1Author's Note: I thank you all for your reviews. They made me smile. :D Anyhoo, this chapter's poem is much more positive than the last. Without further beating around the bush, I give you chapter 2!

The sun shined brightly

And the birds were singing

Her hair shone lightly

And she was smiling

Emily awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. She rolled over and smiled at the warm figure she came in contact with. Her eyes snapped open as the night before's events flooded her memory. Trying to be as discrete as possible, the red haired woman eased from the bed, swearing loudly when she knocked over the clock.

The main she had shared the night, and the bed, with groaned and rolled over, his hand catching her wrist firmly. "Were are you going?" he asked hoarsely. "I hope you aren't leaving me to wake up in an empty bed, because that isn't polite."

Emily bit her lip and slowly turned around, her cheeks flushing deeply and her gaze fixated on the floor. "I was..." she whispered. "I was going back to the house." She felt tears welling in her eyes as she glanced up to see his saddened expression. Oh, how could she have done this to her heart's capture?

Richard sighed and sat up in his bed, tugging at her arm lightly, with just enough force to make her sit on the edge of the bed. "Emily, what happened?" he asked in a whisper. "What made you come back?" Normally, the husband would be thrilled to have his wife back in bed with him, but ... Richard was more concerned than thrilled. His wife didn't apologize easily. She was much too proud; that was one of the reasons he loved her so much.

"I ... I ..." she stammered, rather embarrassed at the actual reason she had fled to his bed the night before. "I missed you." In all truth, she had missed him terribly. But that was not the entire reasoning behind her fleeing to him. "I just missed you." she repeated in a whisper.

The man smiled at his wife, but only for a moment, then his face became on of a serious nature. "Emily ... " he began. "Where do we go from here?" His voice was soft, almost cautious to prod for information, as if he would shove her away if he asked any differently.

The woman in question pondered his question before looking back up at him and biting down on her lip. "I ... I don't know." she whispered in response. "I suppose we should ..." She let her sentence hang, leaving the decision up to him, as she always had.

She looked for his love

And in his ocean of eyes

She could see the Heavens Above

Had granted her, even with her lies

With a olive branch, a dove

"We should ... " he continued, looking at her with a cocked eyebrow and a questioning gaze. "We should what, Emily? Finish your sentence? Yes, that sounds lovely to me." Richard had never been one to wait for a reply. He had always been so impatient, but when he was patient, which was rare, he was ever so glad he had waited.

His wife glared at him for making such a remark. "Don't talk to me that way." she snapped, a bit more harsh than she intended. "I was hoping you would be the one to say what we did, as you are normally the one that makes all of th-"

Richard cut her off with a retort of his own, returning her icy tone. "Well, I wasn't the one that crawled in your bed at some unknown time at night, now was I?" he snarled. "I wasn't the one that made you sleep in a lonely bed every night while you I slept in a hotel room. It most certainly wasn't me that wanted this damned separation." When he realized he had said too much, he stood and moved to the drink cart in the living room to fix himself a scotch and taking a large gulp.

Emily, on the other hand, was thinking rather deeply about his words. He hadn't wanted it? He certainly hadn't tried to stop it, that's for sure. She had left because ... she'd thought that's what he wanted. She thought he wanted her to leave him alone. She wanted a bit of peace as well, but it all boiled down to her husband's happiness. Yes, she was hurt by his impromptu cancellation of her party, (that had taken her days to put together!), but she let him because she wanted him happy above all else.

She stood after a few moments in her thoughts, slowly making her way to the living room of the pool house. "Richard?" she said softly, moving to her husband's side. "You...You didn't want me to leave you alone?" Her voice was thick with emotion as she spoke, her heart fluttering as the butterflies in her stomach did, her hope rising. Was this all just a stupid mistake on her part? Could she fix it?

The man in question turned to her and sighed, his heart cracking at the sight of tears in his lover's eyes. "No, I didn't" he replied just as softly, his hand gently wiping away a stray tear that fell from her glistening eyes. "I was upset with the way everything was working out with the business and just ... I didn't know how else to release my frustration than to ignore you so I wouldn't hurt you like I have in the past by taking it out on you and I only caused more trouble than I would have if I would have just done as normal." He chuckled and handed her his glass of scotch to take a sip, knowing full and well she needed something to calm her nerves.

Lovers of Old

One could be told

There are so few

But of these lovers

There is a new

Spark of romance

Beneath their cover

Emily gladly accepted his drink and took a decent sip before handing it back and gesturing they take a seat on his sofa. He sat first and she daintily sat next to him, her hands in her lap and her foot tucked behind her ankle. "I... I'm sorry I left." she whispered after what seemed like forever, barely audible to her husband. "I should have tried to talk to you about what was bothering you instead of ignoring it." She looked back up at him and smiled weakly, averting her gaze down to her bare feet.

"And I'm sorry I upset you so much." he replied just as softly, taking her hand in his. "I should have talked to your more than I did and should have listened when you tried to start a conversation." Richard brought her hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to it before moving her into his arms and kissing her properly, his lips tentatively brushing against hers before engaging in a much more passionate kiss; their tongues battled a fight of passion they had long ago learned, his hands moving to cup her jaw and hers clutching his night shirt. He moved from her lips to her jaw, his hands moving to thread through her hair, hers fondling the back of his neck similarly.

"Richard..." she whispered, applying a slight amount of pressure to his chest to get him to raise up. "Not here. Our bed." Emily blushed slightly, hoping she hadn't assumed that's what he wanted. Her husband chuckled at her blush and kissed her lips lightly before moving to his bedroom and grabbing his house coat and a pair of shoes, noting that she was bare footed and most probably had run through the snow to get to him. He Gingerly picked her up in his arms and hurried them to the main house, occasionally pressing a kiss to her lips as he made his way through the living room and up the stairs to their bedroom.

Richard set her down on the first landing, wanting to walk up with her hand in his. She quickly caught his hand with her own and lead him up, a knot of nervousness forming in her stomach.

It had been over four months since they last made love, it having been after his mother had come over and he (finally) defended himself and Emily over several different matters. Oh she was so nervous. What if she could no longer please him? What if he expected more of her or thought her hideous? Hundreds of questions flew through the woman's mind as she lead him to their bedroom door, her hand landing on the door knob shakily.

Richard was just as nervous as his wife, scared he wouldn't be able to satisfy her of that he would simply wake up and it have been a dream. He almost shook with his nervousness as the bedroom door opened, a room he had not entered for 3 months, give or take a day.

Author's Note: I decided to make that scene a chapter of it's own, so, should one want to skip the details, (nothing too graphic), one could do so. I should have the last two chapters up later this week, or the next. :D Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. :-)