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Emma had never celebrated Valentine’s Day before.
She wasn’t dating anyone, so there was no point to the holiday, she’d thought.
Now… Things were different. She wondered what Norman would expect out of the holiday, if anything.
Regardless of what he’d expect, Emma had a plan: she was going to spoil the heck out of her husband. She’d cook his favorite meal, make him some fudge, buy a bottle of wine, make chocolate-covered popcorn, and watch their favorite movie, Overboard. She’d started planning in January, so that she’d have time to shop for ingredients and hide them.
And apparently, he’d also started planning early: on January 14th, a full month before Valentine’s Day, Emma went to bed only to find a single, thornless, red rose and a Dove milk chocolate square on her pillow.
“Norman!” she said, picking up the rose and the chocolate and bolting downstairs to the kitchen. “What’s this for?”
Leaning on the kitchen counter with his arms folded, Norman offered her one of his subtle, pleased smiles. “It’s for Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s a month away!”
“Yesss?” Norman cocked his head to the side, peering at her curiously. “Is that a problem?”
Emma stammered, staring at the rose. “B-But you… And I…”
Norman took her by the shoulders and guided her to the kitchen sink. “Better find a vase for that, dear.”
Emma reached under the sink for one of her glass vases, filling it with water. She set the vase on the table and placed the rose inside. “That was sweet of you, Norman.”
Norman kissed her temple. “You’re welcome, lovely.”
***
The next day, Emma found a thornless, red rose and a music box that played, “You Are My Sunshine” on her pillow. She listened to the tinkling notes with a smile on her face, gripping the rose.
“Norman!” she said, hustling downstairs to put the rose in the water. “You’re not going to give me a rose every day until Valentine’s Day, are you?”
Norman’s eyes glittered. “Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t.”
The next day, she found a rose and a full-sized Hershey’s bar. The day after that, she found a rose and pillow in the shape of a heart. And the day after that, she found a rose and a pair of hilarious socks with a hairdryer printed on them that said, “adulting blows.”
After receiving a rose and a tiny present every day for a full three weeks, Emma realized she’d better up her game. Her vase was getting full. She’d searched the house, and couldn’t for the life of her find where Norman had hidden the multiple bouquets. He must have bought several, she reasoned.
Emma had no idea how sneaky he could be. She never, ever caught him putting the roses and gifts on her pillow, no matter how hard she tried. And since he was going to all the trouble to spoil her, she wanted to do the same for him.
She planned an outdoor date the Saturday after Valentine’s Day: a hike to a scenic overlook in the area where they’d finish the cool, Spring day watching the sunset and warming up by a bonfire. She’d even made marshmallows and downloaded SkyView, a stargazing app.
On Valentine’s Day proper, Emma was ecstatic to see what her last gift would be. Norman surprised her once again, however: on her pillow that night were a dozen roses, a giant box of pastries, macarons, and chocolate-covered strawberries, and a box of fudge ordered from a shop they’d visited years ago in Leavenworth that Emma had loved.
“Norman,” Emma breathed, as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle. He learned his head on her shoulder, and she could feel from the press of his cheek that he was smiling. “Where did you hide all of this stuff?”
“That’s for me to know,” Norman said, chuckling against her, “and for you not to find out.”
Emma harrumphed. She wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. She turned around in his hold and brushed her lips against his. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Norman beamed. “You’re welcome, Emma.”
“I didn’t have any expectations for this holiday.” Emma shook her head, her hair bouncing with the motion. “But whatever I expected, you just blew that out of the water.”
Norman nodded, tapping his chin pensively. “There’s only one thing I need to find out.”
Emma blinked at him. “What’s that?”
“How I’m going to top myself next year.”
And Emma laughed.