May I Take Your Coat, Ma'am?

written by Gina

"Jamie? I'm hooome!" Cathy chimed in a sing-songy voice, yanking her bag through the closing door and snapping it shut with her elbow. The lights were off and the only light came from the moon shining in through the windows, lavender curtains pulled open and tied neatly. Cathy grinned quizzically – she doubted that Jamie used his nights off to buy nice curtains.

"Jamie?" she called again, stepping into the living room and setting her stuff down. Just as she did so, she heard a few ticking noises coming from the kitchen, followed by a smooth string of orchestral music, drifting into the living room. She chuckled in disbelief, checking over her shoulder. "Jamie, what's goin' on?"

"Good evening, miss."

Cathy turned back around, facing the entrance to the kitchen where Jamie adjusted the pen clipped to the apron around his waist. He fixed the cuffs of his dress shirt, smiling politely and folding his hands behind his back. Cathy laughed again, leaning over a little and placing her hands on her hips. She pointed in the general direction of the music, which had picked up when Jamie smiled at her, now playing a soft chorus of saxophones. "What's all this then?" she giggled.

Jamie looked over his shoulder confusedly, and turned back with a little frown. "Why, it's a restaurant, o' course." He smiled again. He gave a small bow in her direction and she laughed again. "May I take your coat, ma'am?"

Cathy laughed as he walked quickly back and forth about the kitchen and dining room. He had set up a matching lavender table cloth on their table, complete with their fine china dishes, shiny engraved cutlery, a folded napkin and, of course, a red rose in a small vase in the middle of the table. Cathy teased him as he set down the glass of water, and he pretended not to notice, pivoting pretentiously like a waiter in a fine restaurant.

Cathy examined the silver spoon, giggling. "We got these as wedding gifts! Thought we'd never use them," she called to Jamie just as he came in carrying a pale yellow scented candle and lighter.

"Candle," he said, placing it to the left of her, lighting it. "More romantic." He winked, flouncing back to the kitchen. Cathy pinched his bum cheekily as he went by, sticking her tongue out after him and taking a sip of her water. When he came back he had his chin raised like a show-dog, holding a laminated piece of paper. "The menu."

Cathy stared at him for a moment as he reached into his apron and took out a blue pen with a dinosaur on it, pretending to flip to a new page in a pad of paper. He licked the tip and watched her expectantly.

"I'm sorry, do you need more time?"

Cathy nearly howled with laughter, and as she calmed herself down, she could see a hint of a smile on his mouth. He raised his eyebrows, leaning more towards her as if he were listening intently. Cathy scanned the "menu", scribbled in Jamie's familiar print – he even wrote the name of his "restaurant" at the bottom, surrounded by a (rather impressive) drawing of a rose.

"If I may," he cleared his throat politely, pointing to a small section at the bottom. "Our specials this evening."

She giggled at her husband as he scratched the back of his ear with the pen. "Alright." Cathy read the little names of the dishes, accompanied by a little price. "What about chicken, then?"

Jamie glanced up from the pad of paper he was holding and leaned down. "Read the whole thing," he whispered, straightening up again and clearing his throat once more.

Cathy stuck her tongue to her cheek and smiled, reading the name and description. Garlic chicken on a bed of rice with your choice of broccoli or carrots. She grinned up at him and placed her menu down. "I think I'll take the chicken, then."

Jamie went to write it down before looking back at her. She looked at him questioningly, and he flitted his eyes down to the menu and then back to her. She sighed and turned back to it, shaking her head. She wanted him to say the full thing. She read the name of the dish over the details, smiling to herself.

"I'll take Cathy's Choice, with broccoli, please."

Jamie looked down at his paper and then glanced apologetically back at Cathy as he sucked in a breath through his teeth, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I dread to inform you that we are all out of the chicken."

Cathy blinked at him, raising her eyebrows. "Okay then…" She looked back at the menu. "Steak?" Jamie cleared his throat again and she rolled her eyes, looking back down at the name. She grinned again. "I mean, Matthew's Top Sirloin. Sounds a lot fancier than it probably is." She mirrored his previous wink.

Jamie huffed, shaking his head a little. "We are all out of the steak, as well."

Cathy groaned teasingly. "Pasta then?" – She rolled her eyes again at the look Jamie gave her, looking down at the writing – "I mean, Angie's…Pascetti?" She looked up at him with a playful grin and laughed. "Really?"

"She likes her pascetti…" Jamie mumbled, in his baby-voice, of course, and scribbled (probably a tic-tac-toe board) on his paper. "And we're out."

Cathy gave him a sarcastic look. "Bread and butter."

"Out."

"Then what do you have this evening?"

Jamie looked up to the ceiling in mock contemplation. He smiled a little, clicking the pen and pressing it to the page. "Fresh chips and a bottle of wine."

Cathy grinned, holding her menu up to him, grateful to finally get something to eat. "That'll have to do, then!"

Jamie scratched something on his pad of paper – which she just realized had a cartoon frog surrounded by flowers on the cover – and accepted her menu, smiling politely and stiffly walking to the kitchen. Cathy laughed, finishing her water and covering her mouth as he returned. He inched a bit sheepishly into the room, fiddling with the pen. "Erm…"

Cathy tilted her head at him. "Yes?"

Jamie looked down at his polished shoes and then back at her. "I'm sorry, miss, it would seem we are out of the wine."

Cathy stared at him for a second before chuckling to herself. Her chuckle slowly grew into a laugh and she held onto the table to balance herself. Jamie soon started laughing with her, dropping the waiter act and walking over to kiss her forehead. She cupped his face in her hands and brought him down to kiss her properly. They separated, calming down and holding each other. Cathy smoothed her skirt, shaking her head, and Jamie ran a hand through his hair, messing up the nicely combed do.

Then Cathy scratched her cheek and smiled at him. "Soda's good."

Jamie grinned back at her, still crouched next to her, and kissed her nose lightly. "Will do, ma'am."

Jamie distributed the chips to her plate out of a Styrofoam container, pouring some soda pop into a wine glass. He even garnished the glass with a little pink umbrella. Cathy giggled and took a sip just as Jamie set down the bottle.

"Well, I must say, Mr…" She lowered her napkin, pretending to search for his invisible name card. "James..."

Jamie grinned a toothy smile, folding his hands behind his back as before.

"You have been an awfully damn good waiter this evening." She smiled politely, gesturing to the chair across from her. "Care to join me, and see if you're just as good a chef?"

Jamie smirked, raising an eyebrow at her and moving to the other end of the table, drawing out a chair."Don't mind if I do, ma'am."

Cathy pressed her tongue to her teeth and giggled, grabbing her fork and digging in to her chips. Jamie smiled at her and sat down, pouring himself some soda and taking a drink.

The couple remained at the table, talking and laughing well into the night. They sat for hours, sometime forgetting the food and just chatting happily. Jamie kept leaning over the table to kiss her, and each time she would hold him in place with a hand to the back of his neck.

Jamie went to open a window, letting in a soft breeze. Cathy heard the fluttering of paper above her head and quizzically glanced up. She laughed, pointing at the gold trimmed paper twirling on a piece of orange yarn.

"Bradley's Bistro," she read, poking her finger at the corner of the sign. "Hadn't noticed that."

Jamie smiled, holding his fork to his mouth. "Nice touch, eh?" he chuckled, biting the prongs.

Cathy smiled, reaching up to yank at the sign hanging above the table and tracing her fingers along the designs Jamie had drawn around the letters. She made a mental note to store it in the special place she kept all the other props from Jamie's shenanigans – a box marked "Catherine and James" that she received chocolates from on their honeymoon that she kept it under her nightstand. Jamie watched her, twirling the fork around on his lip before breaking his stare and poking at three chips in the corner of his plate.

Cathy raised her glass to her lips, balancing it there and watching Jamie as he had her. "So, Mr. James." She smiled. "Am I gonna have to pay for this?"

Jamie swallowed the food in his mouth and grinned, raising his glass to hers and chinking them together. "On the house."