Part 6.5 - The Day After Forever
At exactly six o'clock Della descended the stairs. She detected a fire in the hearth, its glow throwing comforting warmth throughout the entire lower level of the house. Passing the dining room on her way to the kitchen, she saw that the table had already been set with china and crystal and the room lit by a dozen candles. The smells emanating from the kitchen were marvelous, and Della excitedly made her way to where Perry was.
He stood at the stove, concentrating on whatever it was in the pot on the burner. When her perfume wafted to his nose, he looked up and blinked in stunned surprise at the woman standing in the doorway. She was wearing one of the negligees they had purchased on the way to Carmel, a soft lilac gown of silk and lace with a wide sash at the waist and long sleeves just a shade darker than the gown. The robe had bell sleeves and a plunging neckline that displayed the swell of her breasts to advantage and nearly made him groan. She had tossed her curls loosely and applied make-up sparsely on her flawless face. Around her neck was the diamond heart necklace he had given her a week after they had become lovers.
She was exquisite. His knees shook and his heart pounded wildly in his chest. He couldn't speak, so struck by her that all he could do was stare. Then he forced his feet to move and he approached Della slowly, not quite sure if she were real or imagined.
He stood in front of her and placed his hands at her waist, but did not pull her close. Instead, he continued to stare into her warm hazel eyes, and when he spoke it was so softly that Della had to strain to hear his words.
"Della, my God. You look like an angel. If I didn't know better, I would swear you haven't been sick. Look at you. Look how beautiful you are."
She looked away briefly. "Thank you, darling. I'm glad you approve, since you picked out this gown. It's for you – all for you. You said tonight would be special for me, so I decided I would do something to make it special for you, too."
"You certainly have made it special." He bent and teased her lips tenderly, pulling back before the kiss could get out of hand. "Well, that was a delicious appetizer, but I'm still hungry."
She laughed. "It smells divine in here. What are we having?"
His eyes fairly danced with delight. "Racamoni and cheese." He kissed her again. "When I said I was hungry, why would you immediately assume I meant for food?"
She laughed again. "Because I'm starving."
"I believe that's the first time since coming home from the hospital you've said that. And you usually say it about three times a day."
"Did you make hot dogs and green beans to go along with the racamoni?" she asked, choosing to ignore his comment.
He looked offended. "For a special night such as this? I'll have you know I prepared Polish sausage and asparagus to accompany the racamoni."
Della couldn't stop laughing.
"The racamoni needs another ten minutes or so to get crunchy on top how you like it. Would Milady care to dance?"
"I would love to dance, Sir Knight."
Perry took her hand, kissed it, and swept his arm in front of him. "Lead the way to the dance floor, my dear."
Della watched Perry select a record and place it on the turntable, her heart full. He was so big and gentle and familiar and she loved him desperately. When he finished fiddling with the stereo he walked back to her and took her in his arms, and as the music began, he led her slowly around the room to the romantic voice of Frank Sinatra.
All day tomorrow
I'll be whispering your name
And the day after forever
I know I'll do the same
Maytime or winter
I won't let you out of sight
And the day after forever
We'll talk about tonight
Your laughter is a melody
That I'll remember long
It plays upon my heart strings
It's my favorite song
All through a lifetime
I'll be loving you and then
On the day after forever
I'll just begin again.
Perry felt Della begin to tremble in his arms and a tiny whimper escaped her. Pulling back to look at her, he saw tears in her eyes. "Baby, what's the matter?"
She wiped at the tears with a shaky hand. "Perry, can we sit down for a minute? I'm ready to talk to you now."
"Of course we can. Come over here with me." He sat down on the blue sofa and tried to pull her into his lap, but she sat down next to him instead. Turning to face him, he saw how her eyes had gone from tearful to serious, and he met them with a questioning stare.
She fidgeted as Perry held her hand patiently, and her heart nearly did burst. "Perry, I…" how to begin this?
"Della, just start wherever you can and take your time. I'm listening"
He sometimes accused her of reading his mind, and now she truly believed he had read hers. She looked at him, sitting next to her, the man she loved with her whole being, the man who was everything to her. The time had come. She had to tell him herself about Gregg because she owed it to him – owed it to them as a couple to tell him why she had kept such a secret.
"I talked with Kathy," she said, and stopped.
"I know. I horned in on your girl talk today"
She shook her head. "No, I've had two talks with Kathy. One in the hospital and one here. I – I'm ashamed to say I wasn't very nice to her either time. I told her I considered her telling you about Gregg a betrayal because I had never intended to tell you about him."
He stroked her fingers lightly. "I see," he said dully.
"But I've been thinking a lot about it since she left this afternoon," she continued in a rush. "I had put that time in my life away, buried it deep within myself where only I knew about it. I moved out here with Aunt Mae and tried to find a life I could tolerate, because happiness seemed like something I wasn't destined for. I dated, quite a bit, actually, but none of those men meant much to me. Then I met you on that terrace and I realized that I could be happy. I was so sad when I thought I'd never see you again, but fate brought us together and that's when I knew I had only been pretending to live since Gregg's death. You changed me, darling. You changed my life and made me happy and have given me things I never thought I would have. You are an amazing man, Perry Mason, and I never meant to hurt you by not telling you about Gregg. I thought that by not telling you I was keeping him alive and honoring his love for me. I made promises to him and loving you meant I was breaking those promises, so I couldn't tell you."
She paused and he slid his hand over her face, then held her chin in the palm of his hand. She circled his pinkie with her fingers and kissed his palm.
"I'm making a terrible mess of this," she said ruefully.
"No you're not. I understand perfectly what you're saying."
She blinked furiously at tears that threatened once more. "I love you in a way I never loved Gregg. It's so different from what I felt then. Maybe it's because I'm older or maybe because it's the way you love me, the way you allow me to love you on my terms. You never ask me for anything I'm not able to give…" she held up her hand with a little smile as he opened his mouth to say something. "Except for marriage," she amended. "Loving you has been a two-edged sword. It meant I was betraying Gregg and everything I promised him, but at the same time I couldn't deny what I felt for you and how you loved me so completely. Loving you meant I had to keep Gregg buried, in my heart and in my mind, or I would go insane."
His hand slid behind her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. She nearly melted into his arms, but resisted. There was so much more to tell him. She took his hand from her face and held it between hers.
"There's something else, Perry. Something I didn't want to admit even to myself, but now I have to. I was scared."
"Scared of what, baby?"
"I was scared that if I told you about Gregg that – that you wouldn't…understand and you'd be angry and then you'd leave. You'd leave me just like…" she put her head down, unable to go on.
Perry felt a wealth of emotions when it came to Della. He loved her, desired her, cherished her, reveled in her. She could upset him and frustrate him to distraction, but there was no anger. He could never be angry with her. His heart broke for everything she'd endured at such a tender age, how her dreams had ended so tragically. He now knew for certain from whence her dreams stemmed, and hoped that from this night forward she would no longer suffer from them.
He extricated his hands from hers and cradled her face in them, holding her gaze steady with his. "Della, I'm sorry you had those terrible losses at such a young age. I don't even want to think about the pain you must have felt. I love you, precious girl. I love you with all that I am and I want you to be happy. That's it. That's all I care about. I still don't completely understand why you didn't trust me enough to talk about Gregg, but that's okay, and I'm not angry about it. And I don't expect you to forget him just because he's gone. He was a very important part of your life and you should keep those memories. But Della, they shouldn't consume you. Just let them be what they are: beautiful memories of a man you loved. No more guilt, angel, and no more fear of anyone leaving you. I'm here to stay – just like the song said, until the day after forever."
"You deserve so much more than I've given you," she whispered. "I can't tell you how much I love you."
"Nonsense, darling. And for the record, you show how much you love me all the time, in a million ways every day. I love you too." He pressed warm lips to hers, a tender, sweet kiss that very plainly told Della exactly how he felt.
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The asparagus was delightful, the 'racamoni' divine, and Della was full to the gills. Perry was inordinately pleased that she had eaten two helpings of pasta, which showed she was almost back to being herself. And he was pretty sure their talk tonight had made her feel even better. They were finishing their wine and Perry was contemplating getting up to start on the special dessert he'd planned when Della abruptly stood and plopped herself down in his lap. She put her arms around his neck and began to kiss him – on his cheeks, his eyes, behind his ears, under his chin, and finally – finally! – his lips. She then leaned back and her eyes smoldered with desire.
"What are you doing, baby?"
"I must not be doing it very well if you have to ask," she teased. "I'm thanking you for that perfectly scrumptious dinner." Her voice was low and throaty, with hardly a trace of congestion.
"You're welcome, honey, but it's not over yet. There's still dessert."
"I know. I thought I'd take care of dessert tonight."
"Do you want to wait a while? Are you full?"
"I'm full, but I don't want to wait for dessert – at least not the dessert you have in mind."
He smiled at her with amused indulgence. "You're driving me nuts."
"That's my plan, darling."
"What am I going to do with you?"
Her lips brushed his once more and then she pulled away to look at him with a mixture of devilish mischievousness and angelic innocence in her eyes. "Really, Perry, do I have to tell you?"
With a low growl, Perry stood with her in his arms and carried her through the dining room and up the stairs to their bedroom. Depositing her on the bed, he stood back and took in every beautiful inch of her before climbing up next to her and laying her down gently. His lips caressed the soft skin of her neck and traveled over her collar bone while his hands brushed tender breasts, cupping them almost reverently. She moaned and he swallowed the sound with a deep kiss. Suddenly he stopped and propped himself up on his elbow staring down at her.
The last time they had made love in this bed was the night he'd rushed her to the hospital and all the memories of that night came flooding back, overloading his passion-fogged mind. He started to roll away from her, but she held onto him tightly.
"It's all right, darling," she said softly. "I'm fine. I'm fine and I want you. Don't you want me?"
Perry's response was a cross between a moan and a strangled cry. He couldn't resist her. In one swift movement he turned his large, strong body so that Della was beneath him.
She slid her arms around his neck and he lowered his lips to meet hers. Her kiss was honest and searching, so filled with love that he nearly stopped breathing. He pulled away and stared at her again. He would never tire of looking at her like this, eyes alight with a depth of feeling he now knew was his alone, atremble with her need for him. His hands were steady and sure as they removed her robe and gown, her soft skin almost tingling, making her sigh. When she was naked and vulnerable, he sat up and began to undress. Her eyes were enormous as she watched him, loving the strength and breadth of him, of his absolute power over her. Before the last garment hit the floor, he again covered her body with his and hungry lips began to explore every trembling inch of her. Della responded with a bawdy freedom, letting him know all of her sensual desires, her small hands wondrously bold as they touched him. He wanted nothing more than to please her, to fulfill her needs as they dove deeper into their own private world. His hands and mouth took her to places she never knew existed, even with him. She moaned and writhed beneath him in delicious ecstasy and when he took her, she cried out with a pleasure so pure he gasped. Perry loved her with a gentleness that only she could bring out in him, and nothing but what their sensitized bodies told them mattered. Slowly and with infinite tenderness, he showed Della how much she meant to him.
Neither of the lovers heard the car pull up in the driveway, or the front door opening, or the sound of women's heels on the hardwood floor below them.
Not fifteen seconds after entering the house, Mae Kirby turned quickly to her sister, pushing her back out the door. In an urgent voice and with a slight blush creeping across her cheeks, she said, "Alice, we have to go out again this minute. I simply must have a hot fudge sundae from that darling little ice cream parlor we saw this afternoon."