SETTING: October 1977 – A little over one year since the series ended.
INTRODUCTION: In June of 1976 Chris Owens announced that he was leaving the Southern California Police Department. Chris accepted a job with the West Los Angeles Police Department. In October of 1976, Willie and Sarah Gillis moved back to Southern California. Willie applied for a job with the Southern California Police Department and was promptly hired by his former boss, Lt. Ryker. Sarah applied for a job as a secretary. Willie and Sarah were able to rent an apartment in the same complex as Terry, Mike and Jill were living in. Terry and Willie were partners again in the battle with crime. Mike continued to work for the Southern California Police Department. Jill worked as a Registered Nurse at Memorial Hospital.
RATED: R (for some sexual content)
DISCLAIMER: ‘The Rookies’ is owned by Spelling/Goldberg Productions and Viacom Entertainment. No copy write infringement is intended or implied. The author retains the ownership of the storyline as well as any new characters introduced within the story.
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CHAPTER 1: Mike and Jill
It was an unusually warm October, the kind of weather that brought out the weird members of society. Mike and the guys were busy working mandatory overtime for the past two months due to a shortage of police officers and an increase in crime. Jill’s birthday was coming up on October 30th. Jill was hoping that she and Mike would be able to spend a quiet birthday celebration at home for once with no telephone interruptions. Jill wasn’t even sure if Mike remembered her birthday due to his busy schedule. She was getting tired of Mike’s absence from home. He was either sleeping when she got home from work or they were arguing about his workload when Mike was awake. Jill was trying to think of a tactful way of suggesting that Mike consider taking the Detective’s exam that was coming up in December, hoping that a job change would bring her husband home at a decent time.
Jill was having lunch with her best friend, Denise Campbell..
"Happy birthday, Jill." Denise said, handing Jill a wrapped box to open.
"You didn’t have to buy me anything," Jill protested as she shook the box.
"I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to buy you something. Go ahead and open it."
Jill carefully opened the box and found a black teddy. Her jaw dropped open in surprise.
"That is for you to use when you and Mike finally reconnect." Denise explained.
"It’s beautiful. Thank you." Jill said as she started blushing furiously.
"So, how is your favorite crime fighter?" Denise asked.
"I don’t know," she confessed morosely as she pushed her food around on the plate. "When I get home from work he’s sleeping. When Mike isn’t sleeping we are arguing over his job."
"You do look pretty tired."
"I haven’t been eating well, either," Jill admitted quietly. She took another look at her plate, turned green and pushed it away.
"I can see that. Jill, you look really thin." Denise remarked as she looked at Jill’s half eaten lunch.
"Now, you sound like my husband," Jill complained. "I haven’t been feeling very well lately.."
"When did the nausea start?"
"Earlier this month. Why?"
"Have you ever thought that you might be pregnant?"
"God, I hope not," Jill groaned, closing her eyes.
"I thought you and Mike wanted children," Denise commented in surprise.
"We do. It’s just that the timing wouldn’t be the greatest." Jill whispered as tears threatened to flow.
"You and Mike have a solid marriage. You’ll work through this. In the meantime, why don’t you make an appointment with your gynecologist? At least find out if you are one way or the other."
"I have an appointment with Dr. Christianson tomorrow. By tomorrow night I should know for sure."
>>>>>>>>>>
After lunch Jill decided to stop by the police station to see if Mike was around. As she walked into the front entrance she spotted Mike at the desk.
Mike glanced up and saw her coming inside. "Hi, babe. It’s so good to see you," he greeted, taking her into his arms and hugging her tightly. "Everything all right?"
"I’m fine." Jill whispered, unable to look at Mike. "I was just wondering if you planned on stopping for a couple of beers after work."
"I haven’t seen Willie and Terry all day," he answered slowly, studying her carefully. "I know I’m exhausted and will be coming home right after. Why?"
"I just thought that it was time for us to talk. If I’m asleep will you promise to wake me up when you get home?"
"Whatever you want," Mike agreed readily as he hugged her again. Jill loved the warmth and security of Mike’s arms around her. "Well, I’d better get back on patrol."
"Yeah, sure," she nodded as her eyes started filling with tears.
"Are you sure everything’s okay?" He repeated doubtfully.
"I’m fine," she sniffled, wiping her eyes and taking a shaky breath. "Really I am. I’ll see you later, huh?"
"I’ll see you later. I love you, Jill."
"I love you, too, Mike." Jill whispered as she headed for the door.
>>>>>>>>>>
At 11:20pm Mike unlocked the front door to the apartment. He walked into the kitchen and got a beer out of the refrigerator. Still feeling exhausted, Mike sat down at the kitchen table and started looking through the mail. Seeing that there was nothing earth shatteringhe leaned back into his chair and rubbed his forehead with his hands. He knew Jill wanted to talk tonight and he was dreading the topic of conversation. She’d wanted Mike to take the Detective’s exam and hopefully get out of the danger that police officers face on a daily basis. He finished his beer and walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. After he was done he wearily crawled into bed next to his wife. Jill was curled up on her side of the bed with the blanket clutched under her chin.
Mike reached over, tenderly slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. He started planting soft kisses behind her ear and trailing down her neck. She woke up feeling the security of Mike’s arms around her. She rolled over to face him and put her arms around his neck. He pulled her body even closer to his and passionately kissed her on the mouth. She could feel her body respond to his overtures. He slipped his hands under her gown and started lightly touching her skin with his fingertips. She helped him take off his undershirt before she started planting soft kisses down his chest. He helped her take off her nightgown before trailing his fingers from her neck and stopping between her breasts. He massaged both of them before taking each nipple and lightly sucking on the tips. She moaned in pleasure and arched her back.
She started massaging his back and chest before gently massaging him through his shorts before she removed them. With Mike lying on his back, she wrapped one hand around his increasingly hard shaft and started to stroke the length of the shaft. Now it was his turn to moan with pleasure.
"Jill, if you don’t stop things will end real soon," Mike warned as he gasped for breath. Giving him a devilish grin she applied pressure with her thumb of the opposite hand to the tip of his shaft while continuing to stroke him. After a few minutes of this torture he took Jill in his arms and rolled on top of her. Mike kissed Jill again while trailing his fingers along the inside of her thighs. He helped her remove her panties before he starting massaging her middle.
"Mike, I need you now," Jill panted desperately, tilting her pelvis towards him. He opened her legs with his body and gently entered her. At first he moved slowly and deeply into her depth before gradually increasing the intensity of the thrusting. She locked her legs tightly around his waist, feeling the need to bear down on him while he was thrusting. Feeling her tighten around his shaft was all he needed to come to an explosive release. After he was spent he lay on top of her for a few more minutes, sharing kisses and caresses before he rolled off her. He gathered her into his arms.
"Mike, we really need to talk," Jill panted after her breathing settled down. When she got no response shifted position to look at him and discovered that he’d fallen asleep. She smiled at him tenderly, kissed him on the forehead and moved to her side of the bed to sleep.
>>>>>>>>>>
The next morning Mike was awakened by the telephone. He got up and into the living room to answer it, not wanting to disturb his wife. Terry had called asking Mike to come over and fix a leaky faucet. Mike agreed and a few minutes later headed over to Terry’s with his tool chest.
Thirty minutes later Jill reached over for Mike only to find his side of the bed empty. She was hoping to be able to talk with him this morning about all of his overtime. Upset over the fact that he was gone, she got up and jumped in the shower. When Mike finally got back to the apartment two hours later she’d already gone for work.
Mike was scheduled to work the 11:00am to 11:00pm shift at the police station. Before heading off to work Mike decided to call Jill at the hospital to see what kind of mood she was in.
"Memorial Hospital Emergency Department, Denise Campbell speaking," a cheerful voice greeted.
"Hi, Denise, this is Mike. Is Jill working in your department today?"
"Yeah, she’s here," Denise admitted, glancing around apprehensively. "I wouldn’t suggest talking to her right now, either. You’re not exactly on her good side this morning."
"I’ll take my chances," Mike answered with a definite lack of enthusiasm.
"Okay," Denise answered. She did try to warn him, after all. "She’s coming down the hall now."
"Thanks, Denise."
After a few seconds Jill was on the phone. "This is Jill Danko."
"Hi, babe." Mike greeted.
"Mike, where did you go this morning? I thought we were going to talk."
"I’m really sorry. Terry called and had a leaky faucet so I went over there to fix it."
"Why didn’t he call the landlord? That’s what they are there for," she complained.
"At 5:30 in the morning?"
"So, as usual, I’m at the bottom of your priority list," she sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. " My birthday’s tomorrow. I was hoping we could have a nice quiet dinner at home with no interruptions."
"Now, babe…"
"You know what? I have to go," Jill concluded in an icy voice as she slammed down the phone.
Until then he hadn’t realized how much the mandatory overtime at work was affecting his home life. He couldn’t believe that he actually forgot about Jill’s birthday until now
>>>>>>>>>>
Tears started flowing down Jill’s face as she hung up the phone. Jill loved Mike with all her heart but they couldn’t have a simple conversation lately without getting in to an argument. Denise walked up to the desk and led Jill to the nurse’s lounge for a little privacy. "You want to talk?" Denise offered as she handed Jill a tissue.
"I don’t understand Mike any more," Jill confessed in a shaky voice, taking the tissue and drying her eyes . "I stopped by the police station yesterday and specifically told Mike that we needed to talk when he got home from work. This mandatory over time is really hard on both of us."
"I have an idea. The Emergency Room is slow today. Why don’t you ask Mrs. Henderson if you can leave early? You can go home, take a nice long bath and wait up for your husband so you can talk."
"That sounds wonderful. I’ll check with her after I see Dr. Christianson." Jill got to her feet and stopped for a second. "Denise? Thanks for everything."
"Hey, no problem. That’s what friends are for," Denise replied with a grin.
>>>>>>>>>>
An hour later Jill was sitting in the doctor’s examination room, anxiously waiting for her gynecologist. She’d been feeling run down and nauseated since the beginning of October. She thought that she might be pregnant and was hoping to confirm her suspicions today.
Soon there was a soft knock on the door. Dr. Christianson entered the room with Jill’s chart.
"Nice to see you, Jill." Dr. Christianson greeted as he shook Jill’s hand. "How’s Mike doing?"
"Nice to see you, too, Dr. Christianson. He’s fine."
"So, what brings you in to see me?"
"Well, for the past few weeks I’ve been feeling run down and can’t concentrate on anything."
"Are you nauseous?" He asked as he started taking her pulse.
"In the mornings," she answered hesitantly, absently tugging on her gown with her free hand
"I see. When was your last period?"
"Two months ago."
"All right, then. Let me check you over and then I’m going to send you down for some lab work and ask you for a urine sample."
"Do you think I might be pregnant?" She asked in a breathless voice, afraid to get her hopes too high.
"I can’t say for sure until I get your results back, but it looks like you might be," he hedged.
"Everything looks good," he remarked after he finished examining her. "Your lungs are clear and your heart’s good. I’m pleased to see that you’ve been maintaining your weight. I’m going to call the lab and have them schedule you for some lab work and put a rush on it. We should have the results later today. Will you be at home for the rest of the day?"
"Yes, I’ll be at home," she answered nervously.
"I’ll call you later, then."
>>>>>>>>>>
Jill’s feelings were mixed. On one hand she’d love to have Mike’s baby. On the other hand the timing was less than perfect.
She stopped at the grocery store before heading back to the apartment. She slowly made her way inside, completely exhausted. She decided to take a nap before soaking in the bathtub. As She relaxed in the hot tub, tears started running down her face. At first she’d had mixed feelings when she suspected she was pregnant, but now that she’d time to get used to the idea she couldn’t help getting excited over the prospect of having a child with the man she loved most in this world.
She got out of the tub, got dressed and walked into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. As she put the teapot on the stove, the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find Denise standing there.
"I came to see how you’re doing." Denise stated honestly, taking in her friend’s appearance.
"Come on in," Jill stated, standing inside to let Denise enter. "I feel much better now."
"I tried calling you earlier but there was no answer," Denise continued, following Jill into the kitchen.
"Dr. Christianson ordered some lab work and he wanted to do a pregnancy test, then I went out for some groceries. Do you want some tea?"
"Sure."
Just as Jill was pouring the water into the mugs the telephone rang.
"Danko residence." Jill answered after picking up the telephone in the kitchen.
"Hi, Jill, this is Dr. Christianson."
"Oh," she trailed off for a second, her heart stopping. "So, what’s the verdict?" She finally ventured nervously..
"You and Mike are expecting."
"You’re kidding? I’m really…?" She stammered in a high pitched voice, absolutely ecstatic. "Oh, Dr. Christianson, thank you so much!"
"Congratulations," he chuckled.
"When am I due?"
"Well, based on your last period I would say around June 6th or 7th. Remember, this is just an estimate. I’ll know more when we do an ultrasound later on in the pregnancy. Congratulations, again. I’ll see you in one month."
"Thanks, Dr. Christianson," Jill repeated joyously as she hung up the phone and fairly danced back into the kitchen. She grabbed Denise and hugged her.
"You’re pregnant?" Denise ventured happily.
Jill nodded, releasing Denise and started bouncing on her feet in excitement. "Yep. I’m pregnant."
"Oh, my God, that’s wonderful!"
"Do me a favor, Denise." Jill began as she started to pour the water from the kettle
"Anything." Denise promised as she put a tea bag in each mug.
"Don’t say anything until I get a chance to tell Mike. Not even John, okay?"
"Sure. You’re going to tell Mike tonight, right?"
"I’m not sure. I want everything to be perfect."
>>>>>>>>>>
Mike unlocked the door to the apartment at 11:15pm and was surprised to find that the bedroom light was on…indicating that Jill was still awake. After setting his keys on the kitchen counter he slowly walked into the bedroom.
Jill was sitting up in bed reading a magazine. She promptly dropped it when she heard him enter and looked up at him, happiness radiating from her eyes.
"Hi, babe" Mike greeted as he walked around the bed and gave her a passionate kiss on the mouth.
"Hi, Mike. How was your day?" Jill asked after coming up for air.
"I’m exhausted. The good news is that the new recruits the department hired from the academy are almost done with their training. Ryker said we can go back to our regular schedules soon."
"That is good news."
"I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll be right back," he stated wearily as he headed for the bathroom.
After he came out a few minutes later he came over to her and kissed her again, this time more passionately than before. He started planting soft kisses behind Jill’s ear while his hands found their way under her gown.
"Mike, you’re not touching me until we talk," she protested firmly as she abruptly pulled out of his embrace.
"What’s the matter?" Mike asked as propped himself up on one elbow.
"What’s the matter?" She repeated in disbelief. "I never see you anymore. You work twelve- hour shifts and then you come home exhausted. We never talk and when we do we end up arguing. When is this going to end?"
"Jill, we went over this," he sighed, trying not to lose his temper. "The overtime’s mandatory for everyone. What do you want me to do -- go up toRyker and say I can’t work any more overtime because my wife said so?"
"Of course not. Terry said last week that the Detective’s exam is coming up next month. Have you thought about taking the test?"
"No, I haven’t had the time to think about it," he answered, wishing she’d just drop that subject. "Besides I haven’t asked Terry or Willie if they’re ready to take the exam."
"Why are you asking Terry and Willie?" She demanded. "Are the three of you joined at the hip?!."
"Jill, we’ve been friends for years. Why not sign up for the exam together? Then the three of us could study together."
"Once again, Mike, everything and everybody else is your main concern while your wife is a remote thought now and then. When are you going to stop thinking about your friends and start thinking about us?"
"That’s not fair. You’re my top priority. And as far as ‘us’ goes, I think about ‘us’ all the time. Why do you think I work overtime even when it isn’t mandatory?"
She blinked a few times in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"I work overtime for ‘us’. I work the extra shifts so I make extra money so I can put money into savings so I can buy a house for ‘us’. Remember when we talked about moving out of this apartment and buying a house?"
"What if I told you to forget about the house for now? Apartment living isn’t that bad."
"Wait a minute! Who are you and what have you done with my wife? I’ve been working my butt off for the last five years to buy ‘us’ a house and you want to forget about it? I guess I don’t know you as well as I thought."
"I just want you home more," She answered honestly as her eyes filled with tears.
"Just give me a few more weeks of this hectic schedule. If the mandatory overtime isn’t lifted by then I’ll talk to Ryker and try to work something out. Then we will have plenty of time for us, okay" Mike begged as he reached over and wiped away her tears.
"Mike, you don’t understand, things are more complicated now," she sniffed in a shaky voice. "I’m pregnant."."
"You’re what?" He repeated in a monotone, staring at her wide eyed.
"I’ pregnant," she repeated, taking in his reaction. "We’re having a baby."
"Are you serious?!" He grabbed her and hugged her so tightly that she could barely breathe. "When did you find out?"
"Just a few hours ago. I saw. Dr. Christianson this morning and he told me." She rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "I’m sorry I just blurted the news out. I wanted to wait for a more romantic moment but we don’t seem to have very many of those lately."
He kissed her forehead and gently stroked her back. "Wait until I tell the guys."
"Could you try holding off until Thanksgiving?" She pleaded. "I want to keep this just between us."
"I’ll do whatever you want," Mike agreed as he lightly touched Jill’s chin with his fingers before passionately kissing her. "You are so beautiful."
"Let’s see how you feel about me after I get as big as a house."
"There’ll just be more of you to love," he remarked with a twinkle in his eye. His heart was so full that he felt ready to burst. "Now, I believe I was trying to seduce my wife before we got distracted," he continued in a husky voice as he started fondling her breasts.
"Would you mind very much if we didn’t make love tonight?" She asked in a small voice. "I just want you to hold me."
"Your wish is my command," Mike agreed readily as he pulled back the blanket on the bed so Jill could get in and then he got in beside her. Jill snuggled close to Mike while Mike put his arm around Jill’s shoulder. "When are we due?"
"Around June 6th. He’ll know more after the ultrasound."
"Do we know when the baby was conceived?" Mike asked while kissing Jill on her forehead.
"As close as I can figure it was during our weekend trip to Martha’s Vineyard in mid September. Remember, we couldn’t get enough of each other that weekend."
"Yeah, I remember," he grinned at the memory. "At least we have a name if the baby’s a girl."
She looked at him blankly.
"How does Martha Danko grab you?"
"Over my dead body, Danko."
He chuckled and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. "It was just a thought."
>>>>>>>>>>
At 5:00am Jill woke up to feeling Mike’s arms around her waist. Mike started planting soft kisses along her shoulder. Jill turned around to face her husband and put her arms around Mike’s neck. Mike passionately kissed Jill on the lips before pulling Jill in closer.
"Pretty soon you won’t be able to do this." Jill commented.
"Do what?" Mike asked as he continued to nuzzle Jill’s neck.
"Putting your arms around my waist and holding me this close," she explained as her body started responding to Mike’s seduction.
"I’m sure we’ll find other ways to occupy our time," Mike retorted as he helped her remove her nightgown and rolled on top of her.
He continued to kiss Jill while his hands started caressing her body while she started running her hands through his hair. Suddenly Mike stopped and rolled off of Jill.
"What’s wrong?" She asked in concern.
"Is it okay that we’re doing this? Making love, I mean."
"It’s fine," she smiled faintly. "At least until the sixth month anyway."
"I’m not going to hurt you or the baby, am I?"
"Everything we did before we can do now." Jill reassured him as she pulled his face down towards her for a kiss.
"One more question. Is it all right to lie on top of you? I won’t crush anything, will I?"
"I don’t have a terminal illness, Mike. I’m just pregnant. Now I believe you were trying to seduce me…unless you have anything else to say."
"I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday," Mike said as he rolled back on top of Jill and kissed her passionately.
After they’d finished making love they laid in each other’s arms.
"I suppose you have to work the 11:00am to 11:00pm shift today." Jill murmured, thoroughly sated.
"Before I left yesterday I looked at the schedule for today and my name was mysteriously taken off and Willie’s name was penciled in."
"Willie offered to work for you? That was nice of him, being a newlywed and all."
"I’ll have to buy him a beer the next time we go out. How about you and I going out for breakfast?"
"I am getting a little hungry." Jill admitted. Actually she was starving.
"Come on," he said as he got up and helped her get out of bed. "Remember… you’re eating for two now."
"Don’t remind me," she groaned .
>>>>>>>>>>
After breakfast Jill decided to go to the grocery store. Mike tagged along, insisting that Jill not lift anything over 10 pounds. After getting back to the apartment he helped her put away the groceries. Jill decided to wash a load of laundry with Mike trailing along right behind her carrying the laundry and detergent. While the clothes were in the washer, Jill wanted to vacuum the living and dining rooms. Mike didn’t think Jill should be doing such strenuous activity so he vacuumed and dusted the entire apartment. When the laundry was ready to be taken out of the dryer, Mike insisted on going down to the laundry room to get it. By late afternoon all this togetherness was getting on Jill’s nerves so she sent Mike out to have a couple beers with Willie and Terry.
With Mike finally out of her hair she started to make dinner. About 30 minutes later the phone rang. "Danko residence."
"Hi, Jill, it’s Denise."
"Oh, hi, Denise."
"So how did Mike take the news?" Denise asked eagerly.
"Once I was able to tell him, he was excited."
"What do you mean?" Denise asked blankly.
"We had another argument over this mandatory overtime thing."
"Oh, boy," Denise groaned. "Did you resolve anything?"
"Mike says that the new recruits from the police academy are almost done with their on the job training which means that the mandatory overtime will be over soon. He asked me to give him another three weeks. If it’s still in effect then he’ll talk to the lieutenant about some other type of arrangement."
"Can you hold out for another three weeks?"
"I’ll have to. Although I don’t know if having Mike around more is going to be a good thing."
"I don’t follow."
"Willie Gillis offered to work for Mike today so Mike’s been around the apartment all day," Jill groused, happy to be able to talk to someone. "He wouldn’t let me do anything. I finally sent him out with two of his friends to get him out of here for a while."
"Jill, you know how Mike feels about you. He loves you more than life itself. He isn’t doing this just because you are pregnant."
"I guess you’re right."
>>>>>>>>>>
An hour later Mike returns home and Terry and Willie are with him.
"Hi, babe." Mike grinned after kissing Jill on the lips.
"Hi, Mike, Terry and Willie." Jill said.
"We just came over to wish you a happy birthday and to give you this." Willie explained, handing Jill a wrapped box.
"It’s from both of us." Terry added.
"You didn’t have to do this." Jill protested as she ripped the paper off the box. Inside the box was a camera and photo album. "Thanks, guys." Jill stated , still perplexed by the gift since Mike was the camera buff in the family.
"We thought that you might be taking a lot of pictures pretty soon," Terry explained innocently, noting Jill’s look.
Jill stared at Mike in hurt disbelief. "Mike, you just couldn’t wait to tell them, could you?"
"Honest, Jill, I didn’t say a word." Mike protested.
"Whoa, I don’t know what you’re talking about," Terry interrupted, trying to defuse the situation. "I thought the camera and photo album would come in handy because there’s going to be another wedding next June. I asked Debra to marry me and she said ‘yes’."
"Congratulations, Terry," Jill stated in a subdued voice as she walked over and gave Terry a kiss and hug.
"Since Willie had two co-best men at his wedding I decided to have three co-best persons to stand up for me. Willie, Mike and Jill would you do me the honor of standing up for my wedding next June?"
Jill, Willie and Mike looked at one, another obviously touched by Terry’s request.
"I would be honored," Willie answered proudly
"I am afraid we won’t be able to stand up for you, man," Mike answered as he walked over to his wife and took her hand in his.
"Why?" Terry asked in a shocked voice.
"We’re expecting a new addition to our family around June so I might be a little tied up," Jill answered with a shy smile.
"Congratulations!" Terry and Willie exclaimed and they hugged and kissed Jill and slapping Mike on the back.
"Let me talk with Debra," Terry suggested. "We didn’t officially set a date in June. How about some time in August or September?"
"Terry, you don’t have to change your plans for me," Jill exclaimed. "Mike can still be your co-best man…depending on when I deliver, of course."
"I want all three of closest friends to share this moment with me. Let me talk with Debra and if we can’t find an acceptable date then I’ll understand if you don’t want to do this."
"Thanks, Terry." Jill smiled.
>>>>>>>>>>
After Terry and Willie left Mike helped Jill set the table for dinner.
"Did you know that Terry and Debra were getting that close?" Jill asked curiously as she started picking at her food.
"He told us a couple of weeks ago he was thinking of asking Debra to marry him but I didn’t think he was doing it this soon," Mike answered as he started eating.
"I’m happy for them."
"I’m even happier for us," Mike stated quietly, covering Jill’s hand with his.
Jill got up from her chair and sat on Mike’s lap. "I am touched by your offer Mike but I don’t want you to give up things that you love doing for me."
"Jill, unless you want me to rip off your clothes and make mad passionate love to you right on the kitchen table I suggest you get off my lap," Mike warned, shifting uncomfortably.
"Am I bothering you being in such close proximity?" Jill asked innocently as she moved her body even closer to him.
"I didn’t know you could be such a tease, Mrs. Danko," Mike groaned as he started running his hands along Jill’s thighs.
"That’s one of my best kept secrets," she admitted, enjoying hearing Mike’s intake of breath every time she moved her body.
"If you keep this up I just might forget to give you your birthday present."
"You got a present for me?" Jill exclaimed as she got up from Mike’s lap. She didn’t see how he found the time to get anything, what with all of the overtime he’d been working.
Mike went into the bedroom and returned a few minutes later with a small wrapped box which he handed to her.
She opened the box to find diamond earrings. "Mike, they’re beautiful. Thank you." Jill whispered in a shaky voice as she hugged him tightly.. "I’m going to put them on right now," she announced happily as she headed toward the mirror in the bedroom.
Mike followed Jill in to the bedroom. "How do they look?" Jill asked as she turned around to face him.
"You look beautiful, and the earrings don’t look bad either." Mike said. "I have something else for you, too."
"Another present?"
"Let’s sit down on the couch," he explained, taking her by the elbow and leading her into the living room. They both sat on the couch and he slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Remember when you couldn’t find your wedding ring after that incident with Milland*?"
"Yeah, I do," she admitted, staring at the floor uncomfortably.
"Well, Terry and Chris found it with his personal belongings. I thought that it might bring back too many memories so I bought you this," Mike explained quietly as he handed the box to Jill.
Jill opened the box slowly and found a diamond cut gold wedding band. "Mike, it’s beautiful," she breathed.
He took the ring from the box and placed the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand.
Her eyes filled with tears and she hugged him tightly. "I love you, Mike."
"I love you, too," he said as he pulled her close.
TO BE CONTINUED
*"Nightmare" (aired episode)
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