Juliette placed the vase of flowers on the table and stood back to admire her work.
Strong arms clasped around her waist and gentle lips kissed her neck.
"It looks fantastic," Nick murmured in her ear.
Juliette smiled. "This is why spring is my favorite time of year," she said. "Did you see what I brought back from the Saturday market?"
Nick smiled as he pulled an apple from behind his back, "I missed it completely," he joked, taking a big bite.
"Nick!" Juliette frowned at him, "I got those specifically for pie filling!"
"Mmm," he took another bite and savored it. "No wonder they are so ripe."
Juliette chuckled and moved into the kitchen. "Come with me and we'll talk over plans for the day," she giggled. "It's not often a detective gets time off."
"I only have one day, maybe two," Nick answered, following her, "and that's barring any major situations; the Captain did tell me not to be too far from my phone."
"What, like I'd ask you to ditch it?" Juliette snorted. "Honestly, I think everyone is just relieved that you finally got another chance to propose!"
Nick shook his head as he helped his girlfriend—now his fiancée—load the produce into the refrigerator.
"Nah," he remarked, "More like they're relieved for my sake that you finally accepted!"
They finished and leaned against the counter with their arms around each other. Juliette kissed him long.
"I still can't decide if I really know why I ever refused," she whispered, grinning at him.
"Lucky for you, I'm not a man to hold grudges over slighted love."
"Oh, how noble," she went in for another kiss.
A ferocious noise caused the two of them to pull apart involuntarily. Juliette frowned as it continued.
"Is..." she gasped, "is that a lawnmower?"
Nick moved to the window. Larry the Eisbieber was mowing their lawn. He saw Nick watching him and waved. Nick shook his head. He'd forgotten that he had asked Bud to help freshen the house and the yard, since neither he nor Juliette had much time for that sort of thing. It would figure that the dutiful Wesen would pick the day when the newly-engaged couple would be trying to celebrate the occasion (nearly two weeks after it happened) with a rare and well-earned holiday.
Nick saw Juliette wearing the skeptical please-explain expression. "I'm sorry; I asked the neighbors to just kind of help us out with Spring Cleaning, since we're both so busy working most of the time; I had no idea they would—"
"Choose to come on the one day we both have off?" she finished.
Nick pressed his lips and shrugged. "He's taking care of the yard," he reasoned, "at least we don't have to worry about him coming—" The doorbell rang, and Juliette answered it as Nick finished, "—into the house."
On the porch stood Bud and another female Eisbieber. Both had their arms loaded with cleaning supplies and appliances.
"Hello Detective," the timid Wesen stammered. "Such a lovely day, and seeing you with your...almost-wife just makes it so much better. I hope you don't feel like we're intruding; we don't mean to barge in on you. We just finished considering your offer and we all thought, well—it's good luck to clean on a Saturday, so that the sun on Sunday dawns on a fresh house!" He fumbled one of the appliances in his arms, and Nick caught it.
"Come on in," he groaned reluctantly.
Bud nodded to the female, an older woman with grey-streaked chestnut hair. "This is Dottie; she came to help your... Juliette," he sounded out the name with some difficulty, "clean the bedrooms and wash the linens and such." He picked up his toolbox. "Meanwhile, where were those lights you mentioned?"
"Over here in the den," Nick led the way to the offending fixtures. He flicked the switch on the wall, and nothing happened.
"Ah, I see," Bud nodded his head rapidly, with a deeply serious expression. "So it's an electrical problem."
Nick just stared. Eisbiebers were harmless, but their innocence frequently got on his nerves.
"Yes," he spoke through clenched teeth. "It is certainly electrical."
Bud grinned as he set the box down and began pulling out the necessary tools. "I'll have that fixed for you in a jiffy."
Nick left Bud in the den. At once he heard a furious rapping at the window by the front door.
"Detective! Detective!" It was Larry.
Nick threw open the door. "What is it?What happened?" His mind raced through the possible scenarios.
"Look!" Larry cried, thrusting his clenched fist toward Nick's face. Nick flinched, but then he saw what Larry was trying to show him: a four-leaf clover.
"I found it among a whole patch of them in the west corner of your yard!" The young Wesen was so excited, he was almost crying. "It means good luck for you both!"
Nick nodded and waved it off. "Yeah, thanks, Larry; just keep at it."
"I will, sir."
Upstairs, Juliette pulled fresh sheets out of the linen closet for Dottie. The capable matron seized only the fitted sheet folded on top and threw it up in the air to watch carefully where it landed.
The sheet unfolded partially, the open end draping just barely over Juliette's stockinged feet.
Dottie immediately bent down and traced the creases with her finger.
"Yes; good, strong times," she murmured, "plenty and ease, good friends—and many children!" She bundled the sheet and patted Juliette on the shoulder. "You've made a wise choice. The omens agree."
Juliette made no move to follow her till the woman had already entered the bedroom.
Downstairs, Nick saw flickering lights in the den.
"Bud?" he called, moving toward the doorway.
The stocky Eisbieber stood by the switch, flipping it off and on in a vain attempt to count the flickers before the light came fully on.
"Bud—"
"Oh gosh!" Bud jumped in fright. "Sorry, Detec—Er, Nick, uh, I was just...testing the lights."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "You were counting, I saw you."
"You saw?" Bud's eyes got wide. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble."
"You're not in trouble," Nuck reassured him, "not unless you lie to me. Now why were you counting?"
"No reason!"
"Bud?"
"All right!" Bud sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's an old electricians myth: if the lights flicker twice before turning on, it means they'll last for as long as you need them to, and it will bring good fortune to everyone in the room." He flipped the switch one last time.
Nick caught two flickers—but he was not about to indulge any more superstition. "Thanks for fixing that, Bud."
"Sure thing!" Bud began packing his tools. "Anything for you and your almost-wife."
Nick rolled his eyes behind Bud's back.
"Her name is Juliette," he told Bud, "you should call her that."
"Oh!" Bud got that terrified look in his eyes again. "I'm sorry... Juliette... I'll remember that from now on, I won't make that mistake again."
"Are you two talking about me?" Juliette herself appeared behind the hapless Bud, who started away from her with a cry.
Nick shrugged, but before he could say anything, Bud stammered, "Oh, uh, we were just talking about how beautiful you are, and how lucky our detective is to have you as his al—Juliette."
Juliette shot Nick a puzzled expression, but he just shrugged.
Bud tried to sidestep the awkward situation he had created by calling up the stairs, "Dottie? Are you finished?"
"Coming down now!" she called back.
Bud bobbed his head politely. "We'll be leaving now; let you two get back to, ah, to whatever it is young couples, um...do. Goodbye!"
In about ten minutes, Nick and Juliette were alone. They stood, enjoying the uninterrupted stillness that settled over the home. Finally, Juliette moved into the kitchen.
"I'm going to take care of this produce before it wilts," she mumbled to herself.
Nick knew she wasn't that worried about fruits and veggies.
"They're our neighbors, Juliette," he assured her, "and they offered to help—for no pay."
She slammed the bag of carrots on the counter. "See? Don't you find that just a little bit weird? Who works for no pay? And Dottie was saying some strange things—like telling our fortune in the creases of the sheets. I mean, I get unusual characters bringing their pets into the animal hospital, but this—"
"They're harmless!" Nick protested, "And friendly!"
"Freaked out is more like it!" Juliette staunchly refused to be convinced. "Yet no one seems to be able to give me a convincing reason why! Not even Hank, and out of all your friends, he's known you the longest!" She shook her head. "Honestly, Nick—sometimes I get the feeling you're holding out on me. Like there's something that more and more people are figuring out about you...but I can't seem to figure out just what it is." Juliette stood and stared deeply into Nick's face.
He held his ground, but on the inside he was squirming like crazy. "When it's time for you to know, you'll know," he said, and quickly left the room before he or Juliette spoke another word.
She began sorting the ripest fruits to make a salad for that evening's dinner.
"Does that mean I have to be the last one to know?" she grumbled.