The Mission (November 2001)

Isabella was exhausted, but she also had never felt more alive than she did right then. She wanted...no, needed to be with Tony. The two of them hadn't been together in weeks. The only time they had not had sex longer than that was when they had been broken up. She began to kiss along his jawline. As he began to speak about the coolant leak she realized that she was going to need to distract him quickly. She moved her lips up and kissed him and at the same time she began to work "him." That did the trick and a while later she lay next to him as they both began to cool down. Having sex had certainly warmed her body up nicely. She lightly kissed Tony's chest a few times as she began to drift off to sleep. "I love you Tony."

Ava laid in Franks arms. The room had a little chill to it without onset of Thanksgiving. She had all but ripped Franks clothes off once she managed to get him alone. Frank loved how aggressive Ava was when it came to affection and sex. She didn't hold anything back and she asked for what she wanted, which he loved. He liked to give her that part of himself as it made him feel desired and loved. They were both just coming down from their highs and his chest was still a bit sweaty. He rubbed her bottom as she lay against him with one leg over his. Her head lay where his shoulder met his arm and she lazily played with his chest hair with a finger.

"If this is how you react when I take on dangerous missions, I might just have to take them on more often," Frank said with a grin. "I'm not certain we will be able to get married before this thing with Loki is settled. Maybe you'll need to go look for a dress very soon...tomorrow? Talk to Isabella, she has alot of pull in this city. I'm pretty certain you'll get penciled in to some of the shops around here. And...price is no object so don't even bother looking at the price tags. Get what you want," he said with a yawn.

Between the thought that Frank could die in space and her pregnancy hormones, Ava had been feeling particularly turned on that night. Thankfully, Frank liked it when she was aggressive in bed. She lay there afterwards, partially entwined in his arms as they both basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking. She kept looking down at her engagement ring and imaging the wedding bands they had picked out with it. She still couldn't believe this was all happening. The thought of going out and looking for wedding dresses almost made her giddy.

"Well, I think you like taking those dangerous missions," she said as she looked up at him with a little grin.

"I think I like coming home to you best of all," Frank said and gave her butt a playful squeeze. "So, you're on board with us remaining here, at least until after the baby is born then?" he asked.

Ava smiled and giggled as Frank playfully squeezed her butt. She then settled back down and looked up at him. "Yes, I actually like the idea of remaining here for a while. Isabella obviously has had a baby before and so I feel like I can rely on her for advice and information. To be honest, I'm excited about the baby...but also a little scared."

"Scared? When have you ever been scared?" Frank asked. "I think you'll be an incredible mother," he said. "You've always had good instincts. This is just a different kind of instinct," He said and then he smiled. "You're boobs will get bigger...I can't wait to see that!" He said excitedly. She already had nice curves but he still wanted to see her breasts all swelled up. Just thinking about that excited him.

Ava smiled and batted away Frank's hands playfully when he reached up to touch her breasts. She then smiled lovingly at him. "So, do you want a boy or a girl? Not that we have much of a choice. I know you had a little boy. Will you be disappointed if it's a girl?"

"I don't care what it is. Boy, girl, it doesn't matter. Just as long as it has your eyes," he said then caressed her hip. "You're so beautiful Ava, I hope its enough to offset my half," he said. He said it in a joking way but he was also being truthful too. He knew he was no looker. "I have a confession to make...we have roughly $300k in cash from the warehouse. I have a small, black felt bag of diamonds as well...I took it off a mobster last year. I have no idea how much those are worth," He added. "Presently, Avenger pay is $250k a year," Frank said.

Ava knew that Frank didn't think he was attractive. However, she found him attractive despite the way he down played himself. She reached up and lightly ran her fingers along the side of his face. However, when he told her how much money they had she blinked in surprise. It took a moment for it all to settle in to her mind. "Ok...so currently, we're pretty well off. Maybe we should start a trust fund for our child."

"I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking half and a life insurance policy. Medical and all that is covered already...and disability," He said. "We also get a clothing allowance and any food we want, there is the list on the fridge in the kitchen. This is really a pretty nice set up. And we get privacy too, when we want it. You can get pretty loud sometimes...so that's a good thing," He said then he shifted so he was facing her. He stroked his hand into her, long, wavy black hair. "I can't wait to marry you but I was thinking...maybe we should change both of our last names. And let our pasts die. No more looking back. What do you think?" he asked.

Ava really liked being back in the Tower and she could tell that Frank really liked it too. They had a nice salary and a great living space. There was always plenty of food and Isabella was an incredible cook. It was also great being apart of a team again and having that support and back up. She hoped that Frank would choose to stay. She truly didn't see him being happy working in construction. She knew he would do it, but the man had a taste for danger. 

"So, you want to change our last names before we get married? Should we go ahead and change it to the same thing then?"

"Well, if you took my name, you'd have to change it anyway. I think we should just change them to the same thing. That way our children would share our name," he said. He had used the world 'children' without thinking though. Alluding to he might desire more than one. They hadn't talked about that yet. Everything was still so new.

"I don't have a clue what to make it though," he said. "Any ideas?" Frank asked.

Ava couldn't help but notice that Frank used the term "children." Clearly, he wanted more than one. Ava felt she could be open to that, but it was something to be discussed in the future. 

"I have no idea. I think it is something we should take some time thinking about. At the same time, we could come up with baby names for both boys and girls so we know that the names will all work well together." 

She then yawned and settled down against his chest. She was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open.