Nap

by Disherona

When Sharona woke up early Saturday morning, she found Randy sleeping face down in a pillow on top of the covers. He was half dressed, and laid with his feet hanging off the edge of the bed. He had been working double shifts, filling in for an officer who was on his honeymoon for almost two weeks.

Randy finally took a day off, after Evie offered to fill in for him for the day to give him some much needed rest. Sharona had two clients to see in the mid-afternoon, so she let Randy sleep in. After throwing a quilt over him, she went to putter around the house. She cleaned up the dishes that Randy had left in the sink when he came home sometime earlier in the morning. She started a load of laundry then changed into a pair of work jeans and sneakers. She donned one of Randy's old cast off flannel shirts, rolled up the sleeves, and went out into the backyard.

She put on some gardening music, in this case The Eagles, Desperado album, at a moderate volume and went to work. It was therapeutic for her to grow lovely things. Sharona loved the feeling of soil between her fingers. Gardening was one of her favorite pastimes, and was one of the reasons she talked Randy into renting a house instead of an apartment, which would have been more economical. She grew decorative flowers. and also tomatoes and asparagus, because those were veggies that both Randy and Benjy liked.

Sharona heard the back door open, as she wiped a loose curl away from her face with her gloved hand. She turned to see Randy sitting on the edge of the deck with a glass of orange juice in his hand, looking scruffy and disheveled. "G'mrning" He mumbled, not quite awake. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought you might want to sleep in." Sharona said, "Hand me the snips."

He looked in the gardening tool box, and pulled out pruning shears. "I can sleep any time."

"Like those, but smaller."

He looked again, pulling out the right tool this time, and handed it over to her.

"Do you want to go out to breakfast?" He asked as he watched her work. He thought she was cute when she was a little dirty. She snipped off some twigs and pulled some dead leaves away from her flowers, then scrutinized her work.

"Sure. Let me get cleaned up and change," she answered, gathering up the gardening supplies she had used and putting them away. As she walked by, he stopped her and gathered her into his arms and gave her a long kiss. "Good morning."

After they both washed up and changed in to casual clothes, they walked to a popular neighborhood restaurant. They shared eggs and pancakes, fruit and coffee. While they were there, they talked to some of their new neighbors and introduced themselves to the ones they hadn't met yet. The breakfast was filling and tasty and they enjoyed each other's company and conversation with their new friends.

After breakfast they went for a long walk in the crisp morning air and explored new areas in the neighborhood before returning to their home.

They sat on the sofa together, contented. Well, mostly contented. "So...What should we do now?" Sharona asked as she interlaced her fingers with his.

"Take a nap." Randy answered, decisively.

"You mean go to bed? It's not even noon."

"Well, in a way. We haven't gone to bed at the same time since we moved here. I just want to go to bed at the same time as you."

"Really?" She said as she scrunched her nose, smiled and looked into his eyes. "You wanna take a nap with me."

"I miss you. I miss snuggling with you, and saying goodnight to you. You don't even have to go to sleep. I just want to get into bed at the same time as you."

Sharona could see in his eyes and hear in his voice how much he missed her, and it touched her heart.

"Are you tired?"

"Nope. I just want to lay in bed with you and talk."

They went upstairs, hand in hand. Sharona noticed that Randy had remade the bed after he had gotten up. They made a little nest of pillows, and Sharona unfolded a soft, white quilt on the end of the bed. Then they nested, laying on top of the covers. Sharona pulled a throw blanket up around them, and they lay in each others arms.

"Love you." Sharona said.

"Love you, too." Randy returned.

They talked for about a half hour about the things they hadn't had the chance to talk about, until Randy slowly drifted off to sleep.

The End

Please Review. I will consider suggestions, if you have them.