There Can Only Be One

Anniversary

January 10th-

Sam woke up with automatic pain coming from his heart. Once again he rolled over to the other side of the bed and Jessica wasn't there. Five months later and he still couldn't wrap it around his finger that he had to sleep alone.

The grieving process hadn't come to an end yet. Not just for Sam but for the kids as well. Camden would cry for his mother. Kennedy would try to hold herself together when she walked past a picture of Jessica that was hung on the upstairs hallway. Good days and bad days Jessica never left their thoughts.

Today was Sam and Jessica's fifteenth wedding anniversary. Fifteen years since Sam said "I do" to the love of his life. That's why Sam woke up with the pit in his stomach and the throbbing pain from his heart.

He turned to his coffee table and reached for a picture of Jessica. He held it in his hands and stared at it for a few moments.

"Happy Anniversary, Jessie." He mutters to himself as he holds the picture to his chest.

Sam couldn't find himself to be as enthusiastic and positive as he has been trying to be for the last five months. He was down. He couldn't find much joy in anything. He didn't have an anniversary dinner to look forward to anymore.

"Daddy, I know what today is." Kennedy examined Sam's attitude and how quite he was as he fed Camden.

The three of them sat at the breakfast table not saying much.

"You do?" Sam turns to her

"Yea..." she says softly

"Today was always a big day for us. It was one out of the three best days of my life." He smiled trying to fight to sadness that tried to show.

**

Sam dropped Camden off at daycare and Kennedy at school. He had lots of work to catch up on. When he walked up to the porch of his home he saw flowers all around the door that came from various flower companies.

He sighed when he saw them. He kneeled down onto the pavement and looked at some of the cards that were attached to the flowers.

A dozen roses were from Sarah. Others were from some of Jessica and Sam's friends from Hollywood. It was all greatly appreciated but only made it harder.

What caught Sam's attention was the bouquet of lilacs and Lily's. He picked up the vase and looked at the card.

Happy Anniversary. I love you. Forever and always.
-Jessie

At first Sam was astonished. He rubbed his eyes a few times then scratched his head in confusion. How could she send these? It's impossible. Did someone else send these?

Sam took the vase inside and set it on his desk. Then he ran to the office closet and reached for a box on the highest shelf. He pulled it down and set it on his desk. When he opened it he scavenged through the many envelopes until he found one labeled 'anniversary'. He stopped for a moment then picked it up. He held it in his hands then brought it to his lips. He sat down and stared at the flowers before he opened he white envelope.

Sammy,

Happy anniversary, baby! Fifteen years... wow. I said I do to you that long ago yet it feels like yesterday as I'm writing this. I can only imagine that you got the flowers in the mail. I pre-ordered them seven months early. Is that crazy? Well it was worth it because I only hope that it brought a smile to your face. I know this day may be hard for you. I really hope I'm still there. But if I'm not I'm sorry... You know I would want to be.

Our anniversary is one of the many favorite 'holidays' of the year. We always had amazing days. Breakfast in bed, laying in bed looking through wedding pictures, spending the day with the kids, then a nice dinner to top it all off. My favorite was our one year anniversary. Our car broke down on the way to that steak house. It was freezing cold outside and pitch black. We were basically in the middle of no where. For some reason you had snacks and blankets in the trunk. So that night we sat in the trunk cuddle up eating fruit snacks and bottles of water.