Chapter's Song: Dionne Bromfield - Ain't No Mountain High Enough

We took things slow.

The fact that I agreed to marry him, didn't mean that we were announcing our engagement officially, or that Mark had given me a ring.

In fact, even after eight months, he still hadn't. We had rushed through everything, so we could wait and enjoy just being together.

It was hard at the beginning, because it was that, a fresh start. We both knew that we loved each other, but time is the only one that can heal all wounds. For starters, Mark had to accept that his jealousy outburst came from his insecurities, and I had to accept that I'd been immature by not talking to him when I had the chance. We talked about everything, about the baby, how I felt, how we both hurt in our own way and how I thought it was pretty selfish of him to just walk away because it was the easiest choice.

Forgiving someone takes time, and effort but most of all, love.

There were days when I was incredibly crabby at him and I snapped at anything, and it was until I understood that I was still mad that I could let it go. It took months of talks, tears and many awkward words. We even considered going to therapy, but I knew that it could be something that was very hard for Mark, so we tried by ourselves and when things seemed really dark, we tried harder.

After all this time, I learned to love Mark, with his ups and downs, and he learned to love me with my crabby moments and all. And I knew that everything had only made us stronger. Our relationship was based on communication and honesty, even thought it sometimes felt incredibly hard, but he was my best-friend, my lover, my everything.

And it was about damn time he gave me that ring, too.

I wake up with that thought in mind and smile to myself. As much as I know Mark now, he's still clueless half of the time. Last Christmas we had a gift exchange, and I wanted a cute bracelet, with journalism charms. I even took him to the jewelry store and pointed out the charms I wanted, and he still got me climbing gear. I roll my eyes as I stand up. Mark is right beside me and I gaze at him for a moment. He's the same and yet, so different. I know it applies to me as well. He's practically moved in with me, although he still has some stuff on his house, but he never sleeps there. I guess we're so used to being together that we haven't really thought much about officially moving in, it just happened.

While I step inside the kitchen, I have to move the climbing gear to the side because it's in the middle of the room. I set up the coffee machine and start preparing breakfast because I know Mark will be up I no time and he's wanted to go climbing for a couple of weeks now, so he'll probably want to miss breakfast or something. Or worse. Have it on top of the mountain.

When the coffee is gurgling, I start the music. "All the single ladies" start to play and I smile. I've been listening to the same song over and over again, hoping that he gets the hint. As I pour coffee in my mug, I think things through.

Why do I have to wait for him to get engaged? These are modern times, I can ask him to marry me as well, right? And I can choose my own ring, too.

My mind is all set when he steps inside the kitchen. A lazy smile plays on his lips as he approaches me. "Hey, beautiful," his tone is raspy and I can't help but smile at him, too. He wraps his arms around me and kisses the tip of my nose. "Are you ready to go?"

"I was thinking we could get breakfast before, Mark."

He shakes his head. "No, it's a long drive and we need to get moving, cabbage. Otherwise, I'll never hear the end of it as you climb with the sun on your back." I make a face but he ignores it completely. "I'll set everything up while you go get ready," he takes the mug away from me and pushes me outside the kitchen, "Go, go, go."

Groaning, I make my way to the bathroom to change. He won't let me take a shower because I'll take longer. I wash my face and teeth and as I put away my toothbrush, I see the package of the pregnancy test I got the other day. I'm a week late but I'm too scared to take it. We talked it through and made a deal to take it next week if my period hasn't appeared yet.

I take a deep breath before walking out of the bathroom. Mark is already dressed up with his jacket on and everything. He's really excited to test everything. He didn't end up setting up a climbing place, but he found a team of designers and together they launched his new climbing gear line. Everything had launched last week, but he wanted to test it out in the real world.

"I've got everything ready, let's go!" He's too excited, even a bit hyper. I crease my brows as he gets the backpack and hangs it on his shoulder.

The drive isn't that long, especially because when I muster the courage to pop the question, we arrive at the mountains. It's breezy and kind of cold as I step out of the car, but I notice we're climbing a pretty basic wall. Since this is one of the things Mark loves most, we've been climbing a lot, and I'm getting better at it.

He's unloading the trunk when I turn to him. "Isn't this too easy?"

His eyes meet mine. "Yes, we're taking it easy today."

"Why?"

"Because we haven't done the test and I don't want to put you in any risk." My heart warms and I tear up before nodding. He leaves everything and comes to me. "I love you too much, Kate."

"No cabbage this time?" I ask as I lean into him and he wraps his arms around me.

"I can be romantic, you know?" he retorts, making me chuckle.

"I know."

He kisses me swiftly on the lips. "Let's go."

Pressing my lips, I let out a sigh. Let's go.

It is an easy climb, and he doesn't have to tell me what to do know, but he still insists on staying behind me just for precaution.

Right as I'm in the middle of the journey, Mark calls out my name. "Kate, is your harness in the right place?"

"What?" My left arm is stretched and I'm trying to grab an upper rock with my right hand.

"It's seems to be in an odd position."

I roll my eyes. "Mark, do you really want to check how the harness looks right now? We're almost finished, I'll make it to the top in five minutes, I swear."

"To be honest, I brought my camera to take a few snaps to show off on our website. Hold on, don't move, I'll climb higher to get a better angle."

Is he freaking kidding me?

As the expert he is, he moves around and ends up at the top. He takes out his camera and I can feel how my whole body is shaking. I know that it's not a big deal if I let go, but it's such an easy wall that I don't want to make him laugh at me for the rest of the day. I hear the camera clicking as he adds, "Let me place one of the new ropes we designed, it matches the color of your shirt."

I love him. I really do, and I know how much this means to him and how excited he's been about creating all this gear, but I'm about to scream my heart out when a pink rope lands in front of my eyes.

"Can you hold it please?"

"So I let go?"

"Yes, you're fine, I got you."

I let go and grab the stupid rope. With blazing eyes, I look up at him as he places something on the rope and it slides to me. I stare at it for a moment before gazing at him.

"I owed you a ring," he says with a stupid smirk on his face. He starts to climb down to reach to me. I'm smiling like an idiot as he grabs the ring and puts it on. "This," he signals at the view behind us, "this is how it feels to be in love with you, Kate. Like I'm flying, the adrenaline is pumping and you know you can fall off and get hurt, but getting to the top is the sweetest reward. You're my top, and there's no one I'd like to share this journey with."

My vision blurs as I grab him by the collar of his shirt to pull him to me. "You're so corny, pickle."

"Yeah, and I'm not that idiot, Kate. I got the reference the first time you played that Beyonce song, which by the way, you can stop playing now."

"Well, should I remind you about my Christmas present?"

Mark rolls his eyes. "You'll never let that go, aren't you?"

"No," I chuckle as his lips curve up.

He cups my chin with his hand and his eyes are intense as he gazes at me. "And no matter what that test says, we're in this together, okay?" My chest feels tights as I nod. "I love you, no matter what. Even if you drive me crazy!"

"Hey!"

He bursts out laughing before kissing me.

And I feel as if I'm literally flying on cloud nine. 

It's the evening. We've told my family and Kate's Mom that we're officially engaged and the news will be announced tomorrow, and everything will become fuzzy with the interviews, pictures, and all that jazz that comes from being a prince. I grab the pregnancy test and step outside the bathroom. "Kate?" I raise the box. "Why don't you do it now, before our lives get too hectic?"

She stares at the box with fear and I know how she feels. I'm fucking scared too. Last time we talked about pregnancy, she was really upset about it.

"Okay," the words stumble out of her lips and a faint smile crosses her lips as she stands up.

"We're in this together, love." I kiss her before she grabs the box and enters the bathroom.

It takes her five minutes to come out. I know because I'm a mess, and I had to check my phone's clock because it felt like an eternity. She comes out looking as uncertain as I feel. We set up the timer and neither of us says nothing as the timer ticks. When the alarm sounds, Kate lets go of my hand and stands up. I follow after her and grab her hand.

She smiles at me before swallowing hard. "I love you, Mark."

I kiss her softly and we make our way to the bathroom.

We both stare at the result in awe.

"Well, shit." I don't know what to say.

There's a swirl of emotions going through me. From excitement to horror at the same time.

She's smiling as she turns to me. "This can be a mistake, you know?"

"We'll make an appointment with the doctor tomorrow just to be sure," I grab her in my arms and cradle her belly. "How do you feel about getting married with a beautiful belly?"

She laughs at me. "Your grandmother will hate me."

I shrug. "I've never been one to follow rules, have I?"

Kate shakes her head. "Oh my God, we're going to be parents."

For a moment, I forget how to breathe. "What if I screw this up?"

She gazes at me and her eyes are sparkling, her cheeks are blushed and even though she's in her pj's and her hair is all over the place, she has never looked this beautiful before. 

"Then, we'll learn from it and we'll fix it. Together."

She's right. 

We'll tackle it, just as we've managed to get were we are right now, because when you've found the love of your life, you can conquer the world no matter what. 

Well, this is it, guys. 

Writing this story was a personal challenge because I wrote it for you and it was really hard. HAHA. I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry if it feels rushed in, I don't think I can add more to it for the time being. I need to move on to new projects, and well edits and such. 

But again, thank you so much for all your support, and hopefully, I'll see you around in another story.