Sydney's heart was racing as she waited for him to say something. Anything would be better than the silence that they were now sitting in. Vaughn stared down at the table, the news that she had told him still registering in his mind. He could understand her mom being at her wedding; that was something that every girl deserved to have. But the fact that Irina Derevko had been in his house, sitting on their sofa was too hard for him to understand. And the fact that Sydney had hidden this from him, only made things worse.
Finally, Sydney couldn't take the silence any longer. "Michael…?"
He slowly raised his eyes from the table and looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Sydney felt guilty for keeping this to herself, but she had his best interests at heart. "I didn't want to hurt you." She paused and stood up to sit beside him. "I know the pain that that woman has caused you, and I didn't want to bring all that to the surface again." Vaughn remained silent so she continued. "At the time, I still worked for the CIA. And having Irina Derevko sitting in my living room, was not exactly a smart move. She's on the CIA's most wanted list and by not taking her into custody while she was in our house, I was breaking a dozen federal laws. I could live with myself being caught for that Vaughn, but I didn't want anything to happen to you because of it."
"And you think nothing would have happened to me, if you'd had been put in prison? At the least they would have given you life, and I couldn't live with that Sydney. I couldn't lose you again."
"I knew what I was risking Vaughn, but she's my mother. I can't begin to tell you what not having her in my life has done to me. I just wanted to pretend, even for a little while, that she was like any other mother; always there for me when I need her." Sydney quickly wiped a tear away from her cheek. She suddenly remembered that they were in a public place, and she tried to stop the rest of her tears from falling. Vaughn could see that she was upset and moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her delicate shoulders.
He gently hugged her. "It's ok."
She leaned slightly back from his embrace so that she could see his face. "I wasn't going to tell you; it was all in the past and that's were I thought it should stay. But then I thought about today; about how important you are to me, and I knew that I couldn't keep any secrets from you." She closed the gap between them and lightly kissed him on the lips, and to her surprise, he kissed her back.
They finished their drinks and left Starbucks. Sydney felt better that she had told him and Michael was glad that he now knew. He took his hand in hers as they walked down the street towards their parked car.
"So, I believe it's your turn to pick the next destination…" Sydney wanted to lighten the mood, after what she had just told him. Vaughn was silent for a minute, before flashing her a knowing smile.
"Yes it is. And I know the perfect place."
Twenty minutes later, they were stood outside the ice rink. Sydney smiled at him; she loved it when they went skating together; only she wasn't fully aware of the surprise that Vaughn was planning for her. They walked inside the rink to find it empty. The guy behind the counter told them that a junior hockey practise had just finished, and they weren't expecting any other customers for at least another hour.
Vaughn paid the guy for the two of them and then turned to Sydney. "Honey, why don't you go and wait for me by the stands." He kissed her cheek, and watched her walk away, a confused look on her face.
Sydney did as he asked, and waited patiently by the edge of the ice. The whole rink was empty, and the room was silent, apart from the slight buzz coming from the air conditioning. She was so relaxed sitting there, that she didn't notice Vaughn walking towards her, a huge smile on his face.
"What was going on back there?" Sydney asked, eager to find out what Vaughn was up to.
He leaned towards forward, planting a kiss on her lips. "It's a surprise." Sydney smiled; Michael's surprises were always so sweet, but she hated having to wait in anticipation for them.
"Ok." She looked down at his hands to see that they were empty. They couldn't exactly skate without boots. "Where are the boots?"
His smile grew wider as he took her hand. "See that's the surprise." He pulled her to her feet and they started walking towards the edge of the ice. "We are going to skate, but first I have something better for us to do." He nodded towards the left end of the rink, as the doors opened and a white zamboni machine was driven onto the ice.
Sydney watched in amazement as the machine got closer to them. She tightened her grip on his hand, as her smile grew. The guy driving it brought it to a stop infront of them and climbed out.
"She's all yours." He tossed the keys at Vaughn and walked out of the rink, leaving them alone. Sydney wasn't sure if she'd heard him right; we can drive the zamboni?
She turned to look at Vaughn, as he played with the keys in his hand. "You didn't?" She asked, totally stunned that he had done something like that for her. Every day he kept surprising her with his romantic gestures, making her fall more and more in love with him.
He shrugged shyly. "I know how much you love them, and I thought that seeing as today is our special day, you should as least get it drive it!" She led her towards the machine, holding her steadily as they walked on the ice.
They both climbed into the zamboni, and Vaughn handed her the keys. Ever since Sydney was a child, she had loved the zamboni, and now she had the chance to drive one. Before putting the keys in the ignition, she turned to face her husband.
"Thank you." She cupped his face with her hands, and brought his lips closer to her own.
"It was worth it to see the look on your face." He replied, as she put the keys in the machine.
She put her foot down on the pedal, and laughed as the zamboni started moving forward. Vaughn watched her curiously out of the corner of his eye, the look of sheer excitement being worth the 75 that he had paid the guy to let her do this. Vaughn knew that money would never be an issue when it came to making her happy, he would gladly give everything that he had to see her smile, the way that she was now.