Daphne thought sexy times in the shower would get me to spill our plans for today. Silly Sunshine. I thoroughly enjoyed our shower quickie, so did Daphne, but I am giving no clues to the surprise I have planned.
It’s a beautiful late October day. Probably one of the last ones for the year. It’s warm enough to be pleasant but not too hot. We are in my Jeep and cruising south down the Garden State Parkway.
“Are we going to Ocean City?” Daphne asks.
“Daph… stop trying to guess and just enjoy the ride.”
“That’s what you said in the shower,” she pouts.
“And you did, so stop pouting. I’m not telling you.”
After a mile or so I hear a gentle snore and grin. I hope Birdie falls asleep on car rides as easily as Daphne does these days.
She rouses as I pull into a parking space at Sunset Beach. I saw on their website that this was the last week the outdoor cafe was going to be open and thought it would be a perfect day to have lunch on the deck and enjoy the breeze and the waves.
“Are we there yet?” Daphne straightens up and looks around to get her bearings. “Sunset Beach? We haven’t been here in forever!”
“I know. The Grille is about to close for the year so this is our last chance to eat here. We can walk on the beach afterward if you want.”
I hand Daph one of my hoodies from the backseat. Even though it is warm-ish today, it is windy, and I don’t want Daphne to get chilled. She gets out of the Jeep and pulls the hoodie on. I reach to pull her hair out from the neckline and lean down to kiss her. I can’t resist rubbing my hand over her tiny belly. I am looking forward to when the baby starts to move and kick enough I can feel it.
“What is Birdie in the mood for?” I ask.
Daphne covers my hand with hers, both of us connected to our baby. My throat tightens at the rightness of this moment. I can’t imagine my life without these two in it.
“Birdie is craving onion rings and a hot dog.”
“Is Birdie ever going to crave a salad?” I have the feeling I know the answer to this.
“Oooh, we haven’t gone to Olive Garden in forever! I bet Birdie would like their salad. And breadsticks. Definitely the breadsticks.”
Yep, I called that.
We share an order of onion rings and I have a burger. The wind is brisk but not unpleasant. We watch the Cape May Ferry sail by on its way across the bay to Delaware.
“Do you think you’ll have motion sickness if we take the ferry sometime? Not today,” I hasten to add.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so since I can eat again. I’ll check with my doctor to see if I’m allowed to take Dramamine or something in case I do. I’ll need to know once I start flying with the team anyway.”
One of the perks of us both working for the Devil Birds is that we will travel together with the team. We love traveling and exploring new places together. I’m dreading the time in a few months when Daphne will no longer be able to fly with the team and I’ll have to leave her and Birdie behind. I decide I’m going to leave those thoughts for another day and live in the moment. I’m not going to let anything mar the perfection of today.
“Ready to go?” I ask, rising from my seat to throw away our garbage.
“Yeah.” Daphne gets up from her seat. “Were we going anywhere else?”
“You’ll see,” I say as I take her hand for our walk back to the Jeep.
“You know patience is not one of my strengths these days, Logan,” she whines.
“Try your best, Sunshine, it will be worth it.”
I drive the two minutes from Sunset Beach to the Cape May Lighthouse. Our lighthouse. Where our romance began.
Daphne looks at me with wide brown eyes.
“The lighthouse? It isn’t open to climb today. What are we doing here?”
“You’ll see,” I assure her.
I walk around to open the door on Daphne’s side and clasp her hand in mine as I lead her to the little copse of evergreens that shelter our bench. The gray bench represents the beginning of our love story, where we finally admitted to thinking of the other as more than just a best friend, where we first kissed. The plaque I had installed with our names to commemorate the day I proposed to Daphne at the top of the lighthouse is still there, telling the world that this is a special place.
We settle on the bench, my arm around her shoulder, and listen to the waves crash on the beach over the dunes and the song of the birds flitting around. A sense of peace washes over me as I have what is most important to me in the world next to me.
Leaning over, I press a kiss to Daphne’s lips. She responds, moving her soft lips against mine and opening them to allow my tongue access to dance with hers. I don’t know how long we spend sitting there in the shadows of the evergreens, kissing and whispering “I love you” to each other, but I will treasure every moment of it for the rest of my life.
Pulling back, I whisper, “Do you know what today is?”
My wife tilts her head and answers, “Tuesday, right?”
I chuckle. Trust my Daphne to be logical, I guess I didn’t kiss her senseless. I’ll have to work on that.
“Well, yes. But it’s also our second first-kissaversary.”
I can see her working out the dates as a smile spreads across those lips I just thoroughly kissed.
“It is! Wow, it was only two years ago we kissed for the first time on this bench.” She rests her hand on her belly, her wedding ring glinting in the sunlight next to the engagement ring I gave her at the top of the lighthouse. “So much has happened.”
I place my hand on top of hers, cradling the child we will meet in a few months. “The best is yet to come.”
We spend the rest of the afternoon on our bench discussing our dreams for Birdie and our future. It’s easy to remember the big days—weddings, graduations, birthdays. But I believe it’s the simple days that are the most important. The big things are exciting but it’s the little things like spending a day with my wife on a sunny fall day on a bench that I will treasure all my days.