Alex
“WHEN I STEPPED OUT ONTO the patio and saw the girls, I knew something was up.” Moses kissed my hand. “Then I looked up and saw you.” I looked at Moses and I couldn’t stop smiling. “When did you decide to turn our anniversary party into a vow renewal?”
His smile disappeared and he stopped walking. “When I found you sitting in the shower grieving your son.” I reached up and caught the tear sitting in the corner of his eye.
“Baby…”
“It hurt to see you hurting. When my dad came to see you, he told me no matter what happened, I needed to make sure you knew I loved you more now than I did when I first fell in love with you.” He kissed my palm.
“Baby, I know you…”
“We had a nice wedding, but I know you agreed to that wedding because I pushed you.”
“You didn’t push me.”
“That’s the only lie you’ve ever told me.” He smiled. “I overheard you talking to Chloe.”
“I didn’t mean…”
“I know you didn’t want a large show and neither did I. But I knew you wanted your girls, your sisters there. So I called them and they helped me.”
“What?”
We continued walking. “When they came out for baby Ella’s christening, I told them what I wanted to do, and they went to work on it.”
“I can’t believe they didn’t say anything.”
“I gave them a budget, and they took over.”
“What about your mother?”
“I told her to work with the girls and to make sure you wore your wedding gown. I wanted to show you off.”
“I’m glad it still fits,” I joked.
We stopped walking and he turned to face me. “I may not be able to give you everything you desire or want, but I’ll do my best.”
“The only thing I demand of you, is that you love me.”
“I love you more every day.” He pulled me to his chest, wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me like he did the first time.
“We’d better head back to the house.”
“Not just yet. I’m not ready to share you.” He stroked the side of my face and we continued walking.
“All that’s missing is our first night at the cottage.” I smiled.
He looked at his watch. “I can drive us to the heliport and we’d be there in about an hour.”
“Very tempting, but we can’t.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Can we?”
“If that’s what you want to do…”
“No. We’d better head back.” I looked up and spotted something I’d never noticed before. “What’s that?”
“That must be the new gardener’s shed.”
“Think there’s a bathroom?”
“What?”
“Hey, the champagne was good.” We walked up to the shed, and stopped when we saw the keypad. “Are you kidding me? Who puts a keypad on a toolshed?”
“I guess you’ll be squatting around back.”
“Not funny.”
“I’m not kidding. If I can’t get the door open…”
“Is there a window?”
“Nope.”
“Moses, do something.” I started shifting from side to side.
He pulled his phone out and pressed a number. “Hey, Alex and I are down at the gardener’s shed. What’s the code…okay…okay…thanks.”
“Well?”
He punched in the code and the door unlocked. “Wait right here.” He turned on the flashlight on his phone and walked inside.
“Is there a toilet or a bucket at least?”
He came back. “You’re in luck. Give me your hand.” We walked inside and he turned the light on. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust. I looked around and my mouth dropped open.
“Oh, my God…it’s beautiful.” I covered my mouth with my hand and slowly turned. “When did you?”
He walked over and slipped his hands around my waist and kissed my neck. “I had four helpers.”
“They didn’t.”
“They said since they couldn’t throw you a shower, the least they could do, was give you a night to remember.”
“I was counting on you for a memorable night.” I turned to face him. “This is beautiful. It reminds me of the cottage. I love you.” I kissed him.
“I love you, too.”
“Oh crap!”
“What?”
“I need to get your present.”
“You mean that box over in the corner?” I looked in the direction he was pointing.
“Yes.”
“Grams gave it to Taylor.” I stepped out of his grasp, walked over and got the boxes, and came back and stood in front of him.
“When I met you that was it. I didn’t want anyone else. And then you uttered those two words, ‘my wife’ and I got sad. Now when you say ‘my wife’, I know you’re talking about me. I love being your wife, and I am so grateful to God for giving you to me. I am in love with you, Moses Bernard Adair, and I’ll marry you as many times as you want. Happy anniversary.” I handed him both boxes.
“Thank you, Beautiful, but you didn’t have to get me a gift. It’s my…”
“Excuse me, aren’t you my husband?” We laughed. He asked me a similar question when were dating.
“Yes, I am.”
“Then it’s expected I would get you a gift for our anniversary.” He shook both boxes. “Open the small one first.”
“Odd shape box for paper.” I stood smiling as he opened the box. “A money clip.”
“Read the inscription.”
He turned over the small platinum clip and read, “PAPER : Prayer And Patience Enables Romance…Happy first anniversary, love always, Alex”. The front was engraved with his initials and three black diamonds. “This is beautiful.” He kissed me.
“It’s for your paper.” We decided to abide by the standard anniversary gift suggestions, but with our own interpretations.
“I get that, Honey. Thank you.” He picked up the other box.
“Grams helped me with this one.”
“This is heavy for paper. What did you do?”
“Grams told me for her first anniversary she didn’t know what to get either, and this is what she gave your grandfather.” I stood with my hands behind my back and watched him open the box. “Do you like it?”
“I’m a little confused.”
Inside the box was a gold brick.
“I wrote this on the card…the paper part of the gift, but here goes. Grams says love is like a solid gold brick, man can break it, but only God can make it. And like gold, love only gets more valuable and precious with time. Happy Anniversary, Baby.”
“Wow! Thank you. I never would have come up with that. Wow! And this belonged to my grandfather?”
“Yes. Do you like it?”
“Sweetheart, you have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you.”
“I did good?”
“You did very good.” He kissed me.
“I’m sorry, but I have got to pee. Where’s the bathroom?” He pointed to the corner and I hurried over to the opened door. “Oh crap!”
He hurried to the bathroom. “What’s wrong?”
“Help me out of this dress?” He stood in the door way laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Only you could take a romantic moment and make it funny.”
“Don’t laugh, I really have to pee and this dress wasn’t designed for…”
“How did you do this at our first wedding?”
“Taylor and Kendell helped me. Don’t make me laugh.”
“Okay.” He walked over and loosened the laces and my dress fell to the floor, and I stepped out of it. “Do you need help with anything else?”
“Not yet, smarty.” He picked up my dress and went back into the other room. When I finished I went back and he was getting undressed. “I’m sorry about spoiling the mood.”
He slipped his hands around my waist and kissed me. “You didn’t ruin it. You just fast forwarded it. I was kind of hoping to re-enact that first night at the cottage.”
“I can put the dress back on.”
“Come to think of it, that wasn’t the best part of the evening.” He kissed me and continued to undress.
“Excuse me.”
He turned around. “Yes?”
“Where’s my gift?”
“Your gift?”
“Yes.”
“My present was the party. I used a lot of paper to pay for it.”
“Oh, okay.” I walked around the bed and got my bag. “I’m going to change.”
“Okay. I’ll change out here.”
I went back to the bathroom and started to change. I reached inside my bag and felt something odd. I pulled out the small black box with the fuchsia silk ribbon. I opened the box and my mouth dropped open. It was a beautiful bracelet with his interpretation of paper. Platinum with Amethyst, Pink sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies and a simple inscription on the back. ‘Happy Year One Paper Anniversary, love, Moses.’” I finished changing and walked back out to the other room. I eased my hands around his waist and kissed him on the shoulder. “My paper bracelet is perfect. Thank you.” He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it. Then he turned around and handed me a box.“What’s this?”
“It’s your other gift.”
I ripped off the paper and opened the box. “You finished the book, and I didn’t get to read it.” I brushed my hand over the cover. “The Moment She Said Hello. You changed the title.”
“Not exactly. Open it.”
I opened the cover and flipped to the dedication page. “‘For my beautiful wife Alexandra, I knew she was the woman I was destined to love the moment she said hello. All my love always, Moses.’ I thought you were writing a romantic suspense.”
“I’ve been writing two books.”
I felt tears gathering in my eyes, but was afraid to look at him. I brushed my hand across the crisp cream colored page, closed my eyes, hoping the tears would retreat to their hiding space. I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and felt a tear trying to escape. “When did you start writing this?”
“The day after I met you.”
I took a deep breath and asked, “Is this about us?”
“Yes. Are you mad?”
“No. I think I love you more now than I did the day I realized I loved you.” I held my head up, hoping to catch the tears before they fell. He reached inside his pocket pulled out his grandfather’s handkerchief, and dabbed the tears before they rolled down my face.
“There’s more.”
“More?” I looked inside the box and pulled out a slip of paper hiding under the book and began reading. “You gave me the book?”
“And all the rights. Every and any thing associated with this book, belongs to you. It’s all yours. I had Collier transfer everything over to you.”
“It’s way too much.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s just right and not returnable.” He patted my wet cheek. “The book will be released next week. Spencer says it will probably hit all the bestseller lists.”
“Oh, my God…I can’t…this is incredible. But it’s way too extravagant. Are you sure about this? It’s a lot of money.”
“Honey it’s a lot of paper, and it’s all yours to do whatever you want.”
I put the book down and fell into his arms. “I love you, Moses Bernard Adair.”
“I love you, Alexandra Simone Miller Adair.”
The End