I'LL NEVER FORGET…

A/N: I thought about this when I saw the last black and white Season One episode in the series…I'll Never Forget What's Her Name. Suppose Jeannie persuaded Tony to elope with her instead of having the simple ceremony they talked about? Would they be married, or not? What might happen? This is an Alternate Universes tale.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even any recognizable dialogue from Sidney Sheldon's episode. It all belongs to his estate and Columbia Pictures (Screen Gems) and trust me when I say this is a labor of love, not profit.

Time Period: 1965, end of the first season, right when Jeannie and Tony are dancing at his home.

Tony danced with the woman he thought was Jeannie Gordon, his Aunt Pauline's friend. She had been his companion these several evenings, and he never wanted the evenings to end. His mind was made up; he would tell her what he dreamt each night since the day they had met almost a week ago. True, it was sudden, and Jeannie might think he was moving too fast, but wasn't that the way his father had been with his mother when he'd asked Miss Elbright to become Missus Nelson?

He held the most wonderful girl he'd ever seen in his arms (even if he thought she was weird too…she always wanted coffee at the most inopportune times) and his heart sang as he told her, "you're a marvelous dancer, Jeannie."

The blonde haired, blue eyed young woman he thought was human breathed a loving breath as she said, "anyone can dance with you."

They swirled to the enchanting music awhile longer as Tony whispered in her ear that he could dance with her forever. As they found themselves waltzing in the living room, the astronaut's grip on her hands grew tighter. Jeannie could tell that the atmosphere had changed dramatically, and she was frightened.

"Jeannie…" Tony began lovingly, adoringly.

Jeannie pulled away from him slightly. Oh, she knew what he wanted in that moment; knew what he was going to ask her, but she didn't know if this was right. She had kept her greatest secret from him, making him think not only that she knew his Aunt Pauline, but that she was a flesh-and-blood woman from Wisconsin where he grew up, or Florida, where they were now. The ultimate question hung in her mind like a thick, dark cloud.

What would he do when he found out that she was a two thousand year old genie from Baghdad?

I have to tell him, she thought.

Her hands flew to his mouth as she said, "Do not say it." Tony removed her hand from his mouth and he smiled.

"I've got to say it," he replied, looking down into her limpid, azure pools and drowning in them.

"I love you, Jeannie. I want to marry you," he told her. Jeannie tried protesting once more, although she wasn't putting up too much resistance.

"But you do not know anything about me," she said. Tony looked at her with absolute adoration.

"I know all I need to know about you," he said simply. My eyes and my heart give me a dozen reasons why you'd be the perfect wife, he thought.

Last chance, the magic woman thought, before I am forever silent on this.

"I-I must tell you what I really am," she responded, her fear palpable. Tony would have none of it. He kept staring at her with happiness in his eyes.

"I know what you really are," he breathed with conviction. "You're the only girl I've fallen in love with."

And, there it was. Jeannie knew that this was right. They both loved each other so much, and she couldn't deny him any longer. She would find the way to either keep her secret hidden, or she would break the news to him later. After all, it had worked for a friend of hers that she sometimes visited in upstate New York with her mortal husband, Darrin. It could work for them. In fact, in time Jeannie could be a benefit to him with her magic. But, she did ask once more if he was sure. When Tony answered in the affirmative, she told him that if he wished it, she would.

"I do wish it," he told her without hesitation.

"Then it would be wrong not to marry you, would it not?" she asked as the clouds in her mind cleared away. Tony was about to answer when they heard a car pulling up.

Jeannie was afraid as she asked hurriedly, "may I have another cup of coffee, please?"

Tony's look was incredulous as he asked, "you want a cup of coffee at a time like this?" I know my coffee is good, but huh? The astronaut thought.

"Please…" Jeannie requested. Tony shook his head, not too angry, just baffled.

"I guess I do have a few things to learn about you, don't I," he said, exiting the living room and going into the kitchen.

The doorbell rang, and Jeannie opened the door to the real Miss Gordon, a dark haired, mousy looking, older woman. After telling the lady that she was getting married and getting Miss Gordon's congratulations, Jeannie peered out in the darkness once the woman had left for Major Roger Healey, the one man who could ruin everything. She was running out of places to send him, but if need be, she could blink him to the moon…in a space suit, of course…if she had to to keep him quiet.

Tony entered with a tray full of coffee and all the fixings, saying, "here's your coffee."

"Coffee at a time like this?" she asked, grabbing Tony and kissing him fiercely.

Jeannie then saw her nemesis through the window in the living room. He was silently begging not to be blinked anywhere, but she had to, as her mind seized on a plan. While Tony was still hugging her, his back to the window, Jeannie blinked, sending Roger in a wet suit to the bottom of the sea.

XXXXXXXXXXX

At the bottom of the ocean, Roger cried, "JEANNIE!!" He knew he would, more than likely, be blinked back soon. Her little excursions didn't last long, but they made his goal that much more important. He had to get Tony alone to tell his best friend about Jeannie. Roger started to swim for dry land despite the cramps in his legs.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I have been thinking," Jeannie said brightly. "Perhaps we should elope!"

"Elope…" Tony turned the word around in his mind for a moment. He knew his mother and friends wanted a big ceremony for him but the space man never wanted that for himself, even when he'd been engaged to Melissa Stone way back when. One glance at the smiling woman before him gave him all the impetus he needed.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Tony exclaimed. He was usually the type of man who was not spontaneous, but Jeannie made it so easy. He had told her how comfortable it was to be with her…how natural. So why not get married on the sneak from everyone else? He had vacation time NASA owed him, didn't he? Tony called Doctor Bellows and, after checking, got a green light to go on a 10 day vacation.

"It's all arranged," he told Jeannie after hanging up. "I can drive you home, or you can meet me at NASA after you pack some things. How does Jacksonville sound for getting married? They have a beautiful hotel there that I've been to before. We can stay overnight after the elopement, then fly out in the morning to Savannah, Georgia for a honeymoon, or wherever you want."

"That sounds great," Jeannie said, adding that she would meet Tony at NASA. When he left, Jeannie blinked in a suitcase, full of clothing for her, and another smaller one for him. The bottle was safely tucked away inside her case. Glancing at the room once more that would be hers in a few hours, the magic maiden left the house to join him.