Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 103: Anniversary pt.2

They carry on light conversation for the remaining drive, and Josie eventually stops paying attention to where they are and where they are going.

But a small gasp leaves her lips when she turns her attention away from Hope and toward the destination not to far in front of them as Hope puts the car in park.

They are on a dirt drive, surrounded by beautiful trees adorned by late afternoon sunlight. Up ahead, water falls and streams await them. Josie turns to Hope, completely taken by surprise, while Hope tries to remain nonchalant, shrugging her shoulders, "I remembered you saying we shared our first real date at the falls...I know I don't remember it, but I thought maybe I could recreate it with you? Is that okay?"

Josie's smile reaches her eyes, and her heart melts at the sentiment, "It's perfect, Hope."

Hope reciprocates the smile as she nods, "Great."

With that, she gets out of the car, leaving Josie for a short moment to process her surprise before Hope opens her door to help her out of the car. Then she makes her way to the trunk, grabbing out the blanket and picnic basket she prepared, having learned a spell from Freya to keep all their food fresh until they arrived.

Hope begins to guide Josie toward the edge of the water, and the brunette remains in awe the whole time, even as she helps Hope spread out the blanket on the ground and they take a seat together, "I can't believe you did all of this for me."

"Of course I did," Hope gives Josie a half-knowing, half-disbelieving look herself, as she begins unpacking their dinner, "You didn't think I forgot about our anniversary, did you?"

Josie blushes at her own assumption, tilting her head from one side to the other, "Maybe a little bit."

It was actually Hope's plan to make this a surprise and throw Josie off by acting as if she had forgotten, but she doubted Josie would believe it. "Well, then I'm glad I could surprise you."

"So is that what you were doing all day while I was out? Planning this?" Josie makes conversation as they begin to eat, enjoying the serenity and presence of each other.

Hope nods, "Partially. I also did some chores around the house."

Josie deflates a bit, not that she isn't grateful. She and Hope just used to do house chores together. She doesn't want Hope having to do everything alone. She actually likes cleaning. It's one of her ways to decompress after a long day.

Hope interrupts her train of thought, "What did you do with Lizzie and your mom?"

Josie furrows her eyebrows as she takes a bite of her food, covering her mouth as she responds, "How'd you know I was with them?" She doesn't remember telling Hope that. "Did you talk to Lizzie?"

"I had to get you out of the house somehow to do all of this," Hope finally admits, making Josie give her a look of disbelief, though a chuckle slips through her lips at her own obliviousness of it all, making Hope laugh with her.

Josie shakes her head as she replies, "Well, if you must know, we went shopping until I started feeling sick, and I pretty much spent the whole day missing you."

Hope feels her heart ache at the last admission, and she notices how Josie averts her gaze and a blush tints her cheeks pink when she realizes what she said. So Hope decides to address the other thing she said, "You were feeling sick?"

Josie nods, "Yeah, it's not a big deal. I've just really only gotten any pregnancy sickness when I'm away from you. Freya thinks it has something to do with our magic." She puts a hand over her belly, "I guess our babies just want to be close to you all the time. So do I." She somewhat whispers the last part, but Hope still manages to hear her. She's about to reply, until Josie lets out a sigh, "Speaking of which...we should probably talk about--"

"Us?" Hope asks.

Josie nods. "Yeah, us...the wedding. I know that we're not exactly in the same place we were when you proposed, and I don't want you to feel any pressure, so--"

"You want to call off the engagement?" Hope furrows her eyebrows in confusion. That was the last thing she expected to hear, especially as they sit here sharing a romantic evening, recreating their first date on their anniversary.

"No! I just--I thought that you might..."

Hope nods slowly, contemplating what Josie's asking, "Look, I know we're pretty unconventional, and it hasn't exactly been the easiest road to get here, but we've been working everyday to try and make this work again, and I think...well, I think it--it works." Josie finally looks up to meet Hope's gaze, a smile beginning to grow on her lips. Hope adds surely, "I don't think we should call it off. I think we keep putting in the effort to make it work everyday. I think we should still get married."

Josie's smile is beaming now, "Really?"

Hope nods, her smile mirroring Josie's, "Yeah. We click, Josie. We're having babies together. I know I like you, and I know I loved you before. I can feel it. I don't want to let that go just because I can't remember it. If I have the opportunity to fall in love with you twice, I want to experience that. That is, if you'll still have me... and marry me."

Josie can't believe what she's hearing, but she's so glad to hear it. Hope wants to marry her, even without her memories. She wants to fall in love again, and she can see it happening for them. She may have felt a bit saddened by the past tense referral to the love they shared, but that feeling was quickly replaced by happiness when Hope asked Josie to marry her, again.

Josie nods happily, "Yes, I'll still marry you."

Hope smiles at her reply, and Josie notices Hope's eyes glance just a tad bit lower before returning to her eyes, and Josie's stomach does flips at the implication, her breath gets caught when Hope reaches up to cup her jaw gently, her thumb sliding across her cheek. Josie leans into her touch instinctively, and her lips slightly part naturally, inviting Hope in. Hope's eyes land on Josie's lips again to catch the action, and she complies, beginning to lean in slowly.

Right when their lips are about to meet for only the second time since Hope lost her memories, Josie's phone suddenly rings, making the two jolt apart.

"Shit," Josie mutters under her breath as she reaches for her phone, seeing Lizzie's name on her screen. She shoots Hope an apologetic look as she answers the phone, and Hope brushes it off, clearing her throat as the tension between them remains in the air.

"Hello?" Josie answers.

"Hey, how's your date with Hope?" Lizzie says through the phone.

Josie furrows her eyebrows, "Uh, still ongoing, Liz."

After a minute of trying to get off the phone, Josie finally hangs up. "Looks like we're literally recreating every part of our first date..."

Hope tilts her head, "How do you mean?"

Josie chuckles, half-humorously, "Lizzie interrupted before, too, ironically enough."

Hope nods and chuckles as well, taking her lip between her teeth somewhat nervously now as silence envelopes them once again, thinking about what was seconds away from happening between them. Hope glances out toward the horizon before clearing her throat lightly, "We should probably get going. It's getting pretty dark out." She stands to her feet and offers her hand to help Josie do the same.

After helping Josie up and gathering the basket and blanket, Hope leads the way back to the car, putting the items in the trunk and politely opening Josie's passenger side door before making her way to the driver side, and driving them back home.