Moments pt 18
Moving closer to him, taking his face in her hands she kissed him. Not thinking about Jack, not thinking about her dream, she was only thinking about him. She felt safer with him, even now when she didn’t know anything about herself, or her life, she knew he was safe with him. Spending several moments locked in their kiss they finally pulled apart for need of air.
Thinking back to the items she had uncovered that day, she asked about the letters she found, the letters from very early on in their relationship. “You didn’t tell me that we started out as pen pals.”
He laughed at that. Even though, in a way, they had been pen pals he never thought of them like that. He had already told her since the moment he saw her she had been it for him, he had fallen in love with her.
“For me it was always more than that.”
It was clear from reading the letters how much of a factor John’s memory was in their early relationship “It took me a while to get over John didn’t it?”
“John was your first love, the first guy you were able to picture a future with. You were with him while he fought for his life, you watched him take his last breath, that changes someone. Loosing John left you very emotional, some would say fragile. I didn’t want to start anything with you when you were already on such unsteady ground. So while I was already in love with you it didn’t matter until you were there, in the same place, no matter how long it took”
“That must have been hard for you. Loving someone who was still in love with someone else.”
Reflecting back to that time he could feel his facial expression change. He had great respect for what John had meant to Meryl but he wasn’t about to lie and say it had always been easy coexisting with the very big shoes that John left behind.
“Some of our biggest arguments, my biggest moments of insecurity, were based on that very issue in the beginning. For a long time I feared that the only reason I was with you was because he was dead, that if he had lived I never would have stood a chance with you, it took me a long time to make my peace with that. Than I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter how or why we got together, all that mattered was we were together. Things happen in life that we cant control but sometimes when the most devastating things happen the greatest things begin, that’s how I felt about us.”
She smiled at that. It seemed like a really beautiful way to sum up the start of their relationship. Loosing John must have been rough and extremely difficult for her but when she needed someone the most she got Don, a man who was there to take care of her when she needed it more than ever in her life and through that they found a love most people never find.
“The first few weeks, for about a month, I wrote letters to my grandfather who lived in Indiana at the time. He was the only one I was able to be honest with when it came to the intensity of my feelings for you. He told me something I’ll never forget. The last letter I received from him before I admitted my feelings to you he said; you should always feel the person next to you is just a little to good for you. It serves as a reminder that you should never take one another for granted. That night I bit the bullet and told you I was falling in love with you and to my tremendous surprise you admitted you were falling in love with me too. That night I made a vow I would never take you for granted.”
Still sitting on the floor with the box of reminders from the earliest days of their relationship between them something was brewing. She could feel he was holding something back and ironically he was feeling that she could sense he was hesitating about something.
“Henry, he’s almost 33 and he has had several girlfriends but no one he has thought about marrying or having kids with. He and I have had a conversation more than once about that and he told me it was because he never found anyone as good as you.”
Not sure that she understood what Don was saying she gave him a look that conveyed her confusion.
“I think of all of our children Henry has been the one who has been most observant of us as a couple, perhaps because of his position as the oldest or because of the remarkable closeness that you two have shared. He asked me about our marriage when we had that big anniversary party I told you about.”
Nodding and smiling to convey her recollection
“He asked me how was it that I could still get excited when I knew I was going to see you and I told him that every time I see you I get excited because I still remember all the years I didn’t have you, the years that I went through the motions, I remember the months I spend without you while you are working. I don’t like the feeling of not having you. The uncertainty and unsteadiness I feel when I don’t have you around, so when I have you with me it is always exciting. He wants to feel that way about a woman and knowing the way I feel about you he wont settle for anything less.”
For almost a month now he had yet to disappoint her with his words and the commitment and determination he had to help her remember, to help her understand just how amazing they were before the accident. The way she would catch him looking at her, the way he was looking at her right now like he was seeing her for the first time. “How do you do that? How do you look at me as if you’re seeing me for the first time?”
He didn’t know how to make her understand it, when before all it would have taken was a look. He didn’t realize how dependent he had become on her being able to read his thoughts and to know what he was trying to say without having to say a word.
“I’m amazed every time I look at you. I’m in awe that I’m the one who gets to be here, that I’m the guy who has known and loved you for all this time. Cant believe all of the time I let pass me by. The chances I had to tell you yet I didn’t because I assumed it was a given and now I could just kick myself for having not said it every chance I had.”
Over the last few weeks she had seen how much he wanted to say to her at times, how there were moments where his eyes were overwhelmed with emotion and feeling, so much so that he wasn’t able to articulate it all, and this was one of those moments. “Tell me what?”
Taking her hands in his and closing the distance between them. “That you have meant everything to me. That of everything I am the most proud of in my life; you, our kids and our marriage will always be the best things I have ever done. That you will always be the best thing that has ever been mine.”
It was when he said that she had a vivid image in her mind that came out of nowhere and over whelm her.
--------------------------------------------
It was dark outside and it was a cool September night. The kind of night where the air is crisp and the moon is full, the kind of night that couldn’t be touched by outside interference.
She was standing there wearing her wedding dress, looking out over the property of her parents Connecticut home. It really had been the perfect day; simple, un pretentious exactly what a wedding should be.
That was when she felt his arms wrap around her waist from behind, and felt his chin resting on her shoulder. For a few moments nothing was said because nothing needed to be. It was one of those rare moments in life where everything that needed to be said was being said without a single word.
She had made the ultimate commitment to him; that no matter what happened, where life took her, she would take him with her, that no matter what he would be the one person who she would trust with her heart and her mind and in return all she would expect was his absolute best.
For his part he had promised to take care of her, to love her and protect her no matter what and in return all he wanted, all he expected, was for her to trust him to love him with every part of herself and know that by doing that he would never let her down and never make her regret it.
“Hey beauty, what you doing out here by yourself?”
Turning in his arms so she was able to look at him, giving him a big smile and resting her hand on his cheek. “I was just thinking about today, about you.”
“You were thinking good things, I hope?”
“The best, today was exactly what I wanted. But there is one thing I forgot to say to you. I promise to give you my best every single day and no matter what happens, how bad or difficult things may get, I will always make sure you have nothing but the best.”
“Well in that case there’s something I forgot to say to you. I promise no matter where your career takes you, or where mine takes me I will always be there for you. I will be your biggest fan, because I know you will be mine. It’s you and me to the end.”
---------------------------------------------
Coming out of her memory she looked at Don who had been looking intently at her the whole time.
“Where did you just go beauty?”
Putting her hand on his cheek she repeated what she had just remembered saying to him on the night of their wedding. “I promise to give you the best of me every single day and no matter what, no matter how bad or how difficult things may get I will make sure you have nothing but the best.”
He knew exactly what she was referring to. He would always remember their wedding, for as long as he lived. That night when he found her looking out on the water, looking so beautiful, hearing her say those words he fell in love with her harder than ever before, and he knew the best was only yet to come.
Looking in her eyes, feeling her hand on his cheek, he saw something in her eyes that hadn’t been there, not really, since before the accident. She was coming back, she was remembering.
Before he had a chance to say anything Meryl took Don by surprise for a second in less than 5 minutes.
Sitting there with Don, remembering a part of their wedding day, she knew she had to tell him about her dream the night before, about Jack showing up at the house while he was out, if she didn’t she would only drive herself crazy with questions.
“I lied to you.”
Not following what she was trying to say he gave her a look that spoke more than he could ever say in words.
“I did come here because I needed some space, a change of scenery, but that’s not the only reason. While you were in town Jack came to the house…”
TBC
Sorry for the delay in getting this up.
Please let me know what you guys think.
NEXT Meryl tells Don everything and how he reacts may not be what you expect.
Thinking back to the items she had uncovered that day, she asked about the letters she found, the letters from very early on in their relationship. “You didn’t tell me that we started out as pen pals.”
He laughed at that. Even though, in a way, they had been pen pals he never thought of them like that. He had already told her since the moment he saw her she had been it for him, he had fallen in love with her.
“For me it was always more than that.”
It was clear from reading the letters how much of a factor John’s memory was in their early relationship “It took me a while to get over John didn’t it?”
“John was your first love, the first guy you were able to picture a future with. You were with him while he fought for his life, you watched him take his last breath, that changes someone. Loosing John left you very emotional, some would say fragile. I didn’t want to start anything with you when you were already on such unsteady ground. So while I was already in love with you it didn’t matter until you were there, in the same place, no matter how long it took”
“That must have been hard for you. Loving someone who was still in love with someone else.”
Reflecting back to that time he could feel his facial expression change. He had great respect for what John had meant to Meryl but he wasn’t about to lie and say it had always been easy coexisting with the very big shoes that John left behind.
“Some of our biggest arguments, my biggest moments of insecurity, were based on that very issue in the beginning. For a long time I feared that the only reason I was with you was because he was dead, that if he had lived I never would have stood a chance with you, it took me a long time to make my peace with that. Than I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter how or why we got together, all that mattered was we were together. Things happen in life that we cant control but sometimes when the most devastating things happen the greatest things begin, that’s how I felt about us.”
She smiled at that. It seemed like a really beautiful way to sum up the start of their relationship. Loosing John must have been rough and extremely difficult for her but when she needed someone the most she got Don, a man who was there to take care of her when she needed it more than ever in her life and through that they found a love most people never find.
“The first few weeks, for about a month, I wrote letters to my grandfather who lived in Indiana at the time. He was the only one I was able to be honest with when it came to the intensity of my feelings for you. He told me something I’ll never forget. The last letter I received from him before I admitted my feelings to you he said; you should always feel the person next to you is just a little to good for you. It serves as a reminder that you should never take one another for granted. That night I bit the bullet and told you I was falling in love with you and to my tremendous surprise you admitted you were falling in love with me too. That night I made a vow I would never take you for granted.”
Still sitting on the floor with the box of reminders from the earliest days of their relationship between them something was brewing. She could feel he was holding something back and ironically he was feeling that she could sense he was hesitating about something.
“Henry, he’s almost 33 and he has had several girlfriends but no one he has thought about marrying or having kids with. He and I have had a conversation more than once about that and he told me it was because he never found anyone as good as you.”
Not sure that she understood what Don was saying she gave him a look that conveyed her confusion.
“I think of all of our children Henry has been the one who has been most observant of us as a couple, perhaps because of his position as the oldest or because of the remarkable closeness that you two have shared. He asked me about our marriage when we had that big anniversary party I told you about.”
Nodding and smiling to convey her recollection
“He asked me how was it that I could still get excited when I knew I was going to see you and I told him that every time I see you I get excited because I still remember all the years I didn’t have you, the years that I went through the motions, I remember the months I spend without you while you are working. I don’t like the feeling of not having you. The uncertainty and unsteadiness I feel when I don’t have you around, so when I have you with me it is always exciting. He wants to feel that way about a woman and knowing the way I feel about you he wont settle for anything less.”
For almost a month now he had yet to disappoint her with his words and the commitment and determination he had to help her remember, to help her understand just how amazing they were before the accident. The way she would catch him looking at her, the way he was looking at her right now like he was seeing her for the first time. “How do you do that? How do you look at me as if you’re seeing me for the first time?”
He didn’t know how to make her understand it, when before all it would have taken was a look. He didn’t realize how dependent he had become on her being able to read his thoughts and to know what he was trying to say without having to say a word.
“I’m amazed every time I look at you. I’m in awe that I’m the one who gets to be here, that I’m the guy who has known and loved you for all this time. Cant believe all of the time I let pass me by. The chances I had to tell you yet I didn’t because I assumed it was a given and now I could just kick myself for having not said it every chance I had.”
Over the last few weeks she had seen how much he wanted to say to her at times, how there were moments where his eyes were overwhelmed with emotion and feeling, so much so that he wasn’t able to articulate it all, and this was one of those moments. “Tell me what?”
Taking her hands in his and closing the distance between them. “That you have meant everything to me. That of everything I am the most proud of in my life; you, our kids and our marriage will always be the best things I have ever done. That you will always be the best thing that has ever been mine.”
It was when he said that she had a vivid image in her mind that came out of nowhere and over whelm her.
--------------------------------------------
It was dark outside and it was a cool September night. The kind of night where the air is crisp and the moon is full, the kind of night that couldn’t be touched by outside interference.
She was standing there wearing her wedding dress, looking out over the property of her parents Connecticut home. It really had been the perfect day; simple, un pretentious exactly what a wedding should be.
That was when she felt his arms wrap around her waist from behind, and felt his chin resting on her shoulder. For a few moments nothing was said because nothing needed to be. It was one of those rare moments in life where everything that needed to be said was being said without a single word.
She had made the ultimate commitment to him; that no matter what happened, where life took her, she would take him with her, that no matter what he would be the one person who she would trust with her heart and her mind and in return all she would expect was his absolute best.
For his part he had promised to take care of her, to love her and protect her no matter what and in return all he wanted, all he expected, was for her to trust him to love him with every part of herself and know that by doing that he would never let her down and never make her regret it.
“Hey beauty, what you doing out here by yourself?”
Turning in his arms so she was able to look at him, giving him a big smile and resting her hand on his cheek. “I was just thinking about today, about you.”
“You were thinking good things, I hope?”
“The best, today was exactly what I wanted. But there is one thing I forgot to say to you. I promise to give you my best every single day and no matter what happens, how bad or difficult things may get, I will always make sure you have nothing but the best.”
“Well in that case there’s something I forgot to say to you. I promise no matter where your career takes you, or where mine takes me I will always be there for you. I will be your biggest fan, because I know you will be mine. It’s you and me to the end.”
---------------------------------------------
Coming out of her memory she looked at Don who had been looking intently at her the whole time.
“Where did you just go beauty?”
Putting her hand on his cheek she repeated what she had just remembered saying to him on the night of their wedding. “I promise to give you the best of me every single day and no matter what, no matter how bad or how difficult things may get I will make sure you have nothing but the best.”
He knew exactly what she was referring to. He would always remember their wedding, for as long as he lived. That night when he found her looking out on the water, looking so beautiful, hearing her say those words he fell in love with her harder than ever before, and he knew the best was only yet to come.
Looking in her eyes, feeling her hand on his cheek, he saw something in her eyes that hadn’t been there, not really, since before the accident. She was coming back, she was remembering.
Before he had a chance to say anything Meryl took Don by surprise for a second in less than 5 minutes.
Sitting there with Don, remembering a part of their wedding day, she knew she had to tell him about her dream the night before, about Jack showing up at the house while he was out, if she didn’t she would only drive herself crazy with questions.
“I lied to you.”
Not following what she was trying to say he gave her a look that spoke more than he could ever say in words.
“I did come here because I needed some space, a change of scenery, but that’s not the only reason. While you were in town Jack came to the house…”
TBC
Sorry for the delay in getting this up.
Please let me know what you guys think.
NEXT Meryl tells Don everything and how he reacts may not be what you expect.