“Why are you so amazing?” he inquired.
Dana picked up her utensils, glowing, then gave him a little shrug.
“It remains a mystery to this day,” she said.
They dug into the meal, and despite thinking that she had used too much salt, Rux ranted and raved about how lovely it had been. She wasn’t sure if she entirely believed him, but the sentiment within itself was enough to make her love him even more.
When they were both stuffed and finished discussing the ongoing of Rux’s business, they sat quietly for a few moments, watching the bulbous sun sink below the magnificent tree line.
“You’ve got something on your mind,” Rux said softly.
His voice, always plushy and inviting, filled Dana’s spine with a golden light. She turned to him and adored him, deeply to his core, as he stared at her with curious eyes and always that charming smile.
“I do?” she asked playfully.
Rux nodded.
“I can tell,” he said. “It always weighs on you, in an obvious way. You can barely keep it inside.”
Dana looked at the wineglass before her, still filled with deep red merlot. She looked up at him and then lifted her chin.
“Come over here,” she said.
Rux set down his glass, then came to her side, going to his knees. Dana had found that he did that around her often. Whether it be conscious or unconscious, the man was always ready to grovel for her.
His hands went to her waist like a magnet, and she brushed his hair. He had told her that he loved the sensations of her fingers running through his hair, so she always tried to do it when the opportunity arose.
“So, you think you know me, eh?” Dana commented.
Rux had closed his eyes, reveling in her touch. He hadn’t stopped smiling since he had come home that evening.
“I mean, I think the whole saving-your-student’s-dad thing brought us together,” Rux said.
Dana sighed, then took one of his hands off her waist. She placed it on her lower stomach. His palm almost covered the entire scope of her belly.
His eyes shot open, stared at his hands, then flicked up to Dana, then back down again. Dana was bursting with amusement and a joy that she sure knew was going to send them both to the moon and back again.
“Are you …” Rux began.
“Am I what, honey?” Dana said with a scratchy voice.
“We’re …” Rux stuttered, “we’re going to have a baby?”
Dana felt tears streaming down her eyes and began nodding frantically. The look on Rux’s face looked the way she had been hoping that it would: ecstatic beyond measure.
“Oh, my god,” Rux said, standing and cupping his mouth with a hand. “Oh, my god, Dana!”
Rux threw his hands into the air and began screaming. It was an elated scream that echoed through the manor, up and down the glossy landscape. Dana began laughing, then stood to wrap her hands around his chest.
“I’M GOING TO BE A FATHER!”
Dana pushed her face into his shirt. She cried and laughed and listened to the vibrations of triumph that moved through the love of her life. She knew that the announcement was bittersweet for him because of his father, but it also gave him another opportunity, another chance at a happy life.
He spun himself around and went to his knees again, nearly crashing them against the concrete.
“Rux, be careful!” Dana giggled.
Rux laid his head against her stomach, and he smiled so widely that Dana was convinced his cheeks would snap. She stroked his hair as they stood there on that terrace in the home they shared, buzzing about the happy news.