Romance, Reality and Suds

 Be it right or wrong,  I  expect the relationship with my husband to resemble a romance novel.

Reality tends to get in the way of my expectations.
Just the other day, I had this conversation:

Hubby: "Would you like some coffee, hon?"

Me:     " Aww. Sure babe!"

Hubby: "Pour me a cup too."

That's reality. I'm sure you can relate.
 But can't we have both reality and romance?
Let me share a little story that might answer that question. You decide.

Years ago, my husband and I couldn't find a sitter for our wedding anniversary. (People don't return phone messages that pertain to multiple toddlers.) So, we came up with a brilliant and romantic idea. Make a special dinner at home.

We put our three toddlers to bed, and within minutes they were asleep. 

This gave us free time to make out dinner.

 I prepared lobster, and veggies. After rummaging through the junk drawer for a candle, I crammed it in an empty pop bottle I found in the recycle bin. That looked like crap so I wrapped the bottle in foil and tied a ribbon around it. Okay, a little better. As a final touch I put Fleetwood Mac on the stereo. What was Hubby doing all this time? Cooking the steaks on the grill. Outside. In the snow. 

 Now isn't that romantic?

The steaks were hot, but Hubby was shivering. I warmed up that man in no time.  I prepared a steamy cup of coffee to warm him.

We danced to the music...okay so we didn't dance. We both suck at dancing. Let's just say we swayed for a minute, then sat down to eat.

 Ah, romance was in the air--so was reality--in the guise of a big, bouncy ball.

It splat in the middle of the table, showering us with mashed potatoes and knocking over the candle I slaved over.The tablecloth nearly caught fire. (I think my hubby's gust of laughter put it out before it caught hold.)

That was the first time we discovered our toddler son's pitching ability.

And the last time we had our anniversary dinner at home.

After we put our monster child back to bed, assured the other two remained with the sandman, we salvaged what was edible and ate through fits of giggles...okay I was the one giggling. Hubby just shook his head and grinned. Hey, I had more than my fair share of wine to soften the bouncy ball fiasco.

We ended up washing dishes side by side. Which reminded me of something romantic. (Of course.)

Me: "Remember when we were just friends and I stopped by your apartment and you weren't ready because you were washing dishes that had been piling up for a week and you didn't want me to see your kitchen like that?"

Hubby: "How can you say all that in one breath?"

Me:      "Do you remember?"

Hubby:  "Is this a test?"

Me:      "No, seriously. I offered to rinse so we could get going to the movie?"

Hubby:   "What movie?"

Me:        "Never mind."

Hubby: (Leaning closer, his breath still sweet from wine) "We were standing side by side, like we are now. Our hands touched when I handed you a dish."

Me:     Speechless. For once.

Hubby: (His lips a whisper away) "Then I kissed you for the very first time."

Me:    "Then we--."

Hubby: "Shhh..." Then he cradled my face with his sudsy hands and kissed me... like the very first time all over again.

Reality and romance mix great with suds.

So can we have both? What do you think? Do you have a story to tell? What reality mixed with your romance? Is there a limit to how many questions I can ask? I did it all in one breath too.