She woke up today feeling so sad that she didn't even want to open her eyes. She stayed on the bed for reasons unknown to her as she had a preview of what her life used to be when her Father was alive. It wasn’t like she was complaining, No. She loved and enjoyed her life now; she was thankful to god for the kind of life she had now. Jack was nothing short of amazing and loving and romantic that she wondered if it was possible for a man to love her the way he showed her he did. Because love had never felt more like the verb it was until they accepted their feelings for each other, and she was more than grateful for that.
Today was Dad’s death anniversary. She knew Mom hadn’t forgotten but she didn’t call her about it either, even though since he died, they went to his grave together and spent the whole day grieving their huge loss. She knew Mom might likely not be sad today, because it left only a week to the said date for the big wedding and Anna had never seen her so busy in her entire life. She had missed her Dad, and she knew she had to go to his grave together with Jack as he asked her to in his letter.
The letter. Every now and then, the contents of the letter ran back to her mind and even though she was afraid that she might’ve inherited the sickness from Dad, and she might not have my children with Jack, she still had some hope on Jack. Maybe they could find a cure, right? She heard Jack having a conversation on the phone just before she fell asleep yesterday that he was going to have his day so busied that even lunch might be a difficulty to him. So, there was no way he was going to be available for her to go to Dad’s grave today. And if not today, then she didn’t know what day it would be.
She felt the aroma of a very delicious meal and even though her eyes were fighting back to close themselves, she still squinted her eyes open and a smile slowly graced her lips. He was just in a single and his pants and she had never seen a more muscular than her husband. She knew there was a time she used to admire Henry for his physique, but she was just realizing that Jack was far from what she thought he would ever be.
“Good morning, Darling.” He dropped the tray on the bed side drawer, and she smiled gratefully at him as she lifted her body to sit upright.
“Good morning, Jack. When did you get up from the bed?” She asked, turning to take a look at the delicacy he had placed on the bed side drawer. “And you’re looking...yummy.” She giggled sadly and he sat down beside her on the bed, examining her face.
“What’s wrong with you, Anna? Something is definitely not right.” She immediately shook her head and hopped her feet down on the floor.
“Nothing, I'm just feeling sick...” He immediately cut her off as he took a hold of both her hands.
“What? Are you alright? Is somewhere else paining you? Do we need to go to the hospital, Anna?” She was just staring at how agitated he already seemed and smiled before she shook her head. Maybe it was the letter she had reread yesterday and had kept it beside her on the bed, or maybe it was the dream she had of Dad, that she was crying, and he was clearing her tears away. Or simply because she wished her Dad were still alive.
She shook her head and stood up, “I’m feeling sad, Jack, nothing serious to worry about. I've had my whole schedule cancelled so I'll just sit home and cozy up before you’ll be back, okay? You’re going to have a busy day; you shouldn’t worry much about it.” She smiled and when he tried to touch her and backed away slowly, “I'll be fine, let me brush my teeth.” She chuckled softly and walked away to the bathroom. She was aware of his eyes that were fixed on her back until she closed the door behind her. She leaned on the closed door and sighed, she wanted to cry until her lungs suffocated and got tired.
Jack sat back on the bed and waited until she was out of the bathroom with her towel wrapped over her head and another one wrapped around her petite frame. He smiled when she sat down and dragged the tray between them. “I thought that you’ve left to shower?” She asked as she began to take a sip of the juice he had for her and a warm smile graced her lips. “This is so sweet, Jack. How did you make it?” She asked with her mouth full of the pancakes he had made.
He chuckled and took off the towel he had placed on her head, “Let me dry your hair while you eat, I don’t want to leave you unprepared.” She chuckled as he moved the tray on the mirror, and she sat on the vanity stool. He brought out her hand dryer and all she did was smiled at him. “Stop looking at me,” he said to her through the mirror and she didn’t even flinch, “I love you and I know that you love me too. So, don't eat away my handsomeness.”
She nearly coughed out the content of what was in her lips, “Where’s the handsomeness? I bet other girls drool over your appearance?” Her smile was captivating that he nearly forgot how to do what he was doing. But he wanted to make sure that before he left, that sadness that somehow lingered in her eyes was no more and she was back to being the old Anna Brayden he knew. The giggling Anna, the Anna that smiled at him at any given opportunity and the Anna that said I love you to him as though it were a song.
“They do, certainly. My secretary nearly kissed me yesterday, I had to take a step back.” She didn’t know when she dropped the cup that was in her hands and stood up. Her towel nearly slipped down but she firmly held it with both hands.
“Nearly what?” He was staring at her as he was trying so hard to stop himself from bursting into a pits of laughter. “Jack, I'm going to your company today, do they all know that you’re married?” She asked with a hardened expression and he let go of the churn of hair he was holding and took both her arms off of the towel she was trying so hard to pin on her chest and her towel fell off. “Jack!” She screamed at the pitch of her voice and he burst out laughing.
“What? Aren’t you still used to having me around when you’re looking...” His eyes dreamily moved over her naked body and she watched the way he gulped down a lump in his throat and when he turned his eyes back to her face, he was smiling widely at her. “This way? I actually love it that...” He mumbled his next words by taking one nipple into his mouth and she gasped before it turned to a moan and she pulled him closer to her body.
She was playing with his hair as he both fingered her and kissed her anywhere he could place his lips on before they stumbled on the bed with her giggle echoing in the room. She loved Jack; oh, she so much loved this man. He did things to her she had never imagined would be done to her and said things she had only heard I films or read in books. He was the most lovelies man she had ever had in her entire life and she was glad that he was her comforting angel. Making her feel all the weird things she had never imagined to be felt in her entire life.
❦
She was cuddled in the chair as she watched a drama on the tv with her coffee seated beside her. If not for the moment she had shared with Jack in the morning, Anna didn’t know what her day would feel like. Because they are the only things that kept her sane and she felt almost alive if she remembered them. They added color to her sad day, and she found herself smiling. She both dreaded and was eager for time to pass so she can go to the cemetery to see her Dad. A text came from her Mom.
‘Hey, Anna. I'm sure you haven’t forgotten what today is, but I'd like to remind you of the day sadness took over the joy we’ve felt for over two decades, Anna. Your Dad was a very good man and I still love him so much. I just left his grave and it feel as though he would come out of this goddamn hole to take my hands in his. I miss him, Anna, I do that a lot. You should be happy nevertheless, okay? We’re both going to live our lives to the fullest because Brayden wants to see us happy from heaven.’
Anna wondered what Mom’s message meant, she thought that she was going to come by or she herself was going to the house so they would go to the house and they would leave together like they always did? She wondered if she was feeling alright, because only she knew the kind of scar going to Dad’s grave pull out of her mother’s eyes. She spent the whole day sad or sometimes crying until she slept off. She immediately stood up, she had to go to the house and see whether she was fine before she would leave for the cemetery.
But as she turned toward the door, she saw Jack in his tuxedo as he held two bouquet of flowers. He smiled sadly at her, “I thought you’re going to be busy for the whole day, Jack?” She couldn’t help but ask because she heard him yesterday.
He walked toward her with a sad smile, “I know I do, but the woman I love is sad, her Dad’s death anniversary, how do you expect me to work like I should? I just attended the most important meeting of them all and I cancelled the other ones.” She was just staring at him with her mouth slightly agape. She couldn't believe what Jack was saying to her.
“How...” She shook her head, as if to remind herself how stupid that question would sound, “How did you know?” He hugged her as he placed down the flowers and wrapped his hands around her back.
“I know almost everything about you, Anna Brayden, what do you expect from the man that loves you a lot?” She lifted her face to his and smiled with tears pushing down to her cheeks.
“Do I deserve someone like you, Jack?”
“More like do I deserve a woman like Anna Brayden? Because man, she's a whole spec.” She chuckled with more tears and he pulled her to the room, got her changed into a black dress and they walked to the car.
He noticed how nervous she felt, and he entwined their hands together with a warm smile on his lips. He walked them to the grave and she stood in front of it, staring at her Father’s name that was engraved on the stone with tears already blurring her vision. Jack pulled his hand around her shoulders and hugged her warmly to his side.
With her voice croaking, she uttered, “Dad, here’s Jack. He’s the man I love and the man I got married to.”
He cleared his throat, imagining how it would feel if his Dad were the one sleeping peacefully in this hole. He knew that he hated him so much, but that would have been a very sad feeling and he didn't want to even imagine it. “Hey, my name is Jack Roberts, and I’m the one fortunate to have your little baby as a wife, and I promise you I'll take a very good care of her, I'd love her until my last breath. And I could say, Uncle, you have such a lovely girl as a daughter.