Vic scoots over and sits next to me on the couch and puts her hand in mine.

"Hey, listen."

I turn to face her and feel even sicker from the adrenaline dump of having conquered a legitimate fear.

"Walt, that's the most words I have ever heard you speak at once. You realize that?" She smiles at me. "I'm ready if you are."

"What about Ted?"

"What's with you and Ted. He's my realtor. Walt, you know I have to sell my house because of the divorce and Sean agreed to wait until the market was a little more of a seller's market so we could get more out of the house. I wanted an extra day to get a head start on packing my things and getting the house ready to show."

"You always dress like that when you meet the realtor."

"First off, I cannot believe you are jealous. Second, have you ever once seen me out of uniform? Oh wait, you have, at your election party at Lizzie's. How is Lizzie by the way?"

I hang my head and shake it as I finally realize I have met my absolute match.

"Listen, pistol Pete, I figure if you can save it for me I can save it for you" and with that Victoria Moretti gave me the kiss of a lifetime where if you were to ask me I think I actually forgot my name.

When she lifts for air I am distinctly dizzy. My stomach actually rescues me by growling.

Vic laughs out loud. "Damn, Walt didn't you just eat dinner?"

"No, didn't finish."

"Well that may explain a lot."

Vic gets up and heads towards the kitchen. "Let me fix you right up. You are gonna need your energy."

I laugh and follow her into the kitchen wondering if she is going to cover up but not wanting her to.

"Scrambled eggs ok?"

"Yeah, perfect. Thank you."

She whips up the eggs and a couple of slices of toast and I demolish them. It's like we have been doing this for a million years. The comfort, the closeness, and the ease of being with her doing something simple like eating scrambled eggs.

I put my plate in the sink and take her hand and pull it around my waist.

"Thank you, for everything, Vic. Thank you for being you."

I kiss her, taking the lead this time, and dream of how wonderful this will be the rest of my life.

"Vic, let's do this right, ok. It's all I can do not to rip off that tee but let's wake up tomorrow and make sure this is what we both want in the morning. There's no going back once we change everything."

"You almost convinced me you weren't stupid, stupid."

Vic nearly jumped in my arms and we showered each other with kisses.

"I guess so cause I'm stupid crazy in love with you." With that, I can breathe again and begin to live again in the arms of Victoria Moretti.