Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Another World. I am borrowing them in this story for a nonprofit appreciation of the show. Don't sue.

Cameron stood at the counter and stared at the small objects gleaming in front of him. He came to the mall jewelers hoping he could afford at least a cheap diamond. The prices were much higher than he had expected. It wasn't that he wanted the Hope diamond or anything, just a real one.

"God, I wish I had just a little more money," he thought to himself. Luckily, Amanda had pulled a few strings and found him a contracting job a few months ago. He had managed to save up most of it since Christmas just for this purpose, but it still wasn't enough. "You're just going to have to buy her a fake diamond, Sinclair. There's no way around it. Maybe if you're honest with her up front. Right, I'll just tell her it's a fake before I even give it to her and then tell her that I'll buy her a real one as soon as I save up enough for one. . . Yeah, that's going to go over real well. She'll laugh in you're face. Amanda's had everything she could ever want her whole life and you're going to walk up and ask her to marry you with a fake ring." Cameron argued with himself in his head. He even considered just walking out of the store right then and there and forgetting about it.

But, he couldn't do that either. " Amanda loves you, Cameron. Why can't you get that into your head? She isn't going to care about the ring. . . I just want to give her something to show her how much she means to me. She's given me everything I have, and I can't even give her a decent engagement ring."

Gary walked into the jewelers, not paying any attention to its occupants. A gentleman came and asked whether he could help him, and Gary showed him the cracked crystal in his watch. It would only take a few minutes to fix. He decided to wait on it.

Gary glanced around the store. Standing over a counter was a man that looked remarkably like his brother. "No," thought Gary. He walked over anyway. "Cameron?"

Cameron jerked in surprise and looked up to see his brother. "Hey, Gary. What are you doing here?"

"Getting my watch fixed." Gary glanced down at the jewelry counter Cameron had been so intently staring at. "And you?" he asked slyly.

Cameron grinned and took in a deep breath. "I'm . . . I'm going to ask Amanda to marry me."

Gary smiled from ear to ear and gave his brother the biggest hug. "I am so proud of you Cameron. You're going to have a baby and a great wife. You've . . . you've changed so much in the past few months. You've really turned your life around. I'm proud of you Cameron."

Cameron nodded, not really wanting to talk about the turn around part. He closed his eyes and thought. He never thought he would ever hear his brother say that he was proud of him, never. It meant a lot. But then that little voice in his head started talking again. It said that he had nothing to be proud of because he couldn't even get his girlfriend a real engagement ring. Amanda was never going to agree to marry him. A family was something he would never, ever have. Cameron frowned and shook his head but refined his comment to "I just wish I could get her a nicer ring."

"Amanda won't care how big a rock you give her. She may come from money, but you're giving her the ring will matter more to her than the ring itself."

"Yeah, I know that . . . I just want to give her a real one. Amanda means so much to me . . . so much! I want to give her something that really symbolizes our love. A cubic zirconia doesn't exactly say that."

"Yeah I'd say that fake diamonds aren't a good idea. Why don't you just get a loan on a small real diamond?" Gary asked.

"Gary," Cameron said with a mocking look. "I' have no credit history whatsoever. I've been out of prison for less than a year, and I've had a real job for all of two months. No one is going to give me a loan for $10, much less enough to buy a ring with. This was just a stupid idea anyway."

"Well, I'll co-sign for you." Gary said shrugging; it was an obvious solution.

"Gary, no. No way."

"Why not? It would be the same as you taking out the loan yourself. I'd just have my name on it."

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Gary." Cameron looked at the floor. It was embarrassing enough not to be able to afford a ring for Amanda, but it was humiliating to have his brother offer to get a loan for him.

"You aren't asking; I'm offering. Let me do this for you, Cameron. Okay, let me do something nice to help out my little brother."

"Gary . . . I want it to be from me . . ."

"It would be. You'd be paying for it. Like I said, it would just have my name on it, too. Now come on and pick out a moderately priced ring and let's check into this loan thing."

"Gary, I don't want to use you like that."

"You're not using me. It's a gift for my brother. I'm allowed to do that aren't I? We're family! It's a present for my brother. Please let me do this for you."

Cameron smiled. "Okay." He couldn't argue with Gary. "Hey, Gary, can I . . . ask you something else?"

"Sure thing, ask away, anything you want."

Cameron paused. "If Amanda does say yes, will you be my best man? It would . . . it would really mean a lot to me, Gary, to have my brother up there with me."

"Are you kidding me? What's with this 'if she says yes?' She is going to say yes. There's no doubt about that, and you had better let me be your best man or you are in big trouble, Bro."

"Thanks," Cameron said, giving his brother a slight slap on the shoulder. "It really does mean a lot to me."

"It means a lot to me too, Cameron. I didn't think I'd ever get my brother back, and now I'm going to be the best man at his wedding. I couldn't be happier. Amanda is going to be a great addition to the family." Cameron smiled. Gary's support meant the world to him. Gary was one of the few people, other than Amanda, that could tell him he was worth something. That he deserved happiness. It just didn't seem real. "Now you just have to pick out something Amanda would like," Gary said glancing down at the array of rings before them.

"Oh, I already know which one. That one," Cameron said pointing to an exquisite, yet reasonably priced diamond ring.

"Okay then let's do this."

"Thanks, Bro."

Cameron strode into the Cory mansion with a grin across his face.

"There you are. You're late," Amanda smiled and kissed him hello. "And what are you so happy about?"

Cameron avoided the question. "What are you doing tonight, gorgeous?"

"I don't know . . . just spending it with the man I love I guess." Amanda grinned as she rubbed her hand up and down his muscular back.

"Good, because we're going out tonight."

"We are? Where are we going?"

Cameron kissed her again, pulled her close, and held her in his arms. "That part's a surprise."

"Um, a surprise." Amanda couldn't keep her hands off of him. She loved to touch him; she loved the feel of his warm body up against hers. "I love surprises . . . but, how do I know what to wear?"

"Well if it were up to me you wouldn't be wearing anything, but I doubt that would be appropriate." Amanda gave him a good hard nudge. Cameron responded by kissing her neck and shoulders.

"Let's go up to your closet and pick out something good." He grabbed her hand and ran up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Goodness, he's got a lot of energy today," Amanda thought to herself. "I wonder what he's up to."

Cameron flung the closet doors open. "You think you have enough clothes here?" He loved teasing her.

"No," Amanda said meekly. "A girl can never have enough clothes."

He started shifting through her fancier dresses. "No," he said moving a more conservative dress. He flipped through a few more. "Ah, here we go," he said stopping at a simple, elegant black formal . . . that just happened to show quite a bit of cleavage and thigh when she wore it. "This one," he said holding it up to her beautiful body.

Amanda smiled, "That one? How did I know you'd pick something like that?"

"Now, I would tell you to get ready since I know it takes you hours to do your little make-over routine, but you're gorgeous already." Amanda smiled . "So that gives a while before we get ready, and I have no idea what we could do with that hour."

"Oh you don't do you?" Cameron shook his head even as his hand was moving up her miniskirt and caressing her thigh. "Well, I'm sure we can find something exciting to do."

After eating at the best and most expensive restaurant in Bay City, Cameron held Amanda's hand at the table and asked her to dance. She joyfully agreed. His body curved into hers as they slow-danced. Even just being this close to her sent thrills up his spine. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine a life this happy could exist, much less for him. As the song came to an end, Cameron nodded at band director.

A familiar song began to play in the background. "They're playing our song!" Amanda said, amazed. Cameron nodded.

The director took the microphone and began to speak, "Is there an Amanda Cory here tonight?"

Amanda blushed. "That's me," she said cautiously.

"Ah, well I think there's someone here tonight that has something he wants to say to you."

Cameron took the microphone. His heart was pounding. Maybe making this such a public thing wasn't such a good idea. He was horrible with words, but he wanted this to be perfect for Amanda. What if she said no? What if she ran screaming from the room? He forced himself to ask her. "Amanda, you know I'm not good with words, but I'm going to try this anyway. . . I love you Amanda. You've made me the man that I am right now, and I can't imagine my life without you. You're going to have our child, and I want us to be the happiest family ever." He paused and took something out of his tux pocket. "I guess what I'm trying to say is . . ." he lowered himself onto one knee, "Amanda Cory, will you marry me?"

Amanda was taken aback. She hadn't really thought about marriage. She knew that she would be with Cameron forever, and that they would be wonderful parents to their baby, but marriage . . .

Cameron took the ring out of its box and held it up to Amanda. She wasn't saying anything; he started to get nervous. Maybe her feelings weren't as strong as he thought. Maybe she didn't really love him at all. Maybe she would consider it an embrassment to marry poor white trash. "No," he told himself, "she loves you, and you know it."

Her eyes lit up at the ring, "Cameron, it's gorgeous."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes! Are you kidding; of course, yes. There's nothing that would make me happier in this world than to be your wife."

Cameron sighed in relief and got back up on both feet. He kissed Amanda more passionately than he had ever kissed her before.

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen that was a yes. Let's hear it for the newly engaged couple," the director announced as he turned around and started directing the song again.

Amanda and Cameron danced in each other's arms all night.

Amanda stood outside of Gary and Josie's house giving herself a little pep talk again before knocking on the door.

Josie answered it. "Hi, Amanda. Come on in," she said with a smile. Their relationship had certainly improved in the last few months. "Gary isn't here right now, he's working on a case."

"That's okay. Actually, I came to talk to you," Amanda responded.

"To me? Okay, what's up?"

"Josie, I'm going to ask you something, but I don't want you to feel obligated to say yes."

"Okay, what do you want to ask me?"

"Well I'm sure Gary told you that Cameron and I have set our wedding date."

"Yes, we're both so happy for you. Gary couldn't be more excited about being his brother's best man. That's something he never thought he would get to do. He's so proud of Cameron."

"Well this kinda has to do with that. I know that our relationship in the past hasn't been the best, and there was actually a time when we pretty much hated each other . . ."

"Hey, that's over with. We've made up now, right?"

"Just let me finish, okay? Ever since we made up you have been a great friend to me, and you've always been there when I needed to talk to you about stuff I couldn't tell anyone else, and in a month we're going to be sister-in-laws. Where I'm trying to go with this is . . . you don't have to say yes but . . . I'd like for you to be my matron of honor."

"Me?" Josie asked incredulously.

"We're practically sisters now, Josie, and it would mean so much to Cameron."

"Wouldn't you rather have Paulina or Sophia or someone?"

Amanda shook her head. "Like I said, I don't want you to feel obligated to do it. If you don't want to because of what happened before I'd understand, but I really want you to be my matron of honor."

"Of course I'll do it Amanda," Josie smiled. She couldn't believe this. Who would have believed four months ago that she'd be the matron of honor at Amanda Cory's wedding?

Amanda hugged Josie. "Great! Will you help me find a dress? Something that won't show how huge I'm going to get and will be ready in less than a month?"

Matt walked into the family room and saw Amanda, just for whom he was looking for. "Hey, Amanda, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.

"Sure," Amanda said to her brother. "What do you need, Matt?"

"I want to talk to you about something serious, but you have to promise me you won't be offended."

"Okay, although those words together in a sentence frighten me. What's wrong?"

"I just thought that maybe we should talk about you and Cameron talking to the lawyers about a prenuptial agreement."

"A prenup? You think that Cameron and I should get a prenup?"

"Amanda, I know you love Cameron, but you have to think about the future."

"Matt . . ."

"We both know that marriages don't last forever, Amanda."

"Well, mine is going to. Cameron and I have a love that's deeper than that."

"Listen to me Amanda. Cameron's never had any kind of money right?" She nodded. "Well then he doesn't know how to deal with money. It would be for the best."

From behind the door, Cameron turned his thoughts away from what they were saying. He had just come down to kiss his fianc=E9 before he went on his run . He hadn't meant to overhear them. Tears started to trickle down Cameron's face. "Amanda wants me to sign a prenuptial for her. God, doesn't she know I don't want her money? I thought she trusted me, but I guess I thought wrong. You know better, Sinclair. Why should anyone trust you? You're a worthless piece of crap." He started to listen again.

"Come on, Amanda. How much do you really know about the guy anyway? He spent years in prison for murder for God's sake. Do you really want to trust your money to a felon?"

Cameron couldn't take anymore. He ran out of the house; he ran from the words. "That's what they still think of me, I'm a criminal and murderer. I'll never be anything more, never, not even to Amanda."

Back in the Cory family room, Amanda became furious with Matt. "That is none of your business, okay? You don't know the situation! You have no idea!"

"Amanda, I asked you not to get mad."

"How can I not get mad, you just completely trashed my fiancé and the father of my child?"

"All I'm saying is that it's great that you trust Cameron, but think about it just in case. What harm can it do?"

"Asking Cameron something like that would tear him apart, Matt. I trust him, and he needs to feel that trust. I won't break his heart like that. I won't do that to him!"

"If Cameron really loves you then he won't mind signing a form."

"My answer is no, Matt. That's my final decision. I don't want you to ever bring this up again." Amanda stormed out of the room.

Cont'd