I look over to my nightstand, finding a fresh purple lily. He’s brought me one every week since that lunch. Somehow I know I’ll always have one. Over the last two and a half years, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about Mom. He loved her with all his heart, he really did. But it’s complicated…

So much has changed over the last three years. I look around the room. It’s littered with boxes, but I’ve made progress. My tan musty cardboard has been upgraded. They’re now pretty boxes, colorful shades of pink, courtesy of the Box Store. I like to think they give the apartment a shabby chic look, but I’d venture to guess Zack has other choice words to describe my neurosis. Although he’s never complained once about them being all over the place.

***

Friday is Zack’s long day. He’s been at school since seven this morning and it’s nearly seven in the evening now. I expect him any minute. He’s usually wiped out and sore after four classes followed by hours and hours of grueling football practice. But something tells me he’ll get a second wind when he gets a look at his Valentine’s Day present. My new red nightie, a form fitting halter corset made of gorgeous lace with a satin tie front. It fits like a second skin. Which is good, because second skin matches with all the skin that shows when I turn around; the matching G-string leaves little to the imagination.

Hearing his keys in the door, I open it, knowing his hands will be full with all his equipment. It clanks loudly on the wooden floor when he lets it drop without a word and comes straight for me. Laying my palm to his chest, I stop him before he pounces. I hand him a folded-up note, the first one I’ve ever given him, and he arches an eyebrow. Neither of us speaks while he unfolds it.

I’ll always be your Valentine. Thank you for giving me so much more than I could have imagined. I love you.

He looks up at me, gazing into my soul with his blue eyes that tell me everything I need to hear without saying a word. Scooping me up, he cradles me gently in his arms. So different than how he’d probably planned to have me just moments ago when I opened the door. Tonight is about love. There’s a time for crazed and frantic— heck, I love it every way with Zack. But tonight…tonight will be slow and sweet. My favorite.

He walks into the bedroom with me in his arms and stops short, taking in everything that isn’t there. The boxes. They’re all gone. Every last one of them. When his eyes finally find their way back to mine, I say the words I’ve waited twenty-one years to feel.

“I’m finally home.”