Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 1

Michelle Devereaux Stevenson had always enjoyed spending summers at the beach house which had been in her father's family forever it seemed. Her Bostonian-born grandmother, Millicent Devereaux was now the sole owner of the summer home, since her Canadian-born grandfather Phillip had passed away 5 years ago, but the rest of the family came together there as often as possible to reconnect and relax.

Michelle and Robert Stevenson, along with their 4-year-old son Beau, had driven from their home in Boston the last week of July to spend time with her family who were coming from Montreal. Her parents Maurice and Joanne, her father's sister Bernice and husband Joseph Leblanc and their daughter Chloe were arriving on Wednesday, which gave Michelle and Robert a couple of days together before her family descended upon them. She planned on making the most of their time together, as it had been too long since they had really had anything close to alone time, due to Robert's demanding career as a molecular biologist at a research facility near Boston. He had been so busy for the last 6 months, that they seemed to be two ships that passed in the night as of late.

After settling in, the small family went down to the beach and played in the sand and waves. Beau was thoroughly enjoying himself and MIchelle couldn't help but sit back and smile as she watched her handsome husband swing Beau up in his tanned muscular arms as they played in the water together and she took a few pics on her phone to save for the family album. The weather was perfect, the sunset was beautiful and her two favorite people in the whole world were enjoying this ideal day with her. She sighed contentedly and thought how exquisitely perfect her life was in this very moment. It was a fleeting thought, like a snapshot she would remember and carry with her forever.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the little family had retreated back to the house where they enjoyed a simple dinner of grilled hamburgers, sweet corn and a salad made with fresh vegetables, which they had picked up at the local farmer's market on their way to the beach house. Shortly after dinner Beau began to get sleepy, so after a quick bedtime story, kisses goodnight from his parents and his favorite stuffed bear tucked into bed with him, he was out like a light. Michelle and Robert cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes together as they laughed and teased each other with their banter and inside jokes. Robert had put on some John Mayer in the family room earlier, so in addition to the sound of the ocean waves outside, the soft music played in the background and before long Robert had taken Michelle in his arms as they began slow dancing around the open kitchen and family room. It reminded Michelle of how romantic Robert had always been since they first met.

She had been a junior at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and he was a senior student at Brown University which is adjacent to RISD. They had met a little over 6 years ago, one fateful night when Robert and his buddies were out celebrating his birthday at a bar close to campus. Michelle and Robert had mutual friends who introduced them and they immediately hit it off. She looked into those gorgeous green orbs of his and was a goner from that moment. Even though they both had very demanding class schedules, they had always found small snippets of time to spend together and Robert always found new and innovative ways to show his love and devotion to Michelle, as she did for him. The more time they spent together, the more obvious it became they were head over heels for each other. They had talked on numerous occasions about their future together, and it was decided that after Robert received his Masters degree and Michelle finished the three more years she had to go at RISD, which included her Masters in Design degree in interior architecture and design, they would wait a year after finding lucrative jobs and settle into their careers before planning a wedding and getting married. By then they would be in their mid-20's and ready to settle down for a few years before starting a family. But as the old Yiddish saying goes, "Man plans, God laughs".

At the end of the first semester right before Christmas break of her senior year, even though she had been on the pill, they found they were pregnant. They talked to their families and decided after the new year, the best course of action was to go ahead and get married in an intimate family ceremony at Robert's parents' home in Boston, find a place to live in off-campus housing in Providence while Robert finished his Masters degree and have the baby.

Michelle was having a difficult first trimester, so she reluctantly agreed to quit RISD to stay home and to raise baby Beau once he was born, which would allow Robert to finish up at Brown with his Masters degree on time. Once he had found a good paying research position, they had bought a very old brownstone home in a quaint neighborhood in Bay Village in Boston and settled into family life. Even though life had thrown them a curve, everything worked out after all and they became a relatively blissful happy young family. Michelle had always regretted not finishing her degree, but figured she could work on that once Beau was in school in a few years.

As Michelle and Robert continued slow dancing in the dimly lit beach house, Robert maneuvered them over to the kitchen counter to pick up their wine glasses and the unfinished bottle of wine from dinner. He proceeded to dance Michelle over to the open French doors and out onto the large covered wrap-around  porch where they could feel the ocean breeze and listen to the sound of the rhythmic waves. They kissed for awhile as he ran his soothing hands up and down her back and eventually they sat down on the large porch swing where she cuddled into his chest and they held hands as they relaxed with their wine. The moon shimmered off the waves in the distance and illuminated their surroundings in a hazy blue light, where they felt enveloped in their own little world  and they could explore each other's bodies without fear of being seen if anyone was taking a midnight stroll along the semi-private beach.

As the night wore on and they finished their wine, Robert led Michelle to their bedroom suite where they slowly undressed each other and stepped into the shower of their bathroom. As Robert gently washed Michelle's hair, she found herself feeling so relaxed she just melted into him. They finished soaping each other, rinsing off and used the fluffy white towels to dry each other off, before crawling into their comfy bed where they made love slowly and passionately. It had been so long since they had had time to connect like this and they were going to enjoy every moment. They lost track of time getting lost in each other's eyes and touch and bodies, but after being completely sated, eventually sleep overtook them as they spooned together with the gentle ocean breeze from the open windows wafting across them.