Date Posted:21:13:46 07/02/12 Mon Author: fananicfan Subject: Part 2 - Hearts and Flowers
This week is the 4th of July, and this weekend is my grandson's third birthday party, so no time to post later in the week, so here is Part 2 of the story. It's Valentine's Day, 2009 for the Rabb's and this part is very long so I hope you like the early post and the long read.
PART TWO
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009
KITCHEN
RABB RENTAL HOME
MANASSAS, VA
0700
HARM'S POV
My grandmother was the first one up as usual, and I find her sitting at the kitchen table taking a sip of what must be her piping-hot first cup of coffee.
The moment she sees me, she lowers the cup from her lips, and I'm greeted with the biggest smile that I've seen on her face in quite some time.
"The card is beautiful," she comments, referring to the Valentine's Day card that she must have opened that the whole family had signed last weekend.
Mac had waited until everyone else was in bed before placing the houseplant - a gift from the family - with a card leaning against the front of it right next to the coffee machine. Mac had been meticulous about the angle of the card, saying that it had to be leaning just right - supported by the houseplant so that it wouldn't fall over, yet tilted in a way that she'd see 'Gee Gee' - the name that the children call her - on the outside and know that it was for her.
"Just wanted to make sure that you hadn't forgotten that we love you," I say, shrugging my shoulders, a sign that I'm still not completely comfortable with expressing my feelings, although, thanks to my children who need to hear it from their dad, I am getting better at it.
"The plant is just lovely. I can take it to the farm with me," she says appreciatively.
"I can't take credit for that. The kids and Mac thought of it," I confess, not going into the details that the kids wanted to get her flowers, but that Mac had thought that a houseplant would last longer. "They wanted you to have something that would remind you of them every time you looked at it."
"It will, and I already have a place in mind to put it so that I can see it everyday. I'm going to miss you all ... so much." She started out strong, but ended in a teary voice.
"We're going to miss you, too," I say, hugging her shoulders as she sits at the table, dabbing the tears from her eyes with a napkin.
There's a moment of silence as she regains her composure before she speaks again.
"I wasn't expecting you to be out of your room this early. I thought that you'd have started celebrating Valentine's Day with your wife this morning," she says with an impish grin, making the implication of her statement clear.
"I thought that a mother of six would prefer to sleep in rather than celebrate," I reply flatly, not confirming or denying that I understood what she was implying. "However, I do have plans for her today. If you remember, I asked you to babysit while I take Mac out after breakfast, and then again later when I take her to dinner. You can still do it, right?" Given what she was inferring moments ago, I feel a little blush come into my cheeks and quickly add, "Babysit, I mean."
"Oh, yes, I remember, and I still can," she says with a lilt in her voice that makes me wonder if she's commenting about babysitting or the lovemaking that was implied earlier in our conversation, and the pause, though brief before she speaks again, doesn't help keep my mind from going there. "Dinner is very traditional, but where are you taking her this afternoon ... romantic lunch ... hotel that charges by the hour, maybe?"
I roll my eyes and say, "Grandma!"
If the question had come from someone else of her years, I might find it comforting to know that Mac and I should be able to have an intimate relationship for a long time to come, but the fact that she's my grandmother and shouldn't know about stuff like hourly-rate motels, I find embarrassing and not comforting at all.
"I can't tell. I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will tell you that it may not be the average woman's idea of fun, but I think that my wife will have a blast," I say with a smile as I get to the last word, a pun that wasn't intentional but appropriate.
"What's for breakfast, Dad?" Ty asks, entering the kitchen.
"Pancakes," I reply.
"Then, Ty, why don't you and I set the table and let your dad get those pancakes started?" my grandmother asks.
"Let me get the syrup first so we don't forget to put it on the table this time. Okay, Gee Gee?" Ty responds.
"Okay," my grandmother answers.
"You were first in the kitchen, Ty, so the first pancakes off the griddle are yours," I inform him as he reaches in the pantry for the maple syrup.
MINUTES LATER
I serve up two heart-shaped pancakes on a plate and present them to Ty, who rolls his eyes and says, "Thanks for breakfast, Dad."
I wonder if the reaction to my holiday-themed pancakes has to do with the lack of interest in general that boys/guys have concerning the day about hearts and flowers or if it's a sign that something's gone awry with his first crush.
We're the only two in the kitchen at the moment, so I ask very softly in case someone comes in, "How did the card exchange go yesterday at school? Did you get one from the girl you like?"
"I got some, but not one from her. It's okay because I decided to give my special card to someone I love a whole bunch, not just like."
I'm glad that I'm letting Mac sleep in as part of her Valentine's Day. She wouldn't be much in the mood to celebrate with me or have an appetite if she heard our son talk about love when speaking about girls.
I don't ask Ty any more questions because I see Abigail coming into the kitchen for her plate.
"Gee Gee said that we're having pancakes," she says.
'Mac has to be wrong!' I think. Abigail is standing in the kitchen wearing her Disney Princesses night gown, and I find it hard to believe that she'll ever be old enough to like boys.
I hand Abby her plate, and when she looks at the heart-shaped pancakes, she offers me a big smile.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Abby," I begin before bending over to be closer to her height. "Daddy loves you bunches."
"I love you, too, Daddy," she says with a shy smile before she rewards me with a kiss on the cheek.
Mattie comes in yawning with her robe cinched at her waist. "I need pancakes for two."
I get a lump in my throat and stammer out, "For two?"
"Yes, Matt was awake when I went by the nursery, so I picked him up on my way ... and since Gee Gee was in the dining room to keep an eye on him, I left him in his high chair and came in for his breakfast and mine."
"Two plates of cakes coming up," I say, relieved that not only is she not pregnant, but that she's apparently not fully awake and didn't realize what I thought because I didn't get any odd looks or comments about my reaction.
I blame the fact that Mac and I were talking recently about our children growing up and becoming involved with the opposite sex for me jumping to the wrong conclusion from Mattie's statement - although, the sexual innuendo in my grandmother's comments this morning probably didn't help.
"Have trouble sleeping last night, Mattie?" I ask while flipping the pancakes on the griddle to brown the other side.
"Not once I got to sleep. I stayed up late talking to Kevin on the phone."
"He drove you and Gee Gee home yesterday and stayed for dinner. What could've possibly happened from the time he left here that kept you up talking half the night?"
"Nothing happened. He just called to say good night, and I asked about how his mom was doing, and then ... I don't know ... we just talked for like three hours about stuff."
"Things are going well for the two of you again, then?" I say like a question as I remove the finished heart-shaped pancakes from the griddle.
Picking up the squeeze bottle, my secret for making shaped pancakes, I apply batter to the griddle for two more pancakes as I wait for her response.
"Yes, things are good. Very good, actually," she says as she pulls a plate with hot pancakes close to her.
She moves to cut up the pancakes so they'll cool faster and be ready for Matt to eat and exclaims, "Oh, oh, my god, heart-shaped pancakes! It's Valentine's Day, isn't it? I knew that it was coming up, but I didn't realize that it was today. I've got to call Kevin. I can't go to dinner with him tonight."
"Why?" I ask curiously as I watch her sprint from the counter where she was cutting Matt's pancakes to the wall for the phone.
"I don't want to be the only non-couple in a sea of twosomes making toasts to love and making out because they think that Valentine's Day gives them a free pass to make public displays of affection."
She said that like she was offended, but my theory is that she feels that way this year only because she doesn't have a boyfriend.
I continue to make pancakes while I listen to her tell Kevin that she wants to cancel on him.
"Kevin, it's Mattie." .... "I called because I can't go out tonight." .... "No, I'm fine. I just didn't realize that today was Valentine's Day, and I need to stay here to help Gee Gee babysit while my parents go out."
"You don't have to stay home. The day that I have planned is in two parts. We'll be home in between to check to make sure that everything is going smoothly," I volunteer, which is both good - shows that I'm not counting on her to help - and bad, because now she knows that I'm eavesdropping on her conversation.
"It's been two weeks. I can drive again!" she announces, looking directly at me and having lowered the handset from her ear so I'm confident that she's speaking to me.
I know that she was thrilled to come home this weekend, in part because she was going to be able to drive herself back to school and would no longer have to rely on the kindness of friends and public transportation to get around, but I don't see what that has to do with this particular conversation.
The look on my face must convey 'I don't understand what that has to do with this' because she looks at me as only a daughter would with that 'duh, Dad, you're so dense look' and speaks directly to me again to clear things up.
Lowering the handset even farther and pressing it into her robe - apparently she doesn't want Kevin to hear our conversation - she explains, "There's no reason why you have to split up your date with Mom. I can drive Abigail to her piano lesson and run errands for you ... whatever you were planning on coming back to the house to do. You and Mom deserve time for yourselves."
"Thank you, but Mac is going to want to come home to change for dinner anyway, so coming back to the house isn't a problem. There's no reason to change your plans," I say, touched by the sentiment in her act of generosity, though I'm sure that getting behind the wheel again has something to do with her helpfulness.
She acknowledges me with a nod of her head, but her words as she turns her attention back to Kevin doesn't show that she understands what I said to her.
"Yeah, Kevin, I really need to stay here and help out so that my parents can go without needing to come back to check on Gee Gee and the kids." .... "We've been seeing a lot of each other lately, so I don't understand what the big deal is. We can go out next Saturday."
I know that I can hear only Mattie's side of their conversation, but I've gotten the impression that Kevin isn't taking the news that he's going to be dateless on Valentine's Day very well, though I'm a little unsure why since Mattie hasn't mentioned them being a couple. In fact, I've heard just the opposite. She's been pretty clear that they're just friends.
Risking life and limb by letting her know that I'm still listening, I offer, "Just a thought ... I'm sure that Gee Gee wouldn't mind two extra sets of hands. Maybe Kevin could come over here and hang out. I'll even spring for pizza for dinner," I suggest over my shoulder while flipping pancakes.
"Did you hear my dad?" .... "He said that you could come over and hang out with me and Gee Gee tonight instead, and he'd pay for us to order pizza for dinner."
It probably isn't the night that Kevin had planned, but since Mattie hasn't mentioned that they're anything other than friends, if he wants to be with someone while his mother is out on a date with the guy who Kevin told me about, I see no reason why he can't hang out here. Better yet, if Kevin is interested in making a move on my oldest daughter, my grandmother will be here to chaperone while I'm out romancing her mom.
I didn't realize that I'd quit listening to their conversation until I feel myself being squeezed from the side. "Thanks," Mattie says as she releases her hold on me.
"No problem. It isn't a glamour date, but he'll get to see you. That should've made him feel better."
"We aren't dating, Dad," she says with a sigh. "Speaking of dates, where's your Valentine?"
"I'm letting her sleep in," I inform her.
"If you really want to treat her for breakfast, you should make bacon to go with these pancakes," Mattie says as she picks up two plates, Matthew's and hers, and heads off to the dining room.
Mattie doesn't think that I thought of that, but I did. However, I figure that Mac will order steak tonight, and I refuse to help clog her arteries by being a party to her having meat twice in the same day.
"Daddy..."
Not that I need to see who it is because I'd know the sound of that 'daddy' anywhere, I look up from my griddle to see Sami in her footed-pajamas, rubbing her sleepy eyes with her fists.
"Good morning, Ladybug. Your pancakes are ready, but if you wait until these are done..." I say, pointing to the regular shaped ones cooking on the griddle. "...Daddy will be ready to eat, too, and we can go into the dining room together."
"I wait then," she responds before asking, "Where's Mommy?"
"Today is Valentine's Day, so to let Mommy know that we love her, we're letting her sleep longer than everyone else this morning."
"But she'll miss breakfast, and you make the bestest pancakes," she says, sounding a little distressed.
"She won't miss breakfast. When we've finished eating, if she's still asleep, I'll make her hot pancakes, and we'll take breakfast to her. Then, once she's awake, you can give her the card that you made for her at daycare."
"Okay," Sami says agreeably.
MASTER BEDROOM
SAME TIME
MAC'S POV
Waking, I feel the morning light warming my face and I begin to stretch, but my hand makes contact with nothing but air.
After a quick check of my internal clock, a smile begins to spread across my face. My husband has let me sleep in. He's so thoughtful.
However, it somehow seems fair since he was the cause of me not going to sleep as soon as I got into bed last night. Of course, with Patty now going to sleep around 2100 and staying asleep for between eight and ten hours, even if, like last night, he and I make love before going to sleep, I wake feeling refreshed and rested.
My stomach growls, and I open my eyes only to be further convinced that I married the perfect man when I see roses on my dresser with a card resting against the vase.
I throw back the covers to get out of bed, and my eye catches sight of something unfamiliar on my night table.
I reach for the folded piece of colored paper and unfold it to see the writing of a less mature hand than Harm's.
The words printed among the hand-drawn hearts and flowers say: 'To the girl I love most. My mom. Love, Ty'
'Simple and to the point,' I think as his words bring tears of happiness to my eyes.
Thrilled that I have a reprieve - however temporary - from my little boy growing up, I get up and walk to the dresser to confirm that my husband is the one who left the flowers and card there.
After inhaling their heady scent, I pick up the pastel pink envelope from it's resting place, lift the flap and pull the card from it's sheath. The printed hearts and flowers on the outside of the store-bought card are a sharp contrast to the hand-drawn ones on the first Valentine's card that I read today.
Opening the card, I see that there's a handwritten note on the left side with a printed message on the right.
I read the printed side first.
It's a love poem, one that's touchingly romantic and doesn't rhyme.
It's strange how I never would've noticed the latter before I had children.
From just a glance at the handwriting on the inside when I opened the card, I knew that it was from Harm.
Mac,
This is a day set aside to tell the woman in your life that she's loved, yet I love you far more than I could express in a single day.
I hope you'll agree to be my date for today and my Valentine for life.
Harm
So few words, yet they say so much.
If only he'd given me one card like this in the nine years ... no point in thinking about that now. I have him.
Besides, you love the life you have, and if things hadn't happened the way they did, this wouldn't be your life, so count your blessings, MacKenzie, and embrace the fact that you have love in your life now, I admonish myself.
To refocus on the meaning of the day, I look back at the printed side and read the poem again, this time picturing Harm standing in the card shop reading each card until he finds this one.
Then I go into the bathroom to wash my face and put on my robe before going to join my family for breakfast.
DINING ROOM
MINUTES LATER
HARM'S POV
I sense her presence and look up as she enters the dining room.
The adoring look in her eyes as they meet mine tells me that she saw the vase of roses and card that I placed on her dresser this morning.
"Looks like I didn't eat fast enough to serve Momma breakfast in bed," I say, standing to greet her.
"Happy Balentine's Day, Mommy," Sami says smiling from ear-to-ear before shoving an oversized bite of pancake into her mouth.
"Thank you, Sami. Same to you," Mac replies before I reach her.
I wrap my arms around Mac, pull her in close to me and press my lips to hers.
The kiss is barely a touching of our lips to show my love and affection for her without being too overt in front of our children.
"I love you," I whisper near her ear before releasing my hold on her.
"Happy Valentine's Day to all of you," Mac says while catching my hand with hers.
Grasping her hand gently, I say, "I'll be right back."
Mac looks at me like I'm rushing off when she just got here, so I add, "I'm going to start your pancakes."
Mac offers me a warm smile.
"Are you going to make Momma's shaped like hearts, too?" Abigail asks softly.
"I sure am ... big ones because she's my number one Valentine," I reply, winking at Mac.
"She's first because you've known her longer, right?" Sami asks.
"I guess you could look at it that way, but I say that she's number one because, if she hadn't been first, then I wouldn't have all of you," I reply.
After a moment of quiet reflection as I look appreciatively at my family gathered around the table eating breakfast, I ask, "While I'm in the kitchen, anyone want seconds?"
"I do!" I hear from Sami, followed, by a "yes, please" from Tyler.
"I'll have them up in a few minutes," I say before lifting Mac's hand to my lips and placing a kiss on the back of it.
Stepping away from Mac to go into the kitchen, I hear Sami announce excitedly, "We made cards for you!"
With my back to the table as I leave the room, my guess is that my words will be too late to stop Sami, who's already bolted from the table to go retrieve the card that she made for Mac, but I say it any way, "Cards and presents can wait until after breakfast."
"Presents? There are presents?" I hear Mac question with surprise as I leave the dining room.
The idea of her seeing the presents brings a smile to my face. Most of her gifts are pictures that the kids made at school or daycare for her that I know that she'll display proudly - it is indeed the thought that counts - because her children gave them to her out of love.
Mac had shown some jealousy when I got not one but two #1 Dad mugs at Christmas. So when I took the children shopping, I suggested they get her a #1 Mom mug. However, she'll receive a second mug as well because I picked out a #1 Wife mug - which I decided was a safe generic one to give a retired Marine instead of the one that read '#1 Navy Wife'.
I chuckle to myself as I picture the look that she'd have had on her face if I'd purchased anything that said Navy on it. Then I wonder if she'll consider the activities that I have planned enough of a date to be a good Valentine's Day as I enter the kitchen to get started on those pancakes.
STARBUCKS
QUANTICO, VA
1215
MAC'S POV
As we sit at a corner table, relaxing and drinking warm beverages, I ask, "What made you decide to take me to the shooting range as part of our date?" I tried to sound just curious, but the second the words left my mouth, I realized that my tone didn't cover up the enjoyment that I'd received from it.
"I know that you miss the courtroom, and it stood to reason that you miss being a Marine as well. So, when I heard that there were a handful of Marines who'd failed their pistol qualifications and that their drill sergeant was going to have them on the range today to put them through their paces before letting them try to qualify again, I thought that you might like to join your little green friends and fire a few rounds," Harm explains.
His answer is acceptable since I didn't really expect him to confess to having used his rank or the office of the SecNav to score an invitation for us.
"You know what they say: There's nothing like the smell of gunpowder in the morning," I say, quoting a former drill sergeant of mine. "There must be more to it because there'd be no reason for you to "hear about it" otherwise. However, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm just going to say thank you because I really did enjoy it."
"I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself because I did have second thoughts about it being a good way to start a date. However, the moment I saw the look on your face when you saw your grouping ... and the look on those Marines' faces, who you made look so bad, it was priceless," he says as he starts to laugh.
"None of them did well, but when I saw that the gunny didn't hit the target even once, I thought that you'd instructed them to hold back because I was out of practice, and you didn't want me to feel badly if I didn't do as well as I used to when I was active duty," I comment.
"I wouldn't do that!" he says defensively.
"Harm, he's a gunnery sergeant. He couldn't possibly be that bad," I say, wanting to believe him but finding it difficult.
"He didn't pass his qualifications so he's definitely off his game. However, I don't think he's that bad. I think that shooting next to you made him nervous," he explains.
"I'm not a Marine any longer. I have no power over him. Why would I make him nervous?" I ask.
"Mac, you're kidding me, right?" Harm asks.
"No," I reply, genuinely unaware of what he means.
"Mac, in all the years that I've been in the Navy and of all the Marines who I've met during my time in, I've never, and I mean never seen a Marine who looks as beautiful as you, and when you add your looks to the fact that you can handle a gun, too, you could definitely make it hard for a guy to concentrate on his target."
"I never seemed to throw you off," I comment teasingly.
"Yes, you did. It's just that you saw me only off balance, so you had no normal point of reference and didn't realize that I was any different when you weren't around."
"You were always calm, cool and in control around me, so I don't see how you can say that I distracted or threw you off." I say, not believing that a man who I could 'throw off balance' the way he's claiming would keep his distance from me for nine years.
"I may be exaggerating a little..." he says, holding up his index finger and thumb, indicating very little. "...but the fact that you were a beautiful woman who was a Marine did throw me for a loop. The way you held a gun on me right after we met ... to take me to your uncle ... your firm grip and controlled stance ... I had no doubt that you knew how to use it. It was like you were two different people ... this tough as nails Marine and a beautiful woman."
"Are you saying that you were afraid to talk to me?"
"I wouldn't say afraid. I'd say cautious. I had to be. How did I know for sure that, if I talked to the woman, the Marine wouldn't shoot me or, if I talked to the Marine, the woman wouldn't shoot me?" he says jokingly.
"I think you're being silly. I'm not one or the other. I'm both. The same way that you're not just a naval officer, but a man, as well."
"I think you're taking my comment too literally. You were just different from any other woman whom I'd ever known and against the 'type' that I thought I wanted, yet I felt drawn to you from the moment we met," he explains.
He reaches out and takes my hand and, as our hands rest clasped together on the table, he looks into my eyes and says, "I'm sorry that I deprived you of the memories of getting here the right way," he says remorsefully.
"The right way?" I question, puzzled by his apology.
"You and I don't have any history."
I look at him, my eyes expressing that I disagree and believe that we most definitely have a history.
"We knew each other for nine years. Of course there's a history between us. I meant that there's no 'couple' history. We, as you've pointed out before, didn't date," he says, elaborating for me. "I'm sorry about that," he adds sincerely.
Getting a sense from him that he needs to hear it, I say, "I forgive you."
He squeezes my hand, and a smile starts to replace the seriousness that his features had taken on during the last few moments of our conversation.
"When we started having date nights in California, I thought that I could make up for some of that, but since we've been here, something always seems to be more important, and there doesn't seem to be any time for us to go out," he says remorsefully, and I start to get a better understanding of why this "date" today is so important to him.
"I hate to say it, but speaking of time, we should get going. We have a daughter to get to a piano lesson."
"Not today...thanks to Mattie. She volunteered to take Abby to her lesson so that we wouldn't have to rush our date," he says.
"That's sweet." I comment, touched by the gesture.
"Sweet ... or excited that she can drive again, I can't be sure, but either way, to spend time with my Valentine, I'll take it." He sounds less remorseful and more upbeat now.
"This is where I'd suggest that we take a walk, but it's forty-seven degrees outside. So, is there someplace that you'd like to go or something that you'd like to do before we need to head to the house to change for dinner?"
"Actually, there is. The first Valentine that I got this morning was from someone unexpected, and I think that I've thought of something that I could give him that wouldn't embarrass him by being all hearts and flowers girlie, but he'd know that I love him, too."
"You don't have to get me anything," he says with his ego-inflated flyboy smile.
"It isn't for you. Yours wasn't the first Valentine that I read this morning."
His jaw drops open in shock.
Then he asks, trying to be cool, but the hint of jealousy is easily heard, "Who was it from?"
I only smile.
"Hey, a guy has a right to know who his competition is," he adds.
I laugh.
"You don't have any competition. The card was from Tyler."
Harm's posture changes now that he knows that he doesn't have to compete for my heart.
My smile is now internal, having taken some small measure of pleasure in seeing Harm's reaction.
"He must have gone into our room after I went to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast because, before then, only the card and flowers that I left for you were in our room," Harm comments distractedly, but I think that he's appreciative of his son's understated style.
"I know that we talked about not getting the children something for every little holiday and agreed to give them gifts on their birthdays and at Christmas, but this year... I can't explain it, but I think that I need to give him something."
"It's funny that you should say that because I'd been thinking that I'd like to give Abigail something this year because of the way that she's been feeling, but I didn't want to risk alienating Sami by not getting her something. However, if I bought both girls something, I didn't want Ty to feel left out."
"We can decide on the way if it's best if we give the gifts from us or if daddy's girls get something from their dad and Tyler gets something from Mom."
"Our dinner reservations are for 1930, so make sure that we don't spend too long shopping and have time to go home and change and make it to the restaurant on time because I was told that tonight is their busiest night of the year and if we're late, we'll lose our reservations. They're too busy to accommodate changes tonight," he informs me.
"Then let's go," I say, getting to my feet, happy that I chose a cappuccino to warm up. The boost of caffeine will be come in handy for shopping.
RABB RENTAL HOME
MANASSAS, VA
1717
HARM'S POV
Shopping was a success, and by the time we returned home, Mac had purchased an ID bracelet and had it engraved with Tyler's name on the front and the motto "Semper Fi" engraved into the stainless steel back.
The ID bracelet seemed like a good idea, so, for Abigail, though I considered one made out of silver, in the end, I went with stainless steel because I wanted her to have something that she could wear every day, unlike the gold cross necklace that my grandmother had given her that she wears only on Sundays and special occasions so that there's less chance that it'll be lost. Her ID bracelet has a heart on each side of the nameplate area, and 'Abigail' is engraved between them. 'To Daddy's girl with love' is engraved on the underside.
For Sami, knowing that she would want something similar to her sister's, but not exactly the same thing so that she can be an individual - I don't know where she comes up with some of this stuff - I chose a dog tag style necklace made out of stainless steel with a ladybug on it. I had 'Samantha' engraved down the length of it and, on the backside, I had it engraved to say, 'To Daddy's little girl with love'.
Knowing that she understands that Valentine's Day is more a commercial holiday to express love of spouse or significant other, but not wanting her to feel left out because, to our knowledge, she has no boyfriend at the moment, I opted to get Mattie a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a bouquet of mixed flowers.
We enter the house through the door from the garage and find everyone in the kitchen making chocolate chip cookies with Gee Gee.
Wanting to give her gift to him discreetly, much the way that he'd left her card, Mac asks Ty to carry a bag for her to our room, and I ask the girls to meet me in the living room.
Before I head in to join the younger girls, I give the flowers and candy to Mattie, giving her a hug and telling her, "Happy Valentine's Day".
In the living room, Sami rips off the wrapping paper, has the box open and is asking me to help her put on her new neck-a-lace, as she calls it, and is off to show off her new prized possession before Abigail has barely gotten the paper off of her gift.
Abigail's eyes widen with delight when she finally lifts the lid and sees the contents of her box.
"It has my name on it," she says, surprised.
"Yes, it does, and if you read the back, you'll never forget who gave it to you."
She turns it over and reads the inscription. Then she looks up at me.
"Daddy wants you to know that you're special to him and that he loves you very much," I inform her.
"I love you, too, Daddy," she says with tears in her eyes.
"Do you want me to help you put it on?"
Her only response is to nod affirmatively.
Once the bracelet is securely fastened, she moves to hug me.
"I love it, Daddy," she says into my ear, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.
"I'm glad. I hoped you would," I say as she releases me.
It may be the wrong time, but only she and I are in the room at the moment, so I decide that this might be a good opportunity.
"While it's just you and me, can Daddy talk to you about something?"
While she beams and stares at her bracelet, she replies, sounding surprisingly grown up, "Yes, what do you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about the reason that you told Momma that you wanted to move to San Diego in a few weeks," I begin.
1755
My wife had made her plan clear on the way home from the mall. She was going to get Tyler away from the group and give him his gift. Then she was going to start getting ready for the dinner portion of our date and said that she'd let me know when she was almost ready so that I could take my turn in the bathroom. However, I'm still waiting for word that I can go in, and I'm wondering how much longer I should wait before I head to our bedroom without getting her okay first so that we won't be going out looking mismatched - her looking like a movie star and me looking like a bum.
It isn't that I need a lot of time to get ready, but for our special date, I'd like to shower and shave again, and put on a suit and tie.
Calculating the latest time that I feel that we can leave the house to avoid being late, and taking into account how much time I think I'll need to get ready, I find that I can wait for a little while longer before I invade our bedroom and interrupt whatever pre-date preparation routine Mac is engaged in when the door bell rings.
"That should be Kevin. I'll get it!" I hear Mattie scream from the kitchen.
I don't see any reason why she should come from three rooms away when I'm in the room closest to the front door.
"I've got it!" I yell over my shoulder as my hand grasps the doorknob.
I open the door, and what I see has me wishing that I hadn't opened the door.
"Wait right there. She'll be just a minute," I say softly so that no one else hears me and knows that I've already seen him.
I hear him gulp as I close the door in his face.
This is one time when I know that opening the door is part of the 'atmosphere' of the gesture and that Mattie needs to be the one to open the door to greet him.
Mattie comes into the foyer, and I look at her, hoping that the look on my face doesn't convey any hint of what she's about to see. Then I say casually, "It's for you."
"I know," she replies with a look that tells me that she thinks that I've lost my mind, probably wondering why I didn't just open the door.
Part of me knows that I should excuse myself and let them have a moment of privacy, but as her dad, I want to stay to see if he means it as a friendly gesture or if he's taking a chance on love this Valentine's Day.
With a roll of her eyes at me, Mattie opens the door, and I hear her gasp.
"These are for you." I hear Kevin say to her.
"They're beautiful...but why?" Mattie says, apparently having caught her breath after seeing Kevin dressed in a suit, and holding red roses and a heart-shaped box of candy.
"Because..." he begins as he steps into the house, but no words follow.
Mattie looks in my direction, and I get the impression that she believes that my presence has something to do with him not being able to speak freely.
"Dad, shouldn't you be changing your clothes or something so that you're ready to go to dinner when Mom is?"
It isn't that I don't have time to listen in, but the pleading look in Mattie's eyes that says, 'please, Dad, go away', gets my feet to start moving.
"I guess I should probably put on something dresser than jeans," I state as if the thought of changing my clothes hadn't occurred to me before she mentioned it.
I can't say that I don't want to stay and listen to what Kevin has to say and how Mattie will react to it, but I force myself to walk away.
RABB RENTAL HOME
MANASSAS, VA
2230
MAC'S POV
Outside the front door, his hand comes up to cup my cheek. He leans in, and his lips press softly against mine.
It's how I imagined that he'd have kissed me at the end of the evening if we had dated.
"Now that I've walked you to your door, I guess our date is over," Harm says, sounding saddened by the idea of our night ending.
He unlocks the door and steps aside to let me enter first.
However, he doesn't follow me inside.
I turn and ask, "Aren't you coming in?"
I'm puzzled by his behavior since, though we were on a date, so to speak, we are married.
"A gentleman shouldn't assume that his date is going to invite him in," he replies softly.
"I think you'd be safe in thinking that I had such a nice time that I wasn't ready to say good night yet," I reply with a wink, and playing along with his date scenario, I ask, "Would you like some coffee or tea?"
"Tea would be nice," he replies.
KITCHEN
After starting the water for tea, I turn to him. "May I take your jacket?"
I get a warm smile in response as he shrugs it off his shoulders.
"I'm going to go hang this up so it doesn't get wrinkled. I'll be right back," I say to keep his dating fantasy alive since, though I will hang up his coat, I'm using the opportunity to slip away to check on the children.
I'm gone longer than I'd originally planned because I decided that, if we're going to play out this date idea to the end, I should change into the little something that I bought earlier this week for him to see me in tonight.
When I return to the kitchen, his back is to me, but I can tell that he's preparing our tea.
He must sense that I've entered the room because he turns and eyes me appreciatively as he takes in the view of me in a red, of course, for Valentine's Day, silk knee-length robe that I have tied at my waist, covering my latest purchase of sexy undergarments.
"I hope that it doesn't upset you, but I really don't want any tea," I say in a seductive purr.
He drops the spoon on the counter.
"Neither do I," he says in a husky voice, his eyes sparkling with desire.
I gently tug on his tie, and he leans in to meet my lips.
His arms come around me, but when he begins to pull me to him, I push him away.
"I don't live alone. We should go to my room."
I'm unsure if he's no longer caught up in the fantasy scenario or is now simply too aroused to play along by asking a question that one might expect, such as, 'you don't live with your mother, do you?'
In fact, he doesn't utter a single word. He just follows me to our bedroom where, once the door is closed, he reaches for me, taking me in his arms and pulling me in close to him.
Wonderful valentine day for everyone. Thanks for the update have a great 4th -- Beth, 22:00:18 07/02/12 Mon [1] 
Another Happy Valentines for the Rabbs.Perfect -- marye904, 12:23:35 07/03/12 Tue [1]