Uncorked

by Rebecca Rohman

  Mitch continued to fall deeply in love with his wife. After the horrific incident with Aaron and Chella’s subsequent recovery, Mitch and Chella grew closer as friends, lovers and partners. When she gave birth to their daughter and her blood pressure began to rise, the fear of losing his wife resurfaced. Thankfully, Dr. Suarez was able to quickly stabilize her. He had a healthy baby, a healthy wife, and a happy life.

  In the three years since she had met Mitch, the quality of Chella’s life had changed in ways she could only dream.

  At Sheyenne International, her department outperformed all others. From time to time, Craig asked for her input and ideas with issues he had in other divisions of the company.

  During her surgery recovery and while on maternity leave, Chella managed to keep on top of her staff, ensuring there were no adverse effects during her absence. Since the birth of Michella, she worked a couple days a week from home, and she had still managed to increase her monthly sales.

  Her husband had made things easy for her, too. One weekend after they returned from a trip to Santa Monica, he surprised her by having the bedroom opposite his study converted into an office for her. It was professionally decorated all in white, the way she loved it. Of course, it was convenient for him, too, to have her across the hall from his study. That office had become the location for a few hot-and-heavy work sessions between them.

  Since Aaron’s death, Chella realized how much of her life she had lived in fear. She made a daily, conscious effort to do something that took her out of her comfort zone and erased habits and behaviors instilled in her because of that man.

  Being a mom was everything she had hoped it would be and more. It had been a time for many firsts in her life. The look and smile Michella had on her face when she saw her mom first thing in the morning was priceless. The first time they introduced her to the swimming pool, she loved it—screaming, and laughing and splashing. The first time she tasted cold ice cream, or the time when Chella came home and found Michella fast asleep on her daddy’s chest while he slept—they were all an amazing bunch of firsts, and she and Mitch had made every effort to document them with photos and videos.

  After all the new changes and additions to their lives, they had managed to enhance their lives and not complicate them. With every day that went by, Chella realized how lucky she was to have met her husband. She thanked God every day that Vicky and Jason had set them up three years ago.

  Together, they had decided one baby was enough, and they were thankful for her. Chella’s body had a difficult time coping with the pregnancy. They had had enough life-threatening moments in their lives together. They would be happy if they did not experience that anymore.

  Sometimes Mitch would whisk her away to some sexy resort a half an hour away. Other times, the journey would be somewhere much further in California, but they never crossed the state line. Until Michella was older and she was able to talk, they would put on hold their exotic weekends to places like Monte Carlo or Tahiti.

  So they’d come to the end of their St. Lucia vacation. On that last night with their family and friends, they had a big dinner party out by the pool at their Mount Du Cap villa. There was music, laughter and most of all, joy. After all their guests had either returned to their homes or gone to bed, Mitch and Chella snuck out quietly.

  Mitch uncorked a bottle of champagne and poured them each a glass. In the midnight blue waters, he circled her in his arms, her body entwined with his. He looked into her eyes and kissed her, a long, enduring and passionate kiss.

  He gazed deep into her brown eyes and smiled. “So, Mrs. Mariani, was this what you envisioned when you got this house?”

  “It’s exactly what I envisioned. We’re happy, we’re still crazy in love, we have our very own baby, Michella, Emily is here with us, and we’re on vacation on the beautiful island where I was born with our family and friends. Like this bottle of champagne, our life is overflowing.”

  “That’s because you’ve been uncorked.”

  She giggled at his words then replied, “I don’t think I could ask for more, except that I wish this could last forever.”

  “Well, Mrs. Mariani, as long as I am alive, I will try to ensure that this—what we share right now—lasts forever. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Sweetheart. Always …”

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