(December 2001)

I would like to thank my mentor and editor, Donna Engle, once again for her encouragement.

"David, I found something today while I was cleaning house." Rosey Starsky said to her husband. She was getting ready for the holidays. It was after dinner. The children had long since gone to bed.

Starsky, who was curious, asked, "What did you find, Sweetheart?"

"This." Rosey brought out the object she had found in a drawer in the kitchen. It was a green object with a small stem at the top. It had a 6-sided dye at the bottom. It resembled a crude top.

He looked at it for a moment. "That is a driedel."

"David, what is a driedel?"

"It is a Hannukah game that I played when I was a kid."

"How do you play it?"

"You play it much like gambling. You have a big pile of chips in the middle of the table and every one takes turns spinning it. Depending on what you roll with the dreiedel depends on what you do."

"David, it sounds like fun. Except," she said with an evil grin on her face, "let's play it, but with a twist."

"Rosey, what kind of twist?"

"Well, you know strip poker?"

"Of course."

"Well, we can make it strip driedel."

"Rosey, you are so wicked."

"Yeah, I know. Well, Copper, want to go for it?"

"Why not?"

"Let's do this right. Why don't you light a fire? I think it is getting a little bit chilly in here."

Rosey and Starsky, who had been sitting on the couch, rose to their feet.

Starsky took her in his arms. "You can light my fire any time, you Ridicously Beautiful Lady." He started to nibble on her ear.

"David Starsky, you are such a sweet talker."

"Yeah," he whispered with a note of seduction.

"David, you continue to do this and we won't play the game. We will just head straight to the bedroom and get it on." Rosey could tell by the way he was acting that he wanted to forget the game and get straight to the main event.

"That's the main idea, Sweetheart." He said in his best Bogie voice.

"Yeah, but I want to play strip dreidel and then we'll see what else happens."

"Okay, okay," he agreed. He broke the embrace and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll light the fire."

"How about I go in the fridge and get some wine I have been chilling for a while?"

"Rosey, that sounds great."

Rosey returned from the kitchen with the wine and two glasses. Starsky had finished with the fire. She moved the furniture out of the way so there was a spot in front of the fireplace. She got a blanket from the linen closet and put it on the floor.

Just as she was about to open the new package of poker chips, he took it out of her hand as if he was going to open it for her. Instead, he put the package down on the coffee table and told her, "Rosey, if we are going to play this right, I think we should use clothes instead of chips."

She giggled, "Yeah."

"Okay."

He opened the wine and poured her a glass and also himself. She had also brought some cut up cheese chunks. She had always loved wine and cheese.

"Now, how do we play this, David?" Rosey asked when she was down on the blanket in front of the fire.

"Well, as I remember it, each symbol means something. Let me see now. Give me a second or two. Okay," He showed her the different symbols and explained the meaning of each one.

"So, can this be turned into an adult game?''

"I don't see why not. After all, this is our game. We can do whatever we want."

"Yeah."

Much later, Rosey realized that her husband played driedel much like he played Monopoly. She was sitting across from her husband on the blanket. The wine bottle was almost empty and Starsky was down to his bikini shorts. She still had all her clothes on.

She looked at her husband. The wine was starting to go to her head. Finally she moved her wine glass out of the way. She put the cork on the wine bottle. She started to move towards him. "David Starsky, I have waited long enough for you."

"What?"

"David, you are a heartbreaker."

"Excuse me, Rosey?"

"All night I have watched you slowly take off your clothes. You are driving me crazy."

"Honey, I didn't mean to."

"Don't worry, David Starsky. I want you and I want you, now." She took him by the hand and lead him upstairs. "First, I want to check on the kids and make sure they are okay." She made sure the children were okay and still asleep. She went into their bedroom and he helped her remove her clothes.

For the rest of the evening, until they fell asleep in each other's arms, they made love.

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