By Gaby

Roma bolted awake in bed, her chest heaving and heart hammering. She closed her eyes again and rolled to lay on her back, taking deep breaths to try to calm herself. It didn’t work. As soon as her eyes were closed, the image came back to her mind. She sit on her bed and kept on breathing deeply and slowly, and after a couple of minutes her heartbeat was back to normal.

She then decided to go to the kitchen and get a glass of water. She turned the lights on in the kitchen, then poured herself a glass of water and took a seat at the table. She found there a magazine with a picture of her, John and Della in the front page. Julie must have been reading it. Passing the pages, she arrived to the article where they talked about the following season of the show. She remembered the interview quite well but what caught her attention were the pictures, two of them in particular.

In one, the three "angels" had been taken walking hand in hand outside the Moon Water’s set. She couldn’t help but look at the picture again, at her small hand in John’s one... She could still feel it, its warmth, the careful strength in its hold. John may have taken her hand hundreds of times, then why did it suddenly feel so different?

She then looked at the other picture, a close-up of just the two of them. Despite the picture only showed their faces, John was circling her waist from behind, pulling her so close to him and he was leaning over her so his cheek rested on hers. Truth to be told, she just loved the picture, specially his tender smile and the way his green eyes showed their real bright color. Again it was the feeling of his body close to hers when she looked at the picture. It was as if he actually were there, behind her, his chest warming her back through the material of her silk robe.

She closed the magazine, finished the water and climbed back to her room, determined to go back to sleep. Yet, when she saw her bed, the images of her dream came back. She walked to the open window where she could feel a light breeze barely refreshing the hot temperature of that spring night. Leaning over the frame, she looked at the sky and closed her eyes, this time allowing her mind to revive her dream...

A knot formed on her stomach. She knew the origin of her dream: the screenplay she had just received for the following week episode, Netherlands, in which Monica faces the temptation of experiencing love. She didn’t know the actor that would join her. In her dream it was a very familiar face. Her heart started to beat fast again, but this time she wanted to recall her dream.

She... or Monica... was in a garden like the story said. But this was her own house garden. She was using a loosen dress. Someone approached her and held her from behind, circling her waist and resting his head over hers so they were cheek to cheek. She then turned and could see who it was, the familiar face, the tender smile, the green eyes mirroring the love she knew was very present in her own... Her arms wrapped around his neck, she pulled him down for a long, deep kiss that, as it grew in intensity, made her want to press herself closer to him. Something didn’t allow her and it was when she realized she was pregnant. But it didn’t feel weird not uncomfortable... on the contrary, it was exciting and so erotic... Grasping for breath, she looked into those emerald eyes again, her hand delicately stroking his face until a little voice broke the moment. A little voice shouting "Uncle Johnnie!", a little voice that was no other but Reilly’s...

There was where her dream ended. There was where she had woken up.

Looking at the full moon, Roma couldn’t help but wondering what it would have been like to have married John years ago... or what it would be like to love him now. Would his usual tenderness be reflected on his kisses? Would his touch feel so good as in her dream?

Shaking her head she walked back to her bed, and for a long time her eyes simply refused to get closed. ‘It was only a dream,’ she tried to repeat to herself as she kept her eyes shut in a vain intent to take her mind out of that fantasy.

*

John had had a bad time trying to fall asleep that night. Perhaps the hot temperature of the spring had had him tossing and turning in bed for hours until he had finally lost trace of time.

He felt he had been just dozing off until the mattress ceded under a light weight. Until he felt a hand tenderly brushing a strand out of his forehead. Reluctantly he opened his eyes, and blinking sleep back, he finally could recognize who was seating by his side.

His heart started to beat wildly when he met those brown eyes he loved so much. He tried to mouth some words but slender fingers were placed over his mouth and a quiet ‘Shh’ silenced him. It couldn’t be possible. He couldn’t believe on what he was seeing in her eyes that were perfectly illuminated by the light filtering through the open window. The deep passion. The burning desire. After a long second of intently looking at each other, she leaned over him and captured his mouth.

He closed his eyes at the feeling of her hair covering his face, at the warmth of her breath over his face and his hands tangled in her hair pulling her down and steadying her. When the position became too uncomfortable for Roma, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself rest on the top of him making him groan amidst the kiss. "Roma..." he murmured huskily when she broke the kiss and while she was now drawing the line of his strong jaw with feather like kisses.

He was now circling her waist and her neck, kissing its exposed side until her shoulder. He moved enough to make room for her and laid her on the bed. "Roma..." he murmured again, panting with difficulty.

"I love you, John," she whispered, eyes closed, her trembling lips searching for his again.

He wanted to ask why she was there sharing his deepest feelings but his heart was beating so quickly and his mind was focused only on the warm body he could now touch freely. He felt her small hands worming their way under his T-shirt until they reached his shoulders, kneading them with the rhythm of his kisses. He had lifted her nightgown and one of his hands was rubbing her soft belly while his other arm kept his weight off her. "I love you, Roma, I love you..." he repeated once and again.

The soft sound of soft music filled the room but he was deaft to anything but Roma’s sighs and murmurs...

"Good morning, pals. This is Steven Bright from WXPZ. It’s 6 o’clock! Come on, wake up!"

Hearing the hour, John nearly jumped and his eyes snapped open. he took a couple of deep breaths, the memories of Roma in his arms still fresh. He turned to see the empty side of his bed and then to look at the radio with clock on the bed stand. He closed his eyes again and licked his lips, still able to taste the flavor of her lips on his...

It had been a dream, just a dream...