Passion's Instinct

Five

Hayden

I tried as best as I could to walk across the room with my new leg. It was quite an adjustment, and when I first found out what happen, I actually broke down crying. I was trying to get over it, and I was very nervous about what Natalie will think. What if she ends up leaving me?

The new leg is light metal, and so is the foot attached to it. I can rotate the ankle on my command, so it's really cool. I just hope I can get used to it.

"Can I go out to see Natalie now?" I asked one of the surgeons.

He nodded and opened the door for me. I limped out and saw her sitting at the bench waiting. She saw me, and immediately hugged me tightly and cried.

I ran my hand down her hair soothingly. "I love you, Natalie."

"I love you so much," she cried. She was sobbing into my chest.

After a few minutes, I knelt down in front of her on one knee.

She covered her mouth with her hands and started laughing.

"Natalie Hershlag Portman, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, I will marry you!" She continued to cry tears of joy. She kissed me, and I kissed her back. When she let go, I slid the diamond ring on her finger, and it fit perfectly. She squealed, jumping up and down, and hugging me tight.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Natalie. I love you more than anything in this world," I said, holding her close to me.

"I love you more than anything in the universe!" She pulled away and held her hand out to me, her ring glinting under the florescent lights. "I love this. It's absolutely breathtaking, Hayden."

"I'm glad you like it." I smiled and kissed her.

"So, should we keep this a secret?"

"Mm... maybe. It's not really a secret anyway. Just... no one really knows about it yet."

Natalie laughed. "Let's go home."

"Yeah, one minute. I have to get this paperwork and stuff. Oh, and don't forget to remind me -- I have to have physical therapy Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week."

"Okay." She beamed and walked back in the room with me so I could get the paperwork. The surgeon ended up giving us a brief talk about everything we would have to follow through with. When he was done, I could just feel Natalie's excitement. Sure enough, when we walked back out of the room, she kissed my cheek and started to talk about what it would be like once we were newlyweds and everything that we would do before kids. Wait...kids?

"Kids?" I said as we walked down the hallway.

"Yes, why? Don't you want to? I mean, eventually?"

"Yeah, but I want to wait. Like, a few years."

"Okay..." She smiled and leaned against me. "I get what you're saying, though. I want to wait a little bit too. I want to travel the world before we have kids."

"The world?" I laughed. "We're gonna have to wait more than a few years."

"You know what I mean. I want to travel many places in the world before we have kids."

"It sounds fun. That would be a lot of planning and money, though."

"Hayden, you always worry about money. Of all of the things we have to worry about, we don't have to about money."

I raised my eyebrows and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. It's just that, my --"

"-- Your parents taught you to be conservative with spending money, I know. That's okay."

I ran my hand down the back of her head. "So, about that Ferrari..."

"You don't have a backup?"

"No..." I looked down guiltily.

"I'm just...surprised, I guess. Just go car shopping. I can help you look for one."

"Yeah, but you know the only problem?"

"What is it?"

"We don't have another car to use. And do you know what that means?"

Natalie sucked her teeth. "Calling your mother."

"Exactly."