Margaret rolled over in her sleep when Victor snored loudly in her ear. She groaned and turned to look at her husband. Thirty-five years, it was hard to imagine her life without him. He was her best friend, her sole mate, and her other half. He drove her crazy on a daily basis, that she couldn't deny, and people wondered why they were still married but they had only seen one side of Victor. They were only privilege to "Victor the Bastard" not the side that he showed her. With a sigh she snuggled into his side and laid her head on his chest.

She felt him breathe and just when she was about to drop off to sleep again she felt his arms tighten around her waist and a kiss be placed on top of her head. She turned her head up to him and met his lips with a kiss.

"What's the matter can't you sleep?" Asked Victor as he drew gentle circles around her back.

"I was just thinking." She responded as her eyes shut and she arched her back slightly into his hand. He knew those certain places that made her feel completely relaxed and at ease yet on fire at the same time. He chuckled at his wife's reaction. They had been together for thirty-five years yet whenever he kissed her it took him back to the first time they kissed standing on her parent's front steps that late June night.

He kissed her again yet this time it held all the passion and love he felt for her. She was stunned at first but soon responded and kissed him back. He rolled them over and ran his tongue across her lips seeking entrance. She complied and their tongues dueled. Her arms encircled his neck and she shifted her hips to align with his. She felt his erection pressing into her stomach and broke away from their lip lock. She reached up and began to unbutton his night shirt. He looked down at her small hands as they unbuttoned reach button. Her hands shook slightly and he could tell that she was having a small problem seeing the buttons so he stopped her hands and pulled the offending article over his head.

She licked her lips and he noticed her blue eyes darken with desire. It boasted his confidence that after all these years he could still turn her on. He leaned down and kissed his way down her neck and when he hit that spot behind her neck he heard her moan escape her lips and felt her legs wrap around his waist. He snuck his hand down her body and reached the hem of her nightgown when the telephone rang.

"I don't believe it!!" He screamed as untangled himself from his wife and reached across her to the telephone. "4291, what?"

She gave her husband her trademark glare and straightened out her nightgown while she attempted to calm her frazzled nerves. She wasn't sure who she was madder at; her husband or the telephone at the moment. They didn't make love often anymore as their lives seemed to get more and more crazy. But what was even less often was her husband trying to seduce her.

She missed the spur of the moment love making that they had engaged in up until the last two years. She got out of bed deciding that a cup of tea might help her calm her nerves while Victor "talked" to Patrick on the phone about a strange phone call he received, trying to tell Patrick that he didn't make the call saying he was busy but not going into too much detail about what he was doing. Margaret had to laugh, there he was sitting in a rumpled bed without his shirt looking frazzled getting yelled at and still trying to protect his wife's honor, she decided to make him some tea as well.

While she waited for the water to boil she looked around her kitchen and thought about all the times they talked and laughed or how he used to come up behind her and kiss her, taking her breath away. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Victor walk into the kitchen and lean against the doorframe. He watched her stand at the window and didn't miss the way her hair, slightly ruffled, glowed in the moonlight or how her nightgown, at knee length, seemed to be slightly see through.

Even after all these years he could believe that she chose him. She was the most perfect woman. Love and passion once again surged through his veins and he knew that he had to have her. At that moment the kettle announced that it was ready and he watched enthralled as she glided across the room and put the kettle on the warming tray and went to get the tea. Suddenly he stepped up behind her and wrapped her in his arms.

She jumped and turned around, "Victor what were you thinking you almost gave me a heart attack!?"

"I need you," he responded as he attacked her mouth with his. She whimpered and kissed him back.

"Not here," she moaned as he found that spot on her neck again.

"Yes, here." He said as he lifted her in his arms and set her on the table and stepped between her spread legs, "God, Margaret"

She moaned and pulled him closer as his lips brushed over her nipple. She threw her head back and raised her hips when he moved to take off her nightgown.

"Please Victor, I need you now." she moaned as she moved her hips closer to his. In response he slipped his hand in her delicate lace panties and between her folds. With a few practiced movements she was writhing against him. A gleam of sweat covered her body making her look even more sexy. He couldn't wait any longer and removed her panties as she pushed off his pants and entered her in one swift movement.

They moved in a dance as old as time and a lot of practice. There was no awkward fumbling or guessing. This was the time when you realized that they were each others other half. And in a true testament of years of practiced they reached their climaxes at the same times. He laid his head on her chest and they caught their breath before returning to bed, tea forgotten, to sleep in each other arms.

Meanwhile Patrick was still pissed off after calling Victor and was unsuccessful in trying to get him to admit to prank calling him. The thing was he sounded like he had interrupted something, but surely they didn't do that at their age. He tried wakening Pippa to talk to her but only succeeded in pissing her off and then the pair of them went to their kitchen to make some tea. Sitting at the kitchen table they talked about their previous day when they heard the strangest sound. It sounded like a scream.

They both jumped up and ran into their garden. It was from their that they had a great view of the Meldrew's kitchen and what was going on inside. They ran out just in time to see Victor and Margaret in a passionate embrace. Not wanting to see anymore they went back inside where Pippa told him that she knew that Victor hadn't prank called him. Patrick agreed and said that he would go around tomorrow and apologize to him.

The next morning found Margaret in the kitchen and Victor in the garden when Patrick slipped through his garden fence at the same moment when Margaret walked outside with the laundry.

He saw Victor rush to help her carry the load, but also noticed that Margaret had no reaction and acted like this was a regular occurrence. He never thought of Victor as "Margaret's husband" only as "the bastard". he decided to stay hidden for a moment to see how the two interacted when nobody was watching.

Margaret was hanging up the laundry and Victor was weeding and thought that they were not going to interact and was about to make his presence know when Margaret called for Victor's help. He jumped up and walked over to her and stood behind her as he helped her with the heavy blanket. She smiled and leaned against him. He whipped his hands on his pants and then placed them on her waist and kissed the side of her neck.

"I love you," he said into her hair. Patrick thought that this was getting too private but made a mental note to watch them more often, and walked through the garden door.

"Victor, I wanted a word with you." He said as he walked through the door. He expected Victor to yell at him for last night or disturbing his moment with his wife or for trampling his grass or something along those lines, what he didn't expect is what happened next. Victor's head shot up out of Margaret's hair and he stepped in front of in a protective manner while glaring at him. It was Margaret's hand on his arm that calmed him and gave a quiet, "sorry, what did you want?" his face calmed down and took on a welcome expression, or as welcome as you can expect, but he didn't move from in front of Margaret. She made no notice to this protective nature and resumed the laundry so Patrick once again assumed that this happened often too.

"I just wanted to apologize for accusing you last night when I have no evidence. I hope this has wrecked our truce."

"It is quite alright, I probably would have done the same thing." The two men shook hands and then Patrick asked Victor if he wanted to go to the pub down the road for a pint, Victor agreed and said he needed to change and he would meet him outside in ten minutes.

Ten minutes later Victor stepped outside with Margaret on his heels. She held out his eyeglasses case and she smiled at her and took them with a, "thank you dearest." Once again no reaction from her noted Patrick but he did notice the love that flowed between them when they kissed. True it was just a small peck but you could tell.

Down at the pub they sat at the back and Patrick pumped Victor on how managed to keep the magic in his marriage after all those years. It was then he found out that they had been married for thirty-five years and to this day he looks at her at thinks that he is the luckiest man on earth. In his eyes they is no other and never will be. In talking to Victor he realized that while he was a bit of a grump he was also a great husband and a fountain of advice if you ask.

On the way out of the pub, Victor saw a flower shop and went in to buy three roses, one white, one yellow, and one red. But when Patrick asked him about them he told him to watch and learn. This would be the first time of many that Patrick would take that advice and it would prove the best decision of his life.

They found the girls at Patrick and Pippa's sitting the living room talking and laughing. Patrick sat down next to his wife and asked him what they had been up to. She said that Margaret came round for tea and they had a lovely afternoon. Margaret felt the presence of her husband behind her and she looked up and received a kiss. Then he came around to face her and kneeled in front of her silencing her protests about his knees with a gentle finger to her pink lips and presented her with the flowers.

"Oh, Victor even after all these years you still remember." she cried as she leaned down to kiss him. He watched as she brought the flowers up to her face and breathed in their sent then she fingered the petals with a manicured nail. Upon noticing Pippa's reaction Margaret told the story of the flowers. Victor stayed kneeling at her feet holding her left hand in his and rubbing her ring. "When we were going to get married we didn't have a lot of money to waste of extras so I only had three flowers in my bouquet. One white rose that represented my purity and the purity of our love. One yellow to symbolize our never ending friendship because that is how our relationship started we were best friends. And on red rose to symbolize our fire and passion that we feel for each other." She looked down at her husband of thirty- five years and you could not only feel their love but you could see it in their eyes.

Pippa then stated that she would love to see some pictures of their wedding if they had them. Margaret said she did and with another kiss, this one slightly longer, to her husband she pulled the younger woman out of the house. This left Patrick and Victor alone, again. Once Victor heard the front door slam he groaned and pulled himself into Margaret's chair and looked at the younger man.

"How did you remember what her wedding flowers were?"

"I remember everything about her. She is my everything and encompasses my every thought. The real question is do you remember your wife's wedding flowers?" Victor asked as he massaged his sore knee.

"So do you remember other things?" Patrick asked.

"Like what" replied Victor.

"Ummm…..you were rubbing her ring what does it say on the inside?"

"Hers says soul and mine says mate," Victor replied without thinking.

"Really?! Do you believe that she is your soul mate?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"When you can't imagine the next day without her, when you can't go five minutes without thinking about her. When you feel that you know what she is thinking and you want nothing more than to find a way to give her the moon if she asked for it. And when you feel complete when she is in your arms then you know." Patrick looked stunned and was shocked that Victor would share this with him and that he felt this.

They stood and headed back over to Victor's house to see what was keeping their wives'. However when Victor walked in the living room he saw his wife standing in the middle with a picture in her hands. He got the feeling that something was wrong so he stood behind her and looked at the picture and all of the sudden all the color drained out of his face. It was a picture of their sun before he died. They were standing in each others arms with his arms around her and she had their son in her arms. They looked so happy.

Margaret looked up at her husband and she placed the photo on the bookshelf. Although they still missed their son the pain had died along time ago. Now they only had the happy memories left.

"What's the matter?" asked Patrick