February 03rd, 2021

    Josiah Barrett was distracted. Not because he didn’t want to hear his wife tell him about her day. On the contrary, he looked forward to reconnecting over dinner. Or reconnecting as much as a one year old flinging peas on the floor allowed. He honestly didn’t understand men who complained about their wives always wanting to talk. There was no one he enjoyed having a conversation with more than Kate. It had always been that way. 
    No, he was distracted because his head was full of plans for Valentine’s Day. A few months ago, he and Kate had purchased a “rekindle the romance kit” recommended in a couple’s devotional they were reading together. Not that he felt in the least that the spark was gone. Kate turned him on just walking into the room at times. It was just that ever since Haley was born, they found they had to be more intentional when it came to their relationship. Hence scheduled date nights, the couple’s devotional . . . 
    And the romance “kit.”
    The rule of the kit was simple - open an envelope and follow the instructions to create a romantic moment with your spouse. No excuses, no skipping cards, no matter how awkward it made you feel. The pink cards were for the husband to do for his wife while the red cards were for the wife to do for her husband. They usually took turns planning their dates using the cards, but for Valentine’s Day, they had both opened one. That’s what had Josiah so distracted. 
    He couldn’t stop mulling over his plans for the next evening. While he and Kate shared dinner at a restaurant, his brother was going to decorate their car like he had on their wedding day. Only, instead of “just married,” Micah was going to write “happily married.” On the way home, Josiah was going to take a detour to Founder’s Park, where he had proposed all those years ago and dance with Kate just like he had then to “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias - their song.   
    Kate was going to love it, and he was giddy with excitement. 
    A loud, clattering sound startled him out of his reverie. Haley squealed loudly and slapped the tray of her high chair. Josiah laughed.     
    “She threw her sippy cup. Again.”
    He glanced at Kate as he bent to retrieve the cup. She was staring nervously at her plate, pushing peas around with her fork. 
    “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I haven’t been listening, have I?”
     She gave him a wane smile. “It’s not that. I know teething isn’t exactly a riveting topic.”
    Haley took the cup from his hand and started sucking down the water inside. Good - maybe they had a minute or two reprieve from the cup throwing game.
    “What is it then?”
      Kate bit her lip and blinked as if holding back tears. After a long pause, she blurted out, “I can’t do it!”
    He frowned with concern. “Do what?”
    She dropped her fork with a clatter and pressed both hands to her face. “The card,” she mumbled behind her fingers, “for Valentine’s Day.”
    He said nothing, trying to process her words. Haley fussed, and on auto-pilot, he sprinkled some snack puffs onto the high chair tray to distract her. 
    Kate ran her hands through her hair as she looked up at him. “I know it says not to skip cards, but I can’t, Josiah. I just can’t.”
    Now he was alarmed. He was always careful to be a patient and tender lover with Kate, knowing she had been victimized in her young, innocent years. The cards for wives were always sexual in nature, but it was a Christian product, so nothing had been inappropriate. So far, anyway. Kate had been emboldened by the cards to get past her shyness: dancing for him, initiating sex, making love in unique places around the house, but none of it ever seemed to upset her. She would blush and giggle, and he would assure her that he found her incredibly sexy, but he had never seen her afraid. 
    Was she afraid? That was one thing he never, ever wanted her to feel with him. 
     He realized he had been quiet for too long when she started speaking again in a hurried, nervous tone. “It just grosses me out. I mean, the thought of doing it makes me physically repulsed. Can I please pick another card? Or just do my own thing?”
    Good Lord above, what was on this card?
    “What does it want you to do?” he whispered, then he inwardly berated himself. 
      It shouldn’t matter, you idiot! She clearly doesn’t feel comfortable doing it!
    “It wants me to let you . . . “ she hesitated for a beat, then blurted out, “eat fruit off my body!”
    At first, he was rendered speechless. That had not been what he had expected. Well, he wasn’t really sure what he’d expected, but it certainly wasn’t fruit. 
    “It’s just so . . . sticky,” she added, wrinkling her nose in an adorable way.
    Then he couldn’t help it - he burst out laughing. Haley startled, dropped her cup again, then joined her Daddy with gleeful belly laughs despite having no clue what was so funny. At first Kate gaped at him, which only made him laugh more. Soon, she was chuckling too. They laughed and laughed until tears rolled down their cheeks and they could scarcely breathe. 
    “Fruit?” he finally gasped. “You had me so worried, and then it’s all about fruit?”
    “Don’t laugh,” she giggled. She rolled her eyes at him and tossed a wadded up napkin at his head. “You know how I feel about food fights.”
    He did. Every time they saw one on TV or in a movie, it grossed her out. The thought of ketchup in her hair or mashed potatoes down her shirt made her shiver with revulsion. “You know somebody has to clean that up,” she would always say. 
    “Come here,” he told her, opening up his arms. She blushed sheepishly as she rose from her chair and rounded the kitchen table. She curled up on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. 
    “Kate,” he told her, brushing her hair off her forehead and tucking it behind her ear, “all I need is you to be perfectly satisfied. If anything - anything at all - makes you feel uncomfortable, please tell me. I never want you to feel that way when we’re intimate, even if it’s just something like sticky fruit.”
    She smiled down at him, cupping his jaw with one hand, a picture of perfect contentment. Just as he longed for her to feel with him. 
    “I love you,” she lowered her lips to his and kissed him thoroughly, running her fingers through his hair. 
    “I love you too,” he replied huskily when she finally pulled away. 
    “My alternate plan is to feed you chocolate covered strawberries.”
     “I like that plan.”
    She kissed him again, but then they were interrupted by Haley’s squeals. The sight of their daughter had them both laughing again. 
    “Sweetheart,” Josiah told his wife, “I don’t think our daughter shares your opinion on food fights.”
    Their one year old had mashed up her peas and then rubbed it into her hair. With a half chuckle, half groan, Kate got off Josiah’s lap and went to unbuckle their daughter from her high chair. 
    “Which would you rather clean?” he asked his wife. “The chair or the baby?”
    “The baby, definitely.”
    He watched his wife, her strawberry blonde hair in a messy bun on top of her head, no makeup, clad in yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt. She balanced their daughter on her hip as she wiped tiny hands and cheeks with a baby wipe. Her smile was bright and her eyes sparkled as she spoke lovingly to their child. Despite the messy peas still in the tiny girl’s fine hair, Kate pressed a sloppy kiss to the baby’s freshly wiped, chubby cheek, making Haley giggle. Josiah’s heart swelled with love for this woman: his best friend, his wife, the mother of his child. He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. 
   “What was that for?” she asked him.
    “Like I said, I just need you.”