'Tis confusion!

Ghost of Flowers Past

We decided to watch a movie while Joe was on his rescue mission. Q popped Star Wars into the blu-ray player, and we all focused our attention to the screen. By the time Luke purchased C-3PO and R2-D2 from the Jawas, Joe and Bessy had arrived. They were both soaking wet and shivering, but both wore the brightest smiles on their faces. It melted my heart. Q had grabbed a stack of towels from the closet, and was tossing them at Joe with fervor. Towels were landing on Joe's head, shoulders, everywhere. Joe was doing his best to catch them, but soon Sal and Murr scooped up towels and joined in on the fun. I grinned to myself, and slipped into the kitchen to make more hot chocolate. I brought them back out, just in time to see Murr return with the flower print comforter from Q's guest room. He threw it over Joes head, giggling like a six year old. "You look like the Ghost of Flowers Past," Sal wheezed. I snickered, and handed the mugs to Bessy. She beamed. "Hot chocolate? My favorite."

"With Kahlua," I corrected her.

"Even better." She took a long sip. "God, that's good. Thanks!"  "No problem," I told her. Bessy peeked into her mug, then into Joe's. "Dammit, I drank out of the wrong one. "

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"This one has, like, a dozen marshmallows in it, and the one I picked only has two." I laughed. "I threw a ton into one cup, because I figured Joe would appreciate it. But I'm happy to add more to yours too." I grabbed the bag of marshmallows from the kitchen and started plopping more into Bessy's mug. "Say when."

"Hang on one second," she interjected. Pulling the cup closer to her, she took a long swig, then handed it back. "More room for marshmallows," she explained. Joe's muffled voice could barely be heard beneath the blanket and towels, but I swore I heard "That's my girl." I smiled at her, then returned the marshmallows to the kitchen. Joe eventually unburied himself from the mountain of fabric, and spread the comforter on the ground. He and Bessy stretched out on it and engrossed themselves in the movie. Time passed by in blissful silence. At one point, I glanced over to see Emily perched in Murr's lap, showing him something on her phone. I turned my attention back to the movie, only to have it ripped away once more when Q nudged me in the shoulder. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Need more cocoa?"

"Sure."

"Come with me," he whispered. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. We went into the kitchen.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to tell you how much fun I've had today." He smiled at me. "And that you look beautiful..and I'm glad you're here hanging out with me today." I was so happy to hear him say these things, I could barely stand it. He seemed almost shy saying it all. I just wanted to wrap him in a giant hug...so I did. He laughed in surprise. I pulled back and softly kissed him on the lips. "I should be thanking you. You've given me the time of my life lately. I'm gonna hate going back to the real world..whenever that may be." He laughed and brushed the hair out of my face. "Don't mention it." He kissed me on the forehead, then turned to the stove. "In the interest of full disclosure, I really did want more cocoa." I laughed. "Alright." He grabbed the Kahlua, examined the bottle, then frowned. "Huh. Can you do shots with this?"

I shrugged. "Why not?" He grabbed two shot glasses, filled them, and passed one off to me. We clinked them together and downed them. Q shuddered slightly. "Blagh. Maybe that's why not. That was really thick. Thank god it tasted good." I laughed and stuck my head in the freezer. "Dude, you have Captain Morgan, tequila, and Sailor Jerry's, and we took shots of Kahlua?" He smiled sheepishly. "Let's fix that." He pulled the Captain from the freezer, filled our glasses once more, and tossed the shot back. I followed suit. I had a strong suspicion of where this night was heading. (Not that I had a problem with that...) Q passed me the Captain, pulled out the tequila, and motioned with his head to the living room. "Let me finish this cocoa real quick, then we can go back out there. I think it'd be really fun to just let loose and party, you know? It's not like we've got anything better to do in this weather." 

"I mean, there is one thing..." I trailed off, and winked at him. He laughed. "I know exactly what you're thinking. I assure you, that'll come later. Good things come to those who wait, and all that jazz. Let's go see how much of this- " he held up the tequila- " it takes to get Murr to dance around the room with his pants on his head."

I burst out laughing. "You're terrible. "

"So I've been told." Q quickly finished his hot chocolate, then turned to me. "Let's go."