Spending the Night With Jack 2

The following morning, Jack lay propped up on one elbow in bed watching Abigail's face, which was peaceful in sleep. He remembered the first time he had held Abigail in his arms, twenty years previously, after she had collapsed. At the time, he had had no idea that he would ever hold her as he had that night. As he softly touched her hair, Jack felt fiercely protective of Abigail, longing to shield her from all harm.

Abigail yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes. She looked confused for just a minute, then saw Jack's smiling face and remembered.

"Good morning, beautiful." Jack lightly kissed her nose. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Mm hm." Abigail smiled and nodded. "Did you?"

"Better than I have in a long, long time." That was true. The warm glow Jack had felt as he had held Abigail in his arms had lulled him right to sleep.

"So, what are we now?"

"What do you mean?" Jack was puzzled.

"Well, since we...you know...we can never go back to being just friends now, can we?"

"Why can't we?"

"Well...you know..." Abigail looked acutely embarassed.

"How do you feel about what we did last night, Abby?"

"I feel...well, I feel really happy...and I feel closer to you right now than I've ever felt to another person."

"That's why it's called making love, sweetie."

"Do you feel that way too?"

"I sure do."

She looked immensely relieved. "So, what are we now? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Jack chuckled gently. "I would be deeply honored to be your boyfriend, Abby."

She grinned widely, and he gave her a big hug. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast," he said softly.

Jack cooked chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then he asked Abigail if she would like to go for a walk in the park.

"I haven't done that in so long I can't remember..." her voice trailed off.

"Well, I think it's a lovely day for it," he said.

Abigail heard the crunching of the leaves under her feet as they strolled together hand in hand and knew that she agreed with him. The trees had turned from green to red, yellow, and brown, and the temperature was perfect, neither too hot nor too cold.

"I forgot how beautiful it all was," Abigail said wistfully.

"You're beautiful," Jack told her.

"Do you really think so?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"My face looks...different now." Abigail's fingers ran slowly over her features. "There are lines that weren't there before, and there are wrinkles at the corners of my eyes now. I look so...old." A sob caught in her throat.

"Look at me, Abigail." Jack's voice was gentle but firm. "Do I look exactly the same as I did twenty years ago?"

Abigail brought her hands to Jack's face and gently ran her fingers over his features as she had her own.

"I'm only six years older than you, Abigail," Jack said gently. "Your senior year of high school was only my second year of teaching and coaching."

"Oh." Abigail sounded surprised, as if she had never considered that before. Suddenly she remembered the conversation she had had with Joanie in the mall a few weeks previously.

"Do you think I'm any less attractive than I was twenty years ago?" Jack asked.

"Oh...no, of course not," she stammered.

"Well, neither are you." He grinned and took her hand once more.

They walked around the park talking until they were both hungry, and Jack bought them hot dogs at a hot dog stand nearby.

"At least the food hasn't changed...that much," Abigail commented, which made Jack laugh.

"I'd better get you home before your mother thinks I ran away with you," Jack said lightly after they had finished eating.

"Will we have other weekends like this?" Abigail asked hopefully.

"I certainly hope so," Jack said with a grin.

"I don't want to say good-bye," Abigail said later as they were sitting in Jack's car in front of her house.

"Neither do I, sweetie." Jack suddenly felt overcome with emotion as he hugged her. "It's all right. I'll see you again real soon."

He walked her to the door, where he hugged and kissed her tenderly. She turned to go into the house, and Jack drove away with a song in his heart.