Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

Boston

Chris' lips rested against the mouth of his beer bottle. The smile on his face appeared by natural consequence of watching his girlfriend with his niece. Both Denise and Stella were on their hands and knees searching for a four leafed clover in a patch of what seemed like mostly three leafed clovers. The search arose from Stella spotting Denise's amethyst clover pendant resting between her collarbones. When asked about the significance behind the necklace, Denise explained it was her good luck charm; her favorite number was in association with the number of leaves on a lucky clover. She explained four leafed clovers had never failed her before, they aided her in examinations and other events she felt nervous about; they offered her strength in times of weakness. After hearing that, Stella decided she needed a clover of her.

Chris was about to go over and help when he saw Denise had found one. She held it up with great triumph and passed it to an excitable Stella who immediately threw her arms around Denise to give her a great big hug as a thank you. It was a great achievement for Denise to be liked by a child, especially one who meant so dear to Chris. Before him, the idea of having children perturbed her. She didn't hate children, she just couldn't imagine having to be responsible for another human being. Parenthood was mostly sacrifice, having a child was giving up everything. She feared she was incapable of doing that, to produce and invest a limitless amount of love and commitment with no questions asked. It was an impossible task. What if her child turned out to be a murderer, or just a really terrible person? Would she still feel obligated to love, or would she turn her back on the being she created? She feared things she didn't have control of, or foresight in. Parenthood was like that, unpredictable and chaotic. But so was falling in-love, and she fell in-love with a man she'd do everything she was afraid of without blinking an eye.

Denise hugged Stella back, her gaze slowly trailed the perimeter until she caught Chris in it. Her lips curled into a smile when she saw he was already smiling at her. A chuckle reverberated in her throat when he winked. Her eyes fell to his lips when he deliberately drank his beer in slow motion, the smugness on his face told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her. She shook her head at him with a bit back smile as Stella ran off, then rose to her feet to walk across the field.

"Stop it, Chris," she instructed him when she joined his side.

"Stop what?" He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him.

"You know what," she chuckled at the cheeky smirk on his face. "So just stop it."

Chris simply laughed and pressed a tender kiss on the side of her head. It was responsive for her to smile and wrap her arm around his waist; her head rested lazily against him as she sighed contently. It'd only been a few days since they officially became a couple, so things were indubitably going swimmingly. It was the honeymoon phase that the two of them didn't think existed. If two people belonged together, time played no part in changing the paradisiac quality of a relationship. It was a forlorn attempt to predict the future, but they were confident things would remain in felicity.

Denise felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and she took her arm off Chris to check it. She'd taken a week off school to spend in Boston with Chris and his family before he needed to dedicate the next nine months of his time to his career. She'd promised her professors she'd do her studies via distance education so every buzz was either another lecture in MP4, or assignment notes in PDF. Chris realized it was selfish of him to risk her education, but he was eager for her to meet his family. They'd already heard so much about her, he had to prove she was as amazing as he'd described. It was easy to forget about his selfish act until her phone started buzzing. But each time he fussed, she would assure him it was fine. It was a week, she could manage a week; it wouldn't be the first time she missed a week of school.