"Ellie, have you seen my zoom lens?" my husband, Nate, spoke loud from his office. 

 

I brushed softly Lily's hair, my daughter, on two braids. Later there was another scream, this time he sounded exasperated. He was coming later. He hates coming late.

 

I finished making the hairstyle to my daughter and she ran to the kitchen to be with her older sister, Jane.

 

Then, I heard another scream of my husband when I served the breakfast to my two daughters. 

 

"Finish your breakfast. I will help your father" I said to my oldest daughter. 

 

Running to his office, I opened the door to find him registering each drawer of his office. 

 

"Right, calm down and think. When was the last time you used that lens?" 

 

He touched his dark hair with a hand which was starting to show a little of gray on the edge.

 

His tense body and his expression showed me his bad attitude. He is a man who likes to smile very much and be positive. However, today was not his day. 

 

Today was the Valentine's Day and even though Nate and I enjoyed mocking the mercantilism of the day. He used to give me flowers in the morning. But not today. Today, he was so different. He is not usually a bad-mood person. 

 

After looking for in the entire office, he remembered the location of his lens. He gave it to his friend a month ago.

 

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I have to go. I'll call Mikael to take the lens to the office."

 

I have no idea who was Mikael, but I nodded because I saw my husband very hurried. 

 

He picked up his equipment and gave me a short kiss on my lips. Following him from the hall, I saw as he left his equipment and hurried to the kitchen. Standing at the door I saw how he raised to Lily in the air, making her laugh and gave to Jane kisses for all her face. 

 

"Bye, girls. See you later." He gave me a quick smile while walking in front of me.

I tried to ignore the pain in my chest.

"Where are you going?" he asked me when he saw me stand up quickly after we finished dinner. 

 

"To get your Valentine's Day present."

 

I heard his laughter as he followed me into the main studio. I opened the desk drawer, pulled out his gift and handed it to him. I smiled when I saw her curious look. 

 

"What is it?"

 

"Open it up and look at it."

 

My stomach was shaking with excitement when he carefully ripped off the wrapper. His face changed to surprise as he looked up at the gift in his hands. 

 

"How?" he said with his eyes full of tenderness.

 

It was a picture of our family on a beach, the one we visited a few months ago with our friends. They had taken many photos that weekend and when I was looking through them, I found it, printed it out, and framed it.  I had saved it for a special occasion to give it to Nate.

 

"So, do you like it?"

"I love it," he said excitedly stroking the picture.

 

The image showed our daughters playing in the sand while Nate and I looked at them with love and a smile on our faces. We looked calm and happy. 

 

"I thought you could hang it in your office."

 

"Definitely." Nate looked at me and smiled. "I like it too much." 

 

I laughed and nodded while he drew me to him with his free arm.

 

"I figured it out. I thought it would be good to keep it so that when we're old and gray, we can look at it and remember what we were like."

 

A few hours later we were sitting on our sofa, my legs stretched out on Nate's lap, we were chatting about memories, about how we met, when it was our wedding, when we found out we were going to be parents, until that moment, when we needed a moment between us to show our love again, all while drinking the hot tea he had given me. The room was lit by the flames in our fireplace. It was cozy, intimate and romantic. I felt relaxed and full of love again, I really needed this moment to be me again, and to confirm that the love between us was still there. 

 

Lately, it felt like we were distanced a little.  We had work and our daughters, so there were few moments that we sat down to spend time between us as before, although we tried our best to make a space in our time, but it wasn't be enough.

 

I missed our talks.

 

Today Nate didn't wake me up with a kiss and a hug, as usual.  He didn't give me flowers and there were always flowers on Valentine's day. In fact, he hadn't even mentioned the day, not even to make a joke. 

 

That morning, he simply got out of bed and ran to the shower.  He said something about having to be fast because he had to arrive early and that he would buy his own coffee on the way. 

 

My thoughts had me uneasy.  Had we reached that point?  That inevitable point in marriage?

 

That point where only ... we begin to have an unusual feeling in the relationship.

 

I felt a huge desire to cry.

 

After almost eight years of marriage and with no sign of falling into that stage, I thought it could never happen to us.

 

Oh, God. 

 

I quickly looked for my cell phone in my bag and checked my cell phone screen. 

It was Nate.

 

"Hello, sweetie. I tried to call you a couple of times," he said. 

 

"Hi, love. I know, is it urgent?

 

"Nothing, I just want to talk to you."

 

"Yeah? About what?"

 

"Your day. How's it going? I apologize for how grumpy I was this morning."

 

"Well, everything's fine so far. And yes, it was weird seeing you in this mood so early, you hardly ever get stressed out or raise your voice. And especially not today of all days."

 

"What does that mean?

 

Yeah, he had completely forgotten about Valentine's Day.

 

"Nothing. I guess." I stood up, a little upset by his reaction." Well, I better get back to work."

 

"It's okay. I'll see you at home." I hung up and stared at the cell phone. 

 

What an unpleasant Valentine's Day!

 

"I'm home!" I shouted as I closed the door.

 

Usually when I arrive my daughters always run into my arms. But today nothing.

 

"Nate?"

 

"In the kitchen, love."

 

Smiling at the compliment, I took off my coat and shoes, and followed the smell of delicious food into the kitchen.

 

My eyes opened to the sight in front of me. The room was lit with candles and there were many red roses in the center of the table, a table set for an incredible dinner.

 

Nate was standing by the table in his favorite jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt. He looked relaxed, looking at me with a smile on his face.

 

"Happy Valentine's Day, honey."

 

I smiled.

 

"Did anyone remind you?

 

He shook his head. 

 

"I called my dad last week and asked him to watch the girls tonight. My parents picked them up this afternoon."

 

"But... you made it seem like you forgot."

 

He shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

 

"I was just playing with you." He walked over to me and gave me a big hug that made me feel the warmth I needed so badly.  

 

When we parted, he looked me in the eye and whispered:

 

"I've missed you, Ellie."

"So do I”