Baby, Light My Fire

The night before our anniversary a few years ago, Jay filled in for a captain at a fire station near our friend Cheryl's house, so he dropped me off before he left for work so I could spend the night at her house. Since his shift wouldn't end until 8 AM, I playfully told him, "I should prank call the fire department at midnight to get them to send your truck to this area so I'll get to see you the minute our anniversary starts." (I was kidding.)

Cheryl and I are both night owls, so we were watching a movie in the wee hours of the morning when we saw flashing lights pass the front window. We looked out to investigate. Her next door neighbor had put something flammable in his garbage bin before putting it by the curb for morning pick up. Somehow it ignited, and there was a flaming pile of plastic and garbage at the end of his driveway.

I recognized the gorgeous captain swinging off the fire truck, so I excitedly threw my fluffy, pink robe over my jammies and ran outside to see my husband. 

The crew knew what to do, so Jay left them and walked across the lawn to see me. As he approached the porch, I squealed, "It's after midnight; Happy Anniversary, honey!" I mean, what were the odds that I'd get to see him so soon?

He grinned, grabbed me in a big bear hug, and kissed me. It was cold, so he kept his arms wrapped snugly around me and rubbed my back as he murmured into my hair, "Happy Anniversary, baby!"

I glanced past his shoulder and saw his crew staring at us in utter shock. It was then that I realized that they didn't know anything about Jay. They thought their substitute captain just walked up to a random woman (wearing a robe, no less) at a fire scene and started making out with her!

The rookie dutifully held the hose over the flames, but his eyes were completely locked on us. His open-mouthed look of awe said, "I heard stuff like this happens, but I thought they were kidding. I've got to take that Captain's Test!"



Verse of the day: "(He) must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation" (I Timothy 3:2).

For another anniversary story, click here.
To read why Jay is terrified I will take "Come on, baby, light my fire" literally, click here. Oh, wait, there's another fire one here. Maybe now would be a good time to mention that I did not light the neighbor's trash bin on fire to see Jay as soon as our anniversary started.