Chapter 10 – Together

Curled up beside him in bed, Carolyn allowed herself an outrageously provocative yawn and stretch. "OH, what a most wonderful morning," she purred in the bright morning light, wrapping her body around him in a most engaging manner. "I can't remember the last time I got to go back to bed after getting everyone on their way. Wasn't it wonderful of Mom and Dad to take the kids away on a small vacation for the next week?" "Indeed, my appreciation for having a mother and father-in-law increases daily," he said, pulling her closer. Carolyn started to settle into a snuggle, but remembering something, popped up into a cross-legged position on the end of the bed, "Oh, one other thing! Right after everyone left, Martha told me that, or so she said, "I just might head into town for a while to give you and the Captain some extra privacy," but I noticed she had on her best perfume. If you ask me, she's off to spend the day with Norrie."

"Well now, sounds like everyone has a special day planned," he said raising a suggestive eyebrow. "So now, with my parents off with the children and Martha spending the day with Norrie," she smiled in return, "it's just you and me." "Well, just the two of us and Scruffy," Daniel offered, scratching behind the ear of the small dog curled up beside him on the bed.

"I really don't understand. He never once tried to jump on the bed before. For the longest time, he was not your biggest fan. Now it's like you two have become nearly inseparable." Grinning, Daniel petted the dog happily, "Not jealous are you M'dear?"

Stretching into a crawl, she curled up beside him and as she nuzzled his ear, she whispered, "Me? Not jealous at all. At least as long as he knows when he should hop down. I don't think there is enough room for all three of us right now, is there?"

With a gentle, but definite shove at Scruffy's hindquarters, Daniel watched the small curly dog jump off the bed, and curl up on the rug below.

Only the sound of the surf and breaking waves filtered into the room. That and the rustle of papers and the occasional scratching of a pen. Opening one eye, Carolyn relished the chance to lie quietly, watching her Captain quietly at their desk, reviewing some papers. Smiling to herself, she recognized all too well the intense look of a writer, editing, refining, polishing a work in progress.

Sitting up, she slid off the bed and perched on the edge of the desk. Casually she picked up the typed pages he had just finished editing. "I'm guessing this is what you were working on before we left for Boston? Would you mind if I take a look?" she asked with a failed attempt of casual indifference. With a dramatic sigh, he gently plucked the pages out of her hand, and set them on the other side of the desk. "First effort M'dear. May I ask for a day or two more to let my expressions mature? Once I do my own assessment, then I would be cautiously willing to give you a look. No doubt, I will find many areas that I will want to refine before I place them in front of you. Do you mind?"

Laughing to herself, she picked up a folder, wrote in bold letters 'Captain's Private Efforts' and handed it to him. "Daniel, it took me nearly a decade before I EVER let anyone read something I wrote out of my own imagination. The fact that you are only asking for a day or so more proves you are one of the bravest men I've ever known. Here, put your work inside, and I promise to not touch it until you give me permission." Laughing at each other, he slipped the pages inside, and placed the file thoughtfully on the edge of the desk away from her. "Perhaps Mrs. Gregg, before I continue onto the next chapter, we could take a moment for ourselves?"

Without another word, he pulled her onto his lap, and he settled them together carefully in the desk chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they looked gently at each other as he tried to hold her comfortably in the rather too small chair. Carolyn leaned back to look at him as she twirled her wedding band around her finger, "Husband. Friend. Partner. Writer. Lover. How is it possible that all of a sudden I get to be perched on the lap of someone who is all those to me?" Stroking her hair, he brought her close, so their foreheads were touching. "My darling, may we both always feel surprised, honored and delighted in our world together. Myself I hold to what I told you the moment we first touched, 'I believe it was love,' now all that remains is to show you in every way I might, how much that means." As he pulled her closer, the chair took a sideways lurch and she managed to scramble to her feet keeping them from toppling over.

Standing up and she tried to catch her breath as she settled back onto the desk. She reached out and grasped his hand. "If you've taught me anything Daniel Elias Gregg," she grinned, "is that anticipation only makes things better. Besides, I welcome the chance to just sit, relax and settle for a bit, without the dizzying pace we've kept up over the last two weeks."

Stretching his arms over his head, looking appreciatively at her, he asked. "So is this what married people do? Work together, figure out what goes on in their households and at the same time try to not fall out of chairs?"

"Only if they're lucky," she smiled giving him a quick kiss, and slipping away from his grasp. "We've had a long break, and it's clear you are ready to begin working again on your story, so don't let me distract you. I think I'll take a long, private bubble bath, and leave you to the typewriter for once."

As she turned and wrapped herself into her yellow bathroom, he watched with rapt attention. "Let me understand, you leave me with the vision of you amongst nothing but bubbles and still you expect me to turn to my story?"

"I do," she said with a self-satisfied smile, "you have no idea yet of how many hours I had to stop thinking of a certain Captain, his riveting blue eyes, and my fascination with all he represented, to carry on with my writing. It's only fair you have a similar challenge, don't you think?"

He leaned back his head and laughed, "Carolyn, as long as we are in this together, the rest will settle itself. Go enjoy your bath and I'll be waiting here when you are done."

"I am counting on it," she smiled. Standing in the hallway for a moment, she waited, listening. After a bit, she heard the sound of paper rolling into the old typewriter, and the clatter of the keys. "It'll work, I can't believe it, but it will, I can tell. Walking down the hallway to her bath, she couldn't help but think, 'I wish I knew what was going on with Geoffrey and the 'fraternity' but until then, it's perfect, just perfect."

Chapter 11 – in progress