Love is the Best Medicine

Chapter 54

Don collapsed against the couch, dejected. He and Meryl had been back in their Manhattan apartment for a few days, and had barely had a moment's peace. If it wasn't their kids dropping by or calling then it was her family or their friends. Don appreciated the love and support from everyone in their lives, and was used to the kids' interruptions by now; but this afternoon he was fed up. He and Meryl had just returned from his last post-op appointment where he was cleared for ALL activities. As soon as he got his wife back to their apartment he was on her in a shot, barely making it into the living room, only to be interrupted by hearing their oldest daughter shout for them. Don gave Meryl a look of disappointment when she came back in with all 3 girls. "Hi, girls."

"Hi, Daddy." Each of them gave him a kiss.

Meryl sat down next to Mamie, after giving her husband an apologetic smile, but there was nothing she could do. "What's the problem, Mames?"

"The flowers!" Mamie exclaimed.

Don sat there for a while as he watched his 4 women fix all of the wedding problems of the day when an idea popped into his head. He knew exactly how to get his wife alone. "I'm going out; bye girls."

"Bye." They all said without looking up.

Meryl followed him out; worried. "Babe, I'm sorry, don't leave."

"I won't be gone long." Don said cryptically. "I have something to take care of."

Meryl stood there confused and worried. There was no kiss, no "don't worry, Darl" no "I love you," and there wasn't even a hug. She didn't know what to do; so she waited.

***

Meryl tried not to worry about Don, but she couldn't help it. He had just been released by his doctor that morning after months or surgeries and rehabilitations. She noticed he didn't take his cane, and knew he probably wouldn't hail a cab to wherever he went, which also made her worry. She knew the doctor told them he was doing fabulous and didn't need the cane or walker but that didn't stop her from worrying. She was most worried that he was mad at her. She couldn't help that everyone wanted a piece of them, she wanted him to herself too, but it was part of being in a large family and having a large circle of friends. She tried to keep her mind busy when the girls left, but it was no use. Her head shot up as she was fixing dinner and ran to him. "There you are!"

"Hey, baby." He smiled with a kiss to her head.

Just feeling his lips on her head and hearing him call her baby made her feel so much better. "Are you okay? I've been worried sick."

"I'm fine, Darl." He promised. "I even took cabs while I was out.

Meryl breathed a sigh of relief. "Listen baby, I know you're mad at me, and I'm sorry we keep-"

Don shook his head as he tenderly and slowly kissed her lips, then pulled her over to the breakfast bar after the kiss ended so they could both sit. "I'm not mad at you, I'm sorry you thought that."

"Why did you leave so suddenly?" Meryl asked. "Where did you go?"

Don smiled as he handed her an envelope from his back packet. "To see our travel agent; Happy Birthday, beautiful."

"TUSCANY?!" Meryl gasped in excitement. "TUSCANY?!"

Don couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. "Just you and me for a week; no phones, no kids, no family, no appointments, no canes, no walkers, no suture removal, no deadlines, and no interruptions. Just the two of us healing together; getting our lives back, together. Spending some much needed alone time together."

"Don, I love this more than you will ever know..." Meryl trailed off.

Don sighed when he could tell there was a but in there somewhere. "But..."