Alice woke with the need to desperately empty her bladder; when she returned from the bathroom and checked the clock it was 10 am. No wonder she needed the bathroom, she'd been asleep for 13 hours! Matthew walked into the bedroom and said, "come on sleepy head, I've made pancakes and fruit for breakfast and…I also made us some bacon to go with it. You need to eat properly. How you feeling today? How's the head? Still feeling sick?"
Alice hugged Matthew and said, "so much better, thank you. Whatever that was you made us last night was delicious and just what I needed. The headache is gone, and I don't feel sick. It was lack of food, lack of water and lack of sleep."
She stood on her tiptoes, kissed Matthew square on the lips and said, "thank you for looking after me. How are you feeling? Did you manage to get some sleep? I never even heard you leave the bed."
Matthew told her he'd slept till 9, showered and then started making breakfast, "it was great. You're back where you belong, in my arms in our bed, and you do look much better today although…I think you should go back to bed for a while when I've gone to work?"
Alice contemplated what he said and replied, "maybe. We'll see."
"Jean asked us over to dinner tonight. She wants a catch up. Maybe I could pick you up after work and I'll drive us over?"
"I might walk over there later. I could meet you there and then we could come back here in your car?"
Matthew agreed and said, "don't be telling Jean all of our secrets now Alice. Some things should be kept just between us. I know what you girls are like when you get together!"
Alice laughed then became serious, "Matthew?" he looked over at her and gave her his "I'm listening" face.
"Before Jean left, we were talking…talking about you and how I wanted to do something for you…because I said no to us dating. Well, Jean told me to ask you over for Christmas dinner and she told me that life had made her realise that you should grab onto whatever makes you happy and that I should grab onto you! She also said that you and I could close ourselves off in my house. She winked at me Matthew. That's what we were talking about when you came into the kitchen to make tea."
"Did she now? The cheek of Jean Blake!" Matthew smiled and placed his hand over Alice's, "what are you asking me sweetheart?"
"What should I tell Jean? She told me we would catch up when she came back and I could tell her all about my Christmas…with you. What do I tell her? I mean, I've never had a friend like Jean before but I…does she need the full details or do I just tell her we made love…a lot…or…" Alice became very frustrated then said, "I don't know what to…I…"
Matthew pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head, "Alice, you tell her what you like, what you're comfortable with telling her. Maybe just don't comment on my technique or the fact that I was wearing your robe…!" He kissed Alice gently on the lips and said, "I'd better be off. I'll see you later at Jean's?"
Alice nodded and when Matthew left, she decided to leave the tidying up till later and headed back to bed.
Alice never left their bed until 1pm and by then, she was starving; she made herself a sandwich and had some fruit then headed to the shower. She wished Matthew was at home to increase the data on their "experiment".
After that, Alice called Jean, asking if she was free for a chat before Matthew arrived at Mycroft Avenue for dinner; She said she's walk over and aim to be there about 4pm.
"So? Alice, what happened? Where's the ring? How did Matthew propose?" Alice had hardly made it through the door before Jean was bombarding her with questions.
"Emmm, can we have tea in the kitchen? Aren't you going to tell me about Adelaide and your Christmas with Amelia? Also…" Alice gave Jean a quick hug and said, "Happy New Year."
"Alice, I had a lovely time in Adelaide; it was great to see Christopher and Ruby and of course, Amelia. However…I'm far more interested in what you and Matthew got up to when I was gone!"
Jean made them both a cup of tea and placed some biscuits on a plate, she sat there looking at Alice and said, "so? Begin your story then."
Alice explained what had happened and left out the more intimate parts, leaving that to Jean's imagination.
"So, you two have basically locked yourself in your house over the last few weeks?"
Alice nodded and blushed at the same time.
"Good for you Alice!" Jean placed her hand on Alice's arm and looked at her seriously and said, "you are happy aren't you Alice? Matthew does make you happy?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Alice, "he makes me very happy!" she laughed at her own last comment.
"I don't want to know the finer points, but I take it that…Matthew…that the…the bedroom shenanigans were…"
Alice leaned over, briefly touched Jean's arm and said, "let's just say, Matthew always leaves me entirely…satisfied!"
"Alice Harvey! You wanton woman!"
They hadn't heard Matthew come in the door, but he only heard the last part of the conversation. He leaned down to kissed Alice on the lips, looked at Jean and said, "yes but she's my wanton woman now!"
Jean served dinner and the three of them talked about Christmas, about Alice and Matthew arranging a small wedding ceremony soon and they eventually moved on to discuss the cases that Matthew and Alice had been working on.
"You do know that there's an old, abandoned hunting lodge in the middle of the woods, don't you Matthew? Remember that one that we used to all hang out at over the summer when we were kids?"
Matthew thought for a moment and said, "Jeez, I had completely forgotten about that place. Are you sure it's still there? I'm sure if it is, it would be some distance away from where the bodies were found. However…"
Matthew got up and asked if he could use the telephone. He called the station and asked the constable on the line to check it out. When Matthew returned, he sat back down and said, "we've missed you Jean."
Jean looked over and said, "from what Alice told me, I think you two have kept each other entertained in my absence!" she winked at the pair of them but they both just blushed.
"Jean, it's been lovely catching up, but we should be off home." Matthew looked at Alice and said, "you ready to go sweetheart?" Jean looked over at the two of them and thought how sweet they were together, but she decided, in Lucien's absence, that she couldn't miss an opportunity.
"Sweetheart is it? Matthew you old romantic!"
Alice went beetroot and got up from the table; Jean saw that Alice looked a bit uncomfortable and thought about what she had said, "Alice, it's wonderful about you and Matthew. You two deserve all the happiness you can find. I'm so very happy for you." She leaned over and kissed Alice's cheek then did the same for Matthew.
"Congratulations you two."