Chapter 130
Calliope’s POV-
The next morning I woke up wearing the same clothes as the day before and that’s when I realized I wasn’t in my room. I sat up and the room started spinning.
“Uh…” I groaned. Right hangover… “Jarvis is there coffee?”
“I believe there is a fresh pot in the kitchen miss.” Jarvis answered.
“Awesome.” I said I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen. There was way too much light coming in from all the windows making my headache worse.
“Morning sunshine.” Tony said.
“Coffee.” I said.
“Just a sec.” Tony said. I could hear the cabinets open and close. Then the mug was placed in front of me.
“Mh, thanks.” I said inhaling the aroma before trying it.
“So last night…” Tony started. The kiss… shit.
“Yeah Bruce is a giggly stoner. Good to know.” I said.
“I was talking about the…” Tony started.
“Tony nothing happened.” I said.
“Cal we…” He started.
“Tony nothing happened.” I said giving him a stern look.
“Are you…” Tony started.
“Morning.” I said as Bruce walked in.
“Uh my head.” Bruce whined.
“Coffee.” Tony said putting a mug in front of him.
“I’m too old to be doing this to myself.” Bruce groaned.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if you had just had two or three gummy bears…” I said.
“They were small.” Bruce winced as he drank his coffee. “At what time are we heading back today?”
“You know I was thinking we stay another day and or two and do some actual team bonding exercises. You know some trust falls, stuff like that.” Tony said.
“Tony we’re as close as three people can be…” Bruce started.
“The divorce is being publicly announced.” I said and Tony gave me a look. “We’re as close as three people can be.”
“Really well in that case…” Tony started and I gave him look to shut it. Just then one of our phones started ringing.
“It’s been going off for a while.” Bruce said. “I couldn’t find them though.”
I walked to the bookcase and reached behind the books. It wasn’t Bruce’s and while I did have a few messages from Nate and… my mother it’s wasn’t mine.
“It’s for you.” I said handing Tony his phone.
“Hands are busy.” Tony said pouring himself another cup of coffee.
“Tony Stark’s phone Callie speaking.” I said.
“About time one of you answered.” Pepper said.
“Miss Potts?” I said surprised. Tony’s eyes immediately widened and he shook his head.
“Where’s Tony?” Pepper asked.
“He’s a bit busy.” I said.
“Well can you have him call me back or better yet tell him I’ll see him at dinner.” Pepper said.
Tony shook his head and swiped his hand across his neck to signal me to axe that plan.
“Uh that might actually be a bit hard for him seeing as we’re not in New York…” I said and Tony gave me a thumbs up.
“WHAT!?” Pepper shouted. If I was getting yelled at Tony was too. I put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter. “Where are you?!”
“I’m not exactly sure, it’s an… island somewhere? Team building retreat.” I said.
“And you just went along with it?” She lectured. “How irresponsible can you be…”
“I….yeee… connn…QEEEEE.” I said before hanging up. “Your wife wants you to call her back.”
“Did you actually just…” Tony said trying to hold back his laughter.
“If I wanted to be yelled at I’d call my mother back. Also I should probably call Nate back.” I said.
“Are you ready to talk to him?” Bruce asked.
“It might be wedding related or you know him begging for forgiveness. Either way I’m going to have to talk to him eventually.” I said with a shrug before I dialed him.
“Hey.” Nate called.
“Hey.” I said.
“You went out of town?” Nate asked.
“Team Building Company retreat, the entire department’s here.” I said. “Got sprung on me at the last minute.”
“Oh…” He said staying quiet. “I just wanted to call you. I wanted your opinion on some of the place settings but the moms took care of it.”
“Okay.” I said grimacing. This was just plain awkward.
“Cal?” Nate said.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“You know I love you right?” He said.
“Love you too.” I said.
“I was thinking it might be time we start looking for a place, for the two of us.” Nate said.
“Uh it’s probably not a great time Nate. We’re in the middle of planning a wedding, you’re graduating and I’m swamped at work, you really want to add moving to the pile?” I asked giving Tony the signal to cut in and give me an out.
“You want us to keep living apart even after we’re married?” Nate asked getting frustrated already.
“Cal we’re about to get started!” Tony called out.
“Just a sec.” I answered. “Babe I’ve got to go were about…”
“Yeah sure go. I’ll see you when you get back.” He said before hanging up.
“That didn’t sound good.” Bruce said.
“He’s suggesting we get a new place.” I said.
“That’s it?” Tony asked.
“Uhuh.” I said. “You know a few days at the beach away from the city does sound nice.”
“You can’t run away from your problems.” Bruce said.
“We’re not running away this is a vacation.” Tony said.
“Spring Break.” I said.
“I forgot about spring break, well in that case, I’m telling Happy to pick up some beach clothes in town.” Tony said texting Happy. “Jarvis has all of our sizes.”
“And no phones for the rest of the time we’re here.” I said putting my back behind the bookcase. “Jarvis let me know if it’s urgent.”
Third Person’s POV-
“We are not calling it.” Tony said.
“Tony.” Bruce said.
“No, this is Hayley we’re talking about. She survived growing up with her brother, five years running away, getting kidnapped and tortured, getting shot and thrown off a cliff. She’s going to pull through.” Tony said.
“Tony it was a miracle she even lasted this long. She was clinically dead more than once, she hasn’t lost brain function yet but that’s not going to last forever.” Bruce said.
“You want to pull the plug?” Tony said incredulously.
“No but… if it’s what Hayley wanted then maybe we should respect her wishes.” Bruce said.
“Bruce you remember what Hayley was like at thirteen and at fifteen? At thirteen she was hopeless and suicidal. At fifteen she was living every day like it was her last because she was tired of fighting. Do you really think she was in the right headspace when she wrote that essay?” Tony said.
“No but even at the worst of times Hayley’s always been the most logical and level headed person we know. She didn’t argue on behalf of what she felt but considering those around her. Do you really think she’d be okay with the way things have been going around here the past year?” Bruce asked.
“We’re dealing with Hydra and almost losing our soulmate, how are we supposed to react?” Tony said getting angry.
“Tony, I don’t like this as much as you do and you know how it is for me, for the other guy to watch her in that bed. I don’t want to do this but it’s what Hayley wants after everything we owe it to her.” Bruce said.
“No, not happening.” Tony said walking away.
“Tony!” Bruce called after him.
Meanwhile…
Clint stood on the roof watching the world below him move.
“Thought I’d find you up here.” Natasha said.
“Wanted to be alone.” Clint said.
“Haven’t you had enough alone time lately?” Natasha said.
“Wasn’t alone… not the whole time anyway.” Clint said.
“You call her?” Natasha asked.
“It isn’t decided yet.” Clint said.
“Clint…” Natasha started.
“No Nat, Hayley’s still stable, she’s not getting any worse.” Clint said.
“But she isn’t getting better either.” Natasha said. “She’d want us to let her go and move forward. She said it every time things got bad.”
“Do you think she’d let us go if things were the other way around?” Clint said.
“She’d do what she thought we’d want.” Natasha said.
“When has Hayley ever done what we wanted her to do?!” Clint shouted.
“It’s been a year Clint. She died on the table and came back so many times I lost count.” Natasha said.
“Three.” He said. “She died and came back three times. And each time she came back stronger than before.”
“The strain her body’s been through, that kind of damage, it’s going to have lasting effects. If she does end up waking up she won’t be the same person she was before.” Natasha said.
“So you’re just giving up on her?” Clint shouted.
“You’re not the only one that’s losing someone Clint and you’re not the one that has to live knowing it’s their fault they lost their soulmate without being able to tell them how much she meant to them.” Natasha said tearing up and looking away. “I’m going to check on Will.”
Calliope’s POV-
“You know there are a few swim suits in the pool house if you want to take a dip in the pool.” Tony said bringing me a glass of ice water.
“Eh… I’ll just wait until Happy gets here. I’d rather not get a yeast infection or something worse from whoever wore it before me.” I said.
“Uh… I never thought about that.” Tony said putting his drink down.
“Huh so there is a way to get you to stop drinking.” I said.
“I don’t drink that much.” Tony said.
“You didn’t used to but with everything going on you always have a glass on you.” I said.
“The divorce has ben harder than I thought it’d be.” Tony said.
“Yeah well… being engaged is not as easy as I thought it’d be either.” I said.
“How Is Nate? I think that was the first time you’ve ever signaled for an out.” Tony said.
“I felt we were heading towards another fight. He said we should start looking at apartments.” I said.
“Well you are getting married and it’s not like either of you can’t afford it.” He said.
“Money’s never been an issue and it’s not that he wants to move that’s bothering me it’s that he’s doing it to avoid talking about what’s really bothering him.” I said.
“Are you talking about Nate?” Bruce said coming to join us.
“Yes.” I said. “So he calls and he didn’t once mention the fight. No apology no we should talk when you get back… nothing, instead he says we should start looking at apartments.”
“Oh…” Bruce said.
“How can things have changed this much in just a few weeks? We were good before this happened.” I said looking at my engagement ring.
“The ring changes things.” Tony said.
“It’s just a ring. We’re still the same people we were before we got engaged.” I said.
“Let’s forget about Nate for a minute and focus on you.” Tony said. “Why did you say yes? Why do you want to marry Nate?”
“Because he’s Nate. I love him when he’s not being a moron. We were doing good and this is what came next.” I said.
“So if he hadn’t proposed would you have been okay with just continuing as you were?” Tony said.
“Yes we were great. Things were good.” I said.
“Good? What was it like when you were just dating?” Bruce asked.
“It was great. We talked constantly. We could never stop laughing when we were together and he was thoughtful and corny but sweet. He flew all the way to Paris to surprise me that one weekend. It was like having a best friend that you occasionally helped get off.” I said making Bruce spit out his drink.
“You mean have sex?” Tony said.
“Yeah.” I said with a shrug.
“How is the sex?” Tony asked.
“Tony!” Bruce exclaimed.
“You know I’m gonna go grab a swim suit and take a swim. Cross your fingers and hope I don’t catch something…” I said walking away. I walked into the pool house and looked through the closet. Some of the swimsuits actually still had the price tags on them. Of course they all looked like something you had no intention of staying in but I did find one that was acceptable. It was a black halter suit that was backless and had a plunging neckline.
I got dressed before grabbing a towel and then headed outside. I put the towel on one of the pool chairs before jumping in.
The water was cool but not ice cold, which was nice. I swam up to the surface and floated around for a bit.
“So that bad huh?” Tony said.
“You know this actually counts as sexual harassment?” I retorted.
“We’re not at work.” Tony said.
“But we’re on company time.” I said.
“Come on Cal, we’re talking as friends not as boss and employee.” Tony said.
“I think I’m going to head back inside. I should check in with my lawyer anyway.” Bruce said getting up.
“You know I trust you more than anyone I know right?” Tony said and I opened my mouth to say something but he beat me to it. “And it has nothing to do with the confidentiality agreement you signed you’ve gone way beyond what was expected of your responsibilities. You… you get me.”
I stayed quiet for a minute before swimming over to the ledge and leaning against it.
“That weekend in Paris… when Nate surprised me that was the… not only was it the first time we had sex it was my first time… ever.” I said.
“Well that makes sense.” Tony said and I gave him a look. “You skipped a few grades you were always younger than everyone else.”
“Yeah and you know I knew the first time wasn’t going to be great but that was just… uh.” I groaned. “I mean it was during Liam Neeson’s solo in Les Miserables, on the couch… the remote was jabbed into my back the whole time… It sucked.”
“I kinda figured when you said it was on the couch.” Tony said.
“And every time since… It’s like I do it more for him than for me…” I said. “Sex isn’t everything.”
“It’s not but it does help.” Tony said.
“I wouldn’t know…” I said.
“Are you in love with him?” Tony asked.
“I love Nate, I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t.” I said.
“I didn’t ask if you loved him, I asked if you’re in love with him.” Tony said.
“What’s the difference?” I said.
“One you don’t need but want in your life, the other you can’t imagine life without them.” Tony said. “Which ones Nate?”
“I… I’m not sure.” I said as Tony’s phone buzzed.
“Hap’s here. He brought dinner.” Tony said.
“I’ll be in in a minute.” I said. Tony nodded and headed back inside. I cared about Nate… loved him even but was I in love with him?
Third Person’s POV-
Tony got in his car and drove out of the garage. He didn’t know how long he was driving or where he was going but when he finally stopped he was outside of the hospital.
He got out of the car and made his way inside. He stopped outside of the door when he heard soft music. He quietly opened the door and saw there was someone already there.
“Guess I wasn’t the only one who had the idea to pay sleeping beauty a visit.” Tony said.
“I ran out of sandbags.” Steve answered.
“I broke a wall.” Thor answered and Tony arched an eyebrow. “Sorry.”
Tony didn’t say anything instead he grabbed a chair and took a seat. Everyone stayed in their seats and listened to the steady beeps of the heart rate monitor.
It wasn’t long before someone else joined them.
“Thought I’d be the only one here…” Clint said as he walked in.
“Nope.” Tony answered not looking away from Hayley.
Clint stood at the foot of the bed before leaning back against the wall and watched Hayley.
They were all quiet for a while longer until the door opened and Natasha and Bruce walked in.
“Figures you’d all be here.” Natasha said
“How’s Will?” Clint asked.
“He ate dinner and fell asleep. He’s a wreck.” She answered.
“And he still wants to pull the plug on Hayley?” Tony scoffed and Natasha glared at him. Tony glared back until he saw the Natasha’s red rimmed eyes. His eyes softened and he sighed before looking back at Hayley wishing she’d wake up already.
“My father, every few hundred years or so he puts himself in a slumber of sorts to replenish his strength. It sometimes lasted a few hours or days, once it lasted two weeks. Every time my mother kept watch over him, never left his side, never slept until he would awaken. I wished I could have asked her how she was able to do that and not feel helpless or frightened he might not wake up again.” Thor said.
“I was in the ice for almost seventy years. I remember saying goodbye to Peggy, hitting the ice, how cold everything was until I was numb. I thought that was it. Next thing I know I’m waking up in a room set up to look like an army hospital seventy years in the future.” Steve said. “There was nothing in between.”
Everyone stayed quiet at that. The last year had been hell for all of them but to Hayley… it was probably nothing.
“Sometimes I forget how young she is, not even twenty yet.” Bruce said.
“We did spend the first three months after we met her thinking she was twenty one.” Clint said.
“She never acted her age.” Natasha said.
“Not even as a kid.” Tony said smirking as he remembered Hayley at two years old.
“She really pulled one over on us.” Steve said.
“Aye.” Thor said. “She was too clever for her own good.”
“Is.” Tony said and the smiles fell off of everyone’s faces.
“Tony… it’s been over a year.” Steve said.
“And she’s still here.” Tony said. “Want to back me up here Barton.”
“She survived getting shot, being dropped off a cliff, drowning and hypothermia… her heart stopped three times… she was clinically dead for five minutes… the amount of damage that could have done…” Clint sighed. “I don’t want to say it… but after all of that if she hasn’t woken up then I don’t think she’s going to,” he said his voice cracking at the end.
“Tony you know the odds.” Bruce said. “She shouldn’t have survived this long, it’s a miracle she made it this long.”
“She wouldn’t want this.” Thor said. “She was a warrior, she fought bravely and deserves an honorable end.”
“She said so herself.” Natasha said pulling out the folded up piece of paper.
“Will gave you that?” Steve asked.
“Took it off of him when he was asleep. He’s beat himself up enough over it.” She said before handing it to Tony.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I always thought it would be us to go before her.” Tony said and everyone shot him a look. “We’re the ones that go out to get shot at. Like you didn’t all think it before.”
“She dodged her fair share of bullets.” Clint said.
“I tackled her out of the way once.” Steve said.
“Terminator was the one that shot her.” Tony said giving him a glare.
“He was brainwasher.” Steve said sternly.
“We’re in a hospital.” Bruce reminded them.
“I can’t do it.” Tony said.
“Tony.” Steve started.
“Not yet. Hayley gave us a mission she pointed us towards Hydra.” Tony said.
“Yeah and we’re close to the last base.” Natasha said.
“Then we wait until the jobs done. It shouldn’t be more than a month, two tops. Her birthday’s in a few weeks. We waited over a year, we can wait a few more weeks.” Tony said. “She should know we finished the job before the end.” Tony said.
“That’s it then. After the last base is taken out we let her go.” Steve said.
Calliope’s POV-
“Do we have to?” Tony whined.
“Don’t look at me, I don’t want to go home. I mean I would if it weren’t for Nate. I miss Clint though. And Bucky… and Steve.” I said.
“It’s been three days. We can’t keep hiding out here.” Bruce said.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t try.” Tony said.
“Tony he’s right. Besides if you want to keep this place it’s better if Pepper doesn’t know about it.” I said picking up my bag. “Besides we have tech fest in two weeks. One whole weekend of nothing but science and new toys.”
“At least there’s that.” Tony said. “Let’s get this over with.”
One long car ride back with every detour you could possibly imagine we were finally back in the city. The first stop just happened to be my place.
“Finally home…” I said half-heartedly.
“It’s just Nate.” Bruce said.
“It’s all going to work out.” Tony said.
“Yup, well wish me luck.” I said getting out of the car. I made my way upstairs and I heard the TV on at Clint’s place. I knocked on the door.
“It’s open.” He called out. I opened it and walked in.
“Hey stranger.” I said.
“Hey, didn’t know you were back.” He said. “And you’re tan.”
“I actually just got back and yeah I guess I am.” I said finally noticing I wasn’t as pale as usual. I looked down at my bare legs that weren’t covered by the flowly grey shorts and my arms that were exposed by the black button up tank top. I was a lot tanner than I was a few days ago. Not dark but just a light glow.
“How was the retreat?” Clint asked.
“Oh just the usual teambuilding stuff… trust falls… three legged race… the usual.” I said.
“So getting drunk, relaxing by the pool, and shopping?” Clint said.
“Pretty much.” I said. “Tony was avoiding his wife.”
“Figured. Nate stopped by a few days ago.” Clint said.
“Did he?” I said shifting awkwardly.
“Yeah, forgot a book or something. Thought you’d be here.” He said.
“He called a few days ago and he may have almost started another fight.” I said.
“What about this time?” Clint asked.
“Finding a place.” I said. “He wants to move and knowing him he already has a place lined up he’s just trying to sell me on it.”
“You are getting married.” Clint said.
“Yeah but he’s doing this to avoid talking about what’s really wrong. He didn’t apologize or even mention the argument. He’s trying to sweep everything under the rug and pretend it never happened.” I said.
“And then you ran away…” Clint said.
“It was work.” I said.
“How much work did you actually do?” Clint asked.
“On the processor none but I did work on myself, lots of self reflection.” I said and Clint just raised an eyebrow. “Okay so I may have gone along with Tony to avoid talking to Nate for a few days but I was mad and I tend to say things in the heat of the moment that I don’t mean.
“Cal you have to talk to him.” He said.
“I know.” I said. “I’m gonna go unpack and call Nate.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Clint said.
“I know.” I said getting up but stopping. “Okay this is a pretty random question but I need a second opinion. Is there really a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone?”
“Yeah.” Clint said smiling.
“Have you ever been in love with someone?” I asked.
“I am in love with someone.” Clint said.
“So you’re sure it’s not the same as just loving them?” I said.
“Cal I loved Bobbi the person I’m in love with I can’t imagine life without them.” He said giving me a weird look.
“Thanks…” I said walking out. When did Clint start dating again? The last person he went out with was Natasha and they ended things months ago.
I walked into the apartment and was greeted by Steve and Bucky sandwiching me in a hug.
“Oh!” I said.
“You’re back!” They cheered.
“Yup. Are you guys…” I started.
“It’s about time you showed up.” Mother said. That would explain the hugging.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” I said.
“You left and didn’t even have the decency or consideration to let me know?” She said. A bit ironic considering I don’t even know what country she’s in half the time or that she’s never cared where I was before. “I had to find out from Anne that my own daughter had gone out gallivanting with some stranger…”
“It was for work.” I said but she completely ignored me.
“And what’s this I hear about you fighting with Nate? Are you trying to ruin this wedding?” She exclaimed.
“Mother the problems I have in my relationship are between Nate and I only.” I said.
“I flew all the way here to help with your wedding, I’m helping you asking nothing in return…” She started ranting. I turned to Steve and Bucky who signaled that they were going out, probably to wait at Clint’s place. I nodded and pulled out my phone and texted Bruce and Tony on our work group chat.
Any chance we can go back to hiding from our problems?
“Are you even listening to me!?” She shouted.
“Sorry it’s work.” I said.
“uh work, I seriously hope you don’t plan on continuing working after you’re married, how do you expect to keep a husband…” She said and I struggled to choke back a laugh at that ironic statement. “How many times have a I told you that no man wants a working wife, especially one that’s smarter than him. A man need to feel important…”
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out.
Well Pepper’s currently yelling at Tony so that’s a no.- Bruce.
He then sent me a photo of Tony sitting down in a conference room looking bored out of his mind while Pepper was standing and looking very angry.
That makes two of us. Currently getting a lecture on how to keep a husband by my mother.
“Who are you talking to?” She yelled annoyed.
“I’m sorry mother there’s a lot going on at work right now. If you don’t want to help with the wedding that’s fine and if you need to go back to France that’s fine too, that’s why we hired a wedding planner.” I said as my phone started buzzing.
“I will not let you ruin this for me.” She said.
“You do that just fine on your own.” I said. I didn’t even see the hit coming until the force moved my head away and I felt the sting on my cheek.
“Listen to me you stupid brat.” She said pulling my hair. “Nathanial Archibald and his family are the goal. A marriage to a political family that would set us up for life. No more measly millionaires or lottery winners. We’re talking billionaires. Even if he leaves your worthless pathetic ass that divorce settlement and hush money to keep quiet for whatever you might learn about them will be more than I’ll know what to do with. You just need to play your part and keep Nate interested. Play the doting fiancé, the love of his life, use the hole between your legs… do what you have to. Do not fuck this up.”
With that she let go of me and shook off the hair she yanked off of me.
“Call Nathaniel and fix your mess.” She said before walking out, the door slamming behind her.
I closed my eyes and composed myself trying to stop tears from streaming down my face. That woman was Satan incarnate. I don’t know what happened to turn her into that… but I should be grateful. Thanks to her I knew exactly what to do next and this would clear up any doubts about what to do with Nate.
I grabbed my phone and dialed the number.
“Hey it’s me. I’m back and was wondering if you could come over or I could go to you?” I said.
“Uh… now’s not a really good time. Blair and Chuck are… I don’t know what they’re doing. I can be over in an hour.” Nate said.
“Perfect.” I said before ending the call. I walked over to my desk and opened the drawer to pull out the manila envelope. I looked on my signature on the prenup and looked at the empty space where Nate was supposed to sign.
I put the envelope on the table before looking through the kitchen. We had everything to make blueberry muffins. They were Nate’s favorite he can’t start a fight if his mouth is full.
I played some music on my phone and started making the mix. While I was at this I should probably make some carrot muffins and chocolate muffins for Bucky.
I was in the zone and didn’t realize someone had come in.
“That bad huh?” Steve said.
“She’s called the dragon lady for a reason.” I said giving him a small smile. He gave me a sad smile before his eyebrows pinched together.
He walked over and turned my face to look at my cheek where she had slapped me.
“She hit you?!” Steve said raising his voice.
“Sh!” I said sternly. “It’s fine. The handprint will be gone in a few minutes.”
“Cal…” Steve started.
“I’m fine.” I said giving him a look. He sighed. I went to go grab some milk when Steve stopped me and pulled me into a hug.
“I’m not letting her into the apartment again.” He mumbled into my hair.
“Doubt she’ll be back anytime soon.” I said.
“What did she want?” Steve asked.
“The usual lecture on how to keep a husband and warning me not to screw things up for her.” I said.
“How are you…” Steve started.
“She’s a gold digger, Nate’s kind of rich…” I said.
“Wait but so are you?” Steve said.
“My trust fund has conditions. I get an allowance every month until I’m twenty five then I get full access but if I transfer even one cent to any account under her name it gets frozen.” I said. “I would never willingly give her a dime so if that were to ever happen my dad and brother knew it would be under some form of coercion. I don’t fall for her tricks and she knows that hence why Nate’s so important to her. Anything I get from him is fair game.”
“But you’re not getting anything from him, you’re getting a prenup?” Steve said.
“She doesn’t know that.” I said.
“Oh, then why don’t you…” Steve started.
“Tell her? The second I do she’ll do everything she can to make sure Nate doesn’t sign it or make sure it never gets notarized. Besides this is between Me and Nate.” I said.
“You’re going to tell him about the kids?” Steve asked.
“I’m going to get him to start the conversation so I can bring it up.” I said.
“Don’t you think it’d be better to just be up front with him and tell him instead of working around it?” He asked.
“So you think going ‘hey honey by the way I have a cancer gene that might make it impossible for me to conceive a kid but don’t worry I froze my eggs and had them fertilized with my best friend’s sample so they’ll last longer’ out of the blue is a better way to start the conversation?” I said.
“Well when you put it like that it does make a lot more sense.” Steve said.
“Yeah.” I said putting the muffin tins in before pouring in the mix.
“How do you feel?” He asked.
“Fine why?” I said.
“Because I don’t think we’re going to be able to eat all the muffins you’re stress baking.” Steve answered.
“I’ll take the extras into work.” I said getting back to work.
Steve went back to playing video games at Clint’s place while I waited for Nate to show up.
When he did finally show up he knocked on the door.
“Hey.” He said.
“Hey.” I said awkwardly.
“I uh… these are for you.” He said handing me a bouquet of white roses and green hydrangeas. “Your favorite.”
“They’re lovely.” I said and not my favorite.
“Something smells good.” He said.
“I’m doing a bit of baking.” I said. “Made your favorite.”
“Blueberry muffins.” He said smiling a bit.
“Fresh from the oven.” I said putting a plate on the table.
“I love it when you bake.” Nate said.
‘I only bake when I’m stressed.’ I thought frowning. I quickly shook it off and sat down
“I thought it was time we talked.” I said.
“Look I know I was way out of line last week and you’re right. I love how you always look after the people you care about. I’ve lost count of the amount of times you’ve given me a pep talk before a test or made me chicken noodle from scratch when I got sick. I know that no matter what I can always count on you and I shouldn’t be insecure but I can’t help it. When you’re with them with Clint especially it’s like you’re a whole different person. You’re brighter and relaxed. I want to make you happy.” Nate said.
“You do make me happy, it’s just lately we’re out of sync. We can’t even talk without having a fight.” I said.
“I know I just can’t stop screwing up lately.” Nate groaned.
“Maybe we just need to take a minute and breath.” I said. “Focus on what we have now instead of trying to add more to it.”
“Yeah… maybe.” Nate said lowering his eyes until something caught his eye. “Mail?”
“Uh no… That’s… um… a prenup.” I said.
“Prenup?” Nate said.
“Look we both have a lot of assets coming into this and it’s no secret that my parent’s divorce was… messy.” I said. “I think it’d be best if we had an agreement in case things don’t work out the way we hope they do. Make sure both of us are protected and avoid any arguments about money.”
“Of course.” Nate said.
“You can take them and have your lawyer look over them just you know I want to have this settled before the big day.” I said.
“Sure. I’ll drop them off first thing tomorrow and get them back to you asap.” Nate said.
“Thanks.” I said. Why did this feel like a business meeting than a conversation with my fiancé?
“What now?” Nate asked.
“Do you still need space?” I asked and Nate sighed.
“I think I don’t need space, but we do.” Nate said. “For the two of us to just be the two of us. We can’t keep this up Cal. A relationship is two people not two people and whoever happens to walk into your apartment or call you.”
“It’s never bothered you before why now?” I said.
“I want more.” Nate said.
“I get that but all at once? Nate I’m not even twenty yet and we’re getting married. I graduated and I already have a career. All of this happened in under a year. We have so much going on and we keep piling on. I want that too but it’s too much all at once. We have time for it all.” I said.
“Do we? Have time I mean because half the time it feels like you’d rather be anywhere but with me.” Nate said.
“You were the one that asked for space, I was giving you what you wanted.” I said.
“Well I was wrong!” Nate said. “I wanted you to fight for me!”
“No!” I said. “My world doesn’t revolve around you Nate! A marriage is a partnership two equals working together to build something that lasts but all you want is a nanny.”
“No I don’t…” He started.
“Really, so you didn’t almost throw a tantrum when I got accepted to MIT for grad school?” I said.
“That was different, you were making decisions that affected the both of us.” Nate said.
“Nothing was decided!” I said. “No matter what I’ve always supported you but whenever it comes to something I want to do it’s an issue.”
“We had plans!” Nate said.
“No you had plans!” I said.
“So you wanted to move to Boston?” Nate said.
“Would that have been an issue with you?” I said.
“Yeah I don’t want to live in Boston!” Nate said.
“Well neither do I!” I said. “But having your support even if it would have changed whatever you hoped was in our plans would have been nice.”
“Fine what do you want?” Nate said. “Tell me what you want and we’ll do it.”
“I want us to sit down and plan this out together. Not just one of us imagining and throwing tantrums when things don’t go our way. I want us to communicate.” I said. “I want you to stop acting like I’m some toy you own that any guy who even looks in my direction is going to take away. I want us as partners and equals. My dreams and goals are just as important as yours and you don’t get to hold it against me when I work hard to further my career because you do the exact same thing.”
“You already have a career, I’m just getting started.” Nate said.
“I have a career because I worked my ass off for it. Instead of holding it against me you should be proud.” I said.
“If only you’d put in at least half of that work into our relationship as you do your career.” Nate said.
“What do you think I’m doing right now?” I said. “You know what. You asked for space and I gave it to you even if that wasn’t what you really wanted because guess what? I’m not a mind reader Nate! You asked what I wanted; well I want to give you one more day for yourself to pull yourself together because this isn’t the guy I wanted to be engaged to. When that guy’s back he can come back and return this to me.” I said taking off my engagement ring and putting it on the table.
“Do you even want to get married?!” Nate yelled through teary eyes.
“I wouldn’t be putting up with your shit if I didn’t!” I shouted.
He wiped his face before picking up the prenup and the ring and walked out. I took a shaky breath and counted back from ten before going back to the kitchen.
The Next Day-
I walked into work with a few muffin carriers. I stopped by reception and offered the security guards first pick. They were more than happy to take a carrier for themselves. I stopped by the PR department and dropped one of in the break room before heading up to the lab.
“Morning.” I said before handing out coffee.
“Morning…” Tony and Bruce grunted.
“Chai latte.” I said putting it down in front of Bruce. “Double shot espresso and I didn’t pick up any breakfast sandwiches because I made muffins.”
“Oh…” Tony and Bruce said at the same time.
“The talk went that bad huh?” Tony said.
“I just made muffins. There’s blueberry, carrot, chocolate and since I know how big a fan you are and you were a very gracious host this weekend, you get your own batch of red velvet.” I said handing Tony a dish with the muffins.
“Yay!” Tony cheered as he reached for the plate I was holding in my left hand but froze. “Uh…”
“I’ll just put these down.” I said.
“How’d it go with your mom and Nate?” Bruce asked.
“Mother yelled, made snide comments, told me not to screw this up, a bunch of other stuff that wasn’t very important.” I said.
“And Nate?” Tony said not taking his eye off my left hand.
“We talked, fought, started to make up then fought again and I told him to take the day to pull himself together and to give me the ring back when the guy who proposed to me was back.” I said. “You have a meeting with PR in ten minutes, we should start heading up.”
“Cal, are you okay?” Bruce said.
“Never better.” I said as my phone started ringing. The caller ID said Dragon Lady so I sent it to voicemail.
“Nate?” Tony asked.
“Dragon lady.” I said putting my phone away.
“You sure you don’t want to take the day…” Tony offered.
“Nope, work is my happy place.” I said. “Now let’s go plan out your divorce announcement.”
“Uh.” Tony groaned.