Cliff hanger warning! (Got scolded once for a major cliffhanger, so you have been forewarned.)
"Watch the dress." Amy warns George, looking more and more nervous the closer he gets with the bite of wedding cake. The mischievous glint never leaves his eye, but he resists the urge to smudge the cake and frosting across his wife's cheek. A mix of cooing at the sweet display and groaning in disappointment rolls through the crowd as Amy is equally civil with her chunk of cake.
"Good choice." She says leaning in for a kiss.
As the cake is cut and served, the crowd disperses, each to their own table, and the newlyweds get the first break of the afternoon to sit and eat.
The band picks up again, keeping the background music going, nothing too loud as most of the guests were wanting to sit and eat, but enough to keep the silence at bay and the mood upbeat.
Margaret starts to squirm in your arms,
"What's up, kid?" You ask, starting to rock her,
"Want me to take her?"
"Where?"
"Maybe she wants to dance." He smiles, "You should eat anyway, then you can take her and I'll eat."
He lifts Maggie from your arms, urging you to finish your late lunch,
"Hai sa dansam, Magpie." He whispers, holding her to his shoulder. He leaves the table, taking Maggie to the edge of the dance floor where a few people are still grooving, and he starts to sway.
You watch them for a little while before turning to your plate.
"Is that her?" A familiar voice asks from beside you. You turn to see Marcus at your elbow, camera in hand, watching Sebastian dance with your daughter.
"That's her." You reply. He takes the seat beside you, sighing.
He has the look of a man sitting through a practiced speech, but he keeps stopping himself before he can start.
"I'm sorry about what I said." He finally lets out.
You steel yourself, not wanting to argue and definitely not wanting to hear the rest of this,
"I know you can take care of yourself." He presses on, "I've seen you do it so many times... And he obviously..."
"Isn't Adam."
Marcus nods lightly.
"I tried. I tried not to worry about who might find a way to take advantage of you, or what would happen if I wasn't there to watch your back. But I'm always going to worry, because I'm always going to care about you. Though in this case, it turns out it was probably a good thing you cut me loose." He chuckles almost bitterly, nodding toward Maggie where Seb is making her wave at you. You can tell Sebastian is trying not to be too obvious about keeping a wary eye on Marcus
"She's beautiful." He continues, "And I'm proud of you." You know you don't need his affirmation, but something about it makes you sit up straighter.
"I also wanted to thank you. You didn't have to get me this job." He says lightly, graciously shifting the subject, "I really appreciate it... Im sure I don't deserve any favors from you."
"Well, the best photographer in New York is the maid of honor. I had to delegate." You jab, making him chuckle.
"Well, my offer's always open if you're ever looking for work. Though I'm sure that little one keeps you pretty busy."
"That she does, but Seb has been great. He's kept everything from getting too overwhelming."
You both watch him making faces at Margaret, who bounces happily in his arms, flashing gummy smiles at her daddy and giggling when he tickles her neck,
"Really though. I am sorry. That man you've got there... Celebrity or not, he's a keeper."
You sigh, thinking about your little family,
"He really is."
Marcus sits for just a moment longer,
"I should probably get back to work. The first dance should be coming up soon." He stands to leave you,
"Marcus." You stop him, "Thank you. It was actually nice seeing you again."
He nods in agreement,
"If you three ever need any help, you know where to find me." He says, excusing himself to get back to work.
Marcus' words continue to echo in your head, 'he's a keeper.' You knew this already, you'd even realized it on your own, though it was fairly recently. He's definitely a keeper.
A delighted squeak brings you out of your thoughts in time to see Seb taking his seat beside you, Maggie successfully pulling chunks of his hair free of his short ponytail. You scoop her up with a chuckle, letting him fix his hair and have his turn to eat while you're still thinking. Still processing. Still deciding.
After dessert, the party picked back up. There was the first dance for the newlyweds, the mother-son dance, and the father-daughter dance, which you had to snap pictures of when Seb insisted on taking Maggie back out to the dance floor.
Finally, Sebastian takes your hand, Amy's mother having taken Maggie for a little while to give the two of you a break. He pulls you close with a hand low on your back and starts to sway to the slow song. You rest your head on his shoulder and he leans into you. Amy's words from last night come back to you once again, 'I'm about to make the right time if you take any longer.'
Maybe she was right.
Maybe you could make the right time.
And right now, you're thinking this is it.
Pulling back to look at Seb, he looks back at you. Not expecting anything, not questioning, just looking. His gaze flickering over your face to your hair and back, almost like he was trying to memorize you.
It's time.
Finally.
You gulp. A memory of Adam flitting through your mind. Unbidden, unwanted. Uncontrollable.
Adam smiling so sweetly, telling you he loves you, holding you close like Sebastian is now.
Adam leaving you. Crying. Splintered. Alone.
You see a slight concern flash across Sebastian's eyes before you open your mouth,
"Seb..."
"Hmm?" He breathes. His full attention on you, mild concern shifting toward worry.
Deep breath.
You curl your shaking fingers around the back of his neck, pulling him down to speak beside his ear,
"I..."
Deep breath,
"I love you."
You feel him still. He doesn't even breathe, neither can you.
What if you just made a horrible mistake?
No. He isn't Adam.
He loves you.
He loves your daughter.
You love him.
"You better." He huffs beside your ear with a chuckle. You feel both of his arms wrap around out, holding you tight. He kisses your temple, your cheek, your shoulder.
For the rest of the night, neither of you can stop smiling.
.
.
.
"Say it again."
Sebastian huffs against your lips. It's not the first time tonight that he's muttered this request,
"I love you." You chuckle,
He presses you harder into the wall, taking your breath away with another kiss.
You got home from the reception around midnight, carefully tucking in a sleeping Margaret, and Seb all but tackled you as the door to the nursery quietly clicked shut.
"One more time. Say it one more time." He begs against your neck, his searching fingers finding the zipper on the side of your dress. He had shed his jacket by the end of the party, his bow tie in the car, as soon as he had grabbed you and pinned you to your bedroom wall, his hands made quick work of the buttons of his dress shirt.
"You said 'one more time' three times ago." You gasp, nearly squealing when you feel him tickle your ribs.
You card both hands through his hair, effectively pulling the rubber band free, and you let your hands come to rest on either side of his face,
"I love you." You say again, softly but resolutely, "I'm sorry it took me so long to say. But I love you."
To his credit, he doesn't actually cry, but you know he comes dangerously close. He pulls you into him again, slower, kissing you as deeply as he can, letting his fingers tangle in the curls that have fallen loose because of his insistent hands.
You don't see fireworks, you don't hear a symphony, your foot doesn't "pop" like in those old films... But you're pretty sure your heart stops for just a moment, resuming only to beat along with his. Everything fits. Everything works. Everything is beautiful.
His breath quickens again as you tighten your fingers in his hair, his free hand running down your side to lift your leg over his hip when you hear a whimpering cry coming from the nursery.
You let out a high pitched whine and Sebastian laughing against your shoulder,
"You have to get her." You groan,
"What? Why me?"
"Because I can't move." He snickers again, planting one last kiss to your jaw and heading down the hall.
You take a few moments, catching your breath, calming down, remembering what you had promised yourself earlier.
It was the right time.
Following after him down the hall, you lean against the doorjamb, looking in on Sebastian rocking his little girl back to sleep. His longer hair will go eventually, whenever he gets the go ahead that he won't be needed for reshoots or anything. For now, Maggie loves tugging on it, his nose too, and every once in a while she'll get a good grip on his lip and giggle non-stop at his sounds of protest.
But right now, this has become your favorite thing to see: Seb cuddling his swaddled daughter close, her tiny hand patting the five o'clock shadow on his jaw.
He glances up when he realizes you're there.
It's the right time.
"What?" He finally asks when you continue to stare.
You shrug,
"Where did you come from?"
He blinks,
"Romania?"
You snort,
"Very funny. I mean, why are you here? Why would you stick with me?" You start toward him, "Even before Margaret. We didn't have to keep in touch after that party. You had no reason to ask me out after that. To stay my friend when I told you I wasn't ready for a relationship. To help me when I quit my job out of nowhere. Why did you stick with me?"
"I already told you." He says, "I love you."
"And I love you." The smile that lights up his face is infectious and you just can't help but smile back, "I love you for being the man your mother raised. For putting up with the mood swings, cravings, weepiness, and then the side effects of the pregnancy hormones."
He snorts. You kneel in front of him, to look him in the eye,
"I gave you so many reasons not to be here and instead of giving in, you gave me... Everything." He shifts in his seat a little, not so much uncomfortable as trying not to be emotional, "I love you so much, Seb." You crane up to kiss him on the the forehead and before you can manage to talk yourself out of it, you ask him, "Will you marry me?"
