Anticipation by Dawn Cunningham.
Standard disclaimers apply. Duncan, Tessa and Richie and most other characters belong to Rysher. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
This story takes place during the first season.
* HL * * HL * * HL * * HL * * HL * * HL *
Seacouver December 21, 1992
Duncan MacLeod lay in bed, refusing to open his eyes. He knew that there was something about today that he didn't want to face but, half asleep, he couldn't quite remember what it was. The alarm clock hadn't gone off yet so it wasn't time to get up. He reached for Tessa only to find her side of the bed empty.
That brought his eyes open. He glanced at the clock and bolted upright. It was almost ninety minutes later than he usually got up. The store should have been opened fifteen minutes ago. On Mondays, it was his turn to open the store while Richie slept in. And after harassing the youth about not oversleeping, Richie would never let him forget this. As he started to fling off the covers, the bedroom door opened and Tessa walked in carrying a breakfast tray.
"Good morning, Duncan," she said with a smile. She waited until he had propped some pillows behind him before placing the tray across his lap. Leaning down, she gave him a kiss. "Happy Birthday."
Duncan almost groaned. That was it. Today was his 400th birthday. That's why the alarm clock hadn't gone off. Richie had volunteered to run the store today because it was Duncan's birthday. He pulled Tessa down for a longer kiss. "Thank you, Tessa," he said.
Tessa went over to her side of the bed and climbed in. Nestling up to Duncan, she picked up a strawberry from the tray and fed it to Duncan.
Duncan sat back and relaxed as Tessa continued to feed him breakfast. There was something totally decadent and sensual about having a beautiful woman hand-feeding him. His mind started to wander off to other possibilities and soon the breakfast tray was set aside as he started following through on those ideas.
* HL * HL *
An hour later, Duncan stood under steaming hot water in the bathroom shower. Any day that started like this one couldn't be all bad. Still, there were many hours to get through before the day would be over.
Normally, he had no problems looking forward to his birthday. However, this year was different. It wasn't the fact that he turned 400 this year that bothered him so much. What really had him worried was Richie. Duncan knew the young man was up to something. Over the last few weeks, he had noticed that Tessa and Richie would be having conversations that would stop abruptly whenever he came into a room. For the past two days, Richie couldn't stop smirking whenever he saw Duncan. It was obvious that the young man had something planned. Something that Duncan probably wouldn't enjoy.
Duncan tried to convince himself that he was wrong. Maybe all the young man had planned was handling the store by himself. But that little voice inside himself kept whispering that there was more coming. And knowing the teenager, that could be just about anything.
Duncan had noticed Richie paying way too much attention to the decorations at Leonard Helliman's 50th birthday party last week. The thought of finding his office bedecked in black streamers and balloons and signs declaring him to be over the hill was enough to make Duncan want to crawl back into bed and not surface until the day was over.
Still, all it would take would be a few minutes of swordwork, and the balloons and streamers would be gone. Duncan smiled to himself at that picture. He knew he wouldn't do it though. That would hurt Richie's feelings and the youth already had a low sense of self-esteem. The more time he spent with Richie, the easier it was to see beneath the tough street-kid persona that the youth usually projected. Now he saw a boy on the edge of manhood, desperately searching for a place to belong, for someone to believe in him.
If putting up with balloons and streamers and a surprise party helped Richie feel like he belonged there with them, then so be it. However, Duncan firmly intended to draw the line and refuse to wear a silly party hat. It would take an army of people to get it on him let alone keep it there. Of course if Tessa asked him to wear one...
Since Duncan had the day off, he was strongly tempted to disappear for the whole day. But he had never run from anything before-he wasn't going to run now. One thing was certain, he told himself as he climbed out of the shower, he had no intentions of making it easy for Richie. If a surprise party had been planned, Duncan would be prepared for it.
After dressing, Duncan cautiously wandered out to the living area. No signs of balloons or streamers were evident in either the living room or the kitchen. If Richie had decorated the office or the shop, the youth had made a major mistake in giving Duncan the day off. Now he had no reason to go into the shop at all.
* HL * HL *
"Hey, Mac?" Richie's voice broke into Duncan's thoughts.
Duncan looked up from the murder mystery he had been engrossed in for the past hour. "What is it, Richie?"
"I hate to bother you, especially when you weren't supposed to have to work today, but there's a customer out here who insists on speaking to the owner. I would have asked Tessa but she had to go to the grocery store for something."
"So what does this customer want?" Duncan struggled to keep a smile off his face. Obviously, this must be how Richie intended to get him into the shop for his surprise party. Time to make the young man squirm.
"He's interested in the El Cid sword. I guess he thinks you'll make him a better deal than I will."
"Did you look up the lowest price I would take in the computer?"
Richie nodded.
"Is his offer lower than that?"
"I don't know. He flat out refuses to discuss price with me." Richie frowned. "He keeps saying he'll only deal with the owner."
"Well, tell him that you are authorized to do all price negotiations. I'm sure he'll deal with you then," Duncan suggested before turning back to his book.
"I already told him that," Richie insisted. "He wants to see you."
"So tell him again. I'm sure you can handle it."
Richie threw his hands up in disgust and stalked back to the store.
Duncan let the grin escape as he watched the retreating youth. This was turning out to be more fun than he thought it would.
Five minutes later, Richie returned to the living room. "He insists on talking to you or he's going to walk. What do you want me to do now? Do you want to lose this sale?"
Seeing the semi-panicked look on Richie's face, Duncan decided to give in to the inevitable. He had to give the young man credit for an ingenious approach. "Lead the way," he said as he took a deep breath and braced himself for the ordeal.
Entering the shop area, Duncan waited to hear voices yelling 'surprise'.
Instead he found a single customer standing by the sword display case. There were no signs of balloons or streamers out here either. Duncan barely managed to hide his chagrin at misjudging Richie, and after twenty minutes of tough negotiation, a purchase price was agreed upon. Ironically, the price ended up being higher than the lowest price he had put in the computer. If the customer had dealt directly with Richie, he might have gotten a better deal.
Richie turned to Duncan after the customer had left. "Thanks for the help, Mac," he said. "I'll try not to bother you the rest of the day."
"No problem, Rich. By the way, thanks for the day off. It was a nice present."
"You're welcome but that's not your only present from me. You're just going to have to wait for the rest."
Duncan stared at the grinning youth for a moment before heading back to his book.
"Hey, Mac?"
Duncan stopped and looked back at the young man. "Yes?"
"Happy birthday." Richie smirked before heading to the office.
"Thanks, Richie." Duncan continued on to the living room.
Once back in his chair, Duncan tried to return to his book. He struggled to become immersed in the mystery once again but his mind refused to cooperate. He had been so positive that there would be a surprise party waiting for him in the shop that he felt somewhat let down. Even worse, he was certain that Richie knew what he had been thinking. That smirk on his face said it all.
Could it have been an elaborate set-up to convince him that nothing was going to happen? Maybe the real party was scheduled for later today and that customer had been a ploy to drop Duncan's defenses. Yes, that must be it. The next time Richie came to fetch him-that would be for the real party.
Satisfied that he had the whole thing figured out, Duncan reached for the newspaper sitting on the coffee table. For some reason, the paper was open to the classifieds. His eyes were drawn to a big ad on the page for a company that provided strippers for birthday or bachelor parties.
Before his mind could absorb that information, Richie came back in the room. He pawed through the remaining papers on the table before spotting the piece that Duncan held. "There it is. Are you through with that section? I need to get a phone number from an ad." Without waiting for a reply, Richie grabbed the paper and headed back to the store.
Duncan stared after the teenager in shock. Surely Richie wouldn't... Not even he could... Yes, he would, that annoying little voice inside his head stated. Duncan could feel the beginnings of a headache starting. What would Tessa say if a stripper showed up here? Did he even want to find out? Determined to put a stop to that idea right away, Duncan headed for the store only to be intercepted by Tessa who wanted help bringing in the groceries. Duncan sighed and followed her to the car.
Once the groceries were put away, Duncan left Tessa with her nose buried in a cookbook and went to talk to Richie. The young man was waiting on some customers so Duncan had to wait until they left. As the customers went out the door, more customers came in. Normally, they weren't this busy but with Christmas only a few days away, the last minute shoppers were out in force. With a frustrated look at Richie, Duncan went back to the kitchen to talk to Tessa.
Tessa was busy setting out baking ingredients on the counter. From the different items already assembled, Duncan was fairly certain that she was about to bake a cake. A chocolate cake. Duncan's mouth started watering at the thought. When Tessa put her mind to it and baked a cake, it was a sheer delight. Not only to eat but her artistic nature usually meant it was a beauty to behold as well. The first time she had made him a birthday cake, he had refused to cut it, feeling like it would be desecrating a work of art. Tessa had finally snatched the knife from him and done it herself, declaring him hopeless.
"Tessa, we need to talk," Duncan started.
"Hmm?" Tessa answered absent-mindedly as she continued her preparations.
Before Duncan had a chance to ask Tessa about Richie's plans, the young man walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Mac. Leonard Helliman just called. He'd like you to come over right away. He thinks he's found that saber you were looking for but he's got another dealer coming in an hour who's also interested. So if you still want it, you have to go now."
Duncan stared at the youth intently trying to decide if this was just a ploy to get him out of the store for a while. Richie could have easily enlisted Leonard's help. If it was the real thing and Duncan didn't go, he knew he would regret it. He had been looking for a Confederate cavalry saber for a long time for a good customer. "Okay. I'll go over now. I should be back by lunch time."
Ninety minutes later, Duncan headed back home. It had only taken him ten minutes to decide the sword wasn't what he was looking for. But Leonard had insisted on showing him some other pieces. Then the other dealer had come in and Leonard had drawn Duncan into their discussion about the sword. All the time, Duncan had kept thinking it was all a stall-that Leonard was deliberately keeping him from leaving. Which meant the surprise party would be waiting for him when he got home.
Once again, he debated disappearing for several hours. The look on Richie's face would be priceless if Duncan didn't show up for his own party. Still, half the fun would be to see the teenager squirm, something he couldn't do if he didn't show up. And if he didn't show up for his party, Tessa might not let him have any birthday cake, just to punish him. It was never a good idea to upset Tessa. So home he went.
Duncan walked through Tessa's workshop and into the kitchen. Much to his surprise, Richie was there eating a sandwich. The birthday cake sat on the table and was beautifully decorated. "Where's Tessa?" Duncan asked.
"She's watching the store while I have lunch," Richie explained. "So was it the sword you wanted?"
"No, it wasn't. Right time period, wrong army."
"That's too bad. It would have made a nice birthday present for you if it had been." Richie crammed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth. "Got to get back to work," he mumbled around the food before leaving the kitchen.
Duncan sat down at the kitchen table, unable to believe that he had been wrong again. Maybe there wasn't going to be a surprise party after all. Not even Richie would possibly dream up two diversions to convince Duncan that there wasn't going to be a party. Now all he had to do was sit back and enjoy the rest of the day.
However, there was still the little matter of the classified ad for a stripper. No, Duncan decided. It was time to stop being so paranoid. Besides, there was no way that Richie would be able to afford that kind of entertainment. Not unless he had taken up stealing again, that pesky little voice inside him whispered. "No! I refuse to believe that," he stated out loud.
"Refuse to believe what, Duncan?"
Duncan looked up in shock, realizing that Tessa had overheard him talking to himself. "Nothing," he muttered. It was time to change the subject. "Tessa, the cake is beautiful. I think you've outdone yourself this year."
"Thank you. I'm glad you like it," Tessa said with a smile. "Mac, there's a delivery person out front who insists that you must personally sign for the delivery before he'll leave it."
"Who's it from?" Duncan asked curiously.
"I don't know and if you don't sign for it, we may never know." Tessa grabbed Duncan's hand and started pulling him towards the front of the shop. "And whatever it is, it's huge."
Duncan reluctantly followed her. That little voice inside his head kept whispering here it comes. He tried to remind himself that he was just being paranoid again but when he saw the size of the crate sitting on the truck, he wasn't so sure. The crate was about six feet high and three feet wide. Big enough to hold someone-a stripper maybe? He signed the delivery receipt and stood by while the two delivery men carried it into the shop and set it in the middle of the floor before leaving.
The surface of the crate had been stamped with the word Fragile repeatedly. It was also clearly marked-To Be Opened By Duncan MacLeod Only. There was no indication of who sent the crate.
"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Richie asked.
"Yes, Duncan, let's see what it is," Tessa chimed in.
"It can wait until later," Duncan stated nonchalantly. "I think I'll go get some lunch."
"Duncan!"
"Mac!"
The shocked looks on Tessa's and Richie's faces made Duncan wish he had a camera handy. "What?" he asked, managing to keep the grin from his face.
"Don't you want to know what it is?" Tessa looked amazed at the thought of him ignoring the crate.
"Yeah," Richie added. "Besides, you can't let that crate just sit there in the middle of the shop! What if we get more customers?"
"Oh, all right. Richie, get a crowbar and I'll open it up," Duncan conceded. Once the youth had come back, Duncan went around the crate prying up the lid. "Give me a hand, Rich."
Together Richie and Duncan lifted the lid and went to set it up against the crate. With his hands full, Duncan could only stand and watch helplessly as dozens of balloons rose from the crate and headed for the ceiling of the antique store, two floors above. Each balloon trailed a streamer that read Happy Birthday.
Duncan glared at Richie, certain that he was responsible.
"Hey, Mac," Richie defended himself. "I didn't do this... Honest!"
Duncan tilted the crate to look inside and noticed something wrapped in bright birthday paper at the bottom of it. With Richie's help, he dismantled the rest of the crate to get to it. Unwrapping the package, he discovered an antique dart board and darts. A letter was tacked to the board and Duncan removed it and started reading.
'Duncan, Happy 400th Birthday. While this is not quite as nice as the present you gave me on my 400th, you can thank Tessa for that. I had no wish to embarrass such a beautiful woman. Practice well and the next time we meet, we can see who is better. Although, I have little doubt that I will beat you at darts too. Hopefully, I've given you plenty of targets to aim at. Connor'
"What did you give Connor on his 400th birthday?" Richie asked.
Duncan realized that the teenager had been reading over his shoulder. "Never mind. You don't want to know."
"But I want to know," Tessa said as she took the note and read it too. "It must have been very embarrassing."
"I uh... hired ... uh... four... uh" Duncan mumbled something beneath his breath.
"I didn't quite catch that," Tessa said with a frown. "Try speaking a little more clearly."
Duncan looked at the two expectant faces in front of him and felt warmth flood his cheeks. "I hired four um... ladies to spend the night with him. Satisfied?"
"By ladies, do you mean prostitutes?" Tessa kept pushing.
Duncan nodded his head.
"Four?"
"One for each century."
"Well, thank goodness Connor has more class than you do." Tessa stalked out of the room.
"Gee, that makes the clothes and watch you got for me on my birthday seem pretty dull," Richie said with a grin. "Feel free to get me just one for my next birthday."
"I'll tell you what, Richie. You live to be a hundred and I'll get you one then. How's that?" Duncan grinned back at the youth.
"Yeah, right. Even if I did live that long, I doubt I'd be able to do anything with her by then," Richie groaned.
"You never know, Richie. Medical miracles happen every day," Duncan said. He made a mental note to himself to remember this promise. Richie did have a chance to turn one hundred, not that he knew it yet. And it would be just like the young man to remind Duncan of his promise.
"So, Mac, how are you gonna get those balloons down?"
"I don't know! Maybe I'll have you do it-after all it's *my* birthday. It's the least you could do..."
"But...But..." Richie stammered out. "How?"
"Relax, Richie. They'll come down on their own once the helium leaks out. We'll just have to put up with them until then."
Another customer walked in the door and Richie went to wait on her while Duncan moved the dismantled crate back to the storeroom. When he came back into the store, he heard Richie talking.
"No. It's not my birthday, it's Mac's birthday." Richie spotted Duncan standing in the doorway. "In fact, here's the birthday boy himself. He just hit the big four-o this year," Richie confided with a grin.
The woman, who appeared to be in her seventies, turned to Duncan. "Happy Birthday, young man. It's obvious you take good care of yourself. I would have guessed you to only be about thirty five. Why I have a son who's forty two and he looks twice as old as you."
"Thank you," Duncan said while his eyes threw daggers at Richie. "I try to watch what I eat and exercise regularly."
"Well, if you keep that up, you might live to be a hundred. One never knows."
Duncan heard choked laughter coming from Richie. "Yes. One never knows." He walked the woman to the door. "Thanks for shopping here and have a Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," the woman said and left the shop.
Duncan turned around to see Richie collapsed against a counter, laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. His face had turned an interesting shade of red before he managed to calm down enough to take a deep breath.
"You should've seen your face, Mac. Might live to a hundred." Richie struggled to control his laughter. "One never knows..."
"Very funny, Rich. The idea is to *not* draw attention to my age."
"Relax, Mac. It's not like I told her you were 400. By the way, how old are you-officially? You know-like on your driver's license?"
"None of your business." Duncan felt his face grow warm as he thought about the year on his license.
Richie walked over by Duncan and clapped him on the shoulder. "Okay. If that's how you feel." He brushed past the Immortal and headed for the office.
Duncan headed for the living room before a sudden thought stopped him in his tracks. He reached for his back pocket and found... "RICHIE!" he yelled as he headed for the office too. There was no sign of the youth in the office but the door to Tessa's workshop was partially open. Pushing it further open, he saw Richie going up the stairs to the kitchen where he could see Tessa through the windows. He stormed after the teenager.
He was too late. Richie was already showing Tessa the wallet he had picked from Duncan's pocket and the driver's license. "Look, Tessa. His driver's license says he turns 40 today! Think about what fun we could have had if we had known this earlier."
Duncan reached between the two of them and snatched his wallet back. "I'll take that if you don't mind. Richie, if you ever..."
The doorbell interrupted his words.
"I'll get it," Richie said quickly. He left the room and returned with a package in his hands. "It's for you, Mac. And it's heavy."
Duncan took a look at the return address. It was from Darius. At least there shouldn't be any surprises from him. He opened the package and found an old book describing battle strategies used by the Highland clans. Duncan knew that he would have hours of enjoyment with the book. After showing it to Tessa and Richie, he took it to the living room to start reading. Richie headed back to the shop.
Fifteen minutes later, Richie showed up with the mail. There were quite a few birthday cards in the stack. One, from Kit O'Brady, included ten scratch-off lottery tickets, all losers. One of them was from Amanda and showed a harem girl in a very revealing costume on the front. The message inside said that the card had reminded her of their time together in Turkey. Duncan buried the card down the side of the chair when Tessa came into the room. There was no way he was going to try to explain Amanda to Tessa. Hopefully, the two of them would never meet.
"Duncan, since it's your birthday, where do you want to eat tonight? I need to make reservations."
"How about Fiorni's? I feel like eating Italian tonight."
"Okay. I'll give them a call." Tessa left the room.
A few minutes later, Richie showed up again. His face was lit with a big grin. "Mac, there's someone here to see you. Should I bring her back here or do you want to come out to the store?"
Her? Duncan sensed trouble ahead. Surely Amanda wouldn't show up here? Or maybe it was the stripper.
"I think I'll come out to the store," Duncan said quickly. Maybe Tessa wouldn't see anything then. He could still hear her on the phone in the kitchen.
The female waiting for him in the shop wasn't Immortal so it couldn't be Amanda. But she was wearing a trenchcoat that covered her from shoulder to mid-calf. When Richie introduced Duncan, the woman, in her mid-twenties, blonde and very pretty, handed him a box. She then removed her coat, displaying a well-endowed body in a very revealing halter-necked dress, and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday in a Marilyn Monroe style of singing. After she was done, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him.
Duncan struggled for a few moments before peeling her arms away, somewhat difficult to do while he was still holding the box. On one side of him he saw Richie with his mouth hanging open. On the other side he caught a glimpse of Tessa. She didn't look too happy.
"Happy Birthday from Fitzcairn," the girl said before grabbing her coat and running out the door.
"Tessa... I..." Duncan didn't know how to explain this.
"Hmmmm. I take it Fitzcairn is another *old* friend."
Duncan nodded, mutely. This day wasn't going well.
"Oh man! I have the wrong kind of friends," Richie moaned behind him.
"That's a matter of opinion," Tessa snapped. "So what did he send you... besides the blonde."
Duncan opened the box and found three bottles of fine wines and a single bottle of Champagne. It had a card attached asking Duncan to celebrate his birthday by sharing the fine wine with a fine lady.
"You're the only one I would want to share this with," Duncan told Tessa, trying to salvage the moment. He went to kiss her but she pulled away from him.
"You might try wiping her lipstick off your face first," she said.
Duncan stared with dismay at Tessa's scowl as he scrubbed at his face with his handkerchief. He wondered how long he was going to be in the dog house over this one. The next time he saw Fitzcairn...
Tessa's scowl disappeared once he was done and she leaned over and kissed him. "I'm sure we'll enjoy the Champagne later on tonight," she promised him with a smile. "Now about dinner. I was able to make reservations at Fiorni's but we have to go early, at 6:00. Apparently there are a lot of people having Christmas parties there tonight so they didn't have any reservations for later. Is that all right?"
"Sounds fine to me. Is that okay with you, Richie?"
Richie looked startled. "Me? I can't go out with you tonight. I... um... have plans... um... a date. Yeah, a date."
Aha! Duncan thought. That's the plan. While he and Tessa were out having dinner, Richie would be organizing the party. And it meant that the party couldn't possibly be at the restaurant. "I'm sure your date will understand, Richie. After all, it's *my* birthday and I want to celebrate it with you and Tessa."
"But... but... " Richie's face took on a panicked look.
"I *insist*, Richie. Give your date a call and tell her you can't make it tonight. Family obligations." Duncan refused to give in.
Richie gave a big sigh and headed for the office. Tessa took the bottle of Champagne to put on ice and Duncan hovered outside the office door trying to listen to the conversation. He could only pick up bits and pieces though.
"...can't help it... have to be later...I'll call... don't want to ruin ...maybe we should forget...are you sure?... okay... bye."
Duncan backed off with a grin. Maybe this would teach Richie a lesson about trying to organize a surprise birthday party.
* HL * HL *
Hours later, Duncan watched as the waiter refilled his coffee cup. They had just finished an excellent dinner. Tessa must have tipped off the owner because the roving band of Italian troubadours the restaurant was well known for, had come to their table and serenaded him with songs of long life and best wishes. Richie had been fidgeting in his chair for the last fifteen minutes and kept looking at his watch. The squirming got worse as Duncan calmly sipped his coffee. Finally, he decided to take pity on the youth.
"Are you ready to leave, Tessa? I think Richie wants to get home and have some birthday cake."
Richie practically jumped from his seat. "Yeah. That sounds great. Let's go." He practically shoved them across the restaurant to the door.
Once home, Richie rushed to the telephone and dialed a number. After a few moments of low talking, he hung up and rushed for his bedroom. He reappeared five minutes later wearing jeans and a nice shirt, carrying a brightly wrapped package. "Here, Mac. Happy birthday."
"What's the rush, Richie? Don't you want to have some cake first?"
"No. Um... just open it and then I'll explain."
Duncan looked over at Tessa but she just shrugged her shoulders and looked curious too. Removing the wrapping paper, he discovered a box from Neiman Marcus. His earlier worry about Richie having the funds to buy him a gift re-surfaced. Nothing was cheap at Neiman Marcus. And the way Richie had picked his pocket earlier today made him wonder if the youth had been getting plenty of practice lately. Opening the box with trepidation, he pushed back the first layer of tissue paper. All he found was an envelope with his name written on it.
Opening the envelope, he extracted a piece of paper.
"Read it out loud," Richie demanded as Duncan unfolded the letter.
"Okay. This letter entitles Duncan MacLeod to spend 24 hours alone with Tessa Noel. What does this mean, Richie?"
"There's something else in the box, too."
Duncan looked under the tissue paper and found a sign that stated-Closed for the holidays. He sent another questioning look at Richie.
"They're having a 24 hour lock-up at the youth center tonight. Angie's parents are chaperoning it and her mother is going to be here to pick me up any moment now."
"What's a lock-up?" Tessa asked with a frown. "It sounds like they're putting you in jail."
"At 8:00 tonight, they'll lock the doors to the youth center and no one is allowed in or out until 24 hours later. Unless there's an emergency of course. It's chaperoned and they'll have lots of stuff to do-dancing, sports, and playing games. I know my moving in here hasn't been easy on you so I figured 24 hours without me around would be the best present I could give you. I figured you wouldn't want to open the store so I made the sign. And you won't have to worry about me because you'll know exactly where I'm at. I almost missed it because you wanted me to eat with you. Okay?"
"Of course, Richie," Duncan said. "That's a wonderful present. Tessa and I will enjoy having a little privacy. Thank you. If you had explained it to me earlier, I wouldn't have insisted on you going out with us." Now Duncan felt ashamed at how he had misjudged the youth.
"That's okay. I didn't tell you earlier because I was afraid something would happen at the last minute to ruin everything. You never know around here." The sound of a horn came from the alley. "That's my ride."
Richie dashed back to his room and returned, carrying his jacket, a gym bag and one more package. "Gotta go. Here's one more gift but you can't open it till I'm gone." Richie turned beet red as he shoved the package at Duncan.
Tessa stopped him on the way to the door. "Thank you," she said as she kissed him on the cheek and gave him a hug. "Have a good time. Oh," she exclaimed as she realized something. "You haven't had a piece of birthday cake yet!"
Richie sent a longing gaze towards the cake and swallowed hard. "Save me a piece, Tessa. I'll see you tomorrow night. Bye." Richie waved as he ran for the door. He turned back at the last minute. "By the way, some guy may call about some motorcycle parts that I want to buy. I tried to get hold of him earlier today after I saw his ad in the classifieds but I had to leave a message for him. Tell him I'm interested but it might take me a little time to come up with the cash, will you? Thanks."
"Well, that will teach me a lesson," Duncan said as the door slammed shut. "I've spent the whole day thinking that Richie would have something really horrible planned like a surprise party and instead I get to be alone with you for twenty four hours. Although I almost screwed that up too."
"Actually," Tessa started with a dismayed look on her face. "I'm the one who wanted to give you the surprise party but Richie talked me out of it. He said it wasn't a smart thing to surprise a sword-carrying Immortal. I could see his point, so I dropped the idea."
Duncan just laughed and shook his head. He pulled Tessa down into his lap. "So what do you think we should do with our time alone?" He started nuzzling her on the neck.
"I think we can figure out something. But first, why don't you open Richie's other package. It must be something really good based on the way he was blushing."
Duncan reached for the package sitting on the table. He quickly tore the wrapping paper off and found a box labeled Intimate Nights. "Oh, no. I'm not sure I want to open this," he said with a frown.
"Come on, Duncan. Be a man. How bad can it be?"
"With Richie-who knows." He carefully opened the box and peeked inside before removing the lid all the way. "I don't think this is my color," he muttered as he pushed the tissue paper aside to reveal a piece of silk the same blue as Tessa's eyes. He lifted the item from the box. "Or my size either," he stated as he stared at a silk nightgown with spaghetti straps and almost no back. There were deep slits up each side and Duncan felt his pulse quicken as he imagined Tessa in the gown.
"There's a letter here, too," Tessa said as she handed it to him.
The letter was addressed to both of them. 'Mac and Tessa. I read somewhere that a man buys lingerie for a woman, not to please her but to please himself. Therefore, this seemed the perfect gift for you, Mac. Enjoy. Richie. P.S. Tessa, I'll return the favor next year on your birthday by buying something for Mac to wear.'
They both laughed at the letter. "Hmmm. Now I can't wait for my birthday next year," Tessa said. "It could be very... interesting."
"I think we should get through Christmas first. Just imagine what he might have come up with for our presents for that."
"Whatever they are, I'm sure they will be unique," Tessa said.
"I think we can count on Richie for that," Duncan said as he held up the nightgown again.
Tessa took the gown from Duncan's fingers. "Why don't you lock up the place and start a fire and I'll be right back."
Duncan quickly followed her instructions, putting the sign in the front window and also moving the ice bucket holding the bottle of Champagne and two wine glasses into the living room. He placed pillows in front of the fireplace and waited for Tessa to join him.
Why hadn't Richie told them about his plans earlier? If Duncan had known about this, he would have taken a nap this afternoon and insisted that Tessa take one too. At separate times, of course. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten any rest. Or he could have drank more coffee at dinner time to be sure he would stay alert. Who was he kidding? They never would have made it to dinner. Duncan and Tessa would have been shoving Richie out the door three hours earlier.
Hearing a noise behind him, Duncan turned and saw a vision that made his breath catch. As Tessa came towards him, he had a feeling this would be a birthday he would never forget.
The end.