"A city in Germany?"

"What?" Jennifer asked as she withdrew from the refrigerator with the orange juice.

"Five letters, a city in Germany?" Her husband repeated without looking up from his crossword puzzle.

"A city or, city?" She asked. Jennifer normally did the puzzle and she didn’t mind when Jonathan attempted it first because even then she did most of it anyway.

Looking at the question again, "It says ‘City in Germany’.

"Stadt."

"What?" He asked looking up from the paper.

"Stadt. S-T-A-D-T." She said spelling it out for him.

"And the Wife of Jupiter?"

"Mrs. Jupiter." She offered dryly.

"Very funny."

"Jonathan why do you do this?"

He was bewildered by the question, "Do what?"

"What number are you on?"

"Twelve."

"And how many questions have you answered?"

"I answered some." He diverted.

Jennifer rolled her eyes and poured him a glass of orange juice. He set the paper down and started at his breakfast again. She took that opportunity to snatch the paper up and run over the puzzle with her eyes. "Vegas rival? Gone With The Wind star?" She asked reading over the answers he had completed.

"See."

"Darling." She dropped the paper on the counter. "I think you should probably stick to the puzzle in the TV Guide."

"You don’t know." He accused.

"What? What are talking about? Don’t know what?" She asked being quite confused.

"Mrs. Jupiter." He explained, well kind of.

"Is that a challenge Mr. Hart?" She asked sardonically.

"Tell you what, I’ll ask you any three questions from the puzzle, if you get them all right…" He paused waiting for her to name her prize.

"No more Cary Grant for the rest of the month. Movies or impersonations." She happily added.

Jonathan made a face at her before continuing, "Now, since you’re a seasoned crossword vet, and I’m not. One question, anyone you choose. Deal?"

"And if you win?"

"If I win…" he paused thinking quietly for a minute. His face brightened and a sly mile appeared. "If I win, we get a mirror over the bed."

"Jonathan!"

"What?" he asked innocently.

Jennifer pinned him with her eyes, "Choose something else."

"Hmm, let me think. I know, if I win, you have to fix Roger up with Claire. Take it or leave it."

"You’re on."

Jonathan smiled and picked up the paper. "A Tennyson poem, seven letters."

Jennifer thought about it for a minute, "Mariana." She said triumphantly.

"Lucky guess." He teased.

"Skill." She snapped back quickly.

"Descendant of Shem, six letters, starts with S."

"Semite."

"How could you know that? I don’t even know what that is." She just smiled, and he searched the paper for her third and final question. "Former name of Izmir, Turkey, six letters."

"Smyrna."

"Well, it fits. Wait a minute, how do I know that you’re not just making these up?" He accused playfully.

"What? You don’t trust me?" She teased back.

"Here." He said giving her the paper.

Jennifer took the paper, closed her eyes and brought her finger down landing on a question. "Hybrid language, six letters."

Jonathan considered it for a minute then asked, "Would the kind Lady afford me hint?"

She smiled at him lovingly, "No."

"Thanks, thanks a lot."

"P."

"What?" He asked.

"It starts with the letter P."

"Six letters you say?"

"Six letters." She confirmed.

"Pidgin?" He guessed.

"Yes." She said surprised.

"Really?" He asked, more surprised.

"Yes really." She said and started laughing and Jonathan quickly joined in.

"Am I interrupting?" Came Roger’s voice from the doorway.

"Roger."

"Hello Roger."

"Have I got some news for you two."

* * * * * *

Jonathan pulled back the covers of his temporary bed and slid between the sheets. "I still can’t believe it." Came his wife’s voice as she entered the room.

"I know what you mean." He agreed.

"Poor Liz. Imagine, her own husband." Jennifer said still in disbelief as she climbed into bed. "And all because he thought she was going to divorce him."

"Well, by turning himself in he saved Roger some trouble anyway."

"Yeah, what a swell guy." She said wryly.

"Did you just say swell?"

Jennifer waved a pointed finger at him, "Don’t you start with me." She warned teasingly.

He put his hands up in defeat, "I wouldn’t dare. Dear."

"You, Jonathan Hart, are asking for it."

A devilish smile pursed his lips, "Always."

‘I certainly set myself up for that one didn’t I?’ She thought. "Keep it up and there will be no point in asking."

He laughed, "Playing hard to get eh?" He asked as he slid closer to his wife. He propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. "What about a gift? Would that help my chances with the beautiful lady?"

She pondered it for a minute before answering, "Maybe."

Jonathan started to roll away, "Well in that case…"

Jennifer grabbed him and tried to pull him back. "Jonathan Hart, you get back here right now."

He rolled back over to face her. "I want a sure thing or no deal."

"Mr. Hart, I can assure that I have never been a ‘sure thing’." She stated matter-of-factly. "With one exception of course." She added as she sat up.

"Your lucky husband?" He guessed.

"Yes, well, he’s not going to be so lucky if he doesn’t hand over that gift." She taunted.

"Threat?"

"Fact."

"Gift?"

"Now."

"Now." He said as he pulled out a long velvet box from under his pillow and handed it to her.

Jennifer laughed as their playing ceased and she turned her attention to the gift. She cast a quick glance at Jonathan and he was smiling broadly in anticipation. Her eyes moved back to the box and she slowly lifted the lid. Her eyes lit up when she saw the intricately designed bracelet and she let out a small gasp. Her left hand moved up to cover her open mouth as she looked at the gift in awe.

"Do you like it?" he asked sitting up beside her.

"Like it? Darling are you serious? I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s… It’s…"

He knew she loved the gift, he just enjoyed teasing her. "So you do like it?"

"I love it." She said with the deepest sincerity. She reached over and wrapped an arm behind his neck and pulled him closer. "And I love you." She said before leaning in for a deep, lingering kiss.

When they broke they were both a little breathless. "I’m glad you like it. I got it on sale, so if you didn’t I was stuck with it."

"I’m sure it would look lovely on you. Did you buy this in New York?"

"I designed it and had it made in New York."

"You designed this?" She asked as she ran her fingers over the two of the ruby hearts.

"For you." He said tenderly.

Jennifer closed the box and set it on her nightstand and turned to face him. She took his hands into hers, and looked deep into his eyes. "Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God that you are in my life."

"I love you. More then you could ever know." He said before pulling her into a tight hug. "You didn’t read the inscription on the back."

She pulled back out of the hug, but not out of the embrace. "Why don’t you just show me what it says?"

"Show you?"

"Show me." She confirmed. "Right after you open your gift."

"My gift?" He asked surprised.

"That’s right." She said releasing him to pull a wrapped present out of the drawer of her nightstand. She handed it to him, "But you only get to open it if you’re a ‘sure thing’."

"You can be sure of it." He teased. He pulled off the cover revealing a small hard cover book. "La vita no-oi-vioa?" He asked trying to sound out the title.

"La vita nuova." She corrected. "Dante Alighieri’s, The new life."

"Italian?"

"Yes."

"Uh, Darling? I don’t read Italian."

"No you don’t. The book is not in Italian, just the title. Posterity."

"Of course." He said.

The look on his face told her that he had no idea as to what the book meant, or was about. "Let me see it." She took the book from him. "Listen to this." She said as she started reading.

Jennifer closed the book and handed it back to him, "What can I say? You’re my Beatrice."

"That was beautiful." He said sincerely.

"I know. It reminds me of you."

"Beatrice?"

"Read it, then you tell me. There’s an inscription."

"There is?"

"Yes there is."

"I’ll read it later. For now, you can show me what it says." He said placing the book aside.

"Show you?"

"Show me yours and I’ll show you mine." He offered.

Jennifer laughed and threw herself into his waiting arms, "You’re terrible."

Jonathan hugged her tight, "Terribly lucky to have you." He pulled back and his lips covered hers before she had a chance to reply. The kiss was long and tender, and it quickly turned more passionate. All the aches and pains of the past few days were forgotten and the two only knew each other.

* * * * * *

* * * * * *

My Dearest Jonathan,

As much as this book symbolizes, so does this poem.

I trust him,

never doubt.

I see his feelings

In his

eyes.

Eyes that promise eternal love.

All that

I’ll ever need,

I see in him.

We

could never be unhappy

together.

More then I ever wanted.

God has given me my partner.

The one made for

me.

He gave me

you.

I love you more then you could ever know, and more then I could ever express.

Forever and always. -Jennifer

 

The End

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