Chapter 7
Valentine's Day was fast approaching and I wanted to do something special with Shawn. Last Valentine's Day was so horrible for him; both of his grandfathers were killed that night, one by the Salem Stalker and the other was electrocuted in his bathtub. I wanted to take his mind off of that so I decided to surprise him with a weekend away at Green Mountain Lodge. A romantic getaway was just what we needed. I met Shawn at work on Friday evening. "Hey Beautiful, what are you doing here?" Shawn greeted me with a kiss. "I'm kidnapping you for Valentine's Day." I declared. "Oh really? Where to?" "Silly, hostage, if I told you then it wouldn't be a kidnapping now would it? Get in the car!" I teased. Shawn put his hands in the air and got in the car. I decided to go for the full kidnapping and blindfold Shawn so he had no idea where we were headed. He played along with a smile on his face.
We arrived at the lodge just after the sun set. I checked in at the front desk, parked the car, lead Shawn inside and took of his blindfold. "Happy Valentine's Day Shawn!" I exclaimed. "Belle, this was a great idea. I love this place. It's a perfect Valentine's gift." "I just want to relax up here with you. No work, no distractions, just you and me and a crackling fire." I explained. Shawn pulled me into his arms, looking me straight in the eyes and said, "Do you know how wonderful you are Isabella Brady?" "No, why don't you show me?" Shawn swept me up in his arms and carried me upstairs to our room.
We had a wonderful weekend; we skied a little, took a nice walk around the lodge, but spent most of the time in each other's arms in our room. Once we got home, Shawn immediately disappeared up to our room. He emerged a minute or two later, with a card and a little box wrapped in silver paper. "Happy Valentine's Day, Belle." He said as he handed me the gift. I read the card, "To the most amazing wife I could have asked for. I love you with all my heart. You are and always will be my Perfect Girl. Love, Shawn." I unwrapped the gift and opened the box. Inside was a silver charm bracelet. I lifted it out of the box. There was a charm in the shape of a wedding cake with our names and our wedding date engraved on it, a camping tent, a snowman charm, a ballerina charm, a painter's palate charm, and a heart charm with February 14, 2005 engraved on it. "Oh Shawn, I absolutely love it. Put it on for me please?" He took the bracelet from me and put it on my wrist. He held up the wedding charm, "It's pretty obvious why I put this charm on the bracelet, because it was the happiest day of my life." He picked up the tent next. "This was to commemorate our tent pitching escapade in Puerto Rico and our first kiss. The snowman charm is to remind you of the night we declared our love for one another. The ballerina charm is to signify the dance floors we cut up during those last blast dances, and the paint palate is because you're such a wonderful designer. I added the heart to signify my love for you and I put the date on it so you'll always remember when I gave the bracelet to you. There's a lot more room on the bracelet or charms to celebrate and honor more events in life to come." I have the most wonderful husband in the world.
Before I knew it, spring had sprung. One day I was walking around Salem Place with Mimi, looking at stuff for her baby's nursery when I literally bumped into my sister. "Hey Sami, what are you doing here? Looking for a baby shower gift?" I questioned. "Not exactly. I just left the doctor's office. It turns out, Will is going to have a little brother or sister for Christmas. I had some errands to run and I wandered in here to look over all of the cute baby things. Mimi spoke first, "Congratulations Sami!" and gave her a hug. "Yeah Sami, that's great." I managed. I disguised my disappointment that it was she who had the baby news and not me pretty well. Always tactful, my sister questioned, "so Belle, when are you going to join Mimi and me in the 'baby club' huh? You've been married longer than I have." Mimi elbowed her in the arm and gave her a look. Sami was puzzled for a moment but then realized what she had said. "Oh Belle, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking." "That's OK Sami." Mimi saved us. "Well Sami, sorry, but we're on a tight schedule. We're meeting the guys at 2:00." Sami spoke next, "Oh sure, Belle, I'll talk to you later." She turned and left. "Are you really OK Belle? You handled Sami really well." Asked Mimi. "Yeah I am. My sister suffers from 'open mouth, insert foot syndrome'. I knew she didn't mean anything hurtful." "Well, as long as you're OK. I've got an idea, let's abandon the baby shopping for the day and head over to The Java Café get a couple of decaf lattes. What do you say?" suggested Mimi. "I'd say that was a great idea."
Valentine's Day was fast approaching and I wanted to do something special with Shawn. Last Valentine's Day was so horrible for him; both of his grandfathers were killed that night, one by the Salem Stalker and the other was electrocuted in his bathtub. I wanted to take his mind off of that so I decided to surprise him with a weekend away at Green Mountain Lodge. A romantic getaway was just what we needed. I met Shawn at work on Friday evening. "Hey Beautiful, what are you doing here?" Shawn greeted me with a kiss. "I'm kidnapping you for Valentine's Day." I declared. "Oh really? Where to?" "Silly, hostage, if I told you then it wouldn't be a kidnapping now would it? Get in the car!" I teased. Shawn put his hands in the air and got in the car. I decided to go for the full kidnapping and blindfold Shawn so he had no idea where we were headed. He played along with a smile on his face.
We arrived at the lodge just after the sun set. I checked in at the front desk, parked the car, lead Shawn inside and took of his blindfold. "Happy Valentine's Day Shawn!" I exclaimed. "Belle, this was a great idea. I love this place. It's a perfect Valentine's gift." "I just want to relax up here with you. No work, no distractions, just you and me and a crackling fire." I explained. Shawn pulled me into his arms, looking me straight in the eyes and said, "Do you know how wonderful you are Isabella Brady?" "No, why don't you show me?" Shawn swept me up in his arms and carried me upstairs to our room.
We had a wonderful weekend; we skied a little, took a nice walk around the lodge, but spent most of the time in each other's arms in our room. Once we got home, Shawn immediately disappeared up to our room. He emerged a minute or two later, with a card and a little box wrapped in silver paper. "Happy Valentine's Day, Belle." He said as he handed me the gift. I read the card, "To the most amazing wife I could have asked for. I love you with all my heart. You are and always will be my Perfect Girl. Love, Shawn." I unwrapped the gift and opened the box. Inside was a silver charm bracelet. I lifted it out of the box. There was a charm in the shape of a wedding cake with our names and our wedding date engraved on it, a camping tent, a snowman charm, a ballerina charm, a painter's palate charm, and a heart charm with February 14, 2005 engraved on it. "Oh Shawn, I absolutely love it. Put it on for me please?" He took the bracelet from me and put it on my wrist. He held up the wedding charm, "It's pretty obvious why I put this charm on the bracelet, because it was the happiest day of my life." He picked up the tent next. "This was to commemorate our tent pitching escapade in Puerto Rico and our first kiss. The snowman charm is to remind you of the night we declared our love for one another. The ballerina charm is to signify the dance floors we cut up during those last blast dances, and the paint palate is because you're such a wonderful designer. I added the heart to signify my love for you and I put the date on it so you'll always remember when I gave the bracelet to you. There's a lot more room on the bracelet or charms to celebrate and honor more events in life to come." I have the most wonderful husband in the world.
Before I knew it, spring had sprung. One day I was walking around Salem Place with Mimi, looking at stuff for her baby's nursery when I literally bumped into my sister. "Hey Sami, what are you doing here? Looking for a baby shower gift?" I questioned. "Not exactly. I just left the doctor's office. It turns out, Will is going to have a little brother or sister for Christmas. I had some errands to run and I wandered in here to look over all of the cute baby things. Mimi spoke first, "Congratulations Sami!" and gave her a hug. "Yeah Sami, that's great." I managed. I disguised my disappointment that it was she who had the baby news and not me pretty well. Always tactful, my sister questioned, "so Belle, when are you going to join Mimi and me in the 'baby club' huh? You've been married longer than I have." Mimi elbowed her in the arm and gave her a look. Sami was puzzled for a moment but then realized what she had said. "Oh Belle, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking." "That's OK Sami." Mimi saved us. "Well Sami, sorry, but we're on a tight schedule. We're meeting the guys at 2:00." Sami spoke next, "Oh sure, Belle, I'll talk to you later." She turned and left. "Are you really OK Belle? You handled Sami really well." Asked Mimi. "Yeah I am. My sister suffers from 'open mouth, insert foot syndrome'. I knew she didn't mean anything hurtful." "Well, as long as you're OK. I've got an idea, let's abandon the baby shopping for the day and head over to The Java Café get a couple of decaf lattes. What do you say?" suggested Mimi. "I'd say that was a great idea."