Chapter 3 – Supper

I left work and headed down to my favorite grocery store and picked up some
things to finish making supper. Pasta is fairly quick to make and with some
shrimp and a cream sauce I could be done quite quickly. I like to use fresh
ingredients whenever possible so I stopped at the fish market and got some
fresh shrimp, then over to the produce place to get some fresh herbs. Two last
things to get – a special wine and as a surprise for Peggy, a bouquet of
roses.

I'd been home for about 20 minutes and after a quick shower, I was out in the
kitchen putting supper together. I'd made a couple of side salads and had
taken the loaf of French bread I'd cooked on Sunday and got it ready to slice.
The pasta was on the stove cooking and I was just putting the finishing
touches on the sauce. I heard the door open and Peggy call out. "I'm here in
the kitchen." I replied. Peggy came in and sat watching as I finished things
up. As things were getting near to being ready to serve I asked her to set the
table in the dining room. "The dishes are in the sideboard and the cutlery is
in the drawers underneath. I have some wine to go with the pasta so please set
put out a couple of wine glasses." I said.

Peggy got up and headed into the dining room humming to herself as she went.
As Peggy hadn't seen in the dining room when she came in, I wasn't surprised
when suddenly the humming stopped and I saw Peggy's face back at the door.
"David..." she started, "I don't know what to say..." "Those are beautiful
flowers for a beautiful lady who's now back in my life." I replied. Peggy ran
over and gave me a big hug. "Hey, be careful, I'm cooking." I said with a
grin. Peggy just looked at me with a tear of joy in her eye. She reached up,
pulled my head down and gave me a kiss then went back to the dining room to
finish setting the table.

The pasta was ready so I drained it, put some on each plate, added the shrimp
and sauce and after adding some parsley garnish took my apron off and took the
plates in to the dining room. Peggy looked at me sill a bit in awe. "I... I
don't know what to say... This is absolutely wonderful." "Well, maybe you
should wait until you've tasted the food; maybe it's not as good as it looks."
I said with a grin. Peggy started to say something then stopped, got up,
grabbed my head and gave me another kiss, one that was even more passionate
than before if that's possible. "Oh David..." she said then stood there
looking at me. "We'd better eat as pasta doesn't taste very good if it's
cold." I said.

I got up and poured us each a glass of wine. After I'd put the wine bottle
back, I knelt beside Peggy. "Peggy, I am so, so happy that you are back. I
never realized just how much I missed you until I saw you the other day. I'm
hoping that this will move on to something even better." and with that I got
back up and sat on my chair. I looked at Peggy saw that she was almost in
tears. "Peggy, you are making me feel... I don't know... Happy is probably the
only word I can think of. Let's eat and we can talk more after supper.

We talked about things that we liked to do and that sort of thing and I was
amazed at how much we meshed in out likes and dislikes. At one point Peggy got
a big grin on her face. "I did as you suggested and talked to Sharon as you
suggested and when she found out I was coming to supper she told me I was in
for a wonderful meal. I got the impression that she has figured out that she's
not going to be the next Mrs. David Harris. I also got the impression that
she's trying to figure out how you and I connected so quickly."

"Sharon's a nice lady and one day she'll connect with the right guy." I said.
"I just didn't have any real passion for her. I enjoyed being with her; she's
articulate, well-read and can carry on a conversation without saying 'like'
and 'y'know' about every fifth or sixth word. There just wasn't a spark,
that's all. I now know I needed to wait for you."

Peggy got that dreamy 'million mile stare' for a moment then started to eat
again. She stayed quiet for the balance of the meal, answering my questions
and occasionally adding some comment of her own. After the supper was finished
we cleaned the table up, put the remainder of the food away, loaded the
dishwasher and finally went back to the living room. Peggy stayed standing for
a moment as I sat down then suddenly she came over and sat on my lap.

"David... Oh how can I say this so it sounds right... Umm... Oh..." There was
a long pause then Peggy continued. "David, I'm scared..." I started to say
something but she put her finger on my lips and said "No, please wait, let me
finish, okay?" I nodded. Peggy continued. "David I'm scared at how quickly
we're connecting and how much..." she started to blush "...how much I realize
I... Oh..." she stopped again, took a deep breath and continued "How much I
realize I love you." and with that she buried her face in her hands. I took
her hands away, gently pulled her face up to mine and started kissing her.
"Peggy..." <kiss> "I..." <kiss> "love..." <kiss> "you..." <kiss, kiss, kiss>
too." I took my hands away from her head and looked at her. Suddenly she
grabbed me like her life depended on it and started kissing me all over my
face. Finally she stopped. "Oh David, oh David, ohhh..." she said. "Oh David,
I was so afraid that I was going to make a mess of things and scare you off."
"Never, ever, my love. If you'll have me, I'm yours 'till I die."

Peggy jumped up and without a word, headed to the door. "I'll be back in a
minute." she said. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later the door opened and
in came Peggy with a small suitcase in her hand. She walked over to me, put
the suitcase down and said "Take me to your bed, my love." and I did as she
asked.

The next morning I woke up to the wonderful sight and feel of my love sleeping
in the bed beside me. It was a bit early yet so I just lay there looking at
the beautiful woman who was now back in my life and, for the first time but
hopefully not the last, in my bed. Finally I couldn't wait any longer and got
up to go and pee. When I got back Peggy was awake. I climbed back into bed
with her and cuddled her. "How are you this morning? Having any regrets about
what we did last night?" I asked. Peggy looked at me with a smile like I've
never seen before. "I feel wonderful – absolutely wonderful. As to regrets,
remember I was the one asking. Maybe you are having regrets?" I just smiled
and looked down and after giving her a kiss on her lips replied "Just one."
Peggy got a startled look on her face. "What!" "I regret we hadn't connected
before this." I said with a smile. Peggy reached up and pulled me down and
gave me a huge kiss.

We both needed to get to work so I suggested she go and have a shower first.
"I want you to shower with me." she said. "Okay, but just showering, no
hanky-panky." I said in the sternest voice I could manage. She looked at me
with a grin. "Well maybe a teeny bit of hanky-panky." I said with a grin back
and off we went to shower.

My coffee maker is set to come on automatically so the coffee was ready when
we got in to the kitchen. I made us some toast while Peggy finished setting
the table. "I thought long and hard about bringing my overnight case with me
yesterday. I was terrified that you'd think I was being too... too forward I
guess. I was terrified that you'd tell me to leave and I just couldn't bear
the thought of losing you." I smiled. "I need you to know that I've had a few
'one night stands' over the years but you are the first woman that I've ever
made love to in this home. I want that to happen as often as you want it – for
ever and ever." Peggy came over and gave me another big kiss. "Oh David, I'm
so happy." We finished breakfast and as we were walking to our cars I turned
to Peggy and asked "Are you coming over again tonight?" "You betcha. I have to
go back to my apartment though and get some more clothes. I only brought
enough for one night." I reached into my pocked and pulled out a key and
offered it to her. Peggy looked at the key then at me then at the key again.
Her face lit up, she took the key and gave me one more kiss.

That was the start of our romance and our life together. It became obvious
very quickly to our co-workers that something had happened and once we were
both seen coming to work in only one car, everyone knew we'd become a couple.
The next weekend we went to Peggy's apartment and moved her stuff out. Since
it was on such short notice and to make sure there were no hard feelings
(Peggy's roommate worked with her) I offered to pay one more months share.
Peggy's roommate, Sara, was so happy for us that she refused. She gave both of
us a big hug and told us to go and be happy. As an aside, Sara was Peggy's
bridesmaid at our wedding.