Chapter Thirty-Three

It was later that evening and Lila and Spencer were lounging in bed, giving their overworked bodies some much needed downtime. Spencer had his arm around Lila and her head was on his shoulder. Their legs were intertwined and Spencer was reading aloud from a book he found in the drawer of the nightstand. Lila gently fingered his chest, loving the soft rumbling of his voice and the warmth of his skin against hers. As much as she relished their streamy sex life, she enjoyed this form of intimacy just as much.

She smiled as Spencer leaned his head down to kiss the top of her head in between every few pages. It was at that moment a loud rumbling ricocheted throughout the room. Lila and Spencer looked at each other and laughed. The only thing they had sampled for most of the day was each other and they knew they couldn't survive on bodily fluids alone. Lila sat up and Spencer followed her lead. She looked at him and gently pushed back on the bed.

"I'll take care of dinner, sweetie. Lay back and relax."

"I'm happy to help," Spencer replied, although he did love the feel of the soft, warm mattress.

"I know you are, but I want to make dinner for you. I like the idea of taking care of my man."

Spencer blushed slightly when she said "my man." She kissed him before bending down to retrieve her shirt and panties. Spencer gently ran his hand along her back, sending a shiver down her spin. She threw the garments on and climbed out of bed. She walked out of the room, leaving Spencer alone with his book.

Lila walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, contemplating her options. She finally decided blts sounded good, so she pulled out the necessary ingredients, as well as ingredients for a simple salad and a bag of frozen fries she found in the freezer. She carried all of the ingredients to the counter and laid them out. As she organized everything, she began to feel nervous. In her eagerness to please Spencer and play the role of housewive, she failed to take into consideration her lack of culinary prowess.

For most of her life Lila was accustomed to other people doing things for her. Even during her all all too brief time in New York, she hadn't had to do very much. Her apartment building didn't have a laundry mat, so she had her clothes dry cleaned and considering her history with food, she had never really put an effort into her meals. She was almost never home, so cleaning was pretty simple. The concept of independence both titilized and petrified her.

Lila turned on the stove and dumped some fries onto a pan. After she put them in the oven, she got to work washing the vegetables. She was comforted in the knowledge that at least she had mastered the art of making a salad. In the recent weeks she had been trying to get out of her salad rut, but there was a time when she had survived on just one salad a day. She smiled ruefully, not at all surprised she had never really learned to cook.

With the salad completed and extra lettuce and tomatos set aside for the sandwiches, she preheated the frying pan. It was actually a long griddle that covered two cookers because Lila didn't have the patience to make several more than one batch. She laid the bacon onto the pan and went to the sink to wash her hands. After washing her hands she turned her attention to tidying up the kitchen.

Lila knew she didn't have much time because of the relative quickness in which bacon cooks, but even so, she was still surprised when she smelled smoke. She turned around and could hardly see the pan anymore. She raced over and grabbed it, moving to the burner that wasn't on. In her haste she had failed to procure oven mitts, so she dropped the pan onto the stovetop, crying out in pain. It was at that moment she realized smoke was coming from the oven as well.

Lila didn't know if she had accidentally set the wrong temperature or bumped against the stove, but upon closer inspection she realized it was set at five hundred as opposed to four hundred. She pulled open the oven and removed the pan, this time using a nearby kitchen towel. She winced as she added pressure to the fresh burn marks and plopped the pan onto the counter. She looked around the kitchen, crestfallen by the disaster that had unleashed before her. Lila had wanted so badly to make a nice dinner for Spencer and now it was ruined.

It was at that moment Spencer appeared beside her, opening the windows to let the smoke filter out. With that mission accomplished, he looked over at Lila, who looked to him like a puppy who had just been beaten with a newspaper.

"I'm sorry, Spence, I tried to make a nice dinner for us and now it's ruined!"

"Lila, love, calm down. It really isn't that bad."

Lila raised her eyebrows, obviously not believing him. "Okay fine, it is that bad," he sputtered, "but I'm sure some of it is salvagable. Even if it isn't, who cares? This will just be a funny story to tell our children one day."

Although Lila was still upset by the ruined meal, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of little Spencers. She hoped their children would be exactly like him. She was wondering if she could persuade him to name their firstborn Spencer Jr when Spencer gently turned her hands palm up, assessing the damage. Once he made certain the stove and oven were indeed off, he led her to the bathroom. He turned the faucet on and ran her hands under the cold water for a few minutes.

Then he turned off the faucet and gently patted her hands dry. He reached into the cabinet and pulled out a tube of aloe cream and asprin. He took a paper cup from a nearby cup holder, filled it with water and gave to Lila so she could take the pill. He then applied the cream to the necessary areas. After that, he wrapped gauze around her hands. Lila watched quietly, in awe of Spencer's ability to quietly take charge of a situation.

"Am I going to make it, Doctor?" Lila teased.

"I think so, Miss Archer," Spencer said, doing his best to sound like a professional member of the medical field. He gently ran his thumb along the area that was now covered in bandages.

"How do you feel?" he asked, his sexy bedroom eyes burning into hers.

"Much better, thank you, doctor," Lila said, inching her face closer to his. They kissed for a few minutes before finally pulling apart.

"Who says you're not a super hero," Lila whispered, her mouth reigning soft kisses on his jaw.

"The ethics board once they hear about this breach of professionalism," Spencer moaned, unable to resist her touch.

"It isn't sexual harassment if the patient is a willing participant," Lila said, moving to his neck.

"True. And even if it was, all you have to do is feed the board your cooking and the problem is solved. Afterall, charges can't stick if the accusers are dead."

Lila bit his neck and Spencer pulled away, laughing despite the sting.

"That hurt!" he exclaimed, trying to feign agony, but failing due to the laughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I just hurt the big, bad FBI agent? Maybe I should be taken into custody..."

"Yes, I think maybe you should..." Spencer agreed, moving towards her.

"Well, you'll have to catch me first!" she exclaimed, taking off out of the bathroom. Spencer laughed and took off after her. It wasn't long until he caught up with her in the kitchen. He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around, claiming her lips with his. They kissed passionately before finally pulling apart. Spencer wrapped his arms around her, assessing the damage.

"The food doesn't look that bad, honestly," Spencer said, biting back a laugh. Lila gave him a swat in the abdomen, although the amsuement was apparent in her eyes as well.

"At least I managed not to burn the salad," she countered, picking out the charred bits of bacon that somehow ended up in the bowl.

"That's one better than me. If it makes you feel any better, I can't cook either."

"You know, it kind of does, Spence. Only, what are we going to do when we go home?"

"Live on love?" Spencer suggested with a shrug.

"I like the sound of that," Lila said, kissing him again.

"Would you like to eat outside?" Spencer asked.

"So we won't perish from second hand smoke?" Lila joked.

"That," Spencer admitted, "and because it's such a beautiful night. I thought we could throw a picnic blanket on the ground and look at the stars."

"I like the sound of that," Lila agreed.

Spencer was already dressed, so Lila went back to the bedroom to put on her jeans. She was walking out of the bedroom and putting her hair up when she saw Spencer already had everything prepared for their evening picnic. He had found a picnic basket and packed it with the salad and vinigarette Lila had prepared, along with some sandwiches and other snacks he had pulled together at the last minute. He was also holding a picnic blanket, which he discovered in the hall closet.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Definately," Lila replied.

They walked hand-in-hand outside and Spencer spread the blanket on the ground and Lila helped him arrange the food. After they ate, they laid down on the blanket, with Lila resting her head in its claimed spot. Spencer wrapped his arms around her and they started looking at the stars. Spencer was explainining the different constilations to her when a burst of light shot through the sky.

"Oh, Spence, a shooting star! We should make a wish!"

"Alright," Spencer agreed, pulling her closer. "On the count of three."

"One," Lila said.

"Two."

"Three!" They both said at the same time.

They looked at the sky and each silently declared their heart's desire. Then they looked at each other, their eyes boring into each other as if trying to guess what the other had asked for. Although they didn't say anything, they somehow knew what the other one had asked for. They held each other close and looked back up at the sky, each one praying their desires would come to fruition.