Happy Ever After

Chapter 19

Matt got off the phone and flipped through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for. He looked up when Tony gave a perfunctory knock and walked into his office.

"Did you take a look at the figures I sent?"

"You mean in the one minute after you emailed them? No. My powers are many, but time shifting is not one of them."

"What are you doing?" Tony asked when Matt called the number on the card and arranged for a private carriage ride in Central Park.

"Making plans. Alana and I have our first official date tomorrow night and I'm pulling out all the stops."

"Didn't you used to be a couple before? Also, you've been inseparable for weeks now."

"Yeah, but we've never dated. It's complicated," he said when it looked like Tony was going to ask him to explain.

"So, what are these big plans?" Settling in the chair, Tony looked expectantly.

Matt counted off on his hands. "Dinner at Le Cirque, carriage ride in Central Park, then back to my place for dessert and, well, you know what. The flowers, two dozen pink roses in their first blush, will be delivered tomorrow afternoon."

"Fancy. Lisa and I ate hot dogs on our first date. Restaurant lost our reservation and every other place was booked for Friday night."

"It ended up okay though, right?"

"Oh yeah," Tony grinned as if remembered the moment. "I knew she was it for me when she accidentally spilled ketchup on my lucky shirt and then made a bigger mess when she tried to wipe it off with her napkin."

"Well, Alana's it for me. I guess I've always known it. After all these years, sometimes it feels like we were never apart." Matt picked up the pen and twirled it in his hand. "Other times it's like we're together for the first time and everything's new and exciting."

"You're in love," Tony said, not quite managing to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Of course," Matt replied, not adding that he would die loving her. Some things a guy just didn't say to other guys unless he wanted to be razzed mercilessly. "Now, about those figures, do you want to go over them now?"

"No, it's okay. I was just taking a break and thought I'd pop in. Global's moving along nicely. We need to check out that deal in Australia. The other party is definitely interested and there's nothing stopping us from setting up the first meet, showing our interest. They likely won't get a better deal."

"Damn."

"What?" Tony asked when Matt didn't elaborate.

"Ever since Alana and I've been together it seems I've been away half the time. I was kind of hoping to stay closer to home."

"I'd go," Tony offered.

"But you can't," Matt finished. "Besides this is my deal. We agreed that when Sam came along, I'd do the heavy lifting travel wise. Do me a favor. Find out from Clancy when I'm needed and ask Sandra to take care of the arrangements."

"Maybe Alana can go with you? Lisa often traveled with me before Sam came along. In fact, I suspect Sam was conceived on one of those trips."

With a grin that was almost a smirk, Tony left Matt thinking about something other than Australia. The thought of Alana pregnant with their child.

-----

Alana adjusted the heat to let the sauce simmer and scooped whipping cream in the pastry bag to finish decorating the cake. Ever since Matt's declaration last week, they'd been spending more time together. It helped that he didn't have to go on a business trip and they could actually take the time to get to know each other again. Alana hadn't said the words back to him, but she had been close to falling off the edge.