THE SELECTION: The Decision.

The Shenanigans

  Maxon's POV:
  After the picnic, I have to excuse myself to get some work done and I leave America to spend time with her family.  I don't realize how long I've been working until America peeks her head into my office.
  "Hey, night owl... Everyone else has gone to bed... Have you been working all this time?"  She comes over to my desk.
  I sigh.  "Yes. I'm sorry, Darling... I'm just having some trouble with this one project... You should go ahead to bed without me, because I'll probably be here all night."
  "Maxon, I'm not letting you stay here all night alone.  Let me help you..." She comes over behind me and rests her head on my shoulder, looking at the papers in front of me.
  "Are you sure...? I don't want to keep you up..."
  "Maxon, you and I both know I won't get much sleep if I know you're down here. Come on, I'll call for some coffee and we can get comfortable and put our heads together.  I'm sure we'll figure something out.  We're a team now, remember?" Her smile is so loving that I melt a little.
  "Yes... We are... And I've never been happier because of it." I give her a brief kiss and then she calls for coffee.  While she does so, I move the paper work over to the couch so we can both sit.  When she comes back she cuddles into me. 
  "Alright... What are we reading?"
  I sigh.  "I'm trying to read this proposition, but I've got such a headache that I can't even understand what it's about, to be honest."
  "I'm sorry, Maxon...  Here, I'll read it out loud to you and you just cuddle me." She smiles.
  "Gladly!" I grin.
  She takes the paper and begins reading it to me and I find it much easier to listen than to read.  I end up taking her hair out of its twist and playing with it mindlessly.  We go on like this for several hours, slowly getting more and more comfortable.  My shirt is untucked and her shoes are off and we have a blanket over us.
At what must be the beginnings of the morning, I notice that America has fallen asleep on me and soon after, I feel the pull of my heavy eyelids begging me to follow.
I am awoken by shouts the next morning just outside the door.
"I FOUND THEM!" A voice calls.
My father bursts into the room. "Maxon Schreave! You missed breakfast and all of your morning duties and I find you ASLEEP?!"
I hold America tighter, praying that she stays asleep. I speak in a whisper. "America stayed up all night helping me with my work... I wouldn't even be close to done if she hadn't helped.... Now she needs some sleep."
He raises an eyebrow and actually seems a little surprised. "You finished your proposition?"
"Yes... We finished it."
He huffs but says nothing else. "I'll let everyone know... But you must be up in an hour because you've planned far too many things today and I'm expecting you to hold them all up."
"Yes, father..." As soon as he leaves I carefully pull America into my lap and rub her stomach.
  After about thirty minutes of me just watching her and thinking, she starts to stir and a smile instantly comes to her face.
  "Someone is happy today," I mumble softly with a smile.
  "Of course I am... I'm waking up to you holding me...." She smiles up at me and she looks so beautiful it actually takes my breath away.
  "I love you," I say quickly.
  She smiles softly.  "And I love you."
  "Just wanted to make sure I didn't dream you saying that..." I smirk.
  "It was very real, I assure you." She kisses my cheek.  "What time is it?"
  I look at my watch.  "Nearly eleven."
  "What?!" Her eyes go wide.  "We missed breakfast! You missed your meetings!"
  "Hey... Relax... My father already came in and I explained that we stayed up all night finishing the preposition. He said we just had to be up in an hour... Which is now thirty minutes away.  That's thirty minutes for us to do this..." I lean down and kiss her passionately.
  She smirks but pulls away.  "Maxon.  That's thirty minutes for us to take a shower and get changed..."
  I groan.  "But I don't want to be away from you..."
  "Who says we have to do all of those things alone...?" A coy smirk comes to her lips and she bats her eyelashes at me.
  I grin.  "I like this..."
  "Then let's go.  Grab clothes and meet me in my room... I'll start the shower." She kisses me once and then hops up and runs out to her own room.
  I laugh in disbelief at how much I truly love her.  I quickly go to my own room and grab whatever clothes I see first and jog down to her room.  I don't even knock, but I do lock the door behind me when I go in.
  I find her in the bathroom trying to unbutton her dress. 
  "I sent my maids away so they won't interrupt us, but these buttons go down so low that I can't reach them..." She groans.  "Can you help me?"
  I smirk.  "Gladly..." I unbutton her dress slowly, making sure my fingers brush the bare skin of her back.
  She laughs.  "Don't you try anything, Maxon.  I'm already pregnant..."
  "Exactly! So you can't get pregnant again... We can't do anything more than what we've already done..." I smirk.  "It's a win-win, I think."
She rolls her eyes and then turns around to face me and begins unbuttoning my shirt.  I notice that when she does, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.  I raise an eyebrow.  "What was that for?"
  She goes red when she realizes I noticed that.  "Sorry... You just smell really really good..."
  I laugh softly.  "Thank you... Don't apologize... I think you smell absolutely intoxicating..." I pull her close so that we're skin to skin.  She looks up at me and then eases my shirt the rest of the way off and her hands go tenderly to my back and I go a bit stiff.
  "Does it bother you...?" I whisper. "That I have those...?"
  She searches my eyes.  "No.  Of course not... They show me how strong you are... Some of them were because of me, and I love you all the more for it..." Her hands trace patterns across my back and I slowly relax under her touch.  When she releases me, she steps out of her dress entirely and I take off the rest of my clothes and she takes my hand, pulling me into the shower after her.  There is plenty of room for both of us, but she wraps her arms around me immediately and lays her head on my chest.
  "America-" I begin.
  "Shh..." She cuts me off.  "I like listening to your heartbeat..."
  I smile softly and just give a small nod.  While she listens to my heart, I wash her hair slowly and then begin rubbing soap into her back.
  After a while she whispers, "I still can't believe you picked me..."
  I shake my head and gently lift her chin so she's looking into my eyes.  "Honey, I can't believe that you picked me...."
  "I guess we're both pretty lucky, huh?" She smiles.
  "The luckiest." I kiss her nose.  "And we're even more lucky because we're soon going to have a baby who will love us more than anyone..."
  "Are you disappointed?  That we never got to be married alone for a while before we got pregnant?"
  I shake my head.  "No... I'm honestly not.  I know that, even when we have kids, we'll always spend time with just each other... We'll always be just as in love as we are right now... And this will be something exciting and scary that we can experience together... I think it's perfect."
  "Me too..." She smiles softly.
  I tuck her hair behind her ear.  "We should get out... Your family will be missing you."
  "And you! Maxon, they love spending time with you... Gerad looks up to you, and I think May is a tiny bit in love with you," she laughs.
  I smirk.  "Maybe it runs in the family."
  "Maybe..." She chuckles.  "And then there's my parents... They love you... You've completely charmed my mother and my dad doesn't have to be charmed, he knows how much you mean to me and that's enough for him. Kenna is along the same lines as my father... Kota... Well, he respects you more than he does anyone else."
I smile softly. "Thank you... I want nothing more than to be a part of your family..."
"Consider it done..." She smiles. I kiss her quickly then pull away.
"Let's go. I have an exciting day planned for us all."