Present Perfect(107)

The most beautiful light blue eyes looked back at me. The corners of her tiny mouth curled into a bright smile and she said, “I love you to pieces too, Daddy.”





I was so nervous on the ride over here that I had to wipe my palms on my pants a couple of times, they were sweating so much. I got out of the car and walked over to where we were meeting. I stood there trying to calm myself down. I stretched my neck from side to side, rolled my shoulders back and forth a few times, and took a few deep breaths. None of that really helped. Then I heard my name being said from behind me.

“Noah?”

I turned and stared at her. I swallowed the basketball size lump in my throat. My god, she was beautiful. “Hey,” I said, smiling at her.

“Sorry I’m late. The traffic from the airport was pretty heavy.” Standing there, she kept her smile aimed at me, but her eyes were taking in the surroundings. “Um…what is all this?”

Keeping eye contact, I got to her in three quick strides, landing right in front of her. “Can’t a guy do something special for his number one girl?”

Narrowing those incredible teal colored eyes at me, she said, “Yes, I believe he can.”

“Welcome home, Tweet.”

I placed one hand behind her neck while snaking my other arm around her waist, and pulled her against me as our lips crashed into each other’s, our tongues making contact, immediately. I loved kissing her. She was still my favorite taste in the world.

I pulled my tongue out of her mouth. We were both out of breath. I smiled when I heard a slight groan come from her. Our lips were still touching when I said, “Did I ever tell you how much I hate it when you go out of town to work on an article?”

“Yeah, but the homecoming sex is pretty awesome.” She winked at me.

I shook my head trying to clear the thought of her naked and lying underneath me. I had to get my head in the game. We were at our spot, so the nakedness would have to wait.

I had come out here earlier to set things up. I had yellow rose petals scattered on the ground around our table. I was able to tap into the electricity wired over at the grill area and hung a few strands of small pale yellow lights in the trees that flanked our table. The sun was beginning to set, so they were just now becoming visible. The table was set for two with white plates, silverware, a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a piece of chocolate frosted cake.

I grabbed her hand, turned, and pulled her behind me over to the table.

“Where’s Halle?” She asked.

“Emily’s”

I stopped in front of the table and reached over, turning the music on my iPhone on. I still had the same little speakers I used when we had our first date. I knew I’d use them again someday. I turned and pulled her into my chest as “Everything” began to play.

“She didn’t want to come see me?”

“You know if I told her you were coming home today, she would have wanted to come with me and I wanted you all to myself for a while.” She looked up at me and smiled, not saying a word. I placed a light kiss on her lips and whispered, “I’ve missed your lips.”

“They’ve missed you too. All of you.” She gave me a sexy grin while waggling her eyebrows.

We stayed that way for several minutes, barely swaying back and forth. I couldn’t believe what I was getting ready to do, but it was time.

Swallowing hard, I hesitated for a moment. “Dr. Lang called today with the results of your tests.” We stopped moving and stared at each other. “All clear again this year. That makes it four years cancer free.” I almost choked on the words.

Even though the chemo after Halle’s birth had worked and Tweet continued to be cancer free, these checkups were heart stopping and stressful. I thought I was going to lose her twice and those memories came flooding back with each follow-up appointment, and overwhelmed me.

She let out a deep sigh and said, “I hate this time of year. I know my body has been clear for four years, but I guess I won’t ever really be free from cancer.”

I held her tighter. “I wish I could tell you it will get better as the years go by.”

“Did you find your letter?” she asked.

“I did. Why did you finally decide to give it to me now?” While Tweet was pregnant she not only wrote to Halle, she wrote each person who was close to her, thank you and goodbye letters. She left mine on our bedroom dresser before leaving on her business trip.

“It felt like the right time. I was going to wait until I was five years clear, but why wait.” She looked up at me with those piercing teal eyes that were filling with tears.

I needed to turn this around. We should be celebrating, not thinking of the past.

“How do you want to celebrate your fifth anniversary?” I asked.

“We should do something special to celebrate. You know, go somewhere.”

“How about a wedding.”

She looked at me with confusion. “A wedding? Whose wedding would we go to?”

“How about ours,” I said.

I took a step back and got down on one knee. The look of pure shock on her face was priceless. I almost grabbed my phone to take a picture of her, but I wised up quickly and knew that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

“When I look into your eyes, I see everything I want and need. I wake up every day excited because I know I’m going to see you that day and be with you that night. And in between I get to spend time with you and our beautiful daughter.