Playing House

Lots of innuendos had been flung around about sleeping arrangements in P's home, but when bed time came around, there was no discussion, we just climbed into his bed. That was the  beginning of my Canadian marriage. Due to an eye infection, I even wore my glasses all day long, something I'd never done with any other man. P insisted it was no big deal, but I never quite got over hating wearing them. And not only because my prescription is several years old.

Each day played out something like this: 

P would wake up, get dressed, kiss me goodbye and head off to build things, while I lounged in bed and snoozed for another hour or so. When I got up, I headed to my laptop and spent most of the morning chatting with friends and reading trashy blogs.  Or doing some actual writing. Take your pick. After noon, I'd take a shower and walk to the grocery store with a meal plan in my head. The weather was cooperative for most of my time in Yarmouth, so I enjoyed the long walk in the sunny, chilly air. Once home, I would sit and read for a bit, waiting for P's arrival home. I didn't greet him at the door with a martini and slippers, but I think he usually enjoyed my welcome. He'd tell me about his day, I'd tell him who I'd heard from and how much (or little) I'd gotten done. While he showered, I'd get dinner started. Most of the time, I was making something P'd never made himself and he would watch and ask me questions in order for him to duplicate the recipe in the future.* For the first few days, he told me he hated that I did the dishes, because I was supposed to be the guest. But after I told him I liked doing them because it made me feel useful, he dropped the guilt. I did a LOT of dishes during my stay. Next, we'd watch a television program or movie and head to bed. It was a pleasant rhythm to get into and I liked that I still had my alone time during the day, but an assured "date" every evening. This married thing seemed like a pretty good deal. For a couple of nights, we even had a little family thing happening, as we watched his one-year old niece. Of course, THIS married with children thing had the benefit of being temporary, pretend.  

Over the weekend, P's mom invited us to come spend the night in her home, in what she termed "the best kept secret in Nova Scotia", the town of Barrington. I cannot remember the last time I met a guy's parents. I believe I was still in college. And now we were sleeping under his mom and stepfather's roof! And fooling around in his sister's bed! We spent all day Saturday driving along the southern coast, seeing ship builders and lobster boats and little shacks on the beach. I continually pointed to different houses, exclaiming, "I want to live in that one!" so as to unnerve him, thinking I wanted to make our "marriage" a permanent situation. Teasing boys is fun! Teasing boys about having to be married to you is SUPERfun! 

*In the interest of fairness, I didn't do all the cooking. P cooked delicious grilled things for me on several occasions.