Life in Between

2 ~ Gifts

**Make sure you've read chapter 1** 

Sleep is such a beautiful thing.

Stretching out in my bed, I notice the empty space next to me at the same time a voice swears. "Shit, Mel!"

Sitting up, I blink the sleep out of my eyes as I take in my boyfriend carrying a tray with food that I almost knocked over. "What time is it?"

"Six a.m." He pecks my lips, setting the tray on my bedside table.

Grabbing my tea, I yawn. "And you're already dressed?"

"It's Valentine's Day, mi cielo." He laughs and I grin.

"Well then, happy Valentine's Day." I reach up and kiss him again. Tearing into my breakfast, John bounces on his toes. "What has you so happy?"

"I got you something." He pulls a bag from the ground and hands it to me.

Opening it up, I gasp. Pulling out the bracelet, I stare at him. "This is... I can't take this."

"Sure, you can." He puts it on my wrist. The cool silver causes goosebumps to spread across my skin. "It's for you."

Rolling my eyes, I study the delicate chain. "Thank you very much."

"There's more." He motions to the bag and I pull out some gourmet chocolate and a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, I gasp all over again. "John."

"It's in March, that's when I have my next weekend completely free." He informs me and I can't look away from the sheet of paper.

"New York, really?" Maybe I need glasses.

"You said you've always wanted to go, so let's go." He says like it's that easy and for him, I guess it is.

"But work."

"Take a three-day weekend." Oh, please. "I know you haven't used a single day of vacation so take one day off and let's see the city that never sleeps and all the surprises I have planned."

"There's more?" I check the beg to find it empty.

"You'll find out when we're there." Wagging his eyebrows, he holds a hand out. "My turn."

"You're not going to like my gift." I inform him, grabbing the bag from my closet.

Like a child on Christmas morning, he tears into the bag. "It's awesome."

Looking at the make your own hot sauce kit, I internally cringe. "It's really not, but you love to cook and when we went to that Mexican restaurant last month you criticized their salsa, so I thought..." I'm not exactly sure what I thought.

"What's this?" He questions, pulling out the worn book I placed in there despite my better judgement. "Pride and Prejudice?"

"You wanted to know what I thought when reading." I recall and he nods. "I annotate the margins, so you could literally read my thoughts." I should've asked my students for advice; it would've been embarrassing but better than this.

Flipping through the pages, he lets out a breath. "I'm-I'm not very good at this, am I?"

Offering a piece of bacon, I chuckle. "No, you're a little too good." My gift cost twenty bucks.

"I'm sorry." He hugs me. "I've never had to do this before. Shopping for the kids is easy. I can spoil them all I want without thinking about rules."

"Don't be sorry. I'm excited for the trip; I've only dreamed of it since I was a teenager." I smile. "The fact you paid attention means the most."

Henry never heard a word I said unless I turned the TV off. I told John that randomly when we were heading into a movie.