Slowly but surely Lucien began to adjust so that listening to the recording each morning had less and less impact. The day before his next session he had thrown off the recording's effects on his mood before noon. He and Jean spent much of the afternoon walking along the beach hand in hand. That evening's show was one of their best yet, as they relied heavily on songs that were among their favorites. Afterwards they shared their usual light dinner, then made passionate love before falling asleep entwined.
Jean woke up slowly in the morning, immediately aware that it was the day of Lucien's next session, one in which he would again need to relive his time in captivity. She expected to find him thoughtful and apprehensive about it, but instead he was leaning on one elbow, smiling down at her as he hummed a song that she didn't recognize.
"Good morning," she said softly, her voice still husky from sleep. "What's that you're humming?"
He leaned over to kiss her. "Good morning. That? It's an old pop song, one that seemed to be on the radio constantly when I was in the hospital in Germany. It used to drive me crazy."
"Oh? And now you're humming it?"
"It started running through my mind as I thought about how fortunate I am that you love me. The chorus goes...". He began to sing.
"Everybody needs somebody
To spare the heartaches, to understand,
And everybody needs a lover like you,
I need a lover like you."
"I need a lover like you, too," she told him before kissing him. "But I don't think I've ever heard that song. Who sang it?"
"Some Australian bloke, I think. The name escapes me. I've never heard him or the song over here, anyway."
She was reluctant to break his good mood, but she needed to know if it was genuine or if he was just trying to cover up how anxious he actually felt about the day ahead.
"How are you doing today?" she asked gently as she laced her fingers with his.
He kissed the hand that held his own. "I think I'm all right," he said, looking down to meet her gaze. "I know the session will be difficult, but I also know it'll take me one step closer to the end of therapy. And I know you'll be with me all along the way. That makes all the difference."
"Good," she said. "Just as it should be."
She couldn't help but reflect on their relationship. They had been together for a relatively short time, but already she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. Her personal life, her professional life and her sexual life were all entwined with his. They hadn't spoken at all about formalizing their relationship. She didn't even know if he still believed in the institution of marriage, after how poorly it had treated him in the past. At some point they'd need to have that discussion, but for now she was perfectly content with the current situation: knowing he loved her just as she loved him.
He kissed her again, the perfect way to end her reverie.
"How are you planning to spend the day?" Lucien asked her when their lips parted.
"I plan to spend the afternoon with you, or as much of it as you want me to. I thought I'd spend the morning cleaning my own place, even though I spend so little time there."
Before he could respond, his phone buzzed. "Excuse me," he whispered as he glanced at the screen. "Maman."
Praying it wasn't bad news, something he definitely didn't need at this moment, she held her breath as he answered. He spoke in French, of course, but his delighted smile told her it definitely wasn't bad.
When he ended the connection, his smile grew even wider. "Maman is coming to our show the day after tomorrow, and she's even convinced Dad to join her."
"Really? Doesn't he loathe our kind of music?" she asked.
"I suspect he's never heard much of it," said Lucien. "Maybe we can even surprise him into having a good time."
Jean wasn't convinced, but if Lucien was looking forward to it, who was she to complain?
As she did her cleaning, Jean's mind stayed on Lucien and what he was going through. She fervently hoped his father's appearance at the club would be just as he hoped - an opportunity to bridge the divide between the Blake men, for Geneviève's sake as well as Lucien's.
She stood on her porch, shaking the ever-present sand from a throw rug when she saw Mattie on her own porch, chatting happily into the phone. Speaking to Ned, no doubt. With all the help Mattie had provided to Lucien during his therapy, Jean decided she'd like to invite Mattie and Ned to the club as her guests. The same night as Lucien's parents might be good, encouraging Thomas to restrain himself.
She thought she'd better call Matthew, find out the procedure for securing guest admittance.
He answered immediately, probably not wanting the sound of the phone to disturb little Lucy.
"Matthew, it's Jean. I hope I didn't wake the baby."
"Hello, Jean. No, Lucy's fine. Is everything all right there?" he asked.
"As far as I know. Alice is with Lucien now."
"How was he this morning?"
"He was good. Much better than last week. I think he can see a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel now," said Jean.
"Let's hope he still sees it when the session is over," said Matthew. "Was there something I can do for you?"
"I wanted to invite a couple of guests to the show the night after tomorrow."
"The same night the major's parents are coming?"
"That's right. Mattie O'Brien knows them, so I thought she and her boyfriend Ned might like to join them. How do I go about getting them in as my guests?"
"Jean, I guess we didn't mention it to you, but you can comp up to four guests any time you want. Just let Charlie know their names and what night they're coming. In this case, I'll let him know, myself. If you ever need more than four, we can probably arrange that as well, with word in advance."
"That's very generous. Thank you, Matthew. Give Lucy a kiss for me."
With that settled, she hurried over to issue the invitation, which both Mattie and Ned readily accepted. Now all she had to do was decide what songs to sing.
She saw him only briefly before leaving for work, since the session went on much longer than the previous ones. As usual after a session, Lucien was subdued and somewhat solemn, but there was no sign of the prior week's depression. She gave him a gentle kiss and a bright smile before going.
At the club she first checked with Cec to be sure he'd be streaming her performance to Lucien, then she met with Terry to arrange her playlist for the evening's set. Since she had been given completely free rein to choose her songs, she decided she was going to sing nothing but love songs this evening. She knew it was highly unusual for a singer in a blues club, but as Paul McCartney had sung, what's wrong with that?
She was getting more comfortable with speaking to the audience now, so when Matthew introduced her, she took the stage and after the welcoming applause died down, she spoke into the microphone.
"Good evening. Thank you very much for coming. Tonight, I'm going to do something a bit different. This set is for all the lovers among you, past, present and future. If you've ever loved someone, are currently in love, or are still looking for love, I hope you'll hear something tonight that touches you deeply. Terry?"
And she launched into the first song, 'Romance in the Dark'. She mixed together a blend of standards, pop songs and classics blues tunes, singing each one directly to Lucien, whether or not she was looking toward Cec's phone that captured it all.
The prior week's scare had left her appreciating just how much he meant to her life, and to her heart. She'd been alone for a very long time since Christopher's death, but she didn't appreciate just how lonely she'd been until Lucien walked into her life and showed her that loneliness was not her natural state, not how she was meant to live.
As she moved from one song to the next, Jean found her spirits rising with each one until she felt filled to bursting with her love for that man. She could hardly wait to see him again.
She finished with what she'd begun to think of as their song, 'At Last'. The response to the set was all she could have hoped, except that the audience insisted on multiple encores, which normally would have exhilarated her, but at this moment she only wanted to go home to Lucien.
She gave them her best performance, remembering that these were people who had paid their hard-earned money to come this evening. But after she'd taken her final bow and thanked them all once again, she hurried backstage to change and take her leave.
As she drove along the coast, she had to admit that the nearly full moon and the brilliant stars shining above the ocean still took her breath away. Both majestic and romantic, the view made her want Lucien even more. She appreciated that her commute home at such a late hour guaranteed that traffic was minimal.
She pulled into Lucien's drive, got out and locked the car, then strode quickly around to the kitchen door at the rear of the house. As she approached the house, she heard him call softly to her, "I'm up here, and I would love to have you join me."
She looked upwards to see him standing on the porch off the bedroom, smiling down at her. "I'll be right there," she promised.
He had left the door unlocked for her. She went inside, made sure Scout was safely in her bed, then locked up and hurried to greet Lucien. It seemed that he was as anxious to see her as she was to get back to him.
She walked into the bedroom, and opened the French doors to see him standing there in the moonlight, and she couldn't help but feel that God had given this gift to her, this wonderful, generous, talented, beautiful man who would do anything in his power to make her happy.
He held out his arms to her, and she moved into his embrace, where he held her for a long moment before kissing her, and such a kiss it was. It felt as though he knew exactly how she was feeling at this moment because he felt it, too.
"Thank you," he whispered into her hair. "Thank you for all you do for me, and to me."
She smiled brightly at him. "I was just thinking that very thing about you."
"Were you? It must mean we're in tune."
"Perfect tune," she agreed, lacing her fingers with his.
Together they looked out onto the water. It should have been a completely peaceful moment, but she could feel a nervous energy radiating from Lucien. Had something new been raised in today's session, she wondered.
She was just about to ask him about it, when he turned to her, looking very serious. "Jean, I ... Well, there's something I wanted to ask you."
She raised an eyebrow to indicate she was listening, not knowing if she should be nervous or worried or scared. She couldn't recall the last time he'd been quite so solemn.
"I, well, you have been so understanding and supportive through this whole process. You've seen me at my absolute worst and never shied away from any of it, when by all rights you should have run away as fast as you could," he said.
"I encouraged you to start this," she reminded him.
"Yes, and in ways you may not realize. You make me want to be better. To be the best I can be, because you deserve the best. I may not be all that you deserve, but I'll keep trying, especially if you're beside me. Will you be beside me? Jean, my love, will you marry me? It doesn't have to be right away, it can be whenever..."
She put a finger to his lips to quiet him and nodded. She didn't need to consider his proposal, even briefly. Her heart knew that she wanted him and would always want him. "Yes, nothing would make me happier than to be your wife, Lucien."
"Really?"
"Really," she assured him.
"Well, then, I think you'll be needing this," he said, taking a jeweler's box from his pocket.
His hands were shaking just a bit as he opened it to remove a ring consisting of an emerald solitaire surrounded by diamonds. He slipped it onto her finger, then looked for her approval.
The ring was breathtaking (if she even had any breath left to be taken), and she met his eyes to show him how happy she was. And then he swept her into his arms and spun around joyously.
All she could think was that they were now committed to each other for good. At last.
A/N: It seemed a good time to give them some real happiness, what with everything that's going on in the world. Please, stay safe, everyone.
