The Fourth Catch

Chapter 3: Connecting

The next day, Anthony had off, so he had gotten up quietly noticing that Melanie was still asleep. Crawling out of bed and getting ready so not to wake her up. He made his way into Bethany's room to check on her to see that the child was still sound asleep. He wandered into the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee ready for himself, grabbing the newspaper, then making his way out to the living room. Sitting on the couch so he could look through the paper and drink his coffee.

Not long after he had finished the paper, Anthony spotted Melanie making her way out of the room. He glanced at her giving a small smile. "Good morning, how did you sleep?" Melanie glanced at him giving a small smile in return. "I slept okay. Is there any coffee left?" She asked spotting the coffee cup on the nightstand by the couch next to Anthony. Anthony nodded. "Yes there is." He watched as Melanie made her way to the kitchen area. Once she got her coffee poured, she came back into the living room sitting down next to Anthony on the couch. "Anything interesting happen?" She asked nodding her head towards the newspaper.

Anthony shook his head. "Not really. Just the same old." He grinned. Melanie chuckled. "So, since you have a day off, what do you propose we do?" Anthony looked over at her. "Well, I figured since it's been busy, that perhaps the two of us could get out before I have to go back to work again tomorrow. We could maybe spend the afternoon with Beth when she wakes, then this evening we can go out for dinner?" Melanie smiled a little. "I think I would like that. But how are we going to get a sitter on such short notice?" Anthony grinned at her question. "I've been planning this for a while. Victoria and Levi will watch her this evening. I thought since we've been busy, and haven't gotten to celebrate on our own yet, we could have our own evening to celebrate the engagement. Plus I know that you would probably like to get out of the house."

"I think that sounds like an amazing idea." Melanie grinned giving him a small playful nudge. "Sometimes I think you're almost too good to me." Anthony chuckled. "I'm only just getting started." He teased giving her a wink. Melanie smirked raising her eye at his words. "Oh really? Do you care to share?" She asked. Anthony shook his head. "Nope, I'm keeping the secrets safe with me." Melanie scrunched up her nose crossing her arms across her chest. Anthony laughed watching her reaction. Ready to say something when they heard Beth starting to whine as she was waking up.

"I can get her." Melanie nodded, remaining sitting where she was. Anthony came out of the room a few minutes later with Bethany. Sitting back over on the couch next to Mel. Melanie smiled as she saw Bethany sitting on her dad's lap. "Hey sweetie." She said reaching her hand out gently wrapping it around her daughter's. Bethany made a gurgling sound as she heard Melanie talk to her. Melanie felt Beth's thumb wrap around hers. "What do you propose we do with Beth? I don't think it is the best idea to bring her out in the cold yet." Melanie stated. Anthony grinned a bit glancing at Mel. She had been worried at the beginning of how she was going to handle their daughter, and finding things to do with her so they could connect. But as far as he could tell, she seemed to be doing very well already, and even seemed quite protective over her, though Melanie couldn't see that yet, he did.

"We could see what she thinks of play dough. Or put a movie in while she plays on the floor with her toys?" Anthony suggested. Melanie tilted her head as she was trying to think what they could do. "Think she would be up for going for some family photos? I could call to see if they have any last minute openings." Anthony nodded. "I am sure we could do that. Then we could go to a cafe afterwards for some lunch?" Mel raised her eye. "But aren't we going out for dinner?" He chuckled. "Don't worry about it Mel.." She narrowed her eyes slightly. Since she no longer worked, she didn't want to waste too much of Anthony's money. They weren't even married yet, she felt like he was spending too much. Of course, she had that same problem back when she was with Paul. Even when they were married, she didn't like the fact of him spending too much money. "Are you sure?" She asked. "Because we could always come back here right after. We have plenty of food where we could make something. I could make something." Melanie had never been the best cook. But since she had been with Anthony, he had been teaching her on days off.