Migraine from Hell

She also bought a French roll to make garlic bread and a bottle of white wine that paired well with the chicken.

As to what to wear, she found what she thought was the perfect dress at a price she couldn't believe. It looked very expensive but sold for less than $50. She'd have paid 3-4 times that much for it, but getting such a good deal on it only made it sweeter.

It was a black, high-neck pencil dress with short sleeves and a very form-fitting bodycon style and a mock collar that covered most of her neck. It fell to just above her knees where there was a series of laser-cut scallops near the bottom revealing little glimpses of her very shapely legs. She picked up a pair of 3 1/2-inch open-toed shoes with ankle straps that were also in black to wear with it. The only jewelry she wore was a pair of dangling gold earrings that looked great with the dress and her blonde hair.

Bailey rarely wore a lot of makeup, but she pulled out all of the stops and by the time she was ready, her gorgeous eyes were sexy and sultry as were her soft, full lips that were painted a dark, glossy red color.

She finished getting ready just in time to put everything on the table by 6:55 knowing her doorbell would ring exactly at 7 o'clock. When it did so within a minute of their agree-upon time, she smiled as her heart raced while she walked to the door.

As to who was the more stunned person, it was hard to say as both of them stood there admiring the other.

"Wow!" Leif said as he took all of her in. "You look...hot!"

Bailey laughed nervously and thanked him while telling Leif he did, too. Men had it easy, and Leif had taken advantage of that. He put a tiny bit of product in his thick, black hair, threw on a nice looking sweater over a tee-shirt and pulled on a pair of jeans and decent jacket. He spent less than three minutes getting ready but looked just as good to Bailey as she did to him.

She hadn't seen the bouquet of roses he was holding behind his back until he handed them to her and kissed her hello.

"These are beautiful," she told him as she took a deep whiff before taking them to the kitchen.

"Something smells incredible!" Leif said as he followed her inside.

Bailey explained what it was, and if that wasn't enough, when he saw it on the table, Leif's mouth began watering.

"Is there anything you're not amazing at?" he asked, causing her to smile and her heart to beat even faster.

"It's ready if you are," she told him with a nervous laugh as she quickly trimmed the stems and put the flowers in a vase.

"I'm definitely ready, and you didn't answer my question," Leif said, a smile on his face, too.

"Sorry. I thought that was rhetorical," she told him without looking at him.

"Maybe it was," Leif said. "But so far, there's nothing about you that I haven't found to be amazing."

Bailey finally glanced at the gorgeous, younger man which only made her aware of a spreading issue she'd experienced earlier that day. It wasn't her 'time of the month' but she wore a panty liner just in case this 'thing' got out of hand, and it was already getting very close.

After a dinner that Leif described as 'orgasmic', something which caused Bailey to laugh a little too loudly, he finally asked her if she was still as concerned about his 'relative youth' as he called it.

"No. No, I'm not," she told him with a warm smile and a twinkle in her.

"May I ask what changed your mind?" a surprised Leif asked.

"I had a very nice talk with my sister, and she helped me put things in perspective."

"I uh, I think I like your sister," Leif told her as he put his arm around her.

"She wants to meet you. Soon."

"I'd like that."

"With three kids it can be intense," Bailey warned.

"Intense? That sounds like a slice of heaven to me."

"I agree as long as you don't think it's too soon," Bailey told him as she looked at him in a way that told Leif she was thinking what he was thinking.

"I don't, and on that note...is it...too soon...for...you and me to..." Leif quietly asked.

Bailey shook her head indicating it wasn't as she moved closer and offered her lips to him before he could finish asking the question. When Leif pressed his against them, she moaned softly and gave herself to him. In every way.

By 9 o'clock, they were in her bed wrapped around one another as closely as they could get.

"So now I know one more way in which you are also truly amazing," Leif told her as she looked up into his eyes.

"Speaking of amazing," a very happy and satisfied Bailey said back. "You are pretty incredible yourself."

She'd been so caught up in the lovemaking that she forgot all about his leg until just then. Leif saw her looking that way and noticed that the sheet was covering it up.

"Do you want to see it?" he asked.

"Only if you want me to," she told him as she looked back at him.

Leif slowly pulled the sheet away, and even though she was ready for it, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Leif saw her eyes tear up and told her it was okay as he pulled the sheet back over it.

"No. It's not okay," she said as she gently moved the sheet back and then touched the area that was a lifetime reminder of the worst moments of his life.

"Yes, it is," he gently said. "I'm alive. I can walk. Corporal Kevin Cooper is the one to feel sorry for. Him and his family."

"Yes. I agree, and I can't even imagine," Bailey told him as she forced herself not to start crying.

"He's buried not that far from here. In Arlington. I could take you if you..."

"Yes. Please. Please take me there, okay?" she said before he could finish his sentence.

"I'd love to. I've been there four times, and I'd go every day if I could," Leif told her.

Bailey nearly lost it when she saw tears welling up in Leif's eyes. But he blinked hard a couple of times then smiled at her.

"Since it wasn't too early for...this...is it too early to tell you I'm falling in love with you, Bailey Chandler?"

This time, Bailey lost her battle and tears began to fall.

"No. Not at all, Leif Elliot, because...I'm falling in love with you, too."

"In spite of my...tender years?" he said with a little laugh to lighten the mood.

It worked, and Bailey was able to laugh, too.

"Yes. In spite of that," she told him even as she reached for him.

When that part of his body responded to her touch, she said with a smile, "Oh. And this time, you don't need to be so tender."

The little twinkle in her eye was back and accompanied by a little grin that made Leif laugh.

"Someone likes it rough?"

"Maybe a little. Sometimes," she told him. "With the right man."

"And would that be me?" he asked—rhetorically.

"Stop talking and..."

Bailey yelped with laughter as Leif shoved her over and got on top of her.

"Tell me if it gets too rough, okay?" he said before entering her again.

She moaned loudly then promised him it couldn't.

By midnight, and a third, more gentle go at it, both of them knew this was real. And although they didn't know for sure, both of them were confident this could last a lifetime.

The following weekend, Leif took Bailey to Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery where she laid flowers at the foot of the headstone of Marine Corporal Kevin Cooper whose awards included the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

The sadness she felt was replaced with joy when, later that evening, Leif met her sister, Nate, and their three children for the first time. He was a big hit with Zoe and Molly for obvious reasons, and Nate loved that Leif loved sports almost as much as he did. And by the time they left, both boys had a serious case of hero worship for him after their Aunt Bailey told them in very general terms what her boyfriend had done in Afghanistan, and Leif liked all of them just as much.

Needless to say, Lexi was a huge hit with everyone as they took turns petting her and playing fetch with the dog in the scarlet and gold vest.

*****

Four months later, Leif asked Bailey, who'd since turned 42, to move in with him, and without hesitation she said 'yes'.

"As long as that means you move in to my place," she told him with a laugh.

"Hey! What's wrong with Sparta?" Leif asked as though he was offended at the thought of living in his very spartan bachelor pad.

"Nothing. If you're planning on a battle at Thermopylae," she told him with a laugh.

"And you know your military history!" a very impressed Leif said. "No wonder I love you so much."

Bailey put her arms around her younger lover and told him she loved him, too.

"And I will always love you," she added.

"And I you," Leif told her.

"You know what?" she said. "You haven't had a migraine since I met you."

"I know. And I've only night sweats a couple of times, and not a single nightmare, either," Leif told her.

He brushed her hair back, then said, "You're my miracle worker."

"I don't know about that, but it is kind of a miracle that we met, don't you think?"

"I agree. I guess it took the migraine from hell to cause a miracle to happen, but however it happened, I'm glad it did."

Two months later, Leif proposed to the woman he loved at the restaurant he'd planned to take her to on their first date. She agreed because she was sure this was going to be the night, and when he got down on one knee—his only good knee—Bailey began saying, "YES!" before he could say anything.

"Well, that was easy!" Leif said to the people who were watching as he slid the diamond ring on her finger.

They laughed while Leif helped his fiancé stand up so he could kiss her and tell her again how much he loved her. And that night he showed her—again—how much he loved her, and it was that very night that Bailey conceived for the first time in her life.

Bailey Elliot continued working until her eight month of pregnancy before giving notice so that she and her new husband could sell their large home and buy something more reasonable. Doing so would allow her to stay at home and raise their child, something she wanted more than the money she made.

There were many happy days since the most unlikely of events, the migraine from hell, brought them together for the first time. But by far the happiest day of their lives was the day when Bailey gave birth to a beautiful baby boy they they named Kevin Cooper Elliot for reasons no one who knew them had to ask why.