Chapter 8
Tom opened his eyes, and for a moment, he just laid in bed. He was a little groggy and after a moment, he rolled over on his side and stretched and yawned. After a moment, he smiled to himself as he thought of yesterday. It had been moving day...
They had moved in yesterday, and with the help of a few friends they had been done by 1600. Not that they had that much to move, but they had used the Flyer to move, and it had taken only one trip. First, they had packed up all of Jill's things, and then they had broke for a quick lunch, then flying to Tom's, they had loaded his stuff and then flew to their new home. The weather was good, and not too cold. They had joked as they emptied the items from the Flyer into the home. Most of the things were boxes of old fashion books, and their clothes. Both Tom and Jill enjoyed reading, and they loved the old fashion hardback books. Tom had built shelves in the library/office, and between the two of them, they had plenty of books to fill the shelves. Both Harry and B'Elanna had been on hand to help, and between the four of them, they had unpacked all the books in record time. They had admired the view of all the books on the shelves, and Harry had made a remark about all the books they had collected. Jill had just laughed, but Tom made a face of mock indignation and had said
"Harry, Harry... don't you know that good literature has to be read in this form...no padds!"
Harry had just rolled his eyes and grunted. B'Elanna only laughed at the look on Tom's face.
Most of the home's items had been moved in weeks ago by Tom as he had worked on the furniture. He had enjoyed being able to arrange things, and he had noticed that Jill had only moved a few items. Nothing big though, so he knew she had been happy with the arrangement of the furniture. She had though move things like the accessories that they had picked out. Oh well, he decided that was really the woman's prerogative to set up the nick-knacks. He had to admit, that the changes she had made were better, and the home already looked more comfortable and lived in. Once they were finished with the books, they had all gone out to the living room, and Tom had gone out to get an armful of wood. He then built a fire in the fireplace, and they all enjoyed siting and enjoying the companionship of good friends. Jill had already insisted that Harry and B'Elanna stay for dinner, and had already started a pot of chili. They spent the rest of the afternoon telling stories and laughing. Soon, they were getting hungry as the aroma of the chili was drifting out of the kitchen, and Jill got up to serve up the chili. Tom had gotten the table set, and once they were seated, they each dished up a bowl of the meaty chili. They had chunks of french bread to go with it. Jill had also produced a warm fruit cobbler for desert.
When dinner was over, Tom had gotten up to take Harry and B'Elanna home, and Jill decided to stay behind to clean up and start to unpack clothes. She knew that he wouldn't be gone more than an hour, so she knew she could get the clean up done, and maybe all the clothes unpacked. They had moved to the door, and she had hugged and thanks B'Elanna and Harry for their help, kissed Tom, and then, after the door shut had gone to the kitchen to clean up. Once done, she walked to the master bedroom and began unpacking clothes. It took her almost twenty minutes to finish. She then sat on the bed and thought back to the day before, and the discussion she and Tom had. He had insisted on sleeping in one of the guest rooms. He had told her, that he felt that it was a good idea, and, even though it was the twenty-fourth century, he wanted to be traditional and not sleep with her till their wedding night. She had thought it was sweet, but told him he didn't need to, but at the look on his face, she agreed with him. He was so cute, and the idea that he was thinking of her virtue, actually made her feel special. Tom wanted their first time to be something special, and the more she thought of it, the more she did too, so he would be sleeping in the guest room till they married. She stood up and took Tom's pj's, robe and a few other personal things into the guest room, and tried to make it comfortable for him, laying out his robe and pj's. She left the light on from the table lamp, and it gave off a gentle glow. She went back out to the living room to wait for Tom...
Tom could smell the wonderful aroma of coffee and pancakes. He got out of bed and put his robe on and went to the kitchen. Jill was standing before the stove, and cooking his favorite...blueberry pancakes. He also saw a platter of turkey sausages,and was sure it was his mother's recipe. The home computer system was playing music, and she was humming along. She began to do a little dance step to the music, and he just stood in the doorway and smiled at her. She was the most incredible woman, and he had been really surprised and happy to find out she also liked twentieth century music. They did have some differences, but not enough to cause any arguments. She turned and saw him standing there with a grin on his face, and immediately stopped, and looked slightly embarrassed.
"You caught me."
She said a little sheepishly. He just continued to grin and walked over to her and took her in his arms and kissed and hugged her. He nuzzled her for a moment before saying
"I love it...you looked so cute."
He let her go so she could flip the pancakes. Once they were on the plate, she took both the pancakes and sausages to the small table in the small breakfast nook and set them down on the table. Turning around, she went and opened the refrigerator and got the pitcher of orange juice out and took that to the table. Meanwhile, Tom had gotten the coffee and poured their coffee into the mugs on the table. He set the pot down on the mat, and sat down. Jill joined him, and they began to eat breakfast. Their conversation was about the move and how much they loved their new home. Jill was a little sorry that his parents were farther away, but with the transport station, which was going to be active this week, they would be able to get back and forth a lot easier than flying. And, Jill was happily planning Thanksgiving dinner. They had invited Harry and B'Elanna yesterday, and Tom planned to invite both Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. He also planned to invite his other two team members at the lab. They were actually dating each other, so it would be a full house, but Jill seemed up to it. She had told him of the one old fashion holiday that her family had celebrated, and of all the good food that they had prepared. He was actually looking forward to it. His parents were going to come up the day before and spend the night in the other guest room. He knew his mother was going to enjoy all the baking, as she loved the old fashion cooking. They had finished breakfast, and Jill had cleaned up the kitchen. They had gone into the living room, and Tom had built up the fire, so they had a good fire going. It certainly took the chill off in the home. They sat on the couch and snuggled together and began to plan the holiday
Jill began telling Tom all about her plans and what she hoped would turn into a tradition in the Paris Clan.
"Tom, I so want this to become a tradition in our family...I know it meant a lot to my family."
"I do too. I've researched the holiday, and it is the only one of it's kind...setting a day apart to be thankful for you're blessings. I like it."
"It's only two weeks away. Since we're having ten for dinner, I think I'm going to need two turkey's. I checked the computer, and found a place in town that sell turkey's. I'll want to get them at least two days before. They will keep in the refrigerator for that time."
Tom smiled and was enjoying her enthusiasm over preparing such a large meal.
"Are you going to be able to get off work early that Tuesday?"
She asked and Tom assured her he would. He had decided to close the lab early for that week. He was letting them go at noon on Wednesday, and not opening back up till the following Monday morning. It wasn't bad, as they could all take work home to work on if they wished, and they wouldn't get behind. They were in the middle of a new shuttle class, and on the verge of developing a new source of power. They were all excited but no one more than B'Elanna. He himself was planning on working on the new nacelle design. It still needed some work and he had been working on it for a few weeks. He also knew that both B'Elanna and Harry wanted to work on the power system, so he figured that between the three of them, they'd get it worked out.
"I would like for you to take me to the farm that has the turkeys on Tuesday. I'm getting twenty pounders, so I'll need help getting them home."
Tom nodded and they made plans to go after lunch. She had also wanted to beam to the east coast, to get fresh cranberries, and to pick up a couple of pumpkins on Monday of that week. He asked if she needed help, she said
"Can you get off for an extra hour for lunch? We can take a cart and then beam back with the items. I know of a place that sells both items in Massachusetts."
"Sure that's the beauty of being the boss."
He grinned at her, and she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"I should have thought of that, my day will only be till 1130, the big boss is going to a conference and decided to call off the all day meetings. So I'll be free the rest of the day. We can beam over and get our stuff, and then beam back here and we can have a nice lunch before you have to go back to the lab."
She looked at him with a seductive look and again leaned over to kiss him, although this time she kissed him on the lips, and he took her in his arms. They deepened the kiss, and only pulled away when they had to come up for air. Jill snuggled up to him and laid her head on his shoulder, and they spent the rest of the morning together on the couch and watching to weather outside. It was sunny, but cold outside, and they were both glad they had plenty of wood for the fireplace.
Jill was just walking into the building that housed the Lab that Tom worked at. She walked up to the reception desk, and a pleasant lady asked
"May I help you?"
"I'm here for Lt. Commander Paris."
She said. The woman looked at a clipboard and said
"May I have your name please?"
"Jill Morgan."
Looking through the entries, she smiled and said
"Here you are. Just a moment while get the Commander."
She stood and went to the door and used her security badge to open the door. Jill sat down in the waiting area, and after a few moments, the woman was back and said
"He will be right out."
She took her place again behind the desk, and returned to her work. A moment later, Tom came out and walked over to Jill and smiled
"Hi Sunshine...you ready to go?"
She stood up and they exchanged a light kiss.
"I'm ready."
Tom took her arm, and turning he said
"Be back in a couple of hours, Maggie. Hold down the fort for me."
Maggie smiled and said
"See you later Commander."
They walked out and across the square to the transport station.
"Where did you leave the cart?"
Tom inquired and Jill told him she had left it just outside their pad. They stepped onto the pad, and Jill entered the coordinates to the farm, and they were transported across the country. It only took them about thirty minutes, and Jill had gotten what she wanted. She had gotten ten pounds of fresh cranberries, three large pumpkins, and a twenty pound sack of potatoes. When Tom had questioned her about the amount, she just told him she wanted to preserve some of it. The potatoes, she could use in her stews and soups. They loaded up the transport pad with the boxes, and stepped back onto the pad. Tom was closer to the keypad, so he entered their home coordinates and they appeared at home. The cart was there, so Tom loaded up the cart with the pumpkins, and potatoes, but Jill was able to carry the cranberries. Once inside, he unloaded the items, and took the cart outside to the garage. When he came back in, Jill had already dished out lunch, and they enjoyed a quick meal of hot tomato soup and peanut butter sandwiches. The box of potatoes were still on the floor by the stove, but the three pumpkins were sitting on the counter. He knew she had something planned for the afternoon and said
"So what have you got planned this afternoon?"
"Besides making something wonderful for your dinner?"
She grinned and knew that was not what he had wanted to know. At the look on his face, she laughed and said
"I plan to make the cranberry sauce and work on the pumpkins."
"Well, then."
He said as he looked at the clock on the wall
"I guess that's my cue to go back to work...I can see you're going to be busy this afternoon."
He gave her his best puppy dog look. She stood and said
"Go back to work, and when you get home, I'll have a surprise for dinner."
They walked arm in arm to the front door, and before he left to beam back to work, they shared a very passionate kiss.
TBC
