Andy's Fan-Fiction Archive

PROMISE YOU'LL LOVE ME
By
Lizzy

Timeline: At New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: heckercw@voicenet.com

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story takes place two weeks after The Journey's End. All standard disclaimers apply. It's a story that focuses on three couples: Devon and Danziger, Julia and Alonzo, and Bess and Morgan. It's a bit sappy, so please don't kill me. Thanx again for the mail, esp. that lovely comment . . . what was that quote . . . "This is some of the best E2 fic I've read for a long time"?? I think that was it. Yeah. Enjoy =P! (while you can, the next story, tentatively called "Tremors" is taking a while, and is a little choppy, at least in my opinion. Oh well.)
P.S.: "Tremors" was renamed to "Something good". - Andy

Promise You'll Love Me, Part 1
by Lizzy
The cafeteria at the New Pacifica General Hospital was filled with the voices of the 26 surviving members of the Advance Team. Everyone had already been served their breakfast, and those on KP duty had begun to clean out the kitchen and the cafeteria counter.
Most were seated at the large meeting table in the center of the large room, while a few were scattered about at the smaller tables. Devon Adair, her son Ulysses, John Danziger, and his daughter True were all seated at one of the small circular tables, eating their breakfast and having a pleasant conversation.
True was talking about the day before, which she'd spent with Charlotte O'hara down at the horse stable at the Farm. She explained how every horse had to be cared for differently, especially Charlotte's horse Sasquatch, who was carrying a foal.
Uly tried not to fidget as she went on and on about the animals, pausing only every once and a while to take a bite of fruit or egg. When she was finally done, his mother turned to him and asked, "So Uly, what are you going to do today? True's going back to the stables and John and I were going to take a look around for a place to build the house." She and Danziger, while not formally engaged, were having some serious thoughts. They were searching out an area to build their cabin on.
They'd been at New Pacifica for two weeks, though Charlotte's gang had been there a year, and had spent all of that working on the construction of the second floor of the hospital. Charlie had said that she made it a point to give them a day off every two weeks, to blow off some steam and keep them from getting frustrated. Uly wished his mother had thought of that while they were hiking 5,000 miles across the continent.
"Can I come with you?" he asked. He hadn't found his niche at the colony yet. True fit perfectly with Charlotte and Basil Sherwood, who were animal fanatics also. His mother blended with them as well, since the two were very prominent in their small band of ten. Danziger was always hanging out with Ross Parker and the others from Operations. He felt bored and left out.
Devon looked to Danziger, as if unsure of what she ought to tell her son. He shrugged, "Oh, let him come." Uly smiled his thanks to him, and then got up to take his plate over to the trash can. All the biodegradable trash was left in a compost heap, which the Terrians had granted them permission to have.
He scraped it off into the bin and then returned to his seat, asking his mother, "Can we build it down by the shore?"
True looked up from her food, which she had been chasing around her plate with a fork. "Oh, could we? That'd be neat. We could go swimming every single day. And I wanted to try building sandcastles again."
"Well actually, your father and I were talking about that," Devon said, "And we decided that it would be a good idea," The children grinned, but she continued, "Except that if you two ever had younger siblings, they might wander off into the water." The children just stared, but John dropped his fork and nearly choked on the piece of fruit he'd been chewing.
Coughing a bit, he wiped his mouth off on his napkin and looked at her. "Excuse me? I don't recall us talking about children, Dev."
She frowned, puzzled, "Well, I just assumed that, you know--" "You assumed?"
Uly decided, quite rightly, that this was a good time to make a quick retreat to his bedroom and get ready to go on the scout.

Julia ate her breakfast with Alonzo in awkward silence. They hadn't talked much over the past two weeks, because it had suddenly become hard to come up with a topic of conversation. No matter how many other ideas were in her head, she kept coming back to one: what was she going to tell him?
Two weeks ago, the day they arrived at New Pacifica, Alonzo had asked her to marry him. She'd been completely taken off guard, and had been unable to say anything in reply except asking for some time to think it over. Now a few months ago she would have known her answer for sure, but now that he had actually *asked* her, things seemed far more complicated than a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
There were many things to take into consideration, after all. First and foremost, of course, was her occupation. As a doctor, even after Dr. Vasquez arrived, she would always be busy, always be on call. She didn't know if Alonzo realized this, since there were only twenty six in their group she'd never had a whole lot of work to do. But with one thousand new colonists things could get terribly complicated. She could have trouble finding time for him, and didn't want him to feel neglected.
Then there was the problem with *Alonzo's* occupation. He was a pilot, he liked to fly. Even though he'd said that he wanted to stay behind after the Colony Ship left, who knew how he'd feel a few months down the line. And what about years down the line? She'd heard stories about career pilots who went insane when they were confined to the Stations because of medical reasons or otherwise. Most of them were obsessive compulsives that wanted to keep doing the same thing over and over again, and there wasn't much opportunity for flying on G889.
Alonzo seemed just as unnerved as she. He was probably wondering if perhaps she'd say no. Who knew what was going through his mind? Maybe he thought that she didn't love him anymore, which was completely untrue. She wished with all her heart that she could reassure him, but it wasn't possible because she couldn't even reassure herself!
*Oh dear,* Julia thought wearily, *What's a girl to do?*

"Bess, I was thinking we should start looking for a place to build our house," Morgan suggested that morning over breakfast, taking a sip of his coffee and sighing contentedly. Morgan enjoyed the fact that they were no longer on the road perhaps more than anyone else in the group, and actually went about his chores at the hospital happily, which couldn't have surprised his wife any more.
"Oh, really?" Bess said, "I wasn't aware we were in the market for real estate yet. I mean, there is a lot to do with the hospital. I don't think we should be worrying about building a house *yet*, dear."
"Well why not?" Morgan contended, "Didn't you hear that Adair and Danziger were hunting out a bit of land today? And you know Adair. She'll take the best spot, if we don't get there first."
Bess considered his argument, finishing her glass of milk. "I don't know about that Morgan. Devon isn't one to be selfish. And besides, there's plenty of shoreline here. And *all* of it is beautiful."
"So? I still think it'd be worth our while to look around, don't you?"
She sighed, stabbing one of her scrambled duck eggs, giving in. "Oh all right Morgan. I suppose we might as well get a head start. But you haven't even drawn up the plans yet."
Morgan held up a finger to silence her. "Ah, that's what you think. You know that computer pad I always take to bed?"
Bess nodded. He was tapping away at it every night. He produced it out of his pocket and handed it to her. "The plans. I was working on them *months* ago. I think you'll find them . . . interesting."
Bess took the pad and turned it on, figuring she might as well take a look.
"So, I guess I'd better go claim one of the Dunerails," he said, excusing himself from the table and running off to clear his plate.

"Uly, did you pack the water? We need the water," Devon asked her son as he exited the hospital, moving towards the Dunerail that Devon and John had reserved for their outing. She saw Uly sigh and turn back to go fetch the thermos of water.
She put their bag of extra food and blankets into the luggage holder atop the 'Rail and then dropped into the passenger side seat beside John.
"Ready to go?" he grinned, putting a hand on her leg. Devon smiled right back and explained, "Just as soon as Uly gets back with the water." He nodded. Then she said, "Uh, John, about this morning, you seemed to have an adverse reaction to my thoughts of us having children."
He sighed, rolling his eyes. Apparently he'd thought he'd gotten away with it, but he should have known that nothing gets by Devon. "Oh, it wasn't an adverse reaction, I . . . I just hadn't given it much thought, you know. I mean, we've only been together for two months. I hadn't thought that far ahead."
She stared at him, puzzled. "But . . . but don't you ever think of our future? I mean, we have talked about marriage a couple of times, and I always thought that that sort of implied that we were going to have more children."
"I, uh, listen Dev, I really think that--" at that second Uly once again exited the hospital, ceasing their conversation. Once he'd approached the 'rail he tossed the thermos into the luggage holder and got into one of the back seats. He caught the look passing between his mother and Danziger and said:
"Something going on, Mom?"
Devon shook her head, breaking her gaze at John and looking straight forward. "No, Uly, nothing at all. Danziger and I were just having a discussion, that's all."
"Whatever," Uly said, "So where are we going first?" "Well," John said, glad for the change in subject, "We were thinking of heading north aways. Just a mile or so. We don't want to be too far away from the hospital, after all." He started the Dunerail's engine and they pulled away from the small fleet of vehicles that was parked in front of the hospital.
"And we're going to get a spot in front of the beach, right?" Danziger nodded, steering out to the small hill that led down to the beach. "Yep, so you and True can go swimming every day."
Devon nudged him with her elbow. "John, what about the thing with young children and water, remember?"
He rolled his eyes again. "Dev, we'll talk about it later.

Alonzo tried as hard as he could to keep his mind off the subject. It had been easy over the past two weeks, since there was much to be done at the colony. But now that they had been given a day off he wasn't quite sure what to do. He started off by helping Charlotte wash the dishes after breakfast.
However, she was busy talking to Walman about idea to convert the cafeteria into a restaurant called "The Grendler Bar & Grille", and that left him much too much time to think. And the more he thought, the more he though about Julia, and the more nervous he got.
He'd thought her response would be a sure thing. The two hadn't had a fight in ages, and he liked to think they had a healthy relationship. So what was keeping her from giving him an answer? The two hadn't had a conversation in weeks. Well, not a real conversation.
They trooped back to their room late at night, after work had been dropped and dinner had been eaten, and just fell asleep. No more were those nights up late with her, those nights that always stuck in his memory.
Alonzo feared he was slipping into some kind of depression, and it was probably for no reason. Julia was probably just thinking things over, like she said. Perhaps she was just toying with him, even. It was no cause for alarm. Surely she'd say yes. Right?
No one seemed to notice how silent the pair had been over the past few days. Either that or no one thought to ask them, figuring it was a domestic dispute that was none of their business. For once he longed for Bess to pry into his business, to give him someone to talk to.
He had even toyed with the notion of going to Danz for advice, but had tossed that idea out that morning when he noted that he and Devon seemed to be slightly at odds themselves.
Once he had finished the dishes, he decided he wanted to go for a quick walk out on the beach. As he passed what they had nicknamed "The Parking Lot", he noted that all the vehicles, save the mighty Transrover, were missing. Everyone else was off running around, having fun or looking for land. Everyone except for him, and Julia.
*This isn't right,* he thought, *Julia and I should be the *first* ones to go searching for a home. Even Dev and Danziger are looking for a place to build their house, and he hasn't even asked her yet!*
Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he headed down to the shore. It was the middle of winter, and the air was biting his cheeks. His fingers in his gloves, which were almost worn through, grew chilled quickly. He stopped a few feet away from where the water finally began to recede back into the Ocean Pacifica, and stood there for a while, just watching the waves.
"As the children are so fond of saying," he heard Yale's voice from behind him, "What's eating you?"
He whirled around to face the old cyborg, who was staring out across the waters just as he was. "Yale. I . . . didn't hear you come down."
"I have a habit of sneaking up on people, I'm afraid. Just too quiet," he chuckled, "I don't shout like the children, and I don't argue like Devon."
Alonzo nodded, turning back to the ocean. "So, what has got you so down lately?" Yale asked him. Alonzo was surprised that Yale, of all the people, brought the subject up first. "Ah, nothing. Just a problem between Julia and me. Nothing important."
"Oh, in a relationship such as yours, Alonzo, nothing isn't important."
"That may be true." Alonzo sighed.
Yale took a few steps towards the surf. "I don't suppose you'd like to talk to an old Teacher about it. An old Teacher whose good friend left him for a man with curly blond hair and a cute daughter?" It was obvious Yale was taking Devon and Danziger's relationship in stride. Which was good, Alonzo supposed, since he was quite attached to the woman.
"Ah, I wouldn't want to trouble you with it." He said, turning back towards the hospital and beginning to walk in its direction.
"I haven't got anything better to do," Yale pointed out, following Alonzo.
Alonzo was tempted to take him up on his offer. He really needed someone to talk to, and Danziger just wasn't the right person. Though Yale had never been married, so far as they knew, his information on psychology may prove some worthy insight to Julia's reaction, and seeming unwillingness to speak with him. "Actually," he said as they approached the building, "I may just take you up on that offer."

Morgan was sitting on the bed in the room he shared with Bess, pulling on his boots to get ready to leave, when his wife stormed in through the door and slammed his info pad down on the night stand.
"What do you call this?" she demanded, pointing at the offending piece of office equipment.
He frowned, wondering what her problem was and picking up the pad. "It's the plans for our house, like I said."
She shook her head, sitting down beside him in a huff. "Yes Morgan, I know that!" Taking a deep breath, she tried to continued calmly. "I . . . I just mean to say that I think that it's great--"
"Well if you think it's great then what's the matter?" Morgan asked, getting up off the bed to get his coat off the hook on the wall. Bess followed.
"You didn't let me finish." she said angrily, "I think it's great except that you didn't include a nursery." This provoked an enormous sigh from Morgan as he snatched his jacket off the wall and handed Bess hers.
He said, "Why would I do that, Bess? We don't *have* any children." She took the coat from him but did not start to put it on. "That's my point, Morgan. But if and *when* we do, we'll need a nursery."
Morgan zipped up his coat and pulled his gloves out of his pocket. He really hated it when she went off on these 'children' trips. They happened every once and a while and he'd learned how to deal with them, how to calm her down. "Well dear, *if* we ever do, then I'll build you one." He pulled his gloves on and then headed towards the open hallway door.
Bess intercepted him, shutting the door and leaning against it, her arms crossed across her chest. "Oh no you don't Morgan. You're not escaping. We are going to sit down and talk about this like adults. No. Like husband and wife. Is that clear?"
He decided it was best just to give in. Or rather, make her think he'd given in. Sitting back down on their bed he raised his hands in defeat. "Fine Bess, just fine. You want to talk about it? We'll talk about it."
This seemed to satisfy her, and she sat down beside him. "Morgan, you know how I feel. I want a child. And I'm not talking some time in the distant future when you've staked a claim on this planet, established yourself, and we're living in some mansion in a far-off section of G889. I want a child sometime *soon*. So I think the least you can do is to add a nursery to your plans."
Sighing, he took her hand in his. "Now Bess, sweetie," he said in his most soothing voice, "You know how I feel about this baby stuff." She looked away, anticipating what he was going to say next. He reached out a hand to touch her chin and turn her head back to face him. She did not look happy. "I don't think that I'm ready for it. I don't think that *we're* ready for it."
Yanking her hands away from him, she got up off the bed and began to angrily pace back and forth across the length of the small room. "*I'm* ready for it, Morgan. And I can help you be ready too, if you'd just consider the idea for about half a second! But you *won't*!" She said, almost in tears of frustration, "Whenever I bring the subject up, you just change it. You don't even give me a chance!"
Morgan got up to try and comfort her, saying, "Bess, you don't understand, dear. I . . . I'll think about it, really I will. I just need a little time. Oh, you know how I am around kids. Take True and Uly for example. Can't stand them. And, and you remember the Devereaus, right? Those people who lived next door back on the Stations? You'd have them over all the time, since Debrah had that baby, uh, whatever his name was. They make me nervous, sweetie. I really think that you should give me more time."
Bess was still a little set off, but she was visibly calming as he spoke. She wiped a few tears from her eyes and sniffled for a moment, but then she accepted a hug from her husband, and she said into his shoulder, "Oh, I'm sorry I blew up, darling. It's just . . . you *know* how important this is to me. If you say you'll think it over, then I believe you."
Morgan nodded, rocking her back and forth. "I know, I know. Maybe, Bess, maybe in a few years. But just . . . just not now, okay?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "Okay, sweetheart. Maybe in a few years. Just so long as you promise to love me."
To that Morgan couldn't complain.

Uly had run off to explore the beach on the section of land that they were examining, promising to come back within fifteen minutes. This left Devon and Danziger alone back at the Dunerail to await there return.
"This is a nice place, don't you think?" Danziger commented. It was, too. It was only a small sized clearing amid the forest that surrounded the hospital. It was about a mile away, a short drive in the 'rail. There was a reasonably large beach that stretched out in front of it, five feet down off a small drop. *Yeah, a nice drop for a two-year old to unknowingly bumble off of,* Devon thought grimly, trying to avoid the mental picture that went with it.
Danziger turned to look at her, wondering why she hadn't responded. "Um, yeah, real nice." she said.
He sighed, leaning against the back of the seat in the 'rail. "Listen, Dev, if this is really bothering you, then we *should* talk about it."
Devon shook her head vigorously. "No, no, that's okay. It's not that important. Like you said, we've only been together two months." She let out a small laugh. "We aren't even engaged yet, so what's the point in talking about things so far off in the future? For all we know we're going to have some huge fight and break up a few weeks down the line--" she swung her head around to look at him and ended up being caught up in a kiss.
Blinking, she pushed away, leaving Danz looking even more puzzled than before. She sighed, serious this time. "No, John, it isn't that important."
"Yes it is," he broke in, "You're right. It *is* important. We should clear things like this up. We need to know how each of us views the future. That way we can work together to make it something that will please both of us."
Devon was silent for a moment, then she said, "I . . . I thought it would be great to have this nice little house by the sea, yes. And . . . and True and Uly would each have their own rooms, so they didn't fight. And there'd be a little kitchen downstairs, with a den right next door." She smiled fondly at the image. "And right next to our bedroom there'd be this quaint little nursery, where our baby would be sleeping, the sun shining in through the window on her little face . . . "
Danziger was taken a little off-guard by the vividness of her description. He had always been a simple man, thinking only of the present, not of the future. But on those few occasions in the past months, when he'd been lying awake, unable to rest (usually because Devon had stolen the covers) he had thought about it a few times, but certainly not to the degree she had. "I, uh," he began, "I think that's nice, but . . . but I always thought we'd have a boy. That way I could teach him how to fix things, be a mechanic."
Devon tilted her head to look at him and raise an eyebrow. "But I thought you'd never considered having children. I thought you never looked ahead to the future."
He sighed in defeat, knowing he'd caught her, and explained, "Well, perhaps I've thought about it a few times. But not that often. It's just the kind of thing you . . . subconsciously want."
She nodded, the smirk still on her lips. "Right, right. *Subconsciously* want." Her hand struck out at his stomach, tickling him in what she knew was his most sensitive area. Helpless, he laughed uproariously. "You little . . . making me worry we'd end up having disputes like Bess and Morgan."
Finally she relented, dropping her hands. "So you do want children." He shrugged, "Oh, I suppose I could go through the rigors of raising a child a few more times. Just as long as you're there to help."
"Oh, of course I will. What do you take me for?" Devon smiled, leaning forward to give him a tender kiss. Once she was finished, she ran her fingers through his golden curls and said, "So, love, how many?"
He groaned, leaning his head against the seat. "Oh, I don't know. Five, six?"
"Three more's my limit, John Danziger," she said teasingly. He peered at her, one eye closed. "Can I test you on that?"

Promise You'll Love Me, Part 2
by Lizzy
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).

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-

heckercw@voicenet.com

This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.