Dancing in the Rain

Just another weekend, I thought to myself. No big plans, no appointments, and no commitments to have to worry about. I rolled over looking forward to nothing but a good book, a cold drink and a lawn chair down by the pool. The kids were all away at friend’s houses so no worries about making breakfast or breaking up the fights over the TV or computers. Today is going to be a lovely day, I thought.

I headed to the shower, put on my favorite t-shirt and shorts, and greeted my husband with a little peck on the cheek as I walked downstairs. I glanced out the dining room windows on my way to the kitchen for some breakfast and immediately let out a small groan. It was raining! No way could I sit out by the pool with my book today. So much for my lovely day.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat at the kitchen table in a pout. I guess I could always clean house, I thought to myself. There is still some boxes and organization to be taken care of in the family room that I had been putting off for weeks. I took my time finishing my cereal as I was not looking forward to a day stuck in the house cleaning.

As I was washing my cereal bowl my husband came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. He kissed my neck tenderly and just stood there hugging me. What is it about the rain that makes everyone feel so melancholy? After a few moments he spoke softly and said, “I know you’ve been looking forward to reading out by the pool and now the weather has ruined your plans. What do you say to you and your book joining me and my book on the couch for the morning?”

I turned and kissed him tenderly and replied, “What a wonderful idea.”

Coffee and books in hand, we settled onto the couch under a blanket. Our feet barely touched as we both sat at either end of the couch reading. It was so cozy and quiet. All we could hear was the sound of our own breathing, pages of our books turning and the rain hitting the front porch steadily throughout the morning.

Lunchtime rolled around and the quietness was occasionally interrupted by the growling of either his stomach or mine. After about the third rumble, we both looked up at each other and laughed.

“I guess we should get something to eat,” I said, not wanting to leave the couch or his slight touch.

“How about you make a quick pizza and I’ll see if I can find a movie for us to watch,” he suggested.

“That’s sounds like a good plan.”

With the pizza in the oven I came back to the couch to help him look through what movies were available. Neither one of us had heard of half of them and so we read the descriptions and watched several previews until we came upon one that we both thought we might be interested in. He selected it and paused the beginning so that I could answer the call of the oven timer and serve our lunch.

I pulled the pizza from the oven as he came into the kitchen. “Here, let me do the pizza and you make us drinks,” he says. Sometimes we like a mid-day drink – especially those rainy days when there aren’t any kids around and we don’t have any plans for leaving the house.

As I pour the drinks, he cuts the pizza and serves it onto the paper plates. I grab the drinks and napkins and meet him in the living room to watch the movie. We both curled up to enjoy the pizza, movie and each other’s company.

The movie is very well done and when it was over we spent a few minutes discussing it and cleaning up our mess from lunch. I glanced at the clock and realize that it’s almost 3:00 PM. Before long, kids will be coming in the door and probably with friends and boyfriends in tow. I still had another couple of hours before dinner needs to be started and the rain is still coming down pretty heavy.

So what if it was raining! Why do people always think they will melt in the rain? I grab my sweetie’s hand and pull him toward the back door with me. After much laughing and wrestling I convince him to dance with me in the rain – no music, just what we heard in our heads. It was more about the closeness and togetherness than the dancing anyway.

We had no idea how much time had passed. We were both soaked to the bone when the oldest opened the door and asked what we were doing with the silliest grin on her face. All we could do was laugh and answer “Dancing in the rain”.