Independence: A MacGyver Story, Chapter 1

(MacGyver POV)

"Good morning…" said a sleepy voice next to me., startling me into full wakefulness until I remembered…

Elly! "Good morning!" Would I ever get used to having someone else share my bed with me? She rolled over so we could snuggle together. I hoped I never had to get used to an empty bed again. Feeling her soft skin, and soft, curly hair, and smelling the fragrance of her skin. She certainly woke up all my senses. And from the look in her eyes, I'd guess I was having the same effect on her.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"Mhm… what for?"

She giggled (I loved to hear her giggle), "Oh, for lots of things… but right now, for being you, being who you are, being so very sweet… and for convincing me to come for a visit – to see Uncle Peter – even though he isn't here."

Now it was my turn to giggle, "Well, that wasn't exactly the plan. I had no idea that he was supposed to be at a conference in Switzerland this week."

"Mhm," she replied, giving me a sidelong glance and a smirk. "You're sure you didn't know?" she asked, tracing my jaw line with a finger.

"Well…" I grinned, remembering a mention of a meeting he needed to go to…"Yeah, there was something about going somewhere , but he told me not to worry about it," and I pulled her even closer to me, "since I was on vacation and all." I gave her a kiss before asking, "So, what shall we do today?"

There was that giggle again, "We have to do something?"

"As much as I'd love to stay here all day," and I gave her another kiss, "I do need to get to the post office and get some groceries, and…"

My next words were muffled by her kiss and soon we were both giggling.

"Dibs on the shower!" she exclaimed, jumping out of bed and heading for the bathroom, still giggling.

"Hey!" I shouted after her, "Unfair!" before grabbing a pair of jeans and slipping into them and chuckling. It just felt so good to be interacting with her, I couldn't help but grin. "I'll get some breakfast started!" and I slid down the curved banister of the stairway (haven't done that in years!), landing precisely in front of the refrigerator. We were staying at my houseboat – for financial reasons … well, that and because Elly had fallen in love with the place as soon as she'd seen it. She was tickled to think that people actually lived on the water year-round! I had just finished making a breakfast smoothie when I heard her call, "All yours! I'll be in the bedroom … getting dressed."

I grinned to myself, "Yes, Ma'am!" and bounded up the stairs to use the tiny bathroom – these houseboats are not known for being spacious! When I got out of the shower, I heard Elly call up from downstairs, "What is this stuff?"

"Hang on! I'll be right down.." and I slipped back into my jeans and a T-shirt before sliding back down the banister. She greeted me at the bottom with open arms and a kiss. "We'll never even get breakfast at this rate!"… which brought on the expected giggle from her, only deeper in her throat, sort of buttery.

"OK," I declared breaking away from her. "We have tofu and raw egg smoothie…" and when she started making a face, I added, "with banana, strawberries and honey!" I poured some into glasses for each of us and took a swig to show her that it was edible.

She took a taste and scowled at it, then took another taste and raised her eyebrows, "This is actually good!"

She had such a surprised look on her face I couldn't help but chuckle. "You have a moustache!"

She leaned over and gave me a wet kiss, "So do you!" and there were more giggles.

I warmed up some oat bran muffins she had brought along and set some dandelion coffee on the table for us.

At the post office I found a letter from my brother in Minnesota and we got to talking about relatives. Elly mentioned that she had a great-uncle out that way, somewhere in Michigan. Seems they were trying to commit him to a home for the elderly, but he was not co-operating with them.

"I'm kind of worried about him," she told me. "I mean, if he can evade being placed in an institution, he isn't that unable to take care of himself, right?" She looked at me hopefully.

"Makes sense… Let me guess: you want to do something about it." I raised my eyebrows in question and slowly walked toward her, stalking her. I'd been cleaning up from our breakfast and was carrying the towel behind me. I got close enough to her to wrap the towel around behind her and pull her close, like a papoose. "Yes?"

She made cow eyes at me, "Could we? You wouldn't mind?"

"Well… Pete won't be back for a few more days. We could go and see what this is all about?"

This prompted her to give me a big hug, which prompted me to grin like a fool, which prompted her to plant a big kiss right in the middle of my foolish grin… which prompted me to take her in my arms and swing her around in a circle. This had the hoped-for effect of making her recreate that wonderful sound – giggling! It was a bona-fide chain reaction!

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So that's how it starts. Read and Review, if you like.