For the first time in a long time, Mello was dreading an evening with Matt. Not because they were arguing, no; they were doing perfect, as far as relationships go. But tonight was THE night. Their 5th anniversary. Granted they'd been dating since he was 15, so they were only now starting to have a real, adult relationship, but Matt had always been a hopeless romantic- he'd start crying whenever he heard that Celine Dion song from Titanic. So, Mello wasn't exactly dreading the night so much as worried that he wouldn't be able to come through. What if Matt expected some huge ordeal, with flowers and singing? Or a private dinner where Mello would drop to one knee and profess his unending love for him? It was too much pressure for just one dinner. It was just a day, after all. Mello didn't see the importance of it. Just dinner. Just a date. Just an anniversary…..with Matt.

His concentration was broken then when one of his men came to stand before him, clearing his throat impatiently.

"Marcus." He said quietly, raising his eyes from the floor to meet those of his employee. "I'm about to leave, this had better be fucking important."

Marcus cleared his throat again and looked nervous. Nobody interrupted Mello when he was brooding, especially not when he was about to go home. "You got a call, sir. It's your friend Matt."

Mello chuckled inwardly as he rose to leave the room and pick up the phone. Matt was probably calling to make sure that Mello was leaving, to make sure that he wouldn't cancel tonight's dinner plans for work. The thought flickered through Mello's mind for a second, but he quickly cast it aside. He'd canceled on Matt only once, and the disappointment in the red head's eyes, even behind the goggles, was a look Mello never wanted to see again. Which was why tonight's anniversary was stressing Mello out more than his job. He picked up the phone and took Matt off hold.

"Yeah Matty." He said, giving Marcus the signal to leave the room.

"Oh hi Mells!" Matt chirped from the other end. "I've been on hold for like EVER. And you should really think about getting some 'on hold' music to play, because listening to nothing is boring when you're waiting to talk to someone. I had to hum to myself to stay awake." He was rambling again. Typical, absent minded Matt. "Listen. Uh, I know you said that calling you at work wasn't allowed, but your cell was off and I just wanted to make sure that…."

"….Make sure of what, Matt?" Here it comes….Mello thought.

"Make sure….that…."

Mello sighed. Matt was nervous, like he fully expected Mello to say that something had come up at work, or that he wouldn't be able to make it tonight.

"Matt…"

"I just wanted to call and see if we were still on for dinner tonight? I mean we can always eat at the apartment if you have to stay late…" The defeat in Matt's voice made Mello cringe. He hated seeing Matt upset, and hearing it was just as bad.

"I'll be at our apartment in 20 minutes. I was just about to leave when you called. Be dressed and ready, so we can leave as soon as I change. Okay?"

Matt's voice was noticeably happier. "Oh okay!" Mello smiled. Back to normal. "I'll be ready. I can't wait, oh my god It's going to be so much fun! Can'ya believe it Mells? 5 years! To the day! Well, night, actually. Whatever. I'll see you soon!" Mello replaced the phone back to its cradle and sighed. Matt definitely had high expectations for tonight. One date couldn't possibly demonstrate how strongly Mello cared for Matt, but he was determined to show as much as he could tonight, whatever the cost.

45 minutes later, they were finally making their way to the restaurant, electing travel on foot rather than take a cab or use Matt's car. They would have departed sooner, but a semi-formal Matt was sitting on their apartment floor, totally engrossed in the television. When Mello emerged some 15 minutes later, fully dressed and ready to leave, Matt refused to budge, offering "I'm almost past my high score, if I leave now there could be a power outage or something and everything would be ruined…" as an explanation for the delay. So Mello waited. And waited. Until finally Matt leapt into the air with a cry of "YES! In your FACE!" then saw Mello's impatient look, calmed down and walked to the door with a smile.

They walked down the sidewalk, Matt in black dress pants and an appropriate top, still emblazoned with his trademark stripes however. Mello donned leather as usual. In Matt's opinion, the best part about living in Los Angeles was that they could walk hand in hand down the street without anybody making a big deal out of it. Not like in England, where they were scoffed at during the critical first months of their complicated relationship. Some girls didn't get the message, however, and tried flirting with Matt whenever they'd stop walking to look at something, usually Mello inspecting a particular building he found interesting or Matt gawking at the doors of the video game store. An angry look from Mello usually shut them up, but occasionally he'd smother Matt with a pants-tightening kiss to make sure they understood. The shock on their faces was amusing, but not as amusing as Matt trying to fight arousal in public. Now, though, they walked uninterrupted to the small restaurant where almost a month ago Mello had called in reservations for two.

There was a line at the door as the restaurant slowly processed each reservation, and Matt whipped out his DS when they took their place in line behind a couple only slightly older than themselves. Mello was content to stare at the sky, shoot glares at the douchebag that was checking out his leather clad ass, then stare at the sky some more. The woman in front of them turned, and Mello noticed she was pregnant. No chance of that ever being me, fortunately. He thought, glancing at the man standing beside her. I'm pretty sure Matt doesn't have a uterus. Matt was looking at the young couple too, but then returned his goggled gaze to the small screen in his hands.

It's like he's not even paying attention. Mello thought to himself, looking at Matt out of the corner of his eye. Maybe he really doesn't care about the anniversary? Otherwise wouldn't he be chattering nonstop about how we met and how much he loves me and stuff? Or is that conversation for dinner? He seems pretty nonchalant right now…..

The couple ahead of them made it to the reservation desk in the foyer of the restaurant, and Matt put his DS back in his pocket. Mello smiled at him softly, most of the anxiety in his stomach having left. This was just a dinner after all. When they were seated and placed their orders, Mello looked across the table at his boyfriend, the one constant that had always been present in his life, and listened to him recount his day. Fuck, he loved him. More than he would ever know. At that moment, Mello was sure he'd do anything Matt asked him, no matter how ridiculous. Then Matt took his goggles off.

There were only two reasons Matt would take his goggles off; if he had something important to say or they were in bed, sleeping or otherwise occupied. And unless Matt planned to shock everyone in the restaurant by bending over their dinner table and doing the deed, Mello knew he was about to say something serious.

"Mells…" He said quietly. The intense green of his eyes seemed to tunnel straight into Mello's own, causing his heart to jump suddenly.

"Yeah Matt?" Mello was nervous again. Matt really did want this night to be special. Was he not doing enough? Should he ask the waiter for the house's finest champagne? They hadn't even been served yet…

"I was thinking. We've been together for a while now,"

Mello's heart began to beat faster. Shitshitshitshit, I did something wrong, this dinner's not right, I should have picked a nicer restaurant, he wants me to propose marriage shiiiiit….. Matt was still talking.

"And it's always just been us. Back at Wammy's, when we moved to America…It's always just been you and me."

"I like you and me." Mello said. What am I supposed to say?

"I like you and me too, Mells. But, It's just, you've got your work and stuff, I feel like we don't really have the same kind of relationship we used to."

"What do you mean, Matt?" IS HE FUCKING TRYING TO BREAK UP WITH ME?!

"I mean, in England, you were my only friend. And then you were my boyfriend, my only boyfriend, since ever. We moved here, and we toughed it out until you got a good job and worked your way up to boss…now we have a lot of money and a nicer apartment…"

Mello's work was the Mafia, naturally. Being the boss came with many perks, loads of cash being one of them.

"What are you trying to say, Matt?" Mello was scared. He's unhappy. He's breaking up with me. I'm not enough to keep him satisfied. Oh god, why?

"I was just thinking we could use something to reconnect, you know? To get back to where we used to be. Depending on each other and whatever." Matt shrugged, like the statement was as casual as telling Mello the TV went out or that he wanted Chinese food instead of Thai for dinner. Mello, on the other hand, was relieved to the point of smiling openly, something he rarely did.

"What'd you have in mind, Matty?" This was much better. If Matt wanted to reconnect, they'd be on a plane to Hawaii in the morning. A vacation sounded pretty good, actually. "Wanna go on vacation? Spend some quality time?"

Matt looked nervous now. "Well, that wasn't exactly my first thought.."

Mello chuckled. "Dirty, dirty minded young man. What do you want? Anything. I'll make it happen."

Matt's face was as read as his hair, and his eyes were glued to his drinking glass. "Well…what if..we…"

Mello cocked an eyebrow. What did Matt want that had him this hesitant to say?

"What if we hmmderbebmmm…."

"What?

"What..if.. we…hmmdebabmnmnphmn…"

"What if we WHAT?"

Matt sighed and looked Mello straight in the eyes and said: "What if we had a baby?"