Chapter 455: Vitoria Cottage

Tuesday, February 14th, Morning

She slipped out of bed and wandered into her bathroom. The high-pressure streams from the multiple showerheads woke her up, and she felt like the overnight sweat, and grim was blasted off. The steam cleared out her sinuses from the overnight build-up.

Once she finished washing, she shut down her shower and wrapped a large towel around herself. She knew it was a high thread count of some of the best textiles one could buy. The bathroom still hung with the steam from the shower. She took a face cloth and cleared the mirror of condensation and looked at her face.

Kayla Drake reflected she was on the wrong side of forty but hardly noticed it in her face. One benefit to being married to the youngest son of the wealthiest family in the area was that she had access to resources to keep her looking young. She knew that it made her husband happy that she still looked young, and it helped with Kayla's ego. Even if it mainly meant she just used the excellent health and fitness resources.

After drying herself off, Kayla wrapped her hair in a towel and pulled on a full-length terrycloth bathrobe. Kayla left the bathroom and found Christian, her husband, was still in his bathroom. For whatever reason, Vitoria Cottage's master bedroom suite had separate bathrooms. Kayla left her bedroom and headed to check on her children.

Of her sisters and brother, Kayla was not only the oldest of her siblings; she was the least productive of the three that are married. Her baby sister, Kelly, had three kids, and her brother, Huck, being the overachiever he is, had five. Her other sister, Bobbi-Lee, was childless and single. Kayla only had two, a son, Jory, seven, and a daughter, Fiona or Fi, six.

Walking down the hall, Kayla found their live-in nanny coming out of Fi's room. The young woman looked at Kayla.

"Good morning, Mrs. Drake," the nanny said.

"Good morning, Carlisa; how are the kids this morning?" Kayla asked.

"They're doing great; they've been gushing about last night. Fi won't stop talking about it," Carlisa said.

Kayla smiled, "It was a great night," she said.

"Thanks again for helping out last night," Carlisa said.

"No problem, just think about it as a bonus," Kayla said.

Carlisa nodded, "Especially with me having to work tonight," she said.

"Yeah, no problem," Kayla said, then paused, "What? Wait, Did you just say you're working tonight?"

Carlisa nodded, "Yes, I am," she said.

"I don't remember asking you," Kayla said.

Carlisa shook her head, "You didn't ask me, Mrs. Drake," she said.

Kayla looked at Carlisa, puzzled, and cocked an eyebrow. "Okay? Who asked?" she asked.

"Mister Drake, Mrs. Drake," Carlisa said.

Kayla nodded and wondered what Christian had planned. She smiled and looked at Carlisa. "I'll make sure you get a little extra for tonight," Kayla said.

"Thank you, but it's not necessary," Carlisa said.

"No, no, you're giving up your night and doing us a favor," Kayla said.

"Okay, Mrs. Drake," Carlisa said.

Kayla sighed, "Have them ready and down for breakfast. I'll take them to school and like any other day," she said.

"Yes, Mrs. Drake," Carlisa said.

Kayla turned away to head back to the master bedroom. A smile cracked onto her face; she wondered, again, what Christian was planning. Entering her bedroom, Kayla could see it was something classy and formal.

Hanging on the hook on her wardrobe door was one of her slinkiest cocktail dresses. Kayla stood there looking at it. She knew this dress, it's black and made of fine material. The dress cinched in at the waist, was ankle length, only had spaghetti straps at the shoulders, it was cut out about under her breast height on the sides, just hinting about the intimate skin underneath, and was slit to show plenty of leg. Kayla knew she would have to wear a particular lingerie set, including a garter set. She sighed, and now she really needed to know what Christian had planned.

Christian Drake, her husband of nine years, entered the bedroom from his wardrobe. Kayla noticed he studied her, and she knew he was picturing her in the dress.

"So, you asked Carlisa to work tonight and didn't tell me," Kayla said as she walked over to him. When she stood in front of him, her hands started to play with the untucked tails of his button-down shirt.

"Yeah, I needed to set that up," Christian said.

"It's Valentine's Day," Kayla said.

"Yes, it is; happy Valentine's Day," Christian said.

Kayla pushed up onto her tippy toes and kissed Christian; he kissed her back. They broke apart and stared into each other's eyes. "So, where are you taking me tonight? Maybe someplace fancy and dancing afterward?" Kayla asked.

"Well, there will be a formal meal and possibly dancing as well," Christian said.

Still playing with his shirttails, Kayla gave Christian pouty eyes and lips. "So, Chris, where are you taking me?" Kayla asked.

Christian's nostrils flared, "Well, not far," he said.

"Where?" Kayla asked.

"Well…." Christian said.

"Chris," Kayla said.

"We're going to Fantasy Hall," Christian said.

Kayla looked at Christian. "Your brother's? The big house?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's a thing we do, remember?" Christian asked.

"I thought that ended when your dad passed," Kayla said.

"Well, Barnett decided to resurrect it," Christian said.

"Chris, why would your brother bring it back? Barnett hates Valentine's Day," Kayla said.

Christian shrugged. "I think it's because of Carrie," he said.

Kayla quickly looked out the bedroom window to the neighboring Tri-angle Cottage. She looked back to Christian. "What does your sister have to do with this?" she asked.

Christian sighed, "Carrie and Barnett are close, and she like our dad; they love Valentine's Day," he said.

Kayla nodded, "So, he starts the Valentine Ball again?" she asked.

"Well, it was/is a family tradition," Christian said.

"But why would Barnett bring a tradition back if he hates it?" Kayla asked.

Christian sighed hard. Kayla felt the tension build in Christian. "I think Barnett is doing this to try and bring Carrie out of her funk," he said.

Kayla nodded, she dropped his shirttails. She looked over to the evening dress hanging before them. Kayla sighed and turned to look back at Christian. "Why did you pick that dress out?" she asked.

"I want you to be the most beautiful woman there," Christian said.

Kayla canted her head, "I'm hardly a spring chicken," she said.

"Neither is most of them," Christian said, "In my eyes, you're more beautiful than Aurora."

"You lie through your teeth," Kayla said.

"I believe what I believe," Christian said.

Kayla nodded, "Well, hopefully, I can get home with enough time to get ready," she said.

Christian nodded, "Hopefully," he said.

Kayla whipped off the towel from her head. She started to walk away from Cristian. "I have to get into the office early so I can leave early. Maybe, I can get into seeing about getting a wax, maybe my nails and eyebrows too," she said.

Christian stood there and watched his wife as she ticked off things she needed or wanted to do. Shaking his head, Christian went looking for his pants. After one last look, he saw Kayla duck into her wardrobe to get dressed.