The sun shined brightly down on the Playa Linda Beach. Waves softly crashed against the sand on the shore. As we move up the beach, we see Ava sleeping confortably under Johnny's arm. A blanket covered the two of them. Slowly, Ava opens her eyes. She sees the bright sun peering down on them. She feels a strong arm around her waist. The only thing she thinks of is how comfortable she is. She looks over her shoulder and sees Johnny, fast asleep, holding her. She felt so relaxed, so safe. Johnny's eyes begin to open and a slight smile begins to appear as he realizes where he is. "Good morning," he says to Ava in a deep, sexy voice. "Good morning," she says as she returns his smile. They share soft kiss. "So…." Johnny begins, "last night was…" …. He quickly gets cut off by a terrified look on Ava's face. "What's wrong?" he asked her, confused by her sudden change. "Oh my God! The kids! Johnny, we stayed out all night!" Ava begins to get dressed and motions for Johnny to do the same. "I'm sure they're fine. Susannah was home." Johnny replied calmly. "What time is it?" she asked, still worried about them. Johnny looks at his watch and replies, "10 o clock." "Oh my God!" Ava says, "They must have found out that we were out all night! We have to go!" Ava quickly sits up and pulls the blanket off her and Johnny. "Come on!" she tells Johnny. "But…" Johnny says, "Ava…" Ava grabs Johnny's hand and he reluctantly follows her into the house. They quickly attempt to make themselves look presentable, but end up looking worse. They quietly open the door and sneak in the house. Everything is quiet. "Maybe they're not here." Ava whispers, hopefully. Just as they enter the kitchen, they see the faces up Susannah, Jay, Bradin, Nikki, and Derrick staring at them. Ava and Johnny stand there, hand in hand, wondering why everyone is staring. We see that Nikki, Susannah, and Jay have slight grins on their faces. Ava and Johnny realize how hastily they dressed when they look at each other. Johnny's hair is rustled, his shirt is unbuttoned, and the belt of his pants is still un-buckled. Ava's hair is frizzy, her clothes are mussed, and her skirt is on backward. "We were… ummm.." Ava begins. "Yeah," Johnny continues, "We were at the beach.. and we… umm" Johnny clearly hadn't done any better at lying than Ava had. "Would you excuse us for a second?" Ava asks, and quickly pulls Johnny into the other room. "What are we going to say?" she whispers to him. "Well, I'm pretty sure they figured out what happened. I mean, we stayed out all night, don't come back to the house until late morning, we walk in hand in hand, and our clothes are the same as the ones that we wore yesterday. Is there really another explanation for all those things?" Johnny replies. Ava stood there, pondering the facts Johnny had presented. "Listen, Ava," Johnny began, "They were going to find out sooner or later. I meant every word that I said last night. I do love you. Very much." "Johnny, I…." Ava tried to respond, but was quickly cut off. "And I know that we can have a wonderful, happy future together. But we couldn't keep it secret forever. I mean…" Ava moved in a little closer and kissed him softly, but passionately. "I thought that would shut you up." She said jokingly. "Johnny, I love you too. And I want to have a wonderful, happy future with you, too. When I laid there this morning with your arm holding me close to you, I felt so safe. I never want to lose that feeling again. Its just that… this just isn't the way I wanted to tell them." "Why does it matter how we tell them? What we have is real. Why do we need to sugar coat it with a fake story about what happened last night?" Johnny said. "You're right." Ava said, "Come on! In the words of Ricky Ricardo, 'We got some splainin' to do'" And with a quick kiss, they walked back into the kitchen, hand in hand. The room suddenly fell quiet as they entered. "Everyone," Ava began, "Johnny and I…." (everyone's faces light up in anticipation) "are back together." Johnny pulls Ava in close and gives her a quick kiss. "Yes!" Nikki screams. Everyone is excited by the news and runs up to ask Ava and Johnny what happened the night before. Johnny puts his arm gently around Ava's waist and pulls her close to him. Everyone smiles at how happy the new couple is.
"Oh my God! I can't believe they're back together! Finally!" Nikki squeeled. "Ya got that right!" Susannah agreed. "What do ya got right?" Ava asked as she entered the room. "Oh, nothing…" Nikki said, "Just that it took you and Johnny long enough to realize your feelings, that's all." Johnny walks in and hears Nikki's last statement. "Well, it may have taken us a while.. but it was worth waiting for." Johnny said as he walked over, gave Ava a quick kiss, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned back into the comfortable embrace. She couldn't even explain how safe she felt when Johnny held her. Nikki and Susannah smiled at the happy couple, over-joyed that they finally did something about the chemistry that is so obviously between them. Bradin walks into the room and sees Ava and Johnny. "Oh get a room!" he says jokingly as he walks toward the front door. Ava and Johnny laugh. "Well I'm gonna hit the waves. I'll be home later. Bye." Bradin says as he walks out. "So, Ava, I was thinkin'….," Johnny began, "Would you like to do something tonight?" "Sure." Ava replied, "What exactly do you have in mind?" "You'll see. I'll pick you up at 8. Well, I have to go out for a while to set up our evening together, but I'll see you later." He kisses her. "I love you." He whispers. "I love you too." She replies as he heads out the door. Ava sighed as she sat down at the table with Nikki and Susannah. "Well, Nikki, I think I found what was missing in my life. Thank you, sweetie, for trying to make me realize what I've been missing all this time." She hugs Nikki. "I only do it because I want you to be happy. But now you are… so my work is done! I love you Aunt Ava. Oh yeah… and you better tell em all about your date tonight!" "I will sweetie." "Well, I'm gonna go meet Cam and tell him the great news. I'll so you later!" Nikki said as she rushes out the front door. "Bye Nikki!" Ava and Susannah say. "So……." Says Susannah, "You and Johnny…. Finally! So what really happened last night? Now that the kids are gone… I want DETAILS!" "Well…" Ava began, "Last night I was standing out on the beach, looking at the waves crashing onto the shore. I thought about my conversation with Nikki, and I thought about Johnny. I wondered if it was really over between us. I mean, a lot has happened. And then Johnny came outside, and stood next to me. We were talking and …. Well…… what it came down to was that I told him I still loved him. Then he asked me if this was about him moving out, and I said, 'Johnny, you could move out and move back in 10,000 times and it would not change the way I feel'. And then I told him that I don't want to fight with him. And then he said that he loves me too and that he just hasn't been able to say it because of everything that's happened. And then we kissed. Oh, I had forgotten what a great kisser he is. But anyway, the next thing I remember was waking up no the beach, all cuddled up next to him. I felt so safe. I feel so safe with him. It's just so easy to be with him. It's a great feeling. It's great to have it back." "You really do love him!" Susannah replied. "Yes, I really do." Ava said.
Ding Dong the doorbell rings
"I'll get it!" Ava shouted. She rushed down the stairs with her shoes in her hands. She got to the bottom of the stairs and tried to put her shoes on as she kept moving toward the door. She realized that definitely was a bad idea as she tripped and fell. She looked down. Oh, thank God! At least I didn't rip my dress she thought to herself. She finally made it to the door (in one piece) and opened it to reveal Johnny. He looked great! He wore a plain button down shirt and jeans, but he made it look so good. "Hi." He said as he reached out his hand for hers. "You look beautiful." "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." She replied as she grabbed his hand and walked outside with him. She kissed him passionately. "I missed you today." She said. "Well believe me, it will be worth it." He said. He pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and tied it on her. "I want this to be a complete surprise." He said. "Follow me." He put his arm gently around her waist to lead her. When they stopped a few minutes later, he untied the blindfold so Ava could see what he had done. "OH my God! It's beautiful! Did you do all this yourself?" "I had a little help from Jay." He replied. Ava looked around. They were out on the beach. The waves were crashing against the sand. There were beautiful lights everywhere. The moon shined brightly in the sky. There was a table set for two. Dishes of food sat under large silver covers. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat down. "Oh, Johnny, I don't know what to say!" she said. "You don't have to say anything. All I can say is how beautiful you look tonight." She blushed a little. They ate their dinner, chatting as the enjoyed Johnny's delicious cooking. After they were all through, Johnny asked, "Would you like to dance?" he held out his hand for her. "I'd love to." She replied and grabbed his hand. He turned on a radio and a slow song played. Ava immediately recognized it as "Somebody like you" by Keith Urban. They got close and Johnny put his arms around her waist, and she placed her arms around his neck. She rested her head on Johnny's shoulder. It was so wonderful just being here with him. She hoped he felt the same way. The lyrics of the song echoed through her head. This song perfectly stated how she felt about Johnny.
There's a new wind blowin' like I've never known.
I'm breathin' deeper than I've ever done.
And it sure feels good, to finally feel the way I do.
I wanna love somebody,
Love somebody like you.
An' I'm lettin' go of all my lonely yesterdays.
I've forgiven myself for the mistakes I've made.
Now there's just one thing, the only thing I wanna do, mmm, mmm.
I wanna love somebody,
Love somebody like you.
Yeah, I wanna feel the sunshine,
Shinin' down on me and you.
When you put your arms around me,
You let me know there's nothing in this world I can't do.
After they had danced for a while, they returned to the table. That's when Johnny said, "Ava, I have something I need to ask you."