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Chapter 34
As soon as Mike walked back in to get ready for their anniversary dinner, he could tell Christine was mad or upset about something. Instead of immediately addressing it, he gave her the dozen pink roses he'd bought her and went into the bedroom to get ready. While he was showering, he could hear her beating around in the bedroom. He walked into the bedroom with a towel around his waist and watched her for a moment.
"Can I help you? I figured you'd be ready to go." Mike said. Christine was still in her yoga pants and t-shirt with her hair in her ponytail.
"No!" Christine said.
"Do you still want to go tonight?" Mike asked.
"What do you think? Do you? Or do you want to take your girlfriend?" Christine asked angrily.
"What?" Mike asked.
"Your girlfriend. I was doing our laundry today and I cleaned out that blazer pocket. There was two jewelry boxes in there. Since you've never made a habit of buying me jewelry, they could only be for your girlfriend." Christine said and Mike rubbed his face.
"Earrings for you, locket for my daughter." Mike said before grabbing the two boxes and handing her the earrings.
"What?" Christine asked in complete confusion.
"You shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion. Knowing I have been scrambling to figure out a way to apologize to Hannah and her birthday is coming up. I thought the locket would be a nice gift for her. As for your earrings, no; I haven't bought you a lot of jewelry, and for a lot of different reasons. I couldn't afford it. There was always somewhere else for the money. You never told me you liked jewelry. God knows no one taught me how to be a husband or a father. Barring Maddie, I never cheated on you. Not one time. Until I was with her, it was only ever you. I don't very much appreciate being accused of something like that. I was only trying to do something nice for you." Mike said.
"Oh…I'm…sorry." Christine said before sitting down on the bed.
"And furthermore, I read your note this morning. I don't want you to pretend to be anyone. I loved Maddie and I will always miss her. I can't change that, but you are alive and she isn't. While I am sorry for saying her name in my sleep that night, I can't change how I feel. If you want a divorce, fine. We'll go tomorrow. Our thirtieth anniversary will be our last. I am honestly sick of this back and forth. We either want this marriage to work or we don't. I was planning on taking you out for a nice dinner, maybe go dancing, walk by the river. Give you the earrings, pledge my love to you and tell you that if we had fifteen, twenty, twenty-five more years together; I planned on spending it with you. The regional leaders, associates and whoever else can't change that. The ball is in your court now. You decide. I'm going to finish getting ready." Mike said before walking back into the bathroom. He wasn't sure what he expected from Christine, but a moment later; she walked into the bathroom and turned him around. She had been crying and she was wearing the earrings.
"Mike; I am sorry. I don't know what else to say, but I don't want this anniversary to be our last. I should have just called you when I found them, but I didn't. Just know; I love you so much." Christine said. Mike gently wiped the tears away, grabbed a wash rag and gently washed her face before giving her a long kiss.
"Good. Now; you don't have much time and you are kind of a mess. Why don't you get ready? I turned your flat iron on." Mike suggested and Christine laughed.
"Why don't you take your clothes into Joy's room and get dressed. I'll have the girls come in to help me." Christine said.
"Can you hide that necklace? I want to give it to Hannah when the moment is right." Mike asked as he gathered his own clothing.
"Of course." Christine answered as she put the box in a hat box on her dresser.
"And whatever you wear will be fine, but wear the earrings." Mike ordered before giving her a long and passionate kiss.
"Careful. Towel is going to drop." Christine teased.
"Yes, ma'am." Mike said before leaving the room.
An hour later, Christine was wearing a pencil skirt, blouse and pair of ballet type shoes. Her hair and make up was done to perfection and she was ready to go. Before Mike and Christine left, the older girls handed Mike a suitcase. They both looked at them in surprise.
"Uncle Tom helped us out, but you have a reservation at the Riverside Hotel. Its supposed to be really nice. He and Sasha are going to stay here so we will be alright. Enjoy." Hannah said before giving her mom a kiss on the cheek. She hesitated for a second before giving Mike a nervous hug. Mike kissed the top of her head and held on for a moment.
"Thank you, honey. We'll be home about lunch time tomorrow." Christine said. They both hugged and kissed the kids and walked out of the house, hand-in-hand.
Just a few more chapters left on this! Thanks for the reviews.