How long had he and Catherine known each other? Fifteen years? Something like that, and they’d been on again, off again, all that time, which was, quite frankly, ridiculous. They loved each other, drove each other crazy, and the passion between them, whether loving or fighting, was off the charts, but they always wound up going their separate ways, never quite understanding why.

Well, not this time, Sinclair couldn’t do that again, and keeping Catherine at arm’s length was never going to work. There was too much between them, too much history, too much desire, too much everything to let her slip away again. They were a romantic drama that had been in rehearsal for too long, and if they didn’t get their relationship up and running now, they never would. Maybe they were finally mature enough to make things work between them, to make compromises where necessary, to handle the inevitable ups and downs. They were both stubborn; maybe for once that could work in their favour.

So far, things had been going pretty well, better than at any time in the past, so maybe it was time to make things official. Jeff wanted to do this the right way, Catherine deserved nothing less, so he planned his proposal with all the meticulous attention to detail that he’d perfected over his time as Commander of Babylon 5.

He’d arrange a private dinner for two in his quarters, he rehearsed what he would say, a short speech about all they’d been through over the years and how they were finally on the same page. Then he’d go down on one knee… It was still traditional, even if it was a tradition few people bothered with these days. Alien customs for marriage proposals had become more popular over the last decade or so, but Catherine liked earth traditions. It would make her happy.

Only the planning, the waiting, the endless going over and fine-tuning of what he planned to say, began to wear on his nerves, and he was so busy juggling his duties that he was having trouble finding a suitable time for the dinner. Either he was run off his feet dealing with one emergency after another, or Catherine was off on a survey, and no way was Jeff going to propose over the radio.

It was getting frustrating, so the next time Catherine was on the station, Jeff abandoned the whole dinner idea and simply launched into his prepared speech. It wasn’t what he’d planned, wasn’t what he’d rehearsed, and it sounded all wrong. So much for being romantic. Cutting himself off mid-sentence, exasperated with his own rambling, Jeff got straight to the point, no more dancing around the issue. They’d done more than enough of that over the last decade and a half. Maybe that had always been their problem.

“Look, do you want to get married or don’t you?” He didn’t even bother with getting down on one knee. Romance was overrated anyway.

“Yes.” Catherine’s answer was firm, her smile warm, and Jeff felt a surge of relief.

“Well, good.” That was settled, and planning the wedding could wait for the moment.

If he’d know what lay ahead, he might not have proposed at all.


The End