Oh, she still looked good for a woman of fifty-five. She was still slim, although a couple of pounds heavier than she had been thirty years earlier. There were a few lines on her face, but that wasn't so bad for someone her age. There were a few strands of white here and there, too. Perhaps she should have started dying her hair long ago, but she'd always seen that sort of thing as a vanity. Besides, Remington had always said he loved her the way she was - that his golden girl didn't need any gilding. Such a hopeless romantic, he was!

Remington, of course, still looked great. Years were always easier on men, it seemed. He was heavier than when she'd first met him, but he still managed to keep his lean body. He even had a few wrinkles and some white hair here and there, but it had only made him sexier, if that was even possible. He still drew the attention of other women, but it didn't bother Laura anymore, even when they were younger than she was.

Over the years, Laura Steele had finally learned to trust her husband both in business and in her personal life. She knew he wasn't interested in other women. Even though he rarely failed to give an attractive female an appraising look, she was sure it never led to anything more than that. After all, didn't she notice the handsome men around her? If nothing else, a pang or two of jealousy had never hurt ether of them.

She smiled, thinking of her husband. It had been almost thirty years to the date since he, a mysterious stranger, had turned her life upside down. By some mutual agreement, however, they had never celebrated the anniversary of the day they'd first met. At first, they ignored it because they didn't want to attract undue attention to themselves and their situation. Then later, it just became their own private moment - something special which remained unspoken between two people who loved each other.

Laura wanted this anniversary to be different, however. After all she and Remington had been together for so many years, enjoying the good times and supporting each other during the bad times. She couldn't have wished for a better partner, a better husband, or a better father for her children. So, this year, she had decided to surprise him and had purchased an autographed picture of Humphrey Bogart. It was rare and very hard to find, but she was sure every minute she had spent searching for it would pay off when she saw the look on his face.

The last thought caused a deep sigh to escape from her lips. Indeed, this year was very different. The youngest of their children had just flown the coop and was now attending Stanford, following her own footprints. The house was quiet now, even on weekends. The children dropped by for visits whenever they could, but it wasn't quite the same. Laura realized it was an inescapable part of their growing up, but on the other hand, now she and Remington were once again alone.

She finished dressing, wondering where he had gone so early on a Saturday. She had been looking forward to spending a quiet Saturday morning with her husband. In fact, the mere thought of being alone with him still made her heart beat faster. But when she woke up, he'd already been gone, leaving behind only a short note which said, "Good morning, Luv. Will be back soon. Remington."

She recalled him mentioning some unfinished business the day before and decided it probably involved one of their joint ventures with Monroe - or perhaps a meeting with a client... No, he would've told her if he were meeting with a client on the weekend. Even thought these days they worked separately a lot, they still liked to know about each other's cases.

Laura chuckled. Years ago, who would ever have thought that her Mr. Steele would sacrifice a good morning's sleep to attend a business meeting? He still wasn't an early riser, but at least now, it wasn't unheard of.

Suddenly, Laura felt a wave of fear roll over her. Where exactly had Remington gone so early on a Saturday morning? Monroe wasn't exactly an early bird, either, and to the best of her knowledge, they didn't have any current cases that required an early Saturday meeting.

It suddenly occurred to her that with all of the children now gone, she was the only thing keeping Remington there. What if that wasn't enough? What if he had become bored with her? What if he didn't want to be Remington Steele anymore? Daniel had left him a considerable amount of money, and for a while now, they had been only working for the fun of it. What if he'd finally decided being a detective wasn't fun anymore? Come to think of it, he had been behaving strangely earlier in the week; she hadn't really thought anything of it at the time, but maybe...

With sinking feeling of disaster, Laura went into the study and opened the safe where they kept important documents. To her despair, there was only one passport. Opening it awkwardly, she found a younger version of herself staring at her from the photograph. With suddenly clumsy hands, she went through everything else in the safe... marriage license, birth certificates, documents on the house... No, Remington's passport wasn't there...

She closed the safe and sat down heavily on a couch.

With that thought, he carefully entered the bedroom.

He finally found her in the study, deep in thought. Figuring she must be missing the children more than he realized, he sat down, slid his arms around her waist, and gave her a gentle kiss behind the ear.

Laura jumped. "You're here," she exclaimed, startled.

"Sorry I scared you," he said, giving her another kiss on the cheek. Sensing that she was unusually wound up, he decided that a bit of gentle love therapy was definitely in order.

Before he could give her another kiss, she hoarsely asked, "When...?" She had wanted to say, "When are you leaving?" but her voice had failed her.

"When what?"

"When is it?" she asked, sure he would understand what she meant even though she still couldn't say the dreadful words.

"Six o'clock," he said softly, wondering how she had found out. He'd never been able to get anything past her. She was, without a doubt, the most impossible woman he had ever known.

"Tonight?"

"Of course, tonight."

"Thank you," Laura said quietly, grateful that he had been honest with her. At least he had the courtesy to say 'good bye' instead of simply painting himself out of her life.

"The pleasure is all mine," he said, pulling her closer.

"I bet it is," she said coldly. She was so tired and so spent that she didn't even have the strength to free herself from his embrace. Or perhaps, didn't want to - not just yet, anyway.

Preoccupied with his own thoughts, he didn't even notice her strange demeanor. He just nuzzled her neck and asked, "How did you find out?"

"Your passport."

"What about it?" he asked, kissing her ear.

"It's gone," Laura said weakly.

"What?" asked as he pulled away slightly to look at her.

"You always keep your passport in the safe," she explained, annoyed by his surprised tone. "Now it's gone."

"What does my passport have to do with anything?"

"This is no time to feign ignorance!" she exclaimed, finally throwing off his arms and standing up.

"Laura, I don't have any idea where my bloody passport is," he said, standing up as well.

"Oh, please, don't spoil it! You don't have to lie to me!"

He raised his hands slightly, pleading with her to calm down, and said, "My passport... my passport... Uh, it's in my overnight bag. Why?"

Laura turned on her heels and stormed out of the room.

Remington caught up with her at the door. "Laura, wait, wait!" He pleaded, blocking her way. Then speaking quickly, he prodded her memory. "You remember the Parker case? Last month? The missing cousin?"

"Yes, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"I was going to fly to Mexico if any of our leads turned up, remember? And then the cousin turned up in Los Angeles instead?" He hated to bring up memories of that particular case, but felt he had no choice.

That entire case had been a disaster. The missing cousin had spent most of the time in her boyfriend's apartment while the Steele Agency, on Laura's insistence, had been checking every lead, no matter how cold it had been.

"Oh, don't tell me you're going away with that brat!" she said. "She's barely older than our own children!"

"Laura, I am not going away with anybody! My bloody passport is still in the bloody overnight bag in the office! I forgot to bring the stuff back."

"You did?"

He saw the doubt in her eyes, but felt grateful that at least she wasn't trying to leave the room anymore.

"Either that... or I lost it somewhere," he said, giving her his most charming smile.

"You are not leaving me?" Laura asked in disbelief.

"Laura, of course not," he said gently.

Then her face suddenly went pale, and he quickly grabbed her elbow for support.

"Why did you think I was leaving you?" he asked.

"I just thought... when you were gone so early..." She stumbled over her words, unsure how to express her fears.

Remington waited, allowing her to continue at her own pace.

"I'm not young anymore..." she continued, "...and now that the children..."

When she couldn't continue, he finished her thought for her, saying, "...you thought there was nothing left for me to stay for."

Laura nodded, embarrassed.

He lifted her chin up, making her look him in the eyes, and said, "Laura, perhaps I haven't told you often enough how glad I am we're together - how lucky I am to have you - how much I love you. Well, I'm telling you now." He pulled her closer and added reassuringly, "I'm not leaving you, Laura. Ever."

She rested her head on his chest for a moment, but then suddenly looked up and asked, "What's happening tonight at six o'clock, then?"

Remington stroked her hair and said, "We are going out."

"Out?"

"An early anniversary present to cheer up my girl," Remington explained. Catching Laura's look, he added, "Laura, surely you couldn't have forgotten? October first? Thirty years ago? Hmm?"

"Of course, I haven't forgotten! But today isn't October first."

"No, it's not; October first is on Monday. But I thought it would be nice to start early, eh?"

"Oh, I did it again, did I?" Laura asked, giving him a guilty look.

"Yes, you did," Remington said with a smile.

"And you're not angry?"

"I'm looking on the bright side," he said, still smiling. "At least, I know you still care."

"You know I do," she said softly.

"I know," Remington replied firmly, pulling a small velvet box out of his pocket. "I'm sorry I had to leave before you woke up, but I had to pick up this."

Surprised, Laura looked at the box, and then back at her husband.

"You know me - always doing my shopping at the last minute," he explained with a shy smile. "Yesterday it wasn't ready yet."

He pulled a necklace from the box, saying, "I thought it'd look good with that dress I've always liked. You know, the one with..."

"...the one that comes off that easily?" she finished with a sly smile.

"Yes, that one. Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

"I love it! Oh, I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything," he said, giving her a gentle kiss. "That look in your eyes is enough."

"I missed you this morning," she confessed quietly. "I was looking forward to spending it with you."

"That makes two of us," he said suggestively. "What say we start it over, eh? We'll pretend that you are still asleep, and I got back just in time to watch you wake up."

"I like the way you think!" she exclaimed as her face brightened and her dimples appeared. She gave him a kiss, first a light one and then a deeper one which promised more to come. Finally, she pulled away and whispered, "Give me a minute to... umm... change."

She slipped into the bedroom and closed the door.

He shook his head with a gentle smile. Sometimes putting up with Laura was an impossible challenge, but then, it was a part of her charm.

Remington was a happily married man. He had a smart, beautiful wife he could work with as well as play with, who also just happened to be a wonderful mother to their wonderful children. Without a doubt, life with her would never be boring.

He was sure she was happy with him, too, in spite of her occasional anxiety attacks. He couldn't help smiling as he remembered the time she had demanding why he was suddenly making more phone calls to London than usual... or the time she confronted him about the photograph of a young woman she had accidentally found in his wallet... or the time she had spotted plane tickets in someone else's name in his desk drawer at the office...

Of course, he had being totally innocent of wrong doing in all of those situations, as he more than happily explained to her. The calls to London had been made when Monroe was suddenly summoned there on an urgent personal matter and had him in charge of his booming business. The young lady was the missing fiancée of a client he had seen in Laura's absence, and he had purchased the tickets for yet another client as a part of the security arrangements for the client's trip. Could he help that the client's real name was Harry Dawes, and that it just happened to be the name of the character Humphrey Bogart played in The Barefoot Contessa? (Laura had even given him the movie citation when she confronted him!)

Strangely enough, Laura did trust him most of the time, and although she wasn't in the habit of going through his things, she did seem to stumble onto them with surprising regularity. But no matter... He had gotten used to her sudden pangs of anxiety. After all, they were only spicing up their otherwise perfect marriage. And he certainly couldn't complain about making up that always took place afterwards... but that was another story altogether.

Grinning, Remington followed Laura into the bedroom.

The End