Marah sat in front of her tv, flipping through the channels while she waited for Elijah. She felt so nervous..and wondered how long it would take him to get there.
Forty-five minutes later there was a knock at her door. Marah froze, wondering how he would tell him. She heard a knock again, this time louder, more insistent.
"Marah!" he called out and banged on the door again.
Marah tried to calm her nerves as she walked to the door and opened it. He immediately pulled her into his arms and moved to kiss her. She pushed him away and angrily asked, "How could you kiss me like that, spend an amazing nidght with me..and be engaged to another woman?"
Elijah stared at her for a moment before replying.
"What in the hell are you talking about?"
"That morning I had decided to wait in the room for you and your fiancee came in."
"Fiancee? What fiancee?" he asked, confused. "Marah, I haven't a clue who you are talking about. I am not, nor have I ever been engaged to anyone."
"Never been engaged?" Marah stared at him. "Well then who in the hell was that woman? How did she get into your hotel room without a key?"
Elijah thought for a moment and then asked her to describe the woman she saw.
"She was short - shorter than you, brown hair.." Marah began, but he cut her off because he had already realized who it was.
"That was my ex, Sarah. We broke up about two months prior to that morning. She took it pretty hard and wouldn't give up on me. As for the getting into my room.. all it takes is a little bit of money, or a sob story, for a desk clerk to give someone a key to a room. It's happened tons of times to me, and others as well."
"That simple?" Marah asked. She wanted to believe him, desperately.
"That simple." he repeated. He gently brushed his fingers over her cheek. "Now I know why you never called..."
"Why didnt you try to contact me?" she asked.
"Well, you never told me your last name..so I had no way of tracking down your phone number."
She smiled. "It's Taylor. My last name is Taylor."
"And your family owns the Taylor Hotel chain as well?" he asked. She nodded. "Well that explains how you got my home phone number. Not that I mind." he grinned. Then his brow wrinkled and he frowned. "If you thought I was engaged, why did you come out here to see me?"
Marah pulled away from him and turned to look out the window.
"I - I thought you had the right to know." Marah paused and turned around, faced him.
"The right to know what?" Elijah asked.
"Elijah..I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant? You're pregnant?" Elijah squeaked.
"Yes. I am. We're going to have a baby." Marah said.
"Wow. Um..just..wow." Elijah looked around for a chair and settled for the loveseat. Marah sat beside him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Wow." he said again.
"Yeah, I kind of had the same reaction." chuckled Marah.
"So..when is the baby due?" he asked.
"November. I think." Marah told him. "I haven't been to the doctor yet, but we only slept together that one time and since there wasn't anyone else it's quite obvious when it happened."
"Yeah."
"Elijah.. I wanted to tell you as soon as I found out, because I thought.. I thought we should discuss our options." Marah said softly, looking into his eyes.
"What's to decide?" Elijah asked, not taking his eyes off hers. "What's done is done."
"We have options." Marah reminded him quietly.
"Could you do anything other than keep the baby?" he asked her, knowing her answer was no before he even asked.
"Well, no..but.. this isn't a decision that effects just me," Marah started
"No, but you're the one who has to go through everything, so in the end it is your decision. I can't have you agreeing to do something you feel is wrong." Elijah's hands clenched around Marah's. She looked down at their joined hands and he tilted her face back up to look at him. "I'm serious, Marah. Whatever you decide, I will support." Marah searched his eyes.
'I.. I want to have this baby." Marah's voice was hardly more than a whisper.
"Well, then we're having a baby." Elijah grinned and pulled her into his arms again. "I spent the past two months wondering what happened..why I hadn't heard from you, if I would ever hear from you again..and here you are." Marah smiled and laid her cheek on his chest. "So, when do we go house hunting?"
"House hunting?" Marah repeated, her face mirroring her shock.
"Sure.. you can have your own room, if that's what's bothering you. I just thought it'd be good for the baby...if we went ahead and got our own place."
"No,sharing a room with you isn't what's bothering me.. I guess I was just thinkingI would stay here, in the town house. I didn't think you would want to buy a house..." Marah trailed off. Elijah smiled and kissed her gently.
"I don't want to let you out of my sight." he laughed. "It might be two more months before I see you again."
Marah laughed, "I'm not going anywhere.. not unless you have any other fiances I should worry about."
That night Elijah stayed with Marah. They spent the night talking. She told him about the pranks she pulled on her younger brothers, and the pranks they pulled on her. He told her about his siblings and about life as a child actor. She told him what it was like growing up basically in a hotel. He told her what filming The Lord of the Rings had meant to him, and how beautiful New Zealand was. She said she wanted to go there some day. He laughed and said he'd love to take her. They fell asleep in eachothers arms just as the sun began to rise.
When Marah woke late in the afternoon she was alone. She yawned and stretched, then looked around for a clock. It took her a moment, but she remembered that she was at her parents vacation house, and as such, there weren't any clocks to be found in the house. She got out of bed and then took the robe off the back of the bathroom door, wrapped it around herself.
"Elijah?" Marah called out as she walked into the hallway. She heard him talking to someone and then saw that he was on the phone. He held up a finger, indicating that he needed a moment. She smiled at him and left to take a shower.
~*~
"Yes, I'd like a list of four bedroom homes faxed to me at..." Elijah trailed off and leaned forward to take see if the number for the fax machine was labeled on it. Luckily for him, it was. ".. 354-580-0556."
"Are you looking for any specific area, Mr. Wood?" the realtor asked him.
"I'd like it to be in the Los Angeles area." he told her.
"Anything specific you are looking for in a house?"
Elijah suddenlly recalled a part of their late night conversation. Or maybe it was early morning, he couldnt remember for sure. They had talked a little bit about their dream homes and one of the things she mentioned had been Victorian homes.
"Victorian." Elijah said. "Something Victorian looking. 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a good sized yard."
"Ok, Mr. Wood, I'll get that list faxed to you as soon as I can."
"Thanks, Mrs. Roberts. Bye."
Elijah hung the phone up and walked to the bedroom, where he waited for Marah to emerge from the bathroom. She came out and he smiled at her.
"Good afternoon."
"Afternoon.. I don't think I've stayed up like that in.. I don't know how long."
Elijah chuckled, then turned serious.
"You're beautiful." he reached for her hand and gently pulled her to sit beside him. She sat down, looked at him like he was nuts and blushed.
"No.. I'm far from beautiful. I can barely pass for pretty. If even that." she laughed.
"You're wrong." he told her. "You're gorgeous. You know.. after I left North Carolina, completly bummed that I might never see you again..wondering what I had done to make you not call me..I couldn't keep you out of my mind. I kept picturing your eyes... your lips.. just everything about you. I couldn't stop thinking about you."
"I couldn't stop thinking about you either..even though I was pissed at you..I tried. I tried so hard to forget about you. But I couldn't."
He reached out and gently cupped her cheek and placed his lips over hers. He whispered, "I couldn't stop thinking about what it is like to kiss you. What it does to me..."
"Shh...just kiss me."
And he did.
----------
"Is there anything you want to do this evening?" Elijah asked Marah a little later that afternoon.
"No..nothing I can think of. Why, is there something you want to do?"
"I was thinking we could drive to my mom's... let you meet her and my sister, Hannah." Elijah seemed a little nervous, afraid she would say no.
Marah smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. I'd love to meet your family!" Elijah looked relieved. "Were you worried I didn't want to?" she asked. Elijah nodded.
"I'm not sure why.. I just wasn't sure what you would say."
"Well, I have to admit I'm nervous about meeting your mom.. I mean, here I am... two months pregnant already and I've never even met the woman." she laughed nervously. "She'll probably hate my guts."
"No! No, no no! I promise she won't hate you. We don't have to tell her about the baby yet, you know." Elijah tried to reassure her. He took her hands in his and said, "We can just let them meet you today..and tell them about the baby when we haven't a choice anymore. Give us time to get settled ourselves."
"I like that idea. I hate the thought of lying..."
"It won't be lying." Elijah interrupted. "We'll just be omitting certain things." he chuckled. "It's not the same thing."
"Well alright then. When do we leave?"
About thirty minutes later they were in his car driving to his mom's. He had called her right before they left telling her that he was bringing home 'a very special girl' for her to meet. It was a forty-five minute drive to his mom's and the closer they got, the more nervous Marah became.
"Don't worry." Elijah said again, his hand squeezing hers. "Mom is going to love you. And you're going to love her!"
"I hope you're right..." Marah said and then turned on the radio, wanting to have something to take her mind off her nervousness. She ended up falling asleep just a couple minutes after turning the radio on.
"Marah." Elijah gently shook Marah to wake her. "Marah!"
"Wha-What?" Marah woke with a start. "Are we there already?"
"Well, not quite. But nearly. Another five minutes or so." he told her. Marah stretched her legs and yawned.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." she said, looking over at him.
"It's no big deal." he told her. "I imagine you get tired easily, considering.." Elijah trailed off, and gestured to her midsection.
"Yeah, I do.." Marah replied.
"We'll have to see about getting you a doctor." Elijah commented.
"Um..actually.. I was thinking about going with a midwife." Marah said hesitantly, trying to get a feel of his opinion on the subject.
"A midwife? I don't think I've heard much about them."
"Well, they don't look at childbirth the same way a doctor does...they're more laid back about it." Marah told him.
"Been doing some research on the subject, have you?" he grinned at her.
"A little.."
"Well if that's what you want.. and as long as we can find someone in the area..I'm all for it. I told you I'd support whatever decision you made, and I meant that." Elijah slowed the car down and started to turn. "Well here we are."
"Yay!" Marah said with mock happiness, which caused Elijah to giggle.
"Wait a minute..." he started to say after he had parked his car next to a black Ford Mustang.
"What?" Marah asked.
"That's.." he stopped and jumped out of the car hollering "Orli!" and greeted a tall, dark, handsome man with a hug. Marah slowly got out of the car to join them. He turned back to Marah and introduced her. "Orli, this is Marah. Marah, meet my great friend, Orlando."
Marah's mouth dropped, she had known that Elijah had stayed friends with his cast mates from Lord of the Rings, but she hadn't expected on meeting any of them any time soon.
Orlando looked at Elijah questionably, "Is this the one you were telling me about?"
Elijah grinned, "Yup."
Marah looked from one to the other, "Telling him what?" she said as her eyes settled on Elijah.
"Oh nothing." Orlando laughed. "Just that you broke his heart by never calling him back."
Elijah winced and told him, "Well turns out there is an explanation for that..." he paused as he saw his mother come outside. "We'll talk more about that later." he walked towards his mom and hugged her. Then turned again to Marah and made the introductions. "Mom, this is Marah Taylor, the woman I'm going to marry."
Marah stared at him for a moment, he hadn't made any mention of marriage. His mother seemed taken aback as well.
"Hi Marah, I'm Deborah." she held her hand out, which Marah shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you! A shock, especially with that last comment..." she looked at Elijah, and then back at Marah, "but I'm very happy to have met you. He must be very taken with you." Marah blushed and glanced away shyly. "And now I see why." Deborah grinned. "Come on in."
~*~
Marah, Deborah, and Elijah's sister Hannah, sat in the kitchen talking at the table while Orlando and Elijah sat on the front porch chatting and smoking.
"So, that's why she never called you!" Orlando said. "Whew, Sarah is going to have a cow when she finds out you're getting married."
"Hmmm." Elijah glanced over at Orlando. "She'll probably have a bigger cow when she learns that Marah is having my baby."
Orlando looked over at him, mouth agape. "You aren't serious! Tell me you aren't? Marah's pregnant?"
"Shh, don't be too loud nimrod!" Elijah glared. "We haven't told Mom yet. Marah's nervous about telling her so soon."
"Yet you told her you were getting married?" Orlando laughed.
"I don't know why I told her that..I hadn't even asked Marah." Orlando laughed harder.
"Man what a mess you're in."
"Not really. I mean, I guess most people would consider it a mess..but.. I don't. You know I hadn't been able to stop thinking about Marah when I got back. Orli, I think I love her." Elijah confessed.
"Love her? You barely know her Lij!"
"See, that's where you're wrong. Sure, we've only known each other a short while..but I already know her dreams, her hopes, her fears, what makes her laugh, what makes her cry.. I feel like I've known her my whole life Orli."
~*~
"So, how did you and Elijah meet, Marah?" Deborah asked.
"Well, two months ago I was sitting on the beach in North Carolina, outside my parents hotel, just watching the ocean. It's so beautiful, you know? Even in February. Anyway, I leaned back and there he was - just looking out over me watching the ocean, too. I looked up to see who was standing behind me and all I could see at first were these huge blue eyes." Marah smiled over the memory, murmered, "he has such beautiful eyes." Then she blushed, remembering where she was. Deborah smiled at her.
"He does have beautiful eyes. I've always thought so." she remarked. "How did he propose to you?"
"Well...he hasn't actually proposed. When he told you..that was the first I'd heard the word marriage from him."
"Really?" Deborah asked. "Do you want to? Marry him, that is?"
Marah didn't even have to think before replying, "Yes...yes I do." she laughed. "It sounds crazy, we just met two months ago...but he consumes my every thought."
"It doesn't sound crazy." Deborah said. "Sometimes love happens that way."
Before - After
