Chapter 17 The House Tour
Lucas made his way to the bathroom after grabbing a suit out of the large master bedrooms walk in closet. He made his way over to the bathtub to start running the water, so he could bathe and get cleaned up. Elizabeth joined him in the bathroom wrapping her arms around him. "What are you doing?" She asked curiously and seductively.
He turned to face her returning her embrace, loving the feel of her in his arms,"I'm going to enjoy this relaxing warm water! Are you brave enough to join me?" He assaulted her neck with several sweet kisses trying to entice her.
She chuckled, "Are you going to shut that water off Mr. Bouchard or are we going to bathe on the floor?"
"OH!" He ran over to shut it off and pulled the drain letting some of the water run out. "You are quite distracting Mrs. Bouchard! I am glad you are mine!" He flashed her a dimpled smile. He sat down in the tub stretching out and laying his head back to rest on a bath pillow propping his arms up on the edge of the bathtub and motioning for her to join him.
Elizabeth was enjoying this! The heat was instantly rising to her cheeks. She walked over and slowly entered the tub. "It's hot!" Lucas! She slowly sat down leaning her back against his chest and just relaxing into his strong arms and feeling such joy and peace.
He quickly wrapped his arms around her and caressed her upper body while slowly using his hand to splash the water over her. Their smiles radiated happiness. She was sharing an intimate moment with Lucas that she never shared with Jack and she loved it!
"We will never get anything done if we start every morning like this!" She teased but secretly wishing it was possible.
"I am okay with that if it means I get to enjoy your beautiful body for the whole morning!" He then placed his hands on her shoulders giving them a deep massage, he gently leaned forward kissing her neck and nuzzling her ears, this truly is even better than my dreams he thought. They lay in the water until it became chilled, but neither wanting this new experience to end. Lucas got out and put out his hand to help Elizabeth and wrapped her in a large luxurious towel. Both of them dried off and Lucas stood in front of the mirror trimming his beard and getting dressed. Elizabeth leaned against the wall staring at him. She was intrigued by how much time it took him to perfect himself. She started giggling.
"Am I amusing you my darling wife?"
"I am just fascinated that you spend so much time in the morning getting ready for the day." She chuckled, no wonder he always looked so handsome and debonair.
"Not all of us can be naturally beautiful in the morning like you!" He kissed her forehead. He pulled out his blow dryer and began drying his hair.
"Lucas I have never seen a blow dryer. How did you ever get one?"
"They were invented in 1911 in the states and patented by Gabriel Kazanjian. I was able to get a test model from a friend when I was in Louisiana. They will be marketing it next year. The French have been using them for awhile. Would you like to try it?"
"Yes!"
"Let me show you how it works!" He said.
She sat down and he began drying her hair. She was smiling from ear to ear, no wonder his hair always looks so amazing, this is his secret.
Lucas left so she could finish getting ready and dressed and went downstairs. He pulled down all the sheer drapery and began putting everything back in place. He cleaned up the few things the staff had left. Thirty minutes later he went back upstairs.
"Elizabeth are you ready to tour our new home?" This would be the first time seeing it in broad daylight.
He took her by the hand and led her down the hall showing her all of the five other bedrooms. Jack's room brought tears to her eyes as she saw the painted mural of Jack and sergeant on the wall. "Lucas how did you get the picture to do this?"
"Lee lent it to me and had it copied and then returned it." He held her in his arms sensing she was processing her thoughts, just holding her made them both feel better. There was another bathroom at the end of the hallway. He led her down the beautiful wooden stairway to the main level, where warm wooden floors ran throughout the space. Her tears once again started to flow, when she saw all the paintings. Above the fireplace was a painted mural of all three of them in Union City. The walls were painted with various murals of her and Jack Jr. all blended together with beautiful artistry. The artist truly was amazing.
"Lucas, how did you get all these pictures for the artist to use? She asked curiously. "This is truly amazing!"
"It was Carson! He has been capturing pictures for me for awhile. I picked my favorites and those were the ones I gave to the artist. She used them to paint the walls.
"I am speechless! You are the perfect man!" She gave him a gentle kiss that deepened as their love and passion was released.
"I wouldn't say that."
He proceeded to show her around the kitchen. I thought we might do a lot of entertaining so I had the bar put in and the kitchen made extra large. He took her down the beautiful wooden stairs to the bottom level where there was a bathroom, guest room, and two offices, one with a plaque saying Elizabeth, and one saying Lucas. She opened the door to her office and there was a desk setup with a typewriter and lot's of paper, a journal and plenty of stationary. There was also a bookshelf with a copy of her manuscript and her short stories on it.
"I figured you could keep a copy of all your novels in here. I also thought it might be nice to have your own space to get away from me and our children, when I get on your nerves and you need to grade papers!" He said with his dimples flashing.
"Lucas this is so thoughtful! You are amazing!"
The property was surrounded by a beautiful white picket fence. There was a balcony that overlooked the back accessible through the French doors off the Master Bedroom. The Victorian Style home was made entirely of colored Limestone, which was a high priced commodity during the time but more readily available since the end of the war.
"Lucas there is a swing set and jungle gym for Jack. That is so thoughtful!"
"I love him Elizabeth; I want nothing but the best for Jack. I am going to see that he grows up to be every bit of man his father was!"
She wrapped her arms around him adoringly,"Lucas you are that man too! Just teach him to be the man you are! You are perfect! How much are we paying for this home? It is going to cost us a fortune?
"Don't worry about that Elizabeth, I paid for it outright!"
"Lucas, how did you pay for this?"
"With our first born child." He teased with a smile.
She smacked him on the arm.
"I sold two of my investments I was thinking of getting away from for awhile anyway. It turned out to be just enough to cover the cost of everything. There are a lot of extra costs that come from having electricity and running hot water though especially in a home this size."
"Why did you have such a large home built?"
His reply was, "to accommodate all of our children of course!"
"Lucas how many children are we supposed to have?" She asked her eyebrows raised.
"Enough to start our own school!" He laughed his smile on full display.
"You think you're funny don't you Mr. Bouchard!"
"I love it when you call me that! You know you like it Mrs. Bouchard!" He wrapped her in his arms and gave her a deep lingering kiss.
"I left a lot of the interior decorating for you. I figured you and Rosemary would want to do that together. If there is anything you need let me know! Elizabeth what's mine is yours so don't be afraid to ask for anything. We are in this together!"
"Lucas what will I do with Jack's land?"
"Save it for Jack when he gets older! I can think of nothing that would make me happier than helping Jack build a home for his family when he gets older. Well, maybe I won't build it, but pay someone to build it." He chuckled.
"You are amazing! I am the most blessed woman to have had you wait for me."
"We should go into town and meet our families and get lunch. We missed breakfast and I worked up quite an appetite, if you know what I mean?" He winked while pulling her close for a kiss. He helped her with her coat and they walked out to the car to head into town. Elizabeth stopped to admire the outside of their beautiful home, still amazed at all that has happened in the past few months and feeling blessed beyond measure.