You Can Count on Me
by Sandra Miller (smiller@mypointsconnect.com)

***
 
"Dinner was wonderful, Babs," Dick told the beautiful woman in his arms.  "Now 
what did you have in mind for dessert?"

Barbara giggled as Dick waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.  They were 
comfortably ensconced on her sofa -- or rather, Dick was comfortably ensconced 
on her sofa, *she* was snuggled up on Dick's lap.  They had enjoyed a quiet 
candlelit dinner and were now watching the snow fall outside and listening to 
Christmas carols.

"It has always amazed me," she said, ignoring his question for the moment, "how 
just a few changes in weather conditions can make such a change in the way our 
world looks."  When she saw the inquiring look on his face, she explained: "I 
mean, it looks so peaceful and serene outside with the snow falling and covering 
all the ugliness; but if it was raining or sleeting outside, we would think 
something completely different.  The world is the same; the amount of 
precipitation is the same; but there's a difference in our perception."

"And fewer car accidents."

"Oh, you!" Barbara smacked him on the shoulder.  "I'm trying to have a 
philosophical discussion here, Mr. Grayson!"

"Gotcha!" he laughed and hugged her tightly.  As he did, he realized that the 
song that had been playing in the background was about to finish. He knew this 
album, and the song he had been waiting for was coming up next.  Turning to 
Barbara, he became serious.  "Babs, there's something I've been wanting to try, 
but I need your help.  Will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Just ... will you?"

Babs looked into his eyes.  They were pleading with her to trust him; they 
reminded her of how he had looked when he took her "flying" again on the 
trapeze.  She sighed; she had *never* been able to resist him.  Why did she 
think she was going to start now?

"Okay.  What do I need to do?"

"Just hold on to me."  

Dick stood up, still holding Barbara in his arms.  He repositioned her so that 
she was "standing" against him with her arms around his neck and his arms around 
her waist.  When the next song on the CD began, he felt her stiffen slightly in 
his arms.  "Trust me," he winked at her.

As "I'll Be Home For Christmas" played in the background, he and Barbara began 
slow dancing in her living room.  Once she realized what Dick was doing, Barbara 
shifted her grasp so that she could rest her head on his shoulder; Dick's arms 
tightened about her slightly in response.  Barbara knew she wasn't a frail 
person, but with Dick's arms around her she felt both light and secure.  

During one of their spins about the room, Barbara spotted their reflection in 
one of the wall mirrors.  The long skirt of her dress disguised the lack of 
movement in her legs, and with Dick's arms securely around her, it looked for 
all the world like Christmas of times past.  This had always been one of their 
favorite songs to dance to, before ... her thoughts ground to a stop.

They continued their dance around her living room as the song continued to play 
until finally it, and the magic time it had created, was over.  Dick brought 
them to a stop in the center of the room and hugged her.  He drew back to thank 
her for the dance, but stopped in shock as he realized she was crying.

He immediately carried her back over to the sofa and held her on his lap, 
castigating himself the entire time.  "Oh, God, Babs!! I'm so sorry!  I'm an 
idiot -- what was I thinking?!?  Will you ever forgive me?"

Babs wasn't sure how long he would continue like this, so she put a stop to his 
words the best way she knew how: she drew his head down to hers in a passionate 
kiss.  When they finally broke apart, she spoke before he could start up again. 
"Dick it's okay.  In fact, it's *more* than okay!  Those were *happy* tears!"

"You're not upset with me?"

"You amaze me, Dick!  You continually give me back things I never thought I 
would do again -- flying, loving, and now dancing.  I was just overwhelmed by my 
feelings toward you and what you've done for me."

"So, you might like to do it again sometime?" He looked at her with an odd light 
in his eyes.

"Of course!  It's a little more difficult than the old way, so I'm certainly not 
going to want to go dancing all night long or something, but yeah!"

"That's good, 'cause I always wanted to dance with you at our wedding."  He gave 
her a shaky grin as she gaped at him.  "Babs, will you marry me?"

The tears started flowing from her eyes again, but this time Dick could 
definitely see that they were happy tears.  "Oh, yes!  Yes!"

And outside, the snow continued to fall.

***End***