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Couple: Ryan & Martha
Rating: K
Setting/Event: Proposal

Ryan Evans took his eyes off the road for a second and sent a smile in his girlfriend Martha Cox’s direction.

“Keep your eyes on the road, Romeo,” she laughed.  “We don’t need to get in an accident because you’re so distracted by my beautiful.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ryan laughed as he moved his eyes back to the road.  He had known Martha since high school, but it hadn’t been until he’d come home from six years in New York City and she came to his dance studio looking for a job that they had reconnected.

“So tell me who all is going to be here again,” Martha said, tucking a curly strand of hair behind her ear.

“My parents, Sharpay and Chad and their rug rats and Chad’s parents, I think,” Ryan replied.  “Maybe Troy’s parents if they didn’t go to California to spend the weekend with Troy and Gabriella.”

“Chad and Sharpay’s daughter is Sonya, right?”

“Yeah and their son Jayden is due in like a month, I think.”

“They didn’t waste any time,” Martha chuckled.

“To quote Sharpay ‘why wait when it’s right?’”  Ryan shook his head.  “I just wish they had figured out that it was right before putting me through hell with all their bickering in high school.”

“Going to college and not knowing very many people is a humbling experience,” Martha shrugged.  “What didn’t look good in high school sometimes looks amazing in college.”

“Or after college,” Ryan smiled glancing at her before flipping on his blinker.  He turned onto his parents’ street then drove through the open gate at the foot of the driveway.  He parked the car then ran around the car to help her out.  Then he opened the backdoor and gave her the salad she had made for the Easter dinner and grabbed the stuffed bunny rabbit that he had gotten for Sonya.

Taking Martha’s hand, Ryan led her up the pathway to the front door and let himself and Martha into the house.

“Hey party people,” he called as he shut the door.

“In here,” he heard his mom call back.

He led Martha to the kitchen and found the whole gang in the kitchen.

“Ry-ry!” Sonya squealed, flailing her two and half year body as Chad tried to hold on to her.

“Hey Sonya,” Ryan smiled and took his niece from Chad’s outstretched arms.  “Look what Uncle Ryan brought you.”  He showed her the stuffed bunny.  “Do you know what it is?”

“Babbit!” Sonya exclaimed, lunging for the stuffed bunny.  Once it was in her tiny hands she held it to her chest.

“Sonya, what do you say to Uncle Ryan?”  Sharpay asked, her arm slipped around Chad’s waist.

“Tank yu,” Sonya puckered her lips and planted a slobbery kiss on Ryan’s face.

“You’re welcome,” Ryan said then set her on the ground.  “Go show Nana and Meemaw your bunny.”

Instead of doing what Ryan suggested, Sonya turned and looked up at her mom and dad and exclaimed, “Daddy! Mommy! Babbit!”

Chad smiled and bent down and scooped Sonya into his arms.  “What’s your rabbit’s name, Sonya?”

“Daddy,” she said.  “Gotta go potty.”

“We’ll be back,” Chad said.  “Give your rabbit to mommy, Sonya.”  She pouted.  “No toys in the bathroom, remember?”  The little girl nodded and pouted as she handed Sharpay her new toy.

“How ya feeling, sis?” Ryan asked after Chad left the room with Sonya.

“Tired,” Sharpay smiled as Martha walked over and joined them.  “If I didn’t already know Jayden was a boy, I’d be able to tell because this pregnancy is nothing like my pregnancy with Sonya.”

“How so?”  Martha asked her.

“I was hardly ever sick when I was pregnant with Sonya, but I still get sick to my stomach every now and then with Jayden,” Sharpay sighed.

“Get used to it, my dear,” Chad’s mom smiled as she placed her hand on Sharpay’s arm.  “Boys are ten times harder than girls.  I only had Chad, but my sister has three girls and she had an easier time raising the three of them than I did raising him.”

“I’m going to say that it was because you were raising Chad,” Ryan stated.  “I was an angelic child.”

“That’s what you think,” his mother stated.  “I was still trying to potty train you when you were four, Sharpay was potty trained by two and a half.”  She smiled at him before looking at Martha.  “Let me tell you, this boy refused to pee in a toilet.  He liked to go out in the backyard.”

“Mom,” Ryan’s face flushed bright red.  “Stop it.”

“What? Am I embarrassing you?”  His mom smiled innocently.

“I’m going to go find dad and Mr. Danforth,” Ryan stated then pointed at his mom.  “No more embarrassing stories.”  He headed towards the TV room where his dad and Chad’s dad were watching TV and flinched when he heard his mom say something about nude baby pictures.

Chad joined them a few minutes later with a smile on his face.  “You were one bald baby,” he said to Ryan as he sat down.  “And very naked.”

“Oh god,” Ryan groaned as he closed his eyes.

“Don’t worry, man, your mom showed me Sharpay’s baby pictures and my mom showed Sharpay mine,” Chad stated.  “It’s a sign that your mom likes Martha.  Either that or she’s trying to scare Martha away by making her think that every baby you have will be pasty white and bald.”

Ryan glared at Chad before standing up.  “Excuse me,” he said.  He went back into the kitchen and found his mom sitting with Sonya in her lap looking at his baby book with Martha.  “Hey.”

“You were such an adorable baby,” Martha smiled up at him.  “Sonya definitely has some Evans in her even though the Danforth side is a bit dominant.”

“Sharpay honey, are you ok?”  Chad’s mom’s voice carried over to them and they turned to see Sharpay holding her stomach with one hand while the other was braced against the edge of the counter.

Instead of answering, Sharpay took several deep calming breaths only to contort her face as another wave of pain hit her.

“Somebody get Chad,” Chad’s mom ordered.  “And get me a chair.”

Martha left the room to get Chad while Ryan pulled a chair over for Sharpay to sit down on.

“What’s going on?” Chad asked as he came into the kitchen followed by the dads and Martha.  “Sharpay?”

“Baby. Coming,” she breathed out.  “Contractions.”

“We need to get her to the hospital,” Chad’s dad said.  “I’ll go start the car.”

“Sonya?” Chad asked.  “What about Sonya?”

“I’ll stay and watch her,” Martha offered.  “I’ll clean up the food and we’ll hang out here.”

“I’ll stay, too,” Ryan said.  “You guys go, we’ll be fine here.”

Within five minutes, Chad and Sharpay were on their way to the hospital with Chad’s parents’ driving while Sharpay’s parents were headed to Chad and Sharpay’s house to get her stuff.

“You should have gone with them,” Martha said as Ryan put Sonya in her high chair.  “Your sister is having a baby.”

“A process that when Sonya was born took over 24 hours,” Ryan stated.  “And frankly, I’d rather be here with you, stuffing my face full of my mom’s wonderful cooking then stuck in a waiting room with my dad and Mr. Danforth talking about the cigars they’ve smuggled in and plan to smoke with Chad after the baby is born.”

“Tummy hungry,” Sonya said, slapping her hand on the tray of her high chair.

“That’s the other reason,” Ryan smiled as he looked over at his niece.  “She’s a handful, she needs two people to take care of her, one person to entertain her and the other to clean up the mess after her.”

“I’ll let you clean up the messes,” Martha winked as she handed him Sonya’s little plate.  “I’m a better entertainer.”

Ryan shook his head and finished putting together a plate of food for Sonya then gave it to her.  He and Martha then dished themselves some food before sitting down on either side of Sonya to eat.

“Mommy? Daddy?”  Sonya asked, looking around the room for her parents.

“They had to go bye bye,” Ryan told her.  “Mommy’s going to have a baby.”

“No say bye bye,” Sonya pouted.  “Go home.”

“Sonya, maybe after lunch Uncle Ryan will take us to the park,” Martha said.  “But we have to eat all of our lunch.”

“Park?”  Sonya asked, looking at Ryan.

“Only if you eat all your lunch,” Ryan smiled.

After lunch, Ryan took Sonya into the bathroom to go potty and clean her up while Martha cleaned up the kitchen, putting everything into containers and into the fridge.  The Easter festivities would have to be rescheduled for little Jayden who didn’t want his family to celebrate without him.

“Go park!” Sonya exclaimed, running into the kitchen.  “Come on.”

“You can’t go without shoes, you silly girl,” Martha said.  “Where are your shoes?”

“Door,” Sonya said and pointed to the backdoor.

“Let’s go find them,” Martha held out her hand and Sonya grabbed it.  They found her shoes by the backdoor and Martha helped Sonya put on her pink and purple tennis shoes.  It kind of surprised her that Sonya was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a two toned stripped pink t-shirt, but then again Sharpay was a smart woman and probably knew her daughter would be more comfortable in jeans than a frilly dress.

“You two ready to go?”  Ryan asked, coming into the kitchen.

“YES!” Sonya nodded.  “Up! Up!”

“Alright, let’s go,” Ryan picked her up then took Martha’s hand.  The trio went out to Ryan’s car and he buckled Sonya into the car seat he had gotten out of his mom’s car.

After he and Martha were in the car, he drove to the park.

Once there, Ryan pulled Sonya out of her car seat and held Martha’s hand as they headed towards the playground.

“Swing!” Sonya exclaimed.

“Alright,” Ryan said.  They walked over to the swings and he set her in the baby swing.

“Mar-mar swing too,” Sonya said, pointing at the swing next to her.  “Ry-ry push.”

“Demanding just like her momma,” Martha laughed.

“Mommy? Daddy?” Sonya said, her lower lip quivering.  “Want mommy. Go home.”

“Mommy is having a baby, Sonya,” Ryan told her.  “You’ll see them soon.”  He set her in the baby swing, his cell phone rang as he stepped back.  “Martha, push her for a minute.”  He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and answered it, “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s mom,” his mom said.  “How’s Sonya?”

“Martha’s pushing her on the swing, how’s Shar?” He asked.

“In labor,” his mom stated.  “They’re saying Jayden should be here within the hour.”

“What? But she just went into labor like an hour ago,” Ryan said.

“I know, but I’ll call you when he’s here,” his mom replied.  “Then you can bring Sonya over here and you can meet Jayden then we’ll figure out where Sonya will go for the night.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for your call,” Ryan said.  He said goodbye to his mom then hung up.

“Everything alright?”  Martha asked as Ryan walked over.

“Jayden wants out and he wants out now,” Ryan shook his head.  “Definitely Chad and Sharpay’s child, impatient from birth.  Apparently he’ll be here within the hour.”

“Dang that was fast,” Martha stated.

“Uh huh,” Ryan nodded.

They were still at the park when the call came from Chad’s mom.  They packed Sonya into the car then Ryan drove to the hospital.  He parked in the parkade and they were ended for the main building when Sonya yelled, “DADDY!”

Ryan looked in the direction she was pointing and saw Chad, his dad and Ryan’s dad standing under a covered smoking area smoking cigars, or rather, Chad was holding an unlit cigar while the new grandpas were puffing away.

A smile broke out on Chad’s face when he saw them and he gave the cigar to his dad before running over to where Ryan, Martha and Sonya were.

“Daddy! Go home!” Sonya declared as she launched herself at Chad.

“I missed you, Sonny,” Chad smiled as he held his little girl close.  “But we can’t go home until you meet your baby brother Jayden.”

“Mommy go home too?” Sonya asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

“Mommy has to stay here for a couple days and rest, but we have to get things ready at home for her and the baby,” Chad told her.

Ryan and Martha held back as Chad headed into the building with Sonya in his arms.

“That’s precious,” Martha said as Ryan wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

“I know,” Ryan nodded.  “I want six just like her.”

“Six?” Martha looked up at him wide eyed.

“Well maybe not six, but at least three,” he said.  “Or you know however many my wife wants.”

“I want four,” Martha said.  “But I’d be willing to compromise with my husband.”

“Gotta love a woman who knows how to compromise,” Ryan grinned as he led her onto the elevator.  They rode up to the maternity floor and stopped to ask which room was Sharpay’s.  Then they made their way down the hall and found Sharpay’s door open.

They paused in the doorway and Martha leaned against Ryan as they saw Sonya sitting next to Sharpay “holding” baby Jayden as her parents watched on.  A camera flash broke the moment and that’s when Ryan saw his mom and Chad’s mom standing to the side.

“Hey, come in,” Sharpay said, spotting Ryan and Martha.  “Come meet your nephew.”

“My Jay-jay,” Sonya said as Chad tried to pick Jayden up.

“Mommy needs some Sonya loving,” Sharpay said and that distracted the little girl.

Chad placed Jayden in Ryan’s arms and Ryan smiled down at his nephew.

“He has your nose, Uncle Ryan,” Martha said as she looked at Jayden.  “But he already has daddy’s full head of curly hair.”

Jayden opened his eyes and looked up at Ryan for a few seconds before his cries filled the room.  Ryan handed him over to Sharpay then took Martha’s hand.

“I think we’re going to,” Chad’s mom said.  “We’ll let you get some sleep, Sharpay.”

“Do you want us to take Sonya?”  Sharpay’s mom asked.

“No, I’m going to take her home tonight,” Chad replied.  “I might call in the morning though.”

“Alright,” Sharpay’s mom nodded.  She kissed them all goodbye then left the room with Chad’s mom.

“We’ll be heading out too,” Ryan said.  “Congrats guys.”

“Thanks for taking care of Sonya,” Sharpay smiled at her brother and Martha.

“She’s a doll,” Martha smiled.

They said goodbye then Ryan and Martha left the happy family to be alone.

“Seeing Jayden and all the cuteness that is a baby makes me want one,” Martha confessed as they walked back to the car.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here, Martha,” Ryan said, pulling her to a stop in front of the fountain at the hospital.  “I want that, what Chad and Sharpay have, with you.  I know we’ve only been dating for six months, but my feelings for you are stronger than they have ever been for any girl in my life.  I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Martha said, as tears pooled in the corner of her eyes.  “I love you so much, Ryan.”

“I want to ask you to marry me.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t have a ring.”

“I don’t need a ring… well not yet anyway.”

Ryan took a deep breath then lowered himself down to one knee, “Martha Leigh Cox, will you marry me and have four to six kids with me?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

A big grin spread across Ryan’s face as he came to his full height.  He wrapped his arms around his curvy goddess and kissed her.

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