Our movie doesn't start until six pm, so we decide to grab a late lunch and head to a nearby park to enjoy the rest of the daylight. It actually doesn't turn out to be as fun as we'd anticipated. It's hot. Freakishly hot. We try to enjoy our spicy hot wings while enduring the sickening feeling of sweat dripping down our spines. In short, spicy food and sunshine is not a happy feeling.

We quickly devour our meals, eager for something cool to revive our fluid-leaking bodies. We're nowhere near town—for some reason we thought it'd be more fun to picnic away from civilization. Now, we're hating ourselves for our stupidity in not buying drinks with our meal. We're paying for it now though... by sweating ourselves into dehydration.

"I'm pretty sure there's a stream nearby," Seth suddenly suggests out of the blue.

I whip my head around to see if he's being serious, and I'm shocked to find that he is. Seth Vans wants to go swimming with me? The same excitement a child experiences on the night before Christmas is exactly how I feel right now. The idea of playing in some water with my husband is more appealing to me than steak, or chili fries, or ice—remember, I'm very hot right now, so ice is definitely a temptation. Yet, I'm willing to give up nourishing my body for a chance to giggle and frolic in a creek with my beautiful man.

"That sounds heavenly," I say. "Lead the way, please, before I start drooling."

He chuckles and my insides instantly turn to mush. There's that sound—the sound I'd become immune to for so long. Now it seems to be my weakness. I crave that sound. And what I crave even more is to be the one who causes that sound.

We walk side-by-side in silence until the field narrows into a small pathway woven between a patch of trees. I'm forced to step back so Seth can guide us. For several minutes, the only sound that can be heard is the crunching of twigs and leaves beneath our feet. It's peaceful in a way that I haven't experienced in a long time. Our silence at this moment hasn't been brought on by my lack of conversation or tense circumstances. We're simply enjoying nature together and talking isn't necessary. It's the most relaxed I've been in Seth's presence in ages.

I'm daydreaming about ice cubes and snow when I'm suddenly slamming into Seth's backside. I stumble slightly—though, he seems entirely unfazed by me. Instead, he just stares ahead.

"Well," he mutters, "that's disappointing."

I step to the side to get a better view of what's ahead and instantly start chuckling. That is indeed disappointing, and yet, the hilarity of it is almost worth the letdown. Sitting before us is most certainly a creek—if you can even call it that. I'd probably aim for a trickle. That suites it better. It's literally a trickle of water. The kind of trickle that instantly gives you the urge to pee. It just dribbles over small stones and flows into somewhat larger puddles in areas where the ground dips slightly.

Not willing to let this small hindrance derail our plans, I shuffle forward and around Seth. Dropping my phone—carefully—on a nearby rock, I take a few steps into the creek and plop down right in the middle of the small flow. I know I'll be mad at myself later for ruining my jeans, but right now, creating a lasting memory with my husband is more important than a pair of pants. Without another thought, I lay back and allow the small amount of water to cascade around my body. As pathetic as this creek is, it sure does feel incredible.

I expect to glance up and find Seth gaping at me in shock, but instead, I'm the one in shock. I watch—almost in slow motion, like those Calvin Klein cologne commercials—as Seth strips his shirt over his head and flings it on a nearby rock. Then he's making his way towards me—and I swear his hair has been ruffled to perfection, the small breeze offering its assistance with Seth's windblown look, and his skin is glistening with what looks to be a layer of sexy oil—though, it could possibly be sweat. Either way, at this moment, he looks gooood!

I can't tear my eyes off this man. Even when he moves to lay down upstream from me, I succeed in craning my neck to the point of pure discomfort just so I can keep watching him. If this guy wasn't hitched to me, then he'd probably be looking for a restraining order against the creepy creek gawker right about now. Fortunately for me, he's not watching me watch him. He's simply enjoying the cool water over his golden skin.

I want to be brave right now. I want to do something scandalous... like crawl upstream to ravish the man of my dreams. And, if things were better between us, then I totally would. But, there's no sense in taking a massive leap towards uniting our marriage only to fall into the gaping hole separating us. I've got to wait this out a bit longer. Even with the possibility of divorce hanging over my head, I can't just desperately present myself to the man. I've got to use technique. I have to strategize. One wrong move and I might as well walk myself out of Seth's life. I won't risk that.

I've got big plans coming up, and I'm hoping we can keep moving this relationship in a positive direction until then. Seth's birthday is going to be a huge opportunity for us. I've nearly got the whole thing planned. That boy ain't gonna know what even hit him.

He told me he wanted to talk during our stay on Jackson's farm, but I've been shamefully avoiding that conversation. I don't think I'm ready to hear what he needs to confess. There are too many ugly possibilities. If I can just dazzle him back in love with me, then we can just forget all our problems and move on.

And yet, I'm not that stupid.

I know that's not how life works. Problems don't just magically disappear. At some point, I'm going to have to let Seth talk. I know he's got heavy things that he needs to get off his chest. I'm just hoping I can be strong enough when the time comes for him to release them. And, if that day happened to be today, I know I'd break.

"What you thinking about over there?" Seth's voice startles me out of my planning, and I tilt my head back to peer at him.

"Oh, you know," I say with a shrug. I can feel the sand sliding across my back with the movement. "Just you, me, and your birthday."

Seth props himself up onto his elbows so he can see me better. Tired of having to crane my neck to look at him, I sit up and turn to face him. I cross my legs and lean back on my palms.

"Yeah?" he says, a smile coming to life on his face. "What's the big plan?"

"It's a secret," I tease. "You'll literally have to tear it out of me if you want to know."

"Oh, really?" A gleam flashes through his eyes, and I freeze, my body alert and ready to run.

"Don't you dare," I warn, preparing to launch myself into a sprint.

"What if I just tickle it out of you?" he asks. I could laugh at how sweet his voice sounds, as if he truly thinks I'll love that alternative.

"If you tickle me, I swear I'll pee, and I'll make sure to be upstream from you when I do," I tell him. I'm entirely serious. I despise being tickled. "I'm not afraid to use my bladder as a weapon, and I can promise you I'm fully loaded."

Seth chuckles, pushing himself up as he begins walking towards his dry shirt. I watch him pull it over his head, the material clinging to him irritatingly.

"You're such a buzzkill," he mumbles, but I can see the side of his mouth twitching upwards.

I sense the moment turning even more playful, and I have a feeling that as soon as I walk past Seth, he'll snake his arms out and tackle me to the ground. Unfortunately, his next words end all possibility of further fun.

"Your phone's going off," he says, his voice flat.

I glance at where I've left it laying. It happens to be on the same rock that Seth's shirt had been thrown, and he's staring at the thing with an empty look on his face. I stride toward him and brush my arm against his as I reach for the small device. He pulls away quickly as if I've just scalded him with my flesh. I shoot him a quizzical look before plucking up my phone and putting it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Mercy. Hey." It's Steve.

I have to internalize a moan. Of course, it's Steve. He's pretty much the only person on the planet who has to keep in touch on a multiple-times-a-day basis. At some point, I'm going to have to have a little chit-chat with him about getting a life.

"What's up?" I ask, not bothering to fake enthusiasm.

"I've got another job for you."

"Another job?" I question. "How long is this one gonna take me? I'm still working on Adam's desks, you know?"

"Yes, yes," he tells me, and I can mentally see him waving my concerns away. "This one is small, I promise. You'll be able to complete it in a weekend."

"Right." I suppress a groan, momentarily hating my job.

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but there are times when I'd love a break.

"Okay," I say, "I'll come in sometime tomorrow and we can talk about it then, okay?"

"Good." I can hear him shuffling papers, but I don't care enough to ask what he's doing. "Sounds good. See you then, Mercy."

I offer a goodbye and then end the call with a sigh. That man sure knows how to ruin a moment. I'll have to warn him to not bother me during the weekend of Seth's birthday. I'd hate to have to buy a new phone after launching mine into a wall. That's the effect the man has on me at times. I love him and I hate him all at the same time.

"Work?" Seth asks once we've begun the walk back to his truck.

"Yeah," I answer with a groan. "I can't wait for your birthday so I can finally get a vacation."

"Vacation?" he inquires, his brows wiggling as if I've just endowed him with some juicy information. "So, we're going out of town somewhere?"

Geez. I guess I did give a bit too much away. Instead of answering, I swat him on the arm and continue marching on.

We head home quickly to shower and change before we make our way to the theater. We arrive a couple of minutes late, which means we missed all the previews—that's seriously my favorite part of going to the movies sometimes. Let's just hope this one's worth missing the previews over.

Not much talking is done, and not once does Seth attempt to hold my hand, but I'm not too bummed. I'm just thrilled beyond words to be sitting next to him... on a date. I'd begun to notice a slight shift in our marriage lately, but this was more. I could almost feel healing. The rough edges of our relationship were being sanded down and smoothed out.

I think marriage can be like a tree. It starts off magnificent and stunning, but then changes and hardships take place—the tree is hacked down—and suddenly we're a pile of ridged, coarse planks of wood. Seth and I are still planks of raw wood. We're ugly and broken and fighting to find a purpose again, but until we can smooth out our issues and sand down our pride, we'll remain ugly.

With this comparison in mind, I find myself getting excited by the possibilities of our future. What will we become once we've fit all our pieces together? Will we be a sturdy table that can easily hold the burdens of marriage, will we be a grandfather clock that ticks by the decades of our devotion towards each other, or will we simply be a cabinet—a cabinet with one purpose only: to be a place where precious moments and endless love is stored. Even when we're gone, I'd like those memories to remain. I want children and grandchildren to remember the love Seth and I had for each other far beyond just our graves. When we're gone, I want our passion, faith, and love to be remembered.

There are two important facts that most people don't realize about old furniture. One: it can be abused and beaten until it's nothing but a pile of rubble. I've seen marriages like this. The marriages that are holding on by a thread, and you find yourself questioning how they ever survived at all. And then you have those old pieces of furniture that are polished, cherished, and loved.

We call them antiques.

Antique marriages are the most precious. You realize that as time slowly passes, your relationship transforms into something that is so much more valuable than it ever was before. You never grow outdated because your love lives on through your children and their children.

I want to be that example one day. I want to be able to pass on the perfect expression of true love to my children one day. I want to set an example that lives on even when I can't.

I used to have dreams of success and a stable life. Now, my dream is simply to make the most of what I have. And what I have now is Seth, and I plan to grow old with him.

I plan to make him my antique love.