CHAPTER 11
Seth and Shannon were sitting in their living room just finishing up a movie. They had finished off their bowls of neopolitan ice cream and Shannon was wrapped in a blanket with Seth's arms cradled around her. It was a cool fall night and they were being kept warm by blankets and a fire going in the fireplace.
"Oh, Shannon. I love nights like this. Just watching a movie, eating ice cream, and spending time with my lovely Austrailan lady."
"I love this too. Spending these wonderful nights with my favorite American man."
Seth snuggle closer to his wife and kissed the top of her head. "You know I love you, right?"
"Of course. But do you know that I love you?"
"Without a shadow of a doubt."
"How do you think Dean and Kayla's night went tonight?"
"I hope it went okay."
"Kayla seemed a little nervous when she talked to me earlier on the phone. I told her it was just butterflies in her stomach. It's natural."
"I always thought they made a cute couple growing up. Seeing them at the fair the other night...it got me wondering if there was anything there that could possibly respark their relationship."
"You know, I thought the same thing. They are so good together."
"I agree."
Shannon looked up into her husband's eyes. "And so are we."
"I agree infinity."
They shared a soft peck on the lips, which grew into a more loving passionate kiss. After the kissing ceased, she rested her head on his shoulder and yawned.
"Uh-oh," Seth said. "Don't get tired on me now."
"Oh, I've had a long day. Running errands all day, going to the store. It takes a toll on little ol' me."
"Well, why don't you go on upstairs and go to bed?"
"I have to clean up these bowls first and fold up these blankets..."
"You forget you have a husband that can do this stuff for you cause he loves you so much."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Now get your butt upstairs, close your eyes, and go to sleep."
Shannon smiled up at Seth. "Alright. Fine."
Shannon removed the blanket from her body and sat it to her right on the couch before rising to her feet. She brought her arms up to the air to stretch and made her way to the stairway.
"Good night, Seth."
"Good night, babe."
She began to walk the steps to the second floor of their house to the bedroom. She stopped at the 5th step and turned.
"I could help clean up you know."
"You go on ahead. I'll get this cleaned up. Go on up to bed."
"Now that I think of it, I want you to come to bed with me. That stuff can wait till tomorrow. It won't go anywhere."
"I'll get this taken care of and I'll be right up there with you."
"Now, when I said, 'I want you to come to bed with me'...I didn't mean to sleep."
Seth stopped folding the blanket he had in his hands and looked up at his wife. She smiled down at him and gave him a little wink before taking the rest of the steps to the bedroom. Seth thought for a moment, then smirked. He rapidly dropped the blanket on the couch.
"She's right. This can wait till tomorrow."
-The next afternoon found Kayla, Seth, and Shannon sitting in their kitchen, having a nice conversation while sipping on hot cocoa.
"So, how did last night go with Dean," Shannon asked her friend.
"It went really well. We had dinner, talked and..."Kayla paused.
"And..." Seth pried.
"And then..."Kayla took a sip of her hot cocoa to calm her nerves. "We kissed."
"Whoa!" Seth exclaimed happily.
"Seriously," Shannon asked.
"Seriously, Shannon."
"How did it feel?"
"Like...magic. Like nothing ever changed. He asked me to stay the night with him, so I did."
"Wow."
Seth began to ask. "Did you guys by chance..."
"What? No! Not that!"
"Hey, just curious."
"No. We didn't. He just told me he didn't want to be alone and I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't leave him. We went to sleep and I woke up in his arms. We talked a little more this morning on trying our relationship again and I said yes."
"So, I guess it's safe to say that you two are back together again," Shannon wondered.
"Very safe to say."
Shannon reached forward and patted her friend's hand. "That's great, Kayla. We're both happy for you."
"Very happy for you," Seth added.
"Thank you. So, are you guys still up or a visit to my 3rd and 4th grade class on Monday?"
"Yeah," Seth answered. "We'd be glad to come by and see the kids. Right, my Aussie Girl?"
"Right, my American Male."
"That's great. And FYI, I might have one more joining you guys on Monday too."