Marriage? Only If It's Practical

Theo exhaled slowly as she stepped through the door, pushing it closed behind her. She tossed her keys into the bowl on the table in the foyer and set her clutch beside it before bending down to unhook her shoes and pull them off. She sighed in relief, wiggling her toes against the cool tile. 

Finally, some peace and quiet. 

Padding her way toward the stairs, she stopped in the entryway to the living room and smiled at Mops, sound asleep in her tower. Mops perked up, chirping when Theo reached out to scratch behind her ears. “Good evening, my queen,” she said with a smile. Mops mewed in response, stretched out a leg, and curled back up to sleep. 

“Great idea, your highness.”

She headed right for her dresser, unfastening her earring as she went. She always forgot how heavy those damn things were. She sighed in relief, massaging her earlobes once they were free. Swiping at her phone, she pressed Lewis’s contact and hit the video call button. He answered almost immediately. 

“Hey, baby — Damn, you look beautiful.” Theo smiled, setting the phone on the dresser to step back and turn so he could see the whole dress. “I’m so sorry I missed it.”

Waving him off, she reached back to unzip the dress, no matter how much she had wanted him there. “It was a boring fundraiser. Trust me, there’ll be plenty more.” It was a miserable experience, more so than usual, but she wasn’t going to bother him with it. She wasn’t going to bother him with her morbid thoughts of what if, especially while he was on a case. 

Sighing, she reached for the phone as the dress fell to the floor. “I miss you.”

Lewis frowned, the glow of his car’s ceiling light making his hair look almost golden. “I miss you, too. I’ll be home soon, I promise.”

The case he’d been working on had kept him away for weeks, and he wouldn’t be home for another few days, at least. This was the worst part. 

“I know,” she sighed, making her way toward the bathroom. “I’m gonna grab a shower and get to bed.” At least if she was passed out in bed, she wouldn’t worry. Too much. “Call me in the morning, okay?”

Lewis responded with a smile, and her heart ached. “I love you, Theo.”

“I love you, too.”

She crawled into bed in Lewis’s favorite faded old Ghostbusters t-shirt a little while later, hugging his pillow to her chest. Just a few more days, she reminded herself as she drifted off. Just a few more days. 

Lewis opened the app to disarm the alarm system, then carefully pushed through the door. He dropped his bag and rearmed the system before heading for the stairs, loosening his tie as he went. 

He tossed his jacket on the chair in the corner of the bedroom and made quick work of stripping down to his boxer briefs. He watched Theo for a moment, smiling at the sight.

Lewis slipped into bed, slipping his arm around Theo’s waist to pull her back against his chest. He buried his face in her hair and smiled when she stirred, breathing in slowly while she woke. 

“Lewis?” Theo whispered sleepily. 

He kissed her head and slipped his hand under her shirt to splay out across her belly. “Shh,” he murmured, his thumb gently stroking her skin. “It’s okay, go back to sleep.”

Slowly, she shifted and turned in his arms, burying her face against his chest as her fingers slipped up into his hair. He held her tight, pressing kisses to the top of her head. This was everything he’d been missing. “Am I dreaming?”

He smiled at the thought of her dreaming about him. “No, not dreaming. I’m home, baby.”

Theo lifted her head and his smile widened. The moonlight spilled in from the window across the room, making her skin glow. She met his eyes for a moment, then leaned in to kiss him, and he leaned into it like it was his last drink of water in a desert. “Are you really home or do you have to go back?”

His fingertips trailed up and down her spine. “I’m really home.” He punctuated it with another kiss, not wanting to let go of the feeling after weeks without. “I missed you too much to wait till morning. Wanted to surprise you.”

Theo pressed against him, and he sighed, sliding his hand to her ass. He squeezed the soft flesh, and she moaned into his mouth when his tongue brushed hers. Grinning, he tilted his mouth away to breathe, his forehead pressed to hers. “You used my toothpaste.” He kissed her again, and her tongue teased his. 

“Cinnamon toothpaste is gross but it helps when I miss you.”

He pulled back to look at her, and she stroked his beard with her palm. “God, I love you,” he said, shaking his head before she pulled him in to kiss him again — hot, heated, and a little desperate. She broke away, shifting to pull her shirt over her head and toss it to the floor. 

Goddamn, he really had missed her.

He palmed her breast as she pulled him back in for a kiss, and his thumb teased her nipple. Theo moaned softly, her fingers raking through his hair before falling away to frantically push his boxers down his hips. He kissed her even as he shifted to kick them off and tug her panties down her hips.

When they were free of clothes, Theo draped her thigh over his hip, and they both moaned as his dick slid against her wetness. With his grip on her ass, pushed inside and they breathed out shakily, their foreheads pressed together. 

Her hand cradled his face, fingertips caressing his beard gently as he rocked his hips — slow and lazy. He wanted to savor the feeling after missing it for so long. 

She kissed him, and he nipped at her soft bottom lip, earning a soft whimper.  He slid his hand up her thigh, over her ass, up her back, and down again. He had no goal in particular, other than wanting to touch her as much as possible; to feel as much of her as he could.  

With her head resting on his bicep, he curled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her ever-closer. Their mouths pressed together even as the kisses fell away, breathing each other in as he thrust slowly, like they had all the time in the world, together in that bed.

He pulled her thigh higher on his hip, opening her up further. She gasped into his mouth, and he kissed her, his tongue trailing over hers. 

“Lewis,” she whimpered softly. 

“I know, baby,” he whispered. “I know.” He rolled his hips, and her fingers tightened in his hair. 

He kept his thrusts steady, knowing how close she was. He knew her body better than anything in the world. He knew every hitch of her breath, the way her nails dug into his chest, the way she gasped and the sweet beautiful sound of her whimper when she came. 

She clenched around him, clutching at him tighter and he groaned as he came. 

They stilled, foreheads pressed together as they breathed each other in, trying to regain control of their senses. He kissed her gently, then kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger on her skin. 

After, when they’d cleaned up and crawled back into bed, Theo settled against him with her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head as she reached for his hand, idly toying with his fingers. She was frowning, her brows scrunched together, and he shifted his head to look down at her. “What’s wrong?”

Theo was silent for a moment, still focused on their hands. “Does it ever bother you that I didn’t want to get married?”

“What?” Lewis huffed, surprised by the topic. “Of course not.” 

“It never bothers you to be like ‘going home to my girlfriend’?”

He shifted and she pushed herself up on her elbow to look at him, and his heart sank. “Theo, where’s this coming from?” She shrugged, but he could see the look in her eyes, even when she looked away. Something was really bothering her. 

He sat up and pulled her with him. “Hey.” He reached for her face, cradling her jaw. “Baby, look at me.” She finally did. “Where’s this coming from?” She’d always been adamant about marriage. He couldn’t figure out why she suddenly seemed upset by it. “Hey, come here.”

Lewis reached over to turn on the lamp on his nightstand, then pulled her into his lap, and pushed her hair out of her face. “Theo, please talk to me.”

She laid her hands on his chest and sighed. “I’ve never really cared what people think, but…” She stroked his chest slowly, her eyes fixed on her hands. “I don’t know, people just seemed to have a lot to say about it tonight.”

“What? Where?”

“At the stupid gala.” 

Lewis sighed at that. He was already pissed he hasn’t been able to be there with her, and knowing people had made her feel like this made him even angrier. “What do you mean?”

“If I got asked ‘where’s your cop boyfriend’ one more time, I—“ she huffed, her brows furrowed. “I don’t know, it was frustrating.”

“I should’ve been there, I’m sorry.”

“No,” she sighed, finally meeting his eyes. “No, it’s not your fault, I just… the way some of them said it… drunk rich people think they have a right to say anything, and apparently it’s a thing because we’ve been together this long and we’re not married. Half of them looked at me with pity, and the other pitied you when I said I didn’t want that, I just…”

A tear rolled down her cheek, and he brushed it away, but kept his hand on her face. “I don’t want you to resent me.”

Lewis’s mouth fell open, and he cradled her face in both hands. “How could I ever resent you?”

Theo sniffled, and it broke his heart. “Because. You’re that guy. You wanted marriage and the traditional life and I won’t give you that.”

“Baby, I don’t give a shit about any of that. I’ve been married, and you know what? I was miserable. I don’t care if you’re my wife or my girlfriend or whatever title people think you’re supposed to have. I care that you’re mine.” 

Theo cradled his jaw and tilted her head. “But maybe… maybe we should.”

Furrowing his brow, Lewis laughed. This was classic Theo logic. “Theo… are you proposing to me? Naked, at two in the morning?”

She looked almost guilty, and she looked away for a moment before finding his gaze again. “Yeah.” Again, he laughed, but the look on her face quieted it instantly. “No. Never mind.” She scoffed and threw herself off of him before he could stop her. She grabbed her t-shirt (his, actually, but he couldn’t complain) and pulled it on as she headed for the door, grabbing her panties on the way. 

“Theo!” He called, scrambling out of bed. He grabbed his boxers and pulled them on, stumbling before hurrying after her down the stairs. 

He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he knew Theo was upset, and he needed to fix it. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Theo berated herself all the way to the kitchen, grabbing her stainless steel water bottle from the counter to refill. 

She had let her emotions get the better of her, and she’d made shit weird. Why did she do this? Was she really so incapable of relationships that she’d find any way possible to fuck it up?

Theo had never been the type to want to get married. She didn’t grow up dreaming of her wedding. She’d experienced nothing but betrayal when it came to marriage, between her mother and Jake. 

So why did Lewis’s dismissal of the idea sting so much?

“Theo.” She closed her eyes when Lewis stepped into the kitchen behind her. “Hey.” Lewis reached for her hand and turned her, reaching for her hips when she faced him. He was shirtless, and that wasn’t fair. “What was that? What’s going on?”

“Nothing, just forget it, okay?” She pulled out of his grasp and headed for the fridge, unscrewing the lid to the water bottle. His hand closed around hers and pulled the bottle out of her hand. Damn it. 

“No.” He crowded her back against the counter and tossed the bottle aside. He flinched when it hit the floor, and her heart ached for him. Why did she do this? It was such unnecessary drama. “Theo,” he lifted his hand, his thumb brushing her chin. “I know something’s bothering you. Please talk to me. Don’t shut me out again.” 

Frowning, Theo looked down at her hand, laying over his heart. “I saw the news about that officer who got shot in Pittsburgh, and I— I couldn’t stop thinking what if it was you.”

“Oh, Theo—“ 

His hand grasped the back of her head, and she leaned up closer to him. 

“I couldn’t stop thinking what if something happened to you and they wouldn’t let me see you. It’s stupid, and I hate that it’s like this, but I don’t… I don't have a legal right to you. And I want to. I need to. Because you’re… you’re forever, Lewis. You’re my forever. You’re forever and the laws are stupid and I need you to be my legal forever and I just need to know that I get to be there.”

Lewis stared at her, and her heart stopped. But then he pulled her in, his lips crashing against hers, his fingers curling in her hair. “You’re my forever, too,” he murmured. When he pulled back, he gripped her jaw, not letting her look away. “Promise me it’s what you want, and not for anyone else or any other reason.”

Sighing, she did her hand up his neck to cradle his jaw. It astonished her more than anyone that she was asking for this, but she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was never willing to risk it. She wanted to be his in every possible way. “I want it.” 

It occurred to her that this was the most idiotic way to go about it. It was so cold and clinical. Her reasons were the same, but it did come with an emotional thrill she didn’t think she’d feel. Stroking his jaw, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders as she pushed herself up on her toes, their lips almost brushing. “Marry me, Lewis,” she whispered. 

Lewis kissed her in response and she sighed into his mouth. Then she pulled back, her hand on his chest to keep him at bay. 

“I have two non-negotiables, though.”

Lewis smirked and nodded, resting his hands against the counter to cage her in. “Okay.”

“One, I will not change my name.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Doctor.”

“And two, no big wedding.”

Lewis nodded. “That’s it? Only two?” 

She let him lift her onto the counter, draping both arms around his shoulders as he stepped between her legs. “Only two.”

“Really? No rule on rings?”

Theo smiled, tilting her head as she examined him. She would have said no, but it seemed important to him. This was the one piece of Mr. Traditional she could happily lean into. “No rule on rings. Just nothing ridiculous.”