Lou had worked hard today. There had been a good deal more customers today than usual, something to do with the christening of a new flagship in the harbor, and by the time he got home, he was tired. Still, he made sure to shoo Maddie (kindly) into their now-shared bedroom for about an hour and by the time he was done with his surprise, the sun had set. He knocked on the door to the bedroom politely and then led Maddie, if she let him, to their dining room. His hands covered her eyes, but after a moment, he dropped his arms. Before them was their table, covered with a pleasant blue tablecloth Lou had bought at the market the other day and set for two. A trail of flower petals circled the table and a short bouquet sat in a vase on the table, cut so they could see each other when sitting down. Flowers didn't come cheap in the wintertime in Whitby, but for Maddie, Lou would spend his very last penny to make her happy. Food, very carefully and lovingly prepared, sat steaming on two plates, and Lou looked to his love to see if she liked it, smiling sweetly at her.

Maddie had been wondering what he was up to, but he was always full of sweet and innocent ideas. When he covered her eyes and led her out, she had been nervous but it was only because she'd never experienced such a thing. Seeing the romantic scene set for her, she gasped. The woman turned and delicately slapped at his shoulder. "You do far too much for me, you know. You are going to spoil me rotten and then I won't be as sweet and lovely as I am now..' she teased but smiled up at him and hugged tightly. "Thank you. I love it, though it doesn't compare to how I feel for you."

Lou beamed as Maddie teased him and wrapped his arms around her. "Aww, Maddie," he said and grinned at her words a moment later. He peppered her face with kisses and locked his lips on hers for a long moment, then pulled back to murmur happily, "I love you, Maddie." He then led her to the table and pulled out the chair for her. Proceeding to his own seat, he smiled at how lovely she looked in the candlelight. And then he remembered how she'd played with the light switch a few weeks ago and his smile widened. He blew her a kiss across the table and gestured for her to dig in.

Maddie loved his kisses and hugging him. It was a shame she had to move away to sit but he was, as always, a gentleman. When he blew the kiss, she blushed and giggled. Had she seen anyone on the street doing this, she'd have gagged but it was different. It was her and him and he was so wonderful and precious to her.

She was taken out of her thoughts and began to eat slowly nodding to him. "Oh this is delicious! You really outdid yourself today.." Not that his food was ever bad or even bland.

Lou beamed once more at her compliments and found himself staring adoringly at her more than actually eating. He heard a meow halfway through their meal and glanced down to see Bangles, one of Betty's kittens, clawing at his chair. He leaned down and picked him up, chuckling at the little one's antics- then realized all his siblings, including the one he and Maddie had saved off the street and named Blessing, were messing about around them, he just hadn't noticed them yet as he was busy staring at Maddie. Blessing herself was shredding every flower petal she came across, helped by Caroline and Jo, two other female kittens. The pair of male kittens, named Bangles and Daffodil, Daffy for short, were tussling too close to the tablecloth- and soon enough, one of their clawed paws caught on the blue and tugged everything on the table off. Lou was able to grab his and Maddie's plates just in time, but the vase fell and shattered, scaring Buttons, the last female kitten.

Lou, eyes wide, watched as Rhino raced into the room, yipping, and frightened all the kittens, sending them scampering all around the room. Betty sauntered in and meowed loudly at her children, but only Daffy paid attention and ran to her, cuddling up under his mother's belly and trembling. A neighing was heard from the barn and then stamping- Kip could hear the chaos unfolding inside and was probably made uneasy by the noise. Lou met Maddie's eyes with an apologetic gaze- the pets had ruined their lovely dinner, after all -and tried to decide what to deal with first.

Maddie had slowed down eating as she found herself staring back, until the kitten came in. All too quickly, it fell into chaos. She put her hand over her mouth in shock as things went crashing to the floor, barely saving her plate.

She hopped up and looked down to make sure none of the kittens were harmed by the fallen vase. Her eyes returned to his and she tried to stifle her laugh but couldn't. "I .. I'm sorry! I guess they wanted to be a part of it too.." she knelt to pick up the kittens and get them safely out of the room.

"I think most of the food is saved.. we can keep eating after we clean this up.." she kissed his cheek as she walked by to remove the kittens. "You really do spoil me.." she giggled as she continued out of the room.

Lou was very relieved to see she hadn't been upset or the like by the disruption and quickly placed their plates on the table as she kissed his cheek. Her laugh brought a smile to his face, as it always did, and he headed for the barn to calm Kip, scooping up Rhino and Betty in his arms as he went. It took a few minutes, but he managed it, despite Rhino's incessant yipping and Betty squirming to get back to her kittens (he let her go after a moment, but not the pup). Once back indoors, he rubbed his cold hands together and returned to the room. If Maddie was still standing, he drew her into a hug and kissed her sweetly. "Sorry about that," he said, smiling softly at their pets' mayhem, and swayed with her in his arms.

Maddie smiled as she watched him leave to calm Kip. She removed the kittens from the room in that time and had been trying to clean up the mess on the floor when he returned. Her hands held his to warm them and she shook her head. "It was wonderful. I think the surprise and tasting the great food was the best part."She grinned huge and held him. "And I am sorry your face broke. They were a bit wild, but they are so cute I can't stay mad at them." Her cheeks turned pink as she stared up at him and touched his cheek. "Thank you for the surprise. I mean it."

Lou gave a soft laugh at Maddie's words about the pets and nodded, agreeing. His hand came up to cover hers gently on his cheek and he smiled tenderly at her, leaning his cheek into her hand. "Anything for you, love," he said sweetly and leaned in to kiss her, slow and gentle. When he pulled back, he salvaged what of the flowers and broken vase that he could, put the flowers into a new vase, and threw the old vase in the trash. Returning to Maddie and dinner, he sat back down, kissing her on the cheek as he passed her to get to his chair. "Now, where were we?" he asked and winked at her, smiling.

Madeline could melt into his gaze so easily that she was glad he didn't hold it for long. She watched him throw away the vase, still feeling a little guilt she wasn't fast enough to save it. "Ah, yes.." She sat before him at the table, glancing around once more to make sure they didn't have guests again. She relaxed a little and grabbed her glass. "Right about here I believe?" Her dark eyes stared at him and she held up a glass to toast. "To love. Whatever kind you feel." She thought of her love for him, and how she loved his animals who were so cute and always cheerful.