She gazed up at him, with a strange look in her eyes. "I….I don't know, Owen," she said. She got up, picked up her discarded t-shirt and ran into the next room.
"Cristina!" he called out after her. He got up and contemplated whether to put back his discarded pj bottoms on. He then realized it was only the two of them in the house, so he could be as naked as he wanted to be. His mother wasn't around to be offended by him. He didn't bother with the pjs and just went into the next room. She had curled up under the covers. He joined her under the covers and pulled her closer to him, turning her to face him.
"I just want to know what is going on between the two of us. You say we've broken up but yet, you come to me and make love to me. It's like you're giving me mixed signals. I want to be with you, more than anything. So what does this mean? Are we back together?" he asked, with pleading eyes. "I did what you asked. I told my mother and my sister to step back and not interfere. They promised that they would."
"You did that?" she asked. "How did they take it?"
"Rather well, I thought," he said. "They are going to leave us to find our way back to each other, if that is what you want."
She was quiet and kissed him, gently this time, not with the aggressiveness she had earlier displayed.
"Owen, you know that I love you," she said.
"Yes," he said. "It is what keeps me going. That and our baby. They are what I hold on to; it gives me hope that our family will be together in the end."
"It's what I want, too," she said. "But I still have doubts."
"Doubts? About me? About my family?" he asked. "About our future?"
"No, about me," she said. "I don't know if I can do this. I wonder if I could be a good mother. I am not actually the best mother material. I don't have that maternal instinct. Hell, my first instinct was to get an abortion."
"But you didn't do it. We all have our doubts about whether we can be good parents. We can only know if we try. I do know that you will care and love this baby as much as I do and from that, we can both learn to be good parents," he said, trying to encourage her.
"I also think that I won't be a good partner," she said. "I have always been independent and stubborn. I've only had to think about myself. Being a good mate, spouse, partner means that you have to think about another person's feelings. It won't just be about me, anymore. It's going to be about us. We – you and me – will be making decisions, together, as a couple, as parents, as a family. I don't know if I will be good at that, either."
"Oh, Cristina, you give yourself less credit that you should," he said. "Yes, you are independent and you are stubborn but you're not selfish. You've lived with Meredith your entire adult life. Didn't you have to make decisions with her, regarding your living situation on a regular basis?"
She nodded. "Yes, that's true but being a good partner is more than just being a good roommate," Cristina countered.
"Yes, I know that," he said. "There are deeper feelings involved and the possibility of hurting each other is very real. But I think the love that we share counters all of that. I see a wonderful future for us, Cristina."
She snuggled against him. "Can I ask you a question?" he said. She mumbled, "Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me that Meredith had moved out and is now living with the sheriff? Why didn't you tell me that you were now living by yourself? I think it is something that I would have liked to have known. I worry about you all of the time," he said.
"How did you find out?" Cristina asked.
"I met Meredith and Derek at the mercantile, shopping for groceries, yesterday. They were shopping for their household," he said.
"Is that why you asked me to come to dinner yesterday? Because you knew I was alone?" she asked.
"Well, I was giving you the space and the time that you wanted but you being alone in that cottage was not a picture that I liked to have in my head," he said.
She stayed quiet for a minute. "So you're not asking me to move in with you?" she said, in a surprised voice.
"Cristina, you know that I want you to move in. But I only want you to move in when you're ready," he said. "I can't force you to come here. I want you to make that decision by yourself."
"Thank you," she said. He really was a good man, she thought. They lay together, wrapped in each other's arms, until they fell asleep.
The next day, he drove her back to the cottage, so she could get ready for work. The status quo remained over the next few weeks, with Cristina remaining in the cottage and Owen at the farm. They saw each other, frequently. He started coming into town at lunchtime to take her to lunch and he often slept over at the cottage. Things were starting to get good, once again, Owen thought. They were returning to the days of how they were, before she got pregnant. He was happy that they had reached a place where they were both content. He still wanted her to move into the farm but he wasn't going to push her.
Dr. Webber and the new Mrs. Webber returned from their month-long honeymoon/vacation. After the cruise, they had decided to do a little bit of traveling. One day, after his lunchtime visit with Cristina, Owen was surprised to find his mom at the farm. She and Dr. Webber were packing up all of her things to move them to her new house in town.
"Mom," Owen said, hugging her. "You look so tanned and relaxed."
"How are you, son?" she said. "Well, being away can do that for you. You look a little thin, son."
"I am okay," Owen said, as he hugged his stepfather. From the looks of things around the house, it was clear to Susannah that Cristina still had not moved in. She sighed. Her poor boy was living alone.
"So, no progress on Cristina?" she asked.
"On the contrary, Mom, I have made lots of progress," he said. "When last you saw us, we were broken up. Now, she sees me, every day for lunch and sometimes, I sleep over at the cottage."
"Ah, I am glad to hear that, son but no headway in her moving here," she said.
"No, not as yet. I am giving her space to make her decision," Owen said. "I just wish that she would agree because I don't like her living alone in the cottage. What if something happens to her and she can't get to the phone to call me?"
"What? She's living alone! What happened to her roommate, the other city girl, Meredith?" Susannah asked. She did not like the sound of this.
"Meredith moved in with the sheriff. They got engaged," Owen said.
"Oh, my. You're the one having the baby with your girlfriend but they are the ones, getting engaged," Susannah said. Owen knew that it bothered his mother, tremendously, that he and Cristina did not seem any closer to getting to the altar. "What, Cristina is now close to six months, now and soon, my grandbaby will be born and his parents aren't even married."
"Mom, lots of people have babies before they get married," Owen said. "There is no stigma attached to that, like it was in your time, Mom."
"Please, stop inferring that I am old," Susannah said. "It's just we did things the proper way. We courted, we got engaged, we got married and then we had babies."
"I think that's it, Susannah," Dr. Webber said, emerging from the back of the house. He carried out a box to his vehicle.
"Anyway, son, I have to go fix up Richard's house. It's in a state because he has been living alone, since Adele died," Susannah said. "I will see you, Owen. Feel free to drop by at any time."
"Okay, mom," he said, as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
The next few days were busy ones for Susannah, as she settled into her new house. She had made many trips to the mercantile. She sometimes saw Cristina there. Other than a polite wave and greeting, she never ventured into engaging the young woman in any meaningful conversation. She was keeping her promise to her son that she was going to back off and not put in her two cents. She had seen Owen, coming into town to have lunch with his girlfriend, every day. She could see how his face lit up, whenever he saw the girl. Oh, the things she could say to that girl, Susannah thought. But she held her tongue and kept the peace.
"There's your mom," Cristina said. They both waved at Susannah, who waved back. "She is here a lot since she moved into town."
"Well, she keeps telling me that Richard's house is lacking stuff," Owen asked. "I think she is just taking that as an excuse to go shopping."
"I don't blame her," Cristina said. "Shopping is a wonderful pastime." Owen took Cristina's hand and they walked to the diner.
"Oh, wow," Cristina said, suddenly. She stopped and felt the side of the stomach.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Cristina had the broadest smile on her face. "The baby kicked me," she said. "Ah, there he is doing it again. He's being doing it a lot, lately." She grabbed his hand to the spot. "Feel it, Owen." Owen felt the movement and it, too brought a smile to his face. "That is the most amazing thing, Cristina," Owen said. "My baby. No, our baby." He looked at her with the most euphoric expression. She touched his face and stroked his cheek. "Yes, Owen, our baby."
It was finally a moment of realization for Cristina. It had become clearer to her in that moment than ever before. She was finally ready for them to be a real family. She never knew she could love someone as much as she loved Owen. Though she didn't say anything, she knew what she was going to do.
Later that evening, she got Meredith and Derek to come over and they helped her pack her suitcases and her other personal belongings in boxes. They put everything in the car and drove her to the farm. It didn't seem like Owen was home. He was probably out on the farm. They unloaded her boxes and suitcases and left her on the porch to wait for him. She sat on the porch swing, while Owen's dog sat at her feet. They watched the sun set, together. It was so calming that she fell asleep for a bit.
When Owen got home, he found her, still asleep. He stroked the dog's head. He carried her suitcases and boxes inside the house. He sat next to her and woke her up.
"Cristina," he said, softly. She opened her eyes.
"Hey," she said. "I was waiting for you. I have my boxes and suitcases here. I am moving in." She looked around. "Where's everything?" she said, a bit puzzled.
"I moved everything into the house, already," he said. "You're the last item to be moved into the house. The last but the most important." He helped her up and put his arm around her as they walked through the front door.
They looked around. "This is your house, now," he said, with a sweeping movement of his hand.
"Not my house, it's our house," she said, as she reached up and claimed his lips with her own.
A/N: Please leave your comments. Maybe a couple more chapters of this story. Thanks for your reviews. I do enjoy them.