Forever and Always

Chapter 11

Ally walked back down after giving Joey a bath and putting him to bed. He loved staying in his new room that Ronnie put together for him. She smiled as he cuddled with the little monkey Ronnie gave him. She shut off the light and left the door ajar before walking away.

Ronnie looked at her as she sat in his lap, laying her head on his shoulder, sighing lightly. He laid his hand on her back and gently began rubbing her back. "Is he sleeping?"

"He will be soon. He loves his room, I'll never get him home now." She smiled as she snuggled closer to him.

"You don't have to go, you know. You could just move in here. I'd love to have you and Joey here all the time." He kissed her head before she sat up.

"Ronnie, we've been over this. It's too soon. We're not even together yet and you want me to move in here." She tried to move but he wouldn't let her.

"Ally, I want us to be together. You're the one who hasn't made that decision yet." She knew he was right. She knew she still loved him, just as much as she had before, but she didn't know what was holding her back.

"It's only been a few weeks, we need more time. I told you that." He let her go as she moved to sit next to him.

"Ally. We've been together before, we're so good together, you know that. I can't show you I've changed, if you're not with me, baby. I can't wait forever. I love you and I want you, for myself. But if you don't want the same, you need to let me know. You hold all the cards, Ally, you need to figure out how you want to play them."

She watched as he got up and walked into his office. She pulled her legs up on the couch, wrapping her arms around them, and resting her head on her knees. She knew she wanted to be with him, she wanted her famliy together. She was scared, terrified even, that it would turn out the same way and she didn't think she could handle that again. She also didn't want to put Joey through that either. But as she sat there thinking about a life without him in it or about him with someone else, her heart ached.

She got up and slowly made her way to his office, listening to him talk to someone on the phone. She walked in and he looked at her, telling whoever he was talking to, he would call them back. He slightly smiled at her as he hung up the phone and as she made her way to stand in front of his desk while he sat behind it. "You didn't have to get off the phone, I could have waited."

"It wasn't important, Ally. What did you want?" Already he was acting indifferent with her. She couldn't blame him really, he was right when he said she needed to make up her mind about what she wanted, but it hurt at the same time.

"I was thinking about what you said." He sat back in his chair, watching her, placing his elbows on the arm rests and his hands folded together over his chest. He sat there waiting for her to continue. "You're right. I need to figure out what I want." He nodded and stood up.

"Have you figured it out yet?" He came around the desk and rested his hip on the corner of it

"I know I want to be with you. I can't imagine a life without you in it. At the same time, I'm terrified that we're going to make the same mistakes and hurt each other more than before." Ronnie shook his head and reached for her. She let him pull her into his arms, wrapping them tightly around her. She looked up at him as she loosely held onto him. "I also know that it would break my heart to see or know you were with someone else." He kissed her forehead.

"There's no one for me but you. It's always been you. It just took me a while to figure it out." They both chuckled.

"Ok, Ronnie. I'm yours." He turned very serious then, the smile leaving his face as he looked at her. His hand worked its way into her hair as he pulled her lips to his. He held her against him, never wanting to let her go again.