Spencer walked down the stairs to find Maggie waltzing with an imaginary partner in her living room still singing at the very top of her lungs.
"I only know when heeee…began to dance with meeeee….I could have daaaanced, daaaanced, daaaanced alllll niiiiiiight!"
Without ever letting on that she had noticed him there she twirled over to Spencer, grabbed his hands, spun him around and then planted a kiss firmly on his lips.
"Good morning, Sweet Prince!"
"Is it still morning?"
"Barely. You slept well then?"
"Except for when Browning finally decided to approve of me."
Maggie giggled. It was like music. From the kitchen there was the beeping of a timer going off. Maggie formally bowed to him.
"Please excuse me sir."
She then ran off to the kitchen. Spencer didn't know if he should follow but he wanted to so he did. As he approached the door he heard a small crash.
"Son of a goddamned, motherfucking bitch!"
He peeked into the room to see Maggie shaking her hand violently.
"Maggie, are you okay?"
"Did you know that ovens make things hot? I sometimes forget that piece of trivia myself."
"Let me see. I am a doctor you know."
Maggie reluctantly held out her hand to him and Spencer could see the redness of the minor burns. Without letting go of her hand, he led her to the sink, turned on the cold water and held her hand under the faucet. After a moment or two he turned off the water and kissed her fingers gently before he pressed a towel to them.
"All better?"
"Yes, my prince."
"So what was the aim here before the ability of metal to conduct heat got the better of you"
"To get that loaf of bread on the stovetop out of its pan and onto that cooling rack there."
Spencer quickly accomplished the feat and turned back to face Maggie.
"What else can I do for my fair maiden today?"
"Kiss me."
Spencer smiled and walked over to her. She looped her arms around his neck and looked up at him with those smiling green eyes. He bent his head to her and his pulse quickened as he felt the warmth of her lips against his. He was momentarily surprised when her lips parted and he felt her tongue prodding his own to open as well. He gladly acquiesced and held her more tightly against him. He could hear her breath becoming more rapid as he kissed her. When their lips separated she sighed sweetly and rested her head against his chest.
"Your heartbeat is very soothing."
Spencer wasn't sure if this was the sort of statement that one was expected to respond to so he kept quiet and just held her. When he became certain that she had fallen asleep standing up, she lifted her head and spoke.
"I'm starving, you?"
Spencer suddenly realized he was indeed very hungry and nodded at her. Maggie pulled away and bustled around the kitchen. Before he knew it he was seated at the kitchen table looking at a steaming bowl of soup and a thick slice of the still warm bread.
"How long have you been awake, anyway?"
"Long enough."
"Homemade bread and homemade soup?"
"I made the soup, yes, but not today. I always have some in the freezer. I live alone, you know."
"It's wonderful."
"Thank you," she beamed.
Once lunch was finished and the dishes were in the sink, the two sat on the porch swing. Spencer was very quiet.
"You seem like a man with something on his mind. Is it something you can talk about?"
Spencer took a deep breath not sure how to begin.
"Maggie, when Browning woke me earlier, you mumbled something in your sleep. It sounded like 'love you.'"
Maggie opened her mouth to speak but Spencer kept going, fearful of losing his nerve.
"At first I was confused and didn't know what to do. I still don't know for sure if that's what you said or if you do feel lat way about me. But it doesn't matter because it made me think about what I feel. I am in love with you. 'I love thee to the level of everyday's most quiet need, by sun and candle light.'"
There was silence for a moment and Spencer feared that he had horribly and inexorably damaged this budding relationship. Then Maggie smiled brightly and threw her arms around him.
"'I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints—I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life!' Oh Spencer! I don't remember saying anything but I wanted to tell you that I love you and I was just too chicken to do it."
"I'm sorry those weren't my own words. I'm not that eloquent."
"Never apologize for quoting Lizzie. That woman knew how to love."
"Indeed she did."
Maggie shifted to lean her back against Spencer with her feet draped over the arm of the swing. His arms were lazily wrapped around her and he kissed the top of her head. And this is how they sat wordless until the blue of the daytime sky became streaked with reds and purples and the sun finally sank below the horizon.