Katie's POV
We walked up the hallway from the 'park' to another door on the opposite side. There was a hand lettered sign on the door that read:
Welcome to
Le Café Garth
Please enter and
Wait to be seated!
Dean opened the door, and he and Maggie entered first. Garth was standing there waiting, looking for all the world like a maitre d' of a fancy restaurant. He was wearing a black vest and pants and a white shirt, and he had a large white linen napkin folded and draped over his arm. He gave a slight bow in our general direction, and said "Good evening," and then he looked at Dean and asked, "How many in your party, sir?"
Maggie and I were looking at each other and covering our mouths to hide our grins. Dean stood up stiff and straight and said, "Two, please."
Garth looked at Sam and said "I shall return momentarily," and led Dean and Maggie off to a table. While they were gone I took the opportunity to appreciate the room, which was about half the size of the park room. The atmosphere was very romantic. The lighting was soft, created by candles in sconces all around the room. The walls were painted a pale peach color. On all four sides of the room there was a small table placed near the wall with two chairs set across from each other. The tables were covered with white linin tablecloths, and place settings were already laid on two of them. Each table also had two long, thin white candles on the side nearest the wall.
Romantic, European type music was playing softly from speakers set in all four corners of the room and slightly tilted downwards. I looked for but couldn't find where the music was being played from.
I was once again speechless. While this room was not as shocking as the park room, the idea that the boys would go to these lengths to surprise us took my breath away. I looked at Sam and discovered he was watching me intently, with a slight smile on his face that looked extremely mischievous.
Garth came back just then and led us to the table near the wall opposite from Dean and Maggie. I noted there was enough space between us to assure privacy if we spoke normally.
Maggie's POV
This was just too much. The tables even had very nice dinner plates and real silver cutlery, with a linen napkin folded fancily on the plate. There were Champaign glasses at the table setting as well. Garth, well, I could hardly stop staring at Garth. He totally kept in character without once cracking a smile. He must have rehearsed that all day. And Dean was acting like eating in fancy restaurants was something he did all the time. But I could see the sides of his lips tremble now and then, as if he were having to try very hard not to crack a smile.
After Garth seated Sam and Katie he went through a door slightly behind me that I hadn't even noticed was there. He came out with a bottle of Champaign and held the bottle label side toward Dean. Dean nodded, and Garth uncorked the wine, and handed the cork to Dean. Dead made a big, exaggerated show out of looking at the cork for flaws, which made me giggle. Again he nodded to Garth, who then poured a small amount into Dean's wine glass. While he was pouring it, I was able to read the label - Dom Pérignon, Vintage 1999. Holy Shit!
Though I tried, I just couldn't keep a straight face, as once again Dean made a very elaborate show out of smelling and tasting the Champaign, and pronounced it acceptable. He may have missed his calling. He could have been a great actor. But he lost it when Garth had filled both our glasses and stepped away. He looked over at me, and whatever he saw in my expression made him turn his head away and snort out loud with laughter.
"You nut," I said, laughing. "This is just crazy," I added.
He reached over and took my hand and winked at me. "Are you enjoying it?" he asked, with that charming, boyish smile he has that I get to see so rarely.
"Very much so," I said. "But you're still crazy, all of you. And Garth is a trip."
"Well then," he said, "we've achieved our goal." He got a little serious then and added, "Maggie, we were never able to take you two out for so much as dinner. And here we are expressing our deepest love for each other. Seemed like something was missing in the middle there." Then he got that mischievous smile again and said, "We thought you two deserved to be courted properly, at least once."
"Well, this is amazing. You guys did great. I don't think it could have been done any better if we'd planned it ourselves."
Sam's POV
Katie and I watched with amusement as Garth went through the Champaign ritual with Dean and Maggie. It was so good seeing my brother like this. Which made me think, I don't think I've EVER actually seen him like this. I looked across the table at Katie and she looked back at me, smiling broadly.
"I don't know what to feel Sam," she said. "Amusement, flattery, love, yeah all those and more. But they are all mixed in with my complete and total realization that you are both certifiably insane!"
I laughed then, and I knew she had been totally bedazzled (imagine me using that word) at what we'd done, and knew we had achieved our goal. We wanted to give the girls one special night they would never forget, and I think we did that in spades.
Katie watched me with sparkling eyes as Garth went through the Champaign routine with me as he had Dean, but I played it just like we had rehearsed anyway, and got her to at least giggle a bit.
When Garth had gone again, Katie said she'd never had Champaign in her life, and I said, "Well, go ahead, try it." She sipped it cautiously and made a little grimace.
"Is this an acquired taste?" she asked, quietly.
"I don't really know," I answered, "Except for that sip earlier, I've never had any either."
We both laughed then, and she said "Well, go on, try it. I hear this costs an arm and a leg."
So I took a fairly large sip of my Champaign and swirled it around like I've seen people do in movies and pronounced, "Yes, it's a very good year." And then I whispered conspiratorially, "Don't tell anyone, but I'll stick with my beer."
She laughed then, and if I hadn't already known how I felt about her, I would have fallen in love right then and there.
Dean's POV
Garth came out of the door with a basket of warm rolls and butter. The basket was one of those plastic ones like you get to use at some fried chicken places, and the rolls were the kind that comes in a tube and you bake them yourself. But if Maggie noticed, she didn't say a word.
Garth was soon back and handed us the little cards he'd made with the entrée list:
Filet Mignon
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Baked Salmon Dijon
I watched Maggie's puzzled face when she read the menu, but she stayed with the program and ordered the Salmon. I ordered the filet and went back to watching my woman. My woman! That had a nice ring to it. Who was it somewhere that said it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? I don't remember, but I'm thinking he might have been right. Still terrifies me, but one day at a time, that's the way to do this. All I could hope for now was that if one of us had to experience the loss, well then I hoped it would be me.
I watched Garth take the orders from the other table, and caught a wink from Sam. He looked happy too. God knows he deserved to be. We really do need to come up with a new saying for things like that. God knows. What the fuck does god know anyway? I know what I know.
"Okay, I have to ask, I can't help it?" Maggie said, excitedly. "Salmon? Chicken Cordon Bleu? Who's cooking all this?"
"Garth is," I answered.
"Well ya know what?" she said. "I'm beginning to think his wife is a very lucky lady!"
I made a fake pouty face and she patted my hand and said "Aww, don't worry. She's still not nearly as lucky as I am."
So I made an exaggerated grin face and that made her laugh. It was so good to hear laughter in this place. Katie and Sam were doing it a lot too. I wanted to slow down the clock so this night could last longer. Boy, I was turning into a real sap wasn't I? And the worst part of it was, I didn't care. In fact, I kind of liked it.
Katie's POV
When Garth presented the little menus to us, I ordered the chicken and Sam decided on the filet.
"Sam," I asked, when Garth had gone away with our orders. " Three selections? Is Garth actually cooking all this?"
"Mhmm," he said. "He found everything he needed in the kitchen and said he could do it."
"Wow," I said, "Once again I am impressed. You know, you could give us sensory overload with all this stuff you've done. I have to tell you, if you have much more up your sleeve, I don't know if I can handle it."
I laughed and winked at her, and said, "I'm not saying, one way or the other. You'll just have to wait and see."
"Oh geez," she said. "Well fine! As this really tall, gorgeous and sexy guy once told me, turnabout is fair play."
Sam's POV
"Oh really," I said with interest. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means," she said smugly, "we just may have planned some surprises of our own for you boys."
"Oh? Do tell?"
"Uh uh, no way," she said teasingly. "As that same tall, gorgeous and sexy guy said, quite recently I believe, you'll just have to wait and see."
Well now, hadn't she just turned the tables on me? Because I didn't doubt for a minute that she and her sister had cooked up something of their own, and I've known her long enough, now, to think that might just be a scary thought.
Garth came out then with the entrée's. Side dishes were baked potatoes and broccoli.
"Holy shit!" Katie said, surprised. "This is really good!"
She wasn't wrong and even I was a bit surprised.
Maggie's POV
The food was actually very good. Maybe Garth should be a chef instead of a hunter. Conversation quieted down a bit as we all dug into our food. It was getting fairly late, and I think we all were pretty hungry.
After dinner, Garth came out and cleared the plates. I decided to have some fun and I said, "My compliments to the chef."
Garth never skipped a beat. He said, "Thank you, Madame, I will pass that to the chef, and went away with our dishes."
I said, "He has done an amazing job with all this!"
"I'll be totally honest with you." said Dean. "If it hadn't been for him, we could never have had this ready for tonight,"
Just then Garth came back with four small plates on a tray he was holding up higher than usual. I watched with interest as he very ceremoniously laid a dessert plate in front of me with a fortune cookie on it. I'm sorry but I had to laugh. Since when do Parisian restaurants serve fortune cookies? I asked, giggling.
Dean leaned over close to me and whispered, "I happen to know it was all there was in the kitchen that even resembled dessert."
Again, I laughed. "Well, let's see what our fortunes are," I said. I opened mine and read, "In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities." I looked over at Dean. "Did you guys rig these?" I asked him.
"No, I swear, let's see what mine says." He opened his and read, "You will soon be the recipient of a pleasant surprise." I stared at him for a very long minute. I looked over at Katie, but she and Sam were paying attention to their own fortunes. I looked back at Dean, and I couldn't help myself. I just burst out laughing.
Then Dean was staring at me. When I got my laughter somewhat under control, I was finally able to say, between fits of laughing. "Oh my God! You have no idea how very accurate that is!"
Sam's POV
When Maggie burst out laughing, we looked over at her and I said, "Well, I wonder what's so funny over there."
"No idea," she said shaking her head. "But what does your fortune say?"
I read, "The way to love anything is to realize it might be lost!" I looked over at Katie and said, "Wow, you have no idea how much that thought has been already in my head."
Katie smiled sweetly and said, "I think that's pretty much the way we all feel." I opened my fortune and read, "Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale." For some reason she looked at the back of her fortune and then the front again. "Wow," she said. "Did Garth load these fortunes himself or something?"
"I doubt it," I said. "But obviously it's a good night for us to get them. Because I, for one, am appreciating the hell out of you right now."
To Be Continued...