Epilogue

Epilogue

Wisteria

Six Months Later

Lights flash and people yell, and there's nowhere else I would rather be. My heart is beating like it might fly right out of my chest. I'm pretty sure my hands are super sweaty too, but it hasn't seemed to keep Banner from holding them. Or me.

"Look over here, Wisteria! Wisteria, over here!"

I turn a little and give a big smile to whoever asked me to look at them. I can't really see anyone in particular but want to make sure I give everyone a smile.

"Come, my love." His voice is right in my ear, and we share a moment before we move on. His voice still causes my heart to thunder way harder than all these lights and noise.

My feet are killing me, the heels are so high I'm terrified I could literally fall to my death and this dress is far too long for me to do much of anything but stand in. I thought when I was trying it on for the first time that it made it look like I was gliding. Now, I am ready to find my seat in the theater and take a break from it. And yet, I am loving it all.

We stop at one of the clumps of reporters that are standing along the way. Banner leans in and whispers to me again, "These guys have always been really great to me."

He gives me a small kiss before continuing to lead me over to the people he was talking about.

"You guys look great, and we are super excited about seeing the movie. Tell me, how did you like shooting all those hot scenes we've heard so much about?"

"Well, it didn't hurt that I had a really sexy co-star for all of them."

"And you did all the steamy scenes with each other?"

I nod and look at Banner as he talks more about the scenes.

"People are calling you guys the modern-day Bogie and Becall. Does that cause any stress to live up to those expectations?"

"Those are some big shoes to fill but I can certainly see the rugged handsomeness in Banner. He's definitely a man I would learn to whistle for."

We speak to a few more members of the media before going into the theater. And the scent of the hors-d'eouvres they have set out makes my stomach do bad things. I try to swallow the feeling down, but it just makes it so much worse.

God, don't let me make an idiot out of myself or embarrass Banner by tossing my cookies right here in the lobby. I try to give him a smile but end up pulling away from him and taking off for the bathroom.

I am shocked when Banner comes through the door and flips a lock on the door I didn't even know was there. I give him a weak smile and start to tell him I am super sorry for ruining the night when he goes to the sink and wets a napkin to hand to me.

"Put it on your forehead and maybe on the back of your neck."

"I can't mess up this makeup. Shirley will kill me." I give him a lame chuckle before I follow him over to a seat in the middle of the room. This bathroom is really upscale. I've never been in a bathroom with a couch in the middle of it. "Shouldn't we unlock the door and go back out."

"Maybe. If you feel up to it. But if you don't, we can leave early and go home. Maybe take a test."

"Take a test? What kind of test? Flu? You think it's the flu?"

He shakes his head no.

"Something worse than the flu?"

He pulls me from the cushion and into his arms so that I am sitting on his lap. "I think… we might want to look into painting the guest room, my love. Blue or pink."

I frown at him, not following him at all. Why would we want to paint the guestroom blue or pink? It is a perfectly lovely shade of pale green now.

He laughs at my confusion, "I think… we might be expecting, sweetheart."

"Expecting what?" My sluggish brain finally starts to catch up. "Expecting? Expecting! Oh my God! You think…"

"Well, I have noticed you are overly tired suddenly."

"We were wrapping up the movie and doing all those press things that go along with it."

"You haven't wanted to eat in the mornings, and I know for a fact you've been nauseous for about a week or two."

"I never liked to eat breakfast and my sinuses are bad."

"Your boobs are bigger and more sensitive."

I open my mouth to refute that one, but find I can't. "How the hell do you know what happens when someone is pregnant anyway?"

"I read." I narrow my eyes at the smartass. "Seriously. I looked up some stuff and ordered some books."

He's not joking or being sarcastic. He's just stating facts. He really has been researching things about pregnancy, "Why?"

"You started showing signs of being sick, sweetheart. There is no way in hell I wouldn't be reading, researching, calling experts, and doing everything in my power to make sure you are alright. I told you; I plan to keep you healthy and happy for the rest of our lives."

"H…how do you feel about…it?"

His face breaks into a grin and he leans forward to kiss me, "I will be ecstatic as long as you are all right with it."

I bite my bottom lip and lean into him before I say a word. Looking up into his eyes I can't help but state the obvious. "I think… we're going to have a baby."

A smile crosses my face at the thought and my entire focus is on that revelation, so it takes me a second to realize the weight of my dress has lightened considerably. When I do, Banner pretty much just picks me up out of the pool of silk and sequence, standing with me in his arms. My legs automatically go around his waist.

"Banner, what are you doing?"

"I'm celebrating with the love of my life."

"But," his lips trail down the column of my neck before he drops his mouth even further down and latches onto my bare nipple. The dress has a built-in bra, so I didn't need to wear one with it. I try to gather my wits that have been scattered by Banner's very talented tongue and the new information I"ve just been given. "There are people waiting on us right outside, Banner. Our movie is playing for them."

"The movie will entertain them and keep them preoccupied. Right now, I want to make love to the woman I love, the woman I am going to make my wife, who is going to have my baby, who is going to grow our family, and who gives me reason to be alive."

My head falls back, and I concede. Who am I to argue with such a smart man? I know as long as I'm in Banner's arms everything will turn out just fine. Besides, no one has to know what goes on at our movie premiers but us. And we don't Kiss and Tell.

The End!