first_in_time | New Lives and Mourned Pasts

The trip was long but at least they had jobs to go to and somewhere to live even if it was small. They each had one suitcase half filled with clothes and a life they were leaving behind. Once they were left in the by the side of a dusty road on the outskirts of a small country town Barbara walked with Ian to their new home, unconsciously holding onto his hand as she had done so many times before. Their real estate agent waited at the door of their new home to hand them a set of keys. He wished the newly weds ever lasting happiness then left them to it.

"It seems I've missed my own wedding," Barbara said with a sigh as she put the suitcase down in the middle of the almost empty lounge room and chuckled a little. She was tired and felt dirty from all their traveling.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

splendid_roman

He smiled. "That would be good. We can have more than one child, then they'll always have someone to play with."

From:

first_in_time

"You're right but let's get used to sleeping in the same bed before we decide how many children we'd like." Barbara had another mouthful and chewed slowly, letting the rich flavours take her over for the moment.

From:

splendid_roman

"All right." But having grown up with a brother and a sister he was used to the idea of having more than one child. But there was plenty of time to make decisions about that.

He finished his pie shortly after and then contemplated more washing up. "I didn't miss all this washing up and drying up and cleaning."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara looked over at him. "We probably could have put off our last washup until we were done with dinner but I wanted it cleaned away." Barbara said and stacked her plate on top of Ian's. Then grinned at him.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian grinned back. "As long as we don't make it a habit."

From:

first_in_time

"We won't," she said to him, "but this time how about you wash and I'll wipe?"

From:

splendid_roman

"All right." He took their plates over to the sink and turned the tap on. "I suppose we should find a way to thank Sandra for the pie, beyond just giving her her box back."

From:

first_in_time

"We could bake something in return but we'd have to go back to the general store. Or maybe we could go for a wall and pick wild flowers for her," Barbara stood from the table, pushed in her chair then picked up the tea towel.

From:

splendid_roman

"We could leave it for a while." Ian collected the rest of the washing up and made a start on it. "She won't be expecting anything straight away."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara shrugged. Ian was right of course. People wouldn't be expecting much from either of them for a short while. They could take advantage of it for a time but she also didn't want people expecting them to accept favours and never give anything back.

"It wouldn't take too much effort to collect flowers for her. We can then invite her over for dinner a little later once we have our home more together. Besides, it will be a good excuse to go for a walk."

From:

splendid_roman

"A walk would be nice." He handed a wet plate over to Barbara to dry. "I know we've seen a bit of the place, but it would be good to see more and get to know it better."

From:

first_in_time

"A walk would be very nice," she added with a smile, "and yes we should get to know the area a little more. It seemed nice enough while we were driving through it."

From:

splendid_roman

"We're stuck here even if it's not nice," he said, grinning at her. "I don't much fancy trying to find somewhere else where no one knows us and has teaching jobs available."

From:

first_in_time

"At least I'm stuck here with you," she said and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

From:

splendid_roman

"There's no one else I'd rather be stuck with," he said softly, and turned his head to kiss her lips.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara cupped his cheek as they kissed and smiled when they broke apart, only to lean in for a second kiss.

"You're very good at that," she told him just as softly.

From:

splendid_roman

"It was just a question of finding the right person to do it with." He reached an arm up to her cheek, and then realised he had a wet hand, so he ended up dabbing her cheek with a bit of soapy water.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara grinned a little wider and shied away from the soapy water. "Maybe but if that's the case I'm very happy that it's you."

From:

splendid_roman

"I'm very happy that it's me too." He grinned and turned back to the washing up. The sooner they finished the sooner they could do some more kissing and cuddling.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara wiped up the things Ian washed up as he placed them in the drying rack. The other good part about having their dinner pre-made was that there was little washing up to do which meant they were done in little time.

When the last item had been dried and put away, Barbara folded up the tea towel and let it drape over a cupboard handle.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian returned to the lounge and picked up the paper to look at the crossword again. When Barbara came in he said, "We might need to give up on the crossword. Or make the answers up."

From:

first_in_time

"You could give up. Is there something else we could do together?" she asked as she sat by his side.

From:

splendid_roman

"We could listen to the radio," he suggested, putting the newspaper back on the coffee table.

From:

first_in_time

"Alright," Barbara said and got up to fiddle with the radio. "Did you go dancing much before we left?" she asked while playing with the dial, listening for a station with good music.

From:

splendid_roman

He shook his head. "Not really. I did when I was younger, but not so much recently." He couldn't help feeling that was a leading question, so he asked, "Do you like to dance?"