“Daddy… what’s a anniverserary?” asked the cute little blond with bright eyes, a sweet angelic face and tiny ringlet curls, as she watched with amusement while her Daddy tried rather unsuccessfully to straighten his tie.
Resisting the urge to laugh, he gently corrected her and kept fussing, “Anniversary, honey…. and it’s usually a special day that you celebrate.. you know like the day your Mommy and I got married.”
“Is that why you’re flusterated with that tie?”
A familiar hearty chuckled floated in from the bathroom, “Yes…. that’s why your Daddy is flusterated, Belle,” Marlena said poking her head out for a moment. She looked at the man and he shrugged, as if to say… ‘I never will get these things right, that’s why I have you.’
“So, how come you’re gettin’ all dressed up and we have to have a babysitter… How come we don’t get to celebrate too?” asked Brady entering the room. He was upset… thinking that he and his sister should be included. “After all, we had a wedding too.. we walked down the aisle.. I carried the rings and Belle spilled the rose petals!” he reminded his father rather proudly.
Seeing the disappointment in his son’s soft brown eyes, John nodded his head as he gave Brady’s arm a squeeze. “You know what, sport… you’re right… what do you say, Doc?” he called out, hoping his wife, who had gone back to her preparations in front of the mirror, could hear him.
Again, peeking her head out around the frame of the door, she agreed, “I say, Brady’s right… they were as much a part of our day as we were and they should be there to celebrate our first Anniversary.”
“Then it’s settled,” John said with glee, swiftly removing the source of his aggravation with a hint of mischief behind his blue eyes, and starting on his stiff white shirt.
Having seen that same glint in his baby blues a time or two, Marlena was suspicious, and said, “John… what are you planning?”
“You’ll see…. ” was all he offered.
“John… wait a minute! What about…… ” her voice trailed off as she heard him changing out of the ‘monkey suit’ as he called it, and heading out the door. “.. the reservation?”
“I’ll take care of it…. just get casual Doc… I’ll be back in a flash!” her husband said, his excitement contagious.
The children questioned her with their eyes, and Marlena shrugged her shoulders, saying, “I don’t know…. he said to get casual… so go find some comfortable clothes….and we’ll find out when he gets home.”
She got no arguments from the peanut gallery. They were thrilled to be included and went along happily.
Half an hour later the telephone rang. She snatched it off the stand, worried, “John.. where are you? I was getting….”
The caller gently interrupted, “Sorry, Marlena…. it’s uh… it’s Bo…”
A jolt of panic slammed her in the stomach, “Bo… but… oh no…. nothing’s wrong…. John.. he’s not…. ”
“Woah…. slow down Marlena… John is just fine…. I’m calling because he’s busy making some…. arrangements and he didn’t want you to worry.”
An audible sigh escaped. “Oh…. arrangements… what kind of arrangements?”
“Can’t tell you… it’s a surprise…. oh, by the way, Happy Anniversary….” he said, to tease her.
She smiled. The man was clever, she had to give him that. “Thank you.. you rat…. now how about a little hint?”
“No can do.. John would kill me if I told you anything…. my lips are sealed… ”
She was frustrated, but pleased to know that the man she loved was apparently going to a fair amount of trouble, “Oh… he knows I hate surprises….”
“You’ll like this one…. trust me… ”
“Famous last words, Bo…. so what’s next?”
“I have a message for you… meet John in half an hour… Pier 29…. and before you ask me… that’s all I’m authorized to tell you.”
“Oh… you! Alright… tell him we’ll be there…. ” She heard him laugh as he turned to his partners in crime, presumably Hope and Shawn who were also in on the planning stages.
She turned around to two quizzical faces. “Are we going somewhere now, Mommy?”
“Yes… we’re going to meet Daddy on the pier… let’s get going so we won’t be late….it sounds like your Daddy is planning something special for us tonight.”
John was moving fast…. rushing out of the Pub and toward the docks… hoping he’d left himself enough time to pull it off. With a little luck and some help from the family, he would make it just in time.
It seemed like an eternity before everything was in place exactly as he wanted it. At last, five minutes before they were due to arrive, the place looked just the way he hoped it would when the idea came to him. Climbing up the wooden stairs, his blue eyes connected with a pair of shimmering hazel ones. She smiled with dazzling brilliance, the moonlight casting a magical glow about her. He felt himself falling, dizzy and breathless, having to hold onto the railing to stay upright.
She gasped at the sight of it, wondering how he possibly could have taken care of so many details in such a short time. “Oh my… John…. how did you ever… it’s so… beautiful… ” she said in a breathless whisper, overcome by emotion.
There were two tables on the deck of the Fancy Face2, fully set for dinner, aglow in soft candlelight. Music played quietly in the background and there were vases of flowers everywhere, even some violet lilacs, still her favorite.
She was pleased and he breathed a sigh of relief as he expressed his sentiments, “Happy Anniversary, Doc…. Belle… Brady.. you too..”
He gestured with a hand, “Would you like to dance, wife of mine?”
“Oh, husband of mine… I’d love to….” she said with a contented sigh.
“Come on Belle… let’s dance too!” Brady said, imitating his father’s moves, taking Belle’s hand and wrapping his left arm around her tiny waist.
She was staring at him with an expression of pure adoration, allowing the romance of the moment to sink in, the magnitude of how far they’d come filling her heart with peace and joy indescribable.
“I love you so much honey,” he said, reaching out to thread her golden hair, loving the curls. Sensing she was feeling the same way he was, he said, “Marlena, remember how I always said, everything would be okay once we were married, that all the pain and suffering would be in the past?”
“Yes… I remember….” she answered, curious where he was headed.
“Well, it’s true… but it’s been so much more than that, Doc….”
“How so?”
He grasped her hands in his, and brought them to his mouth for a gentle kiss. There were tears forming in his blue eyes and his voice was unsteady, laden with emotion…. “I also remember that conversation we had in New Orleans… where I told you that I could never… be a…. complete man, that I would never be… a whole person unless I found out about my past. Well, I was…. wrong, Doc… I was so wrong. Because… marrying you.. being a loving husband, and a full time father… to our children…. that made me complete…. you… you make me whole, Marlena..” he finished, his voice a tear choked whisper.
Drawing him nearer still she gasped, saying, “Oh honey…. I’m so happy for you…. that’s all I ever wanted… was to help you find… that peace… I’m so glad that I could be part of it. I love you so…” she said, as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.
John reached up, as she knew he would, using the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears. Just before he leaned in to kiss her mouth, his face bore a smile words could never capture, a smile of sheer bliss, as if he’d found a little slice of heaven on earth. “I love you so much, pretty lady…. and I’m incredibly grateful to be standing here holding you like this…. on our first anniversary. ”
Her insides turned to mush as she snuggled in close, burying her head in his chest, relishing in the feel of his strong arms around her body.
John pulled a tiny velvet box out of his pocket, opening it for her. She gasped at the sight of the contents. It was a charm for her bracelet. A tiny heart, the letters J&M with the date of their wedding, inscribed on the back. Inspecting it closely, she found the note that was folded up inside the top of the box. “To the woman who completes me…. take this heart of mine and hold it close to you and I’ll be with you, wherever the road takes you.”
“We’re on the same road John… for as long as we both shall live, we’re on the same road, honey…. so you’ll always.. be right by my side.”
“That’s a fact…” he said, raising his eyebrow and flashing a trademark grin. He lowered his mouth to hers, his lips hovering, savoring the moment of anticipation before capturing hers in a stirring kiss that left them breathless and wanting more….
Almost on cue, there were fireworks exploding in the dark night sky above, bathing them all in a brilliant array of colors…. as if the couple kissing was responsible for making all those sparks fly.
The little ones were watching…. looking on with pride and admiration. Brady turned his attention back to his dancing partner and said with some satisfaction, “I told you we were going to live happily ever after, Belle.”
She nodded, a sweet innocent smile decorating her little face, “I guess you were right, Brady…. it’s just like in all the fairytales… where the handsome brave knight meets the fair maiden….
It might take them awhile, but in the end, they fall in love, get married and stay together forever and ever.”
The Jarlena Journal 