The First Ninety Days Ch. 09

"Oh!" said Meredith. "Right. It's time to go already. My goodness, look at the time!" She bustled into the bedroom to retrieve her sleeping infant.

"Uhh..." said Caitlyn, who knew that Jon had meant nothing of the sort.

"No, no, it's all right, we totally understand," said Christa with an indispensable grin. "You're an adult now, Caitlyn, fully an adult. There's absolutely nothing wrong with, uh, celebrating that adultness."

"She's notfully an adult," Brandon said. "She isn't twenty-five. She can't rent a car yet."

"...And, that's important because...?" said Christa, pausing from gathering up the cake tray to give him a perplexed look.

"Well, it's important if you broke the car you own!" Brandon said.

"Ignore this moron over here," said Christa. "You're an adult now, in every sense of the—"

"Besides, can't you still rent a car, they just charge you extra?" Zach asked, shouldering his backpack of stuff. Brandon was gathering up the baby bag. Meredith came scooting out, grabbing a misplaced pacifier as she did.

"Okay, you guys, we're off," she said. "Enjoy the rest of your night. And, again, happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!" the others echoed. And then the door closed.

Caitlyn sat up to look Jon in the eye. "Uhh," she said again. Aside from a few balloons and the banner hanging from the ceiling, dripping ribbons, there was no proof that anyone had even been here.

"I, uh... I dunno," Jon said. He'd never seen anyone get packed up and leave within a minute, much less a gang of four with a yearling child. All in all, he was kind of impressed.

"Did you set that up with them or something?" she said.

"No," he said. "I didn't... The thought never occurred to me. Actually, I had totally forgotten to say anything about early bedtimes atall, we were just lucky that Christa and Zach thought ahead." He was telling the truth, but he had a hunch his wife didn't believe him.

"But it's worked out conveniently, hasn't it," said Caitlyn, giving him a look. "One would almost think it wasyour birthday instead of mine." Jon felt a moment of freezing panic, that she actually was offended—but then she grinned, a great teasing smile, and his heart beat again.

"Well... Look, Caitlyn. So what if Idid arrange a, what, a private 'go home and let us have sex' signal. I wouldn't've given it until you were done with the party anyway—youknow that. And, if it turned out that you weren't in the mood or something—" (Which I think is the case.) "—then... Then we wouldn't do anything. Nobody's forcing you to do anything here. Not them, and certainly not me. It'syour birthday. You. Everything is about you today."

"Even you getting a new job?" said Caitlyn, though she sounded more perplexed than suspicious.

"Yes, even me getting a new job," Jon said. "Caitlyn, everything I am is about you. Every day when I wake up, when I go to work, when I come home. You. I have the most beautiful, most wonderful, most precious woman in the world, right here in my arms... And it's my responsibility to make all her dreams come true. If you think I don't take that seriously... Well, I wonder why you married me, then. It certainly wasn't because of my skills as a lover."

He was serious, but she smiled. "No, but you aren't bad in that department either."

"Well," he said, and tried not to look smug.

"Anyway," she said, hitching up a little further so her chin was closer to his. "It seems to me that we have a couple hours before you really have to be asleep... And an apartment that, quite suddenly, is empty of guests. Just a husband and wife... Just you and me." Her eyes twinkled with a smile. "What do you think we should do in the meantime?"

"Hmm. Maybe if we, uh, consider the options, something will... Come up?"

She rolled her eyes. "How'd I know you were going to say that."

"Race you to the bed," he said. "Last one there has to do unmentionable things to the other person's unmentionable parts."

She tilted her head. "You do realize that, since I'm lying on top of you, you're a lot more likely to be last."

He tried not to smirk. "The thought had occurred to me."

She grinned. "You're on."

She did, in fact, beat him to the bed. Neither of them had any cause to complain.