By En

Monday morning dawned to find Jonni Gage and Roy DeSoto the same way Saturday morning and Sunday morning had:

In Roy's bed, her spooned up against him, his arm around her waist, holding her close.

Jonni's chocolate brown eyes fluttered open and she sighed. Reaching down, she entwined her fingers with Roy's. He made a happy noise and snuggled closer in his sleep.

The weekend had been wonderful. They'd talked, laughed, kissed, snuggled, dated and learned things about each other that they could never have shared before her transformation and their falling in love.

Jonni had discovered that Roy was a consummate gentleman. The DeSoto charm that Roy shone on patients had turend out to be genuine.

Roy had discovered Jonni turned out to be ... SHY! That had never been the case Before.

And she was still a virgin. Jonni wanted Roy, but she was afraid of the pain, so both had agreed to wait till she felt ready.

Jonni rolled over and touched Roy's cheek. "Morning, gorgeous."

Azure eyes opened and focussed on her. "Good morning, gorgeous."

Jonni smiled. "Have I told you how much I love being here?"

He pushed her hair from her face. "Not this morning, no," he teased.

"Well, I do," she said, emphasising her words with a kiss.

"How come?" he asked with a smile.

She sighed. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that this place doesn't smell like a roach motel..." her crooked grin spread as she spoke.

Roy very lightly punched her arm. "Oh, YOU..."

The smile turned tender. "Or maybe it's the fact that I'm not alone anymore. That there's someone here who loves ME."

"Mm," Roy said, pulling her close once more. "That I do..."

"No..." Jonni said. "No, Roy... you don't understand." She pulled away and looked him squarely in the eye. "When I was... Before... it was always about sex, about the hunt, you know? It was always 'what can Johnny Gage do to add her to his list of conquests?'. It was NEVER about love."

Roy nodded. "And now?"

Tears pooled in her chocolate eyes. "And now?" She got out of bed and tied a robe over her nightgown. "And now... it IS about love. ALL about love... and more."

"More?" Roy wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Roy... I don't want to scare you..."

"Spit it out, Jonni."

She sighed. "We've only been together three days... hell, we're not even lovers yet... and all I can think about is.. is...." She lowered her head. "...is forever."

Because her head was down, she missed Roy's smile. "Forever, huh?"

She sighed "Yeah...forever. Remember when we went grocery shoppin' yesterday and I suddenly ripped up that check?"

"Yeah..."

Another sigh. "I ripped it up because I'd signed it 'Jonni DeSoto'."

Roy chuckled. He got out of bed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her backward to lean against his chest. Leaning his head down to kiss her neck, he whispered, "Forever doesn't sound good to me, Jonni."

"Yeah," she said sadly. "I kinda figured it wouldn't, what with you just comin' off a divorce and all..."

"No, Junior --- this time YOU don't understand."

The use of the old nickname made Jonni smile. Keeping her voice teasing, she said, "And just what don't I understand, Pally?"

Now it was Roy's turn to smile. "See, Jonni .. .forever doesn't sound good to me because it's not NEARLY as long as I want to spend with you."

Jonni turned around and looked into his eyes, seeing nothing but absolute sincerity in the azure depths. "You...you MEAN that!"

He merely noded.

With a cry of pure joy, she flung her arms around him and kissed him.

He pulled her close, one kiss melting into another and another....

"ROY DeSOTO!" came a stunned cry from the bedroom doorway.