17:00hrs October 11th, 2014

Taft was a patient man. He had to be. He'd been put on recovery time and released to his home, been driven to his home, and had proceeded to convalesce. Well, as much as David Taft had ever done such a thing. He'd gone to work on his hobbies, little projects around the house, then bigger projects. It had all culminated with a trip to acquire an appropriate wine (and all the instructions for how to present it properly). He'd bought three bottles. Not because he thought they were going to drink them all but because he didn't want the evening to end early just because they'd run out of expired grape juice. Then he'd cleaned the house. Top to bottom, like a rank recruit on fire guard in Basic. It was clean enough to eat off of. -All- of it.

He'd stowed his cleaning supplies and seated himself in his arm chair to watch a John Wayne movie until she showed up. It was all he could do, really. He'd been told not to even dream of fiddling with food, if she even remembered she was supposed to be coming by. He wouldn't blame her if she forgot. A lot of exciting stuff had happened recently.

Il vento che soffia piano,
Questa notte cambia il mio destino...
E sento che il cuore
Ancora si sorprenderà...

The sound of swelling orchestral music reached the house well before the tires of her land rover made noise on the gravel drive. She rolled right up to the garage door before coming to a gentle stop. The house was certainly more than she expected, fairly modern looking with two floors and lots of windows. It seemed awfully big for one man. Fia slipped out the driver side door, pausing to try and brush some of the wrinkles out of her sundress. It was a warm day, so she left her cardigan draped over the back of the seat and made her way to the passenger side. Driving with the windows open had caused a few tendrils to escape from the french braid she had wrestled her hair back into. Opening the door, she looked over the two bags of groceries and the duffle, wondering is she should heft them all or make sure she had the right house first.

_________________

Taft heard the vehicle roll up and nodded to himself, good choice. Land Rovers were solid vehicles, he thought to himself as he leveraged himself out of his chair. Nobody ever came to his house, so he was fairly certain that it would be the one guest he was expecting. He looked through the glass on the double front doors before opening one and stepping out onto the tiny porch where he waved to her. When he realized she was eyeballing stuff in her car he started toward her. "Need a hand?"

Fia heard the door slide open behind her followed by a pleasant rumble. oh good, right house. Smiling over her shoulder at him, she nodded. Since you offered, sure! I tried to keep things to a minimum, but Corsetti's deli was amazingly well stocked. I was lucky I got out of there with two bags and a bakery box.

Snagging the duffle and one of the bags, she left the other and the box for him. Then she stepped aside to give him room. Weekend Taft was quite handsome in a jeans and flannel shirt kinda way. Sleeves rolled back like he had just come in from chopping wood or something. She couldn't help looking him over closely, and not just because he was nice to look at. Unable seeing any lingering effects of his injury, Fia had to ask. Hows the head?

_________________

"Not a problem, I'll carry sixteen bags at once to avoid making a second trip." Taft strolled over, waited until she'd cleared the way, and moved into the space to take up the remaining items. A box and a bag. He cradled the box and held the bag dangling from his off hand. He closed her truck door and gestured toward the house, both with his free hand. "Welcome to my palatial mansion, Casa de Taft. I gotta hand it to the hippies, they know how to recycle things." He followed her to the french style double doors at the front of the house... well, French style in the way they opened. They were kinda post modern in build and appearance. They were also filled with shatter-proof glass, a balance between security and not looking like a security nut.

"The kitchen is straight back, past the guest bath and pantry. Respectively." He continued to let her precede him. It allowed him to close the front door behind him and, hey, the view was pretty nice too. She had a solid looking back porch swing. "Head's fine, Madam President. Thank goodness we have all the modern medicine afforded to us here in 1979." He was obviously joking, though his face was as stoic as ever. The guy could play poker with the devil if the devil thought he could scrounge up something to put in the pot that would interest the Sgt Major.

The Kitchen was large. Had an island that was half bar half prep surface, big double sink, a professional stove with a griddle and grill top. The oven was separate and mounted up so that one didn't have to bend over to deal with its contents. The surfaces were a very reasonable formica in a dark blue, the cabinets whatever color matched that because Taft's player wasn't even remotely good at this sort of stuff. He usually boiled Ramen or short order food or grilled a steak at the... oh! "Hey, take a look out the big windows there at the back, tell me if you think the pool will work."

Fia only got a quick glance into the open living room before heading down the hall to the kitchen. Which was certainly a kitchen she could deal with. It seemed whoever built the house spared no expense. The cherry stained cabinets were a nice contrast to the dark blue if the counter tops, all accented by a stamped copper back splash. Even after over a week of Taft being home, the kitchen was spotless. Fia wasn't sure if that was in preparation of her coming, or lack of use. Either way, it was about to get lived in. She placed the bag on the island, dropping her duffle on the floor below, and continued to peep out the back window.

As long as it holds water, I'm fi.... Holy cow! Behind the house was a large glass enclosure, easily large enough to house a decent size pool. She couldn't see all of it past the glass and decorative shrubs, but what she could see was lovely stone work that extended out of the building and formed a patio just outside the back doors. There was even a huge stonework grill. Fia turned back, a disbelieving smile on her face. How did you find this place? It's beautiful.

_________________

"If there are any cows out there, divine or not, they aren't mine." Taft commented casually as he set the other bag and box down. He glanced in her direction real quick before deciding to peak into the box to see what kind of goodies she brought along on this mission of mercy/resupply drop. "I used to know this full bird Colonel, he retired and went into politics. Full bore. He got the security detail, the office, the dodgy way of talking, and finally the much younger mistress. Well, she decided that if she was going to be giving away the milk she wanted a really nice barn to stay in. When he put her out to pasture he decided to unload the place, quietly, and I was happy to offer him way less than it was worth."

"That... and this is the first big thing I've ever bought. Been fixing the truck since the late 80's."

Fia turned back just in time to see him lifting the corner of the box lid. Grinning she reached over and smacked the back of his hand. Uh-uh, that's for later. She whisked the box away, placing it in a section of out of the way counter. Returning to the island, she began to unload the bags. Soon it became obvious why she shopped where she did. The lasagna noodles were fresh, still pliable in thier package. The Italian sausage and hamburger were both wrapped in white butcher paper. These were followed by a tub of ricotta and ball of cheese.Normally I would have made my own sauce, but that would have taken way to much time today. Fia admitted as she pulled out two jars of what was obviously handmade marinara sauce. Lastly she upended the bag, several small items rolling across the counter. The spice bottles she caught, but the clove of garlic made a hasty escape off the end of the island.

_________________

Taft gave a look to the spot on the back of his hand where she'd swatted him, still holding the peeking pose and staring at it in a special Sgt Major sort of way. That way that said if a recruit had a way to go back in time and correct their mistake then that was the right time to use that ability. He wasn't serious about it, it was just an ingrained reaction, and he gave a chuckle as she made off with the box. "Now I'm really curious what's in your box..." He watched the container for a long moment before closing his eyes, recentering and moving on.

"I'm sure it won't suffer for the consideration of time. Besides, don't want you to miss out on your swim because you're doing something nice. The swim was the whole point, after all." Was it? He didn't know, he was just happy to have a visitor. He'd have even accepted an insult session in the front yard with the redheaded harpy at the SGC, though blatantly Fia was better. "How do you say your last name again, ma'am?" He didn't have any expectation of being able to pronounce it, ever, but it would be interesting to try a couple of times. While he waited for that answer he opened the cabinets that had the pots and pans in them. Silverware, utensils, etc. etc.

Sir..rig..lee..ano. It is the name of a small town in Sicily. Spelled completely different, so of course Nana insisted that was not were we came from. Fia retrieved the escapee garlic where it had landed on her duffle. While there, she pulled a bundle of red and white checkered fabric out of the side pocket. A good shaking revealed it to be bibbed apron, that she slipped over her head. Wrapping the strings around her waist, she tied them in front in a tiny bow. Organizing the items on the island, Fia seemed to be completely in her element. Since you are standing there... I'll need a large skillet, a stew pot, and two nine by eleven pans. At least four inches deep. If you have them.

Fia leaned her hip against the counter, waiting for the pans. While the swim may have been the intent originally. She smiled over at him, a laugh in her voice. We both know that's not what it turned into.

_________________