Forever and Always

Chapter 18 - Future Step Daughter

Having full on sex had proven to be a little more than Levi could handle in his current post surgery state, as he was mostly out of commission for the next day. I brought him a mug of coffee from the kitchen early Friday morning.

"Morning, brat," Levi scoffed, gratefully taking the coffee and taking a swig. "Looks like a bit of a role reversal here, doesn't it?"

"A little bit," I answered wryly. "I still don't know how you drink black coffee."

"All that cream and sugar bullshit makes it too sweet. I like it better this way."

"You're a psychopath; you know that, right?" I jabbed, folding my arms and sitting on the edge of his bed. "So what time are we calling Poppy?"

"That's in about an hour. But first, I need to talk to you about a couple things." Levi sat up further in bed and set his coffee on the night table.

"Sure, go ahead, Levi," I prompted. "What did you need?"

"So, first things first, if Poppy doesn't talk much to you, don't think she doesn't like you. She doesn't talk to Farlan much either. Hell, she doesn't even really talk to Isabel. So if she kind of ignores you, don't be too upset."

"Okay. I won't. I'm just excited to finally meet her instead of just hearing about her.

"I'm sure you two will get along great after a while, but you have to give it time with her." Levi paused to let me take in his words before jumping into the second topic of discussion. "Okay next. College. Were you serious when you told Jean that I was accepting that scholarship?"

I nodded. "You need to. This is the biggest opportunity for college that anybody I know has ever had. You said it yourself that Harvard never gives out full rides, and you deserve it more than anyone I can think of. You have worked so hard to get good grades and make sure you're exactly what colleges want, and the fact that Harvard law is offering you a full ride says that you absolutely have made it." I paused taking a deep breath. "Besides you need something going right for you. Your whole life has been a bunch of letdowns and living through insane circumstances."

"But the past eight months or so have been pretty damn good. And you are what keeps me sane. I don't know how I'm gonna spend a year away from you. I know I'll come back for the holidays and spring break and shit, but that's a lotta time away from you."

"I know that, Levi. But you may never get an opportunity like this again. I shouldn't be the one to hold you back from this. And when I turn eighteen, I'll move out and we can get an apartment or something."

"I won't be eligible for off campus housing unless I'm married."

"So marry me then. Next summer. I'll move back to Massachusetts with you in the fall."

"Really?" Levi asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes, really. I said yes when you asked, didn't I?" I pointed out, as he took my hand.

"Well yeah, but I didn't think you'd be so definite about it." He paused, deep in concentrated thought. "Okay, I'll finish finals and come back to California and marry you."

"I like that," I said after a minute.

"What?"

"I like it when you say you're gonna marry me. It's like holy shit. This is real. And it's kinda hot when you talk about marrying me."

"Oh yeah?" Levi smirked, cocking an eyebrow. "Well I think it's hot when you talk about marrying me."

"You should, dumbass, I'm a hot commodity around these parts," I joked, lightly shoving Levi's shoulder.