Thank you again for reading and the reviews. The clue to part two is in this chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter Eight
April 28, 1996
There's something about a Sunday. The quiet and peaceful way it enters the world. There's no sunrise like a Sunday morning sunrise. The awakening of a new week. A chance to make life better than before.
As the lear jet sped across the sky, she glanced out the window. The light blue of dawn bled into the midnight blue ahead of them. Her fingers slid back and forth over the top of the envelope, she held standing up on the table in front of her. When Marie first placed it in her hand before she left, she told her she didn't need it. In reality, she clung to it through the trip before she set her eyes on him living and breathing. The nine letters of her name written in his handwriting just as she had seen it a hundred times before. Moving forward she was committed to life being better than before.
Her gaze went left as she kissed the top of his head resting on her shoulder. His gentle snoring was the only Sunday peace and quiet she needed. The navy-blue sling held his arm tight against his Marines t-shirt. His muscles, depleted from his capture, left his jeans fitting loosely on his legs. He had a long road of recovery but she would be right there beside him. She settled in next to him and fell back asleep. The envelope left laying on the table.
An hour later, the attendant tapped her to wake them. "Touch down is in a half hour. You need to prepare."
Elizabeth wiped the sleep from her eyes and whispered a small, "thank you."
She shook Henry gently. "Henry, wake up." He startled and stared at her not knowing where he was. His nightmare ending just as the whip was about to cross.
"Henry, we're on the plane. You are safe. You're with me," she smiled at him anxiously.
He grinned back at her and picked himself up in the seat, "Right." He kissed her on the cheek as she took it all in.
She hesitated and then handed him the envelope, "Your mother gave this to me when I left. I need to give it back you before we land."
"Did you open it?" he asked as he took the envelope.
"No," she shook her head and the tears welled up. "I knew you would make it out of there alive."
The tear fell and he wiped it. "Someday, you will read them. But, later…much later in life," he told her.
"I love you," she whispered to him as the wheels touched down.
"I love you too," his voice finding its' way to soothe her heart as they were firmly on the land of the free.
Stepping off the plane, she glanced up to find Conrad standing at the car waiting for them. His arms crossed in front of him. His dark suit fitting the mood as his face showed concern for them.
As they made their way to him, he smiled at Henry and said, "I'd hug you but it looks like it would hurt." Henry managed a slight laugh back at him.
"How about breakfast with your baby girl instead?" His agent opened the back door, "Hop in, Lydia is making a feast at your place." Henry smiled at Elizabeth as they slid in the back of the car and the motorcade took off to bring him home.
They held hands the whole way as Conrad and Elizabeth filled Henry in on a few details of what happened while he was in captivity. The rest would come later.
Patrick and Marie stepped outside just as the two car motorcade pulled up. Patrick held Stevie dressed in a white smocked dress with red and blue on the edges. She bounced her arms up and down. As they got out of the car, Henry moved swiftly to take his baby girl in his arms and then turned to pull Elizabeth in by the waist. Time stood still as they reunited as a family.
Evening fell with the house finally just the three of them. The sunset cast a pink glow on the walls of the nursery. Elizabeth had already helped Henry with a shower, bathed Stevie and put her in her pajamas. She settled herself down in the rocking chair with Stevie in her arms and peeked out the window. The sunset gave the sky a pinkish-blue glow which in turn gave her some inspiration.
Turning her attention back to the child that was here, she watched her with the worry that she wouldn't latch as their time away from each other would prematurely wean her. But, her daughter was a champ. As she fed, Elizabeth put her head back completely exhausted from the last week. She nearly dozed off when Stevie finished and fussed. She placed her gently up on her shoulder, Stevie's little hand reaching behind her neck to hold on to her mother's wispy hairs under the length of her golden tresses. "Ouch," Elizabeth reached back and pulled her hand off. She kissed her head with it's soft blonde top and good baby smell, "I get that you are mad that I left but that was uncalled for, little lady. Even so, I missed you so much! Daddy and I are home now and we love you so much."
"More than she will ever know." Henry leaned on the doorway in his plaid pajama pants which were also too baggy now.
She stared back at him. The markings on his chest looked painful and she still needed to do his healing ointment and bandages but for now she just stared at him. The last few days she sat here resilient with the knowledge he would live, but now that he did, she could be honest that the other possibility crossed her mind more than once. She sighed with the relief that he was home.
He stepped in looking right at her as he painfully leaned down to take Stevie with his good arm and he kissed her passionately. As we swayed with his daughter in his arms, he turned to her "Go take a bath, babe! You need the break."