"Baby, I'm home." Roger said entering his and Gina's apartment.
"How was your first day at work, my love?." Gina said greeting him wearing nothing but her bra and panties.
"Now this is what a man should come home to everyday." he said approaching her and pulling her into a long passionate kiss.
"Don't you want to get cleaned up first?" she asked as he picked her up kissing her neck.
"No, I want to take advantage of my beautiful, sexy fiance." he said putting her on the bed.
"We are meeting everyone at the Life Cafe at 7 to celebrate your new job." she said as he peeled off his clothes.
"Oh yeah, so I have time." he said as he repeatedly kissed her all over peeling off her bra and panties.
"So how was your day?" she asked tilting her head back.
"It was great, but nothing compared to how my night is turning out." he said reaching for the drawer of the nightstand.
"Mmm Roger." Gina moaned in pleasure as Roger entered her.
"I missed you today." he whispered to her as he kissed her face.
"I missed you too." she said grabbing his back. As they made love Gina took in the scent of Rogers sweat and engine oil. It reminded her of high school when they would make love after he got off of work and before his parents got home from work. They were stolen moments that they thrived on.
"We better be getting ready, Roger." Gina told him laying on his chest.
"Do we have to? I'm beat." he asked her running his fingers through her hair.
"Yes Roger, we do. It is to celebrate you getting the job. We can't stand them up." she told him leaning her chin on his chest.
"Oh, I'm working monday thru friday 9-5, unless I have band practice and then I can get off a little earlier. It's not gonna leave much time for us." he said looking down at her.
"Roger, you're not giving up the band. I won't let you. You have wanted this since before we even met. We'll just have to make the most of the time we do have together." she said leaning up to kiss him.
"Are you sure?" he asked caressing her bare shoulders.
"Yes Roger. I'm fine with it. Me and Mimi finished sanding the cabinet in the living room upstairs today." she told him sitting up.
"Really. How is she doing? Really?" he asked looking up at her.
"She seems to be doing great. I think she's taking to the woodworking pretty well, so she's getting better." she told him excited.
"Good. You do know it's because of you she's doing so great." he said caressing her arm.
"That's what everyone tells me. But I just think she is dedicating herself this time. I'm really proud of her. This morning when I got to the loft, she was laying on the couch wanting a hit, but that was the last she spoke of it all day. I brought her her coffee and we talked and then started on the cabinet and she was happy all day." Gina told him getting out of bed.
"That's great Baby." Roger said following her.
"She even told me that she is glad that we are together and that you have someone you love whole heartedly and who loves you just as much." she said running the shower in the bathroom.
"Oh, what else did she say?" he asked grabbing her from behind.
"Well, she said that you are different with me than you were with her. A good different." she said turning around pulling him into a kiss.
"Well we have known each other for 10 years. There are things about me that you know that no one else does. Things you bring out in me that no one else does." he said holding her close to him.
"I know. I don't remember a time when I didn't love you Roger. But I just want her to get better and be happy." she told him going into the shower.
"Me too Gina." he told her joining her.
"We better hurry. We're gonna be late." she told him smiling at him as she began to wash his hair.
"That's not my fault. You 're the one who had to come out in nothing but your bra and panties. You know I can't resist an offer like that." he said closing his eyes so she could rinse his hair.
"I just wanted to have a little private celebration just you and me." she said leaning up to kiss him as she switched places with him to put her head under the water so Roger could wash her hair.
"It's not a big deal you know. I mean, I have worked before." he said lathering the shampoo in her long blond hair.
"I know that. I just think we should celebrate." she said closing her eyes to rinse her hair.
"Well, I don't care what we do as long as I'm with you." he said kissing her neck as he leaned over her to get the soap.
"Roger, don't start this again. We're not prepared and we're gonna be late." she said tilting her head back to lean on his shoulder.
"I'm not. I just needed to get the soap." he said giggling as they washed each other before turning the water off and getting out.
"Rog, Gina, you guys almost ready?" Collins asked knocking on the door as they exited the bathroom.
"Give us 10 minutes." Roger shouted through the door as he followed Gina into the bedroom to get dressed.
"No prob man. We'll be upstairs waiting for you guys." he said as he turned around and started back upstairs.
"You better blow dry your hair, it's chilly tonight." Gina said slipping a clean pair of underwear on and tossing a pair to Roger.
"Yeah, I know. Next week's Valentine's day. I don't want to be too sick to take my Baby out." he said getting a clean pair of jeans out of the dresser as he came around to the other side of the bed.
"Oh that's right. What do you want to do?" she asked slipping her jeans on looking up at him.
"I don't know. I have to work that day, but I'll be home by 5:30 and I'm off the next day. Whatever you want to do is fine." he said tying his boots as he sat on the bed.
"Do you realize this is our first Valentine's day in 7 years?" she asked sitting next to him.
"I know. How about we go out to a nice restaurant? Just you and me." he asked looking over at her as he swept a strand of hair out of her face.
"Roger, we don't have to go anywhere fancy. I'm with you, I'm happy." she said leaning in to kiss him.
"I know. But we should do something really special this year. We're back together, we're living together, we're getting married, I have a job now so I can pay for stuff like that now." he said holding her face in his hands.
"Roger, you know I never cared about that stuff. We can just stay here and I can make us a romantic dinner and we could make love all night by candlelight." she said wrapping her arms around his neck.
"That sounds perfect." he said kissing her as Collins pounded on the door again.
"Come on guys, time's up. Maureen and Joanne are waiting." he yelled through the door as Gina got up grabbing a towel and going to the door.
"We're sorry Collins, we just got sidetracked. Roger and I just have to blow dry our hair and we'll meet you there." Gina said opening the door towel drying her hair.
"OK. We'll meet you there. Congratulations Rog." he said leaning into the apartment.
"Thanks man." he said going to the door as Gina ran into the bathroom and put the blow dryer on.
"I can't believe you got a job." he said coming into the apartment.
"I know. But I figured I was gonna be a married man soon, I should start being responsible." Roger told him as Collins laughed.
"Yeah, you're getting married. You're gonna have a wife to take care of soon." Collins told him patting him on the back.
"And you know what? I can't wait." Roger said smiling as he looked in the direction of the bathroom.
"I know it man. I better go. Mark and Mimi are waiting upstairs for me. We'll see you at the Cafe." he said as he left.
"OK man. We'll be there in a bit." Roger said before shutting the door.
"Your turn sweetie." Gina said patting Roger's butt as she came out of the bathroom.
"Thanks Baby. We're gonna meet everyone there." he said wrapping his arms around her.
"OK sweetie." she said kissing him as he went into the bathroom to dry his hair.
"Roger, have you seen my locket? I put it on your nightstand last night and when I went to get it this morning, it was gone." Gina shouted sitting on the bed.
"Oh yeah, I moved it. Here." he said taking it out of his jacket pocket as he brushed his hair coming out of the bathroom.
"Why was it in your jacket?" she asked as she put it on.
"Because I did this." he said opening it and showing it to her. It had a picture of them when they started dating in high school and a picture Mark had taken in the Life Cafe the night they got back together.
"Oh my God, Roger, this is great. When did you have time to do this?" she asked looking down at his with tears in her eyes.
"I gave it to Mark this morning and he did it this afternoon and then he met me downstairs when I got home from work and gave it back to me." he said putting his arms around her waist.
"I love it. But what did you do with the picture from our third anniversary?" she asked wrapping her arms around Roger.
"Mark is putting together a scrap book for us. I gave him some boxes of pictures you had in the bottom of your nightstand and he has my box of pictures." he said leaning down to kiss her.
"That is so nice. I can't wait to see it. Now we really have to go." she said smiling up at him as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"OK Baby." he said picking up his jacket as Gina put hers on.
"It's about time you guys got here." Maureen complained standing up to greet them at the door.
"Sorry Maureen. We were a little busy." Gina apologized smiling up at Roger.
"Yeah, yeah you two. Come on over. We have some celebrating to do." Mimi said laughing as she stood up to give Gina a hug hello.
"So Mimi, how are you feeling?" Roger said after Mimi let go of Gina.
"I'm great Roger. Thanks to Gina." Mimi answered smiling up at him.
"Yeah, I got some girl here, don't I?" Roger said with his arm around Gina's waist.
"Yeah you do. She's been amazing Roger. I mean the way she's gotten me through my withdrawals. She's been a real friend to me." Mimi said looking at Gina.
"Good, I'm glad you're doing so well. Why don't we sit down?" Roger smiled as they went to the table.
"So Roger got a job. I never thought I'd see the day." Maureen said laughing as she sat next to Joanne.
"Yeah, well I'm gonna be a married man soon. I need to support my wife." he said taking his jacket off as he leaned over to Gina.
"We support each other Roger." she said leaning in to him.
"You know what I mean." Roger said smiling at her.
"OK, OK you two. You're so in love it's sickening." Mimi joked smiling at them.
"Sorry Mimi." Gina said as Roger put his arm around her and pulled her into him.
"So Roger, where are you working?" Collins asked taking a sip of stoli.
"At a garage on 2nd Ave and 61th St." he told him picking up his beer.
"I didn't know you were a mechanic Roger." Joanne said caressing Maureens hand.
"Yeah, I worked in a garage back home when I was in high school." he answered looking at Gina.
"Yeah, he built me a car when I got my drivers license." Gina told them smiling.
"You're kidding. That's so sweet Roger." Mimi said picking up her glass of water.
"Yeah, I did it after school and on the weekends. I started when she got her permit and just tried to get it done by the time she got her license. I didn't finish it right on time, but I gave it to her a week later." Roger said smiling at the memory.
"Roger why won't you tell me where we're going?" a 16 year old Gina whined sitting in the passenger seat of his car.
"Because it would be a lousy surprise if I told you." 17 year old Roger said driving down the street.
"Why are we going to your job?" she asked as he pulled in to the lot of the garage he worked at.
"You'll see." he said pulling up to a pink Ford Mustang with red hearts painted on the hood. There was an R in one heart and a G in the other one.
"What is that?" she asked as they got out of his car and approached the mustang.
"It's your car." he said handing her the keys before opening the door for her.
"My what?" she asked looking at him confused.
"Your car. I built it and painted it myself just for you." Roger said watching her get in the driver's seat.
"Roger, I can't believe you did this. You built me a car?" she asked as he knelt down beside the car.
"Yeah, do you like it?" he asked as she smiled at him.
"I love it Roger. But you shouldn't have done this." she told him looking down at him.
"Why not, you just got your license. You're gonna need a ride around town. Plus just think, we have another back seat to christen. And it matches my car, sort of." he said leaning up to kiss her, but she was crying. "What's the matter Baby?" he asked holding her face in his hands.
"Roger, my parents aren't gonna let me keep this. You know how they feel about you. They want us to break up." she said blinking tears.
"Baby, it's OK. My dad registered it and put it on our insurance. It's your car Gina. I worked so hard on it because I want you to have it. I love you. See, it's pink and I even painted hearts on the hood. See I put an R and a G in them too." he said pointing out the hearts on the hood.
"Roger, it's incredible. Really. I love it. It's the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. But my parents..." she said looking at him as he spun her around in the leather seat.
"Fuck your parents. This isn't their gift. It's yours. I made it for you. If you want to park it by my house, my dad said it would be OK. But he said he was gonna call your dad and see if he could square it away with him. So it's your car no matter what they say." he said kissing her.
"Do you think your dad could get them to let me keep it?" she asked as he wiped her tears away with his thumb.
"You know how my dad could be. He could talk an eskimo into buying ice." Roger said laughing.
"OK cool. I want to drive this car forever. I love it so much." she told him wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for another kiss.
"Wanna take her for a spin?" he asked smiling at her.
"Yeah, I do. I want everyone to see what you did for me." she said as he got up and got in on the other side.
"Where did you guys go?" Mark asked holding up his camera as Gina and Roger looked at each other and laughed as they embraced.
"Nowhere, just another time and place." she told him laughing as she leaned in to Roger who kissed her head.
"What kind of car was it?" Mimi asked looking over at them.
"It was a 76 Ford Mustang Fastback. Like mine." Roger told her smiling at the thought of the car.
"You guys had matching cars? That is too cute. What color was it?" Maureen asked as Gina smiled.
"It was specially made. He painted it pink and put two red hearts on the hood. One had an R in pink and one had a G in pink. It's the most amazing car." she said with a tear in her eyes.
"What ever happened to that car?" Roger asked looking at Gina.
"It's in a storage unit in Albany." she said happily.
"You still have it?" he asked stunned at her response.
"Of course I do. Roger, I put it there when we broke up." she said wiping her eyes.
"Are you kidding?" he asked smiling.
"No I'm not. It still looks the same too." she said as Roger just looked at her. "Roger, I told you, I saved everything you ever gave me." she said laughing as she caressed his face.
"Now that's just too damn cute." Collins said as the others looked on.
"Yeah, well I'm sentimental. Sue me." she said as Roger leaned in to kiss her.
"Can we go get it?" he asked holding her face in his hands.
"Yeah, if we get a ride up there. And I have to register it and insure it." she said smiling at him.
"I can borrow my dad's car and we can go this weekend to get it." Joanne said wiping a tear from her eye.
"Really?" Roger asked looking back at Joanne.
"Yeah, why not. It'll be fun. It's only 3 and a half hours out of the city. We can make a road trip of it." she said smiling at the twinkle in Roger's eye.
"Thanks Jo. I wanna see how our baby is doing." he told her caressing Gina's hair.
"Me too. I haven't seen her since I left to come here." she said reaching for Roger's hand.
"It is so sweet that you still have the car Roger built for you when you were 16." Mimi said with tears in her eyes.
"I just couldn't get rid of it after we broke up and Roger left. I felt like it was a part of me and Roger and I just couldn't bear the thought of selling it." Gina said looking over to her.
"If I wasn't convinced already that you two were meant for each other, I would be after hearing that." Mimi said wiping her eyes.
"It was nothing really. I mean my boss gave me all the parts second hand and all I had to do was go to the junk yard and get a junker. It took me 6 months to do it, but I did it." Roger said as Mark filmed everything.
"Close on Roger Davis and Gina Darrien- soon to be Davis. Roger just got a real job and we just found out that Roger is an incredible romantic." he narrated as everyone laughed except Roger. He flipped Mark off, as usual. "And the Roger we all know and love just reared his rude head." he continued as everyone laughed.