There she goes again

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022)

A man holding his baby up to paintings and talking to him at an art gallery

Priscilla Quintana & Tommy Martinez Good Trouble (4.05)

But this was a cause for celebration. He wanted to do this with her, and they were starting a family. And she'd always been a physical person, and it wasn't like they hadn't been there before. "I want you to know," she murmured against his mouth, a smirk on her face as she crawled into lap, eager to feel more of him against her body, "that this is not what I came over for."

Her reaction to him made him smile into her lips. He'd kissed her plenty of times, but it felt just a little different than it had before when it was just the two of them. The stakes were higher now, they were linked forever. It could have terrified him, but somehow it only fuelled his affection for her. Forest would probably never tell Merrick, but there were periods when being beside her was the only thing that kept him from getting on a flight back to Belfast. Whether it was homesickness or just loneliness he hadn't been able to pin down. Her tongue along his lip forced him to swallow a moan and he was quick to open his mouth to her. It took everything in him not to start pulling at her clothes, but the moment was too joyous for him to rush anything. Instead, he slipped one hand under her shirt and ran his fingers along the warmth of her soft back. The weight of Merrick's body on his lap had Forest almost instantly more aroused and his other hand moved to grasp her ass, not stopping his exploration of her mouth. "Isn't it?" he teased with a smirk, nipping at her bottom lip. "This not what people do when they're celebrating?" Pulling away a second to look at her, the grin returned and he shook his head with a quiet chuckle. She was like no one else he'd been with and had his hands not been occupied holding her against him, he'd have tried to pinch himself. "Jesus, you're a fine thing," he laughed, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear before returning his lips to hers and letting them kiss their way to her neck. "Pure jammie I found the likes of you all the way over here."

"We have a lot to figure out, and a lot to organize and, god, I don't even know where to begin. I have a doctors appointment next week, if you want to come. And in the meantime, we can start to talk about logistics and everything else. How to tell our families, for one. My mother is going to love you, so there's one thing we don't need to worry about."

A slight shiver ran through him when their lips parted, as if the rest of him was feeling the flutter of the butterflies in his stomach. Raking his teeth over his bottom lip he tried not to think about the flush that had surely spread across his cheeks, hoping she wouldn't realize how much he missed her lips already. His smiled widened to its max capacity, beaming with an energy that could have powered the whole damn city. Those words ignited something within him and he felt a swell of anticipation and urgency right along with Merrick. "We're having a baby." Forest repeated her words in a tone that was far calmer than he felt. He'd always been able to put on a cool exterior, despite what he was feeling inside, still, had he not been busy watching her with complete adoration, he might have been impressed by how well he was holding his excitement in. He wanted jump the air and run around the block telling everyone he saw that he was going be a dad, and not only that, he'd was having that baby with Merrick Wood, someone he'd had a mounting crush on for longer than he wanted to admit. "I'll be there," he nodded. He wouldn't miss it for the world. His eyes wandered over her face as she spoke but kept landing on her lips. "Is she?" he smirked and forced himself to make eye contact, everything in him feeling warm when their gazes met. "Well don't worry, I'll still do my best to make a good impression, can't have anyone thinking I woo'd you hoping for a green card or something," he teased. Try as he might, he couldn't help but kiss her again, this time with a bit more intention and excitement. His left hand cupped the side for her face and his thumb traced her jaw softly, while his right rest on her hip. The awareness that only inches away she held a part of them that would change everything come to fruition as he pulled her body a little closer to his and let his hand graze her abdomen.

"it's going to be a lot of changes," she said, reaching out to hold onto his hand - a soft gesture, one they usually limited themselves from. "I mean, a kid is - fuck, it's life changing. And my family will want to be involved and I'm sure yours too and I mean, this isn't at all how I planned to do this but..." she took a deep breath, trying to find her center again. "I'm going to have it. I can't not. And if you're in, then you better be all in - not just for the next nine months, but for the rest of our lives. No matter what happens with you and I, we're going to have to be co-parents. I won't let my child get attached if you think you're going to run at any point."

He hadn't been this nervous around her since the day they met and he hoped his hand wasn't too sweaty as she held it. A surge of anticipation running through him as he waited for her decision. It wasn't until she declared she'd be having the baby that Forest realized how much he'd been hoping that would be her answer. Without thinking he took her face in his hands gently and kissed her. It wasn't steamy or forceful, just a kiss. He'd always been an affectionate person when he cared about someone, especially in times of celebration, but he wasn't sure what was appropriate and cut the kiss short as soon as he realized what he was doing. A goofy smile plastered on his face, he nodded. "My Ma' will probably end up flying over here as soon as we tell her," he laughed, shaking his head a little. He was the only one of his siblings who didn't have kids, even his youngest sister was due with her first in the Summer. His smile softened to a more serious tone and he took both of her hands in his. "I'm in. I'm not running, I'm not leaving. It's you and me for this kid no matter what happens," he promised, looking her in the eyes. "It's not what we planned, no, but I can't think of anyone else I'd rather to do this with, Mer. This is one lucky baby to have you as its mum." Sappy as it sounded, he'd never been more committed to anything in his life, not rugby, not the rehab after surgery, not even his career.

While You Were Sleeping (1995) dir. Jon Turteltaub

Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena