Sweet Surprises

It had been a long day for Emily Appleton-Gates. She had never really flown well and the flight to South Dakota to finish cataloging the artifacts at Cibola was no exception. She had spent the day making arrangements, managing her graduate students, and taking the time to examine some of the ruins herself, guaranteeing that by the time the group returned to their hotel that evening, Emily was exhausted.

After showering and then going to get something to eat in the hotel restaurant with her students, Emily returned to her room. She turned on the television to listen to the news while she went over some papers she had brought along to read and then when she became too drowsy to keep the letters from going all squiggly in front of her eyes, she stood, stretched, and slowly undressed. She donned a soft sleeveless nightgown and yawned as she noted that it was after ten o'clock. She wondered at length if she should have called Patrick earlier in the evening, as now it would be close to midnight and he would surely have gone to bed by now.

Emily slipped into bed and rested for a moment against the cool pillow before reaching for her cell phone and checking to see if she had somehow missed a call. There were none. She hesitated with her fingers over the keys and then closed the phone. She would call Patrick first thing in the morning. Emily rolled over onto her side and stared at the empty space beside her. She'd slept alone for 32 years…why was this so difficult? Emily snatched one of the extra pillows propped up on that side of the bed and stuffed it beneath the covers beside her. It wasn't Patrick, but hopefully she wouldn't have such a hard time getting to sleep. Tentatively, she inched closer to the pillow and wrapped her arm around it. Nope. Definitely not Patrick. Emily sighed softly and cursed under her breath. She rolled back onto her back with the extra pillow in her arms and stared at the ceiling. A moment later, her cell phone rang and she immediately looked to see who it was, smiling as she snuggled down a little more and answered it.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi, honey," Patrick's warm voice greeted her. "I hope I haven't woken you."

"No," Emily said, suddenly drowsy. "I just crawled into bed. Why aren't you asleep? It's got to be past midnight there."

"It is," Patrick replied. "I couldn't sleep. That and I hadn't heard from you all day, so I thought I'd call and say good night." Emily's smile widened.

"I miss you," Emily said. "It was a mistake not to bring you with me. I've done trips like these so often before and…I just didn't think that this time would be so different than any other."

"Well, I've sent you a present and it should be there any minute if I calculated the arrival correctly," Patrick said.

"What on earth could possibly be delivered so late?" Emily asked, slowly sitting up in bed.

"It's a surprise. Something that I hope will help you get to sleep," Patrick said. Emily was about to half-heartedly scold him for spoiling her when there was a knock at the door.

"Patrick," Emily started.

"Go on," Patrick urged her. "Go and answer it. I'll wait." Emily climbed out of bed, set the phone down while she shrugged on a robe and tied it and then picked the phone up again as she crossed the room to the door.

"Last chance to tell me what I'm opening the door to," Emily teased.

"You'll see," Patrick said with a chuckle. Emily undid the locks on the door and opened it just enough to see who was there. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened for a moment before her smile returned in full force. She slowly closed her cell phone as she grinned up at Patrick's handsome face.

"Hi, honey," he said, closing his own phone. Here he stood, his phone in one hand and a bag over his shoulder. He clutched a suitcase in the other hand and his eyes gleamed with mischief. Emily said nothing as she opened the door further and let him in, resisting the urge to take hold of him and yank him into the room as quickly as she could. Emily fairly bubbled with joy and as she watched Patrick set down his things and shed his coat, she still couldn't decide what to say to him. She bit her lip playfully as she re-locked the door and then turned to look at him. He turned back to her after settling his luggage and remarked that she was awfully quiet.

Emily didn't reply. She crossed the room to him and leaned into his arms, stretching up onto her tip-toes to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into a warm kiss. Patrick responded by holding her tightly and then loosening the sash of the robe she was wearing. Now this was the reception he'd been expecting! She let the robe fall forgotten to the floor and gave Patrick a playful shove to make him sit down on the bed. She took a step closer, nudging his knees apart so that she could get closer to him and drape her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry I'm quiet…" Emily said softly as she lightly tangled the fingers of one hand in his hair near the nape of his neck. "I just don't know what to say!"

"Are you happy I'm here?" he asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Oh, yes!" she breathed, bending to kiss him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They kissed over and over for a minute or two before Patrick noticed the extra pillow. He looked at it and then turned his grin on his wife.

"What's this?" he teased. "Replaced me so soon?"

"Emergency measures," Emily muttered, tucking her knees beneath her as she crawled up onto the bed beside him. "I just kept staring at that big empty…hole…where you should have been beside me and I just felt so guilty for leaving you behind and I…" Emily didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Patrick kissed her before he pulled the extra pillow out and placed it on top of the others as he reclined back, making Emily laugh.

"Making yourself at home, are you?" teased.

"Absolutely," Patrick said with a relaxed sigh.

"Well, let me help you with that," Emily purred, untying and pulling off his shoes before she got back up onto the bed and snuggled into his arms. The two watched a little TV, kissed for a little while longer and then finally crawled beneath the covers to go to sleep. In the morning, Emily mused, her graduate students were going to want an explanation for the silly smile on her face, not to mention Patrick's sudden appearance. She decided she would worry about that in the morning. For now, she planned on getting a very good night's sleep.