Dumb and Fearless

"When do you have to leave?"

I didn't want to have to ask John that, but I knew his departure was inevitable. It would be better to find out right away and not get my hopes up, right? He sighed, pulling me closer to him. I propped my chin up on his chest and looked up at him through my eyelashes. His eyes were focused on the movie, but I knew he was listening to me, and trying to figure out what to say. He didn't want to answer just as much as I didn't want to hear it. Finally, his eyes fluttered to meet mine, and with one look, I knew.

"I have to leave first thing in the morning," he admitted, stroking my hair lightly. I nodded, snuggling closer to him and hiding my face in his shirt.

"Okay," I mumbled, the sound muffled against the flannel.

"Shay," he whispered, kissing the top of my head.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry. If I had it my way, I'd never leave this bed. I'd stay here with you forever, and-"

I stopped him, my lips crashing against his. His arms rested on the small of my back, and I could feel him stop talking and kiss me back. When I figured his mind was temporarily distracted, I pulled back, my lips twitching up at the corners.

"It's okay. I mean, I knew you couldn't stay forever. You have work," I said reasonably, letting stray pieces of hair fall in front of my face.

"But you're upset," he said, and there wasn't any room to deny or debate it. Instead, I shrugged and bit my lip thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but I'm just hormonal and I'm gonna miss you," I explained, keeping my voice low so it didn't crack or betray me.

"I'll be home soon enough. By this time next Saturday, I'll be back here, lying with you," he whispered, his fingers stroking my cheek lightly.

"I know," I mumbled back, leaning into his touch.

"I'm coming back," he repeated, and I managed a sad smile.

"Good."

"And when I get back, I'm gonna be here. I'm gonna be here for the doctor appointments and the mood swings and to fetch you ridiculous combinations of food at ungodly hours of the night. And then, when the little one gets here, I'm still not going anywhere. I'll have to be dragged tooth and nail away from my little family by the fiery forces of hell."

I let out a sound between a sniffle and a sob, smiling wider at him. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

"You know, in like seven months, I'm not gonna be your only baby," I teased, cuddling into the crook of his neck.

"I can't wait," he assured me.

"I guess I can start calling you my baby daddy, huh?"

I could feel his lips curving into a smile against my forehead and his hand pull me a little tighter. He was abnormally quiet, and I tilted my head so I could look up at him. His beautiful olive eyes were watching me, and I caught my breath as the picture of a baby with those eyes popped into my head.

"Actually, there's something else you could call me, if you'd like."

One of his arms left my shoulder, and I watched him, completely confused, as he fumbled to pull something out of the pocket of his shirt. His long, thin fingers finally reappared, and there was a delicate golden ring clasped between them. My mouth fell open, and my eyes doubled in size as they flew between him and the ring.

"I was thinking fiance, if that works for you..." he said, giving me a nervous, lopsided grin.

"John," I gasped, unable to find any other words.

"I know that we haven't been together all that long, and I know that everything's happening so fast, but the thing is, I want you in my life, and whatever it throws at us, I know it's gonna be okay if it's me and you. I want to be with you forever, and I don't see any point in putting this off. I love you, Daisy Shayla Royce. Will you marry me?"

I swallowed, feeling incredibly overwhelmed. "I don't want you to feel like you have to marry me just because of the little one. I want you to propose because you want to."

"That's it, though, I do want to. Honestly, I bought the ring a week into asking you to be my girlfriend. I knew you're the one, god Shay, I've always known you're the one. I probably would have carried this around in my pocket for another year, or until it was socially acceptable to propose without scaring you off. But I want this."

"John-"

"If you want, I'll ask you a million more times, until you start believing this is what I want."

My eyes grazed over the features of his face, his jaw set and his eyes glinting mischievously at me as if by saying no I was just giving him a challenge. He looked so hopeful, and he was looking at me as if I was his world.

"Okay," I murmured, biting on my bottom lip.

"Okay what?" he asked, raising his eyebrows excitedly.

"Yes," I whispered, kissing him hard on the lips. "Yes I will marry you John Cornelius O'Callaghan."

He held me tight and kissed me as soon as his name was out of my mouth. I felt him slip the ring onto my finger, and I pulled away slightly, realizing I hadn't even looked at the ring closely. John rested his chin on the top of my head , and I wrapped my other hand around his. I held my left hand out, and all of the breath left my lungs once more.

The thin, gold band was engraved delicately, flaring out like petals around the diamond in the center, which was gleaming, even with only the television light. I tilted my head and my lips parted in complete and utter awe.

"My god, you have excellent taste," I said under my breath, looking up at him with a smile. He shrugged and gave me a crooked grin in return.

"I know," he said cockily. "I mean, I picked you after all..."

I smacked him lightly on the chest, but couldn't conceal my happiness. "You're ridiculous."

"But you love me."

"Unfortunately." My smile took up half of my face as his eyes widened. He tried not to give it away,but I could tell he was holding back laughter. "But seriously, what's ridiculous is how the guys are gonna react when we finally tell them all of this."

"Oh man, I hadn't even thought about that," he paused, and his eyes suddenly became the size of saucers. "We have to tell my family."

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled," I said soothingly, trying not to let my worry seep through.

"Well, duh. My family loves you more than they love me. We've discussed this already."

"Mhm," I mumbled, trying not to worry or over react, but the hormones made it nearly impossible.

"When are we gonna tell them, anyways?" he asked, and I snapped out of my own little world and tried to think back to my prior knowledge about pregnancy and babies.

"I mean, usually people wait until after the first trimester- three months- to tell people, in case something goes wrong..." I gulped, thinking about everything that could happen. John sensed it, and quickly kissed my forehead.

"Everything's going to be fine. But if it's what you want, we'll wait a while longer to tell everyone," he rationalized, and I gave him a small smile.

"Okay," I murmured, nodding. "But we should tell your family when you get back from LA. Or at least your mom."

He nodded back, gauging my expression carefully. "Okay. I'd like that."

"Okay," I repeated.

He leaned over and kissed me, and I settled back against his chest, my eyes focused on the movie, which was almost over. He laced his fingers with mine, and I could feel him playing with the ring, which still felt so new on my finger.

"I love you, my beautiful fiancee," he whispered in my ear before planting a kiss on my hair.

"I love you too, fiance," I echoed softly, the corners of my lips tugging up ever so slightly at the word. Our intertwined hands rested on the small bump my stomach was becoming, and I leaned my head against him, allowing my eyelids to flutter shut in peace.