(Lester's Pov)
The place I had taken Steph to was a Museum of classic cars. Not just old tricked out cars but some of the cars you'd see from old TV shows and movies. When I saw it last night and saw one of the cars that were featured, I knew I had to bring Steph to see it. Right there on the sidewalk where you walk by sat Ecto one the Ghostbusters car front and center. Sitting along with Ecto one was the Bat mobile and the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard. Steph was gonna flip when she sees this.
And flip she did. When we turned the corner and I walked her down to the museum and she saw the car for the first time, her eyes went wide and began to dance. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped in awe at seeing the iconic car of her favorite movie, a movie the she had turned to time and time again for comfort when things got hard and confusing. Sadly the movie that she went for comfort just couldn't do its job with the pain she has gone through and what she still is going through. Looking over at me when she handed in her ticket, Steph had the biggest smile on her dace while she looked over and examined the car. Not being able to pass up the opportunity, I took my phone, held it up, and captured her smiling. With a few quick pokes from my fingertip, I sent the picture with the caption SHE SMILES AGAIN to Trenton where a building full of men hoped that she would be ok and would come back to them.
With the text sent the thought came to me that our celebration of her one smile could possibly be premature. What would happen when we return to Trenton? Here there was nothing around but our own minds to battle, but Trenton had a plethora of memories and familiar faces. There is a real chance once we go back, it will prove to be too much for Steph and she will pull away from us. Thinking of loosing Steph caused my heart to ache, we couldn't loose the only human element we had that kept us all together. Watching her move among the cars, I told myself to put my line of thinking on the back burner for now. As long as we were here in Tennessee, I will do all I can in keeping her close.
(Tank's Pov)
I was sitting in my office making the schedule up for next week when my phone that was sitting on the desk next to me began going off alerting me I had an incoming message. Picking it up, I saw I had a picture text from Les, opening it I was greeted to something I hadn't seen for a while. Stephanie's image filled my screen and I had to let out a bark of laughter when I saw what she was standing in front of.
"Santos you're a fucking genius" I said looking over the picture again
"Why is Santos a genius?" Bobby asked standing in my door way
I held up my phone by way of inviting him into my office, Bobby took my phone and looked over the screen at Steph's smiling face.
"Look what's behind her" I told him when he gave a look that he wasn't getting it
"How the hell did he manage that?"
"Don't know but I know Steph must be in love cause she loves that movie" I told him
"Yea, she's looking better. The last I saw her she was looking pretty rough" he said handing me my phone back
"Yea, let's just hope that this is the start of her road back"
I saw Bobby go into deep thought and knew he was probably remembering how Steph was when he dropped them off at the airport. He nodded his head and then excused himself to go back to what he was doing. Saving the picture to my phone, I went back to the schedule and found that the mundane task of office work didn't seem so mundane now. Stephanie just didn't know how special she was to all of us; she was hundreds of miles away but still was lifting our spirits when we needed it. Please God let this trip work and she and Santos can come back healthy.
(Lester's Pov)
Steph and I spent over two hours in the classic car mea seam. We saw and looked at the old jalopy of the Beverly Hillbilly's and the nice cars from the James Bond movies and Fast and the Furious, this was a car lover's wet dream. Before Steph and I left we ended back up front at Ecto One, her eyes lit up seeing that car and I began to wonder if this was Steph's dream car to own and drive.
"I can't believe I'm standing here looking at Ecto One" she said giving her head a small shake
"So you like your surprise?" I asked walking up behind her
"Yes very much"
"Glad I talked you into coming?"
Steph surprised me by spinning around to face me, she looked up at me and then down to my chest "I'm sorry for being a pain earlier"
"Hey" I said bringing her face up to look at me "you don't ever have to be sorry for how you feel. You feel angry then be angry, but just remember that I am always here for you"
"Thank you Lester" she said wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me
"Want to go walking around some more se what other things we can find?" I asked and felt Steph nod her head against me
Stephanie and I walked around the city of Gatlinburg for hours and we still didn't see all that it had to offer. By the time we got back to the truck after a late dinner and drove back to the cabin we were exhausted. Halfway on our drive Steph complained to me that her feet were tired and sore, but after that there was silence for the rest of the ride. When I pulled into the little lot of our cabin I looked over and saw that Steph was sound asleep, jumping from the truck, I carefully opened the door on her side, slipped the belt off her , and carried her up to the door.
"Stand against me Beautiful" I whispered as I unlocked the door. Once the door was opened, I picked Steph back up in my arms and was amazed that she was still asleep. Kicking the door closed, I carried her up the steps to the bed. Laying her down, I untied her shoes and slipped her shoes and socks off.
"Beautiful" I said coming back up to lay next to her "Steph"
"Hmmm"
"Do you want to change so that you're not sleeping in your jeans?" I asked her
Steph began flopping around on the bed like a fish and then I saw she had gotten her jeans unbuttoned and unzipped. She wiggled around, getting them off, and leaving them lying down at her feet. Seeing her laying there in her pale blue panties and then turning on her right side to snuggle her front into me my body was humming.
"Lester" I heard her say
"Yea?" I asked
"Thank you" she said raising up and kissing me on the cheek just catching the corner of my mouth
"Your welcome Beautiful" I said closing my eyes from the effects that the small innocent kiss had on me. This was so bad, tonight was gonna be a long night.