Moving In
Benjamin Franklin Gates groaned theatrically as he set down the box he was carrying. "I hope that's the last of it, Mom. I don't think I could carry another box."
"Oh, you're just pretending." Dr. Emily Appleton playfully cuffed her son's shoulder. "I know it's not that heavy."
Ben laughed and stepped aside. "I know. I couldn't resist."
"You're a born comedian, Ben," Riley commented dryly as he entered with another box, setting it on top of the one his friend had been carrying.
Abigail, following Riley with a third box, offered her opinion, "That's why he scared us all half to death with that stunt at Mt. Rushmore."
"I apologized, didn't I?" Ben held up his hands helplessly just as Patrick entered, adding his box to the stack the other three had made. "Dad, help me out here."
He glanced at his son with a raised eyebrow. "You want me to side against your mother? Sorry, Son, you're on your own." He smirked. "I prefer to sleep in my bed and not on the couch."
"Thanks, Dad." Ben made a face and dropped his hands. "Great, if I can't rely on my parents, my fiancée, or my best friend, who can I rely on?"
Riley shrugged. "I don't know. Your evil twin, maybe?"
"Oh, you mean the one who looks like John Travolta?" Ben retorted, rolling his eyes. Ever since Riley had seen the movie Face/Off, he'd insisted that one of the main characters looked like he could be Ben's twin brother. Naturally, Ben insisted that he looked nothing like him.
Abigail stepped between them. "Now, boys, this isn't the time to fight."
"You're right, Abigail." Jacqui, Riley's girlfriend, entered at that moment, carrying several pizza boxes. "It's time to eat, unless our boys would rather starve?"
She smiled sweetly and carried the pizza into the kitchen. Riley followed as if he'd somehow been hypnotized. Ben wasn't sure if it was the food or the sway of Jacqui's hips that did it. He glanced at Abigail. "That's one way to shut him up."
"Come on, Ben." Smiling, Abigail took his arm and followed the other two into the kitchen, soon followed by his parents.
***
Later, after the young people had gone, Patrick found Emily in the study, still unpacking boxes and putting things away. "Em, can't that wait until tomorrow?"
"No, there's something I have to find before I can go to bed." She hardly glanced at her fiancé as she pulled a few books out of the box and put them into the bookcase next to her desk.
He sighed, removing his glasses for a moment to rub his eyes. Putting them back on, he suggested, "Maybe it'll go faster if I help?"
"It usually does when two people are working together instead of one," she answered tartly, though the effect was spoiled by her distraction.
Shrugging, he picked up the nearest box and placed it on his desk to begin going through it. "I found a calendar. Where does it go?"
"Oh, just give it here." Emily stretched out her hand for it even as she placed the last of the books in the bookcase.
When she didn't feel the calendar touch her hand, she looked up at Patrick. He'd turned the calendar over and was staring fixedly at the cover. "Pat? Sweetheart?" Rising, she moved around the desk to look over his shoulder at the calendar and gasped. "Oh, my lord!" She snatched it out of his hand, embarrassed. "I forgot about that!"
"Em?" Patrick caught her hand before she could move away. "Why did you pose for a nude calendar?"
Clutching the calendar against her bosom, she answered quietly, "It was to help a friend. She gave me a copy as a thank you."
"I'm sure you're the most beautiful model they found for it." She could hear the grin in his voice. "You're Miss January, after all."
She closed her eyes, willing the heat out of her cheeks. "I never intended for you or Ben to find out about it. There's a reason it was in that box."
"Why? Is it your box of shame?" He released her hand to dig further into the box.
She grabbed his shoulder, the heat sweeping back into her cheeks. "Patrick!"
"What?" He sat back, holding a scrapbook, very similar to the one the Gates family had put together containing all the information they'd acquired about the Templar Treasure, whether it was true or not. He glanced up at her with a teasing smile, his glasses glinting in the light from the desk lamp. "Don't tell me you have a treasure you're looking for."
Sighing, she set the calendar--face down--on the desk. "Not exactly."
"Not exactly?" He glanced at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"
Deciding she might as well go with it rather than fight it, she reached over to open the scrapbook to a particular page in the middle. There, in pride of place, was the article announcing that the Gates family had finally found the Templar Treasure. Next to it was the picture of Patrick and Ben standing side-by-side, matching proud grins on their faces. Abigail stood next to Ben, smiling, with Riley crouching in front. The succeeding pages contained further articles carefully cut out of newspapers, magazines, and academic journals following the four as they traveled the world to attend the openings of the exhibits of the Templar Treasure.
After a few pages, Patrick looked up at her, his eyes suspiciously moist. "Em?"
"I never forgot you," she explained as he turned to the beginning and slowly flipped through the pages of carefully preserved articles about him, Ben, and the Gates family. "After Ben told me the you'd found the treasure, I regretted leaving you."
"You had a career to think about, Em." His voice was a trifle unsteady as he closed the scrapbook and set it on his desk. "I never blamed you."
She gently tilted his face up to meet his blue eyes with her gray ones. "My career shouldn't have mattered more than our marriage. I should have been with you and Ben on that hunt, not hearing about it later on." When he opened his mouth to say something, she laid her finger against his lips, stopping him from speaking. "Not because I want a share in the credit, but because I do love you and that should have been enough."
"Oh, Em." Patrick tugged on her hand, gently pulling her into his lap and hugging her. "You don't know-- I can't tell--" Sighing, he gave up on words and simply kissed her, warmly and passionately, pouring everything he couldn't articulate into the touch of his lips on hers.
Moaning, Emily melted into the kiss, returning it with just as much warmth and passion. She may have made a mistake when she left all those years ago, but she was damned if she was going to leave him again!
The kiss didn't end until they needed air or risk passing out in each other's arms. While Emily drew in ragged breaths, Patrick occupied himself trailing kisses along her jaw to the spot behind her ear that was particularly sensitive. She tilted her head to the side with another moan, her hands clenching in the material of his shirt. "Patrick..."
"Em?" he murmured in her ear, nipping playfully at her earlobe. "Will you do something for me?"
"What?" she breathed, even as she busied herself with unbuttoning his shirt.
He reached up to cover her hands with one of his, stopping her for the moment. Blinking, she looked at him curiously. "Will you pose for me? Like you did for the calendar? Except without the cider press."
"I hope you're not planning to take a picture," she answered sardonically, reaching up to cup his cheek with one hand.
He turned his head to kiss her palm, smiling softly. "No pictures, Em. I just want to drink in your natural beauty."
"Well, I suppose I could do that." She trailed her finger along his jaw, pressing it against his lips to keep him from answering just yet. "Provided that you agree to pose for me, too."
Patrick blinked, staring at her for several moments before dropping his gaze, a faint blush appearing in his cheeks. "I hope you won't be too disappointed with what you see."
"Why on earth would I be disappointed?" she demanded, astounded by the sudden change in her lover. "We haven't exactly been shy with each other before now."
Still blushing, Patrick poked at his stomach. "I've let myself go, Em. Some people don't find it attractive."
"Oh, you silly, lovely man." Emily leaned down and kissed him sweetly. "I don't care about that! You're fine just the way you are!"
The blush faded from his cheeks as he returned the kiss, but he didn't look convinced. "You're sure? My doctor's a little concerned about it."
"So we'll work together to get rid of it," she assured him, kissing the tip of his nose. "Either by going on walks or with other activities."
He smiled and reached up to capture her lips another hungry kiss. They never did get around to posing for each other that night. Not that either regretted it.
End