Today was the day Miranda had long been awaiting. No, it wasn't a wedding or an anniversary or a holiday of any kind. Today was the day Bethany and Jason were going to meet Kaylee and Taylor. As far as Miranda was concerned, Taylor was as close to a son as she was ever going to get. He was Rufus' nephew, the son of his once beloved sister. She knew how much he meant to Rufus, and as such, she had opened both their home and her heart to the young man. To say she was thrilled beyond belief that he was dating Kaylee, who was like another daughter to her, was something of an understatement. In light of the gathering, she had spared no expense.
The small cottage she shared with Rufus and her cat - the pair of whom barely tolerated each other - was spic and span from top to bottom. She was even wearing an apron over her dress, just like a regular Suzy Homemaker, a roast in the oven and the dining room put to good use, rather than just as a catch-all place for so many of their belongings.
"Rufus!" she called from the kitchen. "Can you come take the garbage out, love, before the guests arrive?"
Of course, Miranda's culinary talents had improved somewhat since she'd married Rufus, or she would never have even considered cooking a roast. Rufus himself had been delegated cleaning duties for the morning, given the responsibility of making sure that the room in which Jason, Bethany and the twins were going to stay was spotless, and that every bathroom in the place could essentially host the dinner being prepared. He wasn't surprised, then, to hear his lovely wife calling out fresh duties for him, chuckling to himself as he thumped down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Beth would laugh herself silly to hear you calling her a guest," he pointed out to Miranda, pausing to lay his hand against her back and kiss her cheek. "Rubbish, you say' How have you managed to fill that bin already?"
Even if her culinary talents hadn't yet come anywhere near as close to Kaylee's, she was at least trying. And because Kaylee was so good at cooking and had been since she was a youngster, it only made Miranda all that more determined to impress her younger cousin. She smiled as Rufus came up behind her and kissed her cheek. She was in high spirits and wasn't going to let anything ruin her mood. Not today - today was too important to her. She was going to have her whole family in one place at one time - at least, those who were or she thought of as her own children. "Well, they don't live here so they are guests, whether they like it or not."
"Is everything prepared, oh mighty temptress of the culinary arts?" her husband asked, unleashing his charm with a grin and twinkle in his eye as he patted her rear end fondly before turning to deal with the trash.
She chuckled at her husband's remark. "Just about, oh master of the boudoir....or is it the universe?" She giggled at her own sense of humor, imagining him in a He-Man costume and wondering if she could somehow wrangle him into wearing one for Halloween.
"Master of the universe," he agreed with a chuckle, pulling the bag out of the bin and swiftly replacing it with one fresh. "Which, naturally, contains your boudoir, and simply makes me even more awe-inspiring as I prance around in a posing pouch." She was never going to get him in one of those, but it was fun to tease.
She rolled her eyes at him, the thought of him in one of those making her giggle again. "Maybe, if you're lucky, Mrs. Claus will put one in your Christmas stocking." Although, that might be more of a gift for her than for him. She could just imagine Rufus prancing around in one and feeling ridiculous.
He snorted. "I could always make you wear it," he suggested, making his way toward the front door. "And nothing else." There was a pause as he juggled the front door with the rubbish bag. "At the Christmas party!" he added, stepping outside briefly to toss the bag into the trashcan.
"Don't be silly. I don't have anything to put in it!" She wondered if she should just fill all the Granger mens' stockings with g-strings of various colors - and sizes, though that might take a little more scrutiny than she would have liked. "I have an idea. What do you think about having a Halloween party at the big house this year?"
There was a thump as the door closed behind him. "Everyone in costume, you mean?" he asked, returning to the kitchen curiously. Leaning in the doorway, he watched his wife flutter about, wondering if she even realized how adorable she was when she got nervous. "Would this be an attempt to get every single child under the age of forty into something ridiculously cutesy for photographs and blackmail?"
"That is the point of a Halloween party, Rufio," she pointed out the obvious to her dear but occasionally dense husband. She leaned over to open the oven and pull out the roast in order to baste it. It was her very first roast and she wanted it to be perfect. "No, this would be an attempt to do something fun. You remember what fun is, right?"
"Are you suggesting that I am not enough fun for you, angel?" Rufus asked, shamelessly enjoying the sight of his wife's rear end as she pulled the roast from the oven. "You didn't seem to have any complaints last night. Or the night before. And I didn't hear any protest at all about how boring our night in the park turned out." He smirked, knowing this wasn't what she was talking about; as highly driven as his libido was, they did spend a lot of time together, doing all sorts of other things.
"You, my dear husband, are a shameless exhibitionist," she countered, tit for tat. She basted the roast as best as she could and as she'd read how to do in the Idiot's Guide to Cooking, unaware that he might be ogling her from behind as she did so. "What do you think about Tarzan and Jane?" she asked, out of the blue, wondering what he'd look like dressed in what amounted to a loin cloth.
"How do you feel about Bond and Moneypenny?" he countered with a chuckle, pushing out of his lean to pinch her rear just because he could. The idea of wandering around in a loin cloth at a party was not the most appealing to his mind. "You should stop waving that at me if you don't want our daughter to catch us enjoying the kitchen in ways not intended by its builder."
"But Moneypenny never got her man, and I got mine," she pointed out as she shoved the roast back in the oven and straightened, turning to him with a playful smirk on her face and batting at his pinching hand with an oven-mitt. She laughed outright at his last remark. "We have christened every room of this house more than once. Do you really think Bethany doesn't know that?"
"Knowing and seeing are two very different things," he intoned teasingly. One finger rose to play with the ruffle that lined the neck of her apron. "This is a very silly little thing. You should bring it to bed some night." He grinned, bending to kiss her. "All right, I'll behave myself. Will I do, or have you bought something ridiculously expensive for me to wear so I don't embarrass you?"
The small cottage she shared with Rufus and her cat - the pair of whom barely tolerated each other - was spic and span from top to bottom. She was even wearing an apron over her dress, just like a regular Suzy Homemaker, a roast in the oven and the dining room put to good use, rather than just as a catch-all place for so many of their belongings.
"Rufus!" she called from the kitchen. "Can you come take the garbage out, love, before the guests arrive?"
Of course, Miranda's culinary talents had improved somewhat since she'd married Rufus, or she would never have even considered cooking a roast. Rufus himself had been delegated cleaning duties for the morning, given the responsibility of making sure that the room in which Jason, Bethany and the twins were going to stay was spotless, and that every bathroom in the place could essentially host the dinner being prepared. He wasn't surprised, then, to hear his lovely wife calling out fresh duties for him, chuckling to himself as he thumped down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Beth would laugh herself silly to hear you calling her a guest," he pointed out to Miranda, pausing to lay his hand against her back and kiss her cheek. "Rubbish, you say' How have you managed to fill that bin already?"
Even if her culinary talents hadn't yet come anywhere near as close to Kaylee's, she was at least trying. And because Kaylee was so good at cooking and had been since she was a youngster, it only made Miranda all that more determined to impress her younger cousin. She smiled as Rufus came up behind her and kissed her cheek. She was in high spirits and wasn't going to let anything ruin her mood. Not today - today was too important to her. She was going to have her whole family in one place at one time - at least, those who were or she thought of as her own children. "Well, they don't live here so they are guests, whether they like it or not."
"Is everything prepared, oh mighty temptress of the culinary arts?" her husband asked, unleashing his charm with a grin and twinkle in his eye as he patted her rear end fondly before turning to deal with the trash.
She chuckled at her husband's remark. "Just about, oh master of the boudoir....or is it the universe?" She giggled at her own sense of humor, imagining him in a He-Man costume and wondering if she could somehow wrangle him into wearing one for Halloween.
"Master of the universe," he agreed with a chuckle, pulling the bag out of the bin and swiftly replacing it with one fresh. "Which, naturally, contains your boudoir, and simply makes me even more awe-inspiring as I prance around in a posing pouch." She was never going to get him in one of those, but it was fun to tease.
She rolled her eyes at him, the thought of him in one of those making her giggle again. "Maybe, if you're lucky, Mrs. Claus will put one in your Christmas stocking." Although, that might be more of a gift for her than for him. She could just imagine Rufus prancing around in one and feeling ridiculous.
He snorted. "I could always make you wear it," he suggested, making his way toward the front door. "And nothing else." There was a pause as he juggled the front door with the rubbish bag. "At the Christmas party!" he added, stepping outside briefly to toss the bag into the trashcan.
"Don't be silly. I don't have anything to put in it!" She wondered if she should just fill all the Granger mens' stockings with g-strings of various colors - and sizes, though that might take a little more scrutiny than she would have liked. "I have an idea. What do you think about having a Halloween party at the big house this year?"
There was a thump as the door closed behind him. "Everyone in costume, you mean?" he asked, returning to the kitchen curiously. Leaning in the doorway, he watched his wife flutter about, wondering if she even realized how adorable she was when she got nervous. "Would this be an attempt to get every single child under the age of forty into something ridiculously cutesy for photographs and blackmail?"
"That is the point of a Halloween party, Rufio," she pointed out the obvious to her dear but occasionally dense husband. She leaned over to open the oven and pull out the roast in order to baste it. It was her very first roast and she wanted it to be perfect. "No, this would be an attempt to do something fun. You remember what fun is, right?"
"Are you suggesting that I am not enough fun for you, angel?" Rufus asked, shamelessly enjoying the sight of his wife's rear end as she pulled the roast from the oven. "You didn't seem to have any complaints last night. Or the night before. And I didn't hear any protest at all about how boring our night in the park turned out." He smirked, knowing this wasn't what she was talking about; as highly driven as his libido was, they did spend a lot of time together, doing all sorts of other things.
"You, my dear husband, are a shameless exhibitionist," she countered, tit for tat. She basted the roast as best as she could and as she'd read how to do in the Idiot's Guide to Cooking, unaware that he might be ogling her from behind as she did so. "What do you think about Tarzan and Jane?" she asked, out of the blue, wondering what he'd look like dressed in what amounted to a loin cloth.
"How do you feel about Bond and Moneypenny?" he countered with a chuckle, pushing out of his lean to pinch her rear just because he could. The idea of wandering around in a loin cloth at a party was not the most appealing to his mind. "You should stop waving that at me if you don't want our daughter to catch us enjoying the kitchen in ways not intended by its builder."
"But Moneypenny never got her man, and I got mine," she pointed out as she shoved the roast back in the oven and straightened, turning to him with a playful smirk on her face and batting at his pinching hand with an oven-mitt. She laughed outright at his last remark. "We have christened every room of this house more than once. Do you really think Bethany doesn't know that?"
"Knowing and seeing are two very different things," he intoned teasingly. One finger rose to play with the ruffle that lined the neck of her apron. "This is a very silly little thing. You should bring it to bed some night." He grinned, bending to kiss her. "All right, I'll behave myself. Will I do, or have you bought something ridiculously expensive for me to wear so I don't embarrass you?"