"You punk." Sebastian mutters, shaking his head in disbelief,
"What?"
"You beat me to it."
"I... What?"
He gets up abruptly, careful not to disturb the baby beginning to doze in his arms, and leaves you kneeling by the rocking chair, slightly confused.
He comes back with something clenched in his fist.
"I've been planning the perfect setting, the perfect time, and the perfect words for a couple of weeks now. And you just jumped the gun on all of it." He chuckles, sitting on the floor beside you. "The question is: do you still wear this if you're the one who did the asking?"
He opens his hand, revealing one of the prettiest antique engagement rings you've ever seen. The band was plain enough, inlaid with mini diamonds leading to a scrolling setting for a round cut stone.
You gasp despite yourself,
"Maybe I should wear it since you asked me." He says starting to slip the ring onto his own finger,
"Very funny." You stop him before he can get the band stuck on his knuckle. He catches your left hand, sliding the ring onto your finger instead. Looking at it glitter in the low light as Seb intertwines your fingers, you're overwhelmed and try to blink away your tears.
He pulls you into a chaste kiss, then kisses your knuckles.
"So..." You whisper unsteadily, "I can take this as a yes?"
"Of course." He chuckles a little too loudly, making Maggie stir. He rocks her for a minute, soothing her back to sleep, then carefully gets up to tuck her into her crib.
Coming up behind him, you wrap your arms around his middle, resting your head against his back and dropping a kiss between his shoulder blades. He eventually turns in your arms, holding you for a short while as you both watch your daughter sleep.
In spite of your excitement and how close you had gotten to falling into bed together earlier, when he finally leads you to the bedroom, you are both too tired for anything to happen tonight. He just tucks you in and wraps you in a strong hug, holding you snugly to his chest.
"This is happening?" You whisper,
"This is definitely happening." He says, kissing the back of your neck. And regardless of his obvious fatigue, you don't think anything could wipe that smile off of his face.
.
.
.
"Everyone say hello to George and Amy!"
You swivel Sebastian's tablet around so they can wave at the small party that's gathered in your apartment.
It's been two days since the proposal, and as much as you wanted to wait and tell everyone together when your friends got back from their honeymoon, Sebastian just couldn't wait anymore. Yesterday he'd been all smiles, stealing kisses, taking any opportunity to be near you. To hold you. His hand always resting on the ring where it hid beneath your shirt.
Your parents were still in town, they had come to help with the baby while you helped Amy with the wedding, and after numerous near-slips you decided to have mercy on Seb. You'd assembled your parents and friends for an early dinner, small enough that it shouldn't raise suspicion, and managed to get George to Skype with you from Italy.
"So, how's Europe?" You ask, barely focusing on the answer. You were just stalling at this point.
"We haven't seen much of it yet." George says, waggling his eyebrows and earning a playful elbow to the ribs from his wife, "Hey, she asked."
"Everyone looks like they're having fun there, what's the occasion?" Amy asks,
"Well, actually..." You begin, taking a breath, "Now that we have you all here... At least kind of: we do have something to tell you."
You have everyone's attention which sends your nerves spiraling out of control.
Suddenly you can't remember how to start this. Jump in? Do it gradually?
Should you back track and do this some other time?
"You're having another baby." Chris calls when you pause too long.
The statement surprises you so much you almost choke on your tongue in your haste to negate it.
"No. No no no. Not pregnant--"
You suddenly feel Sebastian's hand on your shoulder, sliding to the hidden chain. He winds his other arm around your waist as he pulls the necklace free, letting your engagement ring fall to the outside of your shirt,
"We are getting married, though." He says.
There's a stretch of silence long enough to make you nervous before your mother can't hold in her squeal anymore. She and Elise run to hug you, the rest of the group following closely with their congratulatory handshakes and hugs.
"I thought you were going to wait until next week, man." You hear Chris say to Sebastian,
"Yeah... I didn't get that far." He replies, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I kinda asked him." You explain,
"I swear I was planning to ask for your blessing." Seb tells your parents, "Had it all planned out."
"You just can't plan for me." You joke.
"Well, you have our blessing anyway." Your dad says with a chuckle, clapping Sebastian on the shoulder.
"Did I just hear that right?" Amy asks, her baffled expression making you laugh, "You asked him?"
"I did."
"Go girl!"
"And George, I swear, if you say 'I told you so' I'll fly to Venice just to smack you." You add,
"Hey, I didn't say anything."
"I'm psychic."
"Then I don't even have to tell you."
"George--"
"Yeah yeah."
"He means congratulations. I promise." Amy jumps in,
"Or," George presses, "I can say I told you so and you can have a Venetian wedding when you come to smack me."
"Honestly, we all kinda told you so." Chris says with a chuckle,
"Well, you don't have to tell us anymore." Sebastian pipes up.
"Good." George says, "Glad you guys finally saw the light."
"Have you started any planning?" Amy asks. You can see her eyes brightening just thinking about it.
"Nothing yet. But the planning can wait until you get back. I have a feeling I'll want all the help I can get from my maid of honor." You wink at her. She squeals in excitement, reminding you more than a little bit of Maggie.
"Oh I can't wait!" She says, utterly giddy. George closes his eyes with a sigh,
"Why would you hijack my wife while we're on our honeymoon?"
"You're the one who introduced Seb and me, George. Deal with it."
After a couple of hours of celebration, Amy starts to doze off against George's shoulder. Checking the clock, you notice it's two in the morning in Venice and you quietly say goodnight. Everyone else slowly takes their leave until it's just you, Sebastian, and Chris all lounging in the living room,
"You know you can just crash here tonight, right?" You finally say to Chris who looks like he's about to nod off.
"Nah, I don't wanna impose."
"You're a dork. Just sleep here."
"Speaking of, we should probably be headed that way ourselves." Sebastian groans, hauling himself up off of the couch to go get ready for bed.
"You coming?" He asks, pausing in the hall when he notices you haven't moved,
"Five more minutes." You yawn, waving him off. He shakes his head at you with a light laugh and goes to get ready for bed.
"I'm glad it's finally working out between you two." Chris says. His eyes are still closed, head resting back on the couch, and his words are beginning to slur.
"Not gonna lie, I'm kinda surprised. I didn't really see us going that direction to begin with."
"Yeah, I noticed you weren't exactly quick to jump into this with him. Knowing what kind of guy Seb is - which I'm pretty sure you've figured out by now - I thought it was surprising that you seemed to have so many reservations about it."
"Crappy actor-ex's can do that to you." You chuckle bitterly.
"An actor, huh? What did he do to make you swear off our kind?" You can tell he immediately wants to take the words back, obviously realizing how inappropriate the question is, "I'm sorry. It's none of my business."
"It's okay. I don't usually talk about it. Not exactly a point in my life that is fun to reminisce on." You don't know if it's because you're comfortable with him, or just so tired you can't bring yourself to care about oversharing, but before you know it you're spilling your tragic story to Chris Evans.
"Adam and I met at a party. He cracked the cheesiest pick up line I'd ever heard, but it effectively broke the ice; we got to talking and kinda hit it off." You sigh, "We were together for three years. We had moved in together and had even gotten to the point of talking about what kind of future we wanted... Turns out my goals were slightly different from his, but he was one of the most persuasive men I'd ever met."
You shift uncomfortably, leaning into Chris's shoulder as he scoots slightly closer.
"You don't have to tell me this." He says quietly.
"I know."
You hug your knees to you and take a deep breath, letting the story tumble put before you can think to stop it.
"After three years he'd proven himself less than faithful. I caught him several times with other women, and never the same one twice, but he always managed to talk his way out of it and I'd walk away feeling like I was the one who had to do better."
You see Chris frown and shake his head, "Looking back now I can see how stupid it was to stay with him, but I kept seeing what I wanted to see. Someone I wanted a future with. A family with. We'd even had a couple of 'scares' over the years. I'd be a few days or a week late, but then everything would work itself out and it would be a false alarm. Any time that happened, he would say something like 'thank god for that.' Or 'be more careful next time.' But I always brushed it off, taking it as a joke... It never occurred to me how serious he might be. One day I actually... I really was pregnant."
"I take it he didn't react too well?"
"He didn't actually tell me to do anything outright... He would always say something about us being so young, or how it's a good thing there are ways to take care of it."
You pause, hoping you won't have to go into detail, and soon enough you see his eyes widen in realization
"...He didn't--"
"No... Yes... I guess-- He practically did. I mean, I'm the one who made the appointment. I'm the one who drove myself to the clinic... I'm the one who decided to abort, but to this day I can't shake the feeling that... I keep thinking that..."
"You wanted to keep it." He says, understandingly. You nod, a few tears spilling over as he pulls you into his side.
"This was a piece of each of us put together in one little person. I wanted to meet them. Once I had recovered and knew everything was okay I got back in touch with Adam to let him know. He said he wanted to meet up for dinner... And promptly dumped me."
You pinch the bridge of your nose, willing the tears to dry up. You know Adam doesn't deserve them.
Chris rocks you back and forth wiping away tears as he saw them slip away,
"I can't believe someone did that to you." He says finally,
"Why? What's so hard to believe about that?"
"Because I know you."
"Then you know what a chump I am."
"No. I know there's nothing you could have done to deserve that. Who did he think he was to think he could do better?"
You stay curled against him until you've calmed down, fighting with the voice in your head that tries to negate everything Chris is telling you.
For the first time you realize how much that voice sounds like Adam.
"Trying to steal my girl, Evans?" Sebastian jokes, watching the two of you from the hallway holding a stack of sheets, a pillow, and blanket. You look at him nervously as he passes the stack to Chris until you see there isn't even a sliver of jealousy or doubt in his eyes,
"I don't think I could if I tried." Chris says, finally letting you go in favor of laying out his bed for the night.
Between the emotional release and the late hour, you feel yourself fading quickly, curled into the corner of your couch.
"Okay, you've had your 'five minutes', it's time to go to bed." Seb insists quietly. You just groan in response.
"Come on." He tugs gently on your wrists, "You don't want to sleep out here, Chris snores like a lion."
Out of nowhere, a pillow suddenly smacks into the side of Seb's face.
"I do not snore." Chris says defensively,
"I could hear you through the wall at the hotel during press last year, man. You snore. Like a rockslide. Or Avalanche. It sounds like a jungle cat lives next--"
"I get it."
You're so tired you can't even bring yourself to laugh. Or stand. You stay on your side of the couch chuckling, severely impeding Chris's progress in laying out the sheets. As your head lolls to the side again, your eyes falling shut, you feel the couch drop out from under you after strong arms hook under your knees and around your back. You open your eyes, surprised,
"What are you doing?" You ask Sebastian as he hoists you up off the couch and starts to carry you out of the room. You feel him shrug,
"You were too tired to get up. I'm carrying you."
"My superhero." You breathe with a smile and a yawn. With one ear resting against Seb's chest you can hear his laugh resonate deeper than usual.
You think about how much you love that sound.
"Super soldier." He whispers, "We've been over this, remember?"
You think you remember. That afternoon all those months ago, laughing at each other, talking through movies, Maggie kicking against his hand; but now you're fading so fast, all you can think of is how Sebastian's knuckles graze against your stomach or arms or legs as he helps you change into your pajamas, then the coolness of the sheets as you slide under the covers in bed. Then the heat radiating from beside you as the bed dips and Seb crawls in.
"I love you." You say, voice tired and barely audible, snuggling into your fiancé.
"I love you too." He replies. His arms winding around you, keeping you pressed to his side.
