Chapter 13 - The Accident

When they arrived back at the apartment Leslie was amazed at the way everything looked, Jamie had bought a small wedding cake and set it out on the table with a bouquet of flowers, he also had two crystal goblets set out and a bottle of sparkling white grape juice in a bucket of ice.

                “Oh, Jamie” she gushed “it’s beautiful”

                “Only the best for my wife” Jamie grinned “I love the sound of that …Mrs. Jamison, my wife.” He pulled her close and kissed her for the 100^th time since the chaplain had pronounced them man and wife.  “Wait till you see the bedroom! But first let’s have some cake and bubbly.” 

                After cutting the cake and drinking some of the sparkling juice Jamie excused himself for a minute came back and swept Leslie up into his arms and carried her back to the bedroom where he had lit some candles and covered the bed with rose petals. He sat her gently on the bed and kissed her “Welcome home Mrs. Jamison” he said with a really big grin.

                When Jamie came home early Monday morning, after working all night, and woke Leslie up so he could take her to work, she clung to him not wanting to leave, but unfortunately the weekend was over and they were forced to go back to the real world. 

                “It’s really not that bad,” Leslie told herself as she worked to clean up the kitchen on Wednesday  afternoon, “I get to see Jamie almost as much as I would if we were living together and this way I’m making a little extra money too.” Jamie still came by Burger King in the evening for supper, and called to talk to her at least once in the afternoon and once right before bed. “With us both working it’s not like we’d actually see much of each other anyway. And we’re half way to the weekend now.” More than half actually because Jamie was using their now familiar ruse to pick her up early on Friday even though he had to work that night so they could spend the afternoon together. 

The plan was that Leslie would tell her folks that she was picking up a Saturday shift at Burger King and wouldn’t be able to come home on the weekends, all the while letting the Hollands think that she had gone home to visit her parents as planned. One weekend a month Jamie had to go to Drills so on that weekend she would actually go home and visit her parents so they wouldn’t get suspicious. Then two weeks before Christmas Leslie and Jamie would take their honeymoon, a trip to Spain, letting her parents think she was still working and the Hollands think that she had gone home. Then after their trip they would surprise her parents by showing up at their house on Christmas Eve.  

Everything was going as planned Leslie stayed at the Hollands and worked her job during the week and then on the weekends she was Mrs. Jamison, Jamie’s wife. At the Holland’s she wore lose fitting shirts and skirts deftly camouflaging her slowly expanding belly. On the weekends she wore maternity clothes and was getting rather excited about the prospect of becoming a mother. She still hadn’t seen a doctor yet since they had decided to wait until right before their honeymoon to get Leslie’s name changed on all her documents so it wouldn’t affect job. On her trips to Jamie’s house on the weekends she would leave with a full suitcase of her things and come home with an empty one slowly moving all of her things from the Holland’s to Jamie’s apartment. She did the opposite when she went to visit her parents, she took an empty suitcase with her and brought a full one home. She figured that way if her Dad got mad and threw them out after they told him what they had done, at least she’d have most of her stuff.  

This was it she was returning from her last trip home, Leslie was a little surprised that no one had caught on to their little scheme, they had done it! They were home free, two weeks on the beach and then she would finally get to go home as a married woman. The thought of taking Jamie home to meet her parents made her positively giddy, she could hardly wait.  Leslie was humming as she pulled her cell phone from her purse and dialed Jamie’s number. She frowned when it went straight to voicemail “Jamie, honey, it’s me Leslie I’m about 30 minutes away from the station, see you in a bit.” “That’s odd,” she thought to herself, “he should be on his way to the station by now, oh well, maybe his phone is still off from Drills.”   

  

A half- hour later the train pulled into the station and Leslie stood on tiptoe scanning the crowd for a glimpse of her husband but he was nowhere to be found. Frustrated, Leslie lugged her heavy suitcase from the train and headed to the parking lot “I hope he’s just running late,” she muttered starting to feel a little worried when she reached the parking lot and Jamie’s white pickup was nowhere to be found. She pulled her phone from her purse and tried calling him again still no answer. She sighed, “I bet some bozo decided to break the rules again and so everyone is having to stay late at drills. Jamie warned me this might happen sometimes, I guess I’ll just get a taxi or take the trolley to the base or as close as I can get.” Leslie grabbed the handle on the suitcase and swung her back pack up on her shoulder, “at least this stupid thing has wheels”, she muttered as the suitcase bumped and jumped over the rough cobble stone street. As she neared the corner that lead to the main street heading into town she noticed flashing lights and billowing smoke ahead.  Her steps quickened and then she screeched to a halt as she realized that the flames were billowing from the remains of a white pickup truck. “JAMIEEEE!!!!”  Leslie shrieked dropping her bags and running toward the scene of the accident. She was stopped by a German policeman who explained to her that the soldier who had been driving the truck had been taken by ambulance to the local hospital. He called a cab for her and helped her load her suitcases before sending her on her way.  Leslie sat in the cab stunned, staring blankly at the scenery as they drove to the hospital. When they pulled up to the hospital she asked the cabbie to wait while she ran in and found out what to do next. 

Entering the lobby Leslie quickly walked to the nurse’s station and asked for Jamie Jamison. The nurse looked puzzled as if she didn’t know who she was talking about. Leslie explained she was looking for the American soldier who had been brought in by ambulance. The nurse nodded in understanding and motioned for her to follow her down the hall, as they walked she explained that they had called the base and that someone should be on their way from the base to get him. Leslie frowned wondering why they would consider moving him, the police officer had indicated that he was very badly injured. Then they walked around the corner and the nurse pushed back the curtain revealing a bed with the sheet pulled all the way up the nurse leaned over and pulled the sheet down revealing Jamie’s battered and burned face . Leslie shook from head to toe, tears filled her eyes as she sank to her knees beside the bed “no!no!no!NO!!!” she cried.  She reached out and touched his face but it was hard and cold, not her darling’s soft, warm skin. The room began to spin and her stomach began to churn, she tried to stand and lunged for the trash can but her legs were too weak she didn’t make it. The nurse helped her to the bathroom and assisted her as she cleaned herself up. When she returned she found that Jamie’s body had been picked up by the MP’s and taken to the base morgue where it would be prepared for the trip home to Tennessee. 

She hurried out to the taxi and had him take her to the morgue where she quickly found her lack of military ID to be a huge obstacle. Because the paperwork had not been completed she was not listed as his wife and therefore not awarded spousal privilege, she couldn’t get his things, she couldn’t even see his body one more time. She headed back to the apartment, alone and scared she didn’t know what to do. She searched the apartment for their wedding certificate and the paperwork to no avail. It was gone, the only things she had to prove her marriage were her wedding pictures and the ring that Jamie had given her, everything else, all the official paperwork was missing. The only thing she did find was $2,000.00 in cash and their train ticket and reservations for their honeymoon.  Tears ran down her face as she quickly packed her things, she knew that in two days they would be coming to pack his personal belongings and ship them to his parents, carefully she sorted making sure not to leave any of her things in the apartment. She didn’t know what she was going to do but it was obvious that she couldn’t stay here. She also couldn’t go home, not yet, not until she figured out a way to convince her dad that she had been married. He would never believe this story, never! The only logical conclusion was to go to Spain on her honeymoon alone, maybe they would exchange Jamie’s ticket that would give her some extra cash, maybe going away would buy her some time and she could figure out what to do. Weary from packing and crying she slept soundly, only to awaken to the horror of reality all over again the next morning. After a quick shower she called a cab while the cabbie loaded her suitcases in the car she had one more quick look around, snatching up Jamie’s T-shirt from the sofa where he had thrown it the day before she held it to her chest and with tears falling down her face locked the door and tucked her key under the mat. Then she had the cabbie drive her to the train station, as the cabbie unloaded her luggage for her, he smiled at her and said in broken English “he will come for you, yes? He will not let such a pretty girl get away” Leslie smiled and thanked him but shook her head as tears poured down her face. Then she turned walked away to the platform marked Madrid, Spain.

Capter 12 - A Secret Wedding

The next morning was Saturday, time for Leslie to take her weekly trip home.  Just the thought made her nauseous, she moaned slightly trying her best not give in to the swirling feelings in her stomach as she got dressed and did her chores before heading to visit her parents. She managed to control her upset stomach until she got on the train at which point she made a mad dash to the restroom and promptly lost her breakfast. After three trips to the restroom and heaving the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl, she started to get worried.  But then again she was a little anxious that her parents might notice her ring while she was home for the weekend.

“That’s what it is,” Leslie told herself, “it’s my nervousness about being engaged, and someone finding out that’s making my stomach upset. That’s all.”

 Walking around in the fresh air at the train station while waiting for the next train on her trip home seemed to settle her stomach a bit. By the time she got home that afternoon her stomach was fine. However the next morning the nausea returned, she struggled to conceal her sickness from her family completely forgetting that she had something else to hide, but it seemed that all her precautions were unnecessary, no one noticed the sparkly addition to her left hand or to her dashing to the restroom three times before breakfast.

“That’s how much they actually pay attention to me!” she thought gloomily on the train ride home.  “Funny” she thought, “in one short week home had changed from Mom, Dad and the kids, to Jamie.”

 She was excited to be able to spend half of her Sunday with Jamie and couldn’t wait to see him, if only this terrible nausea would go away.  Leslie wasn’t sure it was just nerves now because if it was she should feel better now that she was on her way home.  A quick look at her pocket calendar confirmed that she still hadn’t had her monthly visitor yet. With a groan Leslie dialed Jamie’s number and explained what had been going on all weekend. Jamie suggested that she try and purchase a pregnancy test when she switched trains, she could take the test when she got to the apartment. Leslie followed Jamie’s suggestion and bought a pregnancy test at the next stop, the next half-hour was an anxious wait and by the time the train pulled into the station she had worked herself into quite an emotional state and fell sobbing into Jamie’s arms.

“Jamie, I’m so sorry” she sobbed into his chest.

“Sorry about what?” Jamie asked trying to calm her tears “if you are pregnant then you didn't do that by yourself, so it’s my fault not yours, darling. Come on let’s go home and get this suspense over with.”

When they got home Leslie when straight to the bathroom and took the pregnancy test.

“So?” Jamie asked when she exited the bathroom “What’s the results?”

“I don’t know yet” Leslie shrugged “it takes a few minutes for the test to give the results.”

“Ok well I need to use the restroom” he said with grin “I’ll be right back.” A few seconds later he poked his head out of the bathroom door “How long did you say this takes for the results to show up?” he asked.

“Three minutes.” Leslie responded heading back to the bathroom, “Why?”

“Nothing really” Jamie said holding up the pregnancy test “Just what does two lines mean?”

Leslie skidded to a halt and stared at the test in Jamie’s hand. Sure enough, there were two very bold, very bright, pink lines. Leslie hung her head “it means I’m doomed.” she muttered, tears falling slowly.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and assume it means I’m going to be a dad.” Jamie said laying the test back on the counter and pulling Leslie into his arms. He let her cry there for a while and then guided her back into the living room and set her down on the couch.  “Look, darling,” he said holding her hands in his “I know this wasn’t the result you were hoping for, but let’s get a couple of things straight. One, this result does not change the way I feel about you, I love you with all my heart and always will.  And two,  this baby will be as special as any other baby, though perhaps not done the proper way, it is a product of our love, and I don’t want you to feel sad about it anymore I only want us to be happy and excited about the baby. And three, the only thing that this will change is the date of our wedding, I will go on Monday and start the paperwork for our wedding, hopefully I can get clearance for us to marry by the end of the week.” He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.

Leslie sighed and laid her head on Jamie’s shoulder, “I love you too, and you’re right it’s not the baby’s fault, I just know that when my dad finds out I am going to be dead meat!”

“That’s why we’re going ahead and getting married as soon as possible, we can keep the wedding and the baby a secret until we go visit your parents for Christmas and then when the baby comes they won’t know it was conceived before or after we were married. See it will all work out, honey don’t you worry!”

Leslie sighed again and cuddled up against Jamie “I guess you’re right” she admitted “but if I’m getting married the end of the week what will I wear? It’s not like I have a wedding dress just stashed away in the closet somewhere!”

“You don’t?!” Jamie teased “Ouch” he grinned as he dodged Leslie’s elbow to his ribs.

“Jamie, be serious!” Leslie said “I can’t get married in just any old dress.”

“Well, honey, I’ll see what I can do I do have some money in savings and if we don’t find anything by the wedding we can always have a fancy ceremony later after we tell our parents… Actually that’s a great idea since it’s just you and me now and when we take leave in January to visit my parents in the States we can have a big church wedding then with all the trimmings. What do you think?”

“That sounds good to me,” Leslie said, “What do you want me to wear for our wedding?”

“Nothing?” Jamie winked “Just kidding, Babe, anything you want to wear will make me happy, you do have that black velvet dress I just bought you”

“But it’s black,” Leslie grimaced “I can’t wear black for my wedding!”

“Well we’ll figure it out, right now I should probably get you back to the Holland’s so no one asks to any questions.”
      

The ride to the Holland’s was quite each lost in their own thoughts, Jamie parked the truck a block away from the house and leaned over and after  kissing Leslie good-night his hand stroked her still flat stomach and whispered “Goodnight little one, I love you! See you tomorrow?” He asked Leslie as she got out of the truck.

“No, I don’t work until Tuesday, but I’ll definitely see you then.” Leslie shut the door and mouthed “Call me” to Jamie as he put the truck in gear and followed her to the door and let herself into the house.

As she entered the house she sighed at the bedlam that greeted her, it appeared that the Holland’s were not only home but also had some people from their church over for fellowship. After the news she had received today she didn’t really feel like socializing, she was tired and emotionally worn out and just wanted to sneak upstairs and take a quick bath and go to bed. Unfortunately that was not to be, Veronica saw her and grabbed her.

“Come help us” she squealed “Jeni and I are trying on mom’s old wedding dress we need someone to help us fix our hair and make-up and take our pictures!”

“Ok,” Leslie said “I’ll be up in a minute,” She slipped into the kitchen and grabbed herself a plate of mini pizzas and a sandwich, and headed upstairs. In the girls room she paused in awe over the most beautiful wedding dress she had ever seen.  After helping the girls try it on and fixing their hair and taking pictures, she tried it on herself. While the girls had looked cute in a playing dress up kind of way, Leslie actually looked like a radiant bride. And while the girls oohed and aahed over how well it fit, Leslie was trying to figure out how she could wear it for her own wedding. While she might be able to sneak it out of the house and back in without anyone noticing that was not a risk she was willing to take at this point, at least not if she could come up with a better plan.

The next morning she put her plan in place, by asking Mrs. Holland if she could borrow the dress for a photo shoot, a friend of Jamie’s was taking some photography classes and wanted to practice taking wedding pictures. It was easier than she thought it would be, Sandy shrugged and agreed no questions asked.  When Jamie called her that evening she could hardly contain her excitement at having found and received permission to use the dress free of charge. Jamie’s news wasn’t as good as her’s, in order to get the paperwork to get married both of them had to be there. Was there a day that she would be available to come down to the clerk’s office and file the necessary paperwork,  once it was filed they would be able  to pick up their marriage license  in three to four days. They agreed that Jamie would fake an emergency call from Burger King asking Leslie to come into work early the next day, so they could file the paperwork. And then she would plan on staying over the weekend getting married Friday evening and then having two days as their honeymoon, for now. Jamie promised that they would have a real honeymoon around Christmas time when they both could take some time off.

Friday, Leslie, woke up bright and early, “Today, is my wedding day!” she thought followed by “oh, baby, why must you make mommy feel so sick?” as she held her hand over her stomach trying to ease the queasiness before she got out of bed. She had a lot to do today, luckily, she wouldn’t have to sneak out of the house since she told Sandy that she was borrowing it for a photo shoot she was able to get all dolled up before leaving the house. First she was going to take a nice long soak in the tub, when she got out the girls were excited to help her get ready. They curled her hair and painted her nails and helped her do her makeup, even Sandy came up and helped her get ready. Leslie smiled to herself she really felt like a bride getting ready for her wedding. She giggled to herself “If only they knew”.  Jamie was picking her up at the house, so she wouldn’t have to walk down the street in her dress. They had told Sandy that he was a friend of the photographer and was also participating in the photo shoot so he was picking her up and driving her to the site of the photo shoot. She had also told the Hollands that she would be going home for the weekend right after the photo shoot, she knew that Sandy was thinking of home as her parent’s house while Leslie was thinking of  her and Jamie’s apartment, and she felt a little guilty but at this point she didn’t care she was getting married!!!

The look on Jamie’s face when he pulled up and saw her in her fancy dress was one of pure admiration though he tried his hardest to mask his feelings in case anyone who was watching might be smart enough to put two and two together and figure out the whole scheme. But it seemed that the Hollands were content to see only the things that they wanted to see, or the things that they were told they were seeing.

Neither Jamie nor Leslie spoke until Jamie turned onto the Autobahn, Leslie turned to him with a puzzled look on her face, “I thought we were going to the base don’t we have to be married by somebody there?”

 
 “Actually,” Jamie smiled “Yes, we do have to be married by the chaplain from the base, but there is nothing that says it has to be done on the base. I found a place on the river that is especially beautiful this time of year, so the chaplain is going to meet us there. And I also hired someone to come take pictures as well. I’m sure Sandy will want to see a few shots eventually!” He grinned again. “It looks like the weather is on our side, the sun is coming out” he reached over and grabbed Leslie’s hand, “you look like an angel, darling! How are you feeling today?”

“I’m feeling ok now, I was pretty queasy this morning though I didn’t throw up this time.” She sighed “I guess I need to get a book or something to find out what is normal and what’s not! It’s so frustrating there really isn’t a pattern to it that I can tell some days I’m fine and others I can hardly stand up without  feeling sick”

“Well, just as soon as we get married and get all the paperwork processed, I’m taking you to the doctor to make sure everything is ok.” Jamie said “But for right now let’s focus on our wedding and enjoy our day”    

After about a twenty minute drive they arrived at the spot that Jamie had picked out, they met the chaplain and the photographer. And were married right there under the trees on the bank of the river Neckar. The ceremony was short and sweet and the photographer did a marvelous job of capturing the day for them. In less than an hour they were back in the truck and heading home.

Chapter 11 - The Consequences

        The reality of what they had done didn’t really hit Leslie till later that evening when she was at work and she realized she would have to go ‘home’ and face the Hollands, she was not in the mood for any questions and was feeling quite miserable physically.  That was something that had taken her completely unawares, the pain that came along with making love for the first time. It had felt wonderful up to a certain point and once she had pushed passed the pain it had been ecstasy but that brief moment had been very painful, and not only that, even now hours later she was still sore and achy, and she was spotting too, which  she thought was very odd.  Jamie had been great about it, holding her and kissing the tears away until she had fallen asleep and serving her breakfast in bed when she woke up again. He had told her how much he loved her and that he was sorry he had not been a gentleman and waited for the right time. Leslie had smiled “What’s done is done and it can’t be changed.” she had said with a shrug.  She had gotten up and showered and gotten ready for work just like it was any other day. Jamie hadn’t said anything more about what had happened, but had stripped the sheets off the bed and put them in the washer for her, and treated her with extra tenderness for the rest of the day.

       Now it hit her that she wouldn’t be going home until Jamie got off work which would mean spending one more night in the apartment, she didn’t know what she should do.  She didn’t know how people handled things like this, was there some sort of protocol that she should be following?  Would Jamie be expecting her to behave a certain way?  If so how? One thing she knew, she would not be sleeping in that bed tonight.  By the time the store closed and Leslie walked the six blocks home she had worked herself up into quite a state. And when Jamie came home six hours later he found her on the couch, having cried herself to sleep.  He brushed her hair out of her face and gently kissed her tearstained face. “Oh baby,” he thought “what did I do to you?” aloud he said “Leslie, honey, it’s time to wake up.” He gently shook her shoulder and kissed her forehead. Leslie stirred and stretched and her eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at him. “Hi, sweetheart, How are you feeling ?” Jamie asked as Leslie sat up groggily.

        “I’m ok” Leslie said slowly, pulling away from him as she remembered what had happened the day before.
        Jamie let her have her have her space standing up and running his hands through his hair, “Look, we need to talk about this. I know what we did was wrong and I’m sorry. But please don’t allow this to affect our relationship, I love you and I want to marry you. Yes, we made a mistake, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about you and I hope it doesn’t change how you feel about me.”

        Leslie nodded as he sat down next to her “I’m sorry too. I’m just scared. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, I don’t know what to expect and I’m worried that you will hate me or break up with me and then no one will ever want to marry me, and my dad will disown me and I’ll be all alone.”  She drooped her head and allowed her tears to spill down over her cheeks. 

        Jamie reached around her and pulled her into his arms and let her cry.“Sweet heart, I’m not going to leave you and I don’t hate you. Like I said, I love you very much and I want to marry you. Do you hear me? I’m going to marry you, if you’ll have me, and you will never have to worry about being alone.” Jamie brushed her hair back out of her face as she slowly looked up at him.

        “Really, Jamie ?  is that an official proposal?” she asked a smile slowly creeping back  on her face.
       
         “Let’s say we have an agreement” Jamie said kissing her tenderly “I want to get you a nice ring and do this right. But I promise I will do it just give me a little time ok?”

          Leslie smiled and nodded “Ok I’ll be patient. I love you too. I think you are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me” she snuggled up against Jamie’s chest feeling safe and secure in his love. 

        They stayed that way for a few moments and then Jamie sleepily said “You probably ought to go get your shower so I can get you home before I fall asleep.” Leslie nodded trying to untangle herself from his arms the more she struggled the tighter Jamie held her. Leslie giggled and a slight wrestling match ensued, ending with Jamie kissing Leslie squarely on the mouth. “I’m going to have to get that ring soon so I can keep you here all the time. I miss you when you are gone!"

        The next two weeks followed their normal routine; Leslie helped Mrs. Holland with the kids’ school work and house work and worked at Burger King in the evenings. Jamie would stop in and see Leslie around suppertime and Leslie even made two trips home to see her family on the weekends. Nothing more was said about proposals and Mrs. Holland was very conscientious to be on time to pick Leslie up from work since the Stuttgart fiasco, as Leslie had made it clear that though she hadn’t told her father about the incident, if he knew about it he would be very displeased. For the most part that one little mistake seemed to be forgotten, until one day about two weeks after the fact, when Leslie got up and went downstairs to make breakfast her stomach began to churn. At first she brushed it off as having eaten too much cookie dough the night before, then after three days of nausea she began to wonder if she wasn’t catching the flu. And said as much to Jamie that night when he came in to Burger King for their usual supper together, he leaned in to kiss her and Leslie gently pushed him away “I’m sorry, honey,” she said softly “but I don’t think you want to do that, I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of days and today after I got to work I actually threw up. I’m not running a fever or anything but I just don’t feel real good. And I don’t want you to get sick too.”

      Jamie frowned “How long have you been feeling sick?” he questioned somewhat sternly.

      “Only since Monday,” she answered puzzled at his tone “Why do you think I might have already infected you?  I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner but I though it was just the cookie dough I ate Sunday night affecting me at first.”
 
     “Leslie, I know we haven’t really talked about this stuff before but are you by chance ‘late’?”

       Leslie frowned , now she was getting really confused “No, I still have 30 minutes before I have to go back to work.”  She said glancing at her cell phone just to be sure.

      Jamie rolled his eyes “No, silly!” he said shaking his head, he then cleared his throat a little nervously and said “I mean your monthly … you know …Is it late?”

     “My monthly?” Leslie thought for a minute still not quite sure where Jamie was heading with this line of questioning “you mean, my period? I don’t think so at least not for another couple of days I don’t think I’ll check my calendar at home though. Why do you want to know?”  then it dawned on her “Oh no, you don’t think…?”

      Jamie nodded his head slowly, “If you’re not late then there is no need to worry…yet, but if you are I say we need to get a pregnancy test done ASAP.”

      “Ugh, just what I needed to hear” Leslie said “one more thing I’ve got to worry about.”

      “Look , I’m sorry I said anything, I just thought, you know, with you normally not being sick and all”  Jamie shrugged, “you know your body better than I do, I’m probably just being paranoid, Sorry I said anything.”

       Leslie smiled and they started talking about other things like planning on going to see her family for Christmas.  Before they knew it the 30 minutes had passed and it was time for Leslie to clock back in and Jamie, who had suddenly decided he had an errand to run before he headed to work gave Leslie a quick kiss good- bye and headed out himself.
 
      The rest of the evening while Leslie worked she couldn’t get that thought out of her head, “Am I late?” she wondered, could this nausea really be because she was …No she wasn’t going to say the word. There was no way she could be … her dad would kill her! She tried to go bravely about her work but the thoughts wouldn’t go away. Well if she was it… oh she couldn’t think of it. Tears poured down her face almost nonstop for the next hour, as she cleaned the lobby and the bathrooms and did up the dishes, in preparation for closing. Oh, what was she going to do?

       Somehow she made it through her shift and even made it home without Victoria or her mom asking any questions. The first thing she did when she got to her room was grab her calendar off the wall and look for the fateful little red dot that she made to remind herself when ‘it’ was due. She sank to her bed with a sigh of relief, “Whew! Two more days!” she exclaimed, she had gained a bit of a reprieve. At that moment her phone went off, it was a text from Jamie. “Can you  meet me for dinner Friday?”  Leslie smiled “Sure, what time? And Where?” she thought about texting him the good news but that seemed a little too personal to share in a text and she didn’t want to call him because she didn’t want  Victoria to overhear should she be snooping around as she often did.  Her phone buzzed again “6:30 , meet me at Burger King, and dress nice!” Leslie quickly texted back “ok” and then changing into her pjs collapsed on the bed and fell asleep, it had been an exhausting day.

      Over the next few days Leslie was very conscious of the fact that her monthly visitor still hadn’t arrived, but she kept telling herself it was just late. It sometimes was a day or two late, it will still show up, she thought to herself as she fought back the nausea and the tears. The only thing that helped was thinking about going out to dinner with Jamie that weekend. Getting to Burger King wasn’t a problem since she hadn’t told Sandy that she had been given the night off. However getting her nice clothes there was another story, one she was struggling to figure out, when Jamie saved the day when he called her to tell her he had found this pretty dress he thought would look good on her, would she wear it if he bought it for her? When Leslie said yes she would, Jamie told her he would leave the truck parked at Burger King with the dress in it she could change at Burger King and he would come get her when she was ready.

      Friday, finally arrived, and a morning never dragged by so slow, Leslie was super impatient to see Jamie and the dress he had bought her. When the time finally came and Mrs. Holland dropped her off at work, it took every ounce of will power for her to walk into the building just as if she was going to work instead of making a beeline for Jamie’s truck. But she could do nothing to raise suspicions. It was bad enough that she had lied to Mrs. Holland when she had suggested getting Whoppers for supper, luckily for her the kids had not been in favor of the idea either and had whined and fussed until Mrs. Holland had given in and agreed to take them to the other side of town for Domino’s Pizza. Leslie breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw the van pull away.  She waited a few more minutes just to be sure and then headed back out to Jamie’s truck, using the key that Jamie had given her she unlocked the door and climbed up on the passenger’s side, and reached into the back seat and grabbed the plastic covered hanger, and headed back into the restaurant. When she got into the bathroom she locked herself in a stall and took the plastic off of the hanger. She gasped out loud at the sight of the dress. Never in all her days had she imagined a dress so perfect. It was what every girl needs, a little black dress, smart, sophisticated and elegant, and in a plastic bag tied on to the hanger there was a pair of elegant black dress shoes and a small box of jewelry. Leslie opened the jewelry box and was once again amazed for there sparkling back at her was the most beautiful diamond earring and pendent set, she quickly stuffed it back into the bag, and hurried to change out of her work clothes and into the fabulous clothes Jamie had bought for her. They fit perfectly, Leslie stared at herself in the mirror for a few minutes wondering if she really was the same girl that had walked in the door a few moments ago. The dress was amazing, from the scalloped neckline to form fitting knee-length skirt, this was a dress that drew attention to the wearer, not in a bad way, it was still very modest and in some ways unassuming, but it did make you take notice. Leslie tried a couple of hairstyles while standing in front of the mirror admiring her new dress, and finally decided on a simple twisted up-do, leaving a few curls to frame her face. Then she put on her earrings and necklace, grabbed her stuff and hurried out to Jamie’s truck. Jamie was already there waiting for her looking very, very handsome in his dress uniform.

       As Leslie approached the truck Jamie turned and whistled, “Wow, you definitely make that dress look good!!” he exclaimed as he opened the door and helped her up into the truck. 

    “Thank you, it’s a very pretty dress.” Leslie said smiling coyly at Jamie  “You look really nice too. Where are we going?”

     Jamie just smiled and said “You’ll see.” Put the truck in gear and pulled out of the parking space and on to the road. Leslie was a little surprised when he head out on the highway but decided to let him have his surprise if he wanted to. After about 20 minutes they arrived at a quaint little restaurant called Le Coq or The Rooster in English. Jamie parked the truck and helped Leslie down they walked into the dimly lit restaurant. The waiter nodded at Jamie and showed them to a quiet corner table. After they ordered their food and Jamie prayed for the meal he leaned over and kissed Leslie on the cheek “Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”  He whispered taking her hand in his.

   “How did you know it was my birthday?” Leslie asked astonished that he knew.

     Jamie smiled “I have my ways.” He said winking at her “do you like the dress?”

   “Like it?”  Leslie asked “I love it! It’s absolutely beautiful!!! But how did you know what size to get?”

     Jamie grinned “Did you forget?  You left your blue dress at the apartment so you’d have something nice to wear when we go out. I just wrote down the size before I went shopping. You do make it look good. I was hoping you would like it.”

      “It’s absolutely amazing!” Leslie said “I’ve never had anything as pretty as this!”

      “Of course you have,” Jamie said “you have lots of pretty dresses.”

       “Not like this one, this one makes me feel like a princess!” Leslie sighed

       “Well, that’s because you are a princess.” Jamie said “and I want to be your prince and spoil you for the rest of your life” Jamie reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. He slipped to his knee and held the ring out to her “Leslie Ann Kingston, will you marry me?”

         Leslie’s hand flew to her throat as she gasped with tears in her eyes “Yes”

       After they had finished their dinner, Leslie and Jamie took a walk across the bridge that spanned the Neckar river, hand in hand they watched the sun set over the town, as they talked and made plans for their future together.

      “I don’t understand why we can’t tell your parent’s now” Jamie said slightly frustrated at Leslie’s insistence to wait until Christmas to tell her family.

     “Because.” Leslie insisted, “you can’t come home with me now and if I try to tell them by myself, I’ll say it all wrong and they’ll make me stay there and I’ll never get to see you again. Besides I like having a little secret of my own, and I promised the Hollands that I would work for them till Christmas and if they find out I broke the rules and have a boyfriend then they won’t let me stay here ...”

      “…and you’ll never see me again!” Jamie finished for her, “ok , ok , I get your point. We’ll do it your way, though I want to go on record as saying that I don’t like it, I really wish I could have gotten your father’s permission first.”

      As they headed back to the truck, Jamie noticed a little Italian ice cream shop right next to where they had eaten dinner, and suggested that they stop and eat some for desert. Leslie agreed and as they ate their ice cream she sighed “Jamie, this has been the ‘bestest’ birthday ever! You are so wonderful!”

      Jamie smiled and glanced at his cell phone “yikes, I’m wonderful all right, so wonderful I’m going to get you in trouble, if we don’t get going.” He grabbed her hand and they ran laughing to the pickup. 

     The drive home was quiet, both of them were lost in their own thoughts, Jamie stopped by the apartment to allow Leslie to change back into her work clothes. “Back to the real world, Cinderella.” She sighed letting her fingers slide down the velvet of the dress as she hung it in the closet. The question remained what to do with her ring she didn’t want to leave it behind, but taking it with her meant running the risk that someone would see it and ask questions.

    “Jamie,” Leslie asked as she reentered the living room “would you be disappointed if I left the ring here with you? It’s not that I don’t want to take it with me, I’m just scared someone will notice and start asking questions.”

     Jamie shrugged his frustration starting to show “Look, I don’t care what you do with it, wear it or don’t. It’s yours to do with as you please, just like my heart!”

       “It’s not like that, Jamie, and you know it!” Leslie couldn’t understand why Jamie didn’t understand she wasn’t trying to push him away she just didn’t want anyone to find out that she had a boyfriend, she had come too far with her lies to start telling the truth now. “Look fine! If it bothers you so much I’ll wear it, and if people ask questions they ask questions and we’ll deal with it then. Just promise me one thing, if they try to keep me from you, that you’ll fight for me and come and get me.”

      Jamie smiled and pulled her into his arms “Of course I’ll fight for you, I wouldn’t dream of letting you get away from me now. By the way, when did you tell Sandy you were getting off work ?”

     “Ugh, we need to leave, I hope she’s not early tonight!” Leslie disentangled herself from Jamie’s arms and stood to go. Laughing Jamie followed her to the truck.

     As they pulled up to Burger King Leslie noticed the familiar van parked in front, “Of course,” she muttered “she’s on time for once in her life!”

    Jamie just smiled “I’ll just drive around to the guard post and let you out there. You can head back and say you tried to meet her since you got off a little early.”
  

    Leslie gave him a quick kiss and hurriedly walked back toward  Burger King. When Leslie rounded the corner and was in view of the van she started sprinting arriving at the van breathless. “Where’ve you guys been?” she asked as she opened the door and hopped in “I got off early so I walked to the end of the block to watch for you. I must have missed you.” 

                “Leslie,” Sandy said “I have been waiting for you for 20 minutes, you really need to learn to be where you say you’re going to be!” 

                “Uh, sure,” Leslie replied out loud, to herself she muttered “like you! Oh, the irony!” 

All night Leslie was careful not to let the ring on her left hand catch the light, while trying to remain nonchalant. After doing some light cleaning she excused herself to her room to go to bed. As she fell asleep she thought about how wonderful it would be to be married to Jamie and not be separated all the time. She missed his smell on her pillow, his arm around her as she slept. “Only a few more months,” she whispered to herself in the dark.

Chapter 10 - Desires Requited

        Leslie woke to her alarm on her cell phone ringing insistently at 5 o’clock the next morning it took her a moment to realize where she was and what she was doing there. She hurried through her morning routine and made breakfast while Jamie showered. Then Jamie drove her to work dropped her off with a kiss and a promise to see her that afternoon. They both went about their normal routines for the day until 1 o’clock when Jamie picked Leslie up from work, Leslie walked out to the truck and there on the seat were two little teddy bears and a card. Leslie squealed with delight and grabbed the card, quickly tearing the envelope open to read the note inside.

           

        “Awwww…” she said wrapping her arms around Jamie’s neck “Thanks. That’s so sweet!” 

           

       “Your welcome sweetheart” Jamie said “I meant every word. You are the most amazing girl I’ve ever known and when I’m with you I’m the happiest man in the world.” He kissed her firmly on the mouth, taking her breath away. “Now let’s get you home before you get in trouble.” He put the key in the ignition and put the truck in gear and backed out of the drive.

Once on the Autobahn Leslie scooted over next to him and he put his arm around her shoulders. Leslie sighed everything felt perfect and in spite of the close call they had the day before she knew she would be spending more time with Jamie. “The Hollands are just being stupid” she thought to herself “they aren’t my parents and they just don’t trust me. I’m a big girl I can handle myself”  Jamie parked the truck about a block away from the Holland’s house, Leslie slipped the bears and card into her bag and after a few quick kisses tore herself away and walked to the house. She knew she would have to confront Sandy about the fact that she had taken off without any thought to her safety. “Make it sound like you are good and mad and that you did her a favor by not telling your parents she left you” she told herself firmly as she walked in the front door. Expecting to be greeted by bedlam and confusion, she was shocked to find the house still quiet. Everything was just as she left it except the little red light on the answering machine was blinking. Leslie walked over and punched the button

“Leslie, its Sandy just wanted to let you know we are going to be gone through Thursday, probably be home late Thursday night. You’ll need to contact Michael or Jamie for a ride to work, since we obviously won’t be there. See you Thursday.” Leslie rolled her eyes as the machine beeped indicating that there were no more messages. “The thoughtlessness of the woman!!!” she thought as she headed up stairs to her room she knew that Jamie didn’t get off work until six the next morning so she would have to wait till then, at least, for him to come get her. She reached for her suitcase and started packing everything she would need for the week in it. As she packed she punched Jamie’s number on her cell phone, when he answered she explained the situation to him. He answered the way she thought he would, to go ahead and stay the night there and he would pick her up when he got off his shift. She could stay with him until the Hollands came home. He did tell her to make sure she called and told Sandy that this was not acceptable conduct and what her arrangements were for the week. Of course he didn’t need to tell her to leave off the part that Jamie was a boy not a girl. After she hung up with Jamie she called Sandy and told her what was going on, explaining that it was an inconvenience for Jamie to have to drive out there every day so she would be staying at Jamie’s apartment, which would work out great since Chad was already gone.

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading since no one had been there to make a mess the house was still spotless from the cleaning she had given it on Friday. She baked some cookies for Jamie, made a card for him and wrote a long letter to him about all that he meant to her. Still left with time on her hands she took a leisurely soak in the tub and then watched a movie, before going to bed.

The doorbell ringing insistently woke her up. Groggily she looked at the clock “who could be coming by at six in the morning” she thought as she tried to shake the cobwebs from her brain. Not being able to find her robe, she stumbled down the stairs in her short little night dress, rubbing the sleep from her eyes she opened the door to find Jamie standing there.  She smiled as he grinned and asked “Did I wake you?”

“Uhhuh,” Leslie nodded as she tried to sniffle a yawn, “Sorry, I went to bed kinda late last night. I guess I forgot to set my alarm. Are you in a big hurry?” Seeing Jamie shake his head she went on “I can make a quick breakfast for you if you want.”

“Sure,” Jamie replied, holding back a groan at the sight of her in that short, little nighty. It wasn’t really skimpy. Just a baby doll made out of t-shirt material that hit her just above the knees. The ruffles, a little lace and a v-cut neckline gave it a very feminine touch. He knew he should tell her to go upstairs and change, but part of him didn’t want to, he definitely liked what he was seeing. He watched as she rummaged around for the fixings for some omelets not hearing a word she said, until she was standing right in front of him her hand on her hip giving him a very stern look. “huh?” he said shaking his head, “ sorry, my mind was someplace else.”

She grinned up at him “Just asking if you wanted me to make some coffee, I’ll take that as a yes” she said and turned to go start a pot, but before she could get very far Jamie reached out his arm and grabbed her pulling her into his arms and kissed her gently but firmly. Leslie sighed as she leaned up against him, molding her curves to his form.

          “Mmmmm,” Jamie murmured against her hair, “you taste better than any breakfast I’ve ever had.

“Really?” Leslie questioned raising her eyebrows at him “Now I know you need that coffee, you are starting to sound delusional!”

Jamie reluctantly released her and she poured him a cup of coffee and then returned to the stove to finish the omelets, chattering the whole time.  Jamie watched her thinking about how nice it would be if they could do this everyday for the rest of their lives. As soon as Jamie's omelet was done, Leslie placed it on a plate in front of him and started on her own. When she glanced at him and caught him watching her instead of eating, she walked over and asked him if there was anything she could do for him. Jamie groaned inwardly, wishing he could tell her what he really wanted, but finally took a deep breath and said, “Yes Honey there is.” he swallowed hard “could you please go upstairs and put some clothes on? You are making it really hard for me to stay a gentleman! I’ll watch the eggs, just go. PLEASE!”

Leslie blinked as if not comprehending what he was saying, then it dawned on her, “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed hurriedly “I didn’t mean...”

“Don’t explain just go!” Jamie said through gritted teeth. Leslie went, very embarrassed that she once again had been a source of stumbling for Jamie. Good girls didn’t parade around in their nighties and tease boys to the point they couldn’t be gentlemen. She changed her clothes, making sure she was completely modest, she grabbed her suitcase, hoping Jamie wouldn’t change his mind about letting her stay with him. Personally she was starting to have doubts that it was a good idea, but what could she do? She couldn’t stay here that would be unfair to Jamie to ask him to drive all that way every day. If only the Hollands hadn’t left! It was all their fault really, if they hadn’t left she wouldn’t have been put in this situation in the first place!  They were so selfish and inconsiderate! She would just have to make the best of it.

When she got back downstairs, she and Jamie finished their breakfast and cleaned up together. As they were washing the dishes Leslie turned to Jamie, swallowed hard and said “Jamie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a temptation to you...”

“Leslie...” Jamie interrupted “It’s not your fault! I don’t want you beating yourself up over this. You are a beautiful young lady and even if you put on a burka you would be still make it hard for me to be a gentleman. God made you beautiful and I don’t want you to feel ashamed of that gift! I just have to learn patience to enjoy that gift in the right way at the right time.” Jamie tipped Leslie’s chin up toward his face wiped the tears off her face with his thumb and kissed her gently on the lips. “I’m serious, I don’t want to hear anymore about it, ok?”  

“Ok.” Leslie said with a tremulous smile, “You are so good to me, I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you!”

Jamie smiled, “Me either, babe, me either.”

When they arrived back at the apartment Jamie gave Leslie her own house key “If you’re going to be staying here you’ll need to be able to get in when I’m still at work. Will you be able to walk home after work?” he asked

“Yeah that shouldn’t be a problem,” Leslie said “It’s not that far, I can make it.”

“Ok, babe,” Jamie said wearily “that caffeine is starting to wear off, I’ve got to go get some sleep.”  

While Jamie slept Leslie read a book, watched TV and started dinner, she figured they would probably eat early since both of them would be working at suppertime. When Jamie woke up and went for his run Leslie went in and stripped his sheets and put them in the wash, and after dinner they washed the dishes and made the bed. As they headed to work somehow they never talked about the sleeping arrangements and when Leslie returned home that night she realized she didn’t know where the extra blankets were. She looked in Chad’s room only to find that it was completely bare, apparently the military had moved all of his stuff and put it in a storage unit in the States per his request. Leslie sighed, she was tired and overwrought from all the emotions of the day, without giving it any further thought she went to Jamie’s room, undress and went straight to bed, her last thought of the night was to make sure she woke up before Jamie got home so as not to tempt him.

Unfortunately, Leslie didn’t hear the alarm that morning and Jamie exhausted from a long night's work came home on autopilot, undressed and collapsed into bed. Leslie woke up with Jamie’s arm around her. She had no idea how long he had been there, but it jerked her wide awake in an instant. She didn’t want to scare him so she slid out of bed quietly and went to the kitchen. The clock on the microwave read 8:30 am, she wondered what time Jamie normally woke up and when he would be ready for breakfast. Well she could exercise, and do her personal devotions until then, but she couldn’t take a shower, all her stuff was in Jamie’s room, to be honest she was really bored, she would have to ask Jamie what things she could do in the mornings while he was sleeping.

When Jamie got up and left for his run Leslie went in the bedroom made up the bed and grabbed her suitcase and moved it into Chad’s room where she hung her clothes in the empty closet. Then she took her shower supplies and put them in the bathroom, took a quick shower and was back in the kitchen making ‘breakfast’ when Jamie came home from his run. Jamie grinned happily as he came in the door, the house smelled delicious, he walked over to Leslie and started to hug her, but she pushed him away.

 "No, sir!" she said "I've already had my shower this morning. You're not getting me all sweaty!" Jamie pouted a bit but headed to the bathroom as directed. After Jamie showered and the two of them ate breakfast, Jamie sat down at the computer to check his emails, Leslie cleaned up the kitchen and then came and looked over Jamie's shoulders wrapping her arms around him as she did so. "what 'cha doing?" she asked placing quick kiss on his cheek.

"Writing a note to my mom," Jamie said as he turned and stole a kiss from Leslie "why? You need something?" 

"No, not really," Leslie replied "I'm just bored, I've been up since 8:30 you know, and there's not much to do here."

Jamie shrugged "Sorry babe, but I have to sleep sometime. Here let me show you how to work the computer and then you can play on that when you get up in the morning so you're not so bored." The next couple of hours were spent with Jamie showing Leslie how to log on to the computer and how to access the various programs even setting up an e-mail account for her. Then it was time for Leslie to go to work, Jamie dropped her off with a quick kiss and a promise to see her at supper. 

Leslie and Jamie quickly fell into a comfortable routine, with Leslie getting up around 8 and exercising, showering and doing her devotions. She would fix herself a light breakfast, do some quick house cleaning, and then play on the computer or watch TV until Jamie woke up and headed out on his run at which time she would make his breakfast and her lunch. When Jamie got back they would eat and spend the rest of the morning doing something fun together, like sitting on the couch making out. 

All went well until Thursday morning, when Leslie tried to slip from the bed Jamie's arms tightened around her. Drawing her up against his chest, Leslie squirmed against him as he began to tickle her and kiss her. The tickling turned to necking and then full-fledged making out. Leslie sighed as Jamie's touch became less playful and more passionate, somewhere in the back of her mind and alarm bell went off, but she ignored it, the desire coursing through her body was too strong, she knew this time they were going 'all the way'.