They reached his place in a hurry. Jeanie and Susie were sitting on the sofa. Susie had stopped crying and looked frightened when she saw Larry enter the room, but he rushed to her, took her in his arms with a gentle bear hug. She was puzzled.
"What's going on?" she asked, laughingly. He kissed her.
"You don't have to worry any more, darlin'!" Larry explained. "We're going to go see your father, explain everything, then we can start to make our wedding plans! How's that sound?"
Susie was speechless, but only for a second. Then she yelled, "GREAT!" and hugged him back. She was giggling so much she got everyone in the room laughing.
"Wait! Wait!" Larry cried. "First of all, I have a very important question to ask." He put his hands on Susie's arms and turned to her so he could look down directly into her eyes. "Will you marry me?" he asked in a serious tone of voice.
"Yes! Yes! Of course! Of course I will! I love you so much!"
As she hugged him tightly, Jeanie laughed once again as she saw Larry roll his eyes, hoping he wouldn't have any broken ribs when she let go.
As they were preparing to leave, Larry told Mike, "We'll make the date for about a week or so after your mission. Maybe we can even have a double wedding with you and Jeanie, huh?"
"We'll see! I haven't even gone up, yet! You two had better get going! We've got a lot of work ahead for us!" Mike replied.
"Yeah. Come on, baby, let's go face the lion in his den! Don't worry, Susie, I can explain everything!"
"Thank you, oh, thank you!" Susie managed as they rushed out the door.
"Did you really mean that about a double wedding?" Jeanie asked as she embraced Mike.
"I can't promise anything right now. Just have to leave it at that.....we'll see!"
"Oooooo! You meanie!" she growled, pounding lightly on his chest with her fists. He bent down and scooped her up to cradle her in his arms.
"Now, how about that lunch break?" he asked.
"There's sandwiches in the fridge, just for you."
"Hmmmmm, I think I'll start with dessert!" Mike said, with a certain twinkle in his eyes, and he carried Jeanie to the sofa, sat her on it gently, and gave her a tender kiss.