Disclaimer: I don't own any of the wonderful characters from "I Love Lucy." Please enjoy this fan fiction and leave a review if you'd like. The character of Mr. Abbott was created by the lovely, talented GeneaLady! I've been reading her stories non-stop, and apparently that name stuck!
First Anniversary
Lucy Ricardo sat impatiently on the couch waiting for her husband to come home from work. He had been at rehearsal all morning, and she knew she would only have a few hours with him before he had to go straight back down to the club for tonight's show. She had cleaned the house, taken a bath, put on her nicest dress, done her hair, put on her makeup and even polished her nails. He was running late. She was used to it, but today, she had been hoping he'd be on time.
Today was special, after all. Today was their first wedding anniversary. He had promised her they would have a romantic dinner downtown before the show, but she knew that if he didn't hurry home, they wouldn't make their reservations.
She got up and looked at the clock. He was officially a half hour late. She began to pace, knowing all too well that fretting wasn't going to get him home any faster. But she couldn't help it.
Just as she was about to pick up the phone and call down at the club, the phone rang itself. She rushed over and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Lucy?"
"Oh, hi, Ethel," Lucy said a little too glumly.
"Well, hello to you, too."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ethel. I was hoping you were Ricky."
"He's not home yet?"
"No. And we're supposed to go downtown for dinner tonight. I don't know what could be keeping him." She frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the clock again.
"Well, I'm sure he has a good reason, whatever it is."
"But it's our anniversary, Ethel. Our first anniversary."
"It's hard to believe you two have been married for a year already. Seems like just yesterday we all met in Cuba." Ethel laughed softly. "It's also hard to believe that a year and a half ago, Fred had all of his hair."
"Oh," Lucy giggled, forgetting her worries for a moment. "Don't let him catch you saying that."
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Ethel laughed. "He's so sensitive about his hair, I can't even brush my own hair without him getting bent out of shape and taking a tape measure to his hairline." At that moment, Lucy heard Ricky's key in the lock.
"Oh, I think he's home. I'll talk to you later, Ethel."
"Okay. Bye, honey." Lucy hung up and sat down on the couch, smoothing out the skirt of her dress, trying to look like she hadn't been waiting impatiently for the last hour. Ricky stepped through the door looking tired but thankful to be home.
"Hiya, honey," he greeted her, closing the door behind himself and leaning over the couch to give her a welcome home peck. She smiled against his lips and when he pulled away, he ran the back of his hand gently down her cheek. "Happy anniversary, sweetheart."
"Happy anniversary," she said softly, trying not to let him see her disappointment at his tardiness. "I'm glad you remembered."
"Remembered? You only been leavin' me little hints for the past week. Not to mention, you told me yesterday you wanted to have dinner down town."
"About that…"
"I promised you I would take you to dinner, and we're going to dinner."
"Tonight?" she asked skeptically.
"Yes, sweetheart. Tonight." He had a gleam in his eyes, and she wondered what he had up his sleeve. She could always tell when he had something planned. He was keeping something from her.
"Well, we'd better get going," Lucy commented, standing up.
"What's the rush?"
"The show tonight, dear. You don't want to be late." Ricky chuckled and placed his coat in the closet.
"No I dun't. And I wun't." Lucy looked at him quizzically. "I took the night off."
"Can you do that?"
"Of course. Who are they going to get to sing Babalu? Xavier Cugat? I just told Mr. Abbott that tonight is my first anniversary, and I was going to spend all of it with my beautiful wife."
"Oh, Ricky." Lucy jumped up off the couch and ran over to hug her husband. She gave him several quick pecks before his arms tightened around her and he deepened their kiss. They broke apart for a moment. "You're wonderful. I knew I married you for a reason."
"Oh yeah?" he asked, his eyes wide, questioning.
"Mmmhmm. It's not every man who would take the rest of the day off of work on their anniversary." She kissed him softly. "I do love you, Ricky."
"I love you, too, sweetheart."
"Dun't look," Ricky ordered softly, his eyes playfully covering his wife's eyes as he led her around.
"Ricky, where are we going?" she asked impatiently as he helped her up a set of steps.
"You'll find out. Dun't peek. If I take my hand away, promise you'll keep your eyes closed."
"Oh, I promise," she assured him impatiently, waving his hand away. She kept her eyes shut tightly and trusted her husband to lead her safely to their destination.
She felt a cool gust of air rush over her after the creaking of a heavy door. Up three more steps, and she shivered in the cool night air. She could hear, somewhere in the distance, the sound of cars honking, but in a moment, the sound was drowned out by the scratch of a record player, followed by a romantic melody.
"Okay, honey. Open your eyes." When Lucy obliged, her breath was taken away. They were on the roof of the apartment building. Candles were lit and scattered across the ledges, giving off a romantic, inviting glow. A table sat in the center with a red checked table cloth draped over it. In the center was a single candle, a vase with a single rose, and two covered dishes. A bottle of champagne was chilling in an ice bucket nearby.
"Oh, Ricky," she murmured. "It's beautiful. How…?"
"A little help from Fred and Ethel."
"Oh, those two. Remind me to thank them later."
"How about thanking me first?" he asked with a grin, pulling her into his arms and kissing her tenderly.
"Thank you, Mr. Ricardo," she whispered, her breath hot against his lips. She kissed him lovingly, as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Happy anniversary, darling."
"Happy anniversary."
They ate first. Lucy could barely finish her delicious meal. Every time she looked up at Ricky, he was gazing at her with a look she had become very familiar with over the past year. She knew what was on his mind, and the very thought of it still made her blush.
She took sips of her champagne, now not certain if the warmth in her cheeks was from the drink or the idea of what the rest of the evening held.
When he held his hand out to her, she placed hers in his and they danced under the moonlight on the rooftop. The record would skip now and then, but neither seemed to notice, and if they did, they were too wrapped up in one another to care.
"Do you remember the night we met?" Lucy asked, a dreamy tone to her voice. Ricky laughed a little.
"How could I forget? You didn't want anythin' to do with me."
"What? How could you say that?"
"I seem to recall you and your little friend Susie arguing over who got stuck with me."
"Yeah, well, I recall you and your little friend arguing over who got stuck with me," Lucy pointed out.
"Aw, honey, I told you I never dated a red head before. Little did I know at the time, you weren't really a red head."
"Oh," she pouted, gently pushing at his shoulder.
"But it didn't take me long to realize I was in love with you," he murmured, nuzzling her ear. He sang a few lines. "When his heart is too full for words, a man's guitar speaks for him." It brought Lucy back to the night at El Tambor in Cuba, when Ricky sang the song that ultimately made her fall in love with him.
"Well, lucky for you, you have a lovely singing voice. I knew as soon as I heard you sing to me that I was going to marry you."
"It's a good thing it wasn't the other way around."
"What do you mean?"
"If you had sang to me, I might have run for the hills."
"Ricky!"
"I'm just kiddin', sweetheart," he joked. "You know you're perfect to me, even if you can't carry a tune." Lucy glared at him for just a moment, but she couldn't be mad. Ricky leaned in to kiss her, and as his hand ran down her back, she opened herself up to him, her tongue dancing with his. They were barely dancing now…just simply swaying under the moonlight, their desires growing, their hearts racing.
When they pulled away, Ricky was blown away by how beautiful she was. Her makeup was slightly smeared, and she was gorgeous. He ran his fingers gently along her jawline.
"Just as beautiful as the night we met. I'm the luckiest man in this whole world. Did you know that?"
"Well, I'm pretty lucky, too," Lucy responded. She couldn't help but grin. "Even if my mother doesn't think so."
"Now why you gotta ruin this perfectly romantic conversation by bringin' your mother into it?" he teased. "C'mon."
"What?"
"I'm tired of dancing."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Let's go home." The look in his eyes, coupled with the way he firmly squeezed her hand, made her heart flutter in her chest. She nodded in agreement.
"Home." Together, they blew out the candles, turned off the record player and headed downstairs to end their perfect anniversary in the same way they ended their wedding day.
The last few minutes had been a bit of a blur. The moment they'd come down the stairs and into the hallway, Ricky had pulled his wife into a passionate kiss, backing her up against a wall. Lucy, taken by surprise, fell into his kisses, moaning softly into his mouth as he kissed her with the kind of passion she remembered from their early days as husband and wife. The passion was always still there, yes, but tonight it was different. Tonight, it was as if they were exploring one another for the first time all over again.
They were now in the bedroom, and Lucy had somehow been discarded of her shoes and her stockings. Ricky was now unzipping the back of her dress, placing kisses along her shoulders and the back of her neck as he helped her out of the elegant garment. Lucy bit her bottom lip when she felt his hand go up into her hand, his fingers fumbling with the pins that held her gorgeous red curls up.
Within a few moments, her hair was tumbling down her shoulders, and he pressed his face into it, smelling the sweet scent of her shampoo. He turned her head so he could capture her mouth with his, while her arm came back, her hand caressing the side of Ricky's face.
"So beautiful," he murmured, as he shifted to lay her back on the bed, helping her out of her dress. Her breath was already coming in ragged gasps as he stood before her, quickly discarding his jacket, tie, shirt and trousers. He slipped out of the rest of his clothes so quickly that Lucy couldn't help but let out a nervous giggle, as if this were the first time all over again.
He descended onto the bed, crawling over her, helping her out of the rest of her under clothes. She closed her eyes and turned her head away when his hands began to roam over her, caressing the most intimate spots on her body.
"Lucy," he whispered. "Open your eyes, sweetheart. Look at me." She did as he asked. He pressed his lips against her breast, suckling there for a moment, feeling her chest hitch in another gasp. "Te amo."
He finally settled himself against her, his hardness pressing at her thighs. She opened up to him, hooking a leg around his hip as he joined with her. She cried out, her back arching as she adjusted to him. A perfect fit, as always.
He began to move inside of her, their bodies rocking together, their breaths coming in hushed gasps, their lips exploring, caressing. When they finally released, he rested his head on her chest, and he could hear her heart pounding wildly beneath her breast. Her fingers slipped around the nape of his neck and played with his hair. She bit her lip, still smiling, basking in the afterglow.
He moved away momentarily so he wouldn't crush her, and he pulled her into his arms, draping a sheet over them in the process. She rested her head on his shoulder, looking up into his eyes. He smiled down at her, kissed her nose and listened to the beautiful giggle that escaped her throat.
They fell asleep shortly thereafter, content in their love for one another. Each of them dreamed of many more anniversaries just as happy as this one turned out to be.