3. Tristan
TRISTAN
R ed is Ana’s color.
Something about the shade just suits her. The allure of it, the strength in such a bold choice; she wears it with elegance, even if her fire has dimmed.
As I turn up the radio in the car, it doesn’t go unnoticed that she’s barely spoken to me. Nervousness pricks its way along the back of my neck. I know she’s unhappy and she’s been that way, but I’m doing everything I can and tonight I can finally make her happy again.
“You look stunning honey,” I compliment her over the hum of the radio.
I still think I have her, she’s still mine because every compliment still makes her smile, that beautiful blush coloring her cheeks to be nearly as dark as the clothes she wears.
“You look pretty darn handsome yourself,” she whispers and it’s then that she places her hand on my thigh as I keep driving. I was waiting for that. Her little touches are everything. I’ve missed them so much.
With my left hand on the wheel, as I slow at a red light, I lift her hand with my right and kiss her knuckles, one by one, and then turn her hand over, giving her wrist a kiss before the light turns green.
Her small hum of satisfaction and the way her shoulders relax is everything that I needed.
“Where are we going?” she asks me and I tell her it’s a surprise but she won’t have to wait much longer.
“Oh,” she perks up in her seat, a wide smile on her face, “the Blue Grill.”
“Our first date as a married couple was here,” I remind her.
“How could I forget?” she answers with a smile, her hand still on my thigh as I park the car.
“We sat at the bar because it was so full…”
“My hand may have slipped up your skirt a time or two,” I complete the thought for her as I put the car in park and lean over to kiss the crook of her neck. She squeals with delight and I love it. I love everything about her. What we had and, more importantly, everything to come.
We walk side by side, hand in hand through the large double doors of black glass into the elegant foyer of the restaurant.
When I give my name to the host and he leads us to the private backroom, she squeezes my hand and whispers, “What’s back here?”
The wooden doors open to a private room, with a single round table in the center, the chairs seated close together. The white table cloth is already laid out with candles, a vase with red roses, and a note on one of the plates. A note I wrote for her.
“Tristan,” Ana’s voice is tight with emotion and I simply kiss her cheek and pull out her chair for her.
As she scoots in, I take my own seat and rush things more than I wanted to do. I’d planned to make her wait. To wine and dine her like I used to before telling her. But the look on her face, seeing her break down like this, I can’t wait. I have to tell her. She’s been through enough. These years apart have been so much harder on her and I need her to know that we don’t have to do it anymore.
“Read it,” I whisper as she stares at the crisp white envelope. “I’m not much of a poet or anything, but I have something to tell you.”
She reads the note out loud, her eyes watery, so she dabs them first with the corner of the cloth napkin.
I hope you know I don’t take you – or us – for granted.
I miss you every day.
When I said I will love you for always, I meant it because that’s all I want to do.
I’ve only worked so much, to get back home to you.
The moment she reads, back home to you, her hazel eyes widen and she whips her gaze to mine. “What does that mean? You’re coming home?” Nervousness and hope wind together in her voice.
Strands of brunette hair fall from the elegant bun on the top of her head. I brush them behind her ear and keep my hand there, cupping her cheek as I tell her.
“I got a job offer in the city. Only forty minutes from our home.” Her gasp is covered by her delicate hand. “I’ve had a few interviews the last few weeks I’ve been home. That’s what I’ve been doing but I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I knew for sure. I know this has been hard on us and I can’t be away from you anymore.”
I knew she would be happy, but I didn’t expect the tears. I didn’t realize she was so emotional about it all.
“I never would have stayed away if I’d known it made you this upset.” At my admission, she shakes her head, reaching out to my cheek and cupping it like I do her.
With the tip of her nose brushing against mine, she steadies herself, giving me a peck on the lips before looking back up at me.
“I’m glad you’re coming home because this baby is going to need both of us.”
The moment she says baby, her hand moves to her belly and shock and then elation hit me harder than I could ever imagine.
“You’re pregnant?” I question her in a single breath and her wide smile is joined with a nod.
I hug her and she hugs me back, both of us clinging to each other, both of us surprised in the best of ways.
There are ups and downs in marriage, there are good times and there are bad, but moments like these and all of our other firsts that we’ve shared and will share in our lives are so worth every dip on this wild ride.
“I love you,” I tell her and kiss her, crushing my lips to hers before she can even say it back.
I love you for always.