Chris played his favorite moment from the day before in his head as Larissa slept on their flight to Turks and Caicos...
Watching Larissa walk down the aisle. The pride in her father's face as George and Larissa danced together. Their first official dance as husband and wife, which he had somehow talked Lars into letting them play the same Orleans tune, Dance With Me, as he had put on her mixed cd months before. Sneaking away from the crowd for awhile to listen to the waves crashing against the bluffs far below. Making love for hours when they got home. Everything about the night was absolutely perfect.
"What do you want to do first?" Chris asked as they finished settling into their home away from home for the next week. The little bungalow on the semi-private beach was even nicer in person.
"Walk out to the pier? It's too early for dinner and I know we just sat on a plane for hours, but I kind of just want to chill out for awhile."
Chris nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. Being forced to sit on a plane, in a car, or otherwise isn't exactly relaxing or restful."
"Not to mention you kept me up to un-Godly hours last night,"Larissa gave him a mischievous smirk as she headed towards the door.
"Oh, like you didn't enjoy it!" he called after her. "Oh,Chris! Oh, God! Don't stop!" he teased with a terrible impersonation.
"I do NOT sound like that!" she claimed, not turning around.
"Yah," he drew out. "Ya kinda do," Chris took several large steps to catch up to her. "Don't be embarrassed," he rubbed her shoulders. "It's hot," he whispered in her ear before nibbling lightly on it.
"There will be plenty of time for that this week," Larissa turned and playfully pushed him away.
"Promise?"
Larissa had kept her promise. They ended up having sex all over that bungalow that week. Not that they were gross and didn't clean up after themselves, but he pitied whoever had to clean the place when they left.
They made love in the bed. In the shower. On the couch. On the tiny kitchenette countertop next to the sink. They even made love outside on one of the lounge chairs late one night after they had both had a little too much to drink. It wasn't until they were about to make love on the fourth night of their stay that Larissa brought something up besides his libido.
"Chris, wait," she grabbed his arm as he was about to reach for a condom.
"What is it?" his brow furrowed.
"I..." she let out a sigh. "I didn't get my depo shot this month."
Chris paused. He felt like he should know what it was by the way she was saying it, but he had no clue what she was talking about at the moment. "You're what?"
"My birth control shot, ya dummy!"
"Ooohh...Well, I didn't know what it was called!"
Larissa waved her hand in the air. "It doesn't matter. Sorry. Anyway..." she paused again. "You don't have to wear a condom, if you don't want to," she spoke quieter, looking down at her hands on the bed, shrugging.
"Hey," Chris took her by the shoulders. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" he spoke tenderly.
"I didn't want to make things...weird. But I've been thinking about it the past few days."
"Why would it make things weird? Hell, I think we forgot to use any protection a few times already this week anyways," he tried to lighten the mood. Larissa lowered her eyes at him.
"You know why. You know what happened the last time we got careless. I hadn't planned on bringing it up this week, or even until after your press tour, for that matter. But like I said, it's been weighing on me."
Chris was speechless for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts.
"Sooo...Does you not getting your shot this month mean you're ready to try for real?"
Larissa nodded, looking back down at her hands.
"Baby," Chris made her meet his eyes. "It's ok. I don't know why you're acting so weird about it. We both decided to be careful until after the wedding and talk about it then, right? Well, it's after the wedding."
"I know, it just seems like a weird time to bring it up. I didn't mean to be a buzzkill."
'You're not," he lifted her chin again and kissed her.
"So what do you think?" Larissa grimaced slightly, waiting for his answer.
"I say...Why the hell not?" he smiled at her, brushing some errant strands of hair away from her face.
"Really?" she asked hopefully.
"Yah," Chris drew out. "I don't think I'm ever going to fully be prepared to be a dad. And you know what they say: No better time than now."
Larissa laughed. "Well get over here, then, and put a baby inside of me."
***
Chris was exhausted, in a good way, from their honeymoon. Even after getting eleven hours of sleep the night they returned home. Perhaps his dreams had kept him from sleeping more restfully. But what were they about?
He racked his brain trying to remember what it was he had dreamt about the night before as he listened to the water running in the shower behind the closed door. It was right on the tip of his brain...
"Let's go house hunting!" Chris announced as he flung open the door to the bathroom, eliciting a startled cry from Larissa.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she laughed. "What are you doing up, anyway? I thought you'd sleep for longer."
"It's 8 o'clock," he replied simply. More laughing from the shower stall.
"Exactly. I think I could count on my fingers how many times you've been up at this hour."
"Ha ha," Chris replied sarcastically. Seriously, though. What do you think?"
"I think I'm wondering what brought this up."
"Well, we can't live in a one-bedroom apartment with a baby. Plus we're married now. We need a proper house. I don't know. It just seems like a good idea."
"Ok, ok. We'll go house hunting."
"That's the spirit. It'll be fun."
