Doctor's Orders

40. Parental Consent

After another round of shifts for both of us, Harry and I decided we wanted to make up for the time we had missed. I ended up practically living at his apartment. Tonight we were getting ready to go to his parents' house for the "official" introductions, as Harry called them. "I want to be able to introduce you as my woman!" He said, laughing.

"How about girlfriend? That sounds much less...creepy," I grinned.

To my surprise, when he pulled me close, he asked, "How about love of my life?" 

The words made my heart burn with love for him. But I contradicted him. "You don't know that yet." 

He held me at arm's length, holding on to my shoulders. "What makes you say that?" 

"I don't know," I shrugged. "It seems like it's too soon to make a determination like that. I mean, what if things don't work out?" 

He cocked his head a little and said, "What's there to work out? We're in love, right? End of story."

I laughed, letting a small blush heat my cheeks. "This is true," I agreed. "But it just seems so soon. And you were in love once before, for three years, and look how that turned out." He pursed his lips and kept looking at me. "I'm not trying to insult you, but how do you know that I'm it? The last one, the only one?"  

He drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "Do you doubt my love for you?" 

I stepped closer again and lifted my hands to his cheeks. "Not for a second. I know you love me. It just seems like love of my life and terms like that are reserved for marriage and babies and...forever."

"Hey," he said gently, grasping one of my hands and kissing the palm. "I understand if you're not to that point yet, where you want to think about marriage and family, but I am. I'm not getting any younger, and I want you to know how serious I am about you. But if you need time, I'm not going to pressure you, okay?"

I pulled in a large amount of air and then expelled it slowly. I clasped my hands behind his neck and pulled him down to kiss me. "Don't worry about me," I assured him. "I'm thinking the same thing. I just didn't want to put too much pressure on you. But it's good to know we're on the same page." 

"Absolutely," he smiled down at me warmly.

"And just so you know, I only let you make love to me because I love you and I trust you." 

Snaking his arms around my waist, he picked me up so that we were at eye level. "I love you," he said. Then he kissed my earlobe and whispered, "And I would very much like to make love to you again." 

His words sent thrills like a zipline through my body. But now wasn't the time. "Your parents are expecting us at what time?" 

He set me down and looked at his watch. "Oh, shoot, they told me 6:00 and it's already 5:30. How fast can you get ready?"