Seasons (Ari AU)

Chapter 56

Holland POV

  I've drifted in and out of sleep all afternoon, and if I had to guess it must be late evening at this point when I begin to feel the heaviness of my eye lids lift ever so slightly. My body may just be accustomed to this time of night as it's when Evy becomes the most active. Or, the meds they gave me to sleep are wearing off.

  With my eyes still closed I realize it's more so the latter because Evy is strangely quiet, no crazy movements or stretches begging to be freed from her home. I feel the material of my gown shift. I don't panic considering by this point I'm use to being poked and prodded without being asked.

  I expect the monitors to be shifted, maybe even cold hands of a nurse trying to shift the baby around to wake her up. But what I get instead is the sound of the deepest, and yet softest voice. 

  "My sweet Evy."

  Oh, Ari.

  "I think I love you almost as much as I love your mom. She has such an incredible grace about her. She's the most kind and giving woman you'll ever meet. If you grow up to be even half of that, the world will be a better place."

  There's a heaviness developing in my chest as I hear his words, precious words spoken about myself that I've not really heard before. I don't know if it's because they've not been said, or I just chose to not actually hear them because they never came from someone who cared so much about me.

  My eyes finally pry open to slits as I feel the warmth of his damp lips against my skin. Watching him focus on the spot as he pulls back slightly. "I need a little help from you here, beautiful. You see, I want my last name on your birth certificate."

  The comment shouldn't steal my breath, yet it does. The night of the ball he told me he wished he was Evy's father, earning an agreeance from myself. But seeing him speak the words to my unborn child, is more intimate than I think I could've ever imagined. 

  I feel a nudge, just under the spot Ari has been directing his words, his emotions, his heart. "I know I'm not your real dad." His forehead now rests against my stomach and it's taking everything in me not to run my hand soothingly through his brown locks. "I'm not anyone's real father."

  Wait. What?

  "But I want you, and I want your Ma. I want to marry her, Evy. Do you think she'll agree to that?"

  There's a leap of joy, my heart screaming internally while my entire stomach rolls as Evy must love the idea as much as Ari desires it.  The grin across his face tells me he's gotten his answer from one of his girls. There's one more soft kiss to my belly before he's moving the gown back into place.

   There's no way that I can let this moment get away from us, so I speak, making my appearance to the special moment between unborn baby and hopeful father known. "Is that your way of asking, Levy?"

  His head hangs, a soft chuckle rolling through his chest and out of his mouth. A faint tint of pink begins to grow across his cheeks, as much as it can behind his thickening beard.  "Of course you woke up," he mutters, tilting his head towards me, a fisted hand coming up to sit in front of his mouth, trying to hide his grin.

  "I mean, you did get her excited. She's obviously a daddy's girl," I tell him, pure affection lacing every meaningful word. I enjoy his sigh of contentment, his eyes closing at the sentiment. "Ari?"

  His eyes open, gaze falling on me as I notice the glistening of tears covering the blues, making them brighter than normal. 

  "You said you're not-"

  "I'm not Mason's dad," he admits. "Lab tests confirmed it. But I don't want to talk about that."

  My head bobs gently, giving him his out to not continue the conversation. "What do you want to talk about?" I ask quietly, acutely aware of his sister sleeping through all of it.

  Whoever said 'Eyes are the windows to the soul' knew exactly what they were saying. And Ari's soul is making my heart race faster than I thought possible. "Would you?"

  I need to make light of the situation, because his gaze is becoming too much for me. It's too much like the night at the ball.  Too much like a desire that he's held in for far longer than he ever wanted to.  

  "Would I what?"

  He smirks before hiding again, tucking his chin to his chest once more. "You're gonna make me work for it, aren't you?"

  Playing dumb with him can be fun, and after the hell of a day I've had, it's what I need. "Work for what?" I keep my face void of expression, at least as much as I can. I may actually be biting my lips from inside my mouth in order not to smile right now. 

  "How much did you hear, Holland?" His right brow arches, and I know he's trying to catch me in my lie rather than continue playing my charade.

  I'm not biting, yet.

  "Hear what? You were talking? Huh, strange."

  Ari's eyes dance as he searches my face. I'd say I see excitement and joy hidden within, but I'm thinking now, it's more like a longing filled with a purity of love just waiting to be poured out, waiting with bated breath for me to tell him I feel the same. For me to give him an answer to a question I've not been asked. 

  "You're cute when you play dumb, but we both know that you are anything but dumb. You said is that your way of asking, Levy," he reminds me, standing from the chair only to move closer to me by sitting on the side of my bed. "So, don't try and tell me you didn't hear what I asked your daughter, beautiful."  

  I play it up some more, my eyes growing wide as my mouth forms an O, "Oh. That. Right."

  He looks back at me with a tilt of his head. "Oh? That's all I'm getting?" he playfully scoffs.

  "Not real sure what else you want from me, Levy. I mean," I stop to think for a moment, tossing a finger tap to my chin, "No, no. There wasn't a question asked of me, so I'm not real sure what you want me to say."

  Ari turns serious, more serious than I've seen him in the last two years.  "I want you to say that you'll let me love you for the rest of my life. I want you to say that you'll let me be our girl's father. I want you to say that you can't breathe without me, because I can't breathe without you. I can't imagine a better life than one with you and Evy in the center of it. Each day, each moment. I want to be your constant the way you are mine.  Holland Eleanor Tomlin, I want you to marry me."

  One hand is clutching mine while the other rests over Evy's home. I wipe away the tears that had fallen but yet hadn't reached his beard to become lost in, before I'm wiping away my own. 

  "Well?" he asks, his face contorting in confusion as I stay silent, not answering him.

  "You didn't ask me anything," I remind him with a watery smile and light laugh.

 Ari sniffles, his nose scrunching up as he shakes his head at me, growing tired of my teasing but grinning all the same. "You're trying to kill me aren't you?"

  I don't say a word, just shake my head, all the while smiling through tight lips.

  His breathy laugh and sigh sends a lovely shiver down my spine. "Will you marry me, beautiful? Will you two be my girls forever?"

    I lean as far forward as my growing belly allows, thankful that he meets me in the middle. With my lips grazing his I give him the best answer for the best moment of my life, "Yes."

*Unedited