Life Is Too Short Ch. 04

"Wow, that's a lot of thoughts. I always assumed that I had the franchise on overthinking."

She was chuckling, thank God. She wasn't mad, offended or put off--but laughing.

"So you think guys like me are simple minded. Ugh. You female. Got boobs. Want sex."

"Is that what you want, a little booty?"

Good. She was still smiling.

"Allie, I love you. I mean, I've always loved you as a friend, but I'm in love with you. I ache for you and I can't stop thinking about you. I miss our cuddle-time every evening because it was the most fulfilling time of my day. I want to be touching you all the time just letting you know I love you. I want to wake up next to you every morning. Spend every night in our bed doing what lovers do. I want to spend my life with you."

"So, is a little booty okay?"

I laughed at her. "I want the booty and everything else attached. I want you, Allie."

"Well, in case you haven't figured it out, I'm ready. And, Ted, I'm madly in love with you, too!"

"Oh, wow! You mean...really?" I thought I was going to hyperventilate from excitement.

"Really. And, did I hear a hidden marriage proposal in your little rant?"

"Let me be clear. Allie, my love, will you marry me?"

"Ring shopping tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah. And a quick wedding. Life is too short to waste any more time not being married to the most amazing woman I've ever met."

"What about Marci?"

"I guess I'm too transparent. She knew how I felt about you, and told me to get my butt in here and tell you how madly in love I am with you. What about Lenny?"

"We're just friends. He knows there's nothing more."

She slowly started to walk around the kitchen island toward me. "So, we're engaged?"

"Absolutely."

"You're not gonna change your mind?"

"Never."

She kept slowly walking to me with a huge smile, and slowly started peeling off her blouse, then every other stitch of clothing she had on. "Then my answer is a definite yes. Let's go try out that shower playroom you've built, and then seal our love with kisses and lots of other fun stuff."

I just stared at her. She was incredibly beautiful. Her skin was smooth and she looked twenty or more years younger than I knew her to be. I had a sudden feeling of unworthiness.

"Allie, I... wow!"

"What?"

"There's some gorgeous thirty-year-old woman roaming around looking for her body. You are... wow!"

"I'm glad you like, but you're definitely overdressed. Wipe the drool off your face, come kiss me, and let's get to the shower. I feel like a dirty girl."

Yes, we did what you think we did, but the details stay with Allie and me. Being with her felt more natural than breathing. Even though I hadn't been with very many women, I thought I was pretty well versed in the art of making love. Well, Allie taught me some new... uh, sorry. Not gonna go there.

Epilogue

We decided on a big, but quick wedding. Since all our friends and most of our family went to the same church, we worked it out with the pastor to hold a brief ceremony three weeks after our engagement. The wedding would be Sunday morning right in the church when the main service was over, and then all worshippers were invited for a reception party afterwards. We announced it in the services over the several previous weeks so folks would be prepared.

I contracted with a company that specialized in pig roasts. The chefs set up pits in the parking lot on Saturday, and stayed up all night while the little piggies cooked to perfection. The church held 250 and we would have some family coming in, so I ordered "the works" for 400 people to be sure we had enough with lots of extra. I arranged for a local homeless shelter to pick up the leftovers at 3:00 in the afternoon. We never counted, but we estimated that about 225 people happily stuffed themselves as they joined the celebration.

After we ate, I was walking about and visiting guests when I came upon my old competitor, Lenny.

"Hey, Lenny. Thanks for joining us today. I feel a little guilty for stealing your girl."

He exploded into a huge belly laugh.

"My pleasure, Ted. Allie and I have always been just friends. I'm smart enough to know that a troll like me has no shot at a beautiful woman like Allie."

"Don't put yourself down, my friend. I'm somewhat of a troll myself."

"If you say so. But I know for sure that that woman is madly in love with you, and your feelings for her aren't very transparent either."

I looked over his shoulder and saw my darling wife smirking at me. I guess love was a hard secret to keep.

We honeymooned in Costa Rica, and had a great time hiking, skiing, zip-lining, and... you know... doing honeymoon stuff. Later in the year we took a month to tour Asia, with stops at the Great Wall, Singapore, and Japan. I do love Asian cuisine! Our plan going forward was to take two major trips every year, with as many smaller ones as we could fit in.

We also made our first annual family trip to Disney World. We hosted Kelsi, Bret, Pam, Bret Jr., and Allie's kids and grandkids. It was ten days of heaven and, at times, a little bit of hell, but I loved it and was anxious for next year's trip when Junior was a little older.

It didn't take long to sell Allie's place and my new house truly became our home. Allie added all the touches that made it even more special. The shower room is our favorite by far. She rides her new bike with me every morning, and then we always hit the showers for play time. I have a strong recommendation for anyone considering a similar room: point-of-use hot water heaters. You can spend hours under the relaxing streams with the love of your life while having good, clean fun.

I may have been teasing when I told Dave that Allie and I would spend his retirement money, but that's just what we were doing. I had no idea the amount of loot he had accumulated, so the pole building three car garage was built and I'm starting to fill it up. I bought a metallic-blue 1956 Ford F100 resto-mod that was completely restored. It's joined in my garage by a 1968 Camaro that was a barn-find in rough shape. Bret and I have started the enjoyable project of restoring it.

I'm still looking for the boat I want, but I have space for it. I put the boat on hold because I've been spending my time and energy on a more important project. After lots of research and more money than I expected to spend, I found Allie's dad's Boss 302 and managed to buy it. It took five months to secretly have it put in excellent driver condition with an all new suspension, a new disc brake system, and a complete rebuild of the engine. I surprised her with it on our first anniversary. Again, I won't say what she did to express her appreciation, but this smile will be on my face for many years.

So, my life no longer sucks. I always thought that the opposite of suck was blow, but that doesn't work to describe things now. Let me just say that Allie and I are enjoying each and every day together. We're healthy, happy, and active. We both are fully aware that life is too short to take for granted and we choose to live each day to the fullest.

Time is flying as it should. Hallelujah!