Page 28 of Forever Focused

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As the sun set, Poppy smiled at her husband as he walked out onto the deck unabashedly for all the world to see or well, any airplanes, birds, or one very loving wife, she mused, grinning.

“Have you no shame?”

“Zilch,” he laughed, holding up the champagne in one hand and the flutes in another. “Why are you wearing a blanket? It’s like eighty degrees out here…”

“Bugs.”

“I told you, wife,” he grinned. “I’m the only one nibbling at you, remember? Now, hop up and let your poor, neglected husband sit with you.”

“Neglected? Ha!”

Both of them laughed easily, sharing a look as the sky turned vibrant shades of orange and purple on the horizon. Poppy stood up, allowing Michael to sit down, and then joined him, covering them both from any possible bugs, mosquitos, cicadas, or bats in the area. As if to prove her point, a bluejay landed briefly on the railing of their little love nest, causing both of them to hesitate.

“Can you reach my phone,” Poppy whispered. “I want a photo.”

“Nooo,” he whispered silently. “I’m terrified that he’s looking for a worm.”

Her loud bark of laughter caused the bird to fly away as they both broke into fits of amusement at the innuendo, still floating on the emotional high shared between them. He handed her the cell phone behind him with a pointed look.

“For the next bird…”

“Of course.”

“Love, honor, and cherish… don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.”

“Champagne?”

“Is it any good?”

“Well, I’m going to go with ‘probably not’ because I think champagne doesn’t have an ‘I’ in the word, and this is misspelled.”

“What?”

He held up the bottle, chuckling, and sure enough – it was a knockoff bottle of bubbly. The label clearly said ‘Champaine,’ causing the two of them to exchange a knowing look.

“Should we drink it?”

“I’m not sure. What’s the alcohol rating that can make you go blind?”

“That’s a thing?”

“Hey, I thought I was the young, naïve, and hot thing here. Don’t tell me it’s you…”

Poppy laughed again as Michael leaned forward to kiss her noisily several times on the cheek, temple, and forehead in a playful manner – before finally settling down to hug her from behind and kiss her tenderly.

“I love you, wife…”

Before she could whisper her words of love to him, something shot past them in her peripheral vision, making both of them catch their breath. They turned together and Michael quickly poured the knock-off-bubbly, holding her close as a throng of bats danced, dove, and fluttered on the wind, feeding on imaginary bugs in the air. The world was so still, so silent, and so breathtakingly beautiful. She grabbed her phone and hit record, catching nature at its simplest form.

Was it normal?

Gracious noooo… but were they happy?

Very.

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