027:

It was the following day. Ryan had overcome his irritation and decided to stick to his plans. He met Melia for lunch and then went with her to pick Hannah up from the downtown offices where Tracy was watching her.

Tracy was sitting in her sectional area, with Hannah laying on the couch and a handful of rattles at her disposal, as Hannah put first one and then the next in her mouth.... Teething.

Tracy looked up and Ryan was struck at how utterly breathtaking she always managed to look. Leaning over like that.... Hair falling forward just so.... Cheeks that tannish rose, eyebrows winged artfully... yeah, there was no mistaking Tracy McCaffrey Mann's appeal. Even in his anger and remorse with Melia and her news, he couldn't fail to make note of that fact. "I got a call from Cousin Stevie." Tracy said as if they were in the middle of a conversation already. "He says he needs to have dinner with you and Megan... and a couple of other people... I can't remember who, people you are planning to do a project with. Couldn't get a hold of you."

"My phone died."

Melia went right to her daughter and picked Hannah up to cuddle her close, kissing her fervently, whispering mommy things, as Ryan watched in annoyance. She sat down and prepared to nurse the squirming infant, and Ryan, unashamedly sat across from her next to Tracy and leaned back, spreading both arms along the back of the upholstery. He had to make the best of this situation, not let on how much his former hostility gripped him. He needed time to digest this development, time to think through his next move. Would there be a next move?

Melia blew out her breath as she settled in. "I don't eat dinner. Ask Ryan. Do I eat dinner?"

He managed to grin at her now, feeling included and flirty. "No, you never eat dinner, but you should." He shook a finger at her and then turned to Tracy. "I asked her to eat with me."

"I'm sure you did, you're a sensible young man, always have been." Tracy got up and stretched, grabbing her phone and departing for her apartment, leaving the door open. They could hear her discussing transportation arrangements for her plane to be made ready so she could fly home to Montana soon.

Melia shook her head. How her mother kept her schedule was a mystery to her. She woke every morning with her husband and children and did all the normal mommy things, at their home in Montana. But somewhere along the line throughout the day, she could be found anywhere in the western US, at ABCSC or Utah, at a studio in Nevada, or Hollywood or San Diego, and she managed to be home every night to tuck those same children into bed. She normally had a few with her as well.

Melia knew how she did it... she had a lot of help.

Help that Tracy rendered now as Hannah's grandmother as well. She managed to squeeze in grandma babysitting time too.

Melia's eyes had lost focus as her mind wandered over her mother's idiosyncrasies. Ryan watched her, allowing his inner emotions to run afoul and amuck. He'd come back, wondering if he could absolve himself of his own guilt by being closer to the source of it.....? But instead, he'd found himself watching Melia struggle through her own very legitimate guilt and suffering, her grief was palpable, to one as close to her as he had been.

Although at the time in England, he'd felt that she and Jared were strangers to him. Completely foreign. Well, he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment longer. This changed things, drastically. If he kept pursuing her, would that make him Uncle and father figure for two little girls for the rest of his life? If so, could he handle that? Was it what he wanted? Was it what Melia wanted? Did it matter?

For another second he felt the all consuming rage boil over inside himself and he had to look away. He wanted to hurt her, to make her pay for the pain he was suffering, no matter the cost, her own pain be damned. She'd ruined his life.

In that moment, he made a decision. Now he turned a quirky brow. "Hey." He said softly.

Her eyes focused on his. "Hm?"

"I was just thinking."

"Thinking is good. Was it about dinner again?"

"Maybe." He leaned forward. "You know... this might sound a little premature--- or not...."

"Dinner is never premature..."

"Dinner for the rest of our lives?" The words were no sooner out than Melia's eyes snapped up again, and she had started shaking her head.

He held up a hand. "Before you go getting your panties in a twist... hear me out."

Melia sucked her lips under and stared at him, her heart beating wildly. But she kept quiet.

Ryan looked at her and then away, a strange fantasy taking shape in his mind as he formulated his plan... "Okay, so here's how I see it. Number one: you're expecting and your little girls need a dad. You need to get married. Number two: you loved me, and I loved you and I know we are starting to feel those things for each other again. We have a history, sure, but we share even more. We share the most intimate moments of life. We can wait and see how it all plays out, perhaps waiting until your baby is born and growing. Or..." he took a deep breath, "Or we can take it for what it is, believing that once it was supposed to be this way."

She couldn't take her eyes off him. All she could see were his blue-gray eyes, sincere, hopeful. All she could hear was Jared's voice telling her it might be Ryan. It won't be Ryan, I don't think it's Ryan, she'd said, and he'd come right back quickly with, I wouldn't be opposed if it was.

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