A/N: I wrote this, my first 'Bewitched' story, on a whim having only seen the last ten minutes of this episode (and I'd never seen it in its entirety before), but it was enough for me to come up with a more romantic ending. Hopefully if I get a chance to see this wonderful episode again it will spark more stories, but in the meantime, thank you for reading and for any comments you care to leave. They are always appreciated!
As they drove home from the party, Darrin stole a glance at his wife. She was so beautiful. Her blonde hair fell softly against her bare shoulders and the silk dress in pink hues accented her incredible features. Oh, how he loved her. He always had. He'd fallen in love with her the first time he laid eyes on her. And he loved her even when she infuriated him time and time again with her constant use of witchcraft, no matter how often he strictly forbade it.
But tonight she had gone too far.
Without his knowledge, she'd conjured up a mink coat in order to impress Daphne Harper, the wife of his very wealthy college rival. A coat made from twin minks, Charlie had said! Whoever heard of twin minks?
He remembered how Charlie had come into the room, begging them to sell him the coat, offering thousands of dollars for it. And Darrin had to admit that it was tempting. As the offer rose to over twelve-thousand dollars, he started thinking about what that kind of money would mean. He and Samantha could do so many things with it; take trips to faraway places, buy a college education for Tabitha, a new family car… the list went on and on. But when Samantha finally admitted to him what she had done, he was livid.
"How could you do this?" He'd yelled, unable to control his raging temper.
"Well, she was insulting you, Sweetheart!" Sam said as though that would make things better. "She was patronizing! She called you a loser!"
"So you just zapped up a mink coat, huh?"
She scrunched up her face. "Well… not exactly. There was a loaded jewelry case too."
"WHAT?" he yelled, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Darrin, I-."
"Stop, Sam! Just stop! So since I can't give you those things, buy you mink coats and jewelry, you're content to just… zap them up using witchcraft, right?"
"Darrin, wait-."
"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry that we're not wealthy like the Harpers!"
Angrily he pushed his way past her, unable to look at her any longer. But when he stole a glance at her, she was stroking the mink coat as though it were a pet. And he wished he'd never seen that coat in the first place.
He was so angry that he stormed into the bar where he found Charlie nursing a drink. "Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." Charlie said. "Are you having a good time?"
"Well, to tell you the truth Charlie-."
"Look, about the mink coat-."
"With all due respect, Charlie… I don't want to hear-."
"Charlie! Darrin!"
They looked up to see Daphne calling them. Curious they walked through the doorway. Darrin stopped in his tracks when he saw Sam talking to Daphne, holding the mink coat in her hands.
"What's going on?"
Sam smiled. "I've decided to give Daphne the mink coat."
"Sam, Charlie will be happy to write you a check right-."
"No Daphne. I don't want any money. You see, I'm giving it to you."
Darrin watched in disbelief when Samantha handed Daphne the mink coat.
"Giving it to me? But Samantha, you can't just give away something this valuable for free!"
Samantha's gaze went to Darrin and then back to Daphne. "Oh yes you can, when you value something else a great deal more."
Daphne held up the mink coat. "More than this? Oh, you're kidding!"
"No I'm not." Samantha replied. "I don't think I've ever been more serious about anything in my life."
Darrin stared at her, still unable to believe what he was hearing. And his heart was filled with love for her. In that moment he loved her more than he thought possible.
Without hesitation he went to her, putting his hands on her bare forearms. "Oh Sam…"
He kissed her once and then again before drawing her into his arms, content to hold her for a few minutes. It was one of the most magical moments of his life; one that didn't need witchcraft to make it so.
In the car, neither of them said a word as he reached across the leather seat for her hand and squeezed. Their hands were still joined as they pulled into the driveway and then entered their home.
That night, they kissed their sleeping daughter and headed for bed. As they slept, he held her in his arms, knowing that they didn't need luxuries like the Harpers had. They had Tabitha and they had each other. And that was more than enough.
The next morning after breakfast, Darrin tried hard to hide his smile, but it wasn't easy. And so while Sam was upstairs tending to Tabitha, he stretched out on the sofa, a good book in hand. But the anticipation of what was to come made it almost impossible to concentrate.
The doorbell rang, making his heart skip a beat. "Sam, can you get that? I'm in the middle of a chapter!" he yelled. He expected her to be angry; to give him the familiar lecture of being lazy. But to his surprise, she came down the stairs, smiling sweetly.
"Of course, Sweetheart."
He watched with eagerness as she opened the door to reveal a uniform-clad delivery man. "Are you Samantha Stevens?"
"Why, yes I am." Sam answered.
"Got a delivery for ya. Sign here, please."
Sam signed the paper on the clipboard. "Thank you very much."
"Here you go." He said handing her the box and a receipt. "Have a nice day, ma'am."
"You too." She closed the door and stared at it for a moment.
"What's that?" Darrin asked.
"I don't know but I can't wait to find out!" Samantha said. She brought the box over to the sofa and sat down beside him. And then she carefully untied the ribbon around the long gold box and lifted the lid. "Oh my …"
"What is it?" Darrin asked, suppressing a grin.
She unfolded the pink tissue paper and looked into the box, gasping at the sight. And then Darrin could no longer hide his smile. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's just that... they're… roses." She said. She lifted a few from the box and brought them to her nose, inhaling deeply. "Oh and they smell wonderful. I wonder who they're from. It's not my birthday."
"No, it's not. But someone must really love you. And look, they picked pink… your favorite color."
Samantha laughed. "So they did. But I still don't-."
"Is there a card?"
"What? Oh, right, the card." She reached into the box and removed the tiny envelope, sliding the card out;
"To Sam…" She read. "… Whom I love very much." Tears filled her eyes.
"And I always will." Darrin finished. "Till the end of time."
"Darrin…"
She lifted the roses completely out of the box. "These are beautiful roses, sweetheart, and I can't thank you enough. But there are so many! There must be-."
"Three dozen." He finished. "One dozen for every year we've been married."
Tears spilled onto her cheeks. "Oh Sweetheart, you don't have to buy me dozens of roses or mink coats to let me know that you love me. I already know. You show me every day."
He kissed her softly. "And you do the same for me, but there must be something I can do."
"Darrin, this is more than enough."
"Even if I show you with endless kisses?"
She returned the roses to the box and pushed it further onto the table and then took the book from him and put it aside, wrapping her arms around him. "Well, when you put it that way…"
The kisses that followed told her that he loved her more than ever, the way she loved him.
THE END
