I don't own the characters and make no monetary profit from this story. Peter Gunn and Edie Hart own each other. I wish I could tempt him away from her but that will never happen.

This is the first of a couple chapters of light-hearted fluff. There must always be some good to go along with the not so good.

A Lifetime in Eight Days

Chapter 29: Six of One and Half a Dozen of the Other

It had been a strange morning. But strangely enough it had been as close to normal as things had been for a while. Edie had been up and out of the apartment early to meet one of her best girlfriends for breakfast and shopping. Pete had gotten the impression there was more to it than that but hadn't asked, sometimes it was better that way, had instead encouraged her to go despite her own hesitancy. He had then beaten his dad to the punch by pulling out the waffle iron and conjuring up their morning meal. Following breakfast Frank had finally disclosed what he had been so eager to go to Chadwick's Department Store to purchase. A new camera.

"It's a Nikon F," Pop told him. "Just came out in March." Handing the camera over to Pete he pulled the manual out of the box and his reading glasses out of his pocket. "The camera I have now is at least ten years old. This one beats it by a mile." His eyebrows went up as he began reading what the new camera could do. "Maybe ten..." he muttered, those same eyebrows coming together in concentration. After a few minutes of silence Frank glanced up. "What do you think?"

"It's a fine camera, Pop," Pete answered, handing it back. "Just fine."

"I'll need to get a few pictures before I leave." Frank reattached the lens cap.

"You don't say." Pete tried hard to hide a knowing smile.

"Edie's not one of those girls who hates to have her picture taken is she?" The older man peered over the top of his glasses at his son. Pete had sent him the one picture of the two of them together at the New Year's Eve party. From that photo she didn't appear camera shy. But you never knew. After all, it was the only picture Pete had sent. "She's not one of those that has to run off to powder her nose or comb her hair every time so she looks perfect for the camera is she?" he teased.

This time Pete did smile. No, that certainly didn't describe Edie Hart. His smile widened. Pop had given him a hard time about those old photographs a couple days earlier but he had meant well in bringing them with him. Maybe he should return the favor. He stood and moved to the low cabinets lining one wall of the living room, opened the door of one and pulled out a box. Not a shoe box, he didn't have enough photographs to fill that large of a box. Not yet. He removed the lid as he sat down beside his dad on the sofa then set the box to the side as he lifted out the short stack of pictures. He handed them one by one to Frank, after first taking a brief moment to study each one, and offered a couple words of description for each. There were several more from the New Year's Eve party. A couple candid shots from a Christmas Eve party at Mother's that were obviously taken of them unawares, they were smooching, what looked like a sprig of mistletoe in the girl's hair, Barney standing in the background with a big grin on his face. Three sepia prints from a Photomatic booth that Pete said were taken at the Fairgrounds on the Fourth of July the previous year. Frank closely inspected a half dozen very nice five by seven portrait shots of Pete and Edie at a fancy affair on Valentine's Day, several standing, several seated at a dinner table, dressed in their very best, sporting content smiles. Pete decided on the best two of the bunch for his dad to keep. There were a half dozen other photographs taken at various places that Frank didn't recognize and that his son didn't expound on to any great degree before passing them along for him to look at.

Father and son had spent the remainder of the morning in mostly companionable silence. Pete gathered up the police file Jacoby had delivered and quietly perused it, taking a few breaks to rest his eyes, make a fresh pot of coffee and answer a few telephone calls. Pop finished reading the last few chapters of A Tale of Two Cities that Edie hadn't gotten to when Pete was in the hospital and then studied his camera manual. Both men were half asleep in their respective chairs when Jimmy Bonelli arrived with Pete's new bed, two warehouse boys tagging along to help bring it in and set it up. Getting the old double bed downstairs wasn't too much of a problem but getting the queen-size mattresses upstairs and into the bedroom was another story, especially the box spring. The three boys tiredly but gladly accepted the three ten dollar bills Pete produced from a bureau drawer. When Edie got home sometime after twelve-thirty both men had finally succumbed to the sleep that had played games with them earlier, Frank with the unopened morning newspaper on his lap and the PI with a book in his hand.


Edie Hart eased herself down to sit next to her man – her partner, her best friend, her sweetheart, her lover. She didn't like the term boyfriend. She and Pete were more than that. Much more. They were two grown adults involved in an adult relationship, not two kids marking time until something better came along. They had their ups and downs just like every couple but they always managed to find their way through them together. Pop was right, Edie mused as she crawled over Pete to sit in the space between his nice warm body and the arm of the sofa. If these past weeks were the worst thing she and Pete ever had to endure then they would be very lucky. They were very lucky. Pete raised his arm, holding the folded section of the newspaper containing the crossword out in front of him as she got herself settled, her legs draped over his lap as she sat sideways facing him. Those shapely legs were clad in a pair of pink and white flannel lounge pants that he had never seen before and she had pulled on one of his white tees that she'd filched from his bureau drawer. Her feet were bare and her toenails were painted a pink color that almost matched her pants. Pete decided she looked very cute. He moved his free hand to her thigh, rubbing his fingers over the soft material he found there.

"These new?"

The rough timber of Pete's voice brought a warm glow to her insides. Edie felt the same warm glow suffuse her cheeks and knew from the teasing smile in his eyes that Pete had noticed. He could do that to her. Still. A word, a look, a touch. They'd known each other for a year and a half, had been together as a couple for basically the same length of time, had been in a sexual relationship for a year, his knowledge of her body was as intimate as her own, perhaps more... and he could still make her blush. The sound of her name on his lips, the expression in his eyes when he looked at her, the feel of his fingers touching her skin. Those things did something to her that was difficult to describe. They made her tingle inside, made her body hum, made her feel like a naive schoolgirl experiencing her first crush.

"Mmm hmm." Her eyes followed the movement of his fingers. "I bought them today."

"While you were out shopping with June?" Pete returned his attention to the crossword that now rested on Edie's knees, at the same time raising his feet to the hassock in front of him and crossing his ankles. "Did you have a good time?" He shot her a questioning glance before setting the nib of the pencil on an empty square.

Edie shrugged, looking on silently as Pete penciled in a six letter word for firearm. He looked up when he failed to receive a verbal response, curious at the pained expression on her face.

"What's the matter? Have a headache? Stomach ache?" He leaned a little to the side and tilted his head a bit to search her face. "Toothache?" he teased. "Heartache?" His mouth tipped in a smile but his eyes remained serious. Edie's silence had been noticeable since she returned from her outing with June Holton. Even Pop had commented to him about it. Pete was used to her quiet times whenever she visited with her friend Sheila Bell, he had a pretty good idea what caused those, but her silence since coming home from her outing with June was unusual.

Edie scowled at him and aimed a poke at his ribs with her fingers, remembering just in time that they remained tender, giving him a little smack on the shoulder instead.

"Try pain in the-" Pete slapped a gentle hand over her mouth and shushed her and gave an amused nod toward the open glass doors leading to the patio behind them.

"Not in front of the children," he playfully reprimanded.

Edie rolled her eyes and mumbled something then grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from her mouth.

"Neck. Pain in the neck." She shook her head, her eyes chastising him. "You're a nut."

Frank Gunn snickered from where he sat relaxing out on the patio, comfortably seated on the soft cushion of a metal porch chair, legs stretched out in front of him and his feet resting on the seat of a second chair. His face was hidden behind the sports section of the morning edition of the News Standard and Thomas the ginger-colored cat was curled up in his lap. Edie had indeed packed the feline up in his red and black houndstooth-patterned carrier and brought him back with her to the PI's apartment the previous afternoon, along with his sand box, some toys and several cans of Puss 'n Boots cat food. She had also brought along what appeared to Frank to be at least two weeks worth of clothes. He knew that was an exaggeration on his part but it still seemed like a lot of dresses. Plus the bag filled with unmentionables. At least that's what he figured the bag contained. Some of the dresses had gone into the downstairs closet, some she had taken upstairs. The sand box was placed in the laundry room, the cat food was put in a cabinet in the kitchen and the toys found their way to the living room. Frank snickered again as he recalled the manner in which the little cat had pounced on Pete before the man had known he was there, eliciting a sissified squeal from the manly private investigator. Edie had laughed until tears were running down her cheeks and he had given his son a hard time all evening concerning his unmanly reaction to the feline's antics.

Today Pete and Edie had collaborated on fixing a late lunch, the woman doing more watching than preparing, and following the meal Pop had elected to sit outside, getting himself some fresh air while giving the other two some together time before he made a move to get himself ready to head out by himself this evening.

"Hey, watch it out there!" came his son's good-natured warning. His attention divided between his girl and the puzzle, Pete answered another clue then looked at Edie again.

"Tell me what's wrong, honey."

"June and Rob broke up." Her fingers were picking disconsolately at the dark knit of the sweater covering his shoulder and her eyes were following their progress. "I'm worried about her. She tried to put on a brave face at breakfast but I could see she was hurting."

"I'm sorry to hear that. He seemed like a nice guy." Pete tossed the crossword aside and stretched his arm along the back of the couch to curve around her shoulders, pulling her closer and giving her temple a lingering kiss. Considering their own circumstances over the past weeks learning of her friend's personal issue must have come as a blow to Edie. He reached his fingers to play with her soft blonde hair. "What happened?"

"He told June she wanted more from their relationship than he could give her." Pete's hand gently combed through her hair and she turned her cheek into his palm. "He said he's not ready to settle down and get married and have kids." Edie raised confused blue eyes to his and gave him a perplexed frown. "June said he told her he might not want kids at all."

"Sounds like something they should have talked about before they got too serious."

Edie nodded against his hand.

"I guess." She smiled sadly. "But she was so happy. She was making so many plans."

"She'll find someone else," Pete promised. "Someone who'll appreciate her for who she is and will want the same things she does. June's a real nice girl. And she's pretty." He smiled, his gaze drifting lazily over his girl's face. "A man would be a fool to pass up a combination like that."

"I want lots of babies," the woman abruptly said as she reached her hand further, fingers gentle against the material of his shirt as they fiddled with the top button.

Pete froze in the act of reaching around her for his cup of coffee that sat cooling on the end table, their faces about six inches apart. His eyes widened just the tiniest bit and his eyebrows rose a fraction as he stared at her.

Frank Gunn peered cautiously around the edge of the newspaper, then shook with silent laughter at the look on his son's face.

"Someday." Edie appended softly, smiling one of her big teasing smiles and patting his cheek. "When the time is right."

"Thanks for clarifying that," Pete sighed, his slightly panicked expression disappearing only to be replaced by one of uncertainty. It looked funny on him and it had Edie trying hard not to laugh. He leaned back and looked down to watch as her fingers deftly undid and redid the button she was toying with. She always called him a fidgeter, usually with amused laughter or an expression of long-suffering, but she was just as bad because she had to have her hands on him all the time, her fingers always toying with his lapel or tie or collar. Today appeared to be button day. "Define lots."

"Oh, I don't know. Four or five." She perfected a thoughtful frown as she pretended to consider her answer. She wet her lips and shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. "Maybe six. Three of each would be nice."

"You want six kids?" Now his eyes held a dazed look.

"You told me you like kids," she reminded him with a smug smile. "Remember? We did talk about it. I asked you if you like kids and you asked whose kids and I said anybody's kids and you told me sure, you like kids."

"I did. I do. I remember. You dropped my dime into the river after your penny." A smile tilted his lips as he tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her left ear. "If my memory serves me right – and it does – we didn't let that eleven cents go to waste." An answering smile curved the blonde's lips as she recalled her parting words to him on the dock after they were interrupted by Lieutenant Jacoby during the vicious dog case. Pete's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you playing with me?"

Edie's smile turned suggestive.

"Would you like to play?" She kept her voice too low for Pop to hear.

"Edie." Pete's voice held a tone of gentle exasperation.

"Your ears are turning red."

"My ears do not turn red," the man objected.

"You're embarrassed," the woman chuckled with glee.

"I am not embarrassed! I'm – " Pete sighed. "I don't know what I am," he admitted.

"I'd like to have my six children before I'm old and gray by the way," Edie teased. She was in rare good form today. Another thing he had been missing. He was feeling better, ergo, Edie was feeling better. Which meant she could tease him and harass him and nag him in the manner only two people who were content and comfortable with each other could do.

"And hopefully before I'm dead and buried," Frank Gunn chimed in from the patio. Pete turned his head and glared at his dad. Or at least tried to. All he could see was the open newspaper the man held out in front of himself, the pages rippling as he laughed. "I'd like to get to know at least a couple of them before they lay me out."

"Pop! Don't say things like that." Another sigh escaped him as he moved his gaze back to his girl. "Edie-"

"Does it scare you?" she asked, amused concern written all over her face. "The thought of six kids?"

"Of course it scares me," Pete huffed and gave her a pointed stare. "It would scare any half sane person."

"Well..." Edie tilted her head and stared at him as she pretended to consider. "Maybe we can work out a compromise."

"Why don't we do that," Pete managed, reaching behind her again for his coffee cup and snagging it this time. As he settled back he looked at her pretty face so close to his, free of makeup following her shower and looking so young, the soft blonde hair, the dusky cornflower blue eyes, the tender smile just for him. He set his cup back down, threaded his fingers through her hair and leaned in to kiss her, feeling her palm cup the back of his neck to keep him there. What compromise? he wondered, reveling in the velvety softness of her lips against his. He was kidding himself if he thought there would be any of that, for all the woman's good intentions, because in the end all that mattered to him was what she wanted.


Pete watched his dad putter around the kitchen, taking things out of cabinets, putting things back in drawers, opening and closing the refrigerator. Frank Gunn had changed into a casual outfit of gray slacks, light blue long-sleeved shirt and dark blue pullover cardigan. He didn't figure Barney cared if he wore a tie or not. Pete had just laughed when he mentioned it, saying the only time he had ever seen the bartender wear a necktie was at Mother's annual Christmas Eve party.

"You really don't have to do this, Pop." The PI leaned against the door frame, his arms folded across his chest and an amused smile on his face. "Edie and I can manage to get our own supper." His smile widened when the older man gave him a sideways look and raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I can manage. Edie likes food, she can't help it if she doesn't know how to cook most of it." Pete gave a chuckle and stared as his palm as he rubbed at it with the thumb of his other hand. "She does make a mean omelet when she can keep it from falling."

Frank straightened from the macaroni and cheese dish that was ready to slide into the oven. The stuffed pork chops, one of his son's favorites, were already baking, the French bread could be thrown in right before both dishes were finished cooking and the salad was under wraps in the refrigerator. Wiping his hands on a kitchen towel he turned and looked at Pete, noticing over his shoulder that Edie had walked up behind him and had obviously heard the younger man's comments. He didn't let on but had to hide a smile when the girl rolled her eyes at him.

"So you manage to live on love and eggs, is that what you're saying?"

Pop winked at Edie as she stepped into the kitchen. She in turn gave Pete a chiding glare. He remained unperturbed so she just shook her head and turned her attention to Frank.

"You look very handsome." Her eyes smiled in approval as she took in his appearance. though she felt she'd been left out of the loop somewhere. "Tell me why you're going over to Barney's tonight instead of tomorrow?"

"Pete didn't tell you?" Obviously not, as Edie directed another scolding look at the man standing next to her. Frank tossed the dish towel to the counter and leaned back against the stove. "Barney fell off a ladder yesterday before the club opened. He said he was changing a light bulb in the ladies room and missed a rung when he was coming down. Mother made him take last night and tonight off, told him if he doesn't show up good as new on Monday she'll make him go to the doctor. So he called this morning and asked if I'd like to come over tonight instead. I told him fine. It fits my schedule better anyway." Frank glanced at the leather-banded watch on his left wrist. "I should probably be leaving in a few minutes."

"What's got you so excited about going over to his place anyway?" Pete looped his arm around Edie's shoulders and pulled her against his side. "I'm not going to find your name on the police blotter in the morning am I? Have to come and bail you out of jail?"

"Very funny." Frank turned his back to the couple and mumbled something as he picked up the macaroni dish and slid it into the oven next to the pork chops.

"What was that?" Pete asked, his eyes narrowing. Frank heaved an exasperated sigh and turned back around.

"We're watching westerns on Barney's television set." He gave his son a look that practically dared him to say anything. "Gunsmoke. Some new show called Bonanza. But seeing as you don't own a television set you've probably never heard of them." His hands went into his pants pockets and he offered Pete a bland stare. "Barney has a television set," he stressed.

"I heard you the first time, Pop. And the second. You don't have to repeat yourself." From the corner of his eye Pete saw Edie press her lips together to keep from smiling. She reached her hand up and laced her fingers with his as he continued to speak. "I'm sorry we don't have all those fancy modern conveniences around here to keep you entertained."

"You should get yourself a TV to go with that new chair," Frank offered.

"It all comes down to that chair doesn't it? The one you wish you had." This time it was Pete who tried not to smile. "Maybe Barney'll be nicer than me and let you sit in his chair. And why does tonight fit your schedule better?"

"I figure this way the three of us can spend all day Sunday together." Frank's eyebrows went up inquisitively. "If that's all right with the two of you. With everything that's been going on we really haven't had a chance to spend any real family time together. And we still need to go through the rest of those things I brought with me." His eyes landed on Pete as he reminded him of that, then his gaze shifted between him and Edie and back again."And Monday evening I want to take both of you out for a nice dinner somewhere if you feel up to it and if Mother doesn't mind Edie showing up for work a little late."

"You don't have to do that, Pop."

"I know I don't. But I want to." The elder Gunn offered Edie an engaging smile and then gave his son a wink. "After dinner we can head over to Mother's and I can listen to this girl sing, I can't get away without doing that. Then Tuesday morning we can run over to that diner you like for breakfast..." his gaze flicked to his son, "... and head on to the airport from there if that's okay with you. My flight is scheduled for eight-fifteen."

"You seem in an awful hurry to leave all of a sudden." Pete looked suspicious. "Getting lonesome for that Mrs. McAllister?"

Frank gave a long-suffering sigh and gave his watch another glance.

"You can throw the garlic bread in the oven in about twenty-five minutes." He checked his cuffs and pulled at his collar and gave Edie a sly wink before eyeing his son. "You know if you weren't bigger than me I'd tan your hide." He reached out and gave Pete's shoulder a gentle push.

"Hey!" Pete pretended to take offense and mimicked his action, though not as gently.

Frank pushed him back with a smile. Pete smiled back.

"You're feeling better." Frank snuck a glance at Edie. "You don't need me around getting in the way."

"You're not in the way, Pop." His arm tightened unconsciously around Edie's shoulders.

"Thanks for saying that, son." Frank gave his son's cheek a soft pat and the girl's cheek a quick kiss as he stepped around them. "I need to shake a leg or I'll be late. I can't let Marshall Dillon and Miss Kitty get started without me."

"Got the car keys?" Pete called after him. He released Edie and moved to stand in the kitchen doorway as the woman began gathering silverware and plates for their supper.

Frank Gunn pulled the keys out of his pocket and held them high in the air, jingling them to the tune of some off-key whistling as he continued out the apartment door and pulled it shut behind himself. The younger man stood where he was for several minutes, staring at the door, a sudden loneliness engulfing him at the realization that his dad was going home in just a few days. His glum face caught Edie's attention when he rejoined her in the kitchen, earning a gentle inquiry as to his well-being. He stared at her blankly at first then was quickly cheered by the knowledge that Pop might be leaving but this woman, the love of his life, wasn't going anywhere.