Second Chance

Sapphire blue eyes, which held the renewed shined of a woman in love, opened ever so gently. The early morning sun poured in from open door on the balcony of the beautiful suite the couple had stayed in the previous night. The soft sheer white curtains that usually covered the slider danced lightly in the gentle breeze that had just picked up off the water, and it set the tone for the most gorgeous scene one could ever want to wake up to; the smiling face of the one that they love.

“Good morning beautiful, how was your night?” he asked with a feather light kiss to her cheek. Thin lips moving towards her ear now, he softly spoke the next line in the only country song that she had ever cared for—and it was because Brian had woken her up this way one other time in their life together. The morning after they had eloped. “Mine was wonderful with you by my side. When I open my eyes and see your sweet face, it’s a good morning beautiful day.”

She knew in that moment that the heat that spread through her cheeks could not be stopped, but she did her best to cover it by wrapping her arms around the guitarist and burying her face in his shoulder. It was not that she was a woman without emotion; quite the contrary. It had just been so long since she had been the blushing type. All these years, they had been through so much. They had become comfortable, while still very much in love, and up until now she had not seen anything wrong or missing from that stage of their lives. She, like so many others, thought that the ‘puppy love’ stage had its place in the beginning. These last few weeks had brought a different perspective her way. He made her blush, and she made his heart melt. Just like in the beginning, and it was truly incredible.

“What did I do to deserve such an amazing man?”

“You loved me. It’s pretty simple,” he replied with a kiss to her lips.

“No, I’m serious. I want to know, baby. What did I do?” she pushed herself up to sit now, and looked deeply into his eyes. She suddenly just felt so humbled by their love story and wasn’t quite sure how to process that feeling.

“You loved me,” he repeated softly. A hand came up to brush some stray hairs off of her forehead sweetly. “In all of the times that we could have started and we didn’t, and in all of the times that anyone else would have screamed at me and walked away, you stayed. You loved me.”

“I guess I don’t know how to do anything but love you.”

“And I thank God for that.” Reaching to find her hand, he laced his fingers with hers, and the grin on his face widened. “How about we go get something to eat?”

“Are you asking me on a date, Mr. Haner?” neatly manicured eyebrows wiggled playfully with her question.

“I believe I am, Mrs. Haner. I thought maybe afterwards you could show me what has had you so excited recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Uh…you know, the business we just sunk a pretty penny into?”

“Oh my gosh, YES!” suddenly the brunette flew up, sprang off the bed, and ran like a deathbat out of hell into the other room. “I haven’t told you about it yet, have I? OH I’M SO EXCITED!”

The guitarist pushed himself up and began laughing at the sight and sounds of his bride rushing around like a mad woman. It took probably three or four trips back and forth before she stopped rambling and realized he hadn’t followed her out of the plush covers.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“You’re cute.”

“I am not!”

“My apologies. You’re a ferocious tiger….”

“Precisely!”

“And you’re ridiculously cute when you’re excited.” He snickered as he slowly climbed out of bed.

“Brian Elwin Haner Jr. I most certainly am not cute!”

“No, not at all. I mentioned an update on what it is you’re doing and you started racing around the hotel room like a kid cracked out on candy.”

“Okay! Maybe I’m a little excited! But you’re going to love it!” nearly skidding to a stop on the marble tile, a warm hand stretched out to grab him by the wrist. “Come on, get dressed! We have to hurry up and eat so I can show you this!”

“Alright, alright, alright. HEY!” he blurted with a hand on hers to stop the pulling fest she had started. Pulling her close, he dotted a quick kiss to unpainted lips. “I have a better idea, Mrs. Tiger. Let me order room service for breakfast. We can sit out on the balcony and you can tell me all about it while we eat. Okay?”

“That sounds AMAZING! I LOVE YOU!” she hollered as she darted out of the room once again.

A chuckle left him. There was the real Emily that he knew and loved. He hadn’t seen her that excited in so long. It felt good to have her back. Without looking at a menu, dexterous fingers dialed the kitchen and he ordered a rather delectable spread for their first meal of the day. He also called the concierge desk and, despite feeling silly about it, asked for someone to run get the couple Starbucks coffee. Normally, he did that himself and enjoyed it, but he didn’t want to keep his wife waiting.

*

Surrounded by half empty breakfast plates, the happy couple sat hunched over some sketches that both Emily and Val had worked on for their new company. The brunette had gone over their business plan in detail, and was presently explaining the vision for their creation. Chocolate pools of intrigue followed her finger as they traced certain parts of the drawings to emphasize the minute details.

“We are planning to cater to special orders as they come in, at least in the beginning. There will also be some things in the line that are just as they are, and won’t be able to be customized. Like the onesies and matching blankets.”

“So the customizable things will be the In Memory Of items?”

“Yes. So far in that line, we’re talking tiny keepsake boxes, bracelets, anklets, the plaques, and we’re kicking around a few other things. I’m over the keepsake boxes and plaques. If you remember way back when I was in college for a brief stint, the reason I had more money than most college kids is because I would “help” people in art class.”

“People paid you to do their art projects? Seriously?” he snickered.

“Yeah. Some of it had to be on wood, and I actually really enjoyed it. I didn’t do much wood burning, but I did a lot of carving. With a little more practice, I am sure I’ll be able to do most anything people ask for. Right now, we’re just going to offer simple designs for them. Dates, names, some basic artwork. I kind of did it with a memorial in mind for those who have lost someone, or a child, but we’re going to market them as any occasion.”

“That sounds awesome, baby. I assume Val will be over the clothing portion?”

“You’d think that would solely be her department, but the onesies and blankets were the first thing that I came up with. When I bought the plush toy and blanket a few weeks back when we had to be at the hospital with the Martinez’s, the idea came to me then. It was so soft, and I kept thinking, ‘Why aren’t there onesies that are this soft?’”

“I really like it, baby. I think this is really going to take off.”

“Do you? I really hope so!”

“It will. You just need a catchy name for the line.”

“We already have one. Didn’t I tell you?”

“No.”

“Oh. MYLO. Stands for My Little One.”

“Mylo. I like it.”

“So do Val and I. We played around with MYLA, My Little Angel, but not everyone is comfortable with that term.”

Cocking his head, he asked, “What about the keepsake boxes being called MYLA boxes when they’re for a memorial?”

Deep blue eyes searched her husband’s face a moment as she pondered the idea. “I like that.”

“Yeah? That one’s on me,” he chuckled.

“I really like it, baby. Thank you.” Her left arm came up to hook around his neck to give him a light squeeze. “I really don’t feel like I did it justice.”

“What do you mean?”

“In telling you about it. I feel like it all just kind of dropped out there unorganized.”

“Not at all, baby. I totally get it. You’re working on a full line. Right now, you’ve got onesies and plush blankets that are going to be bought as a set. You have individuals of each. You’re going to make creative pieces of jewelry, keepsake boxes and other little items mainly as memorial items, but they’ll be branded as any occasion. The sketches and fabric samples you’ve shown me are awesome. You’ll be adding more to the clothing line as you and Val come up with more, and you’re going to add stuffed animals to the line which can have mom or dad’s heartbeat recorded in it so that it soothes baby during the night.”

“Exactly. Wait, what?”

“Oh, you didn’t know about that last one. I just came up with that idea. It’s probably stupid.”

“No! It’s not stupid at all. I LOVE THAT!”

“Do you?”

“Yes!” she snorted now, “Did the shout in your ear not give that away?”

“Loud and clear. Ear is still ringing, thanks Em.”

“Sorry. But I do, I love that idea. I need to call Val!”

“Hang on, I’m not done.” With a tug on her arm a split second after she leapt from her spot, he pulled her back next to him. “They should be sold separately, but you should also make onesies that match the stuffed toy. If it’s a giraffe, you should have onesies either with giraffe print on them, or a small giraffe somewhere on the outfit. I wouldn’t think you’d need something over the top and in your face. Simple and elegant, while plush and cute is your design, so something along the lines of that theme seems fitting. If you wanted to take it a step further, you could offer a limited line of pajama sets for moms made of the same material as the onesies, but a small matching animal somewhere on it. Or a t-shirt. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”

“I feel like matching parents are a bit much, but maybe it wouldn’t be if done the right way. Let me talk to Val. She’s the fashion guru.”

“Didn’t say that last part was your golden ticket. It was just an idea.”

“It’s a valid one. I’m just not sure if it fits with the company.” She began fidgeting in her seat now, but tried to keep herself together by feeling the material samples again.

“You’re more than welcome to call your business partner now, dear.” He mused.

“THANK YOU!” she breathed heavily, and sprang from her seat. Her husband’s laughter followed her inside, despite the fact he stayed right where he was.

He had so missed this side of his wife. And what a beautiful sight it was.