Their study was their pride and joy. When the two avid readers combined their book collections, it looked and felt just like a library. The shelves were made of a sturdy brown-stained oak that had a warm cozy look to them. Tonight they worked at different projects on a quiet evening at home in their favorite room. She was at her desk, intently working on her crafts. She was making her own greeting cards. Something she loved to do herself, and from all the glowing comments she had received about them, others loved her personal touch. He was sitting on the love seat filling out more scholarship paperwork for the oldest of their sons, James.
It was Friday night. James and Brad were both gone for once; both at sleepovers with friends.
This did not go unnoticed to him.
Every so often Donnie would sneak a glance at Mary Ann. He admired the way her hair and her beautiful face caught the light of the desk lamp just so.
He sighed. He and Mary Ann had not been alone in the house for a whole night, just the two of them, for a very long time. He looked Mary Ann's way again. She always had a way of distracting him without even knowing it. She never seemed to believe it when he told her so on many an occasion. She had excited him ever since he had first met her well over twenty years ago in their college library. He knew it had been love at first sight for him. All these years later that fire he carried inside him for her had not waned.
He heard his wife groan and his attention turned to her again.
He watched as she stood up and padded into the kitchen. She returned with a bottle of water.
"hic!"
"I have the hiccups," she exclaimed when she saw him looking at her.
"I'm sorry." He felt for her, but he still grinned.
Mary Ann took another long draw of water from the bottle then sat down and went back to her crafts.
Donnie returned to his paperwork, but remained aware of her quiet hiccups in the background. Twice more, he saw her drink from the plastic water bottle, drinking it quickly then holding her breath.
"hic!"
It hadn't helped.
"Augh!" She cried, stomping off to the kitchen once again. Cupboard doors slammed, countertops rattled, and still he could hear the sharp hiccup sounds.
Mary Ann came back to the study and threw herself back in her chair. She tried to concentrate on the note cards she was stamping.
But the hiccups kept coming. "hic!"
Donnie put his pen down and looked up at his agonized wife.
"Crap!" She yelled out loud.
Donnie smiled and put his hand to his mouth to keep from laughing or at least her from hearing him laugh. That word was her one and only swear word. The boys always teased her about it and used it themselves when they wanted to make fun of her, lovingly, of course.
"hic!"
Mary Ann finally shoved all the cards and her stamp materials to one side. Dropping her head on her arms, she rested, hoping that just being calm would make the hiccups stop.
"hic...!"
It still didn't work.
"Booo!" Donnie shouted as he came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Ahhhhh!" Mary Ann screamed again, whirling around and slapping his hands away. "That's not funny!"
"I'm sorry." He still struggled to keep from laughing. "I was trying to scare the hiccups out of you. Did it work?"
She paused, rolling her eyes. A few deep breaths, and then she smiled. "I think it did work." And then... "hic!...augh!"
"Aw, honey..." He pulled her against him, burying his face in her shoulder, smothering his laughter. "Calm down. The hiccups will stop soon enough."
"When?" hic! "I've tried everything!" hic! "Drinking water while holding my breath, hic! water with a hic! a teaspoon of sugar hic! Even you didn't scare them out of me, hic!"
Donnie looked into her sad eyes, her mouth turned down into a frown as another spasm shook her. Stroking her face, he tried to think of some way to help her. Of course, he couldn't help but notice how the hiccups shook her body, the way her body quivered enticingly in the t-shirt she wore. He felt a little bad, enjoying this misery of hers, but it was more than a little exciting staring down at her softness.
Suddenly, he knew how to help distract her from her hiccups. At least it was worth a try.
Cupping her face in his hands, Donnie kissed her firmly on the lips, feeling her next few hiccups through the kiss. He held their kiss for a few more moments and then slid his mouth off of hers, down the side of her neck, and across her collarbone.
"Donnie, not now!" She whined, but she did not try to push him away. "I don't feel like... hic!"
"Shhh..." He rubbed the sides of her body, kissing down her neck to her chest, feeling the quiver of each hiccup with his lips.
Her hands, instead of pushing him away, began busily rubbing his shoulders. Her fingers eventually twisted up into his hair. She felt his mouth against her body and her own reaction to the sensations through the shirt, until she heard herself moaning. "Oh, honey," she whispered, breathing deeply, "that feels so good." hic!
He grinned, pushing her chair and her body back against her desk. Her legs parted, wrapping around him, pulling his body closer to hers.
hic!
He worked his way down over her stomach, then he lifted her shirt and began licking and nibbling towards her belly button. Mary Ann squirmed under his touch. And...
He wondered briefly if she realized she had not had a hiccup for at least two minutes. He simply held her tight until she had stopped shaking. "All better now?" He asked.
She nodded, repressing the contented purring that rumbled in her throat. "Hey!" She said, her eyes opening wide. "My hiccups are gone!"
He kissed her belly, and then stepped away from her. "I knew it would help." He pulled her shirt back down. "So now we know the sure fire way to cure hiccups, don't we?"
"We sure do!" She said, almost rolling off the chair and standing. "And I truly hate to say this, as I'm sure you enjoyed that more than I did, but thank you."
"Thanks? For getting to kiss you all over?" He beamed a rakish grin. "Just remember to call me anytime you get another case of hiccups and will be glad to oblige by licking you all over." Donnie winked. "Maybe even somewhere else that would benefit us both."