Ferry Ride

"So what are you saying?" Nick asked.

She sat up then turned toward him before she answered.

"I...I was wondering if, well, would you maybe like to...you know...stay? Here? With me?"

Nick saw the love—and a kind of near desperation in her eyes—so he wasn't going to laugh no matter how cute she sounded. He also wasn't going to tease her and say something like, "Why, whatever do you mean?"

He just smiled at her then said, "Nothing would make me happier."

"Really? You're not just saying that?" she asked causing Nick to shake his head a bit.

"You can't be serious," he began. "I'm absolutely freaking crazy about you, Jennifer. So, yes. Really."

"Really?" she said again.

"Do you really not know that?" he told her as he put a hand on her cheek.

"I was hoping that was true because that's exactly how I feel about you," she told him as her eyes welled up with tears.

"Well, now I've told you, so..."

Nick slid to the side, stood up, then reached for her hand.

When she stood up, she was directly in front on him where he said, "So now let me show you."

It had been a very long time since any man had shown her how much he loved her, but before midnight, Nick had shown her twice, and by then she had no doubt in her mind how she felt about him. But she wasn't about to take that risk and say those words out loud. Not then, anyway. All she wanted was for him to show her again how he felt, and when she reached for him, his reaction let her know.

As much as she'd always wanted children, Jennifer was thankful there was no one there to prevent Nick from staying all night. And when he met her in the kitchen after she woke up the next morning, she'd never felt happier in her life.

"Coffee?" he asked.

Nick was wearing nothing but his underwear as Jennifer came in wearing his shirt and nothing else.

"Not yet", she told him as she sat down on his lap.

"Oh. Okay," Nick replied as she put her arms around him.

"I just want to sit here and make sure this isn't some kind of dream."

When she felt him 'stirring', Jennifer purred then said, "No, this is definitely not a dream."

"I don't know about that," Nick told her, drawing a 'what do you mean' kind of reaction.

"I've spent a lot of time dreaming about meeting the right woman," he explained. "And that day on the ferry, I thought I'd met her."

"Oh. Before her middle-aged anxieties almost ruined...sorry," she said having promised not to say that again.

"You're not middle... You're not...that," Nick told her. "But you are beautiful. And amazing. And...hot as hell!"

Nick was so hard he was almost bouncing her up and down as 'he' throbbed and pulsed.

"We should go take care of that before we do anything else, don't you think?" Jennifer told him, only partly teasing.

"Yes. I agree. That kind of swelling needs to be reduced before anything bad happens."

"As a trained professional, I know just the trick," his new girlfriend told him as she stood up and waited for him to do the same.

'He' was on the verge of blowing a hole in his underwear, the fabric of which was being stretched to such a degree that Jennifer laughed.

"That looks serious," she told him. "Come on. Let's see if I can deflate you a little."

The deflation exercise lasted for quite some time as the two of them slowly and deliciously explored each other's bodies from head to toe. By the time Jennifer finally had her first cup of coffee, she was a very contented woman.

"I do have to go to work soon," Nick told her.

"I have today off, too," Jennifer informed him. "'Too' as in I had yesterday off...as well."

Nick didn't mention the word play. He just looked at her then took her hand, and as seriously as he'd ever said anything told her, "I could get used to this."

Just as seriously, Jennifer said, "Me, too."

"You wouldn't get tired of me?" Nick asked with a smile.

"What's to get tired of? The handsome face? The gorgeous body? The uh, massive swellings?"

She was being playful again, but she was also being serious.

"But you might get tired of me," she said, her insecurities suddenly returning as she thought about getting older and looking...old to him.

"Uh-uh. No way. Never," Nick said as he pulled back onto his lap.

"Never?" she asked.

"Nope. Never."

"I like how that sounds, too," she said quietly as she laid her small hand on the left side of his strong jaw.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. In fact, I love the way that sounds."

"Love is a strong word," Nick told her as his own heart raced.

"It is, but when someone feels it; when they really, truly mean it, it's the most wonderful word in the English language."

Jennifer didn't yet know that Nick had fallen for her, too. She also couldn't know that he came very close to using that most wonderful of words to describe how he felt about her. But like her, he didn't want to risk rushing things and scaring her off, so he only said that he agreed.

Jennifer needed a shower, and even though Nick asked her to join him, she declined.

"I'd love to, but I don't want to wash you away just yet," she told him with a warm smile. And that was the truth. She wanted to spend some more time 'with him' after he left; to not only imagine being with him, but to smell him and feel him even when he was gone.

"I'll be back tonight," he reminded her.

"You better be," she replied with a happy smile.

She walked him to the door before he left, and hoping it wouldn't be misunderstood, she said as playfully as she could, "Have a good day, honey," as though it was old hat.

Nick smiled at her then said, "You're back in my life. That means the only kind of day I possibly can have is good."

They kissed for several seconds, and when he walked outside, Jennifer closed the door then stood there with her back to it and said, "I love you, Nick Jennings."

And when Nick got into the van and started it up, he looked at the house and said, "I've fallen in love with you, Jennifer Dixon."

Nick came back that evening, and after spending the next two weeks going to her place or having Jennifer come to his, he asked her to move in with him. It was fast, to be sure, but she said 'yes' without hesitation. And not paying rent was a very good thing.

******

Six months later

"Honey?" Nick said one evening after dinner.

"I was thinking about maybe going back out on the ferry. Do you maybe want do that sometime soon?"

"Sure. I'd love to," she told him.

"And I love...you," Nick said.

Jennifer had waited for him to say it first, and she'd only had to wait a few days after she moved in with him. She already knew he did, but when he said it, she allowed herself to drink in his words for a few seconds before saying it back to him.

"You better," she replied with a smile, "because I am crazy in love with you."

Both of them had the following Sunday off, so they drove back to the same terminal and took the same ferry to Vashon Island. Once they were out on the water, Nick suggested they go walk around.

He took Jennifer's hand then led her to the place where they first met.

"This is it, right?" he asked when they got there.

"Actually, it's a few feet that way," she told him with a nod to his right, knowing what he meant.

"Ah, right. I was standing here holding The Rock but you and I first met over there, huh?"

Nick walked her over to the spot then asked, "Here?"

"Yes," she said, now realizing something was going on as he waited for her to stand in front of him.

"Right here?" he asked as he pointed to the space between them.

"Uh-huh," she replied very quietly just as Nick reached into the pocket on the cargo pants he was wearing.

"Oh...my..." Jennifer said as Nick got down on one knee in that very special place after producing a small, fuzzy box.

"Jennifer? I was as sad as I'd ever been that day. I was saying goodbye to the best friend I ever had, but just moments later, I met the love of my life; the woman who's become the best and closest friend I've ever had. And having almost lost you once, I can't run the risk of ever being without you again."

He opened the box and exposed the ring he'd save for the last six months then asked her to marry him.

Jennifer's tears flowed freely as the sea breeze blew in her face causing her mascara to streak and run. But the only thing that mattered was the love of this amazing younger man she'd met at that very place.

"Yes. Of course I will marry you," she said, her voice choked with emotion, as he slid the ring on her finger. She'd taken off the ring her husband gave her shortly after moving in with Nick, but she'd never forgotten how much he'd loved her.

So as she stood there holding the man she was now engaged to, Jennifer said a kind of silent prayer to Bob.

"Honey? If you had anything to do with this, thank you. I will always love you. You know that, right?"

Whether or not he could hear her, Jennifer knew it was true. But she also knew she loved this very handsome, much-younger man who'd just asked her to be his wife, and she realized how very lucky she was to have known the love of two men; two very different men she loved in very different ways.

"What are you thinking about, sweetheart?" Nick asked her.

"Oh, just how I'm the luckiest girl alive," she told him truthfully with a smile.

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh. That's me. Your future wife."

"Well, that seems fair. After all, I'm the luckiest guy on earth," her fiancé told her just as sincerely.

Over the course of the next year, there were many new changes in their lives. The biggest, of course, was their wedding five months later. A close second was the owner of the garage business deciding to retire and sell the business. Nick had been the first person he told, and that was followed by a question.

"Would you like to take it over?"

After discussing it with Jennifer they bought the business, and it was still going full speed ahead, and Nick was now earning enough for Jennifer to quit working. But after trying for nearly a year to have a baby with no success, the couple decided it would be best to stop worrying and maybe...get a dog. And as a result, she continued to work.

After a brief amount of discussion, they knew what they wanted. A week later the happy couple brought home a yellow Labrador Retriever that had just been weaned. They named the female puppy Sasha, and by the time she was three months old, Jennifer was very aware that she was late. Not late by a few days, but almost two weeks late.

Not wanting to get Nick's (or her own) hopes up too much, she went to a doctor at the hospital to find out, and just two days later she had the answer.

"Sasha? Come here, sweetie!" Jennifer called out that evening as she and her husband were snuggled up together on the sofa.

"Good girl!" she said when their nearly-grown dog came over and sat in front of her like she'd been trained to do.

"So, Sasha. How would you like to have a little brother or sister?" Jennifer said.

The dog tilted its head, and after realizing what his wife had just said, Nick nearly knocked her over as he sat up straight.

"Wait. What are you talking about?" he asked as he looked at his beautiful wife.

"I'm talking about...our baby," she told him.

"Our...baby?" Nick asked, his eyes opened wide in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh. I just found out today. For sure."

Nick jumped up, scared Sasha enough to make her bark, then grabbed his wife, picked her up, and swung her around in a circle several times.

"Nick! Stop!" she shrieked.

Jennifer got dizzy very fast, but Nick was so happy he'd forgotten.

"Sorry! Are you okay?" he asked as though he might have somehow harmed their baby. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine, you goofball!" she told him.

"Yes. You are most definitely fine," Nick said with a smile. "And beautiful. And...

"And pregnant."

"Yes. And pregnant," he repeated as he put his hand on her cheek.

"Do you know how much I love you?" he asked.

"Yes," Jennifer Jennings replied. "I do. And I love you just as much."

"Honey?" Nick said.

"Yes?"

"I am so glad you made the appointment for an estimate."

Jennifer laughed when she recalled Arthur, who was still there and working for her husband, stopping up her apartment with no garage.

"I was SO disappointed when you didn't show up," she admitted.

"I showed up later that evening, though," he reminded her.

Jennifer put her arms around her husband, smiled, then said, "Yes, you did."

She kissed him then reminded him that had he not taken the ferry to Vashon Island that very day, none of this would have ever happened.

"Right. The ferry ride," Nick mused. "Thank God for ferry rides, huh?"

"Yes indeed," Jennifer told him before suggesting they go make really, really sure she was pregnant.

Nick raised his eyebrows and tilted his head just like Sasha, and when Jennifer laughed and told him how much she loved him, Sasha barked and followed them to the bedroom.

"Uh-uh," Jennifer said as she closed the door on the dog they both loved. "Daddy is all mine for awhile, okay?"

When Sasha barked again, she and Nick both laughed as he held her from behind and told her again that she'd made him the happiest man alive before slowly undressing her and making love to the most amazing woman he'd ever met.