A/N: Hello! I've been sick and busy with school but it was Valentine's Day + this idea came up so here it is! I happened to be browsing through some Buzzfeed articles and got inspired from there (lol). I know Valentine's Day this year fell on a Wednesday but for the purpose of this story let's just assume it fell on a weekend hahaha I hope you guys will enjoy this! Let me know what you think in the reviews! :)
On a side note, if you celebrate Chinese New Year, happy Chinese New Year! May the lunar new year bring you lots of happiness and love! :)
13 February 2018
Henry sighed as he poured coffee into his mug to start the day. It was only day 2 out of 5 that Elizabeth was away in Mexico for some diplomatic trip and he missed her. And quite desperately, at that.
Not to mention, the next day was Valentine's Day.
A Valentine's Day without Elizabeth seemed gloomy, depressing even. To make it worse, it fell on a weekend. They would usually have a nice dinner and have a lovely night out without the kids before returning home to partake in one of their favorite activities. Now with her absence and a long stretch of time to kill on his hands, he was left to mope around the house. Even the kids were busying themselves with their own dates, so the house was completely empty and quiet. The thought of that made him miss his wife even more.
He let out another frustrated sigh as he turned to grab a banana from the kitchen counter. The kids were either out or still passed out in bed, so breakfast was a solitary affair. Just then, he spotted a piece of paper float to the ground from the corner of his eye. Bending down, he picked it up, then felt a rush of warmth run through him.
We love the things we love for what they are. - Robert Frost
I'm so sorry I couldn't be here on Valentine's, babe. I love you so much, inside and out. I'll come home as soon as I can. Love you xx
Hint: You'll find the next hint in the first place we christened in this house.
He chuckled at the last line; it was so like her to do something like this. Abandoning his breakfast, he went in hunt of the next clue in their office. He still vividly remembers the first day they had moved in.
"Did we get all the boxes?" Elizabeth huffed as she dropped what she hoped would be the last two by her desk.
"I think so." Henry stretched and extended his arms, his joints cracking in the process. They both laughed. "The kids are already passed out in their rooms," he chuckled.
"It's been a long day." She offered a tired smile. Her muscles were aching badly, so she envied them; she couldn't wait to sink into the mattress too. She leaned against her desk for support, hands gripping the edge tightly.
"Yeah." He looked over at her, immediately realizing that something was bothering her. "What's wrong?"
"No, nothing…" He raised his eyebrows in question and she relented. "I'm just nervous about this move, the job. I uprooted everyone just to do this. What if I made the wrong decision?"
He got up and moved towards her, gently unfurling her fingers and taking her hands in his. "Babe, remember what I said? Whatever happens, we're together. I can't say for sure if this will all turn out alright, but we'll work it out. I promise."
Her frown turned into a small smile. "Thank you," she whispered. She leaned in and kissed him.
Without breaking apart, he murmured, "Besides, my wife as Secretary of State? Hot as hell."
She laughed against his lips, worries forgotten as he pushed her down to the table…
He rummaged through her belongings on the desk but came up empty. Turning to the shelves behind, he quickly scanned the books, hoping for the slip of paper to magically appear. When his eyes landed on his favorite Thomas Aquinas book, he finally spotted it. Slipping the book from its spot, he quickly flipped to where the next message was.
This time it was a post-it, stuck right above a line she had highlighted.
Love takes up where knowledge leaves off. - Thomas Aquinas
Loving you is the most natural thing I've ever done. I can't imagine my world without you. Wish I could be with you now xxx
Hint: I love it when you sing to our kids.
His guitar. It had taken a backseat in recent years since the kids didn't need to be coaxed to sleep anymore. Once, they had caught him serenading to their mom and started requesting songs ever since. He needed to play a few songs almost every other day before they would be willing to crawl into bed. Between the two of them, they had dubbed it the McCord concert.
Elizabeth stepped into the foyer of her home at 8:30 pm one night, finally after putting out fires in the Middle East. The rest of the dying embers would have to wait until the next day. The world was safe for now, and she desperately missed her family.
Chucking her heels aside, she heard muted strumming coming from their children's room. Smiling, she slowly made her way through the corridor to the source of music and peered in to watch them.
Jason was already falling asleep on his bed beside where Henry was seated, his eyes slipping shut for a few seconds before he jerked awake again. She chuckled at his futile resistance. The girls were cross-legged on the floor, listening to their dad attentively.
"...If you're lost you can look ー and you will find me,
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you ー I'll be waiting
Time after time…"
She instantly recognized the tune; he regularly sang it to her during their college days. It was one of her favorites, and her heart melted watching him sing the same song to their kids now.
By the time his fingers played the last chord, Jason had already passed out. The girls clapped in appreciation, cheering him on. Henry placed his guitar down and bowed before them, then chased them into bed. They were clearly reluctant to sleep, but with a promise of another concert the next day, they climbed under their sheets.
They finally spotted their mom standing in the doorway and tried to get up, but Elizabeth quickly shushed them and walked over to kiss them goodnight before turning off the lights.
Intertwining their fingers, she and Henry left the room when the trio were finally settled to retire for the night. Elizabeth silently pressed a kiss to his cheek, receiving a kiss to her temple in return. It was nights like this that made her extremely grateful to have him by her side.
The instrument now stood near the piano in the entrance of their home. Sometimes, when he felt like it, he would take it out to play, either to his wife or his children.
Picking it up by the neck, he heard something rattle from inside the sound hole. It took some maneuvering to retrieve it but he finally dislodged the paper from the strings and pulled it out.
"Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends." - Alphonse de Lamartine
I'd sing more, as you do for me every now and then, if I didn't quite literally kill the Beach Boys every time. Sending you lots of hugs and kisses xoxo
Last hint: Our favorite place to be at home.
Without skipping a beat, he hopped up the stairs to their bedroom. They had spent countless nights in bed talking, arguing, reconnecting. It was the one place they returned to at the end of every night, despite all the ups and downs they've been through since she's taken up this job. Everyday, as they wake up next to each other, he couldn't be more proud of the relationship they have and the family they had created.
Opening the door, he glanced across the room. It felt different without her, a little too empty for his liking, the bed a little too big, and the ache in his heart grew a little more.
Shaking off the feeling, he started searching for the very last item she left for him. The sheets and wardrobe came up empty. He pulled open the drawer in his nightstand, finally finding a letter addressed to him in her neat handwriting.
He swiftly tore the envelope to read the letter enclosed within.
Dear Henry,
Happy Valentine's Day! I'm really sorry I can't be with you this Valentine's, but trust me when I say that I so badly wish that I could. I'm already starting to miss you, as I'm writing this.
Remember how we met on this day three decades ago? You were going around giving flowers to everyone you came across in school, and I was lucky enough to receive one. I was still closed off then, having just experienced my parents' death. It wasn't long before we started hanging out, and slowly, you tore my walls down. I thought I wouldn't ー couldn't ー love someone again because to do so would mean that I risked going through what I went through with my parents. But you taught me otherwise.
Fast forward a few years, you got deployed. Every time you stepped out the door in your uniform, I felt my heart stop. I couldn't quite breathe until you got home and I had you safely in my arms again. I finally realized, then, that you had become my home.
And now, we've spent more than half of our lives together. Every day with you, good and bad, has been beyond amazing and I couldn't be more grateful to have you by my side. I love you for your passion, your nerdy quotes, and for being the most wonderful husband and father I could possibly imagine. I love you for everything you are, and you have my heart, all of it, until the day we die. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.
"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close." - Pablo Neruda
Happy Valentine's Day, my love. I'll come home to you as soon as I can.
All my love,
Elizabeth
Henry sat on their bed, rereading the letter over and over again until he memorized almost every word. He got lost in his thoughts and wondered how he had the honor of falling in love with and being loved by her. She constantly had him in awe of her. He counted his blessings everyday, being able to be by her side and wake up next to her every morning.
It was a while before he noticed his eldest daughter standing in the doorway, still in her pajamas.
"...Dad?" she asked for the third time. He was acting weird, she thought, finding his coffee untouched then seeing him spacing out in her parents' room upstairs. When his head finally snapped up to meet her gaze, he cleared his throat.
"Hey, Stevie. What's up?"
"Are you okay? You were, um, spacing out for a bit."
"Oh, yeah, yeah." He smiled reassuringly.
"Oookay…I'll go down and make breakfast then."
Breakfast! He suddenly remembered his coffee, probably cold by now. "I'll join you." Carefully tucking the letter back in its envelope, he placed it back in the drawer before going downstairs, an idea already forming in his mind.
14 February 2018
Elizabeth groaned as she entered her hotel suite, exhausted from a day of negotiating with government officials about the opioid epidemic going on in both nations. Who would've thought they'd dish out so many demands before they're willing to cooperate on an issue that affects both the US and Mexico. She wanted to faceplant the table every time they came up with a new request.
She had waved off the staff for the night after thanking them for their hard work. They needed the energy to continue the discussions the next day, so she all but instructed them to go straight to their rooms to rest.
She kicked off her killer heels and shuffled to the couch with her aching feet, only to realize that a bouquet laid on the coffee table. It was hard to miss ー the glass surface overflowed with a huge bundle of orange blossoms and colorful roses sprinkled with sprigs of baby breath in between. Her favorite. Only Henry knew exactly what she liked. Her heart skipped a beat as she picked it up, plucking the card from the center after taking a whiff.
I will always show up for you. Always. Love, Henry
Her heart picked up its pace, her grin growing even wider than it already was. Hugging the bouquet to her chest, she gingerly stepped over to her bedroom and opened the door.
There he was, just as she guessed. He stood by the windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, watching Mexico City's night skyline. He turned around when he heard a click, then broke out in a smile when he saw who it was.
"Henry," she breathed.
"Happy Valentine's Day, babe." He held his arms open, inviting her into his embrace. She quickly placed the flowers on the nearest flat surface before running over to pounce on him. He laughed at her enthusiasm as he shifted to bear her weight, burying his face into the crevice of her neck, the unique blend of her perfume and soap filling his senses.
"You're here."
He gently released her but kept her close, her body flush against his. "Of course. After reading your letter, I had Blake help me get on a flight here. He really deserves to be paid more."
"You found my letter?" She beamed at him.
"Yeah. Took me like 20 minutes to solve all the hints." He chuckled. Leaning in, he softly nuzzled her nose and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. "I read everything you wrote. I love you, Elizabeth, to Pluto and back."
"I love you too, Henry, to Pluto and back," she said back, giggling at his cheesiness.
It wasn't long before they got tangled under the sheets, familiarizing themselves with each other all over again. Needless to say, it was one of the best Valentine's day they've ever had.