Steve's Return - Part III
The log fire crackled in the fireplace and the flames danced, little pictures appearing and disappearing on a regular basis. The room was in darkness, illuminated only by the light from the fire. Two figures lay sprawled, legs and arms entwined, on the large sofa that dominated the centre of the room. The silence, almost total, was broken as a loud sigh of complete contentment emanated from the Steve's mouth.
Snuggling closer still, Cheryl asked, "What was that for?"
"Because I feel totally relaxed and utterly contented," Steve responded, his voice matching his attitude.
Reaching up to plant a gentle kiss on his chin, Cheryl answered, "I know what you mean Steve. I don't think it could get any better than this."
For a few minutes silence descended on the room again. Then Steve took a deep breath and spoke, "It could you know."
Roused from a half doze Cheryl mumbled, "Could what?"
"Get better."
"What could?"
"This. Us. You and me," Steve explained, "It could get better."
"How?" Cheryl asked.
"We could get married," Steve answered, the very matter-of-fact tone in his voice fooling Cheryl for a couple of seconds.
Suddenly the words that he had used and the meaning behind them penetrated Cheryl's brain and she sat up so suddenly that Steve, legs still entwined with hers, fell onto the floor with a thud.
"Ow!" he complained rubbing his head.
"What did you say?" Cheryl demanded.
"I said, Ow," Steve answered, continuing to rub his head.
"No, you idiot, before that," Cheryl said.
Steve stopped rubbing his head and looked up at Cheryl, "I said, we could get married."
"Are you serious?"
Disentangling his legs Steve moved to sit next to Cheryl and, taking possession of her hands, looked her straight in the eye.
"I have never been more serious in my life Cheryl. These last three months have been wonderful and the only thing that could make it better would be for us to get married and be together all the time."
For a long, long time Cheryl was quiet and Steve was beginning to get worried that she might be trying to figure out how to say no without hurting his feelings. When she spoke, her voice was reflective, "When I was going through my divorce I made up my mind that no man would ever get under my defences and that I would never marry again. But," she continued, placing a finger on Steve's lips when he looked like he was about to speak, "I love you and would be a fool to let what happened to me the first time round spoil what we have together."
"... and that means?" Steve couldn't restrain himself any longer.
"That means yes I will marry you," Cheryl answered.
For a long time after that there were no words spoken as Cheryl and Steve declared their love for each other in the time honoured way of lovers throughout the centuries.
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"Are you sure that want to announce it this way?" Cheryl asked a few days later as she moved around the table, laying down the cutlery either side of the placemats.
"Yes I do," Steve said, stopping on his way to the kitchen to plant a kiss on Cheryl's neck, "everyone who means anything to me will be here tonight and I want them all to share in our happiness. They have all been with me through the bad times and it will be nice really good to share something great with them."
Cheryl smiled at her fiancés retreating back and thought to herself how lucky she was to have found such a fantastic, sensitive man.
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Jesse was the first to arrive at the beach house. He had moved back into his condo a couple of months previously. He and Steve had had a very heated discussion about the move, Steve being very much against it, but in the end Jesse had prevailed. He had been adamant that Steve and Cheryl needed time to be alone together without, as he so quaintly put it, a small, third wheel hanging around the place. Steve missed him being around very much but, and he hated to admit it, Jesse had been right in the end.
"So," he said, "what's for dinner? I'm starving."
Steve laughed, "I've never known you when you weren't hungry Jess. I think you were born hungry."
"Not true," Jesse protested, "It was at least an hour before I cried for food!"
Before Steve was able to answer the front door bell pealed again and he went to answer it, finding Jack, Shona, Amanda and Alex standing there, having all pulled up on the drive within a minute of each other.
"Come in guys," Steve said, opening the door wide, "dinner is nearly ready."
Looking back over his shoulder Jack asked anxiously, "You didn't cook did you?"
"Why do all of you keep insinuating that my cooking isn't very good?" Steve asked, following his four friends up the steps.
"Er, let me think..," Amanda pretended to consider for a moment, "I know.. because it isn't. I have been on the receiving end of many of your culinary disasters to be able to say anything else."
"Just because I have occasionally... occasionally, mark you, burnt the odd burger or piece of chicken, you all seem to think I can't cook. Must I remind you that I co-own and run a very successful BBQ restaurant?"
"At which you employ professional and competent chefs," Shona put in.
"You too Shona?" Steve placed a large, suntanned hand against his heart, "I'm mortally wounded."
"Come on guys, give Steve a break," broke in Cheryl through the general laughter, joining them from the kitchen, coming to a halt next to Steve and putting her arms around him.
"Cheryl!" exclaimed Amanda, "What is that?"
"What is what?" Shona asked, her eyes following Amanda's gaze.
"That! On Cheryl's finger. It's a very large, very sparkly ring," she looked up at Steve and said, "What's going on?"
Disengaging Cheryl's arms from his waist, Steve took hold of her hand, tucked it into the crook of his arm and turned to face their friends, a smile on his face.
"Trust you to notice Amanda. We were going to leave it until later but now is as good a time as any." He paused a little then continued, "Cheryl and I are going to be married."
The response to this announcement was everything that he and Cheryl could have wanted. For a split second there was silence as the information sunk in and then everyone began speaking at once.
"You sly dog Sloan!" "Oh Cheryl, congratulations!" "When's the wedding?"
It took a few minutes for the hubbub to die down, during which time Steve had nipped out into the kitchen and opened the bottle of champagne and brought it back in on a tray with seven glasses. He placed the tray on the table, poured the champagne out and passed it around. He was about to speak when Jack laid a hand on his arm and silenced him.
"Steve, I'd like to say something please," he began, pausing for a few seconds to gather his thoughts, "You have been one of my closest friends for a long time and in all the time that I have known you I can honestly say that I have never seen you as happy as you have been in the last few months. Cheryl, you are the best thing that has happened to this guy in a long, long while and we couldn't be more pleased. Everyone, raise your glasses to the happy couple, Steve and Cheryl."
"Steve and Cheryl" they all echoed.
The evening that followed was one that lived in all their memories for many years to come and it was very late when the final reveller left and the happy couple were able to close the front door on the world and retreat downstairs to carry on with their own, very personal, celebration.
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"Cheryl for goodness sake!" exclaimed Amanda, "Will you PLEASE stand still! I cannot do your buttons up if you keep jiggling about like that."
"I'm sorry Amanda," Cheryl did, indeed, sound apologetic but the smile on her face totally belied the tone in her voice, "It's just that I'm so excited. I know a bride is supposed to be nervous on her wedding day but I'm not. I did the 'nervous' routine last time and look what a complete disaster that turned out to be. This time I know it's for keeps and I am really looking forward to today."
Amanda smiled and continued to fasten the buttons that ran the entire length of the back of Cheryl's wedding dress. She could almost imagine the fun that Steve would have later that night undoing them! She had just secured the final one when a knock came on the door and it opened a little to reveal Cheryl's dad.
"Are you ready love?" he asked.
"Never more so dad," she said moving gracefully across the floor to meet him.
Amanda cocked her head on one side and listened for a moment, then said, "I think they're playing our song Cheryl. Come on kids, let's get this show on the road."
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Upstairs, Steve was conscious of a distinct tremble in his hands as he stood in front of the mirror attempting to achieve a respectable bow tie. Giving up for the moment, he sat down on the bed. He was suddenly overcome by a longing to see his dad. Over the years when it seemed, through a variety of girlfriends, that he may never get married his dad was always there to commiserate, laugh with and support him. Steve never thought in a million years that on the day he was finally about to marry the woman he loved that his dad would not be there. For a moment all the feelings about his dad not being there welled up and threatened to overwhelm him. Fortunately, before he was swamped by those emotions, a knock came on the door and Jesse poked his head around the edge.
"Come on Steve, it's nearly time. You need to be in position before Cheryl gets there," he saw his friends face and moved further into the room, "What's the matter?"
"I was just thinking about dad," Steve began, "I can't believe that he isn't here today."
"Steve," Jesse sat on the bed next to his friend, resting a hand on his arm, "Mark may not be here in body but he is here in spirit. He is here in you, me, Jack and Amanda - in the values that he taught us over the years, in the fun that we all had together and in the joint memories that we all have. As long as we remember him, he will always be with us."
Swallowing a lump that had worked its way up into his throat during that speech Jesse stood up and said, "So get yourself together Sloan, we have a wedding to attend."
Smiling Steve stood, finished tying the bow in his tie and followed Jesse out onto the beach where an area had been set up for the wedding that day. They had barely reached their seats when the music, heralding the entrance of the bridesmaids, struck up. Standing back up both Steve and Jesse moved towards the aisle and turned to look back up it towards where Amanda and Shona stood. Steve caught a glimpse of the look on Jack's face when he saw Shona standing there and he grinned to himself. He didn't think that it would be too long before Jack were standing where he was, as a bridegroom. Both women moved slowly, in time to the music, down the aisle and behind them Steve suddenly caught sight of Cheryl, who was leaning on her fathers arm. She caught Steve's eye and smiled. At that moment Steve totally relaxed and he knew that he was going to be alright.
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"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The final words were spoken by the minister and Steve cradled Cheryl's face in his slightly shaking hands and kissed her. "I love you," he whispered against her lips before they turned towards their assembled friends and family.
The walk back up the aisle took a great deal of time for there were many stops on the way for hugs, kisses and handshakes from everyone gathered there. It was a joyous occasion, one that many thought they would never see and one that they were all equally delighted to be part of.
Steve and Cheryl had opted for a buffet-style celebration, rather than a more traditional sit-down which, they felt, would give them more opportunity to mingle amongst their friends and relatives. Steve was particularly pleased to see both his Aunt Dora and Uncle Stacy there as well as his sister Carol. She had taken time off from her position at a small town clinic to attend and was totally thrilled that her big brother was finally getting married.
Having decided that they were both far too busy to take a honeymoon Steve and Cheryl were in no hurry to have the party finish and it was consequently late into the evening when the last of the guests departed.
They wandered back into the lounge and sat down on the sofa among the debris of the party. Around them were plates, glasses and in front of them on the coffee table was a pile of unopened wedding presents. Steve looked at them and said, "Do you feel up to opening them now or in the morning?"
"In the morning. I don't think that I could face opening them all now," Cheryl said, reaching behind her to draw something out from behind the cushion, "but I have something for you."
Steve took the envelope that Cheryl was holding out to him.
"What is it Cheryl?" he asked, "I thought that we agreed not to give each other presents?"
"This is different," Cheryl insisted, "open it Steve."
Without taking his eyes off of his wife Steve flicked a fingernail under the edge of the envelope flap and ripped it open. He pulled out a piece of paper, unfolded it and took his eyes off of Cheryl long enough to read the contents. His eyes gradually widened and, getting to the end of the letter, he looked back up a stunned expression on his face.
"But you love a cop Cheryl!" Steve protested, "I would never want you to give that up for me."
"Yes I love being a cop Steve," Cheryl countered, "but I love you more. I have seen how your dad reacted every time you were injured or in danger and I didn't ever want to put you through that."
"What are you going to do? I can't see you sitting around like the 'little woman' waiting for her man to arrive home."
"I don't intend to Steve." Cheryl replied, "I have some money saved up and I want to buy into Bob's with you and Jesse."
Tears pricked at the corner of Steve's eyes. Of all people, he knew how much Cheryl was giving up for him. Throwing the letter on the floor, he reached out and pulled his wife to him.
"We are going to have a wonderful life together," he breathed against her lips, before claiming them in kiss that spoke of their present love and the promise of the future.
THE END
The log fire crackled in the fireplace and the flames danced, little pictures appearing and disappearing on a regular basis. The room was in darkness, illuminated only by the light from the fire. Two figures lay sprawled, legs and arms entwined, on the large sofa that dominated the centre of the room. The silence, almost total, was broken as a loud sigh of complete contentment emanated from the Steve's mouth.
Snuggling closer still, Cheryl asked, "What was that for?"
"Because I feel totally relaxed and utterly contented," Steve responded, his voice matching his attitude.
Reaching up to plant a gentle kiss on his chin, Cheryl answered, "I know what you mean Steve. I don't think it could get any better than this."
For a few minutes silence descended on the room again. Then Steve took a deep breath and spoke, "It could you know."
Roused from a half doze Cheryl mumbled, "Could what?"
"Get better."
"What could?"
"This. Us. You and me," Steve explained, "It could get better."
"How?" Cheryl asked.
"We could get married," Steve answered, the very matter-of-fact tone in his voice fooling Cheryl for a couple of seconds.
Suddenly the words that he had used and the meaning behind them penetrated Cheryl's brain and she sat up so suddenly that Steve, legs still entwined with hers, fell onto the floor with a thud.
"Ow!" he complained rubbing his head.
"What did you say?" Cheryl demanded.
"I said, Ow," Steve answered, continuing to rub his head.
"No, you idiot, before that," Cheryl said.
Steve stopped rubbing his head and looked up at Cheryl, "I said, we could get married."
"Are you serious?"
Disentangling his legs Steve moved to sit next to Cheryl and, taking possession of her hands, looked her straight in the eye.
"I have never been more serious in my life Cheryl. These last three months have been wonderful and the only thing that could make it better would be for us to get married and be together all the time."
For a long, long time Cheryl was quiet and Steve was beginning to get worried that she might be trying to figure out how to say no without hurting his feelings. When she spoke, her voice was reflective, "When I was going through my divorce I made up my mind that no man would ever get under my defences and that I would never marry again. But," she continued, placing a finger on Steve's lips when he looked like he was about to speak, "I love you and would be a fool to let what happened to me the first time round spoil what we have together."
"... and that means?" Steve couldn't restrain himself any longer.
"That means yes I will marry you," Cheryl answered.
For a long time after that there were no words spoken as Cheryl and Steve declared their love for each other in the time honoured way of lovers throughout the centuries.
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"Are you sure that want to announce it this way?" Cheryl asked a few days later as she moved around the table, laying down the cutlery either side of the placemats.
"Yes I do," Steve said, stopping on his way to the kitchen to plant a kiss on Cheryl's neck, "everyone who means anything to me will be here tonight and I want them all to share in our happiness. They have all been with me through the bad times and it will be nice really good to share something great with them."
Cheryl smiled at her fiancés retreating back and thought to herself how lucky she was to have found such a fantastic, sensitive man.
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Jesse was the first to arrive at the beach house. He had moved back into his condo a couple of months previously. He and Steve had had a very heated discussion about the move, Steve being very much against it, but in the end Jesse had prevailed. He had been adamant that Steve and Cheryl needed time to be alone together without, as he so quaintly put it, a small, third wheel hanging around the place. Steve missed him being around very much but, and he hated to admit it, Jesse had been right in the end.
"So," he said, "what's for dinner? I'm starving."
Steve laughed, "I've never known you when you weren't hungry Jess. I think you were born hungry."
"Not true," Jesse protested, "It was at least an hour before I cried for food!"
Before Steve was able to answer the front door bell pealed again and he went to answer it, finding Jack, Shona, Amanda and Alex standing there, having all pulled up on the drive within a minute of each other.
"Come in guys," Steve said, opening the door wide, "dinner is nearly ready."
Looking back over his shoulder Jack asked anxiously, "You didn't cook did you?"
"Why do all of you keep insinuating that my cooking isn't very good?" Steve asked, following his four friends up the steps.
"Er, let me think..," Amanda pretended to consider for a moment, "I know.. because it isn't. I have been on the receiving end of many of your culinary disasters to be able to say anything else."
"Just because I have occasionally... occasionally, mark you, burnt the odd burger or piece of chicken, you all seem to think I can't cook. Must I remind you that I co-own and run a very successful BBQ restaurant?"
"At which you employ professional and competent chefs," Shona put in.
"You too Shona?" Steve placed a large, suntanned hand against his heart, "I'm mortally wounded."
"Come on guys, give Steve a break," broke in Cheryl through the general laughter, joining them from the kitchen, coming to a halt next to Steve and putting her arms around him.
"Cheryl!" exclaimed Amanda, "What is that?"
"What is what?" Shona asked, her eyes following Amanda's gaze.
"That! On Cheryl's finger. It's a very large, very sparkly ring," she looked up at Steve and said, "What's going on?"
Disengaging Cheryl's arms from his waist, Steve took hold of her hand, tucked it into the crook of his arm and turned to face their friends, a smile on his face.
"Trust you to notice Amanda. We were going to leave it until later but now is as good a time as any." He paused a little then continued, "Cheryl and I are going to be married."
The response to this announcement was everything that he and Cheryl could have wanted. For a split second there was silence as the information sunk in and then everyone began speaking at once.
"You sly dog Sloan!" "Oh Cheryl, congratulations!" "When's the wedding?"
It took a few minutes for the hubbub to die down, during which time Steve had nipped out into the kitchen and opened the bottle of champagne and brought it back in on a tray with seven glasses. He placed the tray on the table, poured the champagne out and passed it around. He was about to speak when Jack laid a hand on his arm and silenced him.
"Steve, I'd like to say something please," he began, pausing for a few seconds to gather his thoughts, "You have been one of my closest friends for a long time and in all the time that I have known you I can honestly say that I have never seen you as happy as you have been in the last few months. Cheryl, you are the best thing that has happened to this guy in a long, long while and we couldn't be more pleased. Everyone, raise your glasses to the happy couple, Steve and Cheryl."
"Steve and Cheryl" they all echoed.
The evening that followed was one that lived in all their memories for many years to come and it was very late when the final reveller left and the happy couple were able to close the front door on the world and retreat downstairs to carry on with their own, very personal, celebration.
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"Cheryl for goodness sake!" exclaimed Amanda, "Will you PLEASE stand still! I cannot do your buttons up if you keep jiggling about like that."
"I'm sorry Amanda," Cheryl did, indeed, sound apologetic but the smile on her face totally belied the tone in her voice, "It's just that I'm so excited. I know a bride is supposed to be nervous on her wedding day but I'm not. I did the 'nervous' routine last time and look what a complete disaster that turned out to be. This time I know it's for keeps and I am really looking forward to today."
Amanda smiled and continued to fasten the buttons that ran the entire length of the back of Cheryl's wedding dress. She could almost imagine the fun that Steve would have later that night undoing them! She had just secured the final one when a knock came on the door and it opened a little to reveal Cheryl's dad.
"Are you ready love?" he asked.
"Never more so dad," she said moving gracefully across the floor to meet him.
Amanda cocked her head on one side and listened for a moment, then said, "I think they're playing our song Cheryl. Come on kids, let's get this show on the road."
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Upstairs, Steve was conscious of a distinct tremble in his hands as he stood in front of the mirror attempting to achieve a respectable bow tie. Giving up for the moment, he sat down on the bed. He was suddenly overcome by a longing to see his dad. Over the years when it seemed, through a variety of girlfriends, that he may never get married his dad was always there to commiserate, laugh with and support him. Steve never thought in a million years that on the day he was finally about to marry the woman he loved that his dad would not be there. For a moment all the feelings about his dad not being there welled up and threatened to overwhelm him. Fortunately, before he was swamped by those emotions, a knock came on the door and Jesse poked his head around the edge.
"Come on Steve, it's nearly time. You need to be in position before Cheryl gets there," he saw his friends face and moved further into the room, "What's the matter?"
"I was just thinking about dad," Steve began, "I can't believe that he isn't here today."
"Steve," Jesse sat on the bed next to his friend, resting a hand on his arm, "Mark may not be here in body but he is here in spirit. He is here in you, me, Jack and Amanda - in the values that he taught us over the years, in the fun that we all had together and in the joint memories that we all have. As long as we remember him, he will always be with us."
Swallowing a lump that had worked its way up into his throat during that speech Jesse stood up and said, "So get yourself together Sloan, we have a wedding to attend."
Smiling Steve stood, finished tying the bow in his tie and followed Jesse out onto the beach where an area had been set up for the wedding that day. They had barely reached their seats when the music, heralding the entrance of the bridesmaids, struck up. Standing back up both Steve and Jesse moved towards the aisle and turned to look back up it towards where Amanda and Shona stood. Steve caught a glimpse of the look on Jack's face when he saw Shona standing there and he grinned to himself. He didn't think that it would be too long before Jack were standing where he was, as a bridegroom. Both women moved slowly, in time to the music, down the aisle and behind them Steve suddenly caught sight of Cheryl, who was leaning on her fathers arm. She caught Steve's eye and smiled. At that moment Steve totally relaxed and he knew that he was going to be alright.
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"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The final words were spoken by the minister and Steve cradled Cheryl's face in his slightly shaking hands and kissed her. "I love you," he whispered against her lips before they turned towards their assembled friends and family.
The walk back up the aisle took a great deal of time for there were many stops on the way for hugs, kisses and handshakes from everyone gathered there. It was a joyous occasion, one that many thought they would never see and one that they were all equally delighted to be part of.
Steve and Cheryl had opted for a buffet-style celebration, rather than a more traditional sit-down which, they felt, would give them more opportunity to mingle amongst their friends and relatives. Steve was particularly pleased to see both his Aunt Dora and Uncle Stacy there as well as his sister Carol. She had taken time off from her position at a small town clinic to attend and was totally thrilled that her big brother was finally getting married.
Having decided that they were both far too busy to take a honeymoon Steve and Cheryl were in no hurry to have the party finish and it was consequently late into the evening when the last of the guests departed.
They wandered back into the lounge and sat down on the sofa among the debris of the party. Around them were plates, glasses and in front of them on the coffee table was a pile of unopened wedding presents. Steve looked at them and said, "Do you feel up to opening them now or in the morning?"
"In the morning. I don't think that I could face opening them all now," Cheryl said, reaching behind her to draw something out from behind the cushion, "but I have something for you."
Steve took the envelope that Cheryl was holding out to him.
"What is it Cheryl?" he asked, "I thought that we agreed not to give each other presents?"
"This is different," Cheryl insisted, "open it Steve."
Without taking his eyes off of his wife Steve flicked a fingernail under the edge of the envelope flap and ripped it open. He pulled out a piece of paper, unfolded it and took his eyes off of Cheryl long enough to read the contents. His eyes gradually widened and, getting to the end of the letter, he looked back up a stunned expression on his face.
"But you love a cop Cheryl!" Steve protested, "I would never want you to give that up for me."
"Yes I love being a cop Steve," Cheryl countered, "but I love you more. I have seen how your dad reacted every time you were injured or in danger and I didn't ever want to put you through that."
"What are you going to do? I can't see you sitting around like the 'little woman' waiting for her man to arrive home."
"I don't intend to Steve." Cheryl replied, "I have some money saved up and I want to buy into Bob's with you and Jesse."
Tears pricked at the corner of Steve's eyes. Of all people, he knew how much Cheryl was giving up for him. Throwing the letter on the floor, he reached out and pulled his wife to him.
"We are going to have a wonderful life together," he breathed against her lips, before claiming them in kiss that spoke of their present love and the promise of the future.
THE END