I unlocked the front door to the house and slipped inside. I was exhausted from a long day at work and all seemed quiet. I slipped off my jacket and hung it in the hall closet along with my purse. I kicked off my shoes on the welcome mat and headed into the bedroom to change out of my work scrubs. I opted instead for a hot shower after remembering AJ's words from that morning;

"Don't forget," he'd said as he kissed me goodbye on my way out the door... "I have big plans for us tonight!"

I showered quickly, allowing the warm water to wash away all of the days worries and stresses and then hopped out and wrapped myself in a clean white towel. I usually loved the smell of fresh laundered towels but lately for some strange reason the odor just made me queasy. I walked out to the closet and paused there for a moment. What to wear? Aj hadn't mentioned exactly what his plans were so I opted for casual dress choosing some dressy brown pants and a sage green shirt knowing I could always change if the plans called for it.

I pulled on the pants and sat on the bed to zip them up. "Okay." I thought to myself as I struggled with the zipper. "Time to start excercising more Jessica... you're getting a little pudgy." I finally zipped the pants and slipped on the shirt before looking at myself in the mirror. "Hmm..." I thought again as I looked down at what seemed to be my expanding waistline... "Naw."

I was just finishing getting ready when I heard him call my name from the living room. I hadn't even realized he was home. I walked out the door and my nose was assaulted with a wonderful aroma. "Mmm," I said as I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. "That smells heavenly."

I looked up and caught sight of him. He was standing there in the living room with my camera in his hands. I smiled. "Whatcha doin'?" I asked taking in the sight of him dressed in his khaki pants and a white dress shirt. I loved it when he dressed up for me.

"Well... I know how important this project is to you..." And it was true, he had become more supportive in the past couple of weeks... "So I thought I'd do some filming tonight."

I smiled again as he reached out for my hand, still filming. "Happy Anniversary Baby." He said with a grin.

"Happy Anniversary."

He set the camera down on the table and pulled me close. "I love you Jess."

"I love you too."

The evening he'd planned for me was wonderful and best of all it didn't require me to change my clothes or even leave the house. He took my hand and led me into the kitchen where he'd prepared an amazing meal of Roast and vegetables. I wasn't lying when I said it smelled heavenly. And it tasted divine. In the center of the table were a dozen red, long stemmed roses with four pink roses and two white roses mixed in. The pink, he'd explained, for every year we'd been together... the white for the two years we'd been married.

After dinner he pulled out a familiar blue box and handed it across the table to me. "Happy anniversary sweetheart," he said as I opened the box, and pulled out an incredibly beautiful bracelet. It was a charm bracelet lined in hearts... "21 of them," He told me. He'd listened that day... more than I could possibly have imagined. "Hopefully you won't have to add any more."

I stood from the table and walked over to the other side. I sat in his lap and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek gently as the tears slipped down my cheeks. "I love this," I said... and I did. It was probably the sweetest gift he'd ever given me.

He took my hand and together we walked to our bedroom.

We made the rest of the night one of the most memorable our marriage had ever seen.