The next week, Sean and Tiffany are back on the couch, side by side, knees practically touching. "So how was your week?" Gail asked.
"Strange," Tiffany said.
"Strange how?" Gail continued.
"It didn't go exactly as we might have wanted to draw it up, but I think we still got closer," Sean replied.
"Go on," Gail said.
Sean looks at Tiffany as though he wants to check if it's all right for him to reveal what he wants to say. She nods.
"We went on a ... date after our last session. We both put work aside for a change, drove off on our own without knowing where we would end up."
"Where did you wind up?"
"We drove upstate. There's this place in New Paltz. Lake Mohonk."
"Yes, I know it."
"Then you know it's not exactly in-season, so we had this big expansive place pretty much to ourselves for an early dinner," Sean said.
"That sounds nice," Gail said.
"It was," Tiffany said.
"Did you stay over?" Gail asked.
Sean looks again to Tiffany for confirmation.
"You know you've done that twice now, Sean," Gail said.
"I just don't want to say anything that's going to make her uncomfortable," he said.
"It's kind of difficult to work under that premise in therapy."
"I know," he said, wringing his hands. "You're trying to make things perfect for her, but you can't do that." "You mean I could've done that, but now I can't," he said.
"You didn't say a lot in here last week, but I think you're struggling with your own thoughts and feelings too," Gail said.
"It's hard to know that if I thought twice about some things that a lot of what we went through would never have happened," Sean admitted.
"That holds a lot of couples back," Gail said. "But you have to keep moving forward. So tell me about your evening."
"We did stay the night," Sean said. "But there's a reason why there aren't a lot of people around the place this time of year."
"It's kind of drafty there," Tiffany added. "I caught a cold and I was sick for the next few days."
"Oh no," Gail said sympathetically.
"Well Sean took good care of me," she said. "He came by the penthouse to check up on me whenever he was in the neighborhood - and sometimes when I think he wasn't - to give me soup or orange juice. ... And held me in his arms at night so the chill would go away."
"I don't believe I've ever heard of a nicer way to battle a cold," Gail said.
"Me either," Tiff said. "Of course, because he did that, he caught my cold. So the next three days after that, he was sick and I was the care giver."
"So you stayed with Sean those nights?" Gail asked.
Tiffany blushes. "I can't believe I have trouble talking about this. I mean we're married. I'm allowed to be in bed in my husband."
"Well you're rebuilding your relationship and, in some ways, I'm sure it must feel new and very fragile," Gail said. "Even more so than when you first got together. There's more at stake for both of you. So that's going to make you self-conscious on a lot of levels."
"I'm definitely that," she said.
"You know what I learned this week?" Sean asked. Tiffany and Gail wait for him to continue. "I think this woman stronger than she even knows."
"Anything else?" Gail asked.
"Yes. I feel closer to her than I ever have before." "Tiff? How do you feel about him saying that?" Gail asked.
"Good?"
"Are you asking?" Gail followed.
"I feel good about it," Tiffany said more definitively. "I love him, I know he loves me. We're getting there? ... I know, I said it as a question again."
"Are you questioning that?" Gail asked.
"No," Tiff responded. "I feel better for longer stretches. I'm able to be open and vulnerable for longer periods of time before something starts nagging at me again."
"What's nagging at you now?"
Tiffany looks down and starts playing with her rings. "It's our fifth anniversary in a couple days," she said.
"And..." Gail said, willing her to continue.
"I'm not sure if that's something to celebrate."
They all sit there in silence for a moment.
"Why wouldn't you want to celebrate, Tiff? You're together," Gail said.
"I'm not sure we have cause to. I know it's five years and it's a milestone, but it's also been the worst year I've ever had."
"Sean? How do you feel about this?"
Sean takes a deep breath and really thinks about what he wants to say.
"It is the worst year we've ever had," he said. "I also think it's the most important."
"So you just don't want to let it pass?" Gail asked.
"No, I don't. I want to ... reinforce all the reasons I asked the love of my life to marry me in the first place."
Tiffany chokes up, Sean puts his hand on her neck and rubs it gently.
"Seems like so long ago," Tiffany said wistfully.
"I still remember all of it," he said. "And I didn't even know then."
"What didn't you know?" Gail asked to help him continue.
He does. "... didn't know that she would become so much a part of who I am. The best part."
Tiffany's in tears and Gail practically is herself.
"Sounds like you do have something to celebrate then," she said.
"Definitely," he said. "So how about it, Mrs. D?"
Tiff smiles through her tears at that. "Kind of hard to resist."
"Good, then this part will be easier," Sean said. "I want to take you away. Just you and me. Anniversary through Christmas and even a few days after that if you can swing it."
"Where?"
"Anywhere you want to go."
She chuckles. "Somewhere warm, I think."
"Check," Sean said. "Anywhere specific?"
"Somewhere we haven't been together before?"
"Check," he said again, a slow smile crossing his face.
"He's got somewhere in mind," Tiffany said to Gail.
"I do," he replied.
"Why don't you two go get to it?" Gail said.
"We're done?" Tiffany asked.
"You're doing extra-credit work," Gail smiled. "Think of it as an anniversary gift."
"I'll try to remember that when I'm writing my check," Sean winked.
"I'll see you next week ... unless the warm air proves more enticing," she said.
"We'll be back," Sean said. "Thanks, Gail."
They both rise, say their good-byes and walk out of the room. Just he had the previous week, Sean swings Tiffany into his arms. She laughs and bites her lip in anticipation.
"I thought I had kind of set a precedent last week," he said. "I kind of decided that no matter what happens in that room, when we get out of there, I want to hold you and remind you of how much I love and want you."
He curls his hand around the back of her head and slowly closes the gap between them. "I love you," he said so softly she's not sure she hears it, but she feels it before his lips touch her.
"You're not going to tell me where we're going are you?" she asked when they pulled back.
"Nope," he said, the smile crossing his face again. "Come on, we both have a lot of things to clear off our respective plates before we go."
"OK," she said, putting all her faith in him.
A few days later, they're walking down the streets of Key West, raucous laughter and partying going on behind them as they walk hand in hand toward the beach in front of them. They both seem totally at ease. Tiffany's wearing a floral sundress with a matching hat, and Sean is dressed in a white linen shirt and pants and black Wayfarers.
"So gorgeous here," she said, looking out in front of her.
"So gorgeous here," he said, enfolding her in his arms, so she's walking in front of him. They sort of stumble over the next few steps and laugh, still holding on to each other. Sean takes her hand and kisses it as they continue to walk.
They stroll along the beachfront together. Tiffany bends her head back so she can feel the warm breeze along her neck. Sean watches admiringly. In fact, he stops walking and as she continues their arms stretch out between them. She turns back to see what's holding him up and is mesmerized by the look he's giving her.
"Smartest decision I ever made was asking you to marry me," he said. "And it must be the luckiest one too, because I'm not sure I was smart enough to make it at the time."
He steps closer to her and plays with a strand of her hair. "My luck's apparently still holding. ... I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry."
"No, not now, not here," she said, fighting back tears.
"I have to," he said, dropping to his knee. "Will you marry me?"
"We already did that," she said, almost cringing at the memory of her wedding. "It's seared onto my brain."
"I feel like I owe you another one," he said. "A better one. Less laughing, more focus on the 'as long as we both shall live' part."
Tiffany shakes her head and drops to the sand on her knees. "I'm already married to you," she said. "Til death do us part, right?"
"Yes," he said.
"You may now kiss your wife," she said.
"With pleasure," he replied and drew her in his arms for the first of many long, tender kisses.
"Did you buy me another ring?" she asked as they rose to their feet quite some time later. He nods without looking her in the eyes, she chuckles in response. They interlace fingers again and stroll back down the beach.