"Engaged" – part 13

Summary and additional notes in part 1.

Author's Note: Wow, final chapter! Thanks so much for the reviews on the last part! It was great to hear different opinions on it. There's a long note at the end of this one to wrap things up. And now without further ado…

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!

-oOo-

Adam smiled as he looked at his fiancée.

He and Fiona were lying in bed, relaxing and simply enjoying each other's company. It had been two weeks since their appearance on Points Of View. Since that time, the dust had started to settle. Right after the taping, they got a number of calls and interview requests from magazines. The attention was positive but still felt a bit surreal. With the support of family and friends they quickly got a handle on things. The couple agreed to speak with a few publications and politely declined the rest.

Things were finally getting back to normal. Adam was grateful the 'worst' was over, because now they could focus on the days ahead. In two weeks school would be starting back up. He was starting his senior year at NYU and Fiona was going to finish her last year for a Graduate degree at FIT. The young couple was looking into last minute vacations and was leaning towards a cruise in the Caribbean.

"As much as I love the Eastern cruises, I like that the Western ones stop in Mexico," Fiona remarked.

He chuckled. "Can't we find one that does both?"

She sent him an exasperated look. She had just explained the differences five minutes ago!

"Okay, nevermind!" he quickly backtracked.

She laughed and snuggled closer to him. He raised an eyebrow and wrapped his arm tighter around her.

"I love this," she told him.

The last two weeks had been a whirlwind! Dealing with the press had been annoying, but spending time with Adam's family had been lovely. Plus they thoroughly enjoyed visits from close friends this week. Holly J, Eli, Clare, and Alli had traveled to the city from various locales and stayed for several days.

Adam nodded. "Me too."

He appreciated the many well wishes received and the multiple engagement celebrations had been fun, but he was happy the initial hoopla over it had passed. He liked that it was just the two of them, here in her room.

"Good to know!" she giggled.

He kissed her forehead. "I love you, Fi."

She smiled broadly and turned to look in his eyes. "I love you, too." She'd marry him right now if she could! Her mind ventured to honeymoon plans. "You know, it's hot right now so I can only imagine how hot it would be if we went for the cruise now."

Adam thought about it. "Yeah. That's why an Alaskan cruise might make more sense!" He had always wanted to go on one of those.

She chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Or, we can wait and go in the winter… Maybe on our honeymoon?"

Fiona watched him for a reaction. They had yet to set a wedding date. In the past they both agreed waiting until they were done with school made the most sense, but she didn't want to wait that long.

Adam looked at her. "Why would we have a honeymoon before the wedding?" he asked in jest.

She lightly swatted his arm. "What do you think of getting married over winter break?"

He furrowed his brows.

"We both will have weeks out of school. When we get back, we could have a little time to ourselves before buckling down and finishing our last semester."

Adam looked away.

"What do you think?" she pressed.

"I don't know," he said hesitantly.

Fiona frowned. She didn't like the tone of his voice. He sounded conflicted. "What don't you know? Is there a reason you don't want to get married then?"

"I thought the plan was to finish school first," he reminded her.

She bit her lip. "I know… but it's so far away."

He reached for her hand. "It seems that way now, but we'll get there," he assured her.

She sighed and leaned into his embrace. "Okay…" she trailed off. Fiona was disappointed about the prospect of waiting for almost a year, but it wasn't like he was saying something new. "So how soon do you want to have the ceremony after graduation?"

When he took longer than she expected to reply she studied him. Again, he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Adam?" she questioned with a hint of concern.

He took a deep breath. "There's something I been thinking about lately," he told her in a serious tone.

She threw him a quizzical expression.

He paused. "I love you more than anything, Fiona. There's so much you deserve. And I… I want us to start out in a good place. No surprises down the road."

She didn't know what to think. He was starting to scare her.

"There's something I think I need to take care of first," he finally got out.

"What?" she questioned.

He swallowed. "You know I've been on the fence about bottom surgery for awhile. After having the internal procedures I wasn't sure if I wanted anything more. With all the risks… It's scary."

Fiona felt a small sense of relief. Her mind had been racing about what could be troubling him. This something they could talk about and figure out together. "I know it is," she told him.

He nodded. The thought of something going wrong or losing sensation in that area freaked him out.

"It's just that… I think someday I might want to." He was okay with what he had for now. However, having his configuration down below adjusted to be more in line with what he should have been born with was a long held dream. Knowing himself, he knew that the desire to do so would likely grow stronger over time.

She smiled at him. "That's okay," she assured him. She would support him no matter what.

He shook his head. "It's not okay," he refuted. "If I do this and it goes bad, being stuck with me wouldn't be fair to you!"

Fiona flinched at his words. She quickly brought her eyes to his. "I love you! And whatever the complications, we would deal with them together. I'm going to love you regardless. In sickness and in health, come what may!"

Adam sighed. She didn't get it. Love wasn't the problem here. He knew she would stand by him, but that wasn't what he wanted for her if his fears came to pass. "I think I should have genital surgery before we get married."

Fiona was quiet as she took in his words.

"That way we could wait and see how things go," he finished.

Fiona firmly shook her head. "No."

He looked at her confused.

"I love making love to you, but it's not the reason I want to marry you," she asserted. "It's not even in top five. If you want to have this surgery before we get married, then fine. We'll get through it. But whether or not there are complications, we're still getting married! You're the one for me and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. There's no backing out now because something could go wrong. So stop worrying and let's pick a wedding date!"

Adam stared at her for a moment. He then slowly smiled. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're bossy?"

She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. "Whatever works," she quipped.

He looked into her eyes, and once again found himself in awe of his bride-to-be. "I don't want to back out. It's just–"

She cut him off by capturing his lips in a kiss. He was caught off guard, but after a moment he returned it with vigor.

"I like July," he stated after they pulled away. She looked at him confused and he chuckled. "By July all the graduation celebrations for college and high school are over. School's out for kids and teens, and it's a time most people are likely to take vacations."

Adam leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. "My extended family could take time off to travel for the wedding," he concluded.

Fiona grinned with understanding. "I think I like July too."

He brought his lips to hers and they shared a sweet, lingering kiss.

The two enjoyed a comfortable silence for some time before Adam spoke again. "So does that mean its reason number six or seven?" he asked in a playful manner.

Fiona looked at him amused. "You're unbelievable."

"What? Inquiring minds want to know!" he teased.

.

-FIN-

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate all of the faves, alerts, and reviews! :D

This fic dealt with family and celebrations, yet we also got to see Fadam handling some adversity too. Ultimately, at the heart of this story was Adam and Fiona moving forward in their relationship and making decisions concerning their future together. We got to see the proposal, the happy reactions of their families and friends, and the strain caused by the ensuing gossip due to Fiona's social status and wealth. In the end, Fadam is on the same path they started on four years ago in the timeline when they first discussed marriage ("Radiate", ch. 31). There were some things mentioned in passing that I'll probably expand on in separate stories, such as Adam's relationship with his bio father and Eli, Clare, Holly J's visit to New York!

I'm sure there's a lot of "chicken or the egg?" moments when it comes to reading the timelines stories since they're published in non-chronological order. However, there are tons of callbacks and references to events in other stories depending on when they occurred in the timeline. Case in point, the far future fic "Out" was published before "Engaged" but being part of the same series, the two are definitely linked. In the final chapter of "Engaged" Adam decides that he wants to have bottom surgery. If you read "Out" then you already know the outcome and that his worries were unfounded. (You may also recall from that fic that they went with getting a townhouse. However, that was first mentioned in the one-shot "Coda"!)

So, where to go from here? I haven't done much writing in August and September. However, I do have a new one-shot for "Love In The City". I will publish it this week! Also, I have a one-shot that takes place on Fadam's honeymoon, which I will publish soon-ish. FYI, there's lemon limes… (well, it is a honeymoon fic, lol)

In terms of post-Degrassi fics, they occur in this order: "Engaged" (3 years after HS), "Out" (5 years after HS), and "Coda" (9 years after HS). And, right now I am currently writing a multi-chapter timeline fic that takes place 11 years after high school! Also have other ideas kicking around, some that place during high school too.

Well, there you have it! I said this was going to be a long note and it definitely is, lol :D

-Cheers!