Amy was waiting for him on the porch when he arrived the next morning. He stepped up on the porch and brushed the water off his jacket. It was pouring rain.

"The good news is I finished my Poli-Sci paper at 2 am," Maggie's blonde room mate said as she slipped into a yellow rain coat out on the porch. "The bad news is that she was up at 3 am cleaning and vacuuming and doing laundry. The really, really good news is that I have 2 hours until my class so I am out of here to catch a nap at the library before then." She flipped a long blonde braid over her shoulder and pulled up the hood of her rain jacket.

"Good luck, Jimmy," she called back as she ran out into the rain toward the bus stop at the corner. He nodded and waited a moment before opening the door.

Maggie was in the kitchen blissfully unaware of his presence as she stood at stove stirring something in a pan. He watched her for a moment. She was still in his old tee shirt that reached well down her shapely calves. She had a pair of navy knees socks pulled all the way up and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers on her feet. Her long hair had been pulled up into a pony tail and held in place with a hair clip. The sleeves of the tee shirt were rolled up and he could see that she had been sweating by the dampness at the back of her neck.

"Ack! Jimmy!" she jumped as she turned around and then fell back against the stove. "I didn't know you were standing there! Come on in and sit down. I have breakfast all ready for you and there are muffins and I am making a soup for dinner tonight. I like it when it cooks all day long, don't you? Gina had an early class but Amy just left. Did you see her?" She smiled as he nodded. She carried the pan from the stove to the table as he watched.

"Don't just stand there," she grinned. "Come and get it!" He was mesmerized by the sassy look in her brown eyes and the happy smile that split her round face. He didn't realize how worried he had been. He advanced toward her but instead of sitting at the table he eased his arms around her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. She giggled.

"I'm all sweaty…" she sighed as her arms circled his neck.

"Don't care…." he said as their kiss deepened. His hands undid the clip at the back of her head and her hair fell down around his hands. He buried his lips against the curve of her neck. She laughed as his hands went down under the curve of her buttocks and he lifted her upwards. Her legs encircled his waist and he carried her through the kitchen door, the living room and the hall toward her bedroom.

It wasn't until he was alone in her bed that he suddenly realized that he hadn't used the condoms he carried in his wallet. It had been fast and furious and powerful and tender and sweet and…… He lay on his stomach and stared out the open curtains at the rain that was falling against the window panes. Shit.

"April showers bring May flowers….." she said brightly as she climbed onto the bed with the plate of muffins from the kitchen table. He grinned and rolled over. He looked up at her and tucked a shower dampened strand of hair behind her ear as she lifted a banana nut muffin to his lips. She stretched out on top of the quilt next to him and pressed her softly full naked body against his. She took another bite of the muffin.

"I want to stay here forever," she said. "Just like this." He laughed and almost choked on the mouthful he was chewing.

"It would get kind of cold in the winter, don't you think?" he asked her. "And how would we live with no paychecks?" Maggie traced his eyebrows and his nose and his lips with her finger. She pressed an urgent kiss under his jaw line and down his throat. She raked her sharp nails through the hair on his chest. His eyes widened a bit.

"Damn…Maggie…." he groaned. She giggled and kept moving.

"What….about….the ….forever part…..though?" she asked as she pressed kisses down his torso. "You and me?"

"Always…." he breathed and dragged her up his chest again. She positioned herself on top and straddled him as she sat up. His eyes closed as he savored the feel of her body on his.

"Always what?" she asked pointedly.

"You and me….." he said. "Together forever…married and all that stuff." Maggie stopped suddenly and stared down at him. Jim's eyes opened with a start. Had he really said that? He stared up at her and then a smile slowly spread across his face. Yes. He had said it. And he meant it. It hit him how much he meant it. His hands went up to her shoulders and he drew her slowly down to his chest and rolled them over till his face was above her.

"You will marry me, right?" he asked. "Forever and ever kind of married?" Her brown eyes filled with tears and she took a deep breath.

"Don't ever leave me, Jimmy," she said pleaded quietly. "Please? Promise me that you won't ever leave me." He suppressed a smile and bent his lips slowly to her's.

"Never, Maggie," he said softly. "Never….."

Outside the rain continued to pelt the window pane and to soak the already saturated ground. April showers bring May flowers………