Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter Six



   After dinner, Ronni did indeed roll me out into the evening air as the
temperature cooled and the shadows lengthened.  A trip up the sidewalk got
me several conversations with the neighbors.  My accident was the biggest
event the block had seen in years.  As far as anyone knew, I was messed up
worse than I really was, and I guess that Ronni and Rena had been remiss in
publicizing my actual (in my mind) rapid recovery.

   This made for happy conversations with the neighbors, a couple of whom
had heard rumors that I was either paralyzed or lost a leg.  Finding me
being pushed up the sidewalk by Ronni, wiggling my toes in the sunshine
dispelled the rumors.  She rolled me back on my front porch and together we
held audience for a while before it was time for us to go back inside.

   That was dusk.  Once inside, she gave me kisses.

   "Just makin' up for not being able to kiss you out in public... yet!"
she smiled.  "so what'd you think about our talk with Mom and Dad?"

   "I think that deep down inside, your Dad wishes you were older or maybe
I was younger, but I think he's okay with it.  You mom seems a hundred
percent on our side, though."

   "Kinda what I thought, too," she said.  "I need to go talk to him for a
while, that's all.  Your sister is coming over this evening to visit you
anyway, so that'll give me time."

   "I'm not totally helpless, baby," I said.  "You can leave me for a
little while.  My only problem is getting to the bathroom."

   "I know, babe," she said.  "But I'm not leaving you alone if I don't
need to, so when she gets here, I'll go for a while.  You might want to
talk to her about us anyway."

   "You're right.  I need to break the news.  But I'd rather do that when
you're here."

   "And don't let her bathe you.  I get to do that, okay?"

   "Okay, sweetie.  I definitely need a bath.  And a shave."

   She grinned.  "Yeah.  A shave.  BOTH ends."

   "Uh..." I was thinking of how delicately I performed the shaving of my
pubic regions.  I wasn't sure that I was ready to give that operation over
to somebody else, no matter how much they loved me.

   "Uh, nothing!  I will be VERY careful.  You're getting hairy.  And I got
used to it being shaved."

   "Okay... I guess you're my future wife.  I need to trust you."

   "Yes you do, love," she affirmed.  "I'll be VERY careful.  It's MY toy,
too, you know."

   We were both laughing at that idea, our foreheads touching, when we
heard a car door slam in the driveway, then two voices.  That would be Deb
and her husband Terry.  Ronni was opening the front door when they stepped
onto the porch.

   "Hi, Mizz Deb.  Mister Terry!  Come in!" she chirped.

   The two of them came and greeted me and then Terry announced that he had
to go to the store, so he was leaving Deb for a while.

   "Well, thanks for dropping her off, bud," I said.

   "I hate to run," Terry said, "but we got a toilet that's runnin' and
guess who gets to fix it?"

   "I know what you mean.  Do what you gotta do.  You can buy me off with
some of your barbecued ribs later."

   He grinned.  "Yeah, we can do that.  See ya!" The door closed.

   Deb's turn.  "She looks happy.  You look happy.  What's up?"

   Ronni knelt at the arm of the recliner and wrapped her hands around the
bicep of my right arm, leaning her head on my shoulder.

   Deb's eyebrow raised.  This was an obvious display on Ronni's part and
Deb picked up on it.  "You two..."

   Ronni smiled.

   "Deb," I said, "remember when we were in the hospital and you thought
that you could see something about how Ronni felt about me?"

   Her eyes shifted back and forth between me and Ronni.  "Yeah, I
remember..." she said warily.

   "Well," I said.  "It's true.  Ronni does love me.  And better yet, I
love her.  I have for years.  And best of all, we've decided to get
married."

   "No shit!" Deb blurted.  "But you're almost forty.  And Ronni..."

   "I'm seventeen.  I'll be eighteen in a month."

   "That's..."

   Ronni stepped in.  "Mizz Deb, I've loved your brother for years.  It
might've been a silly little girl thing when it started, but it hasn't been
for a long time."

   "I can accept that, sweetie," Deb answered.  "But Dave's got two nieces
your age.  You know 'em.  Ya'll go to school together."

   "Yes ma'am," Ronni stated.  "And they're good kids.  And so am I.  I
don't party.  I don't run the roads.  I am doing great in school.  And I
know what a good marriage looks like.  Mom and Dad have one." She paused.
"I watched."

   Deb drilled onward.  "That's good, baby.  But when you graduate from
high school, he's gonna be forty.  Do you want a forty year old husband
when you're eighteen?"

   "Mizz Deb," Ronni countered, "Other than the occasional run-in with a
pickup truck, he's healthy.  I figure he's gonna make eighty, easy.  That's
gonna give me forty good years with 'im.  You an' I both know marriages
that didn't make a tenth that."

   "That's the point, Ronni," Deb said.  "I was here when that happened. 
He went to pieces.  I don't want that to happen to 'im again."

   I started to say something but Ronni's fingers gripped my arm.

   "Mizz Deb, I was here too.  I was ten.  And I remember.  He was the nice
guy next door who set up a kiddie pool for his little girl an' let me play
in it, and he came to my birthday party and did rope tricks, and he was the
best adult I knew besides Mom and Dad an' when he was messed up when Lisa
left, I told Mom and Dad that I'd go be his wife so he wouldn't be so sad."

   Deb sucked in a sharp breath upon hearing that confession.

   "Mom explained to me why that wouldn't work because there were things I
didn't understand when I was ten, but I tried to be his friend anyway.  And
he's been there when Dad was out of town, and he's been MY friend, too, and
he's been my tutor and that's why I do so well in school." She paused,
staring at Deb.  "So is it okay if I love him?  For real?"

   "Deb?" I questioned.  Deb's face was priceless.

   "Ronni, if you want him, and he wants you, I think it's a good thing,
then.  Have you told your mom and dad?"

   "We had the discussion earlier today, Deb," I said.

   "Must've not been as bad as I would've imagined.  You're still in one
piece." Deb said.

   "Mom and Dad are good with it, Mizz Deb," Ronni added.

   "Well, Ronni, you can drop the "Mizz Deb" thing.  You're gonna be my
sister-in-law..." She sighed.  "So!  When?"

   I looked at Ronni.  "Soon.  When I can stand up."

   Deb's eyebrow raised.  "Wedding?  The whole "princess for a day" thing?"

   Ronni fielded that one.  "No way.  Friends.  Family.  Me.  Dave.  He can
wear his good suit.  I'll wear a dress.  It might be white, but I'll buy it
off the rack at Penney's or something.  And it might all take place in our
back yard."

   "She's practical, Dave.  But then I already saw some of that."

   "Yeah," I said.  "She's a keeper." I got a little kiss for that comment.

   "I need to go to the house for a while, baby," Ronni said, standing. 
"Mizz... uh... sorry.  Deb's here for a while.  You'll be okay."

   Deb caught her for a hug before she got out the door.  The door closed.

   Deb hit first.  "Dave, are you SURE?  She's such a sweet kid... but
SEVENTEEN?!?!?"

   "Deb, I am sure.  I watched her grow.  The last couple of years, as she
matured into a young lady, I prayed that time would warp and I could go
back and find her.  I never came on to her the whole time I chauffeured and
chaperoned and coached.  I just watched, and shared and helped.  And
wished."

   "And the whole time, she was doin' the same thing, in the opposite
direction.  That's something!"

   Deb smiled.  "Maybe you ARE doing something right."

   "I think so," I said.  "My heart says so."

   "No kids, Dave.  Remember?" Deb knew about my vasectomy.  "How's that
gonna work?"

   "We talked.  She says we can borrow kids anywhere.  Or adopt.  Deb, the
girl wants ME.  It feels good."

   Car lights flashing in the window told us that Terry was back.  He came
in the front door.

   "Babe," Deb said, "You ain't gonna believe this news..." And she told
him.

   Terry shook his head.  "I've seen stranger shit than that, Dave.  Deb
says that girl's been by your side every day since the accident.  That says
something to me.  Either you pay well, or she's crazy.  And love counts as
crazy, right babe?" And he gave Deb a peck on the cheek.  "When's the
wedding?"

   "The future Mrs.  Johnson says as soon as I can walk."

   "You're not doing that big wedding thing, are you?" I knew that Terry
was thinking of his own two daughters when he asked that question.

   "Nope.  She says friends and family and a back yard."

   "Good," he said.  "Maybe my girls will get a clue."

   "One can only hope," I said.

   "Yeah," Deb chimed in.  "You oughtta be happy they wanna get married at
all."

   "That's not what I meant," I laughed, "but it's a good thought."

   We continued talking and laughing for another half-hour before the
footsteps at the door announced my Ronni's return.  She walked right in.

   "Oh, hi, Mister Terry," she chirped.

   "Babe," Deb said, "You just as well call him just Terry, too, since he's
gonna be your brother in law."

   "Oh, so he knows too, now?" She smiled and came to my side, sitting on
the arm of my chair.  I slid my arm behind her, around her waist.  She
clasped my hand in hers, entwining our fingers together.  She sighed. 
"Well, good!  " She paused.  "I guess.  You're not mad are you, uh, Terry?"

   "Nope.  I wonder, though, Ronni.  How would you tell our daughters?  I
mean, they're YOUR age."

   Ronni was looking thoughtful when I turned to her.  "I think," she said,
"that I'd tell them that love comes in many forms and that what's right for
one couple may not be right for another.  And don't rush."

   Terry looked at her.  "And you're not rushing?"

   "Oh, no sir.  I've been planning this for seven years.  Dave didn't know
it.  Now he does." Her smile was sublime.

   "You planned this for seven years?  How?" Terry was getting ready to get
the story.

   "When Mizz Lisa left Dave and he was all messed up, I told Mom and Dad
that he was my friend and I could be his wife so he wouldn't be sad.  And
now I'm gonna be." She grinned.

   "And we'll be there clapping" Terry said.  "And the girls.  Right,
babe?" he turned to Deb.

   "Yep.  That's my brother.  And my new sister.  You ready to go?"

   "Yeah, I guess," Terry said, standing.  "I have a broken toilet waiting
on me."

   Terry shook my hand and Deb gave me a careful hug, then Ronni escorted
them to the door, hugging both of them as they departed.  When they left,
she closed and locked the door behind her.

   "Well, news is out, Mister David Johnson.  You're gonna have a wife."

   "A bright, cute one, at that," I said.

   "I'm glad you think so, baby," she said.  "nobody's ever told me I'm
cute besides you and Mom and Dad."

   "Come here, Ron," I said.  I motioned for her to sit in my lap.

   "Can I do that without hurting you?" she questioned.

   "I think so, baby.  I need you close to me."

   She figured out a way to ease into my lap without bumping my bad leg,
and curled up against my chest.  She was tall, not lanky, but long-legged
and she felt good in my arms.  Yes, arms.  I rested my left arm on her so
the fingers of that hand could touch her as my right arm moved over her,
touching, caressing.

   "I know I'm not cute, Dave," she said.

   "Ronni, my sweetness, did I not say that I love you?"

   "Yeah, but..."

   "But what?  What's not cute?"

   "Brown hair.  Brown eyes."

   "The girl I love has hair that is alive and shiny and is a kaleidoscope
of browns and coppers and bronzes, and her eyes sparkle with laughter and
humor and intelligence."

   "My nose."

   "Is purely Ronni.  Not a carbon copy of everybody else's nose.  And it
crinkles when you grin.  And it made me smile the first time I saw your
face when you were seven."

   "My titties aren't big."

   "Ron, little one, your titties are perfect.  Look at your mom.  She
isn't big there either.  That's just a genetic fact, babe.  And your future
husband thinks YOURS are absolutely perfect.  Everything about you...
perfect.  For me." I kissed her on top of her head.  "Because I love you."

   She twisted up to land her lips against mine.  "I want you to be happy,
baby.  You've been with other women."

   "And that's all the more reason to appreciate my Ronni.  You're not
other women.  You're you.  You've been my friend for years, and if I didn't
think you would be my everything, I wouldn't have allowed this to happen,
babe.  I'm not in this to get in a seventeen year old's panties.  This is
forever stuff for me."

   She raised her face away from mine and a soft smile spread across her
face.  "Me too, Dave.  Forever." Her lips met mine for a long kiss.  It
ended with a giggle.  "I can feel that, Dave," she tittered.

   "I can't help that, babe.  It knows about you now."

   She wiggled her hip against it.  "You know, I need to bathe you tonight.
And some other things."

   "Okay.  I guess it's time, then." I recalled her promise to shave my
genital area.

   She carefully climbed off me and then pushed my wheelchair up, helping
me into it.  I sat in it next to the bed as she laid down a layer of towels
for my coming sponge bath.

   The next step was a change from the original routine, because she
stripped me completely naked now except for the cast and a bandaged set of
ribs.  She helped me into the bed and then proceeded to sponge bathe me,
rolling me onto my back, then onto my front, changing the water three
times. Finally she came back with a fresh basin of hot water, a razor, and
shaving cream.  My face was shaved quickly.  She was comfortable with it
now, and I didn't even flinch.

   She got up and changed the water and returned.  "Okay, now, just relax.
I don't hurt your face any more, do I?"

   "No, you don't, babe.  But there's more corners and protrusions.  And my
sack, you need to stretch it a little..."

   She smiled.  "We'll figure it out." And she did.  Ol' Dickey alternated
between happy hardness and frightened flaccidity.  She carefully shaved my
sack, and my pubic area, then wiped away the shaving gel and rinsed me. 
"There!" she said brightly.  "We did it.  And you're not bleeding at all.
Now was that bad?"

   "No.  And that's the first time I didn't do it myself." I laughed.  "I
must really trust you."

   She kissed me, her hand and fingers examining her handiwork.  "I'm going
to go take a shower, babe.  Let me get these towels now." She rolled me off
the towels and gathered them up, then left me lying in the bed, still
completely nude.

   I relaxed, feeling the cool air over my bare skin, listening to the
sounds of the shower, then the hair dryer, then an odd amount of water
running and other unfamiliar sounds.  And she showed back up, completely
nude herself.

   "What do you think, babe?" she giggled.

   I surveyed my little doll from the top of her head, downward.  And came
to her pubic mound.  Make that her HAIRLESS pubic mound.

   "You shaved it," I said.

   "Uh-huh.  You shave yours.  I thought I'd try it."

   "Come closer." I reached my right hand toward her.

   She pushed it against my hand.  I reveled in the soft smooth thing that
filled my palm.  "Feels sweet, baby," I said.  I tried scooting on my right
side to the edge of the bed.

   "What are you trying to do, babe?" she asked.

   "I'm trying to rub my cheek against it, sweetie," I said.  "I wanna feel
it against my face."

   "You... you've never..." she stammered.

   "Never what?" I asked.

   "You never acted like you wanted your face down there.  I mean, I do
things to YOU with my mouth, but..."

   "Okay, I have been wanting to, but I didn't want to scare you off, you
know, doing too much too soon.  Me... my mouth... there?  That's okay?"

   Her eyes twinkled.  "I wanted you to... but I heard that some guys don't
like that."

   "You get to ask, babe.  And you get to say 'no', too.  You could've told
me."

   "I was going to," she admitted, "but this whole boyfriend, then fiancée,
then sex thing, I'm still nervous."

   "It's US, baby.  We talk.  Now, can I?"

   Squeal.  And she had her mons pressed against my cheek.  I turned my
head and kissed its soft plumpness.  "Mmmmmm," I said.

   "Oh, Dave, I feel that sound all through me," she said.  Her movements
made it seem almost like I was being encouraged for something else.  My
tongue licked towards the beginning of her slit.  She sucked in a sharp
breath.  "Dave, do you WANT to do that?"

   "Oh, yes, lover.  More than anything, right now."

   "Let me see how we can do this," she giggled excitedly.

   "Straddle my chest, sweetie.  Just be careful of my ribs and my arm."

   Her careful movements were torture, not because of any pain she caused
me.  No, it was torture seeing that sweet, virginal pussy inches from my
face, but out of reach.  Her excitement was obvious as pearls of moisture
glistened between pink, puffy lips.  Finally she got close enough to reach
with my tongue and lips.  I planted a kiss.

   "Mmmmm," she purred.  "Yesssss."

   I kissed again, this time pushing the tip of my tongue just between her
lips, then tracing them from back to front.  She quivered.  Her hands
touched my head.

   "Oh, that's gooooood, baby!"

   I worked from between her lips into my mouth, savoring the musky juices
from her, then licked deeper, knowing that I was soon going to find out
what she wanted done to her clit.  I'd done her with fingertips.  I wanted
to see how she liked my tongue.  I followed her lead, letting her push her
pussy against my tongue, letting HER decide what she wanted licked.  And
she pushed her butt forward, putting my tongue solidly against a sweet
little pea, the head of her clit.

   "There!" she announced breathlessly.  "Do me THERE!" And I did.  And she
came.  Hard.  Shuddering.  Whimpering, mewing sounds.  Shaking.  I stopped,
kissing gently as she came down.

   "Are you okay, little one?" I asked.

   "No wonder Mom makes noises, baby," she sighed.  Carefully she climbed
off me and slid beside me.  My face was smeared with her love juices as she
kissed me.

   "I made you all messy, baby." She kissed me in spite of the juices. 
"It's a good thing I taste good, huh?"

   "Yes, doll.  You're delicious."

   I looked.  She had a tear sliding down her cheek.

   "Are you okay, sweetie?  You're crying."

   "Dave, I love you so much!  You bring me alive.  I always imagined...
you know, while I did things... and I was so far off of what you just did
to me..."

   I kissed her teary cheek, then her lips.  "You're that to me, too,
Ronni. You show me that my imagination failed.  You're better than that."

   She pulled the covers up and we went to sleep together, naked.

   I awoke to the delight of soft fingers exploring my dick and balls. 
"G'mornin', sweetness," I said.

   "G'mornin, babe," she purred.  "I never slept like that before."

   "Naked?" I asked.

   "That too," she giggled.  "No, you made me come my brains out.  I think
all my nerves died." Another giggle.  "We need to get you to the bathroom
and then dressed."

   She rolled out of bed, then uncovered me.  I was erect and exposed and
apparently that's a sign to Ronni that something needed sucking.  "Want me
to... you know... finish?"

   Like I was going to refuse that.  Ronni sucked me to orgasm, helped
along by morning wood.  When I'd dribbled the last of my load, she smiled
at me and kissed me.

   "Come on!  Mom's gonna be here and we're both naked."

   She helped me into my pajamas and then dressed herself in shorts and a
t-shirt.  Finally I got to the bathroom, ready to split.  She commented on
the volume.  "Sorry, babe.  I didn't mean to make you wait this long."

   She was wheeling me into the living room when Rena knocked on the door.
Ronni unlocked it to let her mom in.  "We slept late," Ronni said. 
"Yesterday was a big day, with everybody... you know."

   Rena smiled.  "So Dave, how'd your sister take the news?"

   "Surprisingly good," I said.  "She questioned our sanity, my motives,
Ronni's maturity and clarity of thought, and at the end of the
conversation, she accepted me and my bride to be."

   "Well, good!" Rena said.  "Ronni, feed your man pancakes!" she said as
she placed a plate of hotcakes on the TV tray.

   "Mommm, I could've made him pancakes." Ronni said.  "You taught me how
to cook."

   "I know, babe," Rena said.  "But you have enough to do taking care of
our favorite cripple." She giggled.

   "Well, tomorrow I'm fixing us breakfast.  I need to practice."

   "Practice what, babe?" I questioned.

   "Bein' a wife.  You know."

   "Uh-huh.  The first year you'll live on Cheerios so you can stay in bed
late, kiddo," Rena tittered.

   "Mommmmm!" Ronni feigned outrage.  I just smiled.  "Defend me, Dave!"

   "Defend you?  You get outstanding advice from your mom.  And you've
NEVER needed defending." I smiled.  "But I AM marrying you for your mind,
you know..."

   She smiled sweetly.  "I may just have other charms, baby," she said. 
"Besides my tastes in music and my excellent conversational abilities."

   "Uh-huh," Rena chuckled.  "Feed your man.  I gotta go start cooking for
your dad."

   "Okay, Mom.  But tomorrow..." Ronni said.

   "Make sure you have Cheerios, baby" Rena said, laughing as she opened
the door to leave.

   "Mommmm!" Ronni whined.

   The door closed.  "Babe," I said, "I think your mom suspects we're
having sex." I grinned.

   "You think?" she giggled.  "Doesn't count.  I'm still a virgin, you
know."

   "Yes, as a matter of fact I do know." My fingers had been there. 
Cherry. Not much of one.  But there.

   "The only thing that's been there is your fingers.  And tongue...
gahhhhh!  Your tongue!  Last night!"

   "You liked that?"

   She stepped past the TV tray and kissed me.  "The question is, did YOU
like it?"

   "I loved it.  I wanna do it again.  Does that tell you..."

   She smiled, her face close to mine.  "I think we can risk one more.  But
I'm getting close to my period, and I don't think we want to mess with
that."

   "You're sure about the period?" I asked.

   "I took my last pill this morning.  That means tomorrow..."

   "Pill?"

   "Yeah," she said.  "For my periods.  I wasn't worried about getting
pregnant, silly.  Unless it was YOU."

   "But I can't..."

   "And I really don't care, Dave.  I love YOU, not your ability to
reproduce." And she kissed me.  "So sometime today, can we..."

   "You already did me today, princess.  I owe you." I smiled and received
another kiss.

   "We're not keepin' score.  We're making each other happy THAT way!"

   "Then help me back to bed, sweetie.  I want us some time together."

   In a minute and a half I was sliding backward onto the bed.

   "Was how we did it last night okay?" she asked.

   "Yes it was, if that works for you, baby."

   "Did it EVER!" she giggled, stripping off her shorts and panties.  She
kissed me passionately, excitedly.

   "Mmmmm, babe, I love the way you kiss." My free hand ran up the inside
of her thigh and cupped her pussy.  I could feel the heat and moisture. 
"Get up here and let me taste you..."

   Squeal!  And she carefully climbed up onto my chest, positioning her
pussy inches in front of me.

   I couldn't wait.  I bent my head forward to kiss her moist labia.  I
felt her quiver, then settle herself against me.  I licked delicious
juices, delighting in the taste and smell of her excitement.  She pressed
her pussy onto my face.  My tongue penetrated and explored her hole, then
the length of her slit, reaching for her clit.  She moved it to my tongue
and hissed, "There!"

   I licked, reveling in her excitement, little quivering thrusts of her
hips as she availed herself of my tongue.

   "Nnnnngghhhh, ohhhh, babyyyyy!" One of her hands was holding onto the
headboard, the other holding my head against her as she came.  She moved
her clit out of my tongue's range and I literally drank her juices as she
enjoyed her orgasm.

   Babe, are you okay?" she asked.

   "I'm wonderful, sweetie.  Do you want to stop, or can I have some more?"

   I heard a sexy, soft giggle and she moved herself so my tongue could
find a rigid little pink pea, and I licked again.  This time her hips were
even MORE insistent and demanding.  My good arm pulled on her thigh,
drawing her to me, encouraging her that I wanted more of her.  She gave
herself to my hungry mouth, receiving pleasure in return.  With soft,
whimpering moans she crossed the line to her second orgasm, letting me lap
another round of juices as she rode the feelings, then she gingerly slid
off me.

   She showered my juice-smeared face with kisses.  "Dave, my love," she
whispered.  "You... you don't KNOW what you do to me."

   "I know that I enjoy you, little one," I answered between kisses.

   She went to the bathroom.  I heard water running, then she returned with
a face cloth and washed my face.  "I made a bigger mess this time," she
giggled.  "I sort of let myself go with it..."

   "You're supposed to, babe," I smiled.

   "Yeah, but..." she took a deep breath, "I lose consciousness.  It's too
good."

   "I'm glad you like it, baby doll.  You're delicious.  And fun!"

   She was pulling her clothes back on.  Once she was dressed, she eased me
over in the bed so there was room for her to stretch beside me, and she
joined me.  "I can't imagine EVER feeling this good, babe," she said softly
as she lay her head on my shoulder.

   "Me neither, little love," I said, kissing that sleek brown hair.  We
dozed.

   Two days after I was back at the doctor's office.  The tape on my ribs
came off, revealing irritated skin underneath.  The cast was removed and
replaced with lightweight fiberglass.  I was cautioned about putting weight
on the leg.  "Not too often, but you can start using it to get around short
distances.  And don't forget that you're still crippled." And they showed
me how to use crutches to give me a little freedom.

   Like I wanted freedom.  What I wanted was my Ronni by my side.  Deb and
Ronni both were at the doctor with me, so they got a verbatim version of my
new do's and don'ts, and and then wheelchaired me back to the car.  And we
were home.

   Deb treated Ronni a little differently today.  Acted like Ronni was more
than a helpful teen.  When we got back to the house, I got on the sofa and
Ronni snuggled in beside me.  The three of us talked for a while, and then
Deb left.

   I tapped the new cast.  "What are you gonna do when they take this thing
off babe, and I don't need Ronni to help me get around?" I asked.

   She looked at me.  "I'm gonna marry you."

   "I was hoping you'd say that," I said.  "I was worried you changed your
mind."

   "Nope.  Never.  I plan on being YOUR wife forever." Her brown eyes gazed
into mine.  "So get used to it."

   "I'll never get used to it.  Every day that I wake up and you love me, I
think I've gotten a wonderful gift."