I'm lying in bed and I feel something soft caress the side of my face and get the smell of roses beneath my nose before I recognize the softness of petals against my lips. I awake and open my eyes to see Alex sitting next to me on the bed and he's holding one perfect pink rose.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Cat!" he says, smiling down at me.

I push myself up in bed and take the rose from him and breathe in its scent once more. "Thank you! It's so pretty."

"I know it sucks that we have classes today, which unfortunately means we are going to spend most of today apart, but I want you to start your day off right," Alex tells me.

I smile. "Well, the rose is nice," I say, "but if you're really interested in starting my day off right then what I really, really want is this..." I put my hands around his neck and pull him towards me in order to kiss his lips.

After a minute or two, he pulls away, wearing a sexy grin. "Your ideas are always better than mine." And I giggle.

"I wish we had time for more, but if we plan to get to class this morning on schedule, we got to get a move on things," Alex informs me.

I make a pouty face and he laughs. "What would you like to do tonight?"

I raise my eyebrows at him, along with a suggestive grin. "Besides that," Alex says, shakes his head at me. "I didn't want to make reservations for us to go out to eat in case you preferred to make something here."

"Well, I'd love to make all your favorite foods for you today but if you'd rather go out we can."

"Turning down your cooking for an overcrowded restaurant where we probably won't be able to hear each other talk to one another on Valentine's Day does not sound like a very logical choice."

"Well, then why did you ask?" I wonder.

"I didn't just want to assume your plan was to cook. You may have wanted the day off, in which case, I'd be happy to oblige, but if you're making the offer..." Alex says with a grin.

"Okay, then eating here is our plan."

"Alright but I already made us breakfast." And I frown at him, "Sorry, I wanted to surprise you and I wanted to give you the chance to sleep in."

"What time is it?"

"We have about an hour before class starts," Alex informs me.

"Wow, I really have slept in late," I say with surprise, as I am usually the early riser out of the two of us.

"Well, I feel a little guilty as I haven't been letting you get a lot of sleep lately."

"Do you hear me complaining?" I ask, and he smiles and shakes his head no.

"Well then, don't worry about it."

"I know, but you're growing a baby. You need your rest." The guilt clearly showing on his face.

"I'm fine. In fact, the way you make me feel, I can't imagine trading a second of our time together." Alex kisses me again, and I sigh happily. "See, you are so much better for my mental health than sleep," I say, giving him a huge smile.

Alex laughs. "Come on." He stands up and holding out his hand to help me up. "Get dressed and meet me out there," he says, nodding his head towards the living room.

"Okay." He disappears through the door. I don't linger today. I quickly dress so that I can join him. When I open the door, I see an arrangement of beautiful flowers that he obviously took the rose from sitting on the coffee table, along with a card for me.

"They're gorgeous!" I exclaim and he looks up from where he's cooking some bacon and smiles. I add my pink rose back to the bouquet.

"So are you," he tells me.

"May I?" I ask, holding up the card.

"Absolutely." Alex doles out the bacon onto our plates, and I grab the card and join him.

I take my seat and I notice he drew a perfect rose on the front of the card along with my name, and I smile inwardly wondering how did I ever find this man, and I hope, I may always continue to deserve him.

I open it and it has a beautiful intricate heart on the cover and the inside was blank but he took the time to write something on his own. Tears fill my eyes as I read...

Your Love shines on me

Warming my heart

Nourishing me.

You are my Sun.

Your Love lights my darkness

Giving me comfort

Until morning

You are my Moon

Your Love amazes me

With its endlessness

Guiding me to safety.

You are my Stars

You and me

Me and You

We.

However, you put it just sounds right.

Happy Valentine's Day, Cat!

I Love You! — Alex

He joins me at the counter and takes a seat. "You like it?"

I hug the card to my chest. "I love it! I love you!" Alex leans over so I can kiss him.

"Let's eat before it gets cold," he encourages, and we enjoy our breakfast together and finish cleaning up. I then grab my card for him.

"For me?" he says, sheepishly.

"No, it's for that other guy, I've been making love to."

Alex pretends to look angry. "Tell his name! He's going down!" He tries to look tough but is so not pulling it off. I laugh at his silliness. "Just open it, will you?"

He tears it open and pulls it out of the envelope. On the outside it says, "I'm, holding you personally responsible." And when you open it and the saying goes, "For this smile, I keep wearing on my face." And Alex laughs.

"I'm sorry, it's not as romantic as yours. I guess I need more practice doing all this kind of stuff," I say, feeling bad.

"It's perfect," he tells me. "I love knowing I'm responsible for that smile I love so much."

"Did you want your present too?" I ask, suddenly excited again, as I know I did well this time.

"Let's save them for tonight?" Alex suggests, and I look at him with surprise.

"You mean the flowers aren't my present?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"Well, they are part of your gift but I have a special surprise I'd like to save for this evening."

"Okay," I say hesitantly, now secretly wondering if what I've chosen to do is enough.

"Ready to get to class?" Alex asks, and I shake my head yes and grab my coat and bag.

We are on the bus together, and he's holding my hand. "I'm sorry. I'm not more romantic," I state, feeling disappointed with myself. He looks over at me like I just said something completely absurd.

"What are you talking about? You're one of the most romantic people I know. Okay, your romance muscles may need some flexing, like your stance on that whole, no-fuss birthday thing. But you've been without that kind of attention for a long time now. However, that's no reason to think you're bad at it. God, Cat! I think every day how lucky I am to be blessed to have you in my life. You've brought me so much love, I worry I can't possibly give you enough back."

"Really? Because I don't feel like I show you enough how much you mean to me and how much I appreciate all that you've done and continue to do for me daily. You've made my life so much better just by being in it. I feel I can't possibly express enough how much I love you."

"I think you just did," he teases and I stop and realize he's right and I laugh. "I guess so." He squeezes my hand as we've come to our stop.

He walks me to my first class and gives me a reluctant kiss goodbye. "See you after classes?" he says, smiling down at me.

"Can't come soon enough," I tell him, and I truly mean it.

It was great seeing William and Olivia and with the amount of work that our teachers piled on, time flew by pretty fast, but the best part of my day is getting home and seeing Alex.

Upon entering the apartment, I ran over to him and Alex catches me in his arms. "About time you got here." He sweeps me off my feet and swings me around. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too. Today way more than usual because I just couldn't stop thinking of you all day," I say, giving him a quick kiss.

"Good to know I wasn't the only one being tortured," Alex states, kissing me back.

"You know, I already prepped the lasagna yesterday, so I'd only have to put it in the oven to cook, but since it's not quite dinner time ... yet." I pull him by his shirt towards the bedroom.

"You're insatiable, aren't you?" Alex is grinning, but I notice he doesn't stop me from pulling him into the bedroom. We get inside and I push him down on the bed and he is sitting there looking at me, waiting for whatever comes next, and I hand him a box.

"For you I say," And I hurry away from him, grabbing a bag from the closet. As I head for the bathroom, he asks confused, "Wait, don't you want to see me open it?"

"Nope. Just open it," I say and disappear behind the bathroom door. I wait a few seconds with my ear pressed against the door, and when I hear him laugh, I nod and quickly undress and redress in another special surprise. I take only a second to admire the outfit and send a silent thank you to Olivia for making me buy it. I open the bathroom door and strike a pose.

Alex looks over at me and lets out a slow whistle.

"Wow! Cat that outfit is... you look amazing!" I can see immediately the appreciation and desire in his eyes and I savor it. I wait for a second longer, allowing him fully to appreciate what he sees, before walking slowly towards him.

He stands up and smirks at me. "So what do you think?" He's wearing nothing but the black silk boxers covered in red Kissy lips. I bite my lower lip and smile before I reach for him. I get in front of him and run my hands over the smooth, silky fabric. "I like them. They look good on you."

"Yeah?" Alex asks, looking down at me. "My girlfriend bought them for me for Valentine's Day."

"How thoughtful of her," I tease. "I thought to buy you this," I taunt, running a finger up along the plunging V down the front of the deep red baby doll negligee. I draw his eyes to my movements and he takes his own hand and retraces my path. "Hard to say which I like better?" he confesses.

"Why is that?" I inquire, stepping closer to him.

"Because I can't decide which I'm going to enjoy more. Making love to you while leaving this on," he says now tracing down the other side of the V "or what I know you're going to do to me before these come off." Alex runs a finger along the waistband of his boxers. His movement draws my attention directly to where he wanted, and he laughs when I blush.

I take another step closer to him. "I know one thing, for certain," I tell him, leaving not even an inch between us. "We're going to have fun figuring it out."

He is grinning at me seductively. "Oh, that we will, Cat. I guarantee it." He pulls me in and captures my mouth and we both drown in the sensation, neither of us planning on resurfacing any time soon.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Alex holds me from behind as we lay together in bed, and he kisses my shoulder. "Is it bad that I don't want to get out of this bed?"

"No, because neither do I, but I really should get dinner started, if we are planning on eating something tonight." I sigh and roll over in his arms.

We are practically nose-to-nose, and then Alex kisses me and I laugh against his lips. "You're not going to make this easy are you?"

"Nope, but in all fairness. You started it!" He accuses while running his hand over my bare hip and up under my negligee.

Alex allows his hand to drift over my belly that has started to push out just slightly over these last two weeks and just lets his hand rest there and I feel the slightest flutter, almost like butterflies in my stomach but I have no reason to feel nervous.

Alex moves his hand away and I gasp as the flutters stop.

"What is it?" Alex asks, suddenly alarmed.

I can't believe I'm feeling what I think I'm feeling, but I lie back and put my hand on my belly. I felt nothing now, and I frown in disappointment.

"Are you feeling okay, Cat?" Alex asks, resting his hand on my stomach again. Worry creasing his brow. And there it was again. I gasp for the second time, and Alex pulls his hand away and sits up. "Does it hurt when I touch you?" 

"No!" I say and grab his hand, placing it back where I felt the flutter and Alex is looking at me with confusion mixed with anxiety. I feel first the warmth of Alex's hand, his whole body runs so much hotter than mine, and then there it was again, the flutter, there's just no mistaking it for something else.

"I felt the baby move!" I exclaim in awe.

"I don't feel anything," Alex says. His disappointment is obvious.

"You wouldn't. Not on the outside, but I swear the baby is responding to your touch or the warmth of your hand. I feel it each time you touch me."

"Really?" Alex is no longer looking worried but instead, looks amazed at what I'm telling him.

"I wasn't sure at first but then you did it again and I felt something similar."

We're both laughing and are so excited. "Oh, I can't wait to see you, little one," Alex says, stroking my stomach and it's at this moment I realize Alex is really all in, body and soul. I cover his hand with mine and smile. He doesn't just want me to be a part of his life. He wants us both.

"Do you still feel the baby moving?" Alex asks.

I shake my head no, but I don't let his hand go. "I think this baby really wants to see you, too," I say my heart swells as I look into his eyes. "You really love this baby, don't you?"

Alex, for a second he seems to overcome with emotion to talk. I watch the love and devotion clearly play across his features, and then he smiles. "Yeah, I really do. I know it must seem crazy, Cat. I haven't seen the baby... well on the outside anyway. I know it's not mine, the baby is yours and Liam's but since I first saw that little peanut on the monitor and heard that heartbeat I've been bewitched."

"Of course, being hopelessly in love with his or her mother helps too," Alex teases, and I smile. My heart wants to burst. "I love you both, so much!" he declares.

I let go of his hand, roll over and grab a small box I hid under the bed, and hand it to him. "Happy Valentine's Day!" I say.

"You mean the boxers and that nightie aren't my presents?"

"No, they were just for fun," I tell him. He grins and says, "They were definitely, that."

"Go on. Open it."

He opens the box to reveal a gold dog tag and chain. He picks it up and looks at it. One side is photoengraved with the picture he drew of me as a Manga character. "Wow, Cat. This is amazing. How did you...?"

"I used the photo I took of the picture before we dropped it off to be framed. Turn it over," I tell him."

He does, and he sees they etched it with the words, "I love you, more!" He's speechless for a second or two, then immediately puts the chain around his neck.

"I thought this way, I have a way to be with you, even on the rare occasions that we are apart," I tell him, and he leans over to kiss me.

"Thank you! And you say you're bad at being romantic." He looks down at the tag and holds onto it with his closed fist. "You're an amazing woman, Cat."

Even after all this time, there are ways he looks at me that make me feel shy. There's just so much love in that look, that smile, that I pray I'm worthy of it all.

"Okay, I planned to wait after dinner to give this to you but now seems like the perfect time." He gets out of bed and slips his boxers back on, and travels over to the closet, and pulls down a sizable box. I can't help but wonder what could be in it.

I open it up and I find the most adorable stuffed cat, dressed as a baby, complete with a diaper, bib, little mittens, and booties on. It's so adorable.

"Aww! " I say and immediately hug it, and then I hear the most wonderful sound in the world. My baby's heartbeat!

"Oh, Alex! How did you...?!"

"I went to one of those places that you build your own stuffed toy and they have these buttons that allow you to record a message or whatever you want on them. So I used the latest recording of the baby's heartbeat and they placed it inside."

"Oh my God!" I say hugging the cat again and hearing the heartbeat beat, its beautiful rhythm.

"I chose a cat for the obvious reason, that I hope the baby is just like you. Each toy comes with a birth certificate," he tells me and hands it to me and I laugh when I see the cat's name is just Baby, but then I see in parenthesis (Ale-Cat) and giggle even harder.

"Perfect," I say, "Simply perfect."

Alex just can't stop smiling at me and he says, "There is one more thing in the box, Cat."

I reach in and pull out an obvious ring box. I swear my heart stops beating in that instant. I look at his eyes and he just says, "Go on, open it!"

I do, and I see the most beautiful diamond ring inside. "Oh!" is all I get out.

"I love you, Cat! I love this baby! Please, say you'll marry me so together we can be the family you and I always dreamed of."

My hand comes to my lips as a sob escapes before I say, "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Oh God, YES!" I proclaim, and he takes the box from my hand.

"May I?" he asks, beaming. His beautiful smile lights up my heart.

I shake my head in agreement and hold out my hand as he slips the ring on my finger.

"It fits perfectly. How did you know what size ring to get?"

"I sized up your hand when you burnt yourself with the butter that day. I could compare your finger size to my own."

"You've known since then that you wanted to ask me to marry you?"

"I've known much longer than that, Cat. But that night was the first night you and I made love and there was no more wondering or questioning. There wasn't a doubt in my mind, that here with you is where I belong. I'm so grateful that you'll have me."

"I love you, Alex! More than any words I can find to express. None of them feel adequate enough to say how much you mean to me. You've made my dream come true," I say, throwing my arms around his neck. He crushes me in his embrace. "I will love now, always, and forever."

"Is that a promise," he whispers in my ear.

"No," I whisper back. "That's a guarantee."

As we continue to embrace, I look over his shoulder at the ring on my finger. There lay in all its perfection a symbol of love, of hope, of new beginnings, and a promise that I will now and forevermore have someone whom I love to watch over me.