AN: I do not own Teen Titans and Please Do Not Review Until End of Fic

Chapter 23: Can He Wait Six Months?

He loved it. He loved the feel of her. Her naked body pressed up against his. It was the greatest feeling he'd ever experienced. Sometimes she'd lay against him right after they'd made love, panting and coated with the sweat he'd made her break out in. Sometimes they'd be in the pool and he'd talk her into skinny dipping just so he could hold her bare body close to him under the water. And sometimes he'd wake up in the morning and find her standing in the light of her window, overlooking her acres of private land.

And that was how he'd found her this morning as he'd opened his eyes. She stood there in only a silk robe, the morning light illuminating her pale skin and making her look as angelic as he believed her to be. He knew she was thinking; thinking of what he wasn't sure, but she was thinking. She always seemed to be in deep thought in the morning. She was in deep thought all the time, but her deepest thoughts came to her in the early morning.

He slowly and quietly slipped out from under the covers wearing nothing but the dye in his hair. He made his way over to her and gently placed both of his hands on her shoulders. She barely moved at all as he slipped her robe down and off of her, tossing it away. She was used to it by now. Once she was as bare as he, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close; her naked back pressed to his naked chest.

Raven wasn't exactly sure why Gar liked to hold her this way. Even though they were naked there was nothing sexual about it. He just liked to hold her close for as long as he could. Sometimes she would allow him to hold her for hours. They would lie in bed and she would drift in and out of sleep while he held her. And she loved it. She loved it just as much as he.

"Don't you have to get ready for work?" she asked softly as he held her naked body in the warmth of the morning sunlight that poured in through the window.

"Yes," he sighed.

"Why do you sound so sad?" asked Raven. "You love going to work."

"I do, but it's hard when it means I have to leave you," said Gar.

"I think I'm becoming your obsession," said Raven. She turned towards him so they were now chest to chest. "Promise me that's not happening."

"Why?" asked Gar, running his fingers through her dark hair.

"Because people who obsess over anything always turn out to be crazy," said Raven. "So, please, don't obsess over me."

"Alright, then, I won't," said Gar with a smile, leaning in and kissing her softly. "But, can I at the very least be infatuated with you?"

Raven gave a slight chuckle and said, "Yes, but only because you were able to use a five syllable word in a sentence. And correctly, I might add."

Gar laughed and pressed his lips to hers once more. He kissed her deeply and held her even closer to his body. He loved how Raven always seemed to go limp when he held her this way and kissed her; like he was able to take all her energy through her lips.

He led her back over to their bed and lay her down upon it, laying himself upon her. His lips that had been soft and sweet moments before became hungry and blistering. He kissed her neck and shoulders, running his hand down her thigh.

"Gar, not now," said Raven, trying to hide the fact that she desperately wanted him to take her again. "You have to go to work."

"Work can wait," said Gar, slipping his hand to her inner thigh and caressing it, trying to spread her legs for him.

"Please, I don't want you to get in trouble for being late," said Raven, grabbing his caressing hand. "I promise, we can continue this tonight."

Gar stopped his kisses and said, "But I'm not coming home till late."

"I know," said Raven.

"And I can't promise I'll be sober," said Gar. "I mean, when Me, Vic, and Dick have a boys' night out we tend to get kinda trashed."

"I've noticed," said Raven. "Now get going."

"But, I mean, I know it usually takes a while, but I'll only be like a half an hour late," he said with a grin.

"Alright, don't get cocky there Mr. Fantastic Lover," said Raven, pushing him off of her. "Now go get ready."

"Fine," Gar groaned and crawled off of the bed. "But, if you'll excuse me, I have to go take a cold shower first. Unless, you'd like to join me?"

"No thanks," said Raven, slipping her robe back on. "I'm going to have some tea."

"Awe, you're no fun," Gar pouted.

"I never said I was," said Raven and with that she left for the kitchen.

Once Gar had taken his cold shower and gotten dressed he was off to the zoo. Even though he was in charge of renovating it and all, he still kept his position leading tour groups around. At the moment they were redoing the primate section, so the group wouldn't get to see them, but Gar still told them all about the animals they weren't getting to see.

After work he quickly ran home to change. And, after being refused by Raven again, he headed out to meet his buddies. The three met at a local bar to catch up on what was going on.

"So, Kori go over the wedding budget yet?" asked Vic, taking a sip of his beer.

"Oh, you have no idea," Dick shuddered and took a sip of his beer as well. "She's planning on flying everyone from her country over."

"Come on, dude, that can't be true," Gar laughed.

"You'd be surprised," said Dick. "She wants everything completely traditional."

"Man, what'd ya think was gonna happen?" asked Vic. "She loves her heritage."

"I know, and as much as I want to make her happy and give her the wedding of her dreams, I don't think I can afford it," said Dick. "At this point I'm going to be dipping into our dream house account."

"How's that going?" asked Gar.

"Eh, I doubt we'll be moving anytime soon," said Dick.

"Why don't ya ask your father for some money?" asked Vic.

"He's not my father, for the hundredth time," said Dick. "And the last thing I'm going to do is ask him for anything."

"Fine, whatever, it was just a suggestion," said Vic.

"Too bad you couldn't have found someone who already has a house, like me," said Gar, smugly.

"Speaking of which, how're you and Raven doing?" asked Dick.

"Awesome," said Gar with a smile. "And I know we're getting serious because she's started refusing to sleep with me."

"So… ya sex life isn't doing so good?" asked Vic.

"No, it's great," said Gar, taking a sip of his beer. "It's just, I wanted to do it this morning and she said that I should go to work instead so I wasn't late."

"Well that just sounds like she doesn't want you to get in trouble at work," said Dick.

"Yeah, man, just cuz she said no this morning doesn't mean she'll say no tonight," said Vic.

"Well, she did say that we could do it when I got home," said Gar. "So… does this mean we're not that serious?"

"Trust me, you're plenty serious," said Vic, patting Gar on the back.

"Yeah, I mean, you two are living together," said Dick. "Hell, you're practically married."

"I know, I can't wait until I get to actually marry her," said Gar. "How long do I have to wait, again, until I can propose?"

"She's gotta be the one to throw the idea around," said Vic. "She's still vulnerable and ya could still scare her away."

"Besides, I forbid you to get engaged before I get married," said Dick.

"Excuse me?" Gar laughed.

"I agree, man, one engaged couple at a time," said Vic.

"Fine," said Gar. "When're you getting married anyway?"

"Six months," said Dick.

"Six months?!" said Gar. "I've gotta wait six months?!"

"Trust me, it's a good thing," said Vic. "Six months'll give ya a good, solid relationship with Rae. You'll know if ya really wanna marry her then."

"But I wanna marry her now!" said Gar.

"You might think you do, but after you go through some holidays and arguments you'll really know," said Dick.

"Whatever," said Gar taking another sip of his beer. "I know what I know."

A few hours later the three finished up their boy's night out and headed back home. Gar felt a little buzzed, but he made sure not to drink too much. He wanted to have some fun with Raven before going to bed. He hadn't disappointed her in the bedroom yet and he wasn't about to let it happen due to some beer being in his system.

As he entered the mansion he noticed that it was all dark. He guessed she must have been in bed. It wasn't really all that late, but he knew sometimes she liked to go to bed early. He knew just about everything about her. He headed upstairs and as he walked down the hallway to their room he noticed something… odd. He saw that the nursery light was on and the door was closed.

He softly turned the knob and opened the door. He was surprised to see Raven in her robe passed out in the rocking chair, a book on her lap. He had never seen this before. He went to her and took the book off of her lap and set it aside. He placed his arms under and around her, scooping her up. She moaned for a moment and slowly awoke.

"What's going on?" she asked, confused.

"You were asleep in the rocking chair," said Gar, heading out of the nursery. "I'm gonna take you to bed."

"Oh," said Raven, relaxing. "Okay then."

He took her to their room and lay her down on the bed, disrobing her. He decided he wasn't going to push her for sex tonight. She was obviously tired and he wouldn't mind going to sleep either. He stripped down to his usual sleeping attire and slid into bed with her.

"How was your boys' night out?" asked Raven, cuddling up next to him.

"Good," said Gar, kissing her forehead. "You just read tonight?"

"Pretty much," she said.

"Can I ask why you were reading in the nursery?" he asked, beginning to rub her lower back in small circles.

"I like to read in there," she said in her tired state.

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "I've always loved being in there."

"Oh," said Gar. "I didn't know that."

"I know," said Raven, snuggling in closer to him. "I didn't tell you because I thought you'd think I was weird."

Gar let out a soft chuckle and kissed her. "You don't have to worry about being weird around me," he said. She smiled in return and settled in to sleep while he continued to rub her back.

But Gar wasn't ready to sleep yet. He had a few things to think about. He thought about finding Raven in the nursery and how she'd said she loved being in there. Was that really where she did her reading when she was alone? She must have felt pretty comfortable in there to read for hours on end. But why the nursery, of all places? She had dozens of rooms in the mansion and this was where she chose to read? Not in the larger than life library, or the patio she had in the back which had taken him a while to find, or one of the parlors. No, she chose the nursery. Why?

And then it hit him. As many times as he'd tried to get it through his head that she'd once been pregnant, it never seemed to sink it; until now. Raven had been excited about her child. She had wanted to have a baby. And she still did. Raven wanted a baby.

Gar looked at his lover as she slept. After finally putting two and two together he couldn't help but look at her differently. She had given him everything he'd ever wanted and beyond. And what had he given her other than his love? Nothing. But that was because she never asked for anything or acted like she needed anything. Except this.

He might not have been a genius when it came to many things, other than animals, but he did know a few things for sure. Someday he was going to marry Raven Roth and someday he was going to have children with her. Why did someday have to be so far away?

"Raven?" he said, awaking her.

"Yes?" she asked, half asleep and slightly startled from being awake.

He pressed his forehead to hers and asked softly, "Will you marry me?"

Raven opened her eyes and looked deep into his. She had never seen his face so serious or his eyes so full of love. She softly smiled and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Yes."

The End

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