Darian put the car to a halt when they arrived at the beach. He looked over to see the stunned expression on Lena's face.
"You said we were going out, you didn't mention the beach, Darian." She gasped, it'd been a long time since she visited the beach and she had recently talked about visiting with Lisa. She wondered how Darian knew about her longing to visit the beach again. "She tapped her fingers on her lips and jabbed his shoulder. "Why do I feel Lisa has a hand in this?"
"I asked her and she told me all that I needed to know." He relaxed in the car seat. "I have never loved coming to the beach, but I just had to, because of you."
Lena frowned, "You shouldn't do it if you don't like it." She said.
"Does it matter if it doesn't make me happy? I will do anything as long as it will make you happy." He took her hands in his and placed gentle kisses on them.
"Why don't you like coming to the beach? It's cool and entertaining here, everyone likes it."
"Everyone but me." He shrugged. "But maybe I will get to like it since you are here with me." He smiled. "Come on, let's get out and see the water. We have somewhere else to visit from here."
"Where else?" She asked him.
"You will get to know when we get there. Stay in the car, I will get the door for you." He hurried down, scurrying over to her side. He opened the door for her and took her hand to help her out of the car.
Some of the people present on the beach feed their eyes with the lovey-dovey attitudes of Darian. Lena felt so shy about it, but she also found it cool, she loved it.
Darian shut the door and keyed the car, still holding her hand.
"Let's go see the water." He said, leading the way down to the beach.
There were a few people gathered around, taking pictures of the water. Some were swimming and bubbling in it while others like Darian and his wife just watched the water, admiring how it formed ripples on the surface.
"If I had known that we were coming here, I would have worn my beachwear. You know I have very sexy bikinis to wear to the beach, but now, I look like crap in these shorts." She kissed her teeth, wiggling her head in disapproval.
"There is never one time you've looked like crap, Lena." He wrapped his hand around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder as they watched the water together. "I used to visit with my dad when I was very young."
Lena looked back at him, she figured he was about to tell her the story. "Then what happened?" She asked, urging him to continue with his story.
"There was a time I almost drowned in the water. It was in the evening and my dad wanted me to come with him to the beach because he had a lot of enemies who were after us then. So, he always wanted me to come with him wherever he went."
Lena swivelled around to face him, he bent a little to kiss her lips. He was obsessed with her and it was obvious.
"My dad went with some lady and left me on my own. I was young and it was late, I was wandering around the whole place in search of my dad who was in there having fun with a woman. I don't know how I did it. I entered the water, the wave was heavy, drawing me in and there was no one to save me as I screamed. I was almost reaching the deepest part of the water when my dad showed up with his fling." Darian shook his head, "I almost lost my life due to his carelessness, but maybe he saved my life too."
Lena held his hand and forced a small smile.
"How old were you then?"
"I was close to eight, I was very young. He took me to Gaius and Talia after that incident and he warned me not to tell anyone about it." He chuckled. "I was obedient, no one knows about it. You are the first person I will tell."
"Should we leave?" She took his hand, dragging him towards the spot the car was parked. "You know I have read about how people get PTSD whenever they recall an incident from the past. I don't want you to have that. I am fine, I can make do with whatever you want, you don't have to bring me here at your detriment." She said, concern laced in her tone.
"I am over it, Lena."
"Are you sure?" She asked, worried about her husband.
"Come here," he grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his chest. "I love you so much." He whispered into her ears.
"I love you too," She smiled.
He kissed her lips for a while before breaking apart.
Lena didn't get enough of him, she looked around, tiptoeing to kiss his lips. "Should we take pictures? There is a guy over there who takes photos." She suggested, looking at him for his approval.
"Let's go," he clasped his hand with hers and they went over to meet the photographer. He fell in love with Darian and Lena and even took photos of them before they approached him.
He tagged them as the perfect couple he needed to complete his gallery. He snapped many other photos of them and printed them out without collecting a dime from them even though Darian insisted that he paid.
"He's a nice guy." Lena jumped in front of Darian as they headed to sit on the beach chairs.
They settled down on one, Lena sat in between his legs and they looked at the water together. She kept on checking out the photos, gushing over Darian and her.
They looked so cute and her husband was looking so perfect in the shorts and T-shirt he wore. She looked at him and back at the photo, the photo didn't do much justice to Darian's handsomeness, he was far cuter in real life than what the photo portrayed.
"Lena, there is something I want to tell you." He stroked her hair with his fingers, fixing his eyes on the young children roaming the beach. They all seemed excited as they splashed water on one another.
"What's that?" She relaxed in his chest, her eyes also on the kids who were running around. She envisioned herself and Darian running around with their kids and a smile found its way to her lips.
"I found out that my mother is alive." He said dryly, hoping she wouldn't get mad for keeping it from her all these days. "I wanted to see her before telling you about it."
There was a silence between them. She turned to look at him and said, "Where is she?" She chose to understand his decision and not complicate things to avoid another misunderstanding between them.
"She's not in New York, and she fell into a coma just a few days before I went to visit her." He told her the truth. "I went to see her the last time I went on a trip outside New York, but I couldn't wait for her because I was worried about you when you weren't picking up my calls." He explained to her and Lena felt a pang of guilt rush through her insides.
He would have been with his mother if she hadn't ignored him, but then it wasn't her fault. He never mentioned where he was going and she was mad he cheated on her.
"Why did she fall into a coma?" She continued with her question.
"The Doctor told me she suffers from a brain tumour that needs urgent surgery."
"I am sorry about that, Darian." Lena let out sadly.
"I haven't gotten a chance to talk to her, I don't even know if she's my biological mother." He chuckled lightly. "I hope she gets better because I have a lot of questions to ask her." His voice was void of emotions as he uttered the words.
He was unhappy, Lena intertwined their fingers and kissed his cheeks.
"I am fine but I don't know if I can just acknowledge the fact that she's my mother. You know, sometimes I secretly wish that she's not my mother, I wish my mother was truly dead like I was told. I am not certain I can deal with whatever is coming my way if she wakes up to answer my questions. Do you think I should just forget about her and move on with my life?"
"No, Darian. You have to take things easy and I promise to always be with you. Did the Doctor say that she'll wake up soon?"
"Yes, they assured me of that and I am counting on their words. It's been a week already, but I haven't gotten a response yet." He sighed in frustration.
"Hey, calm down." She rubbed her hand on his chest.
"I am calm," he smiled, staring at his beautiful wife. Just looking at her and knowing that she was his gladdened his heart.
"Where are we going from here?"
"It's a surprise," he smirked at her. "Have you fed your eyes enough?"
"Darian," she laughed. "Thanks for bringing me here, I love to spend time with you." She pressed her lips together.
"I do too, you make me alive. Now, to our next destination." He rose to his feet, taking her hand in his, he heaved her up.
"Are you not going to tell me where we are going?" She whined.
"Don't be in a hurry, wifey. You will find out soon." He caressed her cheeks as he led the way back to the spot their car was parked.