Song: Satellite

You are a satellite ... You're shooting through the sky ...

"Do you think Nana is home?" I asked Henry after we arrived inside the house from the church.

"I told her on the phone we were coming back tonight. She should be in the house somewhere."

I peeked in the direction of the kitchen, but she wasn't there. "I'm going to go look for Nana. I have some things I want to talk with her. I'll meet you upstairs."

As I turned into the hallway where Nana's room was located, Henry reached out for my hand, stopping me from going further. "Let's go look for her together. I wanted to see her, too."

I nodded.

We entered the hallway where her room was located, and I could see light radiating out from underneath her door. I stopped at the doorway behind Henry. He held up his hand and gently knocked on the door.

"Henry, is that you?" Nana asked as her voice came near the door.

"Yes, Nana. It's me," he answered her.

When the door open, her eyes lighted up immediately as she glanced past Henry and noticed me. He moved aside, and I held out my hands for her as she embraced me in a long, warming hug. "Ally, dear. Is it really you?"

"Yes, it's really me. Your old Ally." I couldn't suppress the smile growing at my face, just seeing how happy she was to see me back with Henry.

She pulled back and caressed both of my cheeks with her hands with that old smile I was so used to seeing before. "I'm so happy to see your lovely face again."

"I'm happy to see you again too, Nana." I covered one of her hands with mine. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for hurting you over and over again."

"I'll always forgive you, my dear. Remember my words, people can always start over, right?" She smiled as her eyes became glossy, and I leaned into her again for another hug.

"Thank you, Nana."

"I'm so glad Henry brought you back. I don't know what I'd do if you were gone forever from my life." She turned to Henry who had remained patient this whole time. "You better not let my Ally go again, Henry."

"I won't, Nana. Never again."

Nana placed her arm around me and we walked back to her bed, Henry trailing behind us. She sat on the edge of the mattress, and I sat down next to her, holding onto her hand.

Nana pat the empty side of the bed. "Henry, come sit right here."

He nodded and crossed the room to sit down on Nana's side. She took one of his hands in hers and joined our hands together with hers.

"I know you two love each other very deeply. Don't let go of each other ever again," she began. "You both have suffered enough without each other, and I don't want to see you both miserable like before. Talk it out with each other. Listen to each other. Life is too short, and we need to make the most of every moment that we have with our loved ones.  Promise me that you both will hold on to each other from now one?"

"I promise, Nana," I said.

"I promise as well, Nana," Henry said, leaning his head onto her shoulders. "I'm so blessed to have you both in my life. I don't know what I would do without you two. Thank you for everything."

I leaned into Nana's chest. "Thank you, Nana, for everything you do for us."

"What am I going to do with you two kids?" Nana joked as she held the both of us in her arms.

I looked over to see Henry smiling inches from me.

When I was waiting in the terminal for my flight Sydney, all I could think about of was Henry and Baby Kale. I already lost one already—I couldn't lose another person I loved. It was the worst pain unimaginable, and I wouldn't want to experience it again.

If I had really lost Henry, I knew I wouldn't be happy. I knew every morning when I wake up and every night when I went to sleep on the other side of the world, he would be on my mind constantly, haunting me with his smile. Just the thought of losing him, it felt like a cut on my heart.

Nana was right. She always had been.

Life was too short to stay miserable. We needed to move on from those moments that pull us down. We needed to find our happiness in life and hold onto it firmly because if we didn't, it would escape from our hands, disappearing like thin air into the wind.

From now onward, I was going to do my best to hold onto the people who I loved, especially Henry. I had almost lost him because of my fault and actions.

After saying good night to Nana, Henry and I headed up to our bedroom. When we reached the bottom of the grand stairs, he scooped me off my feet into his arms, carrying me up the stairs.

I swung my arms around his shoulders. "Are you going back to work tomorrow?"

"I have a meeting in the morning that I need to be there for, but my afternoon is reserved entirely for you."

"Really?" My interests spiked. Even though I already spent the last few days with Henry, I wanted nothing more than to be in my husband's company. "Don't play with me."

"I'm for real, honey. What did you want to do then?"

"I don't know, but I'll think about it tonight. I'll come up with something."

"You should come to the office with me tomorrow morning then," he suggested as we entered the bedroom. "We could go get breakfast together, and then after my meetings, we could do whatever you like."

"I loved nothing more." I kissed his cheek. "I'll go with you to the office tomorrow."

Henry walked over to the bed and placed me down on the foot of the mattress. He knelt down on the ground in front of me and then gently took both of my hands, holding them together by his lips. Placing our hands on my lap, he leaned down and kissed my hands. His fingers smoothed over my ring as he stared down at our intertwined hands.

"I never thought I'd have a second chance to give this ring to you," he started, "but look where we are now. Life has been kind enough. It has given me another chance to be with you." He peered up at me with a smile. "Ally, I love you so much."

I would never get bored from hearing those words, those three words every person would want to hear before it was too late.

Henry rose onto his knees from the floor and leaned into between my thighs, wrapping his arms around my back as I circled my arms around his shoulders. I tilted toward him and kissed his lips. "I love you too, Henry."

I smiled, placing my forehead up against his, and he smirked. His arms tightened around my waist, and he lifted me up onto him, my legs wrapped around his hips. He dropped us both onto the bed, his body pressed gently on top of mine.

"I want to hold you like this every night," he left a kiss on each of my cheeks, "and kiss you like this every night from now on."

I giggled from the tingly sensations as he continued to leave trail of kisses all over my faces. Then he left a subtle peck at the tip of my noise before pressing his lips against mine firmly and deeply.

My hands held onto each side of his cheeks, feeling the soft bristles along his jaw. He had shaved this morning.

Henry moved onto his side, holding me in his arms as I laid my face against his chest.

I wished I could be in his arms like this every night, safe and protected.

.....

"Morning, beautiful."

I slowly opened my eyes to Henry already in his suit and tie, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at me with a smile.

God, he looked gorgeous and sexy.

"Morning, handsome." I smiled back. "What time is it?"

"It's eight o' clock. Where do you want to get breakfast?"

"Anywhere's fine with me." I got up from the bed to use the bathroom, but before I could passed Henry, he grabbed onto my hips and pulled me back on his lap. "Hey, I have to wash up and get ready or you'll be late for your meeting."

He kissed my neck, and I softly chuckled. "It's not that important anyways. Just five minutes please."

"Really, I'm serious, Henry."

"It's okay," he said between kisses. "I can always rescheduled it."

I managed to pry him off, and he watched me walk over to the door. "We'll confine this later. Give me fifteen minutes to get ready."

After breakfast at Meli's Cafe, Henry and I strolled over to Pearce Hotel, his hand clasped onto mine.

The weather in this June morning was beautiful in the Windy City. The sun was shining, and there was no speck of cloud in the sky. A light, crisp wind blew, making it a perfect day for a walk.

These were the kind of mornings I had envisioned for Henry and me before we were married.

And now, I no longer had to hope they would become real because they already were.

We passed through the busy Michigan Avenue, and the Horizon building loomed down the street.

Nick instantly popped into my mind.

I didn't see it coming that Nick would be the person to help saved my relationship with Henry.

He had become such an important person in my life.

If he hadn't tried to stop me that day from getting on the plane, Henry and I wouldn't have seen this day.

We were indebted to him because without his help, we wouldn't be together.

But I knew Nick is a person who wouldn't ask for anything in return.

Henry and I reached the hotel and rode the elevator to the office floor. When we entered his room, I sat down in the black leather chair, swaying myself left to right, right to left.

From the other side of the desk, Henry placed a white folder on the glass counter, sliding it over to me. "Here's a list of colleges my secretary prepared for you. If you're bored, you can take a look if you want while I'm in the meeting." He winked.

"Thank you, honey. I'll look through them."

"If you need anything, you can ring the receptionist desk. I'll be back in an hour." He gave me a smile, and I returned one with a nod.

Before leaving to the adjacent meeting room where his team was filing in, Henry walked around the desk and leaned down to give me a kiss.

He crossed the room to the door, giving me one more smile before slipping out of his office.

I smiled to myself.

Remembering the white folder Henry left me, I opened it to find a packet with information about colleges in the area.

If I really wanted to help the family business, I needed to start with my education.

Although I learned a great deal at Horizon, it still wouldn't help me as much. I needed management skills, communication skills, knowledge and expertise that would make me successful in running a conglomerate.

There were a few schools I liked from the list, and I narrowed it down to three before the meeting ended.

This was an important choice for me.

Maybe I could asked Henry later for his recommendation, I thought.

For the moment, all I wanted to do was figure out what we should do in the city for the afternoon, our first afternoon together.

I picked up my phone and walked over to sit on the comfy sofa.

What should we do in Chicago?

I opened up the web browser on my phone and googled things to do in the city.

There were so many places we haven't visited, so many restaurants to dine at.

Maybe we didn't have to go anywhere. It could something that I could do for Henry.

With an idea, I walked down the hall to the receptionist desk.

When I returned to the office, I sat down on the sofa and waited for his return.

"How did your meeting go?" I asked as Henry opened the glass door.

"It was productive as all my meetings are." He unbuttoned his blazer and sat down next to me. "We're opening a new location in Vienna, which will be ready in a few weeks."

"That's great to hear. Does that mean you're going to be traveling there soon then, you know, like for the grand opening?"

"Yes." He sat down on the arm of the sofa. "Why the frown?"

I didn't like the idea of Henry being away due to business travels, whether it was in distance or in hours.

I scooted closer to him and placed my hands on his thigh. "I just...don't like it when you're away from home. From me. It makes me...uneasy."

Henry chuckled, covering his hands over mine. "Then why don't you come along with me? Everywhere I go, you'll be there too. And everywhere you go, I'll go with you. That way, we can be together all the time. Does that sound better with you?"

I nodded and leaned into his chest, wrapping my arms around him. "It sounds better."

He kissed the top of my hair. "Did you think of what you wanted to do today?"

I nodded against his chest. "It's a secret. I'm not going to tell you anything about it. You'll just find out by yourself."

"Sounds interesting," he teased. "Well, my afternoon is open now."

I stood up and held out my hand. "Then we shouldn't waste any time."

When we exited the hotel, I led us into the direction of the river. When we reached it, we took the stairs to get down to the bustling riverwalk. Bikers road by on the paved trail while tourists took pictures and enjoyed the view from the restaurants.

In the river, there were a group of people kayaking by, tour and taxi boats sailing in both directions.

The atmosphere was superb.

"So all you wanted to do was take a walk?" Henry asked in a playful manner.

"Yes, that's all I wanted to do with you."

"You're quite the creative one," he joked. "I thought you wanted to go shopping or do something else."

This wasn't what I had planned for us today, but I'd let him figured it out for himself. He shouldn't be the only one to keep surprises to himself.

"No, I don't want to go shopping since I have all that I needed right now." All I needed was Henry, I thought in my head. "I never really enjoy shopping. All I wanted is this, just a stroll downtown."

He broke our grasp and wrapped an arm around my back. "I think it's a great idea. It shows the a side of the city from this view down below. You can't get that feel from my office floor."

"See, that's one good thing," I pointed out.

We passed under the bridge of Michigan Avenue and came upon a few restaurants to our left side. A little bit down the riverwalk, I saw a huge tier of seating area where people were resting, eating, taking pictures, or enjoying the scenic view of the tall skyscrapers all around.

"I'm getting hungry. Let's find something to eat and sit down for a while," I said, and Henry nodded in agreement.

After ordering a small pepperoni pizza from a cafe on the riverwalk, we sat down between the crowd on one of the middle tiers.

"Remember when we share our first pizza?" I asked.

"Of course. I remembered it very clearly. You had your money out so fast, trying to beat me to pay for it."

We both laughed. "I did. I wanted to buy something with my own money for you." I took a bite of my slice, and Henry stared funnily at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He grabbed a napkin and wiped off some pizza near my lips. "You got food on your face."

I chuckled. "Thank you."

After the pizza was finished, we started walking again further down the riverwalk for the next hour. We saw multiple sculptures along the way where people were taking pictures of and a wedding photoshoot.

"Let's go back to the hotel," I suggested as we turned around and continued back where we had come from on the river path.

It was almost three in the afternoon, and Henry must be getting hungry after that little pizza we shared.

"Why?" he asked.

"I have a surprised planned for you."

.....

THANK YOU FOR READING!! NEXT UPDATE COMING THIS WEEK SOMETIMES!! :)

MIA