It was still daytime when Terri stirred to consciousness. Judging by the amount of light filtering into the bedroom, Terri guessed that it was around four o'clock in the afternoon. Her half an hour power nap had turned into a four hour snooze fest. At least her headache was finally gone.
Terri pushed herself up into a sitting position and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up and exited the bedroom. She started to cross the apartment with a sense of purpose, making a beeline for the kitchen. She suddenly had a craving for something sweet. Halfway there, however, a sight made her stop in her tracks.
Terri smiled fondly. She was, in fact, up at Larry's place rather than downstairs with Jack and Janet. It was like this more often than not these days. She caught sight of Larry standing out on his balcony, holding up a pair of binoculars and peering out at something. It reminded her of a time many months ago when she had a pleasant run in with Larry at a local park. She had thought he was watching girls on the beach when he was actually bird watching...as surprising as it was. Terri had a feeling that was what he was doing now.
As she watched him, her heart swelled with affection. He had taken such good care of her when she had developed a headache earlier that day. At her first complaint, Larry had literally dropped everything to tend to her...rubbing at her temples, giving her aspirin and sending her off to his bed. As a nurse, Terri was used to taking care of everyone else so to have the attention and TLC turned around towards her for a change was really nice.
Suddenly feeling impish and playful, Terri crept over to the sliding glass door and pulled it open as slowly and as carefully as she could. She even held her breath so that she didn't make a sound. After sliding the door shut, she stepped out on the balcony and then launched herself at Larry, tackling him in a hug as she flung her arms around him from behind. Larry jumped slightly at the action but never lost his grip on the binoculars he was holding. He grinned to himself as he let out a rather girly sounding, playful yelp. Truthfully, he had sensed Terri sneaking up behind him but decided to humor her anyway...he knew she got a kick out of his exaggerated reactions and mannerisms.
"Hi, bird brain!" Terri sang into his ear.
"Hey, Princess. How's the headache?" Still peering through the binoculars, Larry reached back with one hand in order to gently pat Terri on the head.
"Fine, thanks." Terri smiled, moving over to stand by Larry's side. "What are you doing?"
Larry finally took his gaze away from whatever he was looking at and grinned playfully at Terri.
"I'm watching the neighbors. They've lived next to me for the past four years now. They leave for the south every winter and come back in the spring from their vacation. There is a husband, a wife...she is a really neat chick, by the way...and I'm pretty sure they've brought their kids back with them. Do you want to see?" Larry informed her cheerfully.
Terri smirked, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. She played along, knowing that it wasn't quite what Larry was trying to make it sound like.
"Sure. Why not?" She laughed.
Larry handed her the binoculars and Terri peeked through them. Sure enough, her suspicions were confirmed as a tree with a bird's nest came into focus. It was a busy scene as a red male Cardinal and his brown female companion were periodically flying in and out of the nest. Terri had a feeling they were feeding their young, but she had no way of seeing down into the nest far enough in order to be sure.
"I absolutely love Cardinals. It's been said that they are messengers for the spirits of loved ones who have passed away, you know." Larry commented softly as Terri continued to look at them. "Very interesting stuff."
"I think you're right...they've had babies!" Terri giggled. "I'm pretty sure they're taking care of them right now as we speak."
"Don't you just love this time of year?" Larry sighed dreamily.
"You say that about every time of year, whenever each new season rolls around." Terri pointed out, chuckling softly as she looked at him.
"No, but specifically the spring...it's just so beautiful. Flowers and trees blooming, baby animals being born. Everything becoming so fresh, fertile and brimming with life!" Larry's eyes lit up and he gestured with his hands as he spoke. Terri thought it was adorable.
"And don't get me started on the holidays! Remember how I told you that my siblings and I were raised with both Christian and Jewish traditions? Well, that means we were lucky enough to have a double set of holidays all year round. In the springtime, we'd celebrate both Easter and Passover. We had a huge family and we'd all be squeezed around the dinner table. It was the best. For Easter, we'd color our hard boiled eggs bright red and we'd tap them together as a little game...the person who had the hardest egg that didn't crack would win. And then for Passover, it was tradition that the youngest child at the table would recite the four questions. We all played that role at some point in our lives. Of course, Diane is the baby of the family, so she did it for the longest period of time before some of our older siblings started to have kids of their own." Larry paused here, a peaceful smile on his face as he recalled the memories. "I'm so proud of her."
"You really love her, huh?" Terri asked him.
"Yeah." Larry shrugged, laughing slightly to himself. "She's kind of my favorite sister."
Terri and Larry fell into a comfortable silence before Larry gasped, his eyes widening as he recalled something else from his past.
"And speaking of springtime memories, I just remembered something!" Larry smirked to himself, laughing a little bit. "Okay, so I dated this girl from an Irish-American family when I was a teenager, right? Well, this one time, we got so drunk in order to celebrate St Patrick's Day-"
Terri smiled as Larry relayed the humorous story to her. He went on and on. She got a kick out of the fact that he was more of a chatterbox than she was. She decided that it was probably what made him a successful salesman...he genuinely loved to talk and he was a people person. Terri didn't want to let him know just yet, but she absolutely adored Larry...and, of course, she knew that he felt the same way about her because, unlike her, he was not shy about his feelings. She hadn't told him as much for a multitude of reasons...she didn't enjoy feeling vulnerable, she also didn't want to feed his ego (although Terri was beginning to think that Larry's ego was not as enormous as he let on). But it was this sense of affection that had led Terri into getting him a present the other day. Terri smiled to herself once again, thinking about her little secret.
"Alright, you little minx!" Larry teased, catching the look on her face. "What's with the smirk?"
"I got you a little something..." Terri bit her lip shyly. "Kind of a gift in order to celebrate the first official day of spring tomorrow."
"You're kidding me?" Larry's jaw dropped in surprise. "I got you something too! I thought I was the only person in the world who did things like that."
"You are!" Terri agreed with him, setting the binoculars down on a lawn chair. "I have never met anyone who loves the seasons as much as you do. That's how I got the idea."
"I see..." Larry smirked mischievously. He and Terri just stood there in silence for a moment, each casting the other a sidelong glance...and then all hell broke loose. In a flurry of movement, each turned back towards the apartment. Larry had reached the sliding glass door first. He threw the door open and tore into the apartment. Terri followed close behind. They were both laughing as they raced to get to their gifts before the other person did.
"Me first!" Terri cried, snatching Larry by the back of his shirt and yanking him back so that she could gain some distance on him. Larry's laughter reached her ears as Terri ran towards the bedroom. Just before reaching the doorway of the room, she stopped and turned when she noticed that Larry wasn't following her. When she turned around, she saw that Larry was just about to enter the kitchen. He was looking at her curiously.
"The kitchen?" Terri asked him out loud. What a weird place to hide a present for someone unless it's a food item.
"The bedroom?" Larry asked her with equal confusion, then his eyes lit up once again. "Ooo! Let me come in there with you!"
Terri tossed her head back in laughter and dove into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Don't you dare look!" Her muffled voice sounded from behind the closed bedroom door.
Chuckling to himself, Larry went into the kitchen to retrieve his gift. Moments later, Larry came back out into the living room first, hiding something behind his back. Terri came out of the bedroom next...the item that she held was inside of a huge, brown paper bag. Terri struggled a little bit as she joined Larry in the living room. It was an awkward balancing act as she supported the bag with one hand on its bottom and then held it up by the handles with her other hand.
"Do you need help, babe?" Larry playfully snickered at her.
"Nope!" Terri chirped cheerfully and with great determination. "Close your eyes before I get too close...I don't want you to see it yet!"
Smirking to himself, Larry shut his eyes. Terri marched over to where Larry stood in front of the living room couch and carefully placed the paper bag onto the coffee table. She had to be careful so that the item inside didn't tip over. She reached inside the bag and lifted out a bouquet of daffodils which sat in an elegant glass vase. She felt really fortunate that Janet had given her a great deal on the flowers.
"Okay!" Terri grinned. "So originally I was thinking of getting you a pet bird, seeing that you like birds so much..."
Larry snorted in laughter, his eyes still closed.
"But then I remembered that Furley doesn't allow any pets, so I got you this instead..." Terri nervously tightened her grip on the vase as she cupped both of her hands around it. "I hope you like it."
Terri unceremoniously shoved the flowers in Larry's face. They tickled his face and Larry hesitated in opening his eyes at first, due to being fearful of getting one poked out. When a light, clean scent reached his nose, he was intrigued enough to open his eyes in a protective squint. When he caught sight of the sunshine yellow, trumpet shaped blooms, his eyes got huge and round.
"You got me flowers?!" Larry gasped. He took one of his hands out from behind his back in order to gently touch the blossoms. He was truly touched. No woman had ever gotten him flowers before...he was always the one knocking himself out trying to spoil the ladies, after all. "This is so sweet of you. Thank you..."
Terri shrugged, blushing hotly at Larry's response.
"It was nothing!" She waved him off, setting the flowers down on the table once again.
"Okay...your turn!" Larry grinned. "Close your eyes and open your mouth!"
Terri regarded him with a raised eyebrow.
"Not for that reason!" Larry laughed, and then added under his breath, winking at her good naturedly. "Well, maybe later..."
Holding back a grin, Terri did as he asked. She felt something in between her tentatively parted teeth and bit down on it instinctively. When a familiar, sweet juice overpowered her tastebuds, her eyes almost popped out of her head in excitement.
"Strawberries!" Terri squealed through a mouthful, her blue eyes sparkling. She wiped at her chin sheepishly with her fingers, remembering how juicy strawberries could be. "I'm not drooling, am I?"
Larry smiled affectionately at her and stroked her chin lovingly with his thumb.
"No, you're not." He reassured her. "And even if you did, it wouldn't bother me anyway."
The couple shared a sweet, delicate kiss. Terri had to be careful because she was still in the midst of chewing and swallowing her first bite. She smiled and took the plastic carton from him, gazing down at the gorgeous fruit...strawberries always did resemble miniature hearts in her mind.
"Do you know what I love about strawberries?" Terri asked him. "They are so versatile. They are wonderful by themselves, they go great with cream, they taste divine with angel food cake or with chocolate..."
Being a chocolate lover, Terri put a slight emphasis on the last word. Larry picked up on her hint immediately.
"I'll go melt the chocolate chips." Larry laughed. He leaned in and kissed Terri on the cheek before heading off into the kitchen.
Terri sat down on the couch and placed the carton of strawberries down on the coffee table right next to the flowers. As she looked over their gifts, her eyes drifting back and forth between the ruby red pieces of fruit and the bright yellow flowers, a huge grin spread across her face once again.
Terri had been doing a lot of smiling lately.
THE END
A/N: Everyone stay safe and healthy!