"It'll be perfect. It has to be. I still have to figure out a way to talk to her parents about it and get their blessing. Then next week, after we've recovered a little bit from this weekend, I'm taking her out to Central Park for a photography day. In the loch, there's this bridge that she loves... If I could get some help setting everything up beforehand, that's where it'll be."
"Taking Magpie with you?" George chimes in,
"Of course."
To this day, Sebastian couldn't tell you how, at George's Bachelor party, the subject got onto him or how he was finally working up the courage to show you how much he loved you, but there he was in the corner of the bar, being toasted by the group,
"Now what kind of set up we're you needing?"
.
.
.
"He was actually kinda smothering me there for awhile. Wouldn't let me do anything for myself. Insisted if I stood up I was gonna fall apart. When he had to go to work, it forced him to realize we were okay and that it would stay that way."
"Aw!" Amy coos,
"No. Not 'aw'. I'm sure you'd give George a piece of your mind if he never let you do anything."
Amy's rebuttal is interrupted by a waitress bringing the table the third round of drinks of the night, this one courtesy of a group of men across the club. You mentally commend the waitress for remembering to keep your drinks virgin,
"Come on, I'm sure he let you do some things."
"He couldn't eat for me. He couldn't shower for me. But he definitely tried. Any time I got to a point where I had to figure something out or I was getting a little uncomfortable, he was right there taking over for me."
"He was just--"
"--trying to help. I know. I had this same conversation with my mom. I get it. I really do. And now that he's cooled down with it, it's easier to see that it was really all he could do. I love Seb, but he's too hyperactive to wait patiently when he's worried--"
"What did you say?"
"He's hyperactive? I know he seems like the strong silent type, but the man is like a pup--"
"No... Before that."
.
.
.
"I can't believe you're gonna do it, man!" George says, thumping Sebastian on the shoulder, "I'm really happy for you two... Even if it has taken too long."
"Need I remind you, we've only known each other for a little under a year?"
"So?"
"So? How many people do you know that have gotten engaged in that amount of time? You've been with Amy how long and you're just getting married?"
"Fair enough.... But that whole dancing-around-an-actual-relationship thing was getting ridiculous and you know it."
Sebastian rolls his eyes with a chuckle.
.
.
.
"You told him? Finally?" Amy all but squeals."
"...no." You giggle as her face falls dramatically,
"I almost did, but we were kind of interrupted the first time and over text wasn't right and then the past few weeks I've been so busy with this that finding the right moment hasn't been too easy."
"I'm about to make the right moment if you take any longer, this is ridiculous girl!"
"I know. I was even thinking that the wedding might be a good time, but I don't want him thinking it's just because of the event..."
"I think you'd be surprised."
.
.
.
"I'm home!" Seb calls as he walks in, dropping his blazer on the couch,
"Seb?" You call, peeking into the hall from the nursery, "what are you doing back?"
He shrugs, leaning over Maggie as she lounges in your arms. She squeals excitedly when she sees him and leans for him to take her,
"I didn't want to leave you girls all night." He snuggles His little girl close,
"But what about the guys? We already decided you could stay out with them for the bachelor party. I have things handled here."
"Yeah, I know you do." He smiles fondly at you, "I just missed my girls."
"You're such a sap." You shake your head at him but you can't hide your smile,
"I'm your sap, though." He says, throwing his arm over your shoulder and kissing your temple. Maggie squirms against his neck, nuzzling closer, "What's she doing up so late, anyway?" He asks,
"She doesn't seem to want to go back to sleep, I don't know what's going on. I've read to her, rocked her, fed her, she's not sick, not even fussy, she just doesn't want to sleep."
"You go get yourself ready for bed. Take a break. I'll give it a try."
As much as you want to argue, it finally hits you how uncomfortable you are in your dress from the bachelorette party and the few hairpins that have survived to now are really starting to pull. You leave him with a nod, tickling Margaret's cheek and kissing her goodnight.
Back in your room, you stand in from of the mirror, hair tumbling down your back a chunk of curls at a time as each section is liberated. The folds of your black dress expertly conceal the pregnancy weight you'll need to start working on soon, the idea making you sigh. Then you hear it. One of your favorite sounds:
"Haida nani nani,
Puisorul mamii,
Domi in leganut,
Puisorul dragut."
Sebastian singing Margaret's favorite lullaby. While he started out just this side of tone-deaf, the more he sings it to her, the better he gets. It takes you a while to realize that you're humming along.
About ten minutes later, you're washed up and getting into bed when Seb comes in.
"Knocked right out. You should try singing to her sometime, it sounds like you've just about got that song down."
"How about 'Nu'." You say,
"You learned that word quick." He snorts at your Romanian refusal. Between getting changed and brushing up, he sheds layers throughout the room in his own bedtime ritual of making the biggest mess he could.
Okay, making a mess isn't part of his process of getting ready for bed, but sometimes it seemed like it to you.
"You're sure you're not worried about missing something at the party?" You ask as he pulls on his pajama pants and a T-shirt. He huffs out a chuckle, sitting next to you as you lay in bed,
"I'm already exhausted anyway. We've also gotta be at the park pretty early for the ceremony tomorrow. It would feel like an ungodly hour if I partied all night."
"Aw, look at you. Too old to party." You joke, earning an indignant look.
"Oh, I can party." He assures you, his voice taking on an edge that almost makes you nervous, but in the best way possible, "Care for a reminder?" He jumps onto the bed, sitting on your legs. He leans over you. So close. Pressing you into the mattress.
He leans closer. Hands finding your hips. Closer. Fingertips sliding under the hem of your shirt.
You howl in surprise as he tickles you. Your ribs. Your stomach. He pins you down so you have nowhere to go, laughing at your fruitless attempts to free yourself. A particularly loud squeal from you has you both freezing, looking toward the wall your bedroom shares with the nursery.
Ten seconds tick by...
Twenty...
Forty...
A full minute and not a sound from Maggie. You each let out a sigh of relief,
"Maybe not the best idea?" You whisper, slapping his shoulder playfully.
"Still the best idea. Next time I just need to remember how loud you are."
You roll your eyes at him, pushing him off your legs. He goes willingly, flopping next to you with a bounce.
"What?" He asks when he notices you staring at him.
You jolt yourself out of your thoughts with a shake of your head, you just couldn't seem to stop thinking back to the talk you'd had with Amy that night.
Would you know when the time was right? Or would you always find an excuse to back down?
Feeling him brush your hair back from your forehead, you gulp, realizing you still haven't answered,
"Nothing." You croak, your throat too dry.
You wonder if you imagine his face falling slightly. It could just be him getting sleepier, so you try not to let yourself think about his fatigue being caused by you, by choking so royally, by chickening out again.
"Nothing," you say again, clearer, hoping your disappointment in yourself isn't as painfully evident as it seems to you, "just..." You reach up to him, your hand carding through his hair. "Goodnight, Seb." You pull him down to you, kissing him soundly, surely. His hand finds yours, tangling your fingers.
He finally pulls away,
"Goodnight." He says softly, his lips barely leaving yours before leaning into you once more.
He turns off the light, slipping lower into bed with you, pressed close. His arm drapes over you, his fingers still intertwined with yours.
