Thompson vs Thompson (closed for Gr8chtr)

Teri felt better. Yes, Walker's arms always made her feel safe, but it was his words that helped her to realize that he was right. There were no guarantees in life or love.

"You are right, together we can help each other move forward. We have both been hurt in the past so it is only normal that we are insecure sometimes. We just have to help each other learn how to trust our emotions. Going away for Christmas sounds like a wonderful idea. But I am just as happy to spend time with your mother. Where would you like to go?"

Where would you like to go?

Given that going somewhere was a whole new idea, Daniel was shocked by how quickly the answer came to him.

"I'd like to go to New York, look at all of the decorated windows in Macy's, Saks, Bloomingdales, etc, and especially FAO Schwartz for the toy displays. And watch the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center - heck, maybe even skate ourselves. I haven't done this since I was a boy, and man did I ever love it!"

Nearly out of breath with excitement, Daniel continued. "We could do some grown-up stuff, too, if you'd like. You know, a Broadway show, visiting the MoMA or the Museum of Natural History.

In short, Teri, I'd like to just have fun, and, of course, with you!"

Teri's mouth hung open. New York? That would not have occurred to her in a million years. He had said a couple of days. His wish list would take a couple of weeks. She thought he was thinking of going up to the mountain for skiing. Still, it could be fun. It sounded exhausting.

"New York huh? That could be fun. Although I do not want to be at Times Square on New Year's Eve. I don't care all that much for those kinds of crowds. But it would be fun to go skating and window shop. I would like to go to Natural History Museum and the Art museum. But isn't this awfully expensive?"

She paused, thinking about her bank account. "How many days are you thinking about going?"

Daniel was suddenly in a great and expansive mood. Teri loved him, she was open to his idea, and they were going to have fun. Moreover, they appeared to have gotten past anything about "the serious talk" that was likely to lead to a crisis.

"Well, my love", Daniel said as he started to laugh at his own over-excitement, "I know that the list that I just cranked off would take a really long time. We don't have to do all of those things. Some window-shopping and a museum or two would be just fine for me. This idea just popped into my head, I don't have a plan, but I'd say we'd do something like 3 days, 2 nights, or maybe 4 days, 3 nights. And,no, I'm with you. I do not want to be in Times Square on New Years. "

Daniel paused briefly to let his reply sink in. As he did, Teri's comment about expenses spun around in his head. They had never talked about money in any way. What she didn't know was that in the six months after his divorce from Jill while he was still working full-time at the big-time Philadelphia law firm, he had lived frugally and saved up a nice stash.

The obvious thought struck him. Now he knew what to give Teri for Christmas in addition to inexpensive earrings. "As for the trip being expensive: Well, Teri, this will be my Christmas gift to you. The trip expenses are on me, not to worry. And, your gift to me will be just us sharing the time together."

Teri was immediately uncomfortable. She always paid her way. Even when they had gone to Virginia, they had split responsibilities and costs. She prided herself on her independence. Could she step back and let Walker pay for everything? Could she be dependent on him for this? Just the word dependent made her feel queasy. A trip to New York would be incredibly expensive. Just the thought of the cost of transportation and food made her freak, not to mention the cost of a hotel. What had Walker done? Robbed a bank? Won the lottery? Killed off a rich relative? She giggled at her thoughts.

"Wow, that is incredibly generous of you. Thank you, I would love to go with you."

Inside, her brain was reeling. How was she supposed to give him a simple gift if he was going to do this? An hour ago, she hadn't even known if she was going to be with him at Christmas, now she was spending several days. She was thrilled to be with him, not so thrilled with the idea of being in the huge city, but he was so excited. She had gone to school in the city, but she was a small town girl at heart. Still, she was willing to do this to make him happy. Now she still had to figure out what to get him for Christmas.

"I will let you figure out the details. Just let me know the dates and a little bit of your agenda. You know I am detail oriented." Teri laughed. "Now about that dinner?"

Dinner sounded great! He and Teri had come through his not-so-well-thought-out request for a "serious talk" with little emotion and a lot of apparent harmony. Looking at Teri sitting on his couch beside him Daniel realized just how much he was in love with her. He also realized that, although he really was hungry for dinner, he was hungry for Teri as well. Later, he hoped, they would find a mutual hunger of the other kind and satisfy that as well.

Daniel had spent some time earlier preparing a sausage and cheese lasagne. It was nearly completely cooked by the time Teri arrived and, since then, had been simply staying warm in the oven, covered with aluminum foil so as to preserve its moisture. With some small fanfare Daniel removed his dish from the oven, tossed together a mixed greens salad, brought the nearly untouched bottle of wine to the table, and beckoned Teri to join him.

As Teri and he sat down to dinner Daniel realized that he hadn't felt as good about a home-cooked meal around his own table since the early, good days of his former marriage.

"This is really good. I didn't realize how many things you could cook. I always thought that those "chef's" kitchens they show on the cooking channel would be great. But cooking for one person doesn't really require a gigantic kitchen, but they look great on television. Have you ever tried one of those boxed meals where they put all the ingredients that you need and deliver it to your house? I looked into them, but they are always set up for two to four people. Again, way too many servings. I love cooking, but it seems like such a hassle for one. But I like to mess around on weekends. Who taught you to cook?"

Answering Teri's direct question wasn't quite as easy as she might have suspected. Both before and after his parents' divorce his mom had done all of the cooking. Daniel had little opportunity to practice much cooking beyond heating up a can of soup. In his senior year in college he had rented an apartment with two other guys and did a little cooking, but most of the time the roommates grabbed fast food or ate something from a box. Once he met his ex-wife, Jill, though, things changed. Jill was a reasonably good cook but, more importantly, part of her dedication to the affluent, young, urban professional life was to prepare complicated meals on those occasions when they didn't eat out in upscale venues. Daniel had learned how to cook better alongside of her. This didn't seem like the time, though, to bring all of that up, so he just smiled and said, "Well, I sort of learned along the way with a little help from others that I knew."

But, it wasn't Teri's question about how he had learned to cook that caught his attention. She had made two references to cooking that might touch on the idea that two people could live more efficiently than one by taking advantage of the economy of scale. Was this a hint? Earlier as he was cleaning, Daniel had worked hard, with varying success, to tamp down any fantasies of he and Teri living together, especially because he was certain that even hinting at that would ignite her fears. Perhaps not.

"Well...," he began carefully, "I know what you mean about those TV shows and also about the boxed meals. Both what you see on TV and the boxed meals look pretty inviting to me, but, like you, I wrote them off because for someone who is living alone they aren't practical."

He paused, trying to conceal that he was taking in a slow, deep breath. "You know that old adage 'two can live cheaper than one'. I'm not absolutely sure about that but maybe there's some truth to it. What do you think?"

Teri gave it some thought. "I don't really think so. I used to, but, with the cost of everything these days, I think it might cost the same or maybe even more. If there are two people, you have two incomes but you still have the same bills as far as the car, medical, insurance etc. You are buying food for two. Maybe you save a little in utilities because you could get a phone plan but most of them are for four not two. Electricity might not be the same as two separate households but it wouldn't be the same as one. I suppose it would depend on how much time both people spent at home."

She shook her head letting go of the data flowing through her brain. Then laughed. "I think, maybe, I gave that one a little too much thinking. Just don't tell me you meant it to be rhetorical." She grinned at Walker as she took a sip of the wine.

Daniel felt like he was walking on the edge of a knife. He could safely retreat either to a wonky analytic reply to what Teri just said or to tossing it all of by just saying something like "Oh, no, it wasn't rhetorical, I was just curious as to what you think." OR he could take a jump into the deep water.

Teri's grin gave him the courage to jump from the 10 meter board. Taking a sip of his own wine while maintaining eye contact with Teri he returned her smile. "Nope. Not rhetorical. I was just thinking about the practicalities of something that might lie in our future."

"I would hope that, when or if, that decision is made it wouldn't be measured by the financial issues." Teri laughed.

"If I were going to buy a house, I would want an A frame cabin or a Victorian. I love the wall of windows in an A frame, but of course, I would want land around so that I didn't have people looking in. I want to look out." She grinned. "But I also love the gingerbread look of a Victorian. An updated one. I don't want to live in the early 1900s. There is a Victorian on the south side of town that I love to drive by. I always wonder what it looks like inside. What would be your ideal house?"

Engaging in this discussion was for Daniel something like how he felt when he was riding his bicycle down a steep hill and he wasn't using his brakes. It was exhilarating but it was also taking a risk that could end him up in a ditch.

He joined Teri in her laughter. "No, a decision...uh...for us to live together, um..if it should ever come to that ...wouldn't be made on the basis of money. No."

Addressing her other comment, he said, "I don't have an absolute ideal, it would depend on several factors, but I like your choices. My maternal grandparents' house was an old Victorian and I loved it! And, yeah, I too like the gingerbread; it's just so pretty. Of course, though, I can tell you from my grandparents' experience, Victorians take a lot of upkeep. When I was a teenager one summer I painted a lot of that gingerbread, and it was a pain in the butt! I guess we could...um, I mean...I guess one could hire a painter to do that."

Daniel could feel a little bit of nervousness creep up on him. He hadn't intended to use "we" with reference to house ownership. But, Teri was still smiling, so he continued, "The A-frame idea is really attractive to me, especially if it were outside of town and it was sited so that that big window wall afforded a really nice view. It's not all that cold in the winters here, I bet a person could heat an A-frame with a wood stove. If it had a loft bedroom - which is an idea I really like - the heat from a stove on the ground floor would keep that loft really toasty."

Daniel was feeling brave now, a combination of the wine, the exhilaration of their conversation, and what appeared to be Teri's continuing good humor. Standing and taking Teri by the hand he said, "Let's bring our wine glasses and sit on the couch. I have one more thought about my ideal house."

Nestled close to Teri he took his hand that wasn't holding his wine glass, placed it behind her neck, and pulled them into a short but very passionate kiss. Pulling back and being sure to not break eye contact, he finished his commentary.

"Actually, Teri, the real definition of my ideal house would be a place with you in it."

Teri blinked. She wasn't sure how they had gone from discussing houses to talking about something so personal. "Thank you, that is a sweet thing to say. I can picture you painting the gingerbread. But I like the idea of lying in bed together in the loft with a view of the pines and oaks, secluded from the world. Sometimes, like when I am hiking, I love the solitude." She glanced at Walker, "Well, secluded with you."

She leaned into him and kissed him softly. "We have come a long way, haven't we?"

She leaned into him and kissed him softly. "We have come a long way, haven't we?"

His downhill bicycle ride, Daniel realized, had not ended up in a ditch. Putting his wine glass on the end table, he wrapped his arms around Teri and returned her soft kiss with one of his own. Daniel laughed quietly, "Yes, we have come a long way from when we were opposing attorneys in an ugly divorce case. "

He kissed her again softly and spoke quietly. "I get the feeling, counselor, that this discussion that we have just had may not be entirely hypothetical, but we don't have to make any commitments tonight. This little rental house of mine isn't an A-frame with a beautiful view, but it is reasonably secluded, and secluded with you. Let's just go to bed and experience in the moment how far we've come."

Laughing, Teri took his hand. "Experience how far we have come? Sounds like a wonderful idea. I do love you, you know."

She leaned over to turn off the lamp as she followed him down the hallway to his bedroom. Oh yes, they had come a long way since the Thompson case. She smiled to herself. Who would have known that such a bizarre case could have led to them being here, together? Life was certainly strange. And very wonderful.

Daniel awoke at dawn to find Teri fast asleep snuggled closely to him. Not wanting to wake her just yet, he lay still thinking about what had just occurred. A lot had happened since Teri appeared at his door last night. They had survived his somewhat awkward request for a "serious talk" about their relationship with neither of them symbolically screaming and running for the door. They had shared a nice dinner. Most remarkably, somehow a conversation about his cooking skills and morphed into a discussion that was just short of them making a commitment to move in together. And, that had led to the mutually stated recognition about how far they had come as a couple. Probably, Daniel thought, they had each known how close they now were, but saying it out loud to each other was a whole step up in itself.

His mind drifted to the rest of the night as well. They had comfortably prepared for bed with the routine ease of an established conjugal couple, and snuggled in under the covers with the unspoken agreement that they need not discuss their future cohabitation any more last night. And their lovemaking somehow, Daniel thought in retrospect, also moved to another level. At times their lovemaking took the form of ardent physicality, their bodies slamming together while their moans and groans rose to a pitch that would have awoken their next-door neighbors, if there had been any. At other times their lovemaking was in the form of tender touching of each other's bodies, yet still as intense as anything that Daniel had previously known.

He and Teri had truly become, Daniel realized, both friends and lovers. Take away either part and their relationship would be hollow. Both parts together created a synergy that he had never fully experienced before.

His reverie over, Daniel slowly lifted himself up and placed a gentle kiss on Teri's cheek. "Awake," he said softly, "there's another day ahead of us."

Awakening to Walker's soft kiss was a wonderful idea, Teri decided as she stretched. It was amazing how the love making between them seemed to get better each time. She hadn't known that was possible. But, considering how wonderful it was now, she just didn't have a good enough imagination to picture it getting better and better. Yikes, she wouldn't last five years at this rate. He was going to give her a heart attack. Wait...had she just said five years? Oh my, it looked like she was expecting this to last a long time. Could she be in this forever? She looked over at Walker and smiled. Yes, forever might just be enough time with him, maybe.

"Did you know that I could make love with you forever if I didn't think you would kill me off with pleasure? So, what is the plan for the day?" she asked as she pulled on her nightgown and headed for the bathroom.

Did you know that I could make love with you forever if I didn't think you would kill me off with pleasure?

Daniel's eyes twinkled above his ear-to-ear grin. "Well, if you weren't the best and most enthusiastic lover I have ever had you wouldn't be in so much danger of dying a most pleasurable death."

As Teri headed for the bathroom he mused: What was the plan for the day? He hadn't thought that far ahead. As he wavered between preparing them a healthy breakfast of either granola or oatmeal, or a artery-clogging round of bacon and eggs, an idea lept to his mind. When Teri emerged from the bathroom looking absolutely irresistible in her tee and sweats, he announced his proposal.

"What about this? Let's have a relaxed breakfast here, then go online and lookup all of the houses for sale or rent within 10 miles of Silver Lake. After that, we'll make the rounds, and...well...see if any of them come close to our fantasy ideals?"

"That sounds like fun. I love going to open houses and seeing what people do to their places. I even like watching HGTV and seeing what houses in different places are like. I like wood and stone used in interiors." Teri stopped talking when she realized she was babbling.

"Um.. sure, breakfast and sightseeing sounds like fun. Maybe we could eat a light breakfast and then find a new place to have lunch?"

They considered both breakfast options and easily chose the healthy oatmeal and fixings breakfast, washed down with a couple of cups of coffee and a glass of OJ. Oddly enough, in doing so Daniel began to think about the importance of preserving health for both of them. Geez - was he getting a little to far into this couple-for-life thinking?

After breakfast they searched the local real estate listings. Not surprisingly, the in-town Victorian that Teri had referenced last night was not on the market. They probably would have known about that if so. Nor was there anything that looked like an A-frame with a gorgeous view. But, there were two modestly-priced, small houses in the country and three larger houses in town, each with the prototypic, small-town front porch where one could sit and watch the neighbors go by.

Rural Virginia did not feature advertised, formal "open houses" shown by realtors like house-hunters see in metropolitan areas. However, they were able to contact realtors for four of the five places and arrange to meet them for 15-minute tours.

As they approached the first place on their list, they were greeted warmly by the realtor showing the house. For a moment Daniel felt a little light-headed. This was really the first time they had presented themselves as a serious couple to anyone in the Silver Lake area other than their respective co-workers.

Life was moving rapidly, Daniel thought, but wasn't life just grand!

The first house they looked at was a craftsman style with a swing on the porch. There was a large dormer letting light into the upper floor and original windows. The interior was reached by entering a beautifully crafted front door with a half circle window with small panes. Inside the house, the first thing they saw was a staircase that curved up to the second floor.

"Look at the detail carved into the bannister. It must have taken hours and hours to carve those swirls into the wood. It is amazing."

When Teri turned to the left, she gasped. There was the most amazing rock fireplace she had ever seen taking up most of one wall. She could picture a big sectional sofa or maybe two over stuffed chairs in front of the fireplace. Snuggling up to Walker with a bowl of popcorn watching the flames. She shook her head to get the pictures out of her head. It was one thing to see the possibilities of a home, it was a totally different thing to start picturing the two of them in a house.

As they walked through the rest of the home, she oohed and ahhed over the built in bookcases, the large country kitchen that needed a little updating and the separate mudroom/laundry room. But it was the upstairs master bedroom that really surprised her. Someone had completely remodeled the upstairs by combining two of the four original bedrooms into a modern master suite. The bathroom was awe inspiring with a separate rock shower with two shower heads and a claw foot tub that was probably the original tub for the house. There were two, count them TWO, walk in closets.

About the only thing she didn't like was that the neighbors were so close that she felt she could look into their house from this one. But that was life living in town. If she could put this house on a couple of acres outside of town, it would be her dream house.

She wondered what Walker's dream house would be.

The house almost took Daniel's breath away. It was so much more than it looked like from the outside. As he and Teri toured the place, his mind wandered across a range of ideas and emotions. Seeing this house clarified the small, niggling reservations that he had about the idea of an A-frame in the country. He knew that his reservation about the other image that they had discussed - the Victorian - was entirely related to his personal experience understanding the immense upkeep that Victorians require. But, he hadn't before crystallized his reservation about the A-frame idea. Now he knew what it was.

The A-frame with a gorgeous view was very attractive to him, but particularly, he thought, if it was for a young couple with no children. The house they were now touring shouted "family home". His thought scared him more than a little bit. Suddenly, he recalled the dream that he had had months ago in which he and Teri were waking up one morning in his mom's house while their two children anxiously awaited the opening of gifts on Christmas morning. Where was his thinking going? He and Teri had only skipped around talking about even considering living together, let alone planning to do so. It was an even longer distance from there to "family living". He tried to tamp down his thinking, but it didn't quite work.

Both he and Teri were savvy enough to not discuss the merits of a house in front of a realtor. After they left, he turned to her, trying to keep his emotions in control, and said, "Wow. That's a really great place. It would make for a very nice family home for a couple who needed such accommodations. So...what did you think of it?"

"If I had a family, that would be a perfect home. Although I would prefer something with some land around it. I would like a little space between myself and others, but that one has to be on the top of my list. I am really looking forward to seeing what the houses look like that are outside of town just to make comparisons." She laughed. "Of course, a family home is not in my budget this week. But I love looking. I do have to admit, that as great as that master suite was, I would have wanted to make a few changes to the kitchen. And kitchen upgrades are very expensive. But who cares? I just like to look."

The next house they looked at was also in town, but it was a basic three bedroom house that lacked any character at all. The best Teri could say was that it was close to work, but it lacked anything that was interesting.

As they drove to the next house, further from town, she looked at the denser forest and wished the temperatures weren't so cold. As soon as she saw the forest, her feet itched to take a hike. But this close to Christmas, it was just too chilly to hike comfortably.

"So what would you like in a home?" she asked Walker.

So what would you like in a home?

Teri's question was harder to answer than Daniel might have thought at first blush. Certainly, he had his preferences for architecture, location, etc., and he guessed that these weren't very different from hers. But, the challenge, he realized, was in the question "home for what purpose"? He always thought of a "home" as a place where one planned to live for a very long time, or, maybe, even to live out one's life. What he might want as an early 30-something if it were to be for 3 or 4 years would be different than if he were "settling down".

He decided to share his quandary with her. "Well, it's hard for me to answer that question, Teri, because it would depend on other contexts. For example, how long was I planning to live there? Would I be single or married? If I were married, would we likely have children? And, of course, could I afford the money and time to keep it up?"

Although sharing his dilemma with her was reasonable, it sounded weak and indecisive. What did he really want? Asking that question answered it for himself. Dropping his voice to a more serious tone, Daniel looked at Teri and said, "You know, what I really want, ultimately is a house where I can raise a family and give them a true family home."

"That makes sense."

Apparently, not everyone spent as much time as she did thinking about different kinds of houses. Who knew?

The next house was a disappointment to Teri as it was an A frame, but it was super small and lacked the wall of windows that she felt characterized an A frame. But it was a good price if someone really wanted to buy a house. She felt a little bad that they were making all these people open up houses just so the two of them could sight see, but it was their job. She couldn't be a realtor. Too many people, like them, just looking for fun and, unlike lawyers, you couldn't charge people for the time spent. Still, she was having fun wandering through the houses with Walker. Never in a million years would she have thought that he would find this fun. As they went through the houses, he pointed out little details. His comments were focused more on the upkeep that would be required to maintain the houses, where as her comments were more about the visual details.

The last house they looked at was the kind of A frame that made Teri smile. The front was a typical A frame shape but the back was more of a large wood cabin. There was a wrap around porch that led to a wall of large window panes.

"Break one of those and it would cost an arm and a leg to replace," she murmured to Walker. "Washing them would take a professional. But they are gorgeous."

As they walked into the large open space room, the first thing one saw was a huge rock fireplace that took up one wall. Another wall was completely covered in a built in bookcase, with an area for a huge television. A kitchen was along the back wall with plenty of storage space and a large island. A staircase led up to an open loft area. As they reached the top of the stairs, there was a wood railing that went across the loft area letting them look down on the great room and out to the forest. She could see higher mountains in the distance, and conifers mixed with the trees that were, at this time of the year, bare branches. She could imagine how beautiful it would look once the trees had their leaves and then how they would look in the fall. It would look like a postcard picture. Even the idea of the trees covered in snow seemed beautiful.

As they turned around from the view they could see a huge king size bed set up so that there was a perfect view of the sky and tree tops. A large walk-in closet was opposite a large bathroom. The bathroom was similar to the first house they had seen, but from a garden soaking tub, one could look out the back of house to the trees there. There were no window coverings but the property came with five acres so there wasn't anyone to look into the large windows. The loft was open to the downstairs so there wouldn't be any privacy, but if there were only two people it would be perfect. It was not a house for children though. And that thought made Teri realize that Walker was right. Different houses were perfect for different reasons and times in people's lives.

As they walked back to the car, Teri stopped and looked back at the house. "This would be a perfect house for a couple, but it wouldn't work for a family. I sure like those windows and the views though. I don't know about you, but I am hungry. Shall we find somewhere to get something to eat?"