Piece By Piece

Chapter 13

"Thank you so much for coming, it means so much to me." Carrie hugged her mother tightly as they stood outside the car at the airport.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I love you so much Carrie. Stay strong, I'm always a phone call away if you need me." Carole held the eye contact with her daughter before pulling away.

"Thank you." Carrie smiled.

"And you," Carole pulled away and went to hug Mike.

"Keep my baby girl safe." She whispered. "And remember what I told you."

"I will. Have a safe flight home." Mike smiled in return as she grabbed her suitcase.

"Love you!" Carrie shouted one last time before she disappeared through the doors. She waved once more before Mike put his hand on her back and helped her into the car.

"Thank you for getting her up here. I needed that." Carrie smiled at Mike as they drove off.

"You're most certainly welcome." He grabbed his wife's hand and they drove home.

"I think want to get back to singing." Carrie said, breaking the silence as they sat eating dinner.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think I need too. Just something small. Like the Opry. I have to get back into singing at some point, I know my fans are worried. And I miss it, I think it'll help." Carrie said quietly, taking a bite of her salad.

"I think that would be wonderful Carrie." Mike smiled widely.

"I just don't want them to look at me differently because of this. I know people will, I would." Carrie sighed, poking the food on her plate with her fork.

"Babe you can't let that stop you. You're right, people are probably going to look at you differently and they're going to want to ask questions. But you just have to hold your head high and show them that you're better than that. Once you get back into the swing of things, people will drop it and forget it happened."

"That's so much harder than it sounds." Carrie choked.

"You can do it Carrie, I believe in you." Mike reached across the table and took her hand in his and squeezed it.

"How about we make some ice cream sundaes and have a movie night? Mike said, watching Carrie's eyes light up as she nodded, a smile appearing across her face.

"I love youuuu." Carrie gushed.

"I love you too." Mike stood up and kissed Carrie's forehead. "Go pick out a movie and I'll clean up dinner."

Carrie hopped up and went over to their movie drawer, looking for a good one to watch tonight.

"Did you pick one?" Mike asked, grabbing a blanket from the closet and plopping down onto the end of the couch.

"50 first dates." Carrie grinned. She put the movie into the DVD player and sat down beside her husband. Usually, the couple always watched a horror movie on nights like these, but ever since the kidnapping, Carrie didn't want to watch them anymore.

Immediately he put his arm around her and she curled up against his body.

Carrie pressed play and pulled the blanket over them.

Mike kissed the top of her head periodically during the movie, taking in the smell of her coconut shampoo and holding her close.

About halfway through the couple decided to fix their sundaes.

Mike and Carrie both covered theirs in chocolate sauce and sprinkles, and of course a cheery on top.

As they sat eating their sundaes, Mike couldn't help but smile. For the first time in a while, Carrie seemed genuinely happy. Her hazel eyes sparkled, her laugh rang through the house like the sound of heaven, and her smile reached from ear to ear.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Carrie giggled, sitting up to look at Mike.

"Because you're adorable, and you're happy."

Carrie blushed, snuggling back up against him with a smile on her face.

When the movie ended, Mike realized his wife was sound asleep against him. Like always, she looked so peaceful and he hated to wake her up.

Carefully, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs.

Carrie's eyes started to flutter open as she yawned.

"Go back to sleep love, I've got you." Mike whispered, setting her down onto the bed gently and covering her up. She gave up on fighting herself to stay awake and let her eyes shut again.

Mike planted a kiss on her forehead and tip toed out of the room to let her sleep.

"Mike?" Carrie whispered right as he reached the door.

"Hm?" He turned around, looking at his wife who was barely sitting up.

"Will you stay with me?"

"Of course." He smiled. He walked back over to their bed, crawling in on the other side as Carrie snuggled up against him, still half asleep.

"Goodnight." She mumbled, letting her eyes shut again with a smile on her face.

He stroked her long blonde hair and kissed the top of her head one last time. "Goodnight sweetheart."