Dexter's Renaissance Ch. 09-10

"Would you mind if I took some time off before I started my new assignment?"

"I think you've earned a nice vacation, Dex. Take that lady of yours with you and have some fun in the sun. Meanwhile, Wolf and I will dream up some work for you when you get back."

"Thanks, Tom. I'll let you know my plans as soon as they are finalized."

I hung up and immediately called Michelle.

"Looks like I'm going to be resident in Toronto for the foreseeable future. Tom wants me to take over the corner office and apparently I have Rueben and Dick's blessing."

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. "But what about that holiday?"

"Why don't you start planning one and I'll make myself available."

"Perfect! The south of France, right?"

"Maybe we should talk about this when I get home," I suggested.

"Home? This is home for you?" She sounded taken aback.

"Oh ... uhhm ... am I being presumptuous?"

"No ... No! You just surprised me, that's all. I didn't expect you would think of this as your home. I mean ... it is ... but ... I guess I have to get used to the idea," she stammered.

I chuckled at her discomfort. I had used a long familiar term for wherever I lived and I caught her off guard.

"If we are going to live together, then it will be home," I said simply.

"Yes ... it will be ... won't it." She was beginning to recover from my comment.

"Are you uncomfortable with my being there?"

"No!" she said immediately. "No ... I'm very happy that you're here. I'm just trying to get used to the idea that I won't be alone any more. I don't think I quite believe it yet."

"When I show up sometime before six o'clock, will that be proof enough?"

"Yes," she giggled, finally seeing the humour in our conversation. "Just don't waltz in here with 'Honey, I'm home," please."

"I can't. I don't have a key and you'll have to supply the elevator code."

"Oh ... I didn't even think of that. I'll look after that this afternoon."

"Then can I say 'Honey, I'm home?'"

"No ... I refuse to be June Cleaver," she laughed.

We ended the conversation with my having to get back to work and promising to be home before six.

When we hung up, I realized neither of us had said "I love you" yet. I thought about it for a while and knew we weren't there yet. We were somewhere between like and love. Whether we got to love was yet to be determined.

To be continued

My thanks to ErikThread and DaveT for their excellent editing and helpful suggestions. Any errors are mine alone.