During the night, I got up and made one of my usual pilgrimages to the bathroom.  When I came out, Pam was watching me.  I bent over and kissed her cheek; she smiled back.  I got into bed; Pam scooted back so her butt was against me.  She reached for my hand and put it on her tit.  I dozed off again.

The smell of fresh coffee and sultry perfume lured me from my sleep.  Pam was standing there in a sheer bra and pantie set; I smiled.

“Good morning, Baby.  Did you sleep well?”  she spoke softly.

“After a back rub like that?  Are you kidding?  I was comatose,” I rolled on my back and stretched.

I sat up in bed and Pam handed me the mugs of coffee.  She got in bed next to me and put my phone on my lap; then she took her mug.  We clinked our mugs and took our first sips.  Mmmm, the first two or three are the best. 

I looked at the phone in my lap, then at Pam.  She nodded her head; there was a message from Mrs. Worth.  “Just a sip or two more, please,” I asked Pam.  She nodded ‘yes’.

“Good morning, Mrs. Worth.  How are you this morning?”  I was afraid to find out.  News travels fast in this business.

“I’m doing well, thank you.  When would you be able to survey Cloverton?  It’s not a rush, but if you could do it this week, Mr. Platt would appreciate it.”  In other words, this week.

“Sure.  I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, I can leave after that.   If it’s a large project, I’ll bring Pam along to speed up the process.”  I suggested.

“That may be a good idea.  I’ll send the paperwork over within the hour.  Thanks to both of you. Oh, and Mark.  Nice job on Fields.  Bye for now.”  She ended the call.  I looked at Pam, and she chuckled.

“You do know how to draw attention to a problem, Mark.”  I got a big kiss for that one.

Pam made our breakfast, and as we were finishing, I received a notification of a new email.  It was from Mrs. Worth.  I glanced over the survey; it was a good-sized project, and Cloverton was at least four hours away.  Pam would be happy to know she would be going.

“Hey, Sexy!  Got a minute?”  Pam turned around and removed her bra.

“You mean me?”  Her Mae West is almost perfect.

“This is a large project.  After the doctor’s office, we have about a four-hour drive.  Would you do your magic, please?”  I whistled at her.

“Yes, sir, if you promise to do your magic on me, Baby,”  Mae West purred again.

Pam got on Cloverton’s website and found everything she needed.  Hotel, restaurant, bar, and a picture of their Main Street.  Even Richardson has a tourist trap called Main Street.  Within thirty minutes, she had our reservations at the hotel, dinner reservations, and a shoppe she HAD to see on Main Street.

I went into our little office.  Pam was sitting looking at the screen, it had the confirmation of our nine o’clock appointment with Dr. Foster.  Her chin was in her hands; she had a glum expression.

“What’s wrong, Baby?” 

She pointed to a note on the appointment.  “No sexual intercourse for twenty-four hours before the exam.”  She looked up at me, almost in tears.

My expression went south as well.  Pam was sitting there wearing only her undies.  We had hoped for some fun, but that was in the trash.  All I could think of was, “Checkers, anyone,” and left the room. 

“Baby – get dressed.  We’re going to Main Street, peruse the shops, and have dinner at the Brat Bar.”  I went to shave. 

I had just lathered my face and pulled the razor across my face once when Pam cracked open the door, grinning.  Not smiling, grinning.

“Honey, oh, Mr. Honey,” she said in a cute little voice.  “Can I go pee-pee, please?”  She asked.

“Sure, Sweetie, come on in,” I continued to shave.

“Mark?”

“Yeah, Baby,”

“You poop-head, you can’t be in here when I’m going pee-pee.”  Pam was starting to dance.

“Oh, Okay.  I wasn’t going to look,”  I teased her.

“Mark!” 

I left and she closed the door behind me – with a face half filled with shaving cream.  I was chuckling to myself.

“You are so bad!  I almost didn’t make it!  Mark – you – you are so – so – oh so incorrigible.  Shame on you,” the admonishments came from behind the closed bathroom door.  I muffled my laughing.

Pam came out and slapped my arm.  “Shame on you,”  then she went to get dressed.  She turned around and slapped my other arm.  I gave her a puzzled look.

“And that’s for laughing, bad boy,”  and she started to dress – again.

Pam had finished doling out my punishment, so I dressed for Main Street.  I got a pair of shorts and my tee shirt with a frosty mug of beer on the front.  Pam came out of the other bedroom wearing a shorts-skirt and a flowery tee shirt.  She looked cute.

“You look like springtime  That’s a cute outfit, Sweetie,” I hugged Pam.

“Thank you.  I love all of the seasons, but spring and early summer are my favorites,”  Pam slipped into her tennis shoes, and we were off.

There was a parking spot across the street from the Brat Bar. Fate was with us the car would be in the shade by the time we returned.  We held hands as we crossed the street and then headed down Main Street.

There is this little curio shop Pam loves to walk through.  I don’t think she has ever bought anything, but she leaves with a smile.  This time, I went in with her.  When I followed her in, she smiled and hugged me.  Slowly, she made her way down one aisle and up the other.  She stopped and looked at a table filled with small statues of couples.

There was one statue of a couple getting married.  Pam picked it up gently and admired it.

Pam turned to me, “Someday, I would like something like this for us.”  Her expression was dreamy, and her voice was soft and low.  “Someday? Maybe?”  Her eyes were begging me.

“Bring it with you.  That day will be here sooner than we think, Pamela,”  I kissed her then we walked to the sales counter.

The lady behind the counter smiled at Pam, then looked at me.  “I knew one day I would see the man she wanted this for.”  The sales clerk’s face was showing as much love as Pam’s

I took out my wallet to pay for the statue, but Pam refused.  “Thank you, Mark.  But I want to buy this, please.”  The look on Pam's face said it all.

She turned to the sales clerk and handed her a credit card.  The clerk carefully laid the statue on its side and marked through the price.  The new price was half of the original.  Pam and I gave the clerk a puzzled look.

“Seeing you two together, well, it isn’t much but would you consider it a little wedding gift from me to both of you?”  She began wrapping the gift in bubble wrap and tissue.

Pam couldn’t hide the little tear slowly sliding down her cheek.  I turned her face toward me, and I kissed the little tear.  Well, that got both of them tearing up.  The clerk handed the statue and the credit card back to Pam.

“Just stop in then you two are the statue,” the clerk said with a smile and a teardrop.

We left the shop; Pam had the most serene expression.  She held her statue close to her.  To add to her mood, we walked past the jewelry store.  Pam slowed down to look in, Cynthia was helping another couple.  She raised her hand and smiled at her ring.

The shadows were getting long on our stroll on Main Street.  We crossed the street and headed back to the car.  Pam wanted to check out a few more shops but held on to her prized possession. 

When we got to the car, it was shaded nicely.  I took Pam’s hand as we crossed the street and entered the Brat Bar.  Louisa saw us come in and motioned to a table by the window.  We made ourselves at home.  It wasn’t long before Louisa appeared with our drinks.

“How are you two doing?” Louisa asked as she handed us the menus.

Pam offered her hand, and Louisa held it.  “Oh, Wow!  Congratulations, you two.  This is wonderful.  Have you set a date yet?  Oh, this is so cool!”  Louisa smiled at me and winked.

Pam answered, “Not yet, but soon, I hope,” Pam's entire face was glowing.

Pam ordered the Italian brat with chips.  Louisa looked at me and wrote down the cheese and bacon brat without asking.  She did ask if I wanted fries or chips.  I smiled at her, and she wrote chips on her order pad.

I reached across the table, and Pam took my hand.  She looked so beautiful and so happy.  She looked at her ring and sighed.

“Mark, you have made me the happiest woman in the world.  Now tell me honestly, are you still okay with tomorrow?  I understand your feelings, and I don’t want to step on them.”  Pam squeezed my hand.

“Honey, this is an important step to starting our family. If I can’t father our baby, there’s no sense in you going through the procedure.  I think this is our best idea.  I hope this turns out the way we hope it will, if not, we’ll look into other options.”  I squeezed her hand in return.

Louisa brought our dinner along with two fresh beers.  The brats were still steaming, and the aroma!  Pam bit into her brat, smiled, and moaned her approval.  I did the same.  We looked across the table and just smiled at each other.

A couple, probably in their seventies, were leaving and stopped at our table.

“Pardon my interrupting your meal, but from the look on your faces, never forget how you feel about each other as you do right now.  Right, Howie?”  She turned to her husband.

“You are so right, Gladys.  I still feel that way about you,”  Howie gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

They said goodbye and walked toward the front door.  I looked at Pam and my heart literally skipped a beat.

Dinner was wonderful and we decided to stay for another beer.  We waved to Louisa as we walked to the front door.  We crossed the street then I opened the car door for Pam.  I walked to the other side, and when traffic permitted, I got behind the wheel and started the car.

Pam put her hand on my arm ever so gently.  “Take me home, Howie,”  she giggled.

The magic door opened and I pulled into the garage.  It had just turned dark, Pam turned on the little light in the kitchen.  She took her possession into the second bedroom and carefully placed it in a little suitcase.   She carefully looked at some of her hidden treasures.  The smile on her face, I could never describe.

“Baby, do you want to shower first?”  I asked her.

“Yes, but let’s have one more.  I don’t want our night to end, but I want tomorrow to get here fast. 

Pam went to the fridge for our beer, I lit our candles in the living room.  When she came in, she handed a beer to me then sat next to me.  Pam put her arm on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her.  We didn’t say anything for a while when Pam broke the silence.

In a whisper, Pam said, “I think this is a real test of our love, Mark.  We enjoy making love so much, but tonight, we had to save it for maybe our baby.”

“I have to admit, I’m a little scared,” I squeezed her as I spoke.

“You’re afraid that if you can father babies and I can’t, I will be quite sad.  That’s your worry, isn’t it?”  She looked up at me.

“You know me pretty darn good, don’t you,” I admitted.

“Yes.  And you know me as well.  It’s because we love each other so much.”

We finished our beer in silence, then we made the move to the bedroom.  Pam got into bed, then I got in behind her.  We were lying on our sides as we do every night, naked.

“Mark, should we,” I stopped her by pulling next to me.

She put her butt against me and took my hand and put it on her breast.  Tomorrow isn’t that far away.

Departed Soul