.................."Here try this." He said, handing her the warm french bread spread with warm creamy cheese.  Then he started making himself a slice.

She did, only to add a sigh of pleasure afterwards and wipe the corner of her mouth to ask "I wonder if this is available to take home.  Or maybe in a store or something?"

He had found a small restaurant and they had settled on ordering different entrées, just to have a variety of tastes, instead of settling for one main dish.  At the moment they were eating different breads and spreads and enjoying a couple of iced teas to wash it down.
 

"You know," she joked as they continued to eat and feed one another "You might have to roll me out of here if I eat anymore.  I'm starting to feel stuffed."

"We'll roll together," he assured her.  "And entertain the tourists at the same time.  Who knows they could start giving us money."

This time it was Taylor's turn to laugh and she ended up laughing so much that tears were in her eyes and she was holding her stomach with one hand.

Christian grinned at her before taking another bite of the dessert.  "However, perhaps if we go for a walk on the beach we'll be ready for dinner?"

Her laughter gentled and then she smiled, liking that idea "How about we leave the car here and walk over to the market to look at baby things?"

It was close enough, unless he had changed his mind about wanting to work on the room and just wanted to take it easy for the rest of the day...?

"That sounds like a plan." Christian agreed.

Taylor gazed at him before lowering her eyes and taking another bite of the desert, feeling her cheeks warming.

At this rate, she thought with mild humor and some embarrassment, she was going to look like she had a constant sunburn or something.

Christian chuckled softly and shook his head slightly, reaching out to pat her hand reassuringly.  "What do you want to look for?"

She looked at him and turned her hand over so that it was sitting against the palm of his hand "Just things for her room.. and things she'll need."

"Do you have a theme in mind," he asked curiously as he laced his fingers with hers.

"Noah's Arc with all the little animals." she admitted, grinning sheepishly.  In a way it represented them.  New life with a promise, and it matched the things Christian had already picked out for the baby.  And the theme Taylor had in mind had rainbows and baby animals.

"That's sounds great," Christian told her.  "But let's make sure to get unicorns as well as other animals.  I have always hated that Irish song about Noah leaving the unicorns behind, because they were too busy playing."

He'd never admitted that to anyone before, but that stupid some make him cry the first time he heard it and he'd hated it ever since.

The desert was pretty much finished and she put her spoon down, nodding in agreement and smiled "I like unicorns too."

"In China they are a symbol of wisdome and luck," he told her.

"Everyone could use that."

The waiter came by and picked up their empty dishes and Taylor watched until he was gone, turning back to look at Christian.  It was time for them to go but she didn't want to let go of his hand or give up the new closeness they had found during lunch.  And the thing of it was, she did feel like they had found out little somethings about the other person that no one else knew, and it felt good.

Christian put the money for the bill and tip on the table and stood, still holding Taylor's hand.  He kept it as they walked out of the restaurant and headed towards the market.

They neared the market square and the sounds of other shoppers, children and market noises filled the air.  Taylor breathed in the clean air and scents around them and pointed out different things that caught her eye, enjoying their closeness and easy comraderee.  A small group of children nearby were running around in circles, holding sticks with ribbons tied on to the ends and making moving rainbows.  Taylor watched this and after a moment, set her cheek against Christian's shoulder, invisioning a little girl running with her own stick and laughing at the swirls it made.

"They're pretty cute." Christian said, watching the kids.  Though he could tell some of the shoppers were finding them annoying.

Taylor nodded in agreement before spotting a nearby store that had baby items in the window.  So, waving at some of the children that were waving their sticks and hands in greeting to them, she motioned toward it and raised her eyebrows curiously, to see whether he wanted to go in or not.

They ended up spending the next hour and a half shopping, exiting the store with some of the items and the others being delivered by the store and meeting them back home.

"Noah's Arc and Unicorns are going to be adorable." Taylor said, looking at the trim they had both picked out for the baby's room and the small stuffed animals they each carried  "But I am curious."

They were outside again and headed toward their car, hand in hand and Taylor squeezing his hand and looking at him curiously.

"What about?" Christian asked, returning her gaze and smiling.

She had noticed the information he had written on the delivery tickets and, until then, hadn't even thought about what her new name would be.  But when she had seen the matching last names...

"Who.. well who decided our names? Our last name?" she asked, seriously doubting he would have had them being siblings after their introduction to the shop keeper at the baby store.

"I did." Christian told her honestly.

She stopped and waited for him to turn to her before tucking stray hair that was being gently blown into her face from the breeze back behind her ear and meeting his gaze and smiling and lacing her fingers in his hand with her own.  Her tone was teasing only to spare him any embarrisment he might have with the question and to let him know, with her gaze and physical contact that the idea was more than okay with her "One more question and then I'll stop being such a busy body.  I take it we're not siblings with the same last name so....."

Were they married?

"We're married." he finished.

Taylor tilted her head to the side, thoughtful, and then started walking with him again.

"I realize this isan't the usual way to find that sort of thing out," Christian admitted "I hope you don't mind."

The fact was he held out hope that she would want to be married to him.

She raised their joined hands to her lips and kissed his, answering simply "I don't mind at all."

Christian suddenly began to grin from ear to ear.  He just was not able to help it.

"Me either." he admitted.

"Good." she grinned back at him before turning backwards so that she was facing him, letting him guide her as they walked "Now, what color do you think the walls should be in our little girl's room?"

"Yellow," Christian responded, "or a very very pale pink.  Very pale."

"Reeeally pale yellow," Taylor agreed "Look better with the rainbow and unicorns, don't you think?"

They continued to talk about decorating the baby's room as they reached the car and even until they got to the house.  Something new had happened between them, had managed to draw them emotionally closer together aside from the obvious happenings that had occured up until now.  There was also a new.... promise of something to come that they were both feeling.  Hands brushed against hands, the glances they shared....
 
 

Half an hour later and the delivery trucks actually having beat them to the house by a couple of minutes, they arrived and had the material in the baby's room and ready to use.

Taylor took a scarf from her pocket and tied her hair back and then looked at Christian "You better get something you don't mind getting messed up on."

Christian chuckled and vanished for a few moments, returning in jeans and a t-shirt.  "I guess I'm ready.  Hopefully, this doesn't require much artistic talent."

And while he was gone, she had already opened up a can of paint and had some poured into a flat tin.  When he re-entered the room she handed him a roller and grinned "This is the easy part."

Christian raised an eyebrow at her.  "What's the hard part?"

"Hmm," Taylor replied mock seriously "Me during the last few months and mood swings?"

She started on the main wall and started to paint the white wall with it's new pale yellow color until she met him in the middle mark, then she went to the next wall.

"How do you know you are gong to be so hard to deal with?" Christian asked finally, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Actually, I don't." She admitted as she stopped "But we're first time parents and you have to admit that our relationship is definitely unique."

"That it is." Christian agreed as he ran the roller down the wall.

Taylor couldn't believe she was actually verbalizing it but wanted him to know so badly that her initial shyness about discussing it was overlooked and all but forgotten "And I know how I feel about you.  To the point I didn't even think twice about carrying your baby.  I care for her too but both facts were my only reason for doing it."

She put the roller down and looked at the wall she was painting, head tilted to the side "And I know you care about me. I just..."

How could she explain it?

Christian put down his own roller and turned to face her, gently turning her towards him.  "Just what?"

She looked at him for a long moment before offering him a wry crooked grin as she put everything that had been happening since they had first learned about the pregnancy, Gwen, the Organization and.. about each other "I just wish I knew how else to show you that I've made my decision and you don't have to tip toe around me thinking I might change my mind or that I need time or something..."

"It isn't that exactly.  I mean it is, but it isn't."  he shifted his feet slightly.  "I'm not worried about you changing your mind.  I-I well, it's
just that when I was growing up.....things were a lot different.  I feel more strongly for you than I ever had anyone in my life.  I guess...I guess I'm just still saddled with ways of doing things that are a bit....old fashioned."

She used her empty hand to reach out and raise his gaze to meet hers "You're not saddled, Christian but honey... be honest.  What about our relationship is old fashioned?"

Taylor chuckled, running the pad of her thumb against his cheek as she related their relationship in its basic context "We work together for a while, you suddenly get a woman pregnant with your child the very first day I get even a hint of a date from you, we kind of break up before we even get together because I thought you were concentrating on a relationship with Gwen, I'm carrying your child now and had my first ever passionate-curl my toes kiss from you.  I think we're a class all our own in relationships, don't you?"

"Yes." Christian agreed.

"I didn't get her pregnant." he added correcting her gently.  The fact, he hadn't really been with anyone in a long time.  His values combined with sheer nervousness were what had kept him from advancing things with Taylor any sooner.  But was one supposed to go about telling a woman something like that?

"I know." she admitted, setting the roller stick against a piece of furniture and the slipping both of her arms about his waist "I meant
literally got a pregnant woman on your doorstep kind of got a woman pregnant.  Tell you what, just hold me and we'll call it even -- ummm, for now anyway."

Christian slipped his own arms around her and smiled a bit sheepishly at her.  It felt wonderful to hold her.

"I'm afraid my courtship skills are a bit rusty," he apologized, finally finding a way to put some of what he had been feeling into words.

"Oh, I don't know." She said, enjoying just this simple contact "This feels pretty good to me."

"To me too." Christian agreed.

"How about, for nap time," she suggested "we use that hammock in back?"

Christian had never really been one for taking naps, unless he wasn't feeling well.

However, the prospect of napping with Taylor in a hammock had merit.

"Absolutely," he agreed "When might that be?"

"After," she moved to pick up the roller but staying within his arms "We finish the walls.  They can dry while we're outside."

"Aw." Christian said, a bit reluctant to let her go.

However, after a moment longer he did manage it.  He retrieved his own roller and began to smooth paint on the walls again.

"I suppose we'd better get working then." he said as he did this.

Taylor chuckled but knew it was better on them fume-wise, to paint and let it dry without them being in there.  She peeked over at him painting and tried to fight down the sudden urge she had - ended up chuckling at the mental image she conjured to that urge.

Christian looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.  "Is it uneven or something?"

She looked at his work and shook her head, fighting a grin "Nope, perfect."

"Then what's funny." he asked curiously.

She looked at her roller, then back at him before blinking her blue eyes mock innocently and answering "Oh, nothin."

Christian frowned and looked at his wall critically again.  He wasn't sure he believed that.  "Are you sure?"

She looked again and then at him before lightly bringing her roller and dabbing his chin with a smear of pale yellow paint and grinned "I'm positive."

"So, you want me yellow too?  You know that's usually called jaundice don't you?"

"You look good in yellow." she teased "And our daughter's room is not jaundiced.  I can clean that for you if you'd like?"

"Please." he replied, stepping up to her and draping his arms loosely about her as she found a cleaning rag and cleaned off his chin, both grinning crookedly at the other.

The walls were done, so it was time to leave the room to let them dry.

"I vote," Taylor said, kissing the tip of his chin as she lightly tossed the rag onto a small pile of newspapers nearby "to get out while the walls dry.  What say you, handsome-who-now-has-a-clean-chin?"

"Well, lovely lady with a spec on her nose," Christian responded, "I say yes, let's go."

Taylor blinked and wiped at her nose, wondering if she had gotten the spot before setting the roller down on some plastic and looping her arm through his.

"And I offered to clean your smudge." she mocked accused him with a crooked grin.

"True, but it looked so cute on your nose," Christian told her.  "And I wasn't responsible for putting it there," he added.

She wrinkled her nose in an expression of humorous doubt, never having been one to think her nose was cute "If you say so.. but is it gone? The spot, not my nose."

"Oh that," Christian replied, "yes it's gone."

"You don't have to take a nap, if you don't want to." Taylor offered, realizing he probably wasn't in the habit of doing it.  Normally, she wasn't either but carrying the baby had made it a requirement, even at this stage of the pregnancy, and knew it was because of the uniqueness of the child and herself but that it was also normal.  Although there was no precedent for it, it just felt right, and so she had gone with it.

"I think a nap with you in the hammock sounds lovely." Christian told her and it was true.

She smiled at that and laid her head on his shoulder as they walked out into the sunlight and then to the palm trees the hammock was hanging.

When they reached the hammock, Christian climbed in first and stretched out, steadying the hammock so Taylor could climb in easily.

Which she did, settling in beside him and laying her head back on his shoulder and.... liking the position a great deal.

Oh boy, she thought to herself, settling her hand gently against his chest and slowly stroking the fabric and skin there with her fingers, nap? Yeaaaah, right.

Christian tightened his arm about Taylor holding her close to him.  He moved slightly to get the hammock to start swinging.

She moved her head so that she could look up at him and smiled, before putting her head back down and just enjoying the motion, the closeness and the slight breeze blowing off of the water and gently teasing them.

"I could get used to this." Christian admitted, also enjoying the experience.

"You mean I'm starting to resemble a pair of old shoes?" she asked, unable to keep the teasing from her tone or gaze as she looked back up at him.

Christian took a good look at her.  "I don't think that's possible."

She leaned forward and gave him a light kiss, then settled back into her original position.

Christian beamed, he knew that he could definitely get used to this.  He gently ran his hand over her hair and along the side of her face.

She turned just enough to kiss his palm when his hand was on her cheek, then she mirrored his action before ending with her hand over his heart and feeling the beating there.