Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (10 page)

After
she got her first serving going in the pan, Morgan grabbed the
package of bacon and waited until Gwen disappeared into the pantry
again before she read the instructions on the back.
Yes, I can
make it in the microwave!
The blonde girl felt like she had
scored a point on the breakfast board.
Morgan-1, Bacon-0.
She
grabbed a plate, plopped the whole stack of bacon on top of it and
slid it into the microwave, but before she could press start, Gwen
stopped her.

“Morgan,
dear, no!” Morgan jumped back as if the microwave were
spontaneously combustible, but then she realized the woman was
referring to the bacon. “You don't cook, do you?” Gwen
took the plate out of the microwave, then grabbed a pan from
underneath the sink and set it on the stove.

Morgan
looked to her client for support, but none would be offered. He was
gabbing away about Oswald. “I...uhm...well...”
Did he
tell her that I can cook? Has he mentioned it at all? Shit.
“I'd
love it if you showed me how you do it. Your dinner was absolutely
amazing, I need all your secrets!”
There. I'm off the hook.

Gwen
smiled widely at the compliment. Any woman loved the opportunity to
show off her cooking skills, so that's what she did. Morgan watched
intently as the woman cooked the bacon, managed the eggs, flipped the
pancakes and even made biscuits and gravy from the bacon grease.
Morgan wondered where all of the people were that were supposed to
eat the massive amount of food, but remembered that the men had eaten
enough for five each. The young girl actually learned a lot from the
cooking lesson, and she hoped that one day, she would be able to cook
for a family of her own.

She
moved around the kitchen, mostly moving out of the way, as Gwen
finished setting the table. It was amazing to see how easy she made
it look, preparing so much for her family, and Morgan once again had
a pang of desire for people of her own.
Okay, maybe I'll never
cook like her.
Everything looked perfect and the older woman
called everyone to the table once again.

Tyler
finally joined them and Morgan had to sneak one more hairy eye at the
gorgeous man for leaving her at Gwen's mercy, but it had all turned
out well so she managed a smile after her best dirty look.

“Everyone...before
we eat...I have something to say.” Tyler put his arm around
his girlfriend, and started to push her chair out of the way.

Chapter
Nine

Oh!
It's time! He could have warned me.
Morgan grabbed the back of
the chair to calm her growing nerves and tried to look casual as she
looked up at him. Gwen and Charlie took their seats, smiling at one
another before looking at the happy young couple again.
He's
going to do it!
Tyler dropped slowly to one knee and took her
small hand into his.

“Morgan.”
He cleared his throat and his nerves were on full display as he took
several more seconds to continue. “I asked you here to meet my
family, to see where and who I come from. I thought that I could
share all of this with you, and show you that I could make you
happy.” His voice lowered, almost to a whisper, and he looked
down at her hand for several long moments before his usually loud
tone quietly left his lips. “But, from the second you walked
through that door, I realized how empty my life really was.
Morgan... I need you, and I love you... please, be my wife.”
He must have already had the ring in his hand, because he raised his
arm and opened his large fist in front of her. A two carat diamond
pear shaped ring was shining brightly in the center of his hand.

Breathe!
I can do this!
Even though it wasn't real, and even though she
knew they would probably laugh about it later, she couldn't stop the
tears from filling her eyes as she took the ring from his hand.
“Tyler, of course I'll marry you. I love you!” He stood
quickly and hugged her, lifting her again off the floor, then put her
down and helped her slip the ring onto her finger.

“Oh!
Oh! Charlie, they're engaged! Oh!” Gwen stood, nearly
knocking her chair over in the process, and hugged the happy couple
as her tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “I'm so happy for
the two of you! Oh, we need to celebrate! I need to make some
calls, and we'll have a little party tonight! I...I need to get busy!
I'm so happy!” The giddy woman, who hadn't even touched her
breakfast, ran from the room and was never seen again that morning.

“Congratulations!”
Charlie also stood and offered his heartfelt words before leaving
them alone to enjoy their first morning as a newly engaged couple.

“Pickles
and cheese, please. Hi, Mildred.” Uncle Matt had just rolled
into the room as Charlie walked out, and his stomach didn't care
about engagements or parties at the moment. The couple laughed at
the old man, and helped him get situated at the empty table. Morgan
wasn't going to correct him about her name, she thought it was really
cute and gave him a warm greeting as he found his napkin and set it
on his lap.

“Here
ya go, Uncle Matt.” Tyler had filled a plate full of eggs, one
pancake, and several slices of bacon, then slid the plate in front of
his uncle. “Let's eat, we'll need our strength to deal with
mom later.” Tyler spoke softly to Morgan, pulling her chair
out for her before taking the seat beside her. She nodded and
smiled, still trying to deal with the emotions that he had stirred
within her.

Nothing
else was spoken about their engagement over the meal, but the three
talked about the weather and how they were all surprised that school
hadn't been canceled for Cory for that day.

“....Yes!
Married! Can you believe it? My little Tyler! Oh, yes, she's
wonderful! We'll have to find the...” Gwen's voice could be
heard every once in a while as she walked through the house. Whenever
she came into earshot and Morgan was able to make out her words, it
made the young girl's heart sink just a bit more each time. She
looked over to her new finance and he wore the same regretful
expression, but they managed weak smiles toward each other that said
they'd talk about it later.

“Is
she going to come and eat? Should I leave the food out?” Morgan
didn't know if Tyler's parents were going to come back to the table
any time soon and the three of them had already had more than their
share.

“I
doubt it, let me help you,” Tyler spoke up and stood, grabbing
a handful of clean plates.. “I don't think I've ever seen her
so happy, Morgan,” he whispered when they were both by the
sink.

The
girl leaned in close to him and whispered back, “we have two
options. I can say that I have things to do back home and we can
still be
engaged
for a while and let our relationship die a
slow death due to distance or, I don't know, maybe I don't want to
leave my family. Second option, we end it before I leave as planned,
but I'm not letting you take the blame. We'll think of something I
did wrong.” Morgan smiled at the man, but she didn't receive on
in return.

“I
can't do the first option. Dragging it out would only hurt them more
and I can't let our break up be your fault either,” he
explained with his voice still low.

“And
I'm not leaving you here to deal with a family lecturing you about
'the one who got away'.” Morgan wagged a finger at him and he
knew she was right.

“We'll
talk about this later,” he finally smiled at her threat. Morgan
was about to change the subject, but a phone call did that for her.
“Yeah?” Tyler flipped open his cell phone and answered.
“You're kidding me? Alright, see you in a bit.” Tyler
snapped his phone shut, then told Morgan that Cory was let out of
school early because the tail-end of the storm was headed their way.
“Better go tell mum...”

For
the next three hours, Gwen spent every minute of her time trying to
talk everyone into coming early, but with the approaching snow storm
on top of the short notice invitations, nobody had agreed to come.
When she approached Morgan, the young girl was sure the woman had
been crying.

“It's
alright, Gwen! I would love it just as much if the party was just
with my new family!” Morgan reached out and took Gwen's hand in
her own and put on her sincerest expression.

“You're
so sweet, young Morgan. You're going to make my Tyler a very happy
man.” A tear escaped with her words and it made Morgan feel
even worse.
This is harder than I thought.

They
talked a few minutes longer about the arrangements of their private
party, and they were on the topic of what appetizers to make when
both of them heard the laughter of a teenage boy from the other room.

“Cory!”
Gwen snapped, then turned to investigate. Morgan followed behind and
saw what the young boy found so funny. Uncle Matt was asleep in his
wheel chair, and his beloved Oswald had been replaced by a rabid
looking opossum. Gwen took her son by the ear and got him out of the
room, leaving Morgan with the sweet old man.

“Okay,
Uncle Matt...” the girl whispered, then began walking around
the room in search of the black and white cat. It took her fifteen
minutes to find it, as it was underneath the book shelf in a small
cubbyhole. Carefully, she pulled the ugly rodent out from underneath
his thin hands, then slid his pet back in its spot.

Just
as she stood back up, Matt opened his eyes and his hand immediately
began petting. “Melanie, would you like to pet Ozzy?” the
old man asked Morgan.

“Aww,
of course! He's looking extra happy today, Uncle Matt,” Morgan
reached out and gave the taxidermy cat the ear scratches that he
loved.

“He
needs a bath. Will you give him a bath, Mary?” Morgan had to
hide her giggle and nodded that she'd give his cat a bath. Matt
handed over Oswald and Morgan tucked him under her arm and left the
room to “give the cat a bath.”

“You're
a good woman, Morgan,” Tyler propped himself against the wall
as she walked through the threshold of the kitchen. The young girl
blushed, knowing he had just seen everything. “Cory is always
changing out that cat with any animal he can find. I mean, the kid
purposely spends his allowance on any stuffed animal he can get his
hands on, just to fuck with the old man.”

Morgan
smiled, “Your uncle is so sweet. I just want to hug him up!”
She grabbed a towel from a shelf in the kitchen and wrapped it
around the cat as if it were drying. Tyler shook his head at her and
smiled back. He couldn't believe what the girl was going through.

“Here
you go, Uncle Matt. Ozzy is all clean!” She pretended to dry
off the cats head and back with the towel, then handed it back to its
owner.

“You're
a sweet young lady. I wish Trevor could find a girl like you!”
Morgan knew he meant Tyler and she found it endearing that he thought
about the happiness of his nephew. Of course, he was unaware of their
engagement, but Morgan wasn't going to ruin the moment. “Pickles
and cheese, please!”

His
outburst of pickles and cheese warranted a fit of giggles from Morgan
and she left the room to give the man what he wanted. “Do you
have pickles and cheese, Tyler?”

He
was still propped up against the wall and gave her a nod toward the
refrigerator. “It's just what he always asks for, Morgan. I'm
not sure he
actually
wants pickles.”

“And
cheese,” she corrected him as she rummaged through the fridge.
There she found a jar of pickles and a block of cheese. A few minutes
later, she had a dozen slices of each lined up on a plate.

“You
don't have to do that,” Tyler told her and Morgan stuck her
tongue out in response, then walked back into the other room. When
she set down the plate and told Matt that his pickles and cheese were
ready, the reaction from the old man surprised her.

He
grabbed her hand with his shaking fingers, and looked right into her
eyes. “You...you gave me what I wanted. Thank you, Mabel.”

“You're
welcome, Uncle Matt. Enjoy your pickles and cheese.” She
couldn't say much more due to the lump in her throat. He was just the
sweetest man and if she lived there, she'd give him his snack any
time he wanted. Before she left the room, she told him to share with
Oswald and he yelled back that he would.

That
night, when dinner came around, it was the first time in three months
that the old man didn't ask for pickles and cheese when he came to
the table.