Patrick scooped Shelagh into his arms and carried her over the threshold and into the flat that they now shared. Shelagh had longed for this day for a while now and their wedding was everything that she dreamed of and so much more. But what was about to happen in the privacy of their home excited her and made her nervous at the same time. Patrick put her down in the hallway that was by the front entrance and shut the door. They took off their shoes and placed them by the door.

She turned, faced him and said "I'm so glad to be home"

"Right where you are supposed to be" Patrick replied with a smile

He grabbed her left hand and kissed the top of her hand. He locked his fingers into hers, put their arms down and he lead her down the hallway. She was surprised when they didn't turn off to go inside the master bedroom but instead they went straight into the sitting room.

She must have had a confused look on her face because Patrick said "I want to play you a song that I have listened to that reminded me of our relationship. I would have liked to play it for you sooner, but I feel like it needed to be at a moment when we would be completely alone."

"Our circumstances are quite unique, I'm curious now of what this song might be" she told him with a laugh.

She watched him laugh with her as he took the record out of the cover and put it into the player. A beautiful melody played at the beginning of the song, then to her surprise the woman started singing "Once I had a secret love, that lived within the heart of me"

She felt herself blush which made him smile and he extended his arm and asked "May I have this dance?"

She responded by placing her hand into his and he pulled her close to him. They swayed back and forth to the beat of the music as she carefully listened to the sweet lyrics of the song. She leaned her head on his chest and he kissed the top of her head in response.

"At last my heart's an open door, and my secret love's no secret anymore" the lady on the record continued to sing as Shelagh looked up at Patricks eyes.

They looked at each other like they had many times before to communicate the love they had for one another. He leaned in and kissed her gently, and she kissed him back as she had done many times before tonight. She felt the tip of his tongue touch her lips and she opened her mouth to deepen their kiss. They had snogged a couple of times before which made a fire stir up within her stomach that she had never felt before. If snogging made her feel this great, she could only imagine how the intimacies they were about share would make her feel. She heard him let out a moan which made her smile underneath his lips. He broke their embrace and started to kiss her jaw and her neck, which was something he had never done before that caused her to whimper at the touch of his lips. Although his mouth had been off of hers for quite a few moments, she still found it hard to breath because of the way his tongue swirled around the skin on her neck. She suddenly felt cold air hit her neck and realized that he had stopped kissing her. She also realized that the song had stopped playing with the only noise being the crackling of the record player.

Once he caught his breath, Patrick said with a chuckle, "Guess we got a little carried away, the song has ended"

"Yes" she replied with a smile on her face

He took the record off of the player, put it back in the cover and placed it on the shelf.

"The song is called Secret Love by Doris Day. I found the album while sorting through my records one day and I listened to it and thought of you. I would listen to it while I wrote letters to you, hoping one day that we could shout our love from the highest hills, so to speak. I never thought the day would come when we would be married and I would be able to share this song with you. I love you so much Shelagh Turner and I want to make sure you know that every day that I am married to you" he told her

"I love you too Patrick and I also want to make sure you know that each day that we are married. I am so thankful that God gave me this beautiful life with you and Timothy" she said

He kissed her with a sense of urgency that she had never felt him do and she kissed him back as hard as she could. Their tongues intertwined and their breathing became heavier as their lips moved at a rapid pace. The gray hat she was waring fell to the floor, but Patrick did not seem to notice and she did not care to let go of him to pick it up. He had one hand behind her neck and the other at her waist. She instinctively pushed herself against him and felt his want for her underneath his trousers. He took the hand that was behind her neck and slipped it underneath the jacket she wore on top of her her knee length silver dress, and took it off of her. This made her gasp in pleasure and before she knew it, he abruptly broke their embrace.

Once she caught her breath, she asked him "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry to have made you feel uncomfortable, we do not have to this if you are not ready" he answered

"I gasped because I liked it when you took off my jacket and I am ready to show my love for you as your wife in a physical way" she declared

"Do you want to go to our bedroom?" he questioned

"Yes" she said confidently

He took her hand and lead her down the hallway and into their bedroom. She had never been in this part of the house before and it felt strange, but she reminded herself that they were married and coming in here was proper now. They stood beside the bed and gave each other a quick glance before he removed his jacket and she took down the pins in her hair and let it fall on her shoulders. Their lips met once again, kissing in the passionate way that they had just minutes ago in the sitting room, but this time, his hands started to roam down to her buttock while the other ran through her hair and she moaned. She moved her lips from his and kissed his jaw and made her way down to his neck where she rubbed her tongue against his neck the same way he had done earlier.

"Oh Shelagh" he breathed out in response to her action.

She felt his hands move up to the zipper of her dress and she lifted her head up to turned around so he could see to pull the zipper down. She pulled her silver dress off from her leaving her only in her slip and undergarments. She faced him again and unbuttoned his vest which she slid off of him and attempted to undo his tie, but her hands were so shaky that he removed it himself. They started to snog again and his hands touched her breast which made her moan. She let her hands drift down and touch his backside, pushing herself close to him, which made him moan. He moved his hands so she could access the collar of his shirt and unbuttoned it. He slid his shirt off and Shelagh ran her hands down his chest and peppered kisses on his bare chest and shoulders. He slid his hands underneath her slip and played with her bra clip which made her sigh. He unhooked it and with a wave of courage she took off her slip and let her bra fall to the ground.

He looked at her bare chest and said "You're so beautiful"

She smiled at his comment and he bent down and kissed her breast making Shelagh moan at his touch. She ran her hands through his hair, trying to pleasure him in return. When he lifted his head from her chest, she ran her hands down to his waist and massaged it, making him groan, unbuttoned his pants and pulled down the zipper. His trousers fell from the ground and he slung them off of his ankles and removed his socks.

They started kissing and he lowered them into the bed and pulled the sheets over them without breaking their embrace. He pushed himself on top of her and she was surprised by how satisfying it was to have his weight on top of her. He slid his hands underneath her knickers touching her bare buttock and she slid them down her legs, making herself completely exposed. He took off his boxers and threw them aside. They kissed with a passion deeper than she had ever known that made every nerve inside of her feel like it was on fire. In this moment she wanted him inside of her more than anything to complete this act of love.

"Are you ready?" he asked her

"Yes" she replied

She spread her legs out to him, and he made his entrance into her and she gasped, which caused Patrick to give her a look of concern.

"Keep going" she said with all of the breath she could muster

He advanced further inside of her, which caused Patrick to growl in pleasure. He moved up and down inside her, eliciting a moan out of her. He moved faster as he kissed her stomach, her shoulders and her neck as she would kiss his stomach, his chest and his neck. When their lips met, he reached his release, with Shelagh reaching that point shortly after. Her release was the greatest elation that she had ever experienced and the fact that Patrick could make her feel this way made her love for him grow even deeper. He pulled out and they broke their embrace so they could catch their breath. The sheets were slightly damp from their lovemaking. She had so many thoughts running through her head, but the most prominent thought was that she could not believe that in one point of her life, she took a vow to never marry or to never experience this. Once they caught their breath, Patrick wrapped his arms around her so they could cuddle.

"You were wonderful" he said

"You were wonderful too, this part of marriage is so amazing" she replied

Patrick laughed and said "Yes it is"

"I love you so much" she told him

"I love you too sweetheart" he said

They stayed like that for a while, just content in each other's arms, speaking not necessary. Shelagh felt her eyelids getting heavy and she fell asleep, thankful for this magnificent man God had given her to be her husband.