John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 102 - Lovers

"Maggie?" Mickey closed the door softly behind him and turned to his beautiful wife.

"Mmmmm-hmmm?" Maggie pulled the wrap from around her shoulders and dropped it on the chair.

"Did you have a nice time tonight?" he asked softly.

"I had a lovely time," Maggie turned to him with a warm smile on her face. "I miss the family get-togethers." Nearing Mickey, she slipped her arms around his waist. "It seems we don't see nearly enough of the family anymore."

"I know," Mickey nodded his head, heavy with the regret of the powerless. "They're all so scattered, the only time we all get together these days is for weddings or funerals." He sighed mournfully. "And we have too many of the latter and not nearly enough of the former if you ask me."

Maggie was silent for a moment as she remembered Austin's funeral. It had been a small affair and a devastated Billie had returned to Europe only days later. Now Kate was also threatening to leave Salem with her son Phillip. Salem was, she said in a moment of utter despair, cursed, and no one could ever be truly happy here.

"We're happy aren't we Mickey?" she asked in a small voice.

"Of course we are, darling," his smile was tender and spoke of his love and utter devotion to her.

"Oh," she smiled back, tears glittering unshed.

"I see you have your red dancing shoes on," he winked at her, and she looked down. The shoes on her feet were cream pumps.

"Why, I do don't I?"

Her expression dazzled her husband as he took her in his arms, and they began to dance slowly to the music that only they could hear.

"I love you, Maggie Horton."

"And I love you, Mickey Horton."

******

Moonlight slipped across the carpet in long silver columns, slithering down the steps and drenching the sofa with its ghostly luster. All was still outside, and the penthouse was silent as John closed the door behind him. The lights of Salem served as an appropriately beautiful backdrop as Marlena crossed the room ahead of him, the sway of her hips accentuating the beautiful swell of her stomach.

John suddenly wondered if he had ever loved her more than he did right now. She really was everything he had ever wanted or desired.

Oblivious to John's admiring gaze, Marlena sighed lightly as she dropped her gloves and her purse on the table in the living room. They came to rest against a picture of her and John with a smiling Belle between them. Marlena picked up the picture, her hands caressing the silver frame and she smiled.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" she whispered to John as he came up behind her.

"She looks just like her lovely mother," John replied softly as he reached out and touched his fingertips to Belle's face. "I can't wait to tell them Doc." He said with an undercurrent of excitement. "I can't wait to see their faces when we tell them we're going to be a family."

Gently he guided her hand back to the table and she placed the picture down on the wooden surface. Then his strong fingers gently traced the contours of the back of her hand as they slid upwards. Snaring her wrist, he pulled her gently so that she turned on her heel to face him.

"Finally." He whispered, watching her eyes as they danced in the moonlight. In the silver light, they were unusually dark, but as they always did to John, her eyes spoke of passion with a hint of mystery. He could lose himself in those eyes, trying to evince the thoughts that passed behind them. She would never be an open book to him, but then, he didn't want her that way. Part of her appeal was her strength, her individuality, and her unerring determination to maintain her principles.