"So he took it well then?" Hayden asked me that night when I got back.

"Yes, which is a relief." I sighed while stretching. "Sorry I hadn't planned on being gone all day, things needed to get done."

"I understand love, no worries. You being gone gave me time to finish up on some essays. Now I have the rest of the time to do whatever."

I stood on my toes and kissed him quickly, "good! So tomorrow I don't have anything for the most part, and then Sunday around lunch time is when we were going to see my grandparents."

"Works for me." Hayden bent down and kissed me again. "I'll do whatever I can to keep you in this mood."

"How about that surprise you talked about?" I teased as his eyes lit up.

"Alright, don't schedule anything for tomorrow okay? If there's an emergency we'll deal with it then."

"Deal." I kissed him again and sighed while he held me close to him. This was honestly what I needed. "You're too good to me."

"You deserve the best and I intend on giving you just that."

I pulled away and made him follow me into the living room. "Watch a movie with me?"

"Always. Pick something out. I'll get us drinks."

Humming to myself I gazed at our movie collection and tried to find something we hadn't watched in awhile. The thought of Rose's pregnancy made me go back to my question of what if I had been her? Would Hayden have reacted the same way Sean did?

I flopped onto the couch and began surfing the movie channels to find something instead. We probably needed to update our collection soon if the two of us didn't want to start quoting movie lines.

"Find anything?"

"I'm seeing what's on here." I flipped to one of the Transformers movies and looked to see his reaction.

"I'm fine with that." He set our waters down on the table and pulled me to him while kissing my forehead. "I can't wait to marry you."

My heart fluttered at the thought. We were practically married now with all the time we spent together, I just didn't have his last name. Dasha Blaze, the name itself made me blush knowing I was going to be his and only his.

"Hayden?" I asked quietly and almost wanted to take back what I was going to ask.

"Hmm?"

"If... don't take this wrong okay? I'm just curious. If I were in Rose's position, what would be the first thought in your mind?"

"Rose's position as in being pregnant?" He clarified and took his eyes off the television.

"Mhm. I'm not, I just..."

"If you were pregnant," he gripped my hand tighter, "I would be the happiest man alive. Yeah the timing would be stressful with you graduating and me trying to get my PhD soon, but we would make it work. We're creating life Dash, that's all I've ever wanted when I became old enough to understand all that. Being able to do that with you, that's just incredible."

I blinked back tears and just laid my head on his chest. "I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart."

The movie continued playing while my mind was continuing to think on its own. I had gotten my answer and was completely satisfied.

Jasper eventually made his way over to us and hopped on the couch to worm his way inbetween the two of us.

"Hey bud, you know when we have a little one you'll have to share us?" Hayden murmured while scratching his head as I hid a smile. He really was excited about our future together compared to what I was fearful of.

"I'm sure he'll love them." I reassured him, "where are you looking at getting your PhD from?"

"I'm not too sure. After you graduate and we get most of the wedding details planned I'll worry about programs. I don't know how long it'll take me to get it with teaching so I want to wait for now."

"I can understand that. I won't get my masters for awhile or if I do it'll be online. So I'll worry about that once everything else is done first."

"Who knew being an adult required so much planning?" He teased me.

"No kidding. Please keep me from being a bridezilla during this with everything going on."

"I can't imagine you becoming one."

"You'd be surprised." I teased but felt a headache wanting to erupt from everything that needed to get done. Just one day at a time, that's all I could do.

Hayden chuckled as he kissed my hair once more while we turned our attention back to the movie.

I awoke in the middle of the night to let Jasper out as he had been whimpering for a little bit. Normally he slept through the night but this was not going to be the case.

"Alright boy," I wrapped my arms around myself and stayed inside to avoid the slightly cold temperature.

He walked the perimeter and sniffed a few things before returning quickly after finishing.

I picked him up and quietly climbed the stairs before proceeding to slip back into bed and feeling him settle down between our legs. That was his usual spot as long as we didn't move too much.

Not even feeling tired at this point I just stared at the ceiling for awhile, hoping for it to come. It wasn't very often that I couldn't sleep but I knew it was just from everything going on. My fingers absentmindedly stroked Hayden's back while he slept soundly. There was just something about his breathing that soothed me.

Hayden's humming woke me up the next morning. He was in the bathroom shaving while I stretched and just remained in bed. Honestly I didn't feel like getting up just yet and didn't have too anytime soon.

"Are you up sweetheart?" Hayden stuck his head out while wiping his face with a towel.

"Mhm." I looked him up and down as he just chuckled. I could never get enough of this man and he knew it.

"Well once you're fully up, get dressed. We have a packed day ahead of us."

"Kay." I sat up and felt my insides flutter at whatever he had planned.

"Does it matter what I wear?"

"Hmm, something light. I really liked that sundress you bought the other day the green one."

I grabbed the dress and slid it on while smiling, he always made a point to mention what his favorite things were that I wore.

I stepped back into the bathroom and watched him finish getting ready. He was fixing his hair before turning. "Yes, I love that dress on you."

"Thank you." I kissed him gently as he slipped something into my hand.

"Here's money for you to go get your nails done, I know you haven't been able to do that recently. When you're finished," he kissed my forehead, "meet me at Clyde Park."

"Hayden," I felt my heart swell at just how amazing he was.

"Trust me, I love seeing you happy. And I'll do that in whatever way I can."

Kissing him once more, I left to go get pampered while trying to think of what else he had in store for today. I definitely needed to do something for him after everything he had done for me. The only thing was what could I do? He was so simple and enjoyed the small things I did. But making just a dinner for him didn't seem to suffice this time around.

"I'll think about it." I told myself while pulling up and walking in.

Nearly two hours later I was a million times more relaxed and smelled like a tropical island. The park wasn't too far from where I already was so I texted Hayden before I had finished.

'Great, I'll see you soon beautiful.'

Blushing, I put the phone back and drove over in that direction. Tomorrow was slowly starting to come back to the forefront of my mind but I refused to let it bother me for today. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I thought...

When I got to him, I saw a blanket had been laid out between some trees and lunch was already unpacked. Honestly the fact that I was such a hopeless romantic just made me want to blush even more knowing he had planned all this.

"This looks amazing." I sat down beside him and grabbed a plate with the salmon burgers.

"I just tried to think of something we hadn't had in awhile." He grabbed a couple of grapes while looking around. "I'm glad it's not too busy here today."

"Not in this area at least." There were only a few other people further down but they were walking along a trail. Being able to have this time with him to ourselves and without worrying on someone seeing us was a huge relief.

"Thank you, for this."

"It's my pleasure," he sipped some of the wine he had brought. "What do you want for a graduation gift?"

"I hadn't even thought about one honestly. I figured marrying you would be more than enough as my present."

"There's nothing you want?"

"Not really. I have a dog, you, a house. What more could I want at this point?"

"Fair enough." His hand entertained with mine, "if you change your mind let me know. Otherwise I'll find something small for you."

"I'll let you know." I promised before finishing my food. "Maybe ask my parents and see what they're getting me? You could always join them to get a combined gift or something."

"I'll look into that."

"I mean... unless you think Jasper needs a playmate." I giggled and imagined us getting another dog at some point.

"We'll see." He winked before grabbing my hand to pull me up. "Go start up my car, and I'll clean up. We still have a few things to do."

**I realize it took a month for me to type this. If we're being honest, I've been so busy seeing people while being home and catching up on sleep.. so I'm sorry if this is the only chapter I get up while I'm home for another week. Clearly the adult world has different ideas for me and my writing. But thank you for being patient!**