Page 30 of A Constant Christmas

“Sam, I need to apologize to you for something.”

Her head snaps up as she looks at me.

“What could you possibly have to be sorry for?”

I take a moment to gather my thoughts. “Sam, I feel like the past few years, I haven’t been a great husband. I’ve built my business, which is great, but I haven’t been there for you like I should have been. You’ve dealt with the kids constantly, and I feel like you’ve put your entire life on hold so that I can live mine. You moved out of our perfect Boston house to live in New York without so much as a single complaint. I just feel like you deserve so much more, and I’m sorry for being so selfish lately and not giving you everything you should have.”

I look at Sam, waiting for her reply. Much to my surprise, my wife starts laughing. And not just a few giggles. No, she is uncontrollably laughing at me.

“Okay, Kansas. I kind of poured my heart out here, and you’re making me feel self-conscious now”

She finally stops and looks at me. “Tyler, I’m laughing because I was going to apologize for the exact same thing. I mean not the working all the time thing, but I was going to apologize for not being a better wife to you.”

“Why would you think you aren’t a good wife to me?”

“Because I am so busy with the kids, I often forget that you need love too. Most days, I am so wrapped up in trying to be the perfect mom that I often forget that you have always treated me like the perfect wife. I should treat you the same way. We have always been partners in everything we’ve done, and I don’t know at what point, I started to forget that. You’ve always been willing to help me with whatever I need, and usually, I just shrug you off. In turn, I’m too tired to even get in the mood to go to bed with you at the end of the day.”

I interrupt. “Sam, you know I’ve never cared about that. If you’re tired, I’m not going to make you feel bad for not wanting to fuck every night.”

“I know.” She leans forward to rub my arm. “And that’s why I love you so damn much. Ty, I love being a mom, but before I was a mom, I was your wife…your girl. I think sometimes, I forget that. This trip has made me realize all over again how special was you and I have really is. I never want us to lose it because life gets in the way.”

I pull her close to me and wrap my arms around her. “You and I will never lose what we have. It’s too special. You mean the absolute world to me, Samantha Flemming, and I promise to always remind you of that every day for the rest of our lives.”

She gives me a warm smile that quickly turns naughty as her hand reaches under the water, gripping my length.

“How about you show me right now, Trust Fund?”

She shouldn’t even have to ask.

Chapter Twenty-one

Sam

While we are on the plane leaving Kansas, I sleep most of the trip. Needless to say, I am catching up on all the sleep I can before I go back into Mommy Mode.

When we are about to land, Tyler insists I put on a blindfold for the last leg of our trip. I thought after Kansas, we were going home, but I guess Mr. Trust Fund has one more surprise in store for me.

I comply, knowing it’s just easier that way for everyone, and even though my eyes are still heavy, I don’t drift back off to sleep. The butterflies in my stomach are making that too difficult.

My knee bobs up and down with my excitement, and I feel Tyler’s hand reach over and squeeze it.

“Calm down, Kansas. You’re going to love it.”

I don’t say anything but instead, just nod and try to keep my knees still. The ride seems to take forever, but that might just be my lack of patience telling me it’s taking a lifetime.

Tyler begins to speak after a long while, startling me a bit. “Okay, baby. This trip has been all about you and me remembering all the places that we fell in love in and grew together as a couple. I thought that this trip couldn’t possibly be complete without coming to where it all began. Take off your blindfold.”

Before I do, my mind is screaming that it already knows where we are. Our original house in Boston.

Not the house we bought after we got married and became a family in.

No.

The house where Tyler was living when we were in college. The house where I would come tutor him in Math. The house he asked me to move into when my roommate kicked me out.

He is right. This is the house we fell in love in.

Since we bought our other house in Boston to fix up, and then eventually bought our house in New York, I don’t think about this place often because though a lot of our good memories are here, there are also tainted ones.

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