His Heart Bonus Scenes

Luke gets in trouble: Lizzie

"This is nice." I clinked glasses with Charlie who smiled at me.

"If only we could make these lunch dates a regular thing." He agreed, taking a sip of his wine.

"I wish evening dates were more doable but I just don't trust the boys to keep out of mischief." I sighed.

"We could put Leo in charge, but I doubt the twins would listen to him." Charlie agreed.

"I love them with all my heart but sometimes I wish they were calmer like Leo." I said. "Does that make me a bad mother?"

"No of course not." Charlie took my hand. "You want a break sometimes. Nothing wrong with that. The kids can be a handful sometimes."

He gave a wry chuckle. "More often than not these days. But that's what happens when you raise teenagers."

I smiled. "Remember how sweet Maddie was when she was a teenager?"

"I think she gave us a false sense of security." Charlie chuckled. "Maybe because she's a girl. She had her challenges, as all teens do, but typically she was always really sweet."

"She was."

"The boys are something else." He said.

"Leo is the most chilled teen I've ever met, and then there's Liam and Luke bouncing off the walls." I rolled my eyes. "I'm surprised we haven't gone grey yet."

"Speak for yourself." Charlie replied. "I'm not sure which kid is causing it, but there's definitely more grey in my beard than there used to be."

"My silver fox." I teased.

He laughed and took another sip of wine.

The waiter placed two plates of salmon fettuccine in front of us and we thanked him before picking up our cutlery.

Charlie was still holding my hand and I smiled at the loving gesture. He was still so sweet after ten years of marriage.

"How has work been?" I asked.

"Great. We've been drafting a few new buildings which are starting to take shape. The team has finally agreed on the design." He grinned. "It always takes longer to reach an agreement than we expect it to."

I smiled as he spoke about his job. I was so glad he had found a job he was passionate about. It had taken him a while to get there, but he had flourished under his job in architecture more than I had ever seen him. The love for his work shone through his eyes. It was a far cry from the man who just wanted to pay for his kids lives that I had met a lifetime ago.

"How have your designs been coming along lately?" He asked in response.

"They've been much better received." I replied. "A few companies have requested more designs so I've got more projects lined up than usual."

"That's really great." He said. "Look at us. Crushing it in the world of business."

I laughed and we clinked glasses again.

He looked into my eyes and I thought I could live in this moment forever. After all this time, he still made me feel like a star-struck teenager. I would stay here with him forever.

But my phone buzzed and dragged me back to reality.

"Oh crap. It's the school." I said. "I should take this."

Charlie smiled and I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs Sanchez-Richards, I'm sorry to interrupt your day but we need you to come into school, there's been an incident."