“What?” Brooke stopped her tickling assault and sat back on her haunches. “I’m sorry, Baby. When I started out of the bathroom I didn’t realize you were talking to her. I guess I’m still a little keyed up from playing with Mario,” Brooke said with a contrite look.

“By the way…I love you and I know it, too.” Sam sighed, then shook her head as she sat there watching Brooke stretch out on the bed. She was holding out her arms, inviting the younger woman into them. Sam went willingly into them and nestled close to Brooke. “So, when are you going to invite Peter?” Sam played with the buttons on Brooke’s nightshirt, “I’ve got Crystal coming to dinner.”

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Brooke rested her head against Sam’s, kissing the blonde hair.

“Hmm…” Sam purred at the touch. “Great, then the rest of tonight is for us.” Sam turned to look at Mario who was standing with his paws up on the bed and directed her comment to him. “You’ve got five minutes fella, then I’m claiming the bed and your mommy in it.” Sam wiggled her eyebrows at Brooke as she reached out to pet the animal’s head.

The dog whimpered as he climbed up on the bed next to his mistress, laying his head on Brooke’s shoulder, and staring directly at Sam.

“Aww…look at that face, Sam. I think you bwoke his wittle heart,” Brooke mimicked the speech of a small child.

Sam got up on one elbow, first eyeing her lover, then the dog. “Come on, Sport…I’ll play catch with you tomorrow for a night of passion with your mommy. How’s that?”

Blue eyes grew bigger as she repeated Sam’s words in her head, letting the most important ones softly mutter across her lips, “…night of passion?” Brooke looked at Sam as the woman’s coy smile and beguiling eyes drove the words home.

“That’s what I said,” Sam whispered seductively.

Brooke swiftly nudged the dog’s head that was on her shoulder, commanding him as she did so. “Mario, down boy.”

Monday morning came faster than usual or at least that’s how it seemed to the bleary-eyed executive, as she sat with her head resting on one hand at her desk, reviewing her latest signed contract. Blinking her eyes, and rubbing them to keep the printed words from running together, Brooke finally put the contract down for another day, preferably a day after a full night’s sleep. The woman thought back to the weekend and Sam, letting a smile come immediately to her face as the high points of their time together floated through her mind. Peter, she remembered, I’ve got to invite Peter for Thanksgiving Dinner. She looked over to the phone and took the receiver from the cradle, letting her eyes focus on the numbers. Yeah, I can do that. Brooke hurriedly tapped out the combination of numbers, then waited for Peter to answer. It didn’t take long after the ringing stopped that the rough sounding voice of a sleepy man greeted her.

“Hey, what’s…” Peter cleared his throat, “…happening?”

“Late night up packing, Peter?” Brooke teased her ex-band mate and soon-to-be employee.

“Brooke?” Peter looked at the phone, then at the date on his watch. “I’m not starting until December, so I can’t be late. Why are you ringing my phone?”

“Just checking up on you Petey,” Brooke laughed. “I was wondering if you’d be able to come down for a couple of days this week?”

“Sure, I could do that. You wouldn’t mind if I bring a few boxes with me, would you? You know, when you live out of a furnished apartment for the last three years, there’s not much to pack,” the man chuckled at his own expense. “I should have all this packed and ready to go by Wednesday morning. What do you need me for, Brooke?”

“Well, I don’t really need you for anything, but there is something that I’d like you to be a part of.” Brooke paused for a moment then continued, “I was hoping that you’d consider coming to Mom’s for Thanksgiving Dinner.”

“Mom’s…” Peter’s voice perked up, “God, I love her cooking. You know how long it’s been since I ate her cooking?” The man laughed, then answered his own question, “Too long.”

“Well then… I guess I’ll see you there then, right? Hey, I’ll even help you unload the boxes that you bring.”

“Please, Brooke…the down payment is quite enough of a hand. I…I never expected that. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, Petey. I’d do that for any employee that I thought deserved it.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before Peter broke it with the only thing he could think of. “God, Brooke…Being with you guys again for dinner…well, that’ll be like coming home to family for the holiday.”

“Look at it this way…you are.” Brooke tapped out a rhythm with her fingers on her desk as she talked on the phone.

“You better believe I’ll be there.” Peter assured her. “So, what time’s dinner? Ah…don’t even bother telling me. I’ll come early like I always do.” The man paused then asked, “So, Brooke…is Sam going to be there? I mean, since its family and all.”

“Yes, she is. We’re ahh…well…let’s say that everyone will know about us Thursday. I can’t wait.” Brooke grabbed a pen and started doodling on her daily calendar. Each time she wrote Sam’s name, the smile grew bigger on her face.

“Good,” Peter sounded happy. “I like seeing the two of you together. It gives me hope. Besides,” the man smirked, “I don’t want to be the one that spills the beans.”

“Yeah? Well someone spilled the beans about you, Buddy. I hear that you spent quite a bit of time with Crystal over the last couple of weeks,” Brooke teased him.

There was the sound of coughing and the clearing of a throat before Peter’s voice came back to him, “Ah…well…I kind of like her.” His voice sounded like that of a child. “She’s different from any girl that I’ve known…special, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. So, have you kissed her yet or are you still working up the courage?” Brooke let out a little laugh.

“Do you want the truth or do you want to hear what the old Peter would tell you?”

“I thought the ‘old Peter’ was dead. Give me the truth.”

“I’m not sure who exactly kissed whom first, but we have kissed. Jeez, Brooke, what do I know, it’s all a blur to me, it happened so fast. One minute we were talking and the next, well…you get the picture.”

“You sound like a school boy with his first crush.”

There was dead silence on the other end for a minute, and then Peter’s voice finally confirmed her thoughts. “I do, don’t I?”

“Yeah, you do. This is definitely you, my friend. I’m happy for you. So, I take it that you’ve met Aunt Sandy…ah…I mean, Crystal’s mom?”

“Thanks, Brooke.” Peter chuckled, then started with his story. “I guess you could say that. I was so tongue-tied that she did all the talking. Crystal’s Mom opened the door when we were a…kissing.”

Brooke imagined how red Peter had turned, then and even now, as he related the story to her and she tried not to laugh at his embarrassment. “Really? Well, that was better than what I did last night. Talk about feeling like a complete idiot and brainless at that.”

“And what could you have been doing that would have been worse?” Peter waited for an answer as he thought. “OhmyGod, Brooke you didn’t…did you?”

The woman laughed rather naughtily, “I needed to take a shower after dinner last night and Sam told me that she’d meet me in bed.” Brooke paused just long enough for Peter to get the idea in his mind. “Well, I took my shower, dressed for bed, and then ran out of the bathroom. I jumped on the bed on top of her and started tickling her. How was I supposed to know that she was on the phone with Aunt Sandy?” Brooke smiled as she remembered the look on Sam’s startled face.

“You didn’t…I mean…ah…say anything did you?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Brooke smiled to herself realizing how much worse the embarrassment could have been for Sam. “Well, at least not until I knew who she was talking to.”

“If that were me, I’d be sooooo embarrassed. I don’t think I’d be able to look her in the eye the next time we met.”

“Actually, when Sam laughed, I spoke into the phone and said hello, then told her Aunt that Sam loved me and that she just didn’t know it yet.”

“Man, Brooke, it’s a good thing Sam doesn’t live at home. I could just see you saying that to her father with the sounds of a mattress squeaking in the background.”

The dark-haired woman become very quiet for a moment then softly muttered out her agreement, “Yeah.”

“Sorry, Brooke. I didn’t mean to bring that up. Crystal told me just how narrow-minded Sam’s parents are. Forget about them, concentrate on Sam and making her happy.”

“I am,” Brooke sighed, “Believe me.”

“I know that you two are good for each other. I can see it when you’re together.”

“Thanks, Petey.” Brooke cleared her throat and changed the subject, “So, I’ll see you at dinner Thursday, right?”

“Yeah, Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday at Mom’s, I’ll be there.”

“Great, I’ll see you then.” Brooke started to pull the phone from her ear.

“See you then, Boss.” Peter giggled, “You know what?”

“What?” She halted her motion and waited to hear what he would say.

“I like the sound of that. Bye,” he sing-songed the last word.

Brooke smiled and ended the conversation, “Bye, Peter.” She looked down at the phone for a second, happy that one of her old friends was once again a part of her life.

“Oh, shit!” Brooke’s eyes grew bigger and she reached for the phone that she’d just hung up. “I better call Mom.” Punching in the number on her autodail, Brooke listened to the ringing on the other end.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Mom. You having a good day?”

“Brooke,” Mable’s voice became friendlier, “I’m having a wonderful day, how about you?”