Thursday: November 21, 2013 4:25 P.M.

Randy and I sat together in our car. We had just finished our therapy session. Dr. Robinson was telling us that we'd made a lot of progress, and I feel like he was right. Randy was in the driver's seat, but he hadn't started the car. We were sitting in silence, but it wasn't a bad silence. It was calm and peaceful.

"Do you want to have dinner tonight?" Randy asks. "I can see if Kenny minds watching the kids for a couple more hours. We can call it a date. We haven't done much of those lately."

I nod. "If he can, that sounds great, but if not, maybe another night."

"Alright." Randy sends a text before his phone starts ringing and groans.

"Who's calling?"

"Tyler." Randy sighs. "Get ready for another shitty voicemail."

"Answer it."

"Answer it?"

"Yeah, put it on speaker. Don't tell him I'm with you. If he's shitty, I'm gonna let him have it."

"Alright." Randy hesitantly answers the phone. "Hello?"

Tyler: "Oh, so now you answer the phone? Are you done trying to keep me and Marissa having issues?"

I roll my eyes. "Randy never did that. The one who caused the issues is you, Tyler. We wouldn't have issues anymore if you were being reasonable and willing to casually talk things over. I'm sick and tired of you verbally attacking me and Randy. You're not welcome to be around us right now, and don't call until you want to be reasonable. As far as Randy not letting you come see me in the hospital, he was respecting what he knew I would want. So go to hell with your bullshit about that."

I end the call before Tyler can even respond. For a few minutes, Randy and I sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"You okay, Rissa?" Randy asks me quietly before he reaches out and grabs my hand.

"I will be." I answer.

Randy looks at his phone. "Kenny says that he can watch the kids for a couple more hours. Do you still want to go on that date?"

"Yeah, I'm not letting Tyler ruin our evening. Let's go have that dinner."

Randy and I started eating dinner together. It was silent for a few minutes.

Randy smiled at me. "How are you doing?"

I look at him. "I'm still pissed off at Tyler if that's what you're asking."

"I was figuring that."

"But I'm really enjoying being out and having dinner with you."

"Good. That's the point of it."

"Are you enjoying this too?"

"I am." Randy shakes his head as he looks off into the distance. "I've just got things on my mind."

"Work?"

"Work…and well, us."

"Therapy is going well. I think it's helping us."

"I agree, but…what if we can't work everything out?"

I sigh. "Things can't always be perfect between us, Randy, no matter how hard we try. We just need to work on the major issues right now, and maybe take it one step at a time. Like right now, we can work on communicating well, and once we're doing well, we can work on something else."

"I know. I'm just worried that things may not work out, even though I know we both want them to."

"They will. It'll just take time. I understand why you're worried. The fact that I went to a divorce lawyer like I did a while back doesn't help your worries either. I'm sorry."

"You had every right to do that. I'm glad you did kinda because it was the wake up call that I needed to get my shit together."

"Every couple has their struggles. We'll just have to work through ours. I don't think poorly of you or anything. I think you're a wonderful husband and an outstanding father to our children."

"I think you're a fantastic wife and an incredible mom to the kids."

I smile. "Thanks."

Randy grabbed one of my hands. "You know, there's no one else I'd want to navigate this crazy life with."

"Same here. We may fight sometimes, but you're my husband for a reason. There's no one else I want."

"You're right. We will work through this."

It was the middle of the night, and I woke up without Randy in bed with me. I sit up, confused and concerned, before hearing something through the baby monitor. The baby was crying, and Randy was trying to comfort him.

"It'll be okay, kid. It'll be okay. I got you." Randy tells the baby as he's trying to console him. "I got you. Let's let your mom sleep tonight."

I smiled to myself, in appreciation of Randy's attempt to let me sleep, before standing up to head to the baby's room. While Junior was a rather chill baby, when he got fussy, he got picky. If Randy couldn't comfort him right now, Junior likely wanted me.

Randy looked over at me as I walked into the room. "Sorry, I was trying to let you sleep."

I took Junior from him. "It's okay. We both know our little boy gets picky when he's fussy."

Randy smiles as Junior starts to calm down. "And he wanted you right now."

I sit down in the rocking chair to help soothe the baby. "He did. I appreciate your efforts though."

"Thanks." Randy sits on the floor. "Despite the issues you and I have had recently, I really appreciate how incredibly blessed we are. We've got ourselves a wonderful little family with two amazing kids. I couldn't ask for anything better."

I smile as the baby falls asleep while I'm holding him. "Me either. He's asleep."

Randy gently grabs Junior and puts him back in his crib. "I think we should try to get some sleep too."

I stand up. "That sounds great."

Randy and I exit the baby's room and close the door behind us. Randy pulls me into his arms as soon as we close the door to the baby's room.

"Things are going to be okay. We're gonna get through this." Randy kisses my forehead. "We'll get through this."

I feel tears in my eyes. "I know. Things are just hard sometimes."

Randy held me close and rocked back and forth. "They are. I know how you're feeling. My worries probably made you anxious too. Sorry."

"Don't be. We should talk about our worries. You know communication is something we need to work on."

"I know. We should just try to worry about things a little at a time."

"We should probably start with worrying about Survivor Series."

Randy gives a soft laugh. "That's probably a good idea."