Normaling: An Ikeaverse installment
Title: Normaling
Rating: T
Pairing: A/R
Disclaimer: I don't own them; they own me. Credit belongs to defyingnormalcy for the first line and any similar theme. My apologies to Tina Fey for borrowing some of Liz Lemon's experiences for this piece.
A/N: This is the first installment of Ikeaverse. I left a lot of room for additional stories or drabbles. My idea was to be able to do as much or as little with it as I choose down the road. ETA: After a year of writing in this 'verse, I think it's safe to say I'll keep it going for awhile.
Laura Roslin never thought she’d fall in love with a man who’d bring a U-Haul on their first date. Bill Adama proved her wrong. Of course, he had a perfectly logical explanation for bringing the U-Haul: He had just moved into his apartment that afternoon and didn’t have time to return the van without being late for their date. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was a blind date set up by mutual friends, and Bill didn’t know Laura’s number to contact her. So, rather than risk offending her by being late, Bill pulled up to Laura’s driveway in a U-Haul. This proved to be quite an icebreaker.
“Moving in already? We haven’t even met yet.”
“It’s a long story. Not that I wouldn’t like living here; you have a lovely home, but I don’t usually move so fast.”
“Good to know. I’m Laura,” she said, offering her hand for him to shake, which he did, gladly.
“Bill. It’s nice to meet you. Now I’m ready to move in,” he said with a teasing grin.
“Funny,” Laura said, trying but failing to look unamused. “So, what’s your story?”
“It’s not as interesting as me making too grand a gesture. I just moved into my apartment this afternoon. I didn’t have time to return the van without being late for our date, and I didn’t know how to contact you.”
“So, you were concerned about my feelings?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Hmm. Indeed. You must be hungry after moving all day. My stomach is growling just thinking about it.”
“I could eat.”
“Of course you could,” Laura said, flashing her brightest smile. “Come on, let’s go into the dining room. Dinner’ll be ready any minute.”
“Great. I have to say, I’m surprised you’d agree to have a blind date in your home.”
“Don’t worry, if you weren’t to my liking I would have thrown you out already. I may still do so.”
“You prefer the home-field advantage, then?”
“Always.”
“Good to know.”
Laura led Bill into the dining room, offering him a seat and a drink, but Bill refused either without offering assistance. At first, she was put off by what she perceived as pushiness, but then she realized her guest was a gentleman, something with which she was unused to dealing. So, she acquiesced, allowing him to pour their wine, while she took their dinner out of the oven and prepared their dishes.
The eggplant parmesan was delicious, the salad made from the freshest vegetables the market had to offer, and the wine was from a particularly good year. None of that seemed to matter, though. Between their conversation and their intense soul-gazing, it’s amazing they managed to eat at all.
So, it should come as no surprise that Laura broke another one of her rules that night. She never thought she’d sleep with a man during a first date. After spending extended time with Bill Adama, nearly drowning in his blue eyes, that rule went out the window. By the end of dinner, she had decided she never wanted him out of her sight. So, naturally, she had to invite him into her bed--after an interlude in the kitchen first, of course.
From that night on, the school teacher and the retired Navy commander were inseparable. Bill helped Laura deal with the heartbreak of losing her father and sisters not long after her mother’s passing. Although, he selfishly wondered if she would have even agreed to a blind date if not for their deaths and her friend’s prodding. He too was skeptical about the date, only agreeing to it to shut up his best friend Saul’s annoying wife, Ellen. Ellen was a friend of a friend of Marcia, who was Laura’s friend. Laura had never actually met Ellen, and Bill knew there’d be hell to pay if they were to meet. As much as he hated to admit it, Bill would be eternally grateful to Ellen for her role in bringing Laura into his life.
Whereas Bill helped Laura through her grief, Laura helped Bill transition from military to civilian life. Together, they discovered Bill had a strong passion for history and liked working with kids: He had become a fixture in Laura’s twelfth grade English classroom. She was the supervisor of the English department for K-12, so she only taught AP English to seniors. Anyway, Bill became her unofficial teaching assistant, which helped him decide to go back to school for a teaching degree. However, the ever resourceful, Laura had other ideas for Bill.
“What about ROTC?”
“What about it?”
“You could teach it.”
“First, the school would have to have it.”
“I’m working on it.”
“So, I’m going to be the freeloading boyfriend who gets a job by riding his girlfriend’s coattails?”
“Of course not. The school needs this program. If you don’t want to run it, fine. There are plenty of interested officers and NCO’s who’d be interested.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I’ll talk to Richard and get started writing a grant.”
“Dick’ll just love that.”
“Don’t worry about him.”
“I’m not. Do you really think I’m qualified, Laura?”
“Honey, you commanded an entire aircraft carrier with hundreds of officers and NCO’s. I’m sure you can handle a group of high schoolers.”
“Not as well as you.”
“Hmm. I wish I spent more time in the classroom sometimes.”
“What you do is very important. You can’t be everywhere. Maybe we should consider cloning you.”
“Perish the thought. Could you imagine trying to deal with two or more of me?”
“Yes, please.”
“What about when I’m being unreasonable or just bitchy?”
“Then I’ll love you even more to compensate.”
“I bet you will, too.”
“Always.”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“So, you’ll consider teaching ROTC if I can get the grant together?”
“Of course.”
“And you’ll be nice to Richard?”
“Hopefully I won’t have to for too long, but yeah, I’ll behave.”
“What do you mean?”
“How does Principal Roslin sound?”
“It does have a nice ring to it, but what are you up to?”
“I’m not up to anything. Dick’s looking to move on to greener pasture, and you’re the obvious choice to replace him.”
“What about Tom?”
“Tom’s a dick. I shudder at the thought of him running a school.”
“The decision belongs to the Board of Education, Bill.”
“And they’ll all support you, I promise. Just keep doing your job in the meantime, and help your pathetic lover get his job.”
“You could never be pathetic.”
They weren’t without their share of problems. Bill’s marriage to Carolanne had crashed and burned, and his fear to repeat that mistake was nearly crippling. Bill and Laura had a lovely relationship with Bill’s son Zak, but the other son, Lee, refused to have anything to do with his father and has yet to meet Laura. Carolanne and Lee were two topics the couple steered away from, for the most part. Their agreed philosophy was “if you can’t fix it, don’t discuss it.”
For her part, Laura had been in few relationships, and she had never been in love before. Her feelings for Bill scared her sometimes. But, then she’d look into his eyes, or listen to him read to her before or after they’d made love (a tradition for them since their second date, which was really just a continuation of their first date), or feel his body close to hers as they slept at night, and know she needed him in her life. Plus, Bill had made it quite clear he couldn’t live without her, and Laura’s innate selflessness made it seem cruel to even consider separating from him.
So, after six months of alternating between his apartment and her condo, the couple finally realized they needed a place that would be truly theirs. They found a plot of land, just on the outskirts of town, and had a cabin built on it. Laura showed off her hidden artistic talents in the designing of the plans, and Bill’s practical military training ensured the cabin would be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. The cabin was built, and the couple had to furnish it, so there they were on a Saturday afternoon shopping at Ikea, which also happened to be Valentine’s Day.
Laura was 0-40 against Valentine’s Day. So, her 41st Valentine’s Day was automatically her best. She was in a loving relationship with a good man who made her feel special every day. And they were shopping for furniture to fill their new home. It was perfect.
And Bill was sweet to her all day. She woke up to the sound of him singing to her--something about a woman by a stream. His voice wasn’t the best. It had a Tom Waits like quality to it, which meant it sounded like someone ripped his voice-box out of his chest, stabbed it, ran over it with a truck, and then sewed it back in. But that didn’t matter. Just like with Tom Waits, Bill’s voice had a quality that defied conventions of the typically sonically pleasing. And Laura loved it. As far as she was concerned, he could sing forever, just as long as he only sang to her.
Then he made her M&M pancakes, which were her absolute favorite. This was a discovery they had made together, early on in their relationship. Bill had offered to cook her breakfast one morning, after wearing her out the night before. Little did she know, Bill only knew how to prepare a few meals. One of them was what he made for his boys when they visited him during his shore leaves: M&M pancakes. So that was what he made his new girlfriend for breakfast. In its own way, it was quite a gesture: He had only ever made them for the two people he loved most in the world, by making them for Laura, he was acknowledging her importance in his life. Anyway, Laura loved them, and they agreed he’d make them for her on special occasions. They also agreed she’d teach him how to cook, which led to messes, arguments, sex, and great tasting food.
Obviously, Valentine’s Day counted as a special occasion, hence the pancakes. And they were served to her in bed--always a bonus. Her man made them just for her, and they were delicious. So, it was shaping up to be a wonderful day. But they still had to go to Ikea.
All of Laura’s friends warned her that Ikea was a couple’s litmus test. One of her more colorful friends promised she’d experience “epic hate sex after the fight.” Laura wasn’t sure she believed that. Not that they never fought. They did disagree and frequently. But they respected each other’s opinions, and they never went to bed angry. The longest fight they had ever had lasted until bedtime, and they didn’t even have make-up sex. Instead, they spooned, whispering words of love, apology, and forgiveness until they drifted off to sleep. That was the last fight they’d had in weeks, and she couldn’t even remember what it was about--something about whether closing the lid of a cereal box actually keeps the cereal fresh--so she couldn’t imagine fighting in the middle of Ikea. They’re both much too restrained in their mannerisms for that. Plus, they had a plan.
They had measured every wall, matched every style and color to the overall decor of the cabin. They poured through the catalogue, studied the store website (well, Laura did that; Bill preferred not to use technology if he could help it.), and they made a list of everything they’d need and where to find it in the store. They’d go to Ikea, pick out their stuff, buy it, and bring it home in the truck they rented just for that purpose. It couldn’t get any simpler than that. Zak and Saul were supposed to come help the next day.
And everything was going very smoothly. They were both disciplined enough to stick to the plan. Actually, neither of them cared much for shopping, so they weren’t tempted to wander the aisles looking at Valentine’s day salt and pepper shakers. They looked at each item on their list, making joint decisions about every thing. By the end of the afternoon, they had the pick-up slips for every piece of furniture they’d picked out, and were headed to the warehouse with a giant cart to transport everything to the truck.
Their cart was loaded. Bill pushed it, while Laura guided it, making sure nothing slipped off the top. They had picked up almost every item and were approaching the location of the final item. When they got there, they found the shelf was empty.
“This complicates things.”
“It’s alright. Let’s load these things in the truck and go from there.”
Within minutes, every thing was loaded in the truck, and the couple returned to the supposed location of the final item. They decided to first look around the surrounding area to make sure the missing item was in fact missing. After they had both ascertained the item’s absence, it was time to ask for assistance.They found a friendly looking young employee and approached him.
“Excuse me, my fiancée and I are looking for this chair for our sitting room, but it isn’t on the shelf where it’s supposed to be.”
“I’m sorry sir, ma’am. That happens occasionally. We oversell or understock. I’ll take you to customer service, and they’ll take your information, order the missing item, and have it delivered to you as soon as it comes in.”
“That’s perfect. Lead the way.”
Before long, Laura and Bill had straightened everything out with customer service and were leaving the store, driving home.
“You’re awfully quiet.”
“Fiancee?”
“What you mean?”
“That’s what you called me back there.”
“Shit. I guess I jumped the gun.”
“Did we get engaged without me remembering?”
“I’d hope you’d remember that, Laura.”
“I’d hope you’d remember to ask first, Bill.”
“I was going to, tonight, okay?”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, you can ask me like you planned. I’ll pretend you didn’t presume I’d say yes.”
“Wouldn’t you have, though?”
“I’m not a sure thing, Bill.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Says the woman who slept with me during our first date. On her kitchen floor, I might add.”
“And you know damn well that wasn’t a usual occurrence for me!”
“I’d hope not.”
“What does that mean?”
“I only want you behaving that way with me.”
“Possessive much?”
“Only with you.”
“Because you love me?”
“Hence the planned proposal, yes.”
“And the presumption I’d say yes.”
“We’re building a home together. That’s a pretty serious commitment, Laura.”
“Did you do that with Carolanne?”
“Don’t bring her up, please?”
“Why not? If I consider marrying you, I should know what you’re like as a husband and how your past marriage worked.”
“It didn’t work; that’s the problem.”
“But why?”
“We weren’t compatible. And, no, we didn’t build our home together. She made all the decisions herself, and I went along with it. I hated that place.”
“And our cabin?”
“I love our cabin. I love how I can see both of our tastes in every room. I love that we both participated in every aspect of its construction.”
“It is pretty great, isn’t it?”
“We’re great, Laura. The cabin is just an extension of that.”
“And that’s why you want to marry me?”
“That and the fact that I love you and can’t live without you, yes.”
“When you put it that way, I guess I am a sure thing.”
“No you aren’t. You’ll always have the homefield advantage. Remember what you said when we first met?”
“Moving in already?”
“No. But close. You said if wasn’t to your liking you’d throw me out. And you could do so at any time.”
“But I wouldn’t.”
“I hope not. But I don’t take you for granted.”
“That’s why I love you.”
“And I’m the luckiest man alive.”
“We had a fight.”
“We did.”
“And it was brought on by Ikea.”
“Not really. I said something stupid, like always, and you called me on it.”
“In Ikea.”
“What’s your point?”
“Can we have make up sex?”
“What about Valentine’s Day-my-super-romantic-boyfriend-made-me-dinner-and-proposed-to-me sex?”
“Can’t we do both?”
“So you want to pretend we’re still angry, have intense sex against a wall or something, and then return to the loveliness of Valentine’s Day?”
“Yes, please.”
“We haven’t christened our cabin yet. You wanna make up there? Then we can drive to your place where I have rose petals set up all over. I’ll cater to your every need and wish, cook the meal I have planned, and make love to you after I propose.”
“Can I make one adjustment to your plan?”
“What’s that?”
“Propose to me in our cabin. After we christen it.”
“Perfect.”
And they did just that.
Next Installment
Rating: T
Pairing: A/R
Disclaimer: I don't own them; they own me. Credit belongs to defyingnormalcy for the first line and any similar theme. My apologies to Tina Fey for borrowing some of Liz Lemon's experiences for this piece.
A/N: This is the first installment of Ikeaverse. I left a lot of room for additional stories or drabbles. My idea was to be able to do as much or as little with it as I choose down the road. ETA: After a year of writing in this 'verse, I think it's safe to say I'll keep it going for awhile.
Laura Roslin never thought she’d fall in love with a man who’d bring a U-Haul on their first date. Bill Adama proved her wrong. Of course, he had a perfectly logical explanation for bringing the U-Haul: He had just moved into his apartment that afternoon and didn’t have time to return the van without being late for their date. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was a blind date set up by mutual friends, and Bill didn’t know Laura’s number to contact her. So, rather than risk offending her by being late, Bill pulled up to Laura’s driveway in a U-Haul. This proved to be quite an icebreaker.
“Moving in already? We haven’t even met yet.”
“It’s a long story. Not that I wouldn’t like living here; you have a lovely home, but I don’t usually move so fast.”
“Good to know. I’m Laura,” she said, offering her hand for him to shake, which he did, gladly.
“Bill. It’s nice to meet you. Now I’m ready to move in,” he said with a teasing grin.
“Funny,” Laura said, trying but failing to look unamused. “So, what’s your story?”
“It’s not as interesting as me making too grand a gesture. I just moved into my apartment this afternoon. I didn’t have time to return the van without being late for our date, and I didn’t know how to contact you.”
“So, you were concerned about my feelings?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Hmm. Indeed. You must be hungry after moving all day. My stomach is growling just thinking about it.”
“I could eat.”
“Of course you could,” Laura said, flashing her brightest smile. “Come on, let’s go into the dining room. Dinner’ll be ready any minute.”
“Great. I have to say, I’m surprised you’d agree to have a blind date in your home.”
“Don’t worry, if you weren’t to my liking I would have thrown you out already. I may still do so.”
“You prefer the home-field advantage, then?”
“Always.”
“Good to know.”
Laura led Bill into the dining room, offering him a seat and a drink, but Bill refused either without offering assistance. At first, she was put off by what she perceived as pushiness, but then she realized her guest was a gentleman, something with which she was unused to dealing. So, she acquiesced, allowing him to pour their wine, while she took their dinner out of the oven and prepared their dishes.
The eggplant parmesan was delicious, the salad made from the freshest vegetables the market had to offer, and the wine was from a particularly good year. None of that seemed to matter, though. Between their conversation and their intense soul-gazing, it’s amazing they managed to eat at all.
So, it should come as no surprise that Laura broke another one of her rules that night. She never thought she’d sleep with a man during a first date. After spending extended time with Bill Adama, nearly drowning in his blue eyes, that rule went out the window. By the end of dinner, she had decided she never wanted him out of her sight. So, naturally, she had to invite him into her bed--after an interlude in the kitchen first, of course.
From that night on, the school teacher and the retired Navy commander were inseparable. Bill helped Laura deal with the heartbreak of losing her father and sisters not long after her mother’s passing. Although, he selfishly wondered if she would have even agreed to a blind date if not for their deaths and her friend’s prodding. He too was skeptical about the date, only agreeing to it to shut up his best friend Saul’s annoying wife, Ellen. Ellen was a friend of a friend of Marcia, who was Laura’s friend. Laura had never actually met Ellen, and Bill knew there’d be hell to pay if they were to meet. As much as he hated to admit it, Bill would be eternally grateful to Ellen for her role in bringing Laura into his life.
Whereas Bill helped Laura through her grief, Laura helped Bill transition from military to civilian life. Together, they discovered Bill had a strong passion for history and liked working with kids: He had become a fixture in Laura’s twelfth grade English classroom. She was the supervisor of the English department for K-12, so she only taught AP English to seniors. Anyway, Bill became her unofficial teaching assistant, which helped him decide to go back to school for a teaching degree. However, the ever resourceful, Laura had other ideas for Bill.
“What about ROTC?”
“What about it?”
“You could teach it.”
“First, the school would have to have it.”
“I’m working on it.”
“So, I’m going to be the freeloading boyfriend who gets a job by riding his girlfriend’s coattails?”
“Of course not. The school needs this program. If you don’t want to run it, fine. There are plenty of interested officers and NCO’s who’d be interested.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I’ll talk to Richard and get started writing a grant.”
“Dick’ll just love that.”
“Don’t worry about him.”
“I’m not. Do you really think I’m qualified, Laura?”
“Honey, you commanded an entire aircraft carrier with hundreds of officers and NCO’s. I’m sure you can handle a group of high schoolers.”
“Not as well as you.”
“Hmm. I wish I spent more time in the classroom sometimes.”
“What you do is very important. You can’t be everywhere. Maybe we should consider cloning you.”
“Perish the thought. Could you imagine trying to deal with two or more of me?”
“Yes, please.”
“What about when I’m being unreasonable or just bitchy?”
“Then I’ll love you even more to compensate.”
“I bet you will, too.”
“Always.”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“So, you’ll consider teaching ROTC if I can get the grant together?”
“Of course.”
“And you’ll be nice to Richard?”
“Hopefully I won’t have to for too long, but yeah, I’ll behave.”
“What do you mean?”
“How does Principal Roslin sound?”
“It does have a nice ring to it, but what are you up to?”
“I’m not up to anything. Dick’s looking to move on to greener pasture, and you’re the obvious choice to replace him.”
“What about Tom?”
“Tom’s a dick. I shudder at the thought of him running a school.”
“The decision belongs to the Board of Education, Bill.”
“And they’ll all support you, I promise. Just keep doing your job in the meantime, and help your pathetic lover get his job.”
“You could never be pathetic.”
They weren’t without their share of problems. Bill’s marriage to Carolanne had crashed and burned, and his fear to repeat that mistake was nearly crippling. Bill and Laura had a lovely relationship with Bill’s son Zak, but the other son, Lee, refused to have anything to do with his father and has yet to meet Laura. Carolanne and Lee were two topics the couple steered away from, for the most part. Their agreed philosophy was “if you can’t fix it, don’t discuss it.”
For her part, Laura had been in few relationships, and she had never been in love before. Her feelings for Bill scared her sometimes. But, then she’d look into his eyes, or listen to him read to her before or after they’d made love (a tradition for them since their second date, which was really just a continuation of their first date), or feel his body close to hers as they slept at night, and know she needed him in her life. Plus, Bill had made it quite clear he couldn’t live without her, and Laura’s innate selflessness made it seem cruel to even consider separating from him.
So, after six months of alternating between his apartment and her condo, the couple finally realized they needed a place that would be truly theirs. They found a plot of land, just on the outskirts of town, and had a cabin built on it. Laura showed off her hidden artistic talents in the designing of the plans, and Bill’s practical military training ensured the cabin would be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. The cabin was built, and the couple had to furnish it, so there they were on a Saturday afternoon shopping at Ikea, which also happened to be Valentine’s Day.
Laura was 0-40 against Valentine’s Day. So, her 41st Valentine’s Day was automatically her best. She was in a loving relationship with a good man who made her feel special every day. And they were shopping for furniture to fill their new home. It was perfect.
And Bill was sweet to her all day. She woke up to the sound of him singing to her--something about a woman by a stream. His voice wasn’t the best. It had a Tom Waits like quality to it, which meant it sounded like someone ripped his voice-box out of his chest, stabbed it, ran over it with a truck, and then sewed it back in. But that didn’t matter. Just like with Tom Waits, Bill’s voice had a quality that defied conventions of the typically sonically pleasing. And Laura loved it. As far as she was concerned, he could sing forever, just as long as he only sang to her.
Then he made her M&M pancakes, which were her absolute favorite. This was a discovery they had made together, early on in their relationship. Bill had offered to cook her breakfast one morning, after wearing her out the night before. Little did she know, Bill only knew how to prepare a few meals. One of them was what he made for his boys when they visited him during his shore leaves: M&M pancakes. So that was what he made his new girlfriend for breakfast. In its own way, it was quite a gesture: He had only ever made them for the two people he loved most in the world, by making them for Laura, he was acknowledging her importance in his life. Anyway, Laura loved them, and they agreed he’d make them for her on special occasions. They also agreed she’d teach him how to cook, which led to messes, arguments, sex, and great tasting food.
Obviously, Valentine’s Day counted as a special occasion, hence the pancakes. And they were served to her in bed--always a bonus. Her man made them just for her, and they were delicious. So, it was shaping up to be a wonderful day. But they still had to go to Ikea.
All of Laura’s friends warned her that Ikea was a couple’s litmus test. One of her more colorful friends promised she’d experience “epic hate sex after the fight.” Laura wasn’t sure she believed that. Not that they never fought. They did disagree and frequently. But they respected each other’s opinions, and they never went to bed angry. The longest fight they had ever had lasted until bedtime, and they didn’t even have make-up sex. Instead, they spooned, whispering words of love, apology, and forgiveness until they drifted off to sleep. That was the last fight they’d had in weeks, and she couldn’t even remember what it was about--something about whether closing the lid of a cereal box actually keeps the cereal fresh--so she couldn’t imagine fighting in the middle of Ikea. They’re both much too restrained in their mannerisms for that. Plus, they had a plan.
They had measured every wall, matched every style and color to the overall decor of the cabin. They poured through the catalogue, studied the store website (well, Laura did that; Bill preferred not to use technology if he could help it.), and they made a list of everything they’d need and where to find it in the store. They’d go to Ikea, pick out their stuff, buy it, and bring it home in the truck they rented just for that purpose. It couldn’t get any simpler than that. Zak and Saul were supposed to come help the next day.
And everything was going very smoothly. They were both disciplined enough to stick to the plan. Actually, neither of them cared much for shopping, so they weren’t tempted to wander the aisles looking at Valentine’s day salt and pepper shakers. They looked at each item on their list, making joint decisions about every thing. By the end of the afternoon, they had the pick-up slips for every piece of furniture they’d picked out, and were headed to the warehouse with a giant cart to transport everything to the truck.
Their cart was loaded. Bill pushed it, while Laura guided it, making sure nothing slipped off the top. They had picked up almost every item and were approaching the location of the final item. When they got there, they found the shelf was empty.
“This complicates things.”
“It’s alright. Let’s load these things in the truck and go from there.”
Within minutes, every thing was loaded in the truck, and the couple returned to the supposed location of the final item. They decided to first look around the surrounding area to make sure the missing item was in fact missing. After they had both ascertained the item’s absence, it was time to ask for assistance.They found a friendly looking young employee and approached him.
“Excuse me, my fiancée and I are looking for this chair for our sitting room, but it isn’t on the shelf where it’s supposed to be.”
“I’m sorry sir, ma’am. That happens occasionally. We oversell or understock. I’ll take you to customer service, and they’ll take your information, order the missing item, and have it delivered to you as soon as it comes in.”
“That’s perfect. Lead the way.”
Before long, Laura and Bill had straightened everything out with customer service and were leaving the store, driving home.
“You’re awfully quiet.”
“Fiancee?”
“What you mean?”
“That’s what you called me back there.”
“Shit. I guess I jumped the gun.”
“Did we get engaged without me remembering?”
“I’d hope you’d remember that, Laura.”
“I’d hope you’d remember to ask first, Bill.”
“I was going to, tonight, okay?”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, you can ask me like you planned. I’ll pretend you didn’t presume I’d say yes.”
“Wouldn’t you have, though?”
“I’m not a sure thing, Bill.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Says the woman who slept with me during our first date. On her kitchen floor, I might add.”
“And you know damn well that wasn’t a usual occurrence for me!”
“I’d hope not.”
“What does that mean?”
“I only want you behaving that way with me.”
“Possessive much?”
“Only with you.”
“Because you love me?”
“Hence the planned proposal, yes.”
“And the presumption I’d say yes.”
“We’re building a home together. That’s a pretty serious commitment, Laura.”
“Did you do that with Carolanne?”
“Don’t bring her up, please?”
“Why not? If I consider marrying you, I should know what you’re like as a husband and how your past marriage worked.”
“It didn’t work; that’s the problem.”
“But why?”
“We weren’t compatible. And, no, we didn’t build our home together. She made all the decisions herself, and I went along with it. I hated that place.”
“And our cabin?”
“I love our cabin. I love how I can see both of our tastes in every room. I love that we both participated in every aspect of its construction.”
“It is pretty great, isn’t it?”
“We’re great, Laura. The cabin is just an extension of that.”
“And that’s why you want to marry me?”
“That and the fact that I love you and can’t live without you, yes.”
“When you put it that way, I guess I am a sure thing.”
“No you aren’t. You’ll always have the homefield advantage. Remember what you said when we first met?”
“Moving in already?”
“No. But close. You said if wasn’t to your liking you’d throw me out. And you could do so at any time.”
“But I wouldn’t.”
“I hope not. But I don’t take you for granted.”
“That’s why I love you.”
“And I’m the luckiest man alive.”
“We had a fight.”
“We did.”
“And it was brought on by Ikea.”
“Not really. I said something stupid, like always, and you called me on it.”
“In Ikea.”
“What’s your point?”
“Can we have make up sex?”
“What about Valentine’s Day-my-super-romantic-boyfriend-made-me-dinner-and-proposed-to-me sex?”
“Can’t we do both?”
“So you want to pretend we’re still angry, have intense sex against a wall or something, and then return to the loveliness of Valentine’s Day?”
“Yes, please.”
“We haven’t christened our cabin yet. You wanna make up there? Then we can drive to your place where I have rose petals set up all over. I’ll cater to your every need and wish, cook the meal I have planned, and make love to you after I propose.”
“Can I make one adjustment to your plan?”
“What’s that?”
“Propose to me in our cabin. After we christen it.”
“Perfect.”
And they did just that.
Next Installment