Jerry was lying in bed staring at the ceiling that Saturday morning as Katie slept curled on her side facing him. He had already taken his medication that controlled the worst of his Asperger symptoms about twenty minutes earlier. He swallowed hard and continued staring, hoping the answer to calming his nerves was there if only he could see it.
He glanced quickly at Katie and grinned goofily. She is so beautiful and she wants to be with me. With me! Jerry Espenson, Jerry "Hands" Espenson, the weirdo from Contracts. But she doesn't see me that way, she never has. I believe she loves me and I…I love her. I love her! I want to marry her so much!
"Good morning."
The man almost jumped a foot while lying flat on his back. "Morning!" he squeaked in surprised response as his head whipped around to stare at his bed companion. "Did I wake you?"
"No, but you've certainly got my attention. Jerry, did you forget I was here with you?" She moved closer to him and kissed his cheek. "Hold that thought; I have to go to the loo." She eased out of her side of the bed and Jerry gasped aloud to see her nude body as she padded into the bathroom and closed the door. Seeing her in all her glory brought back memories of the night before and by the time she returned, tears were running down his face.
"Jerry?" she asked as she gathered him to her and pulled the bedding up to cover them, "Is something wrong?"
He hugged her tightly and then released his grip enough to be able to see her face. "Katie, nothing is wrong. Everything is right, so amazingly right. In my entire life, I never dreamed that any woman would want me, especially not a woman as beautiful, as smart, as, as sexy as you are."
"You're a wonderful man."
"Maybe, but only because of you. You are kind and patient. Like, like last night. I know I don't have…a lot of experience, but you guided me and helped me and it was…life changing."
Katie blushed. "You make it sound like it was our first time; your first time."
"Every time we make love, it's my first time, Katie. You are my first lover. I hope you will be my only lover. Purrrrrrrr!" Jerry could have bitten his lip. Did I just give too much away? Oh, no!
She placed her palm against his face. "You make me very happy, Jerry. I don't want to be with anyone else, either."
Jerry was so thrilled with her answer that he actually bounced the two of them causing Katie to giggle and kiss him lightly on the lips. I'm going to do it now! "Katie, do you, do you think you could be happy…pop pop pop! I mean, we are so good together…phhhht! Ohhh!" He plopped his head onto his pillow in exasperation.
Katie was watching him closely. "Jerry," she whispered, "that was sounding very much like a proposal." Afraid to speak, Jerry quickly nodded his head. "I see," she replied. Suddenly, a smile began to spread across her face. "You are asking me to marry you?"
Jerry suddenly bolted out of bed and ran to his coat closet. He reached into his inner coat pocket and extracted a small box and then raced back to the bedroom where Katie still sat in bed looking amused and a little confused. "I pop got this for you." He opened the box and watched Katie's eyes grow wide at the sight of the engagement ring. He took one deep calming breath, let it out, took in another breath and said, "I want you to be my wife. Will you please marry me?"
Her eyes met his. "Yes! Yes, Jerry, I'll marry you!" She held out her left hand with the fingers splayed out and when Jerry didn't move, she looked from him to the ring to her hand and back again a couple of times until she saw the light bulb go off over his head.
"Oh! Oh, right." He put the box down and removed the ring. Taking her left hand in his, he slid the ring onto her finger. "How does that feel?"
"It feels wonderful, perfect and official," she said, "I love you, Jerry."
"I love you. Pop!"
"And just so you know," she said as she pushed him down and began kiss him ardently, "I love your pops and purrs."
The phone rang a couple of hours later causing Jerry to rouse himself and answer. "Espenson," he whispered.
"Jerry, it's Alan. How are you? And why are you whispering?"
"Hello, Alan, I'm fine. Better than fine, actually. I'm whispering because my fiancée is still sleeping."
"Your fian…Congratulations, Jerry! I'm so proud of you. So, you didn't need me after all!"
"Alan, yes, I did. I told you before, if you hadn't stood up for me after all that awful business with Shirley, I would never have been diagnosed, I would never have gotten the help I needed and I would not have this life. You are a true friend, Alan. I want you to be my best man. Think about it. We'll speak later."
"I don't have to, Jerry; it's an honor and I will be your best man whenever you set the date. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Alan clicked off the phone and said, "Apparently, Jerry was able to figure it out without me; he and Katie are engaged and he wants me to be his best man. What do you think of that?" When he didn't get an answer, he looked over at Denny to see that he had dozed off again. He frowned. I don't like how much he is sleeping now. I think we're going to have to look into this.