Glide With The Breeze

"I still can't believe you got Vanessa to agree to it," Cassie said.

They were sitting in the airport. Boarding for their flight had just been called but neither was in a rush to wait in the line that had formed at the gate.

"Trust me, it wasn't easy," Alex replied. "I had to practically beg her because she didn't think it was a good idea for you to be distracted by me. And do you know what she said when I told her that you'd be more distracted if you were pissed at me?" he asked.

"I have a pretty good idea."

Alex raised an eyebrow at her. "She said that you work very well and are incredibly focused when you're mad at me," he said.

Cassie merely shrugged at him, as if to tell him that what Vanessa had said wasn't untrue. He stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and mild amusement on his face. She looked tired, though she claimed she wasn't. Her hand rested on her baby bump and the faintest hint of a smile graced her lips. The corner of his mouth twitched and turned upward into a smile of it's own and all other expression disappeared.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, "You just look happy."

"I am happy."

Alex nodded and reached for her free hand as he stood up. She followed suit and walked with him toward the gate. Once she was situated on the plane, she immediately pulled her Zune and headphones out of her purse.

"Oh, so you're just going to ignore me for the whole flight?" he asked her, feigning annoyance.

"Calm yourself," Cassie said as she stretched the headphones over her stomach. "It's for the baby."

Alex smiled at her and reached for her mp3 player but she swatted his hand before he could get it. "Ow," he whined. "I just want to know what you're playing for our child. I don't want it to come out with horrible taste in music."

"Excuse you," she began, "I have exceptional taste in music, and therefore anything I play for this kid will have a favorable result. You, on the other hand, have questionable taste in music, and if our child ends up not having good taste in music, it will be your fault. So keep your grubby paws off my Zune," she said.

"Ouch," Alex replied, sitting back in his seat. "That stings inside more than my hand does from being smacked," he said.

Cassie giggled quietly to herself and reached for his hand. He pulled it away from her, pretending to be mad, but she grabbed it and brought it to her lips. She kept her hold on him and let their hands rest between them.

"I love you," she said, smiling at him. He said nothing and kept his gaze forward. "Alex," Cassie said, tugging on his hand. Finally, he looked at her. "I love you," she said again.

A smile broke across his face. "I love you, too," he said and leaned over to kiss her.

Shortly after the plane took off, Cassie fell asleep. She somehow managed to keep her hold on Alex's hand so everything he did had to be one handed. From putting his earbud headphones in his ears to taking the book Cassie had in her purse so he could read it and reaching across himself to take the headphones off her stomach after about an hour.

A couple hours into the flight she jerked awake suddenly, startling Alex. She pulled their hands up from between them and placed his hand on her stomach, covering it with both of hers. He tugged on the cord to his headphones as he turned to her. The earbuds fell from his ears onto his lap and a big smile took over his face.

The baby kicked his hand a few times and then stopped. Cassie slid his hand to the right a few inches and he felt it again. Excitedly, he put his other hand on her stomach. His smile grew with each movement the baby made.

"I helped make that," he said quietly, shifting his gaze from Cassie's stomach to her face. She nodded at him. The smile on her lips was evident in her bright green eyes. "That's a little person in there. We made that person," he said, talking himself through all the emotions he was experiencing. "That's so crazy. I can't believe it," he said.

"Believe it," she said. "It's really happening."

"Does it always do that?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"What? Move around?" she asked.

"No," he said, "Wake you up like that. You scared me the way you jumped. Is that why you're so tired?" he asked.

Cassie looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm not tired," she told him for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last two days. "And no. That's the first time it's done that. God, I can't wait until we find out if it's a boy or a girl so we can stop calling it 'it'. Did you make the appointment like I asked you to?" she asked.

Alex nodded. "I did. I thought I told you, but I guess I forgot. Tomorrow at one thirty," he said. "That's okay, right?"

"Yeah," Cassie said. "That's perfect, actually. I need to go into the office in the morning for a meeting with Nessa and Angie, but my afternoon is completely open.

They spent the rest of the flight discussing ideas for the baby's room and baby names. When they landed, Rian and Angie were already at the airport waiting to take them home. The entire drive, Cassie sensed there was something they weren't sharing with her and Alex but she didn't say anything. When Rian finally pulled up to Cassie's house, he left the car running and popped the trunk.

"You guys aren't going to come in?" Cassie asked, confused.

"Nah," Rian said. "We actually have to get going. We have dinner plans."

With a shrug, Cassie got out of the car. Alex already had their bags out of the car and was walking up the driveway. Cassie caught up to him and unlocked the front door for him. She kicked off her shoes immediately. While Alex made his way upstairs to put their bags in their room, Cassie went into the kitchen and almost jumped out of her skin when she found someone in there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she finally composed herself.

"Well, I heard you had a bun in the oven and I wanted to see for myself," he said.

Cassie nodded, her furiously beating heart beginning to slow to it's normal pace. "Right, but what are you doing here. In my house. When no one else is here," she said, breaking it down for him.

Matt laughed. "Oh. Angie let me in," he said. "I got here yesterday, assuming you and Alex would be here but you weren't," he explained.

"Mmm, and did Angie happen to mention that she doesn't live here anymore? Breaking and entering is a felony, you know?" Cassie asked.

"Well, I think since she still has a key, it might just be a misdemeanor," Matt said, walking toward Cassie and pulling her into a hug.

Cassie returned the embrace. "I'm pretty sure it's a felony, regardless," she said.

"Right," Matt said, taking a step back. "Congratulations, though. Can I see the bump?" he asked. "I mean, that's not weird, is it?"

She giggled and lifted her shirt to the top of her stomach. "It's not weird at all. You can touch it, too, if you want. Alex just felt the baby move for the first time a couple hours ago, when we were on the plane," she said.

Matt reached out cautiously and placed one hand on Cassie's protruding stomach. "Your bump is so little. How far along are you again?" he asked.

"About five and a half months," she said. "And you're sweet. But don't you know by now that flattery gets you nowhere with me? Just say it, I'm huge."

"Cassie, you are not," he said, putting his other hand on her bare stomach. "You probably just feel like-"

"What the hell is going on here?" Alex asked, coming up behind them. He obviously had no idea Matt would be there because he had taken off his pants when he'd gone upstairs.

Matt quickly took his hands off Cassie's stomach and took a few steps back. He had a deer in the headlights look on his face. Alex looked legitimately angry at what he had just walked in on. They could all hear the front door open and then close again, and Rian and Angie muffled voices coming from that direction.

Cassie turned and looked at her boyfriend. "Where are your pants?" she asked.

"Upstairs," he replied. "What's going on?" he repeated.

"Matt just wanted to congratulate me in person. And then I showed him the bump because, I don't know, people like that kind of thing. And he felt it because that's what people do to pregnant women," she explained with a shrug and then continued, "I guess he got here yesterday and Angie let him in."

"Yup," Angie said as she and Rian came into the kitchen. "Surprise." She took one look at Alex and gagged. "Seriously? You're not wearing pants."

Alex sighed. "Yeah, I didn't know we were having a party. You two said you had dinner plans. And Matt, well, I assumed he would be at home in Maryland, not my home in California. And don't get me wrong, always happy to have you around, buddy, but maybe a little warning next time" he said. "I'm going to go put pants on," he announced and shot a look at Cassie before turning and walking out of the kitchen.

"I'm, uh, going to go change. Travel makes clothes feel dirty," she said and made her way through the house.

When she got upstairs, Alex had already shut the bedroom door. She waited outside for a second, knowing she was walking into a battle zone, took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Alex was standing next to the bed, arms folded across his chest. He still didn't have pants on but she couldn't even make a joke about it because he was clearly angry.

"I had no idea he was going to be here," she said. "I swear."

"Why did he have his hands all over you, Cassandra?" he demanded.

The question caught her off guard and for a moment she was completely speechless. "Oh, my God. Are you jealous?" she asked.

"Don't," he said. "Don't stand there and act like this isn't a big deal."

"It isn't a big deal."

"I just walked in on you, with Matt, with his hands all over your body. It is a big deal," Alex said.

Cassie shook her head in disbelief. "You're serious. Okay, Alex, first of all, his hands were not all over my body. They were on my stomach. You're going to see a lot of people do that over the next few months. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to get used to it. And second, you need to check your jealousy, because there is nothing going on between Matt and me, except friendship," she said.

"I don't want him to stay here," he said.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You're being ridiculous," she said.

"I don't care what you think I'm being right now, Cassandra. I know the way he feels about you and I'm not comfortable with him staying here," he said.

"The way he-" she started and then shook her head again. "Okay, you've just jumped from ridiculous to certifiably insane. Alex, I understand that you're upset right now and you have a right to be, but not about this. I'm telling you, you have no reason to be uncomfortable with Matt staying here. He'll sleep in Angie's old room and you can lock our door when we go to bed. And then tomorrow when I'm at work, you and Matt can hang out and talk out whatever it is you think you need to talk out, or not. I thought you guys squashed this last summer," she said, and taking a few steps toward him, slid her arms around his waist.

With a heavy sigh, Alex wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest and he kissed the top of her head. "Alright," he said, "You're right."