"I am going to walk Shelagh to the door if you don't mind staying in the car" Patrick told Timothy as they pulled up to the boarding house where Shelagh was staying. Shelagh glanced at the ring that had been placed on her left finger earlier that day as Patrick stopped the car and put it in park.
"Okay dad" Timothy replied
Shelagh turned around in her seat to face Timothy and said "Goodbye Timothy, thank you for sweet note"
"You're welcome. I'm so excited for you to be apart of our family" Timothy said
"Me too" Shelagh said with a huge smile
Shelagh watched as Patrick opened the passenger door of the GW for her. He extended his hand to help her out the car and they walked over to the front door.
She turned around to face him and said with a grin "Thank you for today, it was so wonderful"
"Today was one of the best days of my life" he told her as he grabbed both of her hands.
"I would have to agree" she replied
A huge smile formed on his face when she told him that which lead her to smile back at him, the joy of their engagement radiating from one another.
"Will you go to dinner with me Saturday night?" Patrick asked her
"Yes, that sounds great" she answered
"I will pick you up at five, if that is alright?" he said
"That will be fine" she replied
Patrick let go of her hands and wrapped her into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling welling up inside of her thinking of the other people on the street watching them. She closed her eyes and focused on how he smelt like Henleys and aftershave. Each breath that she took calmed her even more and in that moment she felt safe in his arms. Too soon she felt the cold November air come between them as he let go of her.
"Goodbye Shelagh" he told her
"Goodbye Patrick" she said back
She watched him get back into his car, more excited than ever to become his wife someday.
Shelagh slipped on her brown dress with blue and white stripes and put her blue cardigan on over it. She pinned her hair into her usual updo, or what was now the new normal to her. She slipped on her shoes and checked her appearance in the mirror before sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked up at the clock which read 4:57, "Not much longer now" she though to herself. She was so nervous of what was to come. She had never been on a date before and was afraid of doing something wrong. She started to play with the ring on her left finger which reminded her that she must have done something right to have the ring on her finger. This date was nothing compared to all that they had been through to get to this point. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the doorbell ring. She got up, walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs to the front door and opened it.
Patrick was at the doorstep in a dark grey suit and blue tie holding a bouquet of red roses. With a huge smile on her face she said "Hello Patrick"
"Hello Shelagh" he replied as he handed her the flowers
"Thank you for the roses they are so beautiful" she told him
"You're welcome" he said as he handed them to her.
"After you" he added and extended his arm to let her walk out the doorway to the GW.
He walked to the passenger side of the car and opened the door and Shelagh got in and sat down. He closed the door and walked around to the driver's side and got in. She though that he would crank the car and drive off, but instead he grabbed her left hand and kissed her knuckles. She certainly did not mind this unexpected surprise.
"You look so beautiful tonight" he told her
"Thank you. You look very handsome" she replied
"Thank you" he said with a huge grin on his face
Patrick started the car and they drove off, As they were driving down the road, Shelagh realized that she had no idea where they were going to eat. So she asked "Where are we going tonight?"
"The Grand Street is the name it. It is on the West End and they have a good variety on the menu to choose from. The grilled shrimp is my favorite." he answered
"That sounds great" she said
"I thought it would be good to get out of the East End for a little while" said Patrick
Shelagh knew what he meant by that, although they did fine and Freddy and Samantha's christening, she still wasn't comfortable with being with him out and about in public yet. The people at Nonnatus were more understanding, but she was not quite ready to face the stares and whispers of the people of Poplar. Going to the West End doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of seeing a familiar face, but it does decrease the possibility of that happening. In the West End, they could be just like any other couple.
"I agree, I'm not sure if I am ready to face the people of Poplar quite yet"
Patrick grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb against the palm of her hand while his other hand was on the steering wheel.
"I am so thankful for you, for the opportunity to get to take you on a date, to be your fiancé, and I do not care about what other people think" Patrick said
"I am thankful for you too, the fact that I get to be your wife someday is a dream come true for me" she told him
"I know that this is much harder for you, and I know that you care for me very much. This will get better with time" he assured her
"I sure hope so" she replied
They drove the rest of the way there in a comfortable silence, holding each other's hand and enjoying the other one's company.
The waiter took up their menus and walked away to put their order in. Shelagh decided to try the grilled shrimp that Patrick liked so much. She looked around where they were sitting and admired the beautiful decorations. This restaurant seemed nice to her, but then again she really didn't have anything to compare it to, she couldn't remember the last time she ate at a sit down restaurant. In an attempt to make conversation, she said "This is a nice place, I can't wait to try the food"
"It has been a while since I have been here, but thankfully it is still as nice as I remembered it to be and hopefully the food will be as good as I remember it to be" he replied
After a pause of conversation, Patrick added "We should probably start talking about wedding plans"
"On the first date?" Shelagh said and then started laughing. He gave her a serious look as she said that comment but when she started laughing, he started laughing along with her.
Once they were able to compose themselves, Shelagh added "But seriously, I was thinking of a small ceremony, with Timothy there of course, I just want something simple and to be married soon"
"I agree about wanting to get married soon, and if you want a small and simple ceremony, then that is what you'll get. Are you sure that is what you want?" he asked
"Yes, I don't have to have all of the frills that most brides want, I just want to be married to you" she answered
"How does Christmas Eve sound? It is a little over a month away, which would not be too terribly long to wait but still gives us enough time to plan" he questioned
"Christmas is one of my favorite times of year and would be a wonderful time to be married" she replied
"So we have a date" Patrick said with a huge smile
"Yes we do" Shelagh replied beaming
"Now that we are engaged, I want to know more about my bride to be, I have always wondered what made you want to become a nurse?" said Patrick
"Well my mom died when I was very young from pneumonia and when I got older I wanted to learn more about what killed her, so I looked it up in the library which sparked my interest for learning medical knowledge. In my last year of grammar school I knew I didn't want to be a greengrocer like my father or live in Aberdeenshire the rest of my life, so I applied for nursing school in London and got in. In nursing school I learned that I loved babies which lead me to choose to do an extra year of studying to become a midwife" she told him
"I'm sorry to hear about your mom" he replied
"That was a long time ago. What made you decide to become a doctor?" Shelagh asked
"As a child, I watched injured soldiers from the Great War being wheeled around the streets and I also saw Spanish Influenza take the lives of many in my community. The older I got, the desire to be the one helping those people out someday came over me. I really don't know where it came from and I even tried to deny it because I knew that it would not be an easy job. When I would ride the bus to Liverpool Collegiate, my grammar school, I would watch the impoverished people on the streets as I rode by which only made me want to be a doctor even more. So when I graduated grammar school, I finally gave in and went to university which eventually lead to medical school and I became a doctor. Before coming to Poplar I worked at a hospital near Liverpool that served the less fortunate and I was also in The Royal Army Medical Corps. during World War Two" he answered
"That was so brave of you to serve our country during the war" she said
"It was the least I could do for all of those poor soldiers hurt during battle" he told her
The waiter came back with two plates of grilled shrimp with a side of steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. He placed a plate in front of each of them and left. They ate their meal and talked more about themselves, delighted to be in one another's presence.
They pulled up to the front door of the boarding house where Shelagh lived. He cut off the engine and she turned to him and said
"Thank you for my dinner, it was delicious and my flowers are so beautiful"
"It was a pleasure to get to take you out tonight, I had a wonderful time" he replied
"Me too" she told him
She waited on him to get out of the car to open the door for her, but he sat there, and he looked deep in thought and even a little nervous. She wasn't sure what was bothering him and she was about to ask when he said "I don't know if I should kiss you or not"
She was surprised by what he said and excited by the fact that he said it. He had kissed her hand on multiple occasions and they had held hands, but he had never asked for this until now. She knew it would come up at some point, but her lack of relationship experience made her unsure of when. She replied to him "Well I certainly wouldn't mind"
She closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew he wrapped his arm around her back and she felt his lips on hers. She felt the adrenaline rush through her along with a euphoric feeling that she couldn't quite describe. She felt his lips move against hers and she mimicked this by moving her lips against his. She had wanted to do this with him for a while now, and having this finally satisfied was one of the greatest feelings she had ever known. He broke their embrace and she said "Wow"
"That was wonderful, you were wonderful" he told her beaming
"That was pretty great" replied Shelagh smiling back at him
He got out of the car and opened the door for her and they walked to the front door of the boarding house.
"The housekeeper will be making dinner tomorrow of you would like to come by and eat with Timothy and I tomorrow night" Patrick asked
"That would be lovely" she answered
"Sounds great, can you be there at six?" he replied
"I sure can" she told him
"Goodbye Shelagh" he said
"Goodbye Patrick" she replied
They hugged each other and Shelagh unlocked the door and let herself in. The elation from kissing him was still within her and she went to bed that night looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow night.