It had been a week since Denny had stormed out of my house. I had watched him come and go from his house without even a glance in my directions. I had also ran into him a couple of times in the grocery store. We saw each other, didn't say a word, and then he would head down a different aisle.

I was sitting on my porch scribbling away in my drawing pad. I was tired of reading. Working at the small library for a few years now I felt like I had read everything that was on the shelves and there was only so many movies you could rent or watch on the T.V. So, I had decided to pick up drawing again.

I was rusty to say the least, but it wasn't terrible. I had started with something simple, just some flowers that were right off my porch. It was easy to draw because it didn't move like a human, animal, or vehicle. My hands were covered in dark pencil led, but I didn't care. It's not like I had anyone to impress.

I had been out on the porch for a few hours now. Earlier that morning I had watched as Denny pulled out of his driveway and made his way towards town. I had no clue what he had been up to, if he had been working or just laying low. It had been pretty quiet in the neighborhood lately which was good.

I looked down at the drawing in my hands. I wasn't too impressed with it as I closed the book and left in laying on the banister of the porch. I stood up and walked back into the house. I went straight to the kitchen to wash my hands before putting a sandwich together for lunch. I grabbed a bottle of water and walked back out to the porch.

I sat back down in my porch swing and propped my feet up on the other side before digging into my sandwich. The breeze was blowing gently and the birds were chirping around me. It was one of those days that it surprisingly wasn't raining. The sun wasn't out. It was hidden behind a cloud, but at least it wasn't raining.

I finished my sandwich and grabbed the blanket that was over my lap pulling it up to my shoulders. I leaned my head against the back of the swing and closed my eyes. It was so peaceful that I could take a nap out here. Our neighborhood was pretty safe, that's one of the reasons I bought my house here.

~~

I woke up quickly when I felt something cold hit me. I sat straight up and almost forgot I was laying on the swing. I grabbed the back of it for leverage and looked around. I don't remember falling asleep, but I was fine with it. I looked around trying to get my bearings about me when I blinked a couple times and noticed Denny's truck was parked back in his driveway.

I stood up and folded the blanket before walking back inside as the rain started coming down. I sighed as I walked inside. It seemed like we couldn't go a day without it raining. I walked back inside and picked up some things around the living room as I went. I walked into the kitchen and started putting some dishes away when my mind started wandering.

"Alright, this is it Emily. She's almost here," the doctor said who was sitting at the foot of the bed waiting to catch our bundle of joy. I groaned as I laid back in to Denny who was sitting behind me. He smoothed my hair back off my face and kissed my temple. "You're doing so well," he whispered to me.

I felt hot and sweaty but I didn't want to be out of Denny's arms. I needed to hear him, feel him. "You just have a couple more pushes, Emily," the doctor said. Denny offered me his hands which I latched on too. I squeezed hard and pushed harder trying to get all of this over with. I just wanted it to be over.

"7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, relax and breathe, Emily," the doctor said as I sat back in to Denny. He laid a washclothe across my forehead. It was cool and felt nice. "I love you so so much, just one more, darling and this will be all over," he said softly while running the washclothe across my forehead and cheeks trying to cool me off.

"It's so hard," I breathed. Denny kissed my temple a few times lightly. "I know, I know. I can't even begin to understand how much it hurts, but it's almost over, you're almost there," he said while resting his head in my hair. I grunted and sat back up determining myself to make this the last push.

"Take a deep breath in, Emily and then push for ten seconds. Ready?" the doctor asked. I nodded, but really I wasn't. I took a deep breath in and pushed as Denny counted down in my ear. "Here comes her shoulders!" the doctor said. I could feel the pressure and soon there was like instantly relief.

"It's a girl!" called out the doctor as I relaxed into Denny's chest. "It's a girl," Denny breathed but I could here the emotion in his voice. Our baby girl was practically plopped in my chest and it seemed like everyone else in the room didn't exist anymore. A nurse wiped her down trying to get all the gunk off of her.

"Do you guys have a name picked out?" the nurse asked. I looked over at my shoulder to Denny who was just staring lovingly at the baby. "Yeah, April, April Mae," he said softly as he gently raised a hand and rubbed it on her fuzzy head. He quickly wiped a tear from his eye before looking down at me.

"You're absolutely beautiful," he whispered. I chuckled softly. "Please, I'm a sweaty mess," I told him. He smiled. "But you just had my child. Sweaty or not, you're the mother of my children and that's beautiful to me," he said before bringing his hand up to my cheek and connecting my lips with his in a soft kiss.

A shattering sound brought me back to reality. I looked down at the busted coffee mug in the sink and the blood dripping from my hand. "Shit," I mumbled as I turned on the water to rinse my hand. I plucked the pieces of broke glass out of the sink and threw them away before tending to my hand.

The cut wasn't bad and I stopped it from bleeding pretty instantly. I dried my hands and grabbed a bandaid from under the sink and put it on the palm of my hand. The rain was still coming down, luckily you could still see outside. It was only sprinkling. The daydream of Denny was eating at me.

I was a woman, my stubborness told me that he needed to apologize first, but the kind-hearted side of me worried that if we didn't make up we may never get too. He has a bad heart, you never know what could happen. I slid on some shoes and made my way out the front door, slamming it behind me in a hurried daze.

The rain continued to come down as I made my way down my front porch steps. I walked out into the road not even paying attention to see if there was any oncoming traffic. I was watching my feet to make sure I didn't step in any puddles as I made my way across the street. My body collided with something solid.

I wouldn't fallen except strong arms came out and caught me. I looked up to see Denny. Rain had made his brown hair stick to his forehead and it was dripping in his eyes. "Denny," I breathed. He gave me a look of concern. "What are you doing out here? You could catch a cold," he said.

"Me?! What about you?!" I said. His arms stayed wrapped around me. "What are you doing, Emily?" he asked me. I could say the same thing so I did. "What are you doing, Denny?" I asked him. He grunted but a small smile played across his face as his arms left me and he grabbed my hand and started dragging me towards his house.

We made our way on the porch and out off the rain. Denny opened his front door and pulled me inside with him. I shut the door behind us and kicked off my shoes. Denny was on me instantly. A hard kiss brought me to my senses as I raised up on my tiptoes trying to bring us closer together.

Denny backed me into the door as my hands wound around his neck and his weent around my waist pulling me close to him. "Wait..wait, wait," I breathed as I pulled back trying to catch my breath. "Wait what? What's wrong?" he said as he looked at me confused as to why I had just stopped us from kissing.

"How about we talk first, and kiss later?" I asked him as I tried to push him back gently to give each of us from space. He groaned but grabbed my hand and walked us towards his bedroom. I didn't want to sit because my clothes were wet. It was like Denny had read my mind. He went to his closet and started digging around through it.

He pulled out two pairs of sweatpants and hoodies before handing me a set. He stepped into his bathroom without a word. I took that as my opportunity and pulled my shirt over my head. I took off my bra as well. I pulled Denny's hoodie over my head and then worked on my pants. Just as I was straightening myself up, Denny walked out of the bathroom.

I slowly sat down on the edge of his bed. He took a few steps and joined me. My head dropped to his shoulder and I sighed while closing my eyes. His arm came around my waist. Neither one of us said a word for what felt like forever. I buried my face in his neck and laid a soft gently kiss there. Denny swallowed deeply.

"I'm sorry," we both said at the same time. We both let out a laugh before breaking apart and facing each other. Denny reached out his hand and laid it gently on my knee. His thumb started rubbing gentle circles on it. His eyes never left his hand, like he was concentrating on it. "I was a dick," he said.

I couldn't help but laugh when he said that. "You were," I said. This time Denny chuckled. "I guess, I'm just not used to someone caring about me, the way you do. I'm used to getting pitty from people, but I'm not used to someone treating me like a human but then taking pitty on me depending on what happened to me. I wanted you to be different, to treat me differently," he said.

My hand came out and covered his. "Denny, you are human, and I do care about you, but I care about your safety too. Some things worry me, like when you over work yourself or you get worked up about something. I don't want you collapsing on me. You did it once even though I didn't see you in person and it scared me to death. I don't want to, I can't lose you, and if that means I seem over protective then so be it," I said.

Denny reached up a hand and touched my cheek gently. I looked up and my eyes connected with his. "I understand completely, look how about we start fresh. My name's Denny. I have a terrible heart and you make it beat like crazy," he said. I chuckled and leaned into his hand that was on my cheek.

"You make my heart beat like crazy too, Denny. I can't promise that I won't freak out if I feel like you're doing something you shouldn't be. Have you talked to your doctor recently? Is there anything else they can do to help?" I asked. Denny shook his head almost instantly, like he didn't even have to think about it.

"No, unfortunately it's just a waiting game. I've been number two on the list forever, about seven years. The only way to bump me to number one is if my health worsens," he said. I frowned, not liking the sound of that. They always say it gets worse before it gets better but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"So, what do we do?" I asked him. He leaned forward rested his forehead against mine. "We continue on like nothing is wrong, we wait, and hope that I don't have a heart attack, that my heart doesn't beat too fast, or that it doesn't stop beating altogether," he said. I frowned again still not liking the sounds of all of this.

"Okay," I whispered softly. Denny leaned forward some more and his lips connected with me. "You know though the doctor did say that I could engage in some physical activity that it would actually be good for me," he said. I chuckled catching on to what he meant. Denny gave me a big toothy grin before connecting his lips with mine and pulling me back on the bed with him.

I didn't want to get his heart racing too fast, but Denny didn't waste anytime pulling me under the covers with him. His lips never left mine as his cold hands reached under the his hoodie that I was wearing. I gasped and flinched slightly at the cool touch, but Denny quickly covered his mouth with mine again.

A big clap of thunder made us jump apart. We both looked at the curtain covered window as lightning lit up the sky through them. "Wow," Denny breathed as he kissed my neck lightly. Just as I turned and connected my lips with his again another rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning came.

The bedside lamp and the light in the bathroom shut off making the room completely dark. Denny and I pulled apart. I couldn't even make him out in the dark. Denny's hand stayed on my naked side and rubbed it gently. "Stay with me," he whispered. I could barely hear him over the wind and the rain, but nodded even though he couldn't see me.

I gently laid down beside him. He pulled me towards him and I laid my head on his chest listening to his heart beat. It was beating hard and loud but I could tell that it wasn't an even heart beat. I slowly traced my finger over the place where his heart would be as he played with my hair.

The storm continued outside, but here on the inside was a storm of its own. It wasn't going to be easy at all. Denny gave me a gently squeeze almost like he could hear my thoughts and he was telling me it was going to be okay. I tucked myself into his side and let the comfort of him being near me lull me into a sleep, knowing it was going to be the best sleep I had gotten in days.