Love Is In the Air

Today was Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, this morning was no different from any other morning. Paxton was up on and off between 7:30am to 9:00am with his usual gagging fit. Most recently, he would wake up crying, but not open his eyes. It seemed like he was still be in a light state of sleep. Susanne found that if she could actually wake him up and get him to open his eyes, then he recovered faster.

To celebrate the special day, Scott and Susanne went to get massages. Since it was a last minute decision, the spa didn't have a slot for them to get a couple's massage. Instead, they had one back to back. It wasn't ideal, but it would get the job done. Susanne went first because she was the lady. Scott took this opportunity to take a cat nap. As Susanne suspected, the massage therapist commented on her "mom shoulders". He said she had a bad case of it. If he only knew...Susanne had to carry around at least 18lbs of cuteness everyday. Scott went next. He had been wanting a massage for months now. He had chronic back pain, which was alleviated somewhat after deep tissue therapy.

Susanne tried to take a cat nap like Scott had done, but her cell phone wouldn't leave her alone. She received a call from Paxton's medical supply company. They called every month to double check which items needed to be included in their shipment. Even though the majority of the time nothing would change, she appreciated them being so involved. The problem that she was having was that the last few shipments either contained the wrong items or they were missing some items all together. She had not changed the order since September when Paxton had his G-tube placed so she was confused who was switcing it up on her. She would go through the list of medical supplies every month and would double check the order, but somewhere there was some sort of miscommunication. She was getting frustrated with the gentleman that she was speaking with. First, she had difficulty understanding him. Second, he wasn't listening to a word she was saying. He just kept repeating himself instead of addressing her concerns. During their conversation, someone beeped in. She answered the call and it was another person from the medical supply company calling to double check which items she needed for the next shipment. This sent her through the roof. It just seemed like they were so disorganized. They sure messed up a lot for a company that was relied upon to deliver the appropriate critical medical supplies to patients. After she hung up with the second guy, she requested to speak with a manager. It took multiple failed attempts to get anywhere before she hung up on the guy. She knew that someone would have to call her back. When a manager finally called her back, she was informed that her account would be marked from now on to never receive a call from INDIA again. Seriously! It was pretty scary that the people who were making the majority of these phone calls had no idea what products they were talking about.

After the massages were finished, they walked around downtown Brookline. It was fun for them to take a nice leisurely stroll together hand in hand. They stopped by a local deli and split a sandwich as an afternoon snack. This was one of Susanne's favorite types of food. True delis were hard to come by where they lived. She always seized the chance to grab a bite to eat at one if the opportunity presented itself.

Paxton was up when they returned from their morning out. It was nice for them to get a chance to hang out with the little monkey before they headed back out for their special evening together. Paxton loved all of the attention and laughed a lot. Scott and Susanne sat with Moppy while she ate dinner. They didn't want to isolate her completely on Valentine's Day.

Shortly thereafter, Susanne and Scott hopped on the T and headed to a popular Mexican Restaurant in the area. Susanne's experience on the subway this time was much more positive. It literally took them less than fifteen minutes from start to finish to get to their destination. They started off their romantic dinner with some homemade guacomole and margaritas. Susanne chose a yummy mango margarita while Scott chose their house margarita. Both were quite delicious. As the evening progressed, the conversation got deeper and more serious than they had hoped. Their stresses and concerns about the upcoming surgery got a hold of them. It spiraled into a discussion about their currrent situation, which was less than ideal. Even though they saw each other more often, they still weren't together as much as they thought they would have been at this point. The distance was killing them. They both lost their appetite rather quickly. They just wanted to get back and be with Paxton before the big day.

On their way back, they ended up accidentally getting off at the wrong stop. It was very similar to what happened to Moppy and Susanne a couple of days prior. Luckily, with the assistance of Scott's phone, they got back to the house safe and sound.

Scott and Susanne wanted to regroup before heading upstairs. They slipped into a dark room on the main floor. They sat in silence and just held each other tightly. It was their only way to escape the real world for a short moment. They didn't want to let go of their embrace. They didn't want to move at all. They just wanted time to standstill. They wanted to remain in the still of the night forever.