A Second Chance.

Chapter 18

~Hero~

I wake up and slide out of bed, trying not to wake up Jo. I tiptoe out of my room as quietly as I can and creep downstairs.

I head into the the kitchen and start making some breakfast. I decide to make some pancakes, well warm up some American style ones that I brought from the shop.

I plate some up for Jo and some for myself. I add some strawberries and blueberries to the pancakes. On Jo's plate I arrange the fruit into a smiley face.

I place the plates on a tray along with some whipped cream, some maple syrup and two glasses of orange juice.

I grab the tray and turn around, just about to head back upstairs and Jo enters the kitchen.

"What's all that for" she asks as she walks over to me.

"Happy birthday" I say and kiss her on her cheek. "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed"

Her smile gets bigger. She looks at me and says "Thank you. You didn't have to do this"

I place the tray on the breakfast bar and she takes a seat on one of the bar stools.

"I know, but I wanted to"  I say as hand her plate.

She giggles when she sees the smiley face.

I take a seat on the stool next to her and grab my plate.

"Now tuck in, before they get cold" I say

Once I've eaten my pancakes i get up.

"Where are you going?" Jo asks, still eating her breakfast.

"No where. Eat up" I say and I ruffle the top of her hair.

I head into the lounge. I grab Jo's present that I hid in a cupboard and then walk back into the kitchen.

I hold the gift bag in the air, balancing the handles on two fingers "Happy birthday babe"

"Aw, thank you" she says as she takes the gift bag.

"Can I open it now" she asks excitedly

"Of course" I say. 

I watch her as she open the gift bag and takes out the present. She unties the ribbon and unwraps the present.

I'm so glad the jewellers offered to gift wrap the present because I could not of made it look so nice and presentable.

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~Jo~

I remove the ribbon and the wrapping paper and open the square box.

"Hero, thank you so much. It's so beautiful"  I say as gaze upon the necklace that's neatly laid  out inside the box.

"Turn it over" Hero instructs

I look at him and then back at the necklace. I turn over the heart shaped pendant and notice an engraving.

I run my fingers of over the engraved letters and numbers 'H & J. 08/07/18'.

"Is that" I say

"The day we first met" Hero answers me

A tear falls down my cheek. "Hero, I don't know what to say. How did you remember the date" i ask

"It's a day I'll never forget" Hero says

I wipe away the tear  "It's so thoughtful."

"So you like it?" Hero asks

"I don't like it........" I look up at Hero

"I love it. Thank you so much" I say.

"Glad you like it" he leans and kisses my softly on the lips.

"Can you help me put it on please?" I say

I hand Hero the necklace and turn around and lift up my hair.  Once fastened I turn back around and throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.

"I love you" I say

"And I love you" he says back

I touch the heart shaped pendant as it's sits on my chest and look at Hero. He leans in and kisses my forehead.

"Thank you again" I say  and smile at him

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~Hero~

I sit back down next to Jo, who is still smiling at the present I just gave her.

"So what do you wanna do today?" I ask

"Don't mind. What do you wanna do?" She asks back

"It's your birthday, so you get to decide" I tell her

"I don't mind, as long as I'm spending time with you" she says and takes me hand in hers.

I lean over and give her a quick peck on the lips.

"Ok, well as you saw like Buckingham Palace and that the other day,  erm let's go to Richmond. It's nice there by the river"  I suggest

"Sure"  she says with a smile and then drinks her orange juice.

Once she's finished her breakfast, I put the dirty plates and glasses in the dishwasher.

We head upstairs and start getting dressed for the day.

Jo jumps in the shower first, as she reminded me that it takes her longer to get ready.

As she gets in the shower, I cheekily ask "Do you want some company?"

"As much fun as that would be and don't get me wrong, i would love nothing more. But we would never actually get out til gone midday" she says and she's tilts her head

"Ok. Fair point" I say and head back into the bedroom.

Within an hour, we are both dressed and ready for the day. Once our Uber arrives and we head out the door, holding hands.

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~Jo~

We arrive in Richmond about 45 minutes later and we head for the riverwalk.

We walk along the riverside path hand in hand. It's so picturesque here. The sun is shining, the trees are a deep shade of green and the way the sun is reflecting on the water, is just beautiful.

We walk for a while and then stop off at a little coffee shop.

We grab a coffee and a piece of cake to take away and head back to the riverside and find a bench to sit on.

"It's so lovely here. Thank you for bringing me here" I say to Hero

"You don't have to thank me. But it's my pleasure"  Hero says

I lean my head on his shoulder and stare out at the river and the people walking by.

I wish i didn't have to leave to go back to LA on Friday. I'm really going to miss all this and more than anything, I'm really going to miss Hero.

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Thanks for reading another chapter!

Hope you're still all enjoying my story.

Let me know your thoughts.

xoxo