Count On Me (Chris Evans)

Chapter 18

"Ma!" Chris shouted, walking into his mother's house with Dodger hot on his tail.

"Upstairs!" She yelled.

Chris took the stairs two at a time before walking into her bedroom and found his mother sitting on her bed, folding laundry. He put his bag down on an empty spot on the bed before digging in it and pulling out two black shirts.

"Ma, since Stevie asked me to be assistant coach, look what I had made," He announced, laying out the two shirts.

He showed her the two shirts that had white writing, one saying 'Coach Stevie' and the other saying 'Coach Chris'. Lisa laughed before she finished folding the towel in her hands.

"Those are so cute! Stevie will love it," She assured her son.

Chris just smiled as he folded the shirts and put them back in his bag. Lisa moved her pile of unfolded laundry to clear a spot for Chris and he tossed his shoes off before climbing on the bed and laid on his side, propping his head up with his hand. Meanwhile, Dodger wandered in and found a comfy spot on the floor, laying down and quickly falling asleep.

"What are you up to today, sweetie?" Lisa asked.

"Well I took Stevie out to breakfast this morning before she had to go to work," He started. "So then I picked up those shirts and later I need to call my press manager and check on everything with it being public about Stevie and I."

"How is that by the way?" She was curious.

"It's died down a little since it's been a few days," Chris informed her. "But they identified Stevie so now there is a bunch of pictures circulating of different things she's been at over the years with me and all of the speculation."

Lisa nodded, knowing how those things go, "How is Stevie doing? I haven't talked to her since everything happened."

"She's been amazing, of course," He couldn't keep the smile off his face if he tried. "She's taken this all so well."

Lisa put down the towel in her hand and looked at her son down at the end of the bed and told him, "She loves you Chris."

"I love her," He happily sighed. "I seriously never knew I could love anyone this much. I just want to be with her forever."

"Are you going to propose to her?" She already knew the answer but asked it anyway.

Chris sat up on the bed, crossing his legs and rested his big hands on his knees, "At some point, yeah I am. I want to marry her. I practically feel sick to my stomach with happiness when I think of waking up next to her, or buying us a house, or having kids together."

"Why don't you ask her now?" Lisa questioned him.

He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, "Because we've been dating like a month and a half and I don't want to move too quickly."

"So," Lisa plainly replied. "You've known each other for 35 years. Besides, if you know you want to be with her, then why wait?"

Chris sat there for a long moment in silence. Why was he waiting? He knew without a shadow of a doubt he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Stevie. He couldn't imagine not spending his life with her to be honest. He knew time didn't matter because he was completely confident in his love for her and nothing could shake that.

"Ma," He started, looking into her kind eyes. "I'm going to ask Stevie to marry me. I'm going to talk to Laurie and Rob tonight and get their blessing and then go ring shopping tomorrow and ask her as soon as possible. I love her Ma and I want to marry her."

Hearing her son's loving and confident words made tears roll down her cheeks before she hugged him tightly. Chris rubbed her back and kissed her cheek before they parted so she could see his face.

Lisa put her hand on his cheek in her sweet motherly way and told him, "Chris, you know how much I love you kids. You guys are my life and I was always confident all of you would choose a spouse wisely but I always wanted someone special for you."

"Why?" He wondered.

"Because you have such a tender heart. You have a crazy life with being an actor and I know it's hard on you and I always wanted someone who could be your anchor and your partner, who would be there for you in all of those things. Chris, you're so vulnerable and tender and I just always wanted someone who would treasure that about you and take care of your sweet heart and appreciate it and I couldn't imagine someone more perfect than Stevie," She told him with teary eyes.

Chris' own blue eyes filled with tears as his voice cracked, "I love her so much, Ma and I just can't believe she loves me."

"You two are perfect for each other," Lisa assured him.

The two shared another hug, both crying from their immense joy. Chris still couldn't believe this was real life. He wanted to just bounce off the walls and cry at the same time. It was one of the most emotional moments he had ever felt before.

The pair started talking about how he might want to ask her or when but as they kept on talking, a memory popped up in Lisa's mind. She looked at Chris and asked, "Remember a few months ago when we went wedding dress shopping with Stevie?"

Chris groaned, thinking of the pain he felt that day and muttered, "Unfortunately."

"Remember when we came home and you said you thought about how if things were different, maybe she would have been buying that dress to walk down the aisle to meet you instead of Erik? Well now that's going to come true," Lisa beamed.

He smiled at his mother's words but added, "First I have to get her to say yes."