"Fried cream cheese wontons?"

"Do you have a death wish?"

"Ed, you do know the point of having a junk food night is to actually eat junk food?"  Abbie eyed him over the rim of her black framed glasses.  He thought they made her look cute in a bookworm-ish kind of way.  "I'd say deep fried cream cheese definitely qualifies."

"Vegetable egg rolls?"  He suggested.

"Ah, and he trumps my Ace with the Joker of compromise.  Very astute move, Detective."  She leaned over and pecked his cheek.  "Okay, genius, which soup?"

"Bean curd and vegetable."

Abbie grimaced.  "Ewww! I'm not eatin' anything that rhymes with turd." She held the menu in front of him and pointed out her preference.  "How 'bout this?"

"Egg drop? Abbie do you know how much--."

"Green, I swear if you start in on calories and fat content again, you're eatin' the menu!" She threatened and his hands flew up in defeat.

"Egg drop soup it is."

Abbie grinned.  "You're a very wise man."

Ed grinned back and groaned when his cell rang.  Abbie eyed it dubiously. "Five minutes."  He promised as he stood up.  "And I'll have sliced chicken with snow peas and steamed rice."

"You sure know how to live on the edge, Ed."  She teased and reached for the cordless phone.

Ed walked into Abbie's bedroom and sat on the bed. "Green."

"Hey, baby.  It's Mama."

"Mama."  Ed bolted from the bed.  His mother almost never called during the week.  "What's goin' on?  Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, son, everything's fine."  She assured him and he breathed a sigh of relief.  His mother never failed to have a calming effect on him.  After years spent traveling to the ends of the earth, her soft voice still retained a hint of her southern origins.  "Just callin' to let you know 'bout your father's party."

"Party?" Ed frowned in confusion as he sat back down. "Dad's birthday is still four months away."

"Well actually your father's decided to move his retirement date up."  She informed him.  "He finished the environmental study he was working on sooner than he anticipated and all he really has left to do is organize his field notes and submit a report on his findings."

"That quick, huh?"

"Uh huh." He could hear paper rustling and a cabinet door close over the line. His mother always seemed to be doing three things at a time.

"The young man they brought in to take over is already up to speed on the other projects, and your dad seems more than ready to turn things over to him." Her voice was muffled as the phone shifted.  He pictured her holding it in the crook of her shoulder.  "So, it looks like he'll be wrapping things up in a week or so."

"Wow." Ed breathed in amazement.  "It's gone seem strange for Dad not to be working anymore. How long has it been?"

"Thirty eight years in the field and thirty three with the company."  His mother answered.  After a moment she chuckled and added, "Almost as long as you been around."

"Yeah, I know."

Ed thought about how his father had hoped to pass the torch to him.  The senior Green put a chemistry set in his son's hands before he even started first grade.  Ed could remember walking with his father as he'd proudly shown him the inner workings of the many plants and job sites he'd inhabited over the years.  Bill Green steadily rose through the ranks of his company and never hesitated to move his family when the work called for it.  He seemed to thrive on change while the rest of them viewed it as the price of having a top petrochemical engineer as the head of the family.

While Ed shared his father's constant need to be challenged, he didn't inherit his wanderlust spirit.  He got all the charge and excitement he needed from being a cop and after so many years spent traveling as a child, was content to stay in one place.  He found his father's work fascinating, but had no desire to follow in his footsteps.  He could still remember the look on his dad's face when he declared Criminal Justice as his major. The disappointment was palpable, and though he'd never come right out and said as much, he was hurt by what he perceived as his son's rejection of him.  It was all years in the past, but it still colored everything in their relationship. Ed felt that he'd never quite measured up to his father's expectations, professionally or personally.

"Edward?"  He heard his mother call his full name and he realized he'd zoned out.

"Yeah, Mama, I'm here."

"So anyway the company is throwing your father an impromptu party this weekend because we'll be leaving on a month long cruise next Sunday."  She laughed.  "Your dad's retirement gift to himself."

"This weekend?"  He hedged.  "I don't know, Ma. That's kinda short notice."

"I know." She granted.  "But how many times is your father gonna retire?  I'm sure if you talked to that nice lady boss of yours she'd shuffle things around so you could come to your father's party."

Ed smiled at her description of Lieu.  They'd only met twice but had hit it off and chatted like long lost friends.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd work something out."

"Well?"

"Okay, Mama."  He relented.  He really should be there.  "When and where?"

"Saturday at the Hilton New York."

"Not too shabby." He commented.  "They managed to book that?"

"Money talks, son.  They've planned cocktails at six and dinner around seven.  And I'm sure they'll have some sort of tribute or presentation, too."  She paused and he could almost hear her mind working.  "You might want to think of a few things to say if they ask you to speak."

"Ma…"

"I'm not sayin' they will for sure, but just in case."

He sighed.  "Alright, Ma."

"Oh!" She exclaimed.  "You might want to bring a date, too.  Stanley's on a business trip and your sister's dropping hints that she may bring Jeanette."

Ed cringed.  Jeanette had been his older sister's best friend since they were five and the relationship had weathered the years and distance.  She'd been after him since he was fifteen.

"Thanks for the heads up, Ma.  I'll see you Saturday."

"I love you, baby."

"Love you, too."  He clicked the phone off and fell back onto the bed, thinking things over.

A date?

Abbie wandered in and saw him lying on the bed, his eyes closed.  She plopped down beside him, her elbow jabbing him in the ribs.

"Hey!" He sputtered.

"What's a matter, Ed?"  She quipped.  "Can't wait until after we eat?"

"We'll have to wait a lot longer than that if I have to go get X-rayed for broken bones."

Abbie snuggled closer to him and rubbed his side.  "Awww."  She purred, her voice soothing him.  "Poor baby.  Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

Ed laughed and drew her closer.  She'd taken her glasses off.  He brushed her lush, dark brown hair away from her face as she leaned over him.  This was all so new to him, to both of them.  Neither was sure where it would all lead, but they couldn't ignore the force that pulled them to one another.

Abbie closed her eyes and kissed him.  It was a probing, sensual moment that made her want to linger for hours and days or even weeks.  She tugged gently at his bottom lip with her teeth and he moaned.  She'd never met another man who appreciated the intricacies of a kiss as much as he did.  He never rushed them; he relished them and this pleasured her immensely.

Ed broke away from the kiss because he knew if they continued they wouldn't stop there and he needed to talk to her.

"I have something to tell you."

Abbie stiffened and he felt her pull away from him a bit.  "That sounds ominous."

He chuckled and caressed her cheek.  "Sorry.  It wasn't meant to be."

She rolled off of him and propped herself up on her elbow.  "Okay.  So what's goin' on?"

"Well, it looks as though my dad's gonna be retiring sooner than I thought."

"How much sooner?"

"In a couple of weeks."

"Really?" Abbie's brow shot up quizzically.  "Was that him on the phone?"

"No, that was my mom.  She wanted to tell me about a retirement party his company is hosting for him."

"Oh." She replied and an uneasy feeling began to creep through her.  "That sounds nice."

"Um, yeah, I guess it does."  He returned, matching her tone.  'C'mon Green', he prodded himself.  It was now or never.  "Well, you see, the thing is my mom suggested I bring a date."

Abbie sat up.  "Uh huh."

Ed sat up.  "My sister's husband is out of town and she's bringing her best friend."

"Who has a thing for you?"  She wisely concluded.

"Elementary my dear Watson." He joked, trying to lighten the suddenly tense mood.  "Look, I know this is short notice but, well… how would you feel about going?"

Abbie stood up.  "Gee, Ed, I don't know."  She began to pace around the room.  "I mean, we've only been seeing each other for a little over a month."  She walked for what seemed like an eternity during which neither of them spoke. Finally she stopped and turned to look at him.  "Are we really ready to take that step?  Are you ready for me to meet your family?"

"Truthfully?" He asked and she nodded.  Ed shrugged.  "I don't know."  Her shoulders sank a little and she bit her lip.  "I'm not tryin' to hurt you, Abbie. I just wanna be honest."

"I know."  She told him, but his answer did sting a little.  She went back over and sat beside him on the bed.  "I mean, it's just a date?  It's not like we're sending out bridal registry announcements or anything. Right?"

"Right."

"Right." Abbie took a deep breath and exhaled, nodding her head vigorously.  "So sure, I'll go to your father's retirement party with you."

Ed looked at her and after a moment kissed her cheek and then her forehead before he put his arm around her.  They were content to sit there holding one another until the door bell rang, shattering the blissful quiet.

"That'll be dinner."  Abbie announced.

Ed hopped up from the bed, digging his wallet out of his back pocket.  "I'll get it."

Just as he reached the bedroom door, Abbie called to him.

"Ed?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated, her chin thrust forward defiantly but her brown eyes tender and vulnerable.  "Did you ask me 'cause you couldn't think of anybody else or because you really wanted to?"

Ed walked back to the bed and pulled Abbie to her feet.  He cupped her face in his hands and brought her mouth to his.  The kiss told her everything she needed to know.

"I couldn't think of anybody else because I can only think of you."  He brushed his thumb across her parted lips.  "And that's the truth."

Abbie smiled and they laughed when the door bell rang again more insistently.  They shared another quick kiss.

"Alright, enough of this mushy stuff."  She barked, but there was no bite to it.  "Go get my dinner."

Ed grinned the goofy grin she'd come to adore and ambled away to answer the door.  Abbie stood there, listening to him talking to the delivery man.  She tried to figure out where in the world this relationship, if it could even be called a relationship, was going.

She didn't have a clue.