Chapter One
The Gift
Justyn always prided himself on the ability to give her any gift that she wanted for every occasion, and this birthday of hers was not going to be any different. She had told him about the other wives around that had computers and that some were even doing genealogy and other things with them. Mary even made it a point to tell him how easy it would be for her to shop online for gifts for their families and friends, and have them delivered right to their doors, instead of having to go buy them and then mail them to everyone.
Justyn had picked up the latest, fastest and most complete computer system that money could buy. Now all he had to do was get it in the house and set up before Mary came back from her hair salon appointment. He even had bought a tutorial software package and had them install it so Mary could start learning to use the computer right away. They already had four telephone lines in the house so he figured he would hook up the one for the downstairs guest room to the computer for internet access, after all that was the room he was going to let Mary use as her computer room, since they still had 3 guest rooms upstairs.
Justyn turned into the drive and hit the garage door opener on his sun visor; he pulled around back and right into the garage. He quickly closed the door and got out of the car. He went into the house and made sure Mary wasn't home. Then he started toting in the boxes of computer items. He set it up on the large antique writing desk in the downstairs guest room and in just under an hour and half, had the computer up and running. He checked out the scanner and printer first, and then he connected to the internet and set up her email account. After making sure everything was in proper working order he shut the computer down, laid the "quick instructions for computer operating" booklet on the keyboard. He then carried the empty boxes out to the garage and stored them in the loft. He got back in his car and left, heading back to work.
As he drove back to work, Justyn smiled to himself, this was going to be even better then last year when he bought her the new, bright red Corvette she wanted. He was sure she would have wanted something other then a computer for her birthday, but she insisted that was all she really wanted, so he hadn't bothered getting her anything else except for the 31 red roses that would be delivered just before he got home this evening. Justyn parked the car in the company garage and hurried to the elevator, he wanted to make sure he was in his office when Mary called to let him know she was home again. He was hoping also that maybe the computer would give him a small break from her calls. He didn�t mind her calling very much, but sometimes it was hard to get any work done when she called him every half hour and talked for over twenty minutes each time. He had noticed that lately his work was suffering from it, even though no-one had said anything about it yet.
Just as Justyn was about to sit down in his chair, his phone rang. Mary had just returned home and was calling to tell him about the hair salon giving her everything for free since it was her birthday. He could hear the excitement in her voice as she told of her day's events.
He also could tell that she had not went into the downstairs guest room yet, or she would have been telling him about the computer that was there. He was thinking to himself about how surprised she would be after he showed her the computer, but first things first. He finally caught a break in her conversation and asked if she was ok with them having a quiet dinner at home this evening. He explained that he was really tired and didn't feel like going out, but wanted to make sure she wasn't mad about it.
Mary politely told him it was ok and that they would just have a nice dinner there, if she could get everything prepared in time. He then offered to pick something up on the way home and she graciously accepted this idea and even suggested something from the "Chinese Palace". He said he would take care of it and after several more minutes was able to get off the phone from her.
Justyn went by the "Chinese Palace" and picked up the order he had called inearlier that morning and headed on towards home. He was really getting good at thinking as Mary did and understanding her wants and likes. He could even bet on what she would say when he walked into the house "Justyn, the roses are so beautiful, but I honestly think you added a few to grow on". Before he realized it he was turning into the drive and pulling around back to the garage. He almost forgot to hit his door opener and had to stop for a few seconds to let the door raise before parking in the garage.
Justyn entered the house and as he was setting the food on the kitchen counter, Mary entered holding a large vase of roses. She looked at him and smiling brightly she said, "Justyn, the roses are so beautiful, but I honestly think you added a few to grow on." He just grinned really big and told her she more beautiful then all the roses in the world. Then after she sat the vase on the dining room table he grabbed her tightly in his arms and kissed her as passionately as he did on their wedding night. When the kiss ended, he told her happy birthday and said he would set the table if she would get the drinks and the food.
After they had finished eating and cleared the table, Justyn asked Mary if she would like her gift now or wait till later. Mary was beside herself with excitement, as she could only hope he had got her a computer. She said, " Now would be ok with me".
Justyn had her close her eyes and he led her by the hand to the downstairs guest room door. He made sure she wasn't peeking before he swung the door open and said, " Happy Birthday Darling". With that said, Mary opened her eyes and squealed like a teenage girl, "Wow, a computer!". She almost jumped towards it she was so excited. Justyn quickly showed her how to turn it on and told her she needed to read the little booklet first. Mary took the booklet and started reading as fast as she could.
Mary had heard many a tale about what all could be done with a computer that she actually a little over eager to get started using it right away. She sat down in the desk chair and using the booklet as a guide, proceeded to teach herself the basics of beinmg able to operate the compter. Justyn just turned and headed for his den, to watch a little TV and catch up on some work he had brought home.
It was about 4 hours later when Justyn decided to go to bed and as he heard the hall clock strike eleven, he noticed the light still on in Mary's computer room. He figured as excited as she was, she would still come to bed shortly, so he proceed to their bedroom. After his shower and getting dressed for bed, he slid into bed and before long was sleeping soundly.
