Promise You'll Love Me, Part 2
by Lizzy
It was well past noon, and one by one the others were returning to the hospital. During the morning and early afternoon Julia had made herself busy in the biodome, helping Manya Bogdanov with the plants. For lunch she didn't even bother returning to the cafeteria to spend another silent meal with Alonzo. She had just snatched a few fruits off the bushes.
When Manya announced she was leaving, Julia had no choice but to follow, since she didn't want to be alone. She followed the woman back to the hospital where the others were pulling up and going inside. She saw Devon and Danziger walk past, talking earnestly. Whatever disagreement that they had had that morning had completely remedied itself.
True entered, along with Charlotte, and the girl was rubbing a rather nasty looking bruise on her elbow. Julia supposed she might have fallen off one of the horses, but didn't feel like bothering her about it, as it didn't seem too serious.
However, she didn't see Alonzo come inside. *Maybe he's still in here,* she thought, but didn't bother looking for him, as she wasn't too eager to speak to him. As of yet she still had not come to a decision.
Almost everyone trooped back to their rooms to change before dinner, so Julia decided to do the same. As she went down the hallway she passed Bess and Morgan Martin, and heared Morgan chattering about some fabulous spot they'd decided to build their house on.
She swung the door to their room open, and was a little disappointed to discover that Alonzo wasn't inside. *Where is he?* she thought, but then reminded herself that she wanted to *avoid* him. Actually, Julia wasn't sure what she wanted. Even after the hours in the garden, thinking, she hadn't come to any decision. Manya hadn't wanted to listen, since she was a very reserved, private person who didn't like messing in other people's business.
In an odd way, she wished she could talk to Bess. She was friendly and supportive, and could always make you feel better. But if she told Julia that Alonzo had proposed, it would be all over the colony. Alonzo certainly wouldn't appreciate that.
For once in her life, Julia felt completely helpless, lost in the labrynth that was her emotions. Sure she wanted to marry Alonzo, but was it the right thing to do, or was it just a nice idea at the moment?
After cleaning up for dinner, Julia headed off to the cafeteria. Dinner was still in preparation, but she wanted to see if she could get a small snack, since she was quite hungry. As she entered through the double doors, she stopped dead. Alonzo was sitting at one of the tables, looking lonely and dejected and like he could use some reassurance.
Feeling very guilty that she had so depressed her love, she slumped against the wall in the lobby and came to a sudden decision. She needed to talk to someone. Anyone. She wondered if Bess was busy.
Bess was talking to Morgan about what color they wanted to paint their bedroom when she heard a frantic knocking on her door. Looking up from the info pad she was writing on, she nodded to Morgan to answer the door. He did so, and Julia stepped inside their room, a troubled look on her face.
"Um, Bess, are you busy? I'd like to talk to you," she glanced at Morgan, who was standing beside her at the door, "In private."
Bess looked to her husband. "Morgan, could you . . . ?" Sighing, Morgan left the room, shutting the door behind him. Bess indicated to Julia that she could take a seat in the chair across from the bed, and she did so, fidgeting nervously.
"I'm sorry to interrupt whatever you and Morgan were doing," Julia began apologetically, "But I really need to talk to someone right now. It involves me and Alonzo."
Bess nodded somberly. "Yeah, I noticed the two of you haven't been speaking a lot these past weeks."
Julia nodded curtly, continuing, "What I'm going to tell you, Bess, I don't want you telling anyone else. It's really, *really* private. It took me forever to even decide to talk to *you*. So, could you please not say anything?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Bess swore. "Good," Julia said, crossing her legs and picking nervously at her fingernails. "I guess I'd better begin about two weeks ago, the night we arrived. After everyone had left the bath house and I'd gotten dressed, Alonzo came up and asked me to marry him."
Bess's eyes widened in surprise. She'd never have guessed. "I couldn't give him an answer right away," Julia said, "Because he'd just caught me off guard. And ever since I've been wrestling myself over what to tell him. Everything inside me says to say yes, except for this one *little* voice inside my head that doesn't think it'd ever work."
Bess listened in silence, a look of concern on her face. But when Julia had finished her tale, she immediatly suggested, "So why don't you talk to him about it? By far that's the best thing you could do."
Julia sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. "I . . . I can't. I don't want him to think I have doubts."
"But you *do*!" Bess shook her head. It seemed Julia had really gotten herself in it this time. "The only way you'll ever solve a problem in a relationship is if you talk it over! Take Morgan and me for example. This morning we were having a little disagreement. So we sat down calmly and talked about it, and now we're just fine."
This didn't seem to reassure her friend as much as she'd hoped, so she went on soothingly, "Listen Julia, you and Alonzo have been together for more than a year now. You're in love. You'd have to be *blind* not to see that. And Alonzo is a kind, supporting person, and I'm sure he'd make a great husband. He's also very understanding. You *know* that."
Julia nodded thoughtfully and said, "I know Alonzo will be a good husband, I'm just not sure what kind of wife I'd be. He's the first person I've ever really had in my life. I don't know how I'll be able to manage him *and* my career and not end up harming one of them."
"Well, a lot of women are faced with that problem," Bess said, "Take Devon for example. She's faced with that, too. Once the Colony Ship arrives she'll have more jobs to do than anyone could imagine. And Danziger know that, and so does she. They've decided not to trouble themselves with it until they're faced with it. If you spend all the time you *do* have with Alonzo worrying about it, you'll never have any fun!"
The other woman chewed her lip, considering Bess's words. "I . . . I suppose you're right."
"So what are you going to tell him?" Bess grinned, her thirst for gossip returning.
Smiling in amusement and shaking her head, Julia said, "I guess I'll tell him yes."
"All right!" Bess exclaimed, leaning forward to give her a friendly hug. "May I be the first to offer my congratulations."
Julia leaned back in her chair and moaned, "I still *cannot* believe he proposed to me in the *bathroom*!"
Dinner was ready down at the cafeteria, which everyone had now agreed to call "The Grendler Bar and Grille", but many hadn't arrived to eat yet. Most were outside taken walks and other things, some were busy in their rooms talking to someone or working on computer pads.
But Devon Adair and John Danziger had pulled their children in for an early dinner, despite the relative scarcity of other diners. They lined up to get the dinner, served to them by Everett Calhoon and Mary Trent, who were heading up the KP team that night, and then took a seat at one of the small tables.
Uly and True immediatly dug in, obviously eager to go back outside and play, and True wanting to go and feed the horses their dinner. Devon and Danziger, however, wanted to talk to their children. Usually the two ran off without a word to their parents, and they had decided that afternoon that a lot of things were going to have to change if they were ever going to become a family.
"So, True, how was your day?" Devon asked the girl, who was munching on a salad.
True looked up, then shrugged and went back to her food. "Devon and I found the perfect place for the house," Danziger spoke up, and Uly nodded vigorously. He swallowed his food before saying:
"It's right in front of the ocean. It has a great view and there's lots of room for a big yard."
Devon smiled teasingly at her son and said, "Unless, that is, we ever built a house there."
They all stopped talking for a moment and ate a little bit for a moment, and then John said, "Well, True, Uly, Devon and I were talking together today, and we came to a decision that we thought you ought to know about it."
Devon nodded, and both kids turned their attention to their parents. She leaned back in her chair and said, "Yes. As Uly seemed to have noted, Danziger and I were a little at odds with each other this morning. Which is nothing new," she spared her companion a teasing glance, "But . . . we talked it over and wanted to know what we thought of our solution."
"Devon and I have decided," Danziger continued for her, "That when we get married that we do want to have other children." True seemed pleased by this, but Uly just frowned at the idea. "Of course that doesn't necessarily mean right away. It could be a number of years."
"So you *are* going to get married?" True's eyes lit with hope. She'd liked her father's relationship with Devon from the beginning, since she'd always wanted a mother and found that Devon would make a good one.
Devon and John exchange a consulting look, and she said, "Well, it's not official, but we are in the serious discussion stage."
"Oh." True said, looking back to her salad and eating it rather unenthusiastically.
Uly quickly excused himself to go and talk to Yale about something he'd seen on the beach, and True soon followed to go to the barn. This left Devon and John alone, with only the other half dozen or so others scattered about the room.
"The serious discussion stage . . . " Devon murmered softly. It was all quite amazing to her. A few months ago she and John would have been at each others' throats over some decision in the group. And now they were working together as partners. Partners for life.
John smiled at her and reach across the table to place his hand on hers. "When we do have children," he began, "I promise I will try everything humanly possible to make things easier for you."
Devon smiled back at him and said, "Just promise you'll love me. Even when I'm old and fat and complain about nothing but our kids."
He chuckled softly, "Ah, well, you'd better just love me when I'm seventy eight years old, bald, ugly, and won't even get up off the couch to change the channel on the Vid."
"Oh, I don't know. At the rate you're going I don't think you'll ever be bald. Ugly, maybe . . . "
"Adair, just shut up and eat your dinner." Devon chuckled and turned back to her food.
After Alonzo left the cafeteria, he'd been getting a snack before dinner, he decided to head back to his room. His discussion with Yale had shed some light on his and Julia's relationship. He'd decided that it didn't matter if Julia couldn't give him an answer right away. He was willing to wait forever if it meant that eventually she might tell him yes.
When he opened the door to the room he shared with Julia, he was surprised (and relieved) to find Julia lying on their bed, a thoughtful look on her face. After she heard him enter, she sat up and said, "Alonzo, I'm glad to see you. We *really* need to talk."
He sighed with relief, moving the chair out of the corner of the room to sit in front of her. "I was just thinking the same thing."
"Alonzo--"
"Julia--" They both began at the same time, then stopped. She motioned that he should go first, and who was he to argue?
He took a deep breath. "Julia, I realize that maybe you need a bit more time to think over my . . . proposition . . . and that's fine with me. This is a big step and I don't blame you if you have any doubts. It took me a long time to decide to ask you, and I have no problem with you taking a long time to answer."
"I don't have any doubts, Alonzo," Julia interrupted what he was saying. "Or at least I don't anymore. I thought about it a lot over the past two weeks, and I wanted to let you know that my answer is yes."
A wide grin spread across Alonzo's face, and he jumped up from his chair to capture Julia in his arms and give her a passionate kiss. When they broke away, he said, "Really? No kidding?" His heart was pounding with the sheer exhileration. And he'd actually worried! Yale was right. He and Julia *were* perfect for each other, and they both knew it.
Julia nodded, and she looked into his eyes as she said, "I don't even know why I hesitated to answer you that night, Alonzo. I think you just kind of . . . scared me. I've never had anyone care this much about me my entire life. You can imagine how frightening that might be."
"Yeah, I guess so," he said, allowing her to lean against him where they sat on the bed. They remained silent for a moment, but then he said, "Hey, which one of us is going to tell Bess?"
A guilty look flashed across Julia's face. "Oh, uh, actually, Bess already knows. I . . . kind of talked to her about it."
Alonzo was too happy to ask her why she would go and do a stupid thing like that. Instead he just said, "Well, I guess now we have to decide when this wedding is going to happen."
A micheivous look entered Julia's eyes and she pushed him back onto the bed, saying, "Oh no you don't, not tonight."
"So, then, what do you suggest we *do* do tonight?" he asked her jokingly.
"Tonight . . . " Julia pretended to look thoughtful, "Tonight you can just promise to love me."
"Forever?" Alonzo raised a questioning eyebrow. "Forever."
-The End-
Author's Chapter Notes:
Permit me to critique my work for a moment. What the *hell* are the two of them talking about? They're not even engaged and they're naming their children (so to speak)?? Oy, the rate at which these two move is incredible. I think we ought to put them under scientific study or something! Thank you, I'm better now.
Oh, I was just wondering (and this is just idle curiosity, mind you) if Dev and Danz ever were to have a kid (hypothetically speaking) do ya think they should have a boy or a girl? What do you suppose they ought to name 'em? I've drawn my own conclusions on the subject, but I want to know what y'all think. So, just drop me an email (please, mind what you say; my father still thinks I'm against the two of them getting together [I've gotta tell him someday . . . but not right now] So just say, for example: Liz, definitely a girl. Katie?
Or somethin'.
Thanks for yer input! I'll stick some of the results on an upcoming story, perhaps.
I am now finished babbling.
I read this story for the first time in a month (I forget things easily) and it's not *quite* so bad as I remembered. It is, however, a bit sappy, but anyway.
And interesting fact: "If You Give Me A Chance" was written somewhere between Wyoming, USA and Vancouver, BC. I was on vacation, and very, very bored.
I am about to watch my E2 episodes again!! Yesterday we finished The Man Who Fell to Earth (two).
Oh, I was just wondering (and this is just idle curiosity, mind you) if Dev and Danz ever were to have a kid (hypothetically speaking) do ya think they should have a boy or a girl? What do you suppose they ought to name 'em? I've drawn my own conclusions on the subject, but I want to know what y'all think. So, just drop me an email (please, mind what you say; my father still thinks I'm against the two of them getting together [I've gotta tell him someday . . . but not right now] So just say, for example: Liz, definitely a girl. Katie?
Or somethin'.
Thanks for yer input! I'll stick some of the results on an upcoming story, perhaps.
I am now finished babbling.
I read this story for the first time in a month (I forget things easily) and it's not *quite* so bad as I remembered. It is, however, a bit sappy, but anyway.
And interesting fact: "If You Give Me A Chance" was written somewhere between Wyoming, USA and Vancouver, BC. I was on vacation, and very, very bored.
I am about to watch my E2 episodes again!! Yesterday we finished The Man Who Fell to Earth (two).