walt decided to marry. Not only was Walt a very nice and stable man, perfect for their family (how ironic those sentiments would come to be!) but Skylar seemed to be adjusting to her new role as a wife and mother quite well. Walt did all right for himself, he had a nice, steady job, and while he and Skylar were not wealthy, they were comfortable enough for him to buy them a home and for Skylar to be able to stay home and take care of their newborn son, for a while anyways.
Marie didn't know if she would be able to do what Skyar was doing- raising a handicapped child, giving up on her schooling and staying home to take care of her man. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she'd just started her own career in the medical profession that she couldn't imagine trading her lifestyle for anything.
It was funny, Marie remembered recalling to Hank. All through their lives both she and her sister had struggled with their identities. Yes, it was nice that people always told her that she was pretty, but in the end, it really didn't help her confidence. She felt like she had something to prove to people, to try to get people to see that she could be "smart" too, and that was something she had to learn to deal with.
The night she'd confided all of that in Hank was the night that he decided right then and there that Marie was the woman for him. There was something so appealing to him, that played on his sense of needing to protect everyone around him that not only had led him to a career as a drug enforcement agent, but also helped in his appreciating Marie's struggles more than anyone else in her life ever had.
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Getting married was a huge step. Yes, Skylar and Walt (whom Hank had been starting to see as more than a potential brother in law, but as family) were married and seemed to be quite happy. Hank himself had grown up in a secure, pretty happy family. But marriage...that was huge.
He'd not even confided in Walt was intentions towards Marie were. Some things a guy had to figure out for himself, he'd believed. But as he started spending less time with Marie and more time to himself, at the malls, around "happy couples" the better he started to feel about his decision.
He knew what Marie was thinking- she had accused him of having a girlfriend, of putting his career ahead of her. There was no way for him to explain to her that he wasn't pulling back from Marie, but rather was planning on taking the hugest step a person could in order to be close to the one they loved.
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Finally, at nine o'clock at night, Hank arrived at his home, only to see a very furious Marie waiting for him on his porch.
"Marie!" he laughed out of nervousness. "What are you doing here?"
"We had a date tonight, or did you forget?" she accused, with her hands on her hips.
"Yeah but I called and left a message...something came up..."
"Don't give me that bullshit! That line might pacify your other girlfriends, but I'm not like those sluts you've been running around with."
"Marie, have you hit your head? What in the hell are you talking about? Other women?" Hank didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed.
"Do you think I'm stupid, Henry?" She only used his official first name when she was really really mad. "I know you're not with me, you're not at work..."
"How would you know that unless..."
"Yes," her hands excitedly did a lot of flying around, with Marie being totally caught up in the emotion of the moment. "I did call your work. I know you haven't been working overtime like you claim..."
"That doesn't mean a damn thing!" Hank's voice now started to raise in tune with Marie's.
"Oh, yeah...then how about me? If you're not with me and you're not at work, then who are you with?"
Hank couldn't help but laugh, mostly out of nervousness, but the idea that he would cheat on Marie was pretty funny. "It's not like that, Marie. Now why don't you get your pretty little panties out of that bunch and come over and give me a kiss..."
"A kiss? You lie to me and avoid me like the plague for weeks and you want a kiss? Well, buster, I have something you can kiss all right..." Marie continued to rage.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had it all planned out. After weeks of thinking, soul-searching, Hank had made up his mind that he truly did want to spend the rest of his life with Marie. "Come on now, baby, don't make a big deal out of nothin..."
Now Marie was even more angry than ever. "Nothing? Nothing? I wait for weeks by the phone waiting for you to call, to tell me you've been sick, or even better, that you missed me...and you stand here calling my feelings nothing? Forget it, Hank. I'm not doing this. I'm out of here."
Marie turned to leave, but what came out of his mouth next took her completely by surprise. "Marry me."
Not sure if this was his idea of a sick joke, she slowly turned around. "What...what did you just say?"
He sighed and pulled out the ring from the inside pocket of his jacket that he'd been carrying around for weeks now. "I want to marry you, Marie. Do you want...?"
Having thought of every possible scenario in her mind but this one, Marie quickly went from being majorly pissed to finding herself happier than she'd ever imagined herself being. "You really want to marry me?" she grinned.
"Where on earth do you think I've been? Jesus, do you think I'm stupid, Marie? I know I'm no Einstein the way Walt is, but I do know that when the most beautiful girl in the world thinks you've hung the moon, then there's no way you can let her go. I just...I just wanted to find the right ring."
He held out the ring, and to his relief she gladly inspected it. Examining it closely, she started to ask all sorts of questions. What was the cut, the quality, where he got it.
He was a guy's guy, and he didn't really know much about what she was talking about. All he knew was that he'd seen a diamond so pretty he knew that he had it to give it to Marie. "Jesus Christ, Marie. It's just a rock!"
Knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere else on the subject with him (she knew she could count on Skylar to help her to evaluate the ring properly) she held out her hand.
"What now?" Hank asked, frustrated.
"Aren't you going to put it on my hand?" Marie grinned, her voice softening.
His hands shaking, well aware that by now the neighbors were staring, Hank did one better. He got down on one knee and in front of everyone, he gave Marie the proper proposal that he knew she deserved.
"Marie...you know I ain't the best with words. All I know is...you've made me a very happy guy, and I would be a fool to walk away from you. I want you to know...I would never leave you for anything in the world. Would you do me the honor...would you marry me?"
As all the neighbors watched in joyful anticipation, Marie nodded through her tears and gave Hank the answer he'd been so afraid of not receiving. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes!"
And, still in front of the audience, Hank carefully slid the ring on her finger. Marie knew right then and there that she would never, ever take it off.
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Now she was pregnant, and Walter White, murderer, drug kingpin, liar stood in front of her, presenting her with Hank's wedding band. It was only at that moment that reality sank in. There was no way her husband would have willingly parted with that ring. To death till we part, they had promised each other. And now, thanks to Walter, one of Hank's promises to her had come true.
TBC