“We could make breakfast casseroles if you’d rather. I can Crock Pot them the night before, or we can assemble it all and leave it in the fridge overnight. Either way it’ll be delicious.”
“That sounds good,” she said, pursing her lips. “Yeah, let’s start doing that. How long do they have to cook if we just assemble then?”
“About thirty minutes,” he said. “I could come down and get it started while you shower in the mornings.”
She nodded. “Great idea. Let’s start that this week. I feel like my cereal is wearing off by ten, and then I need to eat early, and there’s no time between patients. Actually eating eggs and bacon would thrill me.”
“Easy enough. I may even teach you to make some of them.”
“Do you have to?” she asked, grinning at him.
“I think you need to be able to cook simple things. Everyone should be able to.”
“I guess you’re right. I won’t like it, but I’ll do it.”
After supper, she threw away their paper products the food had come in and joined him in the living room. “I think we need to shut our minds off and vegetate in front of the television tonight.”
“I can agree with that. What do you want to watch?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea of any shows from the past twelve years or so. Just something relatively new would work for me.”
He nodded, flipping the television to Amazon Prime and choosingBig Bang Theory. He had a hunch she would love it.
They were six episodes in before she yawned. “I think I need to sleep. I like this show though. But Sheldon needs an official diagnosis. The man isn’t crazy, but he is autistic.”
They went up to bed together, and she realized he was dragging as much as she was. She was exhausted, but he was just as bad.
Instead of putting on one of her pretty little night things she’d been wearing for him, she put on an old beat-up pair of Snoopy pajamas and climbed into bed. He noticed and grinned. “Does this mean you’re too tired for hanky panky?”
“Well, you know that I like hanky and panky, but right now, I’m just not sure I could stay awake through it. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
He nodded, climbing into bed beside her and pulling her close. Even if they weren’t going to make love, he was going to hold her during the night. There was no point in being married if they couldn’t touch.
As soon as Shelby woke the following morning, she glanced at the clock and saw that it was after ten. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so late. Even on Saturdays, it had been her habit to pore over medical books to learn all she could.
Nate was already awake, and he’d shut the door so he wouldn’t wake her.
She went downstairs, still in her Snoopy pajamas to see what he was up to. She found him in the kitchen, removing a breakfast casserole from the oven. “That smells delicious,” she said.
He nodded. “Yeah, this is one I just found the recipe for. I don’t know if you’ve ever enjoyed the Southern treat of eggs with biscuits and sausage gravy, but this recipe has it all. I think we’re going to love it.”
“I have had that. It’s served a lot in hotels, and when I’ve been to medical conferences, I made the most out of the hotels' free breakfasts.”
“Well, then you should like this.” He poured them each a glass of orange juice and served two large pieces of casserole for them.
When she took her first bite, she moaned softly. “This is delicious. Did it take a long time to make?”
He shook his head. “Only about twenty minutes of prep time.”
“That’s not bad at all. Especially with as good as it is.” As they ate they talked about their plans for the day.
“I’ll want to start cooking around six. You said they’d be here around seven, right?”
She nodded emphatically. “Yup. What else do you have planned?”
“Well, you can stay, or you can come with me, but our offer was accepted on the new house, and I’ve been given permission to start working. They said whatever I wanted to do to make it livable was fine. We’re closing next Saturday anyway.”
“You’ve gotten an offer on this place?” she asked.