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candy_aTitle: The Fourteen Days of Valentine's Day 2013: Valentine's Day!
Fandom: Donald Strachey Mysteries (movieverse)
Pairing: Donald and Timothy
Rating: R
Word Count: About 3600
References/Spoilers: Minor reference to Don's past.
Disclosure: I wish they were mine. Alas, they are not, so I'm just taking them out for a spin with thanks to the men who created them and the actors who brought them to life.
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the air!
Author's Note: Manuel and Miguel were characters introduced during the One Night Series. Manuel is Don's only lasting friendship from his Army days, and Miguel is his long-term partner. The two live together in a restored Victorian house in a small town in upstate New York, where they run their own landscaping business together. They were at the boys' wedding.
************************************************
THE FOURTEEN DAYS OF VALENTINE'S DAY 2013: VALENTINE'S DAY!
by
Candy Apple
I was happy as a clam driving around in my new old car. Timothy did make me take the red bow off the hood since he wasn't sure it was fastened on securely enough to withstand road conditions. The car always had a certain comfort level associated with it, and an obvious sentimental value, but now it took on a new meaning. Every time I got in it, it reminded me how much Timothy loved me and accepted me just as I was, and what had started out with Kyle all those years ago came full circle to Timothy, now. As it should be.
Timmy thought he knew the whole story of Valentine's Day now that he had the tickets to the event. But there was more. Manuel and Miguel were driving down from Warrensburg to join us. We get together a few times a year - it should be more but we're all busy and that's about all we usually manage. Still, whenever we do, it's like we were all together yesterday. They were at our wedding, and I thought sharing the evening with them would be a nice remembrance of that, and also appeal to my social butterfly partner.
For my other project, I let Farley come outside with me on the condition he didn't run around like a maniac (I'm not sure how he knew exactly what he was supposed to do, but he walked gingerly around in the snow were I was working). Maybe he was intrigued with what I was doing enough to hang out and watch me. Or maybe he didn't get to be as old as he is by being stupid. He knew he wasn't 100% yet, and he didn't push it. He'd proven to be good about not bothering his incision, so I left the lampshade off his neck most of the time. Of course it had a light gauze bandage over it and he was wearing a sweater to be outside with me, so there wasn't much he could do to it anyway.
There were several inches of snow on the ground in the front yard. I should know that I'm kind of like a kid who can envision an art project but really should never try it. Still, this was too good an idea not to try. I was making a giant heart out of snow. Instead of a snowman. I was having some challenges with the bottom of it where it should come to a point, so I ended up with something that kind of looked like a giant ass made out of snow. When I whittled away at the base to make it more curved, one of my humps fell off. Farley started barking. I stared at him. I swear to God, that dog was laughing at me. Freaked me out.
So I re-packed the hump and worked on both sides of the base a little more, and it did slightly resemble a heart (and strongly resemble a more curvy ass) when I was done. It would be worth it for Timmy's reaction when he saw it.
I hurried inside and remembered to go slowly up the steps. Farley wanted to come with me, and if I ran, he would, too. So we toddled upstairs like two old men. He was happy to lounge in his dog bed while I showered and got dressed in my monkey suit. Timmy would be home in a few minutes, and Manuel and Miguel were due to arrive about six. If I was all put together, I could visit with them and serve drinks while Timmy had free run of the bathroom and bedroom to get ready.
I also had single red rose boutonnieres for us since we had those at our wedding.
Once I was dressed, Farley and I went downstairs, slowly again, and I went to work at mixing martinis and putting out a few hors d'eouvres. I'm not the host in the family, but all these years of living with Timothy have taught me enough to entertain a bit. The party promised to have plenty of food, but a little cheese and crackers would work well with the drinks. I'd bought bags of cheese cubes and paid through the ass for fancy crackers, so I had a nice little snack array with a minimum of work that would most likely pass Timmy's inspection.
The doorbell rang, and I knew Farley was recovering because he got up and ambled toward the door, slightly slower than usual. He let out a few loud barks as I joined him to let in our guests. He loved all the attention, since both Manuel and Miguel petted him and told him what a good dog he was.
"Tim's not home yet?" Miguel asked as we all headed for the living room.
"He should be here any minute."
"Like your snow sculpture," Manuel said, chuckling.
"Hey, I worked a long time on that," I protested, though I knew it was pretty ugly.
"I wouldn't admit that if I were you," Manuel replied. "It looks like a big ass."
"I think it's romantic," Miguel said, sitting on the couch. Farley positioned himself on the floor near Miguel. What a memory. Miguel was the most likely to cave in and feed him. They hadn't been to our place in almost a year, but Farley apparently kept track of things like that.
"It'll be dusk by the time Timmy sees it, so it'll look better," I said, serving the drinks.
"We parked around the corner," Miguel said.
"Great. The limo's arriving about 6:30."
"So Tim doesn't know about any of this?" Manuel asked.
"He knows he and I are going to the Valentine party, but he doesn't know about you guys, the giant snow butt in the yard, or the limo. Or the man corsages I got."
"Boutonnieres," Miguel corrected, laughing.
"I forgot what they were called," I said, sitting down. Farley got up and ambled over to me and looked at me hopefully. I picked up a cube of cheese and tossed it in the air. He caught it like a pro. We did the same thing with little sausages, donut holes, dog treats, and various other things, often to Timmy's consternation when he was trying to keep Farley on the nutritional straight and narrow. He barked a couple times and watched me again. I caved in and threw one more cube in the air. He snapped it up mid-air.
"Quite the hero dog, huh?" Manuel said.
"He got shot trying to go after Phillips when Tim and Farley first got home, and then he went for Phillips' leg when I needed and opening to draw my gun. So he saved both our necks on that one." I'd filled them in briefly on who John Phillips was and what Farley had done, but not in much detail.
"We coulda used him in the Army," Manuel said.
"He's pretty remarkable," I said. "You're a hell of a dog, pal," I told Farley. He came up to me and sat close by my legs.
"He knows what you say to him," Miguel said. "It's a bit unsettling."
Just then, we heard the front door.
"Donald!" Timmy called out to me. "I can't believe you did a snow heart in the yard," he hollered to me as he walked into the living room. I wished I'd had a camera handy for the look on his face when he saw our friends there, also decked out in their tuxes for the evening. "Oh, my God, when did you guys get here?" Everyone exchanged hugs all around, and then Timmy got a hold of me and kissed me. "I love the heart," he said, caressing my cheek. He knows how much I hate being out in the snow, so he also knows how much I love him if I'm out there building a giant snow...heart...butt... thing.
"See, he knew it was a heart," Miguel said.
"It was either that or a giant ass, and I didn't think you'd sculpt that for our front yard," Timmy said, and I laughed.
Timmy rushed upstairs to get dressed. He still didn't know about the limo. Or the ring I was going to give him later. As I watched him hurry upstairs, it hit me again just how much I love him.
"You've got it bad, mi amigo," Manuel said, laying his accent on thick. He did that once in a while when he was joking around.
"I think I've got it worse than I did when I married him the first time," I admitted.
"Because now you've got all these years of history between you," Miguel said, linking his arm through Manuel's. "When it's right, it just gets deeper and better."
"Hey, can you get a picture of us out by the snow butt?" I asked. I was done trying to call it a heart. It was ugly as hell, and only Timmy could love it the way mothers love their children's ugly homemade Valentines.
"Sure. If you'll take one of us with it," Manuel said.
"Souvenir from your Valentine trip to Albany, huh?" I joked. "Hey, you wanna see my new car?" I asked. Both of them looked surprised.
"You finally broke down and got a new one?" Miguel asked as they followed me to the garage.
"Well, it's mostly new now." I flipped on the overhead light.
"Wait, this is your old car...isn't it?" Miguel frowned.
"Some idiot ran me off the road and totaled it. Timothy had it fixed for me for Valentine's Day," I said, proud as hell that he loved me that much, and happy to share my good fortune with our friends.
"It looks brand new," Manuel said, shaking his head. "Must've set him back a bit."
"A bit," I said, nodding. "It was Kyle's," I added quietly.
"Does he know that?" Manuel asked.
"He does now. And he's okay with it."
"Quite a guy you got yourself there, Strachey." Manuel clapped me on the back and gave the back of my neck a squeeze. He's the only other person who knows all the details of what happened with Kyle, and he knew without being told how much Timmy fixing up that car meant to me. It wasn't about the car.
As we walked back into the house, Timmy was coming downstairs. I stood there and stared at him like the lovestruck sap I am. He's always handsome, but he was nothing short of breathtaking in his tux. I think I fell in love with him all over again when he smiled at me. I snapped out of my trance and retrieved the boutonnieres from the refrigerator and presented him one.
"They look just like the ones we wore for our wedding," he said, smiling at me, and I thought he looked just a bit misty-eyed as I fastened his rose in place. He put mine on for me, and then he kissed me like he forgot we had company. I took his hand.
"When we got married, I thought I loved you as much as anyone could love another person. I was wrong. Because I love you more now."
"I know how you feel," he said, kissing my hand.
The doorbell rang.
"One of us better get that," Manuel said. "Those two are hopeless," he teased as he headed for the door. It was the chauffeur. "Ride's here," Manuel called.
"Ride? Don?"
"Come on, sweetheart." I guided him toward the door and he stopped, visibly surprised. "First class all the way," I quipped.
"You're full of surprises tonight," he said, kissing me again. "Wonderful surprises."
********
Before we got in the limo to go to the party, we stopped to take pictures outside with the big snow heart Don had made. I couldn't believe all he'd done to make the evening amazing, and we hadn't even left the house yet. Manuel took a couple shots of us and then Don took Manuel's and Miguel's picture with the heart. We all burst out laughing when Manuel leaned forward and put his face in the space between the snow humps, as if he were rimming the thing. I hoped our elderly neighbor across the street was, for once, not sitting near her front window looking out. I doubted she'd ever recover from that one.
Don and I held hands in the back of the limo, while Miguel poured us all some champagne from the bottle chilling there. We toasted our long friendship, and our respective lasting relationships.
"This is as good a time as any to invite you guys to our wedding," Miguel said. "Now that it's legal, we're going to tie the knot officially this summer, and have a really nice wedding."
"Congratulations!" I exclaimed. I was so happy for them. Don and I had ignored the lack of legal marriage and had a big shindig the first time through, and then had a civil ceremony within a couple weeks of it becoming legal in New York. Manuel and Miguel were at both.
"Seemed like, after sixteen years together, we ought to make it official," Manuel said, kissing Miguel's cheek.
The convention center was alive with the arrival of all the guests, and I loved arriving there in the limousine. Music was already playing, provided by a small orchestra and a singer who was doing a reasonably good job of covering a variety of music from old standards to more current romantic songs. The buffet was sumptuous and elegantly presented, and we ran into several people I knew while we ate and mingled. It was the kind of event I loved, and definitely not the kind of event Don would pick out for himself. Still, with our friends there, he seemed to be having a good time even when he lost me occasionally to "working the room," as he says I do at all major events. I guess I didn't know I worked the room, but I suppose I do. I was taught to mingle and socialize at large gatherings like these from the time I was a child, and it was second nature now. And to be honest, I love it.
None of that was the highlight of the evening, though. I loved seeing Manuel and Miguel, going to the party, arriving in a limo...it was all like a fairy tale Valentine's Day. But the true fairy tale moment for me was when the band and the singer played our song, "Valentine", and we slow danced together the way we had at our wedding reception, and everyone else in the room I'd had so much fun "working" could have disappeared and I wouldn't have noticed. Everything narrowed to the feeling of Don's body against mine, his cheek against mine, his arms around me and mine around him, the warmth of his breath against my ear when he told me he loved me, the scent of his cologne and the softness of his hair as it brushed against my cheek when we pulled just enough apart to look into each other's eyes.
I know I was getting a little emotional, and I'm not the world's greatest singer, but I had to sing softly in his ear, along with the song, "You're all I need, my love, my Valentine." And then I held him tighter, and thanked him for being the light of my life for the last fourteen years. I amended it...no, not just the light of my life, but the love, the warmth, the meaning and the reason for it.
Then he pulled back and initiated a familiar exchange. Words we said to each other every anniversary.
"Thank you for saying yes," he said, smiling, looking into my eyes.
"Thank you for asking," I replied, and we laughed a bit then, kissed, and held each other close through a couple more songs.
We were at the party late, and had plenty of champagne while we were there. It was nice not to worry about driving, to be picked up by the limo and swept away home as snow began to fall. Manuel and Miguel were getting as sappy and romantic with each other as we were, and once we returned home, they were glad to head for their guest room, and we were happy to adjourn to our room for the night. We planned to have a nice big breakfast together the next morning. I'd taken the day off, since I wanted to sleep in with Don after our anniversary.
Don's tie was loosened in the limo, and by the time we got to our room, it was stuck in his pocket, his shirt open a couple buttons, and his jacket went flying as soon as we were home. I had no idea he had another gift planned. I thought the limo, the party...how could I need another gift in addition to all that? But he did pull out another little package. This time, I had one to give him, too. Before the car had its mishap and before I had it fixed, I'd already gotten him a gift. I insisted he open his first, because I'd already had so many to enjoy.
No one needs to urge Donald a second time to dig into a present. It was a new coat. A black, water-resistant, car coat with nice-looking metal clasps down the front that cost an obscene amount of money. I was glad Don wasn't as familiar with labels as I am. He'd have worried about it and only worn it for special occasions. He knew it was a nice coat, just not how nice. I wanted something attractive - because he's beautiful and he should always be in something that showcases him for the knockout he is - and I also wanted something warm, durable, and comfortable that would keep him dry when he was out in the snow or the pouring rain tailing some client's cheating husband. I also wanted to spoil him with something lovely and high-end, because he'll buy those things for me, but rarely "waste" the money on them for himself.
"Timmy, it's beautiful. Looks like it'll keep me nice and dry, too."
"Nice and dry and sexy," I said, and he laughed.
"That, too." He tried it on, and it fit perfectly. He looked better in it than the model in the online ad. That didn't surprise me. I could put an old grain sack on him and he'd be beautiful. A designer coat was a guaranteed win.
"You're stunning, Donald. You could wear anything, and you'd make the coat look good," I said, fastening one of the front clasps. He looked at me with that little mist in his eyes.
"You're biased."
"No, you're hot," I said, kissing him. We both laughed. He left his new coat on and urged me to open my present. I knew he really liked it then. Otherwise, he'd have "ooed" and "ahhed" over it and then taken it right off. That was fine. I planned on undressing him anyway. One more layer wouldn't hold me up long.
I tore the red foil and white ribbon off the little box he handed me and found a black velvet ring box inside the wrapping. I opened it and found a beautiful gold ring inside. It was tailored and moderate in its size - large enough to look sharp on my hand, but not chunky or large. The stone was gorgeous - a square cut, dark, multi-colored stone with shade of green, blue, and purple in it, depending on how you turned it.
"The woman at the jewelry counter said it was a 'mystic fire topaz'," Don said. I knew what kind of stone it was, but I didn't want to rob him of the moment of introducing me to it.
"The colors are beautiful," I said, taking it out of the box and tilting it back and forth.
"Try it on," he urged, and I handed it to him, and held out my right hand. I didn't ordinarily wear a ring on that finger anymore, since we'd moved our wedding rings to our left hands. I guess I just hadn't thought of it. He smiled and took my hand and slipped the ring into place. It fit perfectly, but then he knows my ring size and he knows every part of me. It was no surprise he could choose something that would fit and feel like it had always been there.
"I love it, honey. It's beautiful."
"Happy Anniversary, sweetheart."
"Happy Anniversary, honey." I hugged him, and he hugged back, though it felt a little odd since he was still wearing his new coat.
We got undressed, turned out the lights, lit a few candles, and got into bed. We held each other, spent a long time just kissing and touching, taking time to say in so many words some of the things we just lived every day of our life together. How much we both meant to each other, how glad we were to be together, and some of our favorite memories over the last fifteen years.
We made love slowly, gently, and at least three times during the night, sleeping a while in each other's arms and then waking up again and needing to express our love just once more. We slept late, as did our guests, and woke mid-morning in a sweaty tangle of limbs and sheets, ready to start our next year together. I couldn't help but wonder what Donald would come up with next Valentine's Day.
Fandom: Donald Strachey Mysteries (movieverse)
Pairing: Donald and Timothy
Rating: R
Word Count: About 3600
References/Spoilers: Minor reference to Don's past.
Disclosure: I wish they were mine. Alas, they are not, so I'm just taking them out for a spin with thanks to the men who created them and the actors who brought them to life.
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the air!
Author's Note: Manuel and Miguel were characters introduced during the One Night Series. Manuel is Don's only lasting friendship from his Army days, and Miguel is his long-term partner. The two live together in a restored Victorian house in a small town in upstate New York, where they run their own landscaping business together. They were at the boys' wedding.
************************************************
THE FOURTEEN DAYS OF VALENTINE'S DAY 2013: VALENTINE'S DAY!
by
Candy Apple
I was happy as a clam driving around in my new old car. Timothy did make me take the red bow off the hood since he wasn't sure it was fastened on securely enough to withstand road conditions. The car always had a certain comfort level associated with it, and an obvious sentimental value, but now it took on a new meaning. Every time I got in it, it reminded me how much Timothy loved me and accepted me just as I was, and what had started out with Kyle all those years ago came full circle to Timothy, now. As it should be.
Timmy thought he knew the whole story of Valentine's Day now that he had the tickets to the event. But there was more. Manuel and Miguel were driving down from Warrensburg to join us. We get together a few times a year - it should be more but we're all busy and that's about all we usually manage. Still, whenever we do, it's like we were all together yesterday. They were at our wedding, and I thought sharing the evening with them would be a nice remembrance of that, and also appeal to my social butterfly partner.
For my other project, I let Farley come outside with me on the condition he didn't run around like a maniac (I'm not sure how he knew exactly what he was supposed to do, but he walked gingerly around in the snow were I was working). Maybe he was intrigued with what I was doing enough to hang out and watch me. Or maybe he didn't get to be as old as he is by being stupid. He knew he wasn't 100% yet, and he didn't push it. He'd proven to be good about not bothering his incision, so I left the lampshade off his neck most of the time. Of course it had a light gauze bandage over it and he was wearing a sweater to be outside with me, so there wasn't much he could do to it anyway.
There were several inches of snow on the ground in the front yard. I should know that I'm kind of like a kid who can envision an art project but really should never try it. Still, this was too good an idea not to try. I was making a giant heart out of snow. Instead of a snowman. I was having some challenges with the bottom of it where it should come to a point, so I ended up with something that kind of looked like a giant ass made out of snow. When I whittled away at the base to make it more curved, one of my humps fell off. Farley started barking. I stared at him. I swear to God, that dog was laughing at me. Freaked me out.
So I re-packed the hump and worked on both sides of the base a little more, and it did slightly resemble a heart (and strongly resemble a more curvy ass) when I was done. It would be worth it for Timmy's reaction when he saw it.
I hurried inside and remembered to go slowly up the steps. Farley wanted to come with me, and if I ran, he would, too. So we toddled upstairs like two old men. He was happy to lounge in his dog bed while I showered and got dressed in my monkey suit. Timmy would be home in a few minutes, and Manuel and Miguel were due to arrive about six. If I was all put together, I could visit with them and serve drinks while Timmy had free run of the bathroom and bedroom to get ready.
I also had single red rose boutonnieres for us since we had those at our wedding.
Once I was dressed, Farley and I went downstairs, slowly again, and I went to work at mixing martinis and putting out a few hors d'eouvres. I'm not the host in the family, but all these years of living with Timothy have taught me enough to entertain a bit. The party promised to have plenty of food, but a little cheese and crackers would work well with the drinks. I'd bought bags of cheese cubes and paid through the ass for fancy crackers, so I had a nice little snack array with a minimum of work that would most likely pass Timmy's inspection.
The doorbell rang, and I knew Farley was recovering because he got up and ambled toward the door, slightly slower than usual. He let out a few loud barks as I joined him to let in our guests. He loved all the attention, since both Manuel and Miguel petted him and told him what a good dog he was.
"Tim's not home yet?" Miguel asked as we all headed for the living room.
"He should be here any minute."
"Like your snow sculpture," Manuel said, chuckling.
"Hey, I worked a long time on that," I protested, though I knew it was pretty ugly.
"I wouldn't admit that if I were you," Manuel replied. "It looks like a big ass."
"I think it's romantic," Miguel said, sitting on the couch. Farley positioned himself on the floor near Miguel. What a memory. Miguel was the most likely to cave in and feed him. They hadn't been to our place in almost a year, but Farley apparently kept track of things like that.
"It'll be dusk by the time Timmy sees it, so it'll look better," I said, serving the drinks.
"We parked around the corner," Miguel said.
"Great. The limo's arriving about 6:30."
"So Tim doesn't know about any of this?" Manuel asked.
"He knows he and I are going to the Valentine party, but he doesn't know about you guys, the giant snow butt in the yard, or the limo. Or the man corsages I got."
"Boutonnieres," Miguel corrected, laughing.
"I forgot what they were called," I said, sitting down. Farley got up and ambled over to me and looked at me hopefully. I picked up a cube of cheese and tossed it in the air. He caught it like a pro. We did the same thing with little sausages, donut holes, dog treats, and various other things, often to Timmy's consternation when he was trying to keep Farley on the nutritional straight and narrow. He barked a couple times and watched me again. I caved in and threw one more cube in the air. He snapped it up mid-air.
"Quite the hero dog, huh?" Manuel said.
"He got shot trying to go after Phillips when Tim and Farley first got home, and then he went for Phillips' leg when I needed and opening to draw my gun. So he saved both our necks on that one." I'd filled them in briefly on who John Phillips was and what Farley had done, but not in much detail.
"We coulda used him in the Army," Manuel said.
"He's pretty remarkable," I said. "You're a hell of a dog, pal," I told Farley. He came up to me and sat close by my legs.
"He knows what you say to him," Miguel said. "It's a bit unsettling."
Just then, we heard the front door.
"Donald!" Timmy called out to me. "I can't believe you did a snow heart in the yard," he hollered to me as he walked into the living room. I wished I'd had a camera handy for the look on his face when he saw our friends there, also decked out in their tuxes for the evening. "Oh, my God, when did you guys get here?" Everyone exchanged hugs all around, and then Timmy got a hold of me and kissed me. "I love the heart," he said, caressing my cheek. He knows how much I hate being out in the snow, so he also knows how much I love him if I'm out there building a giant snow...heart...butt... thing.
"See, he knew it was a heart," Miguel said.
"It was either that or a giant ass, and I didn't think you'd sculpt that for our front yard," Timmy said, and I laughed.
Timmy rushed upstairs to get dressed. He still didn't know about the limo. Or the ring I was going to give him later. As I watched him hurry upstairs, it hit me again just how much I love him.
"You've got it bad, mi amigo," Manuel said, laying his accent on thick. He did that once in a while when he was joking around.
"I think I've got it worse than I did when I married him the first time," I admitted.
"Because now you've got all these years of history between you," Miguel said, linking his arm through Manuel's. "When it's right, it just gets deeper and better."
"Hey, can you get a picture of us out by the snow butt?" I asked. I was done trying to call it a heart. It was ugly as hell, and only Timmy could love it the way mothers love their children's ugly homemade Valentines.
"Sure. If you'll take one of us with it," Manuel said.
"Souvenir from your Valentine trip to Albany, huh?" I joked. "Hey, you wanna see my new car?" I asked. Both of them looked surprised.
"You finally broke down and got a new one?" Miguel asked as they followed me to the garage.
"Well, it's mostly new now." I flipped on the overhead light.
"Wait, this is your old car...isn't it?" Miguel frowned.
"Some idiot ran me off the road and totaled it. Timothy had it fixed for me for Valentine's Day," I said, proud as hell that he loved me that much, and happy to share my good fortune with our friends.
"It looks brand new," Manuel said, shaking his head. "Must've set him back a bit."
"A bit," I said, nodding. "It was Kyle's," I added quietly.
"Does he know that?" Manuel asked.
"He does now. And he's okay with it."
"Quite a guy you got yourself there, Strachey." Manuel clapped me on the back and gave the back of my neck a squeeze. He's the only other person who knows all the details of what happened with Kyle, and he knew without being told how much Timmy fixing up that car meant to me. It wasn't about the car.
As we walked back into the house, Timmy was coming downstairs. I stood there and stared at him like the lovestruck sap I am. He's always handsome, but he was nothing short of breathtaking in his tux. I think I fell in love with him all over again when he smiled at me. I snapped out of my trance and retrieved the boutonnieres from the refrigerator and presented him one.
"They look just like the ones we wore for our wedding," he said, smiling at me, and I thought he looked just a bit misty-eyed as I fastened his rose in place. He put mine on for me, and then he kissed me like he forgot we had company. I took his hand.
"When we got married, I thought I loved you as much as anyone could love another person. I was wrong. Because I love you more now."
"I know how you feel," he said, kissing my hand.
The doorbell rang.
"One of us better get that," Manuel said. "Those two are hopeless," he teased as he headed for the door. It was the chauffeur. "Ride's here," Manuel called.
"Ride? Don?"
"Come on, sweetheart." I guided him toward the door and he stopped, visibly surprised. "First class all the way," I quipped.
"You're full of surprises tonight," he said, kissing me again. "Wonderful surprises."
********
Before we got in the limo to go to the party, we stopped to take pictures outside with the big snow heart Don had made. I couldn't believe all he'd done to make the evening amazing, and we hadn't even left the house yet. Manuel took a couple shots of us and then Don took Manuel's and Miguel's picture with the heart. We all burst out laughing when Manuel leaned forward and put his face in the space between the snow humps, as if he were rimming the thing. I hoped our elderly neighbor across the street was, for once, not sitting near her front window looking out. I doubted she'd ever recover from that one.
Don and I held hands in the back of the limo, while Miguel poured us all some champagne from the bottle chilling there. We toasted our long friendship, and our respective lasting relationships.
"This is as good a time as any to invite you guys to our wedding," Miguel said. "Now that it's legal, we're going to tie the knot officially this summer, and have a really nice wedding."
"Congratulations!" I exclaimed. I was so happy for them. Don and I had ignored the lack of legal marriage and had a big shindig the first time through, and then had a civil ceremony within a couple weeks of it becoming legal in New York. Manuel and Miguel were at both.
"Seemed like, after sixteen years together, we ought to make it official," Manuel said, kissing Miguel's cheek.
The convention center was alive with the arrival of all the guests, and I loved arriving there in the limousine. Music was already playing, provided by a small orchestra and a singer who was doing a reasonably good job of covering a variety of music from old standards to more current romantic songs. The buffet was sumptuous and elegantly presented, and we ran into several people I knew while we ate and mingled. It was the kind of event I loved, and definitely not the kind of event Don would pick out for himself. Still, with our friends there, he seemed to be having a good time even when he lost me occasionally to "working the room," as he says I do at all major events. I guess I didn't know I worked the room, but I suppose I do. I was taught to mingle and socialize at large gatherings like these from the time I was a child, and it was second nature now. And to be honest, I love it.
None of that was the highlight of the evening, though. I loved seeing Manuel and Miguel, going to the party, arriving in a limo...it was all like a fairy tale Valentine's Day. But the true fairy tale moment for me was when the band and the singer played our song, "Valentine", and we slow danced together the way we had at our wedding reception, and everyone else in the room I'd had so much fun "working" could have disappeared and I wouldn't have noticed. Everything narrowed to the feeling of Don's body against mine, his cheek against mine, his arms around me and mine around him, the warmth of his breath against my ear when he told me he loved me, the scent of his cologne and the softness of his hair as it brushed against my cheek when we pulled just enough apart to look into each other's eyes.
I know I was getting a little emotional, and I'm not the world's greatest singer, but I had to sing softly in his ear, along with the song, "You're all I need, my love, my Valentine." And then I held him tighter, and thanked him for being the light of my life for the last fourteen years. I amended it...no, not just the light of my life, but the love, the warmth, the meaning and the reason for it.
Then he pulled back and initiated a familiar exchange. Words we said to each other every anniversary.
"Thank you for saying yes," he said, smiling, looking into my eyes.
"Thank you for asking," I replied, and we laughed a bit then, kissed, and held each other close through a couple more songs.
We were at the party late, and had plenty of champagne while we were there. It was nice not to worry about driving, to be picked up by the limo and swept away home as snow began to fall. Manuel and Miguel were getting as sappy and romantic with each other as we were, and once we returned home, they were glad to head for their guest room, and we were happy to adjourn to our room for the night. We planned to have a nice big breakfast together the next morning. I'd taken the day off, since I wanted to sleep in with Don after our anniversary.
Don's tie was loosened in the limo, and by the time we got to our room, it was stuck in his pocket, his shirt open a couple buttons, and his jacket went flying as soon as we were home. I had no idea he had another gift planned. I thought the limo, the party...how could I need another gift in addition to all that? But he did pull out another little package. This time, I had one to give him, too. Before the car had its mishap and before I had it fixed, I'd already gotten him a gift. I insisted he open his first, because I'd already had so many to enjoy.
No one needs to urge Donald a second time to dig into a present. It was a new coat. A black, water-resistant, car coat with nice-looking metal clasps down the front that cost an obscene amount of money. I was glad Don wasn't as familiar with labels as I am. He'd have worried about it and only worn it for special occasions. He knew it was a nice coat, just not how nice. I wanted something attractive - because he's beautiful and he should always be in something that showcases him for the knockout he is - and I also wanted something warm, durable, and comfortable that would keep him dry when he was out in the snow or the pouring rain tailing some client's cheating husband. I also wanted to spoil him with something lovely and high-end, because he'll buy those things for me, but rarely "waste" the money on them for himself.
"Timmy, it's beautiful. Looks like it'll keep me nice and dry, too."
"Nice and dry and sexy," I said, and he laughed.
"That, too." He tried it on, and it fit perfectly. He looked better in it than the model in the online ad. That didn't surprise me. I could put an old grain sack on him and he'd be beautiful. A designer coat was a guaranteed win.
"You're stunning, Donald. You could wear anything, and you'd make the coat look good," I said, fastening one of the front clasps. He looked at me with that little mist in his eyes.
"You're biased."
"No, you're hot," I said, kissing him. We both laughed. He left his new coat on and urged me to open my present. I knew he really liked it then. Otherwise, he'd have "ooed" and "ahhed" over it and then taken it right off. That was fine. I planned on undressing him anyway. One more layer wouldn't hold me up long.
I tore the red foil and white ribbon off the little box he handed me and found a black velvet ring box inside the wrapping. I opened it and found a beautiful gold ring inside. It was tailored and moderate in its size - large enough to look sharp on my hand, but not chunky or large. The stone was gorgeous - a square cut, dark, multi-colored stone with shade of green, blue, and purple in it, depending on how you turned it.
"The woman at the jewelry counter said it was a 'mystic fire topaz'," Don said. I knew what kind of stone it was, but I didn't want to rob him of the moment of introducing me to it.
"The colors are beautiful," I said, taking it out of the box and tilting it back and forth.
"Try it on," he urged, and I handed it to him, and held out my right hand. I didn't ordinarily wear a ring on that finger anymore, since we'd moved our wedding rings to our left hands. I guess I just hadn't thought of it. He smiled and took my hand and slipped the ring into place. It fit perfectly, but then he knows my ring size and he knows every part of me. It was no surprise he could choose something that would fit and feel like it had always been there.
"I love it, honey. It's beautiful."
"Happy Anniversary, sweetheart."
"Happy Anniversary, honey." I hugged him, and he hugged back, though it felt a little odd since he was still wearing his new coat.
We got undressed, turned out the lights, lit a few candles, and got into bed. We held each other, spent a long time just kissing and touching, taking time to say in so many words some of the things we just lived every day of our life together. How much we both meant to each other, how glad we were to be together, and some of our favorite memories over the last fifteen years.
We made love slowly, gently, and at least three times during the night, sleeping a while in each other's arms and then waking up again and needing to express our love just once more. We slept late, as did our guests, and woke mid-morning in a sweaty tangle of limbs and sheets, ready to start our next year together. I couldn't help but wonder what Donald would come up with next Valentine's Day.
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Date: 2013-02-15 08:10 am (UTC)Thank you for taking the time to write and post these.
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Date: 2013-02-15 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2013-02-15 02:22 pm (UTC)Thank you for your hard work (and you don't really have to go through until Labor Day ... but any time you feel like adding a story I volunteer to read it!)
Now I have to work my way back and see if day 13's comment actually made it - LJ wasn't cooperating with me.
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Date: 2013-03-06 03:38 am (UTC)Lovely story, and I'm glad to see M&M again!
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Date: 2013-03-08 12:11 am (UTC)