by BL Miller
"It's been so long since anyone gave me a party for my birthday," Rose whispered. "I can't believe this."
"Believe it. You can count on this being an annual occurrence from now on." She looked at the boys. "You guys go help your father make up the plates." Once they left the room, she turned her attention back to Rose. "I love you. You didn't think I'd let your birthday go by without throwing you a party, did you?"
"You didn't say anything except about the bikini so I thought…" She shook her head and smiled.
"I should have known. Cartwrights love parties."
"Well, that may be true, but this particular Cartwright had more of a reason to throw you a party than just your birthday." At the quizzical look, Ronnie merely gave a sly smile. "You'll see later. Come on, go get changed into something dry so we can dig into dinner before it gets cold."
Maria arrived a short time later, the back seat of her car taken up with a large sheet cake. Ricky and Timmy got their fingers full of frosting before Ronnie could get it placed up out of reach. John insisted on sitting on Rose's lap during dinner and the sight made Ronnie smile. The people who meant a great deal to her were there to help celebrate the birthday of the person who meant the most to her. Not a word was said when Maria joined them for dinner and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. Little side conversations took place all around her but the executive paid them no attention. Her focus was on the green-eyed beauty and the thought of the present hidden in the office.
Frank and Agnes arrived just as dinner was ending. Rose had to laugh at the sight of the big burly man carrying a fishing pole wrapped in dainty tissue paper.
"Gee Frank, I have no idea what you got her," Ronnie said with a smirk.
"You know fishing poles aren't the easiest things in the world to wrap," he replied. "Took Agnes forever to get it done." He walked over to Rose and gave her a kiss on the cheek while handing her the present. "Happy birthday, Blondie."
"I guess it is time to open presents," Ronnie announced.
"Well here, open mine first," Frank said.
"It's beautiful," Rose said as the final wrapping was removed.
"That's not just some run of the mill fishing pole you've got there, Blondie," he said. "That's a top of the line Power Pole with ultra sensitive tip and left handed reel. Maybe next time you go fishing you won't toss the lunkers back in."
"Oh, I probably will," she admitted. "But it sure is fun to catch them."
"I wouldn't know. I've caught more sunfish than bass this season," he grumbled good-naturedly.
"Aunt Rose, will you open my present now?" John asked, holding the gift in his hands.
"Of course I will, Sweetie," she said, taking the present from him. The wrapping was torn away to reveal a bottle of her favorite perfume. "Thank you, John. It's very nice." She gave the young boy a kiss on the cheek. Looking up at Susan, she indicated her silent thanks with her eyes. Timmy and Ricky gave her presents as well, followed by a joint present from Susan and Jack while Maria gave her a brooch that was simply breathtaking.
After seeing the presents the other Cartwrights had given her, Rose knew the bikini was not the only present her lover had in store for her. Her suspicions were confirmed a minute later when Ronnie and Frank disappeared into the office.
Together they carried out a big, bulky looking box covered in green wrapping paper. Jack and Ricky moved everything off the coffee table to make room. Rose stood up and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "I wonder what on earth it could possibly be? Looks kinda big." The box was easily as long as her outstretched arms and half as high.
"Looks can be deceiving," Ronnie replied, sharing a knowing grin with her sister as Rose began to unwrap the large box. While the box itself proclaimed that a twenty-seven inch color television was waiting inside but the young woman knew from the weight it was not the case. Besides, there were already a half dozen televisions floating around the house as it was. Surely Ronnie would not have bothered to buy another one. Her curiosity was piqued when she opened the box to reveal another box inside, this one wrapped in red holiday paper. "I ran out of birthday wrap so I used Christmas paper. I hope you don't mind."
"Ronnie, you could have wrapped it in newspaper and I wouldn't have minded," Rose assured, pulling the smaller box out. Ricky moved the first box out of the way. The red box was unwrapped and opened only to discover another box inside. "Oh, blue paper this time."
"Wouldn't want you to be bored with the same old paper," Ronnie joked. Two more boxes with different colored papers had the boys in fits of laughter and the adults chuckling. "I can't watch this," Frank said with a huge grin on his face. Tabitha was having a grand time playing with the paper as it fell to the floor. "How many boxes did you wrap?" Rose asked after the sixth box opened only to find another one waiting inside.
"Oh, a few more." The devilish grin and wiggling eyebrows sent Susan's sons into renewed giggles. Finally a coat box wrapped in silver paper with gold ribbons was revealed. "That's got to be it," Frank said. Jack and Susan nodded in agreement. With all the excitement of a child, Rose opened the box to reveal a bright green and black ski jacket. "Oh, it beautiful," she said, pulling it out of the box and holding it up for all to see.
"That is nice, even if it is a bit early for snow," Susan said. Rose was already standing up to try it on. It fit perfectly. "Sharp," Ricky said. John added a request for one in the same colors. Ronnie merely stood back and smiled at the image before her. "It may be early for snow here but not everywhere." The corner of her lip curled up with a smile. "Rose, what's in the inside pocket?"
"The inside…" She unzipped the jacket and pulled out a stack of papers. The bright stripes on the outer paper left no doubt as to its contents.
"I hear the Alps are just lovely this time of year," Ronnie drawled. "I do believe we both have some vacation time stored up."
"Oh my, tickets to Switzerland?" Rose's fingers trembled as she pulled not two but ten tickets out of the sleeve. "Ronnie…" Her voice stilled as the names of several far away countries appeared before her eyes.
"I believe Germany, Austria, and France are in there too, aren't they?" the executive teased just before an overjoyed Rose flew into her arms.
"Ronnie, you are something else," her sister said.
"I can't believe you," Rose whispered into the warm skin of her lover's neck. "This is too much."
"Nothing is too much for you, Honey," she whispered back. "We'll bring the laptop and write it off as a business expense." That made the woman in her arms chuckle. "Seriously, I would love to take you on a tour of Europe and this is the perfect time of year to go."
"I love you."
"Love you too. You're not crying on me again are you?" Ronnie stepped back to see that indeed her lover was weeping with joy. Susan came up alongside them and silently held out a handkerchief.
"Thank you." Rose took a few seconds to compose herself before turning to face the rest of the guests. Maria came up to give the young woman a hug. "What a beautiful gift," the housekeeper said.
"It is very nice," Agnes said, shooting her husband a look. "It seems some people would rather spend time with the ones they love instead of running off to some lake in the middle of nowhere for two weeks."
"Umm…" Frank looked at his cousin for support and found none as she was too busy beaming at the happiness on Rose's face. "Oh hell, Agnes. I guess two weeks in Hawaii won't be so bad."
"I knew you were a big softy," Ronnie teased.
"Yeah, just like you, Cuz," he countered good-naturedly. Looking down at her lover, the executive could only nod in agreement.
*******************
After the last of their guests left, the happy couple retired to the living room.
"I can't believe you did this," Rose said softly, looking at the tickets sitting on the coffee table.
"Why not?" Ronnie shrugged. "Now that you don't need a cane and physical therapy is over, it's a perfect time for us to take a nice long vacation." Although she had b
een to many of the countries already, she knew the memory would pale to the new ones that would be created with Rose by her side. Looking at the jacket, Ronnie smirked to herself. Not every present had been opened yet.
Rose kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet up under her legs. "How did you manage to plan a vacation without me knowing?"
"Easy. My travel agent did the work. All I did was tell her what countries I wanted to visit. One phone call, a couple of emails and voila."
"You are amazing." Rose rested her head against her lover's chest. "I've only dreamed of going to places like that," she said wistfully.
"Well now your dreams will soon be a reality," Ronnie replied. She leaned down for a quick kiss.
"I'm glad you liked your presents."
"I love them and I love you," she replied. "You didn't have to do this."
"It makes me happy to make you happy. You know that." The phone rang, causing Ronnie to mutter a curse and reach for the receiver. "Cartwright Residence."
"Ronnie?"
"Mother?" Turning to face Rose, she raised her eyebrows to indicate her surprise. It had been almost two months since they had spoken. "Um…how are you? Really?…How did that go?…uh huh, what about it?…Yeah, she was here earlier…It's Rose's birthday." Ronnie's eyes grew wider. "Uh…yes, it was nice….uh huh…no, no problem at all, Mother…What?…Um…yes, I'm sure that'll be fine…of course…okay Mother, good-bye." She set the phone down.
"She just called to say hello."
"Really?" Rose reached out and put her hand on Ronnie's shoulder. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "She just said that we should come over for dinner this Friday."
"Us?"
"Yes, us," Ronnie said. "I don't get it."
"Maybe it's your mother's way of offering an olive branch."
"But after everything that's happened?"
"After everything that's happened, you're still her oldest daughter," Rose said. "She really said both of us?"
"Yeah." Ronnie shook her head and pulled her lover close. "I don't believe it, but I'm not going to fight it. Maybe everything will work out with us."
"You are wonderful."
"You think so, hmm?" Ronnie's heart began beating faster. "We may not have started out in the best of ways but I can't imagine my life without you."
"I feel the same way."
"I'm glad to hear you say that." Her face became serious. "I think you missed something in your jacket pocket."
"What? After all this?" Rose held her hands out to indicate the stack of presents and the airline tickets. She picked the jacket up and laid it on her lap. As her hand fell over the pocket she felt the hard object hidden within. "Ronnie?" Her fingers traveled over it, her eyes widening. "Is this what I think it is?"
"I don't know," the executive replied nervously. "Maybe you should open it up and find out." As the zipper was opened, she added, "I hope you like it."
Rose's hand trembled as she pulled out the small velvet box. Tears were already beginning to well up in her eyes. "Oh my…" Her hands shook even more and Ronnie had to steady them with her own.
"Open it, Rose."
The jewelry box opened to reveal a gold band adorned with a triple row of diamonds across the top. "Oh…" Ronnie's equally shaky fingers removed the ring from the box, turning it around for her to see the inscription.
To my Rose, love forever, Ronnie
"Rose Grayson, would…" Her voice cracked, forcing her to swallow and start over. "W-would you be mine…forever?" The young woman could not find her voice and had to give a shaky nod, tears of happiness streaming down her face. "I love you," they said at the same time. Holding the ring between her fingers, Ronnie took the smaller hand in her own. Tears fell from her own eyes as the gold band slid over Rose's ring finger. As it passed over the last knuckle their fingers intertwined and both tried to bring the joined hands to their lips. Ronnie used her strength to gently press her lover back down on the cushions while their fingers separated. Rose's hands went to the hem of Ronnie's shirt and slipped beneath.
"I love you, Rose."
"And I love you, Ronnie," she replied before their lips met.
Lying on the floor, Tabitha looked up at her mistresses. With a healthy stretch and a yawn, the cat stood up and headed for the stairs. She would have the bed to herself for the night.
THE END
