Hey everyone! I figured I'd try my hand at a large-scale work, focusing on two characters who don't seem to get a lot of attention. Our favorite grandparents, Phil and Gertie.

I hope you enjoy! I'm getting away from beating up on Helga for a change :-)

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"Gertie, this looks delicious!" Set before him was an elaborate Thanksgiving feast, Phil had just taken over the boarding house with his new wife. They were celebrating their first Thanksgiving as a married couple. The year was 1945, and Phil had just returned from the war. They had been married nearly three months after his return. After he had dropped out of school to help his parents support him and his family, Phil and Gertie had lost touch. In 1939, Gertie moved into the boarding house run by Phil's father to keep her job at the local library, and they began a cool friendship, peppered with stolen glances, 'accidental' brushes, and anonymous favors. This continued until Phil was drafted for the war. He smiled as he remembered the night before he left...

Phil was packing his bags, deciding what to take with him and what to leave behind. He was nervous, unsure if he would even return to this room. He had friends that he knew he would never see again, lost to the battlefield. A gentle knock on his door knocked him from his troubled thoughts.

Phil opened the door to reveal Gertie, her eyes averted, looking very uncomfortable. She was pale and looked very tired. "... Gertie, what's wrong? It's almost midnight."

She finally looked at him, straight in the eyes. An almost tangible heat penetrated him to his very core. "You're leaving tomorrow, and I may not see you before you go..." Her voice trailed off. Neither said anything for a few moments, the tension growing with each passing second. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. A gold pocket watch. Phil looked on in confusion as she thrust it at him.

"What's this for, Gertie?"

She averted her eyes again. "It's for telling time, Phil. Obviously." She paused, and continued softly, "It was my Pa's... He won't be needing it anymore, and I'm lending it to you." Phil paused. The boarding house had just received word that Gertie's father had been killed in battle. He was the only family she had left, and he had gone to serve his country, despite being well over he 'optimal' age for battle. This watch had apparently belonged to him.

"Gertie, I don't think I can... accept this. It was your pop's, you should hold on to-"

"I said I'm lending it to you." She sharply interrupted him.

"I... I may not come back, Gertie, you shouldn't..."

"You have to come back, Phil. I'm lending this to you, and you have to give it back. I'll never forgive you if you don't bring it back. It's my Pa's watch, and you have to give it back to me, so you can't lose it and you can't d-d-die." She stuttered on the last word, and her voice became choked.

Phil stood there, stunned. Silently he accepted the watch. As he watched it shine in his hand, Gertie turned to go. He grabbed her hand and held her back. He saw her shoulders stiffen and heard her draw ragged breaths. He turned her around and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, taken aback at her tears. He whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, Gertie. I'll bring your father's watch back. I'll keep it safe." She relaxed and softly wrapped her arms around his waist, and softly cried into his shoulder. They stayed that way well into the night, finally comforted by each-others presence, knowing what they could only dream about was now true.

They sent letters back and forth throughout the war, sometimes days apart, sometimes months apart – always full of the desperate passion of young lovers. As soon as he returned home, he immediately found Gertie, showing up at the library in his uniform. He never forgot the look on her face.

"'scuse me miss, where might I find Gertrude?" The elderly librarian looked across her glasses, quizzically looked him up and down, smiled and pointed to the stacks. He followed her gaze and saw her. He nearly froze on the spot. Before him stood Gertrude, her slender frame accentuated by her sweater and pencil skirt, her blonde hair pulled back in a neat bun. He grinned from ear to ear, and pulled out a shiny gold pocket-watch. He walked behind her, and dangled the watch in front of her face. She looked at it, first confused, and then gasped and spun around. He placed one hand on her hip, and one gently on her neck, pulling her towards him. Their first kiss as explosive, every bit as earth-shaking as the bombs he had escaped, but every bit as wonderful as the sweet relief from knowing that, for a few seconds more, he was alive. Right then and there, he dropped to one knee. They had never had a date, he hadn't planned it, and had no ring, but he knew then and there that he never wanted to be apart from her ever again.

"Gertie, will you marry me?"

Three blissful months later, they had been married. As far as he was concerned, things couldn't be better.

"Phil? I have something to tell you..."

"What's the matter, Gertie? I've never seen you so serious."

"...I'm pregnant."

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First chapter of what I hope will be a successful fic. I hope you enjoyed it!

R&R

smooches 3