Rebecca Anne Stewart's

~Hot Crossings~

by Becky Stewart & RickkiB

With thanks to Jenna Hitch and Bob A.

 

~Part: #38 "And So Merry Christmas."~

~[]~

 

Bob looked down at the peaceful sleeping bundle that occupied only the smallest portion of the large bed that they shared. He debated just letting her sleep, while he ever so carefully stroked a satin covered thigh, so as to not wake her up, but the boy in him would not allow him to let her sleep in anymore because it was Christmas morning. Then he had a thought. It seemed like the perfect idea. "Of course!" He Thought. "It will be perfect. I am going to make the morning coffee and surprise my sweet Becky with a hot cup of tea in bed when I wake her up. She'll love it!"

The large man ever so carefully slid out from under the warmth of the thick comforter that all but smothered the bed in a sea of thick goose down. It was the perfect protection from the cool grey Vancouver winter mornings, as long as you were inside of course. He slipped into his robe by habit now. Something Becky had started him on when they first got together. He had rarely ever used one before she came along, and Bob smiled at the thought of how this ray of sunshine had changed and improved his empty existence when she sailed into his heart. He was hoping that today he would find the words to proclaim his love for her, and not mess it by stumbling over them like a shy schoolboy.

"I know!" The billionaire decided. "I'll rehearse my speech one more time in the kitchen. That way it will be perfect when I tell her in person! Robert, you are a genius!"

The somewhat lost man fumbled about as he slowly, but quietly found everything he was looking for. He went to grind the beans in the coffee grinder, and upon hearing the racket that they created, stopped, and wrapped a towel around the little machine so that the sound would not escape the kitchen and spoil his surprise. While the coffee was brewing he waited by the gas range waiting for the kettle to boil. "Now is a good time to practice." He thought.

"Becky," He started out. "Ever since that day we met on the ferry, we have been inseparable. I have found that I want to spend each and every waking moment with you. When I am not with you I feel almost incomplete, like a part of me was missing." He stopped abruptly and chastised himself. "That sounds corny like something out of a cheesy movie." He decided. "Let's try this again."

"You make me want to be with you all the time, and when we are away from each other I long to be back beside you. You bring such joy into my life, I want to share it with you for the rest of my time." The big man smiled, as he reached over to turn off the bubbling kettle. "I like that part." He thought.

"I know that even to think about marriage for either of us right now would be ludicrous, but I want you to know that I want to spend all of my time with you in your company. Maybe when all of this is over we can discuss marriage, and maybe even adopting a couple of kids and raise a family. I just want you to know that I love you, and I want to make sure that we stay together." " N o! That's wrong!" " I see us being together for the rest of our days, and I just wanted you to know that." Bob smiled he finally got it right. "Perfect!" He exclaimed aloud to what he thought was an empty room.

"I thought so to." The tiny voice said from its hiding place by the kitchen door.

The big man turned on a dime to see who had caught him making a fool of himself talking to mid air. "Becky! I was, ahh, I was…"

"You were being perfect in every way." She smiled as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

It was hard to tell who was moving the fastest towards each other, but somehow they managed to collide in the middle of the room as a frenzy of self-proclaimed love erupted from both of them. They both tried to tell each other how much they loved each other and how scared they were that they would frighten the other away.

"I was trying t…"

"Shut up, you fool. Kiss me."

Bob definitely obliged her. And after that, he kissed her again, and again. When they finally tore themselves apart from each other Bob got an idea. He went rushing out of the kitchen and down the hall to the 'pink pleasure palace' to waken his friend.

"Martin! Martin! Wake up! I need you right now!"

The gentle giant thinking that something was amiss instantly went into bodyguard mode and leapt from his bed. Finding the first available object as to inflict damage on whatever the treat may be, he grabbed his three 'D' cell 'Maglite' from its resting position next to the bed, and threw open the door to the room.

"Martin. I need the ring!" Bob explained.

"What?" The confused bodyguard asked.

"The ring, you know the engagement ring I told you to hold on to for me, so that Becky wouldn't find it. I need it. Now!"

Martin shook his head. There was no threat, just his friend and employer in a panic about something. "Just hold on a sec, will ya?" the giant replied as he ambled back into the bedroom. He went over to the large walk in closet and reached above the header of the door and extracted a small plastic bag that he had pegged there with the help of a nail and hammer a week or so ago. He carefully tossed the bag and its contents towards Bob with a "here, catch."

The smiling soon to be engaged man to be, simply thanked his friend, and ran back down the hall to his soon to be betrothed sweetheart.

Becky was just pouring her tea, and had already set Bob's coffee on one of the placemats on the bistro table when Bob slid back in the door of the kitchen. Quite out of breath from his over enthusiastic run, he panted slightly as her held onto the counter for support. "Becky", he wheezed, "I have something I want to tell you. This is not exactly how I wanted to do it, but I may as well go ahead now that the cat is out of the bag."

He walked over to where his love was standing looking at him recovering from his short sprint. He got down on one knee and opened up the small blue velvet box that he held in his shaking hands and began his speech again.

"I don't know how much you heard of what I was practicing to say to you, so bear with me and I'll try and get it right this time."

Close to crying Becky had a smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear, she had a very good idea what Bob was about to tell her, but she wanted to hear it again in full. She could not help her eyes from training down on the contents of the velvet ring box. She gasped at the sight of a solitary diamond that seemed to radiate light back from any source that contacted it.

"Becky." He began, as he cleared his throat. "I know that there is a lot of things that need to be dealt with before what I propose, I mean before what I want to do. I mean before we can do this." Bob knew he was making 'a balls up' of his well rehearsed speech. Angered at himself at the amount of mistakes he was making, he decided to cut to the quick. "Oh hell!" He cried in frustration. "Becky, will you marry me?"

With tears streaming down her face, she closed her eyes, sniffed and shook her head yes. After clearing her throat she finally found her voice and verbally confirmed her answer. "Yes." She timidly responded. Then "Yes." With a bit more resolve. "Yes," with a bit assurance. "Yes, yes, yes!" She almost shouted, as she bowled Bob over attacking him in a giant embrace.

When Martin was finally dressed and came thru the kitchen door to see what the emergency was, he noticed the pair of love struck lovers rolling around on the cold Italian tile floor. He carefully back peddled back out the door, and decided to wait in the parlour until he thought it would be safe to enter.

Feeling the coolness finally creep in from the hard floor, Bob pulled Becky to her feet and quickly slid the two and a half caret rock onto the ring finger of her left hand.

"Oh my God!" She squealed when she noticed the size of it. "Bob, it's monstrous!"

"You don't like it?" He pouted.

"Oh, I do. It's gorgeous."

"I had it cut specially for you. I picked the stone myself and had a jeweller mount it in a custom made setting. It's the only one like it in the entire world"

"Thank you." She sobbed again. "I am so lucky. I just, I, oh Bob, I love you." She cried as she soaked the shoulder of his satin lounging robe.

The happy man held her tight, promising that he loved her as well, and that he would never let her go. In the next few moments he also promised her that she would never want for another thing and that he would do anything she desired, just so he could be with her forever.

After many minutes of sitting trying to not listen to the goings on in the kitchen, Martin decided that now would be a good time to get a cup of coffee. It had been almost half an hour since Bob had pried him away from his dream, and the man wanted a big cup of java as some sort of compensation. "Is it safe to come in there now?" He yelled from the other side of the door.

"Yes Martin, its safe to come in here." Bob sarcastically replied.

"Are you sure now." He teased back. "I wouldn't want to come in there and see you two doing the horizontal mambo or something."

"No we are all finished for now, just mind the wet spot on the tile will you." Bob joked back. This earned him a large hit in the shoulder, the first of many as a taken man.

"Robert!" Becky yelled in playful disgust. "That's crude!"

"And not to mention vulgar." Martin added.

"Merry Christmas Martin." Becky greeted, as she gave him a big hug.

"So let me see what it looks like on your finger?" The giant asked.

Becky most enthusiastically complied. She held out her left hand and beamed as the large man rained down praises on such a lovely sight. "And the rings looks pretty sharp too." He added.

Becky went into the living room, plugged in the lights on the Christmas tree, and lit a scented candle by the bookcases. She then returned to the kitchen to finish her tea, and wait with the Martin and Bob for Sara to arrive.

While they were waiting, Becky had Martin make some orange juice and she took a bacon and mushroom quiche, that she had made the day before, out of the fridge and turned the oven on. She then excused herself and dashed into the bedroom to throw some clothes on while the 'egg pie' was warming up. Reluctantly she slid the ring off her finger and carefully sat it on the counter, well away from the ensuite sink. She smiled as she removed her jammies and quickly gave herself a PTA wash. She would have a shower after they had opened their presents and breakfast was over with, but for now she would content herself with a quick wash. She threw on the minimum of make up, carefully pulled back the hair of her wig, so that it at least looked presentable, should someone take her picture, and wiggled her way into her Santa helpers outfit, minus the long skirt this time. She smiled as she admired herself in the mirror. "Pip and I must have been quite the sight when we wore these outfits at the hospital." She giggled. Sitting at the bed she pulled on her knee length leather boots and fixed the fur-trimmed hat on her head. Walking thru a thick cloud of her favourite perfume she smiled at the sight she now presented. She slathered on three coats of bright red lipstick and tucked the tube away in her 'utility belt' for future use. She then slinked her way back out into the living room to all the oohs, and ahhhs to the male inhabitants.

"To hell with opening presents." Bob declared. "Martin tell Sara to go ahead with out us, we're gonna be busy for a while." He announced as he sprang from the love seat and began to hunt down his prey.

Becky giggled and allowed the predator to get close to her before she stopped him dead in his tracks. She then whispered something in his ear, kissed him on the cheek, leaving a perfect set of lips behind and walked away to go check on breakfast.

The hunter quickly followed his prey into the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder to see Bob lurking about smiling at her whenever he could get her attention.

"Well if you are going to hang about, you might as well help. In that cupboard over there," she indicated by pointing at the bottom enclosure next to the stove, "is a waffle iron, get it out and set it on the counter. Then get me out some eggs, milk, and the container of flour in the cupboard by the fridge. Also, there is a little bottle of vanilla in the spice cupboard too, please. If you don't mind." Then remembering one last item she added. "Oh, and there's a unopened pound of unsalted butter in the dairy compartment, I'll need that as well."

Shortly afterwards Sara appeared on the scene. Becky shooed Bob away telling him to go shower and get dressed, Sara and her would get breakfast on the go. As Bob left to inform Martin of the plans he heard a large scream from the kitchen.

"Oh my God! Look at the size of that thing! Oh Becky, it's beautiful. How come I can't snag someone to buy me jewellery like that? You know, I would almost try and be straight, if a man were to buy me gifts like that. Well maybe not entirely straight, but I'd sure let him think I was." She laughed.

Soon the pair had breakfast on the table. Becky had set the table using a poinsettia motif. She sliced up the quiche and called the boys to the table. Sara set down a large plate of bangers that she had been able to acquire from a small butcher she knew along Commercial Drive, who still made them in the traditional way that she had grown up with back home in Derby. Bob had uncorked a bottle of fairly nice champagne and mixed it half and half with some fresh orange juice.

Becky was the last to sit, bringing with her a bowl of fresh strawberries to top the waffles she had made. "There's whip cream, and there's maple syrup for the waffles if you like. There is also butter for them if you prefer it that way as well."

"Looks great!" Bob declared as he leaned across the table to kiss his radiating fiancée.

"After we have had breakfast, we can open presents." Becky informed everyone, in case they had somehow forgotten the plan. "Umm Coffee!" She exclaimed, jumping from her chair, as she remembered something she had forgotten. Returning with the stainless steel carafe from the coffee maker, she presented it to all who wished to partake. Martin reluctantly held out the small fine bone china cup for Becky to full. The Royal Albert cup looked out of place in the large man's meaty paws. Oh how he wished that this was a large mug with a handle that he could hook his finger thru, but he just smiled and accepted the slight inconvenience that he was being subjected to.

Finally it was time to open gifts, Becky was surprised at how restrained, and mature she was handling the whole affair this year. Usually she like a kid, the first one up, bugging everyone to get out of bed, jumping up and down and tearing into the presents as fast as possible. She played Santa this year and sat on her legs in front of the large tree. She carefully handed a present to each person one at a time, so that everyone could see what the other was getting. Bob had volunteered to play garbage man, as he picked up the torn bits of paper and abandoned ribbons and bows.

"Thank you Becky." Martin remarked as he held up charcoal and maroon coloured 'polar fleece' zipped top

"You're welcome." She replied as the flash from Sara's trusty camera went off.

When all the loot had been opened, and the debris had been stuffed into the convenient green garbage bag, Bob casually announced that there was one more present for Becky to open.

The confused woman looked under the tree, but the only thing that remained was the gaily-decorated tree skirt, that wrapped around the base.

"Look up higher." Bob directed, while he smiled at his perplexed lover.

Becky looked up at the branches of the tree, and as sure as Bob had said there stuffed in the branches of the tree about six feet from the floor was a small pink envelope addressed to her in flowing script. She nervously stood up and reached up to retrieve the gift, trying to decipher what it was as she did. Of course everyone else in the house knew what it was. They had all been a party of keeping her out of the garage for the last day and a half. Sara was convinced that she didn't suspect a thing, whenever they went out, she would volunteer to bring the Volvo around the front so Becky wouldn't have a reason to go out to the garage.

"What is it?" She asked, as she fondled the small envelope. It was obvious that there was something inside, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. Becky carefully slid open the top of the thick pink envelope, and dumped out it's contents. Wrapped in plastic was a very strange looking bit of plastic and metal.

"What is it?" She enquired again.

"What's it look like?" Bob chuckled.

"I don't know? Um, It looks like one of those key things that you put in the shopping cart at Safeway after you stick your quarter in." She shrugged.

Martin and Bob began to laugh quite loudly. They thought it pretty funny that this present would be compared to a meagre shopping cart.

Sara who was laughing, although not quite as boisterously as the men, did agree with Becky though. "It does sorta look like that doesn't it? But, it's not" She teased.

"Well what is it then?"

"Well, it's a key alright." Bob began. "But it's a very special key. It fits an only one of its kind, at present. You have the very first one made for distribution, and it's also, the very first one sold in North America."

"Oh, so what does this key fit then?"

"Um. How about I give you a hint?" Bob teased.

Becky slid in beside her lover on the chintz loveseat and began to help him along in the quality of his hints, yes hints, "Surely he didn't think he was just going to get away with just one hint did he?" She thought. "What is it?" She cooed into his ear.

Resolve not to cave after the first round, Bob stood, well actually something else was starting to stand, his ground. "Okay, one hint, and here it is. You ready?"

"Yes lover." Becky whispered into his ear, and then sucked on his lobe.

With the strength and courage of a superhero, Bob resisted the pleasurable torture that Becky was beginning to inflict upon him and stated his clue. "James Bond has one!"

Becky thought hard for a second, but could not come up with an answer. She decided it was time to up the ante. She slid in closer to him and her hand snaked under the mans knit top, and began to tease his hard little nipples. "That's not a very good hint." She pouted. "You have to give me a better one than that."

Bob bit his bottom lip, he was going to give in soon, and both Becky and he knew it. With determination he stated his next hint to her. "It's made from composite carbon fibres." As soon as he said it, he knew it was a mistake. Becky may be blonde, but she is an educated woman. She holds two degrees in Earth Sciences, and knows her stuff.

She immediately stopped teasing her victim and pulled her hand out from under his top. "It's either my own personal jet fighter or it's a car." She stated mater of factly.

"Damn! Sorry Becky's mama. I knew I said too much." Bob cursed, much to the amusement of the rest of the room's inhabitants.

"So which is it? A Harrier Jump Jet, which would be great for Vancouver traffic. Or is it the newest and latest Ferrari?"

"Neither." Bob insolently replied. "You will just have to see for yourself."

Grabbing Bob by his arm, she began to pull the large man out of his comfy seat, just like a small child would do to their parent. Sara and Martin quickly followed behind.

When Becky reached her part of the secured garage her eyes lit up as she gasped at the sight before her. Martin flicked on the overhead florescent light above the vehicle and she could now plainly see a brand new pearlized charcoal grey Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Scared to touch in case she leave fingerprints behind she bend down low and stared in awe, with her arms secure behind her back.

"Oh my god Bob. It's beautiful. Is it really mine? You bought this just for me? I mean it's really my car, not a lease, or something like that? It's my car forever and ever?"

"Yes it's your car forever and ever, if you like." Bob chuckled.

"Oh my, this must have cost a mint. I have no idea what one of these it worth, but I know they are not cheap."

"Well I can't have the future Mrs. Arnold driving around in some clunker now can I? How would it look, when you drove up to the front of the Victory Club, in an old Ford with a ding in the door?"

"I don't drive a Ford!" Becky snickered back as she was still inspecting the high performance luxury auto.

"No, you don't, but the lease on the Volvo is only for six months and you will have to give it up soon. This came up and it was one hell of a good opportunity, so I bought it for you. So what do you think?"

"Oh Bob…" Becky never finished her statement; she rushed to her fiancées arms and hugged him tight. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"So you wanna go for a ride?" He chuckled.

"Can we? I mean is it insured?"

"Oh yes it's insured. On Friday we will go down to ICBC and get all the paperwork straightened out, and I will pay for the insurance for you then. In the meantime we are covered under the dealers insurance, so lets just make sure we don't get any speeding tickets. Okay?"

Becky enthusiastically shook her head.

"Here you're gonna need this." She heard Martin say as he tossed Bob the remote for the alarm.

After several minutes of Bob explaining how the car worked and all the safety features that he could remember, Becky was finally allowed to put the key in the ignition, after she touched it to the steering consol to unlock the magnetic bypass on it. Martin was quick to open the garage door, as they all listen to the deep yet quiet purr of the 650 horsepower V12 under the cars bonnet.

Becky was giddy like a school girl as she let her hands slide across the oxblood coloured leather heated seats. She took her time adjusting the mirrors and slowly backed her new car out of its protected covering. She was thankful that Bob had thought to get her the six speed automatic, instead of the high performance manual transmission that was a lot more popular with the racing types. She could feel the urge to spring into action as she lightly touched the gas pedal. She signalled and as if she was taking her drivers test, with the instructor beside her, executed a perfect turn out into the quiet side street where they lived. She soon discovered exactly how much get up and go the finely tuned auto had as she pulled out into traffic on the much busier Fourteenth Ave. With a little squeak, she felt the impressive auto come to life, as she gave it a slight amount of gas.

Bob had decided that it might be a good idea if Becky was to go with him to Brianne Jessels and get a few lessons on the care and control of Astin Martins. He would schedule that for as soon as possible.

Not wanting to stray to far away from Martin's protection, Bob directed Becky around the block and back again. The smile was still plastered to her face as she ever so carefully guided the finely crafted machine back into its resting place.

Sara had already gone back upstairs, but Martin was there to ensure that everything was secure before the threesome returned to the master suite. As they passed thru the maple door of their apartment, Sara handed Becky the portable telephone from the parlour.

"Hello?" There was a pause for a brief second before Becky screamed, "Jayne! Oh yes. I'm fine. And you? How's the girls? Yes, yes Merry Christmas. We were just outside looking at my new car that my fiancée got me for Christmas." She then halted the conversation to her younger sister as she began to laugh. "No, no just this morning. I'll have to tell you all about it. He surprised me with a ring while he was trying to make coffee this morning."

Bob knew that this was going to be 'one of those' conversations. He guided Becky to the comfy wingback chair by the fireplace and pushed her down into the seat. He then threw a 'woobie' over her, tucking in the sides, and ensuring that her feet were covered. He leaned over and lightly kissed his love on the forehead, and was rewarded with a wink, as she paused slightly in her conversation. He then joined the others in the kitchen, where Sara had just put the kettle on.

Becky caught up on all the gossip from her sister on the island. It had been over three months now since she had seen her, when Jayne had dropped Becky off at the ferry terminal, and almost a week since she had talked to her on the phone. The younger sibling had informed Becky that everything was just fine back home. Snippet, Becky's cat had managed to take over Jayne's house, and her girls were spoiling the poor thing something terrible. She swears the cat has gained five pounds since Becky left. Jayne had also told her that the house was just fine, her husband made sure that the grass had been cut and Jayne said that she had been over a few times to weed, and just generally tidy up the several gardens that Becky had doted over. Becky gave Jayne permission for her to use Becky's car while she was here, when she found out that Jayne's old land yacht was on its last legs. "After all, someone may as well use it." Becky pointed out. "Its not like I'm going to be needing it over here in the near future. I don't think I've much more than a thousand kilometres on it since I bought it before I came over here. So you might as well use it."

Jayne had assured Becky that she would stop into Fitzsimmons and Kilpatrick, their insurance brokers and have her name added as a driver, that way if something happened Becky's driving record wouldn't get dinged for any surcharges. (Oh the joy's of government run car insurance)

The pair ended their conversation with promises to visit as soon as possible. Becky explained that her chemo had kept her pretty close to home, but maybe in a few weeks, she would pop over for a few days, and Jayne could meet Bob.

The Lady of the Manor flopped into the last unoccupied chair in the kitchen. Sara sensing a tired patient quickly examined Becky and took her pulse. After determining that her charge was a wee bit uncomfortable, she dispensed some dialaudid for her and bid her to sit and rest for a few minutes. "Better yet, why don't you go have a wee nap Luv? It's been a pretty exciting day so far, and you could use a bit of rest."

"No. I've got to get the turkey on. I'm not even sure if it's thawed out yet."

"Becky. We can put the turkey on." Bob suggested.

"Ya right!" Becky laughed. "This from the man who needs directions on how to make a cup of coffee."

"Well I'm sure we could figure it out. There must be a recipe on how to make turkey amongst all these cook books you have here.

Both Becky and Sara smiled at that one.

"Okay. I'll sit down and shut up now." The dejected Man of the House concluded.

Becky rose from her seat and kissed Bob on the cheek, before she started issuing orders. "Martin. Get me the turkey out of the fridge and put it in the sink here. While you are in there, please get the bacon and an orange."

"Yes ma'am." The giant answered as he stretched out to his full height.

"What do you want me to do?" Sara enquired.

"I'm going to need the calebrese bread out of the freezer, some red onions, some shitake mushrooms, we can use the freeze dried ones, and I'll grab a few spices here, and we should be on our way."

"What about me?" Bob asked feeling just a little left out.

"Well if you like, you can clean the bird. When Martin puts the turkey in the sink, you can open it up and begin to wash the insides, really good. Okay sweetie?"

Becky had the worker bees all sorted out, she instructed Bob on how to prepare a turkey. Soon they had it ready to go, and had her apprentice helper draping slices of bacon across the breast of the large bird. She slipped it into the preheated oven, and ordered everyone out of the kitchen, while she wiped down all the counters with bleach and a wet cloth to rid the place of any chance of salmonella poisoning. Becky had become very fastidious in her cleaning since her transplant, not that she wasn't so before. But now it was even more important. With a compromised immune system, because of the anti rejection drugs she now had to take for the rest of her days, a common cold could potentially end her life a bit more prematurely than she wanted.

Happy with a job well done, she smiled and relaxed into the love seat next to Bob. Within moments she had started to drift off. Noticing Becky's eyes having a tough time staying open, Sara ordered her to bed, for her nap.

Determined to have the last word before she complied with her nurse's orders, Becky informed everyone that they had to dress nice for dinner this evening. The conversation was meant for the male inhabitants of the room, who had somehow during the day had changed into clothes that were very casual looking. The pair of offenders looked at each other, unsure of why they were being singled out.

"What's wrong with the way we are dressed?" Bob thought. He looked over at Martin who was attired in almost an exact replica as himself, except Martin's rugby jersey was well used and definitely had seen better days. He noticed the amaturely patched holes in his friends top, and quickly made an inspection of his own well worn club colours. "Okay, so maybe we are a bit scruffy for Christmas dinner."

"Yes dear." He replied to the disappearing escorted backside of his lover. "We'll get changed in a little while." He added, as Martin shrugged in capitulation.

With hair all combed and clothes freshly pressed Bob and Martin joined the ladies for the Christmas dinner laid out before them. The turkey was done to perfection. The skin done to a medium golden brown and the meat just starting to fall away from the bone. Becky had prepared an orange and cranberry stuffing this was a big hit. Sara contributed, whipped potatoes with mayonnaise and sharp cheddar cheese in them. As requested by Bob there was a huge mound of brussel sprouts, and Becky had made glazed carrots with a touch on ginger.

The Lord of the Manor tied his best to carve the bird, as is a long standing responsibility to the senior male of the house, but finally relinquished his responsibilities to a more adapt person. Becky quickly finished off the slicing and soon had a large portion of the bird placed on the large serving platter, dark on one side, white on the other. She debated putting the 'parsons nose' on Bob's plate but after she had a small private giggle she left it on the cutting board with the rest of the carcass.

Bob did manage to uncork a special wine he had been saving for the occasion. He had hunted most every wine merchant in the lower mainland to find a few bottles of Hawthorn Creeks 2000 Gamy Blush, which had won several awards in North American and Europe. The small Okanogan winery had even taken gold at the prestigious L.A. wine show in the fall.

After everyone had admitted they had indeed eaten far too much, Becky returned from the kitchen with a large bowl of Scottish triffle, just to prove that they were wrong. Both Bob and Martin were convinced that there was no way that they could force themselves to eat another thing, after they both consumed seconds on that as well.

The Lady of the Manor, shooed everyone into the parlour and poured the entire sundry a brandy snifter of Glayva, a Scottish liqueur, that she swore would take away the stuffiness of the heavy meal they just consumed. Within minutes everyone was feeling the effects of the triptaphane from the turkey and the very smooth liqueur, as a lethargic feeling began to set in. The foursome lay in quiet bliss for several minutes before Becky announced that she was far too comfortable and had a gigantic mess to clear up in the kitchen. Sara volunteered to help over top of the snores of the men, who had both picked that convenient moment to fall asleep.

Both her and Sara returned thirty minutes later with a large pot of fresh brewed coffee and proceeded to awake the prone protectors.

Finally it was time to call it a night. Becky offered Sara a place to stay for the night, in case she was too tired to drive home, but she turned down the offer, as she said she had things she needed to get done at home. They bid their good byes to Sara. Martin escorted her to her trusty red mini, and with a promise of seeing each other in the morning the rest of the crew all retired to their own beds.

Becky softly and lazily padded her way into the kitchen. Bob was busy talking on the phone to someone, and it didn't register to her who it was until after she had swallowed some dalaudid and put the pot on for tea. She flopped down in the chair, laid her head down on her crossed arms, and slowly came awake.

"Well we had a really good time." Bob said to the phone. You should have been here it was fantastic. I took everyone up to Grouse Mountain the other day to make snow angels… Oh ya. It was a lot of fun… Oh? Ya, she's fine… Ya, she just woke up."

By now Becky's curiosity was starting to get the better of her. She had begun to wonder just who Bob was giving all her life details to.

Bob looked over at his resting sweetheart and smiled as he slowly rubber her shoulder. "Yes, yes. It finally made it. With two days to spare, the right colour and everything. It's a beautiful machine. Oh Pip, you should have seen her face. It was priceless."

At the mention of Pip's name Becky immediately returned to an upright position. "I wanna speak to Pip." She whined as best as she could.

Bob thought it was best to hand Becky the phone before she started to stamp her feet and hold her breathe. He could barely get out, "okay Becky wants to talk to you." Before she had jerked the phone from his grasp.

"Hi Pip. How are you? I missed you. How was Christmas? I wish you were here. Did you get loads of stuff? I got a new car." Were all blurted out of her mouth seconds after securing the phone to her ear.

Bob had gotten up from his seat and was making Becky's tea for her. It was the only way the kettle was about to be silenced before the bottom had melted thru. He set the teaming cup down in front of his fiancée, and continued to rub her shoulders while she droned on, and on.

Soon Martin finally got his chance to say hello. It was quite brief, considering the length of time the other two had been chatting with her. It wasn't until later on that day that Becky had informed Bob that Martin talks to Pip at least once a day, that's why he wasn't on for very long.

Later on in bed that night Becky was laying awake staring at the ceiling when her lover asked her "what's the matter?"

"Oh nothing. Just thinking."

"About?"

"Oh nothing. Just stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Bob?"

"Yes my pet." He returned. The large man had already snuggled in tight against the small woman and was doing his best to smother her with as much of his body as possible.

"What's going to happen to Sara when Pip gets back?"

"What do you mean?" He asked back, as he slowly kissed her neck.

"I mean, what is she going to do. I like her being with us, but I want Pip to stay too."

"Becky," The large man chuckled. "Sara is only on loan to us remember? She has her own job to go back to. She can't stay here and look after you all the time. That wouldn't be fair to her. She has a career to think of. I'm sure she has plans, and things she would like achieve during her working years."

"Ya, I guess, but I'm gonna miss her. I like her. She's fun. I bet Pip and her would get along great together."

Bob chuckled just a bit louder now. "Becky, Sara isn't a lost puppy. It's not like you can keep her. She has her own things to do."

"But I want to keep her." She pouted. "I like my new puppy." She continued, sticking out her bottom lip for emphasis.

Bob turned the spoiled brat over onto her front and playfully patted the upturned bottom presented before him. "It's not like she is going away tomorrow. Sara will be around for a little bit yet. So don't worry, you can still get to play with your puppy for a little while yet. Now get some sleep. It's well passed both our bedtimes."

Looking up into the large mans eyes, our heroine simply smiled, and kissed him on the cheek, much like a child would, giving Daddy a good night kiss. She giggled and then slid back down into bed, latched onto the two hundred and twenty pound teddy bear lying beside her, and fell asleep.

"Where's my shoes?" Martin yelled to nobody in particular. The giant was frantically trying to put the touches on a few last minute things before they left for the airport. He had been up until the wee hours of the night, making sure that the 'Pink Pleasure Palace' was just right for his lover's return. Now there were precious minutes left before they had to make the trek to YVR to pick up his returning girl friend.

Becky and Sara sat giggling on the loveseat watching the man run back in fort in disorganized confusion.

"What's so funny?" Bob enquired, as he observed his frantic friend.

"Martin." Sara replied. "He's like a chicken with his head cut off. Running about like that."

"Ya, he does sorta look like a couple of women I know getting ready to go out."

"I, I mean we do not look like that. That is ten times worse than I ever am."

Bob just raised one eyebrow. That was all the reply he needed to make.

"Well I'm not. Are we Sara?" Becky countered looking to her friend for confirmation.

Unsure of how to answer without lying to badly Sara replied. "Well, I don't think I have ever run around the house with one sock on and one sock off, looking for my shoes."

"Hmmm, perhaps you are right, still you two have done some pretty remarkable things in the process of getting dressed." Bob added.

"When have you ever seen Sara getting dressed?" Becky enquired. She was intently interested when this had happened.

"Ya! When did you see me getting dressed? I would like to know that as well."

Sure that he was losing ground fast; Bob decided to cut his loses and help his friend. "Martin, your shoes are in the kitchen, right where you left them after you polished them."

"Oh ya. Right. Thanks Boss."

Soon everything was just perfect, and the cherry black Mercedes was winding its way south on Oak Street on its way to the airport.

 

~[]~

~Next: #39 Happy New Year~

  

  

  

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