I gave the curtains one last adjustment and wiped my hands on the back of my shorts.

"If I knew the house came with that kind of view, I'd have paid the asking price," Josh quipped. I turned to see him leaning against the door frame.

I blushed a little, tucking a stray bit of hair behind my ear. "Like it then?"

"Mmm," Josh hummed as he entered the room, taking the time to shut and lock the door behind him. I stepped down from the chair I was was using to reach the curtain rod as he strode quickly across the room.

He backed me against the wall, clothes tossed aside in the heat of the moment. He kissed the base of my neck, still panting slightly.

"I need to go get part of your gift," he breathed.

"Okay," I whispered back. He made no move to leave. I ran my fingers through his hair once and then rubbed his back. He kissed my shoulder once before finally standing up. After cleaning ourselves up, we headed downstairs.

"I'll be back in a bit," he promised.

"Alright," I gave him a look, wondering what he was planning.

Josh left, and I got back to replacing the curtains I had washed that morning.

Josh returned home about an hour later, whistling as he plopped his keys into his hat and tossed it on the kitchen counter. I looked up from the soup I was stirring as Tyler followed Josh into the room, a duffel bag over his shoulder. I looked from Tyler to Josh.

"Honey, I love you and all, but I'm not going to sleep with your brother," I glanced back at Tyler. "No offense, Ty," I added, giving him a wink. He glanced at Josh before answering.

"None taken," he replied. "It'd be a bit awkward, I think."

"Exactly." I agreed, glad he played along. I turned my focus to Josh. "You know, I never knew you swung that way," I tilted my head and watched as he looked more and more confused.

"I don't...I don't swing that way," Josh finally replied.

"Well, that's a shame, I was sure I could have talked Lance into helping me with your birthday next year," I quipped. Josh's eyes went wide and he started coughing.

"Oh God, you two," Josh said as he recovered and noticed our shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Tyler gave me a high five as he re-shouldered his duffel bag and headed in the direction of the stairs. I turned towards Josh and leaned against the counter, folding my arms.

"What?" he asked.

I gestured in the direction Tyler just went. "It would have been nice to know he was coming."

"Oh, um, he's staying a few days, but you won't have to worry about it."

I raised one eyebrow. Josh mirrored my stance at his counter. "We're not going to be here. I've booked us a couple of nights at a bed and breakfast for this weekend."

I blinked a few times, lost for words. Josh grinned.

"Happy anniversary," he said.

"I...wow," I whispered to myself. "And you were planning on telling me when?" I asked him.

"About now. We're leaving around four," he grinned, obviously satisfied that he had pulled off his plan.

Heavy footsteps on the stairs announced Tyler's return, holding Harry's hand as he helped him down the stairs.

"Hey sweetie, how was your nap?" I asked Harry. Harry nodded his reply and walked over and held his arms up. I picked him up.

"Did you see who came to see you?" I asked, pointing to Tyler. Harry nodded again. "Who is that, Harry? Is that Uncle Tyler?" Another nod.

"Are you being shy?" Josh asked. Harry nodded again and we laughed.

"Did you go potty?" I asked him. Harry shook his head.

"Do you need to?" I asked. Another head shake.

"You sure?" A nod.

"Do you need changed?" I asked. Harry shook his head.

"Tummy tickle!" Josh cried, rushing forwards, fingers extended, ticking Harry's belly. Harry burst into giggles and tried to wiggle out of my hold. Josh took the opportunity to scoop him up and lift him up in the air.

"Pwane, Daddy!"

Josh flipped him over and held him up about chest level. Harry put his arms out and Josh took off running with him, making zooming noises.

The sound of the soup boiling reminded me that it was there. I turned around and turned off the burner.

"Want some?" I asked Tyler as I moved to the cabinet to get a bowl.

"Nah, I'm good," he replied. I got one bowl out and poured half the soup into it, grabbing a spoon and leaning against the counter again, blowing on it to cool it down.

"Help yourself to whatever," I offered as I started my lunch. He went and got himself a drink. "So what's new?"

"Not much. Work, life. The usual."

I nodded. "Same here," I squinted at the calendar on the fridge door. "Looks like there's no classes tonight. That's good if we're leaving," I muttered. Tyler excuses himself and went into the family room, tracing the path Josh had taken with Harry a few minutes earlier.

After lunch I discovered that Josh, Tyler, Harry and Olivia were battling it out on the Xbox.

"Who's winning?"

"I am," Josh announced.

"Going to go pack then," I said before withdrawing from the room.

"Pack a bathing suit," he said, eyes never leaving the screen. I stopped at the doorway.

"Public beach in the daylight kind or private jacuzzi in the bathroom kind?"

"Whichever," he said. I started out of the room when he continued. "What's the difference?"

"The public beach in the daylight one exists," I called back. There was a simultaneous groan and cry of triumph, followed by Olivia and Harry giggling. I smiled and headed upstairs to pack.

 

By four, we had packed, the kids had arrived home from school and finished their homework. I left my keys with Tyler, and we left. Josh headed north, out of the city. I sat back and watched the scenery go by as he drove.

"What do you want for dinner?" he asked about an hour into the drive.

"You don't have that planned out?" I asked.

"I didn't make any reservations anywhere because I didn't want to have to feel rushed if traffic was too heavy,"

"Whatever you're in the mood for is fine with me," I  told him. He nodded and took the next exit off the highway. We drove for another mile or so before he pulled into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant. We closed up the car and went in. The food was delicious, and it wasn't long before we were full.

We traveled north for another hour before he got off highway one. We went east a little bit before pulling up to a gorgeous two story white building. We got our bags out of the trunk and headed in. The inside was just as pretty as the outside, decorated in turn of the century antiques. I looked around while he checked us in, finding brochures of local activities. One caught my eye and I took one, tucking it into my back pocket as I joined Josh at the counter. He got the key to the room and followed the directions the attendant gave to the second floor and to our room.

The room was beautiful. There was an elegant light wallpaper, the queen size bed in the middle of the one wall was also draped in white bedding with dark green and tan accent pillows that matched the antique chairs and the curtains. The bureau matched the chairs, there was a bottle of wine and two wine glasses on the table between the chairs, and a nice chandelier hung in the middle of the room.

We put our bags down next to the bureau. Josh headed over to the wine bottle and read the label.

"Local stuff. You want?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, following him across the room and taking the glass he offered me.  I took a sip, letting the flavors soak into my tongue before swallowing.

"Mmm," I hummed. I sat down in the chair next to the table and watched Josh as he took a sip.

"Not bad," he said. I nodded. He looked over at me. "Can I ask one thing of you this weekend?"

"Anything."

"Don't worry about the kids. We leave them alone with Jen all the time," he pointed out.

"I know, but never for an entire weekend," I protested.

"And as you pointed out to him," Josh continued. "Jen is just a phone call away, as are we." He stared down at me from where he stood next to the table. I opened my mouth to say something and he gently pressed a finger against my lips and continued. "The next forty-eight hours, it's just you and me."

I smiled at him and took another sip. He sat down on the edge of the bed. I kicked off my shoes and scooted down just enough in the chair that I could get my feet up on the side of the bed next to him.

"So what's on the agenda tonight?" I asked him.

"What are you in the mood for?"

"This is nice," I said, sipping my wine. "We don't take the time to just talk often enough."

"Suppose not." We settled onto a comfortable silence for a little while. I rubbed the side of his hip with my toes.

"Tell me something I don't know about you," I told him.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, What you wanted to be when you grew up. Something you haven't told anyone before."

Josh thought for a moment. "I kind of wanted to be an architect, I think,"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I played sports and all, but secretly, I liked building things better. I was perfectly content in my room with the tub of legos," He finishes his glass and refills it, offering the bottle to me. I let him refill my glass as well before putting it back on the table. "How about you?" he asked.

"Princess ballerina," We both smiled. "Seriously though, I never really had a constant dream job.  I see a lot of myself in Celine," I answered. "I was always reading or coloring or something." I sipped my wine. "I think we turned out fairly well though."

Josh nodded and we fell into a comfortable silence again. I continued to rub the side of his hip and thigh as I leaned back in the chair and sighed.

"What do you and Lance do every single day?" Josh asked quietly. I lifted my head up and looked at him.

"You mean the hour I spend with him running? We talk, that's all." Josh nodded, watching the wine in his glass as he swirled it around. I watched him for a moment. "Are you jealous that I spend time with him?"

Josh looked up quickly. "No," he said a little too loudly. I raised an eyebrow. "Alright, maybe I am a little," he admitted.

"Oh, honey," I got up and sat next to him on the bed. "I do it for you," I told him, running my hand through the hair at his ear and then gently across the back of his head. He turned his head slightly to look at me.

"You do?"

"Well, yeah. I want to look good for you," I moved so I was whispering in his ear. "You weren't exactly complaining this afternoon." I pulled away a few inches and his lips met mine.

Josh took our glasses when we pulled apart, placing them on the table and got off the bed. I watched as he went over to his bag and riffled through it, He tossed a familiar strip of cloth onto the bed next to me.

"The blindfold?" I asked.

"Yeah, I've got one more surprise," he said, straightening up and watching as I picked it up and tied it tightly. I listened as Josh moved about the room, finally sitting back down on the bed.

"Open," Josh requested. I felt something cool against my lip and opened my mouth and Josh slid it in. I bit down on the chocolate covered strawberry, letting out a little moan. I reached up and took the blindfold off. Josh had a plate of about half a dozen of the strawberries on his lap and his eyes were focused on my lips. I licked them slowly, watching his reaction.

I leaned across the space between us and slipped the blindfold over his eyes. I picked up one of the berries and placed it against his lips gently. He sucked the whole berry into his mouth, kissing my finger as he closed his mouth. I quietly moved the plate from his lap to the closest surface next to us as he chewed.

I placed a finger to his lips as he went to remove the blindfold. "Nuh," I whispered, moving the last few inches to bring my lips to his. The sudden change surprised him and we fell back on the bed. He went to move the blindfold again. I swatted his hands away.

"You had your go this afternoon. This one's mine," I growled in his ear.

 

Josh woke me up the following morning, and the first hour or so of the day was wonderfully spent. Josh flopped back against his pillow.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"Surprise me," I replied, slipping out of bed. Josh picked up the phone and started talking quietly into it as I shut the bathroom door.

Josh was sitting on the edge of the bed, stretching as I re-emerged, complimentary robe draped over my shoulders. I watched the muscles in his back move as he flexed his arms over his head.

"Well, you're certainly better than coffee," I said. Josh turned to look at me.

"What?"

"My headache is completely gone," I explained.

"Mmm," he hummed. "It's odd to see you drink," he said as I climbed onto the bed behind him. I crawled over to kneel behind him and rested my chin on his shoulder.

"I don't like beer," I murmured. "I like wine, but that's such a slippery slope to start on." I kissed his shoulder before lifting my head and started gently massaging the back of his neck. "You start by having a glass at dinner time, and then it's two, and then it's a bottle, and then two." Josh hummed as I moved from his neck to his shoulders. "Alcoholism runs in the family," I started quietly. "I decided at a very young age that I didn't want to go down that road."

Josh tensed up under my hands. "I never knew that," he said.

"You never asked," I replied. He turned enough to see my face. I smiled at him. "You know those people at the bar that have their kids show up when their spouse arrives to bring them home?"

Josh nodded.

"That was me. I remember doing that a few times. I couldn't have been more than three or four, but I remember picking Dad up at the bar with Mom."

Josh patted my knee. "I'm sorry, hon."

"You don't have to be. Ancient history," I smiled at him to show I meant it. He was saved by a knock on the door. "I'll get it," I mumbled. I slid off the bed, closed my robe and after checking that Josh was covered, opened the door and let breakfast be rolled in.

We ate in comfortable silence.

"Am I going to expect any more surprises today?" I asked as we finished.

"No," he answered. I beamed at him.

"Good, I had an idea," I stretched across the bed to grab my pants from the night before. Finding them, I fished out the pamphlet I had grabbed. I got comfortable again next to him and handed it over to him. "I want to do this."

"You want to go to a museum?" he looked up from the brochure.

"Why do you find that surprising?"

"I just...never thought you liked this kind of stuff," he paused for a second. "In fact, I can remember you saying you never really go to museums."

"I never said that."

"Mmm, you did. Remember that time you were there when we were being interviewed at the hotel because we couldn't make it to the place?"

"That was like, what, nine years ago? How do you remember stuff like that?"

He shrugged. "You all made fun of me for saying I liked to look at art."

I patted his arm. "I'm sorry you matured too soon," I gently teased. I moved my hand as he went to jokingly swat it with the brochure. I leaned in and kissed his cheek.
 

An hour later we were presentable and getting directions at the front desk. The ten minute ride was a quiet one, and the rest of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon passed in near silence as we went from photo to photo, exhibit to exhibit. The drive back to the bed and breakfast was full of discussing which ones were our favorites. We had a few hours before dinner, so we decided to have the massage that came with the room then.

Fully relaxed, we headed downstairs and walked around the gardens surrounding the building, hand in hand. We settled on a bench overlooking a fountain. He gently rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb as we watched the water in the fountain.

"Are you happy?" I asked him after awhile. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he frowned slightly before answering.

"Yeah. You?" he asked before I could jump on the frown. I thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm content." Josh squeezed my hand. "Been putting a lot of thinking in lately though," I started. Josh waited for me to continue. "Harry'll be in school soon, I need to figure out what I want to do, career wise."

"Teaching," Josh said. I raised my eyebrows, surprised at his quick answer. "I've always thought you should be one," he replied.

"You're the second person to say that to me lately." I started to tear up a little as the memory of Grandma telling me the same thing only a few months ago.

"You alright?" he asked. I nodded and he gently kissed the side of my head. "Your grandma?" he whispered. I nodded. He pulled me into his arms and relaxed against his chest. He rubbed my back soothingly as I closed my eyes and breathed in his unique scent, feeling safe and loved.

"Oh look, Hank," a quiet voice came from behind us. I turned my head to see an elderly couple walking the path behind us. "Remember when we were like that?" Her husband gave a bit of a grunt and she smiled at us.

I smiled back. She called over to us. "Stay like that as long as you can, dearie. Love and laughter are the secret to a long and happy life." The continued on their way and I sat back up. We stared at each other for a long moment before I burst into giggles.

"So what are we doing for dinner?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Either we eat here or we could have them make reservations somewhere."

"I think I saw a steakhouse just down the street."

"Steak is good."

"Yeah?" I asked. He nodded. We got up and headed back into the building, stopping at the front desk to have them call for reservations in about a half hour. We headed back to our room to grab a few things and then we walked the two blocks to the restaurant.

After we ate, we walked back to the inn, hand in hand. We returned to our room and just plopped down on the bed, not quite ready to make the best of our last night away.
 

"So many times, I thought I held it in my hands," he murmured as he gently woke me up the following morning. I giggled sleepily.

"But just like grains of sand, love slipped through my fingers." I quietly continued. "Are we going to recite this every year?"

"Why mess with a good tradition?"

"Mmmm," I hummed.  We recited most of the song before it was time to check out. Still not entirely ready for the weekend to be over, he took the longer, scenic route back home.

It was late afternoon when we arrived home. Poor Tyler looked pretty haggard as he followed the younger ones to the garage door as we walked in.

"Hey kiddos, did you behave for Uncle Tyler?" I asked, hugging them. A chorus of 'Yes' answered my question. They hugged Josh before the girls left and Harry lifted his arms. Josh hefted him up, placing him on his hip.

"Have a good time?" Tyler asked.

"Oh yes, fantastic time," I took Josh's bag from him and put both bags on the washer.

"So, worth it?" I heard Tyler ask Josh. I stopped and listened.

"Oh yeah, every penny. She really needed it." He dropped his voice and I could barely make out what he said next. "Maybe it'll pull her out of the funk she's been in this month. And thanks for helping out, I couldn't have pulled it off without you."

"No problem.



We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner, letting them run their energy down before bedtime.

"I've been in a funk?" I asked Josh as we settled in bed ourselves.

"A bit, yeah."

"Is it that obvious?"

Josh sighed. "You've been in high gear since we got back home. If you can't rearrange it, you redecorate it. I'm surprised you haven't started repainting every room in the house."

"Well, sorry. I just felt like it was time to change things up a bit."

"It's fine, honey. I just don't want you to burn yourself out."

I glared at him.

"What?"

"It's perfectly fine for you to be on your perfectionist kicks, but when I go on one, I have to be stopped?"

"I didn't say that."

I sighed. "Whatever." I turned the light out and rolled over to my side. The mattress moved and Josh's breath was hot against my ear.

"I know what you're doing, and you can't run from it forever. Talk to me, Sam."

"What is there to talk about? The past six years I've sat back and watched as my family disappears one by one. I'm just tired of grieving. I'm tired of having to fly back and forth to attend funerals. I'm tired of having to listen as people comment on the size of my family. I'm tired of wondering who's next. I'm tired of needing to lean on you all the time. I'm grateful for you being there, but I hate that you have to be." I let out a long breath. "I love and hate that you know exactly how to handle me when I'm too far gone to do it myself."

"God Sam, I've been here for you for seven years. I'm not going anywhere." He draped his arm over my waist. "And I love that you go the extra mile to show the kids you love them. I love that you take the time to fly Celine and Scottie to Ohio every summer so they can have time with Scott, even with how much you hate flying. I love that you watch me when you think I don't notice," he kissed my neck. "I'm flattered that you think you have to work out to keep me interested. I love that you feel comfortable enough with me to let down the wall you keep up around everyone else. That's the Samantha I know and love. The one that I see. I've watched you go from the quiet girl to the beautiful, confident woman you are now. You'll do anything for your family. You're not afraid to tell someone what you think. I know I can count on you to be there for me if I need you to be. I love you."

I sniffed as he finished up. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" I whispered.

"Love me back," he answered. I rolled back enough to see his face.

"Do you think we'll ever be like that older couple that was at the inn?"

"Yeah, I do. That'll be us in thirty years time. Except I'll be all hunchbacked and have to use a cane and you'll still be the springy, energetic woman you are now."

I snorted with laughter. Josh smiled.

"Thanks, love." I kissed his cheek. He pulled me against him and we settled in again, this time letting sleep take us.