Note: Enjoy this romantic chapter with Doug and Patti. I thought there was no need to involve Skeeter to hear about this chapter, but I thought this was a good way to end the story. Happy reading!
Once I finished slamming the door, Mom and Dad were already in the living room.
"We're on our way, Doug. We should be back soon."
"Take your time, Mom. It is your anniversary after all."
"Hello, Patti. How is your Valentine's Day?" Mom asked.
"It's going really well, Mrs. Funnie. You both can go and Doug and I will be on our own."
"All right. You both have a great time."
Dad was the one who said that, but they both gave me a hug and then left.
"Patti, is there anything I can give you?"
"I'm fine for now, Doug. I had a couple glasses of water before I left."
"Great. Would you like to open a gift now or do you want to wait until later?"
"Later will be best, Doug. I'm sorry I didn't bring anything for you. Dad and I just finished paying our bills, so there wasn't much money left for me to give anything for you. I'm sure you'll understand."
"I'm not disappointed, Patti. You and I have each other this evening, and I'm happy to spend it with you."
"That's really sweet of you to say that, Doug. I was looking forward to this evening also."
"Would you like me to call up a pizza for us now?" I asked.
"That will be great."
We both walked into the kitchen. I took the telephone and ordered the pizza.
"Patti, the pizza will be here in fifteen minutes. Is that fine with you?"
Dad was the one who said that, but they both gave me a hug and then left.
"Patti, is there anything I can give you?"
"I'm fine for now, Doug. I had a couple glasses of water before I left."
"Great. Would you like to open a gift now or do you want to wait until later?"
"Later will be best, Doug. I'm sorry I didn't bring anything for you. Dad and I just finished paying our bills, so there wasn't much money left for me to give anything for you. I'm sure you'll understand."
"I'm not disappointed, Patti. You and I have each other this evening, and I'm happy to spend it with you."
"That's really sweet of you to say that, Doug. I was looking forward to this evening also."
"Would you like me to call up a pizza for us now?" I asked.
"That will be great."
We both walked into the kitchen. I took the telephone and ordered the pizza.
"Patti, the pizza will be here in fifteen minutes. Is that fine with you?"
"Of course it's all right with me, Doug."
Patti and I both walked back to the living room together. I turned on the television set. I flipped through the stations to see if there was anything that looked good. There wasn't anything that interested me, so I shut the TV back off.
"Why did you do that for?" she asked.
"Nothing looked good. Would you be interested in listening to any music instead?'
Patti agreed to my suggestion.
We looked through some CDs my parents kept. Back then, Mom and Dad didn't have CDs like we do now. I looked at the songs on each CD and read them to Patti.
"Here are our choices, Patti:
"Frank Sinatra's 'The Way You Look Tonight,' The Platters' 'Twilight Times,' Marie Osmond's 'Paper Roses,' Marie Osmond's 'Love Speaks Louder Than Word,' Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton's 'Islands in the Stream,' George Jones and Tammy Wynette's 'Golden Ring,' and Conway Twitty's It's Only Make Believe.'"
It was all I could think of, but I didn't want the list to get too long and bore Patti.
"Those are good choices, Doug. I'm not familiar with any of them, so we can go from there."
I saw that as a good sign that Patti agreed. I grabbed those CDs when the pizza arrived.
"Would you mind holding these for me, Patti? I'll get the pizza."
Patti took the CDs from my hands. She stayed where she was while I grabbed the door and paid for the pizza. I took the CDs out of Patti's hands when we walked into the kitchen. At least I was collecting the CDs gently from her hands. I thought the best song for the moment was 'Golden Ring.' It was a new song to me, and it sounded like a romantic song to both of us.
Patti followed me inside the kitchen. I grabbed the plates and some fruits and vegetables to go along with it. Patti thanked me when I gave a plate to her.
"Is there anything else I can get for you, Patti?"
"Not now, Doug. But thank you for asking," she answered politely.
After 'Golden Ring' ended, we listened to Marie Osmond next. An hour or so later, I gave Patti a kiss on the lips, which she liked.
We heard the front door slam after I watched Patti open my gift. It was Judy.
"I thought you wrre supposed to be at the movies," I told my sister.
"It was sold out, so we decided to end our evening. We were looking forward to it," Judy said.
Judy looked and saw as Patti finished opening my little box.
"Doug, you didn't have to do this," she said, looking at the bracelet and earrings.
"I wanted to, Patti. This shows you're special to me."
Judy already left before I said that to Patti.
"That's really sweet of you, Doug. This evening was special. I enjoyed spending the evening with you. I'm sorry to cut this short, but I promised to help Dad with something."
"No problem. Would you like me to walk you home?"
"Thank you for the offer, Doug, but I can go alone tonight. You can do that next time."
I walked to the door with Patti. I gave her a kiss.
"Thank you for the lovely evening, Doug."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"See you Monday," Patti said.
I said the same thing back. Tonight turned out to be one of the evenings I ever enjoyed.