When Clara walked into the house, Austin was there with a bouquet of lilies. She ran to him and hugged him.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Austin whispered in her ear.
"It's not your fault, it's mine. If I wouldn't have been so stupid none of this would have happened." Clara began to sob.
"Clara, stop saying everything is your fault. Everything isn't your fault."
"I'm sorry." She mumbled looking down.
"Clara, don't apologize."
"Sor..."
"Why do you apologize for everything?"
Clara didn't reply.
"Clara?" Austin softly lifted her head. She had tears running down her cheek.
"Baby, what's wrong?"
Clara shook her head.
"You can tell me anything."
"I feel like I have to be perfect."
"You are."
"No I'm not. I'm terrible. I can't give you what you deserve." Clara looked down again.
"Clara, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't know what I would do without you." Austin pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't ever change."
~*~
Austin's P.O.V.
Why does she look so lowly on herself? I wish she could see what I see. Austin looked across the bed at Clara's sleeping body. She's perfect. What happened that made her like this before we were married she was happy. Did I do something?
~*~
Austin rolled out of bed and grabbed his phone off of his night stand. He had a text from his dad.
Dad: Son, you have today and tomorrow off. Spend time with Clara. Make sure she has a good day.
Austin: Thanks, Dad.
Austin quietly walked to the kitchen and made scrambled eggs toast and bacon. Clara walked quietly walked into the kitchen and saw a shirtless Austin making breakfast.
"Good morning. How'd you sleep, babe?"Austin smiled when he noticed her.
"Okay." Clara mumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for work?"
"My dad gave me today and tomorrow off."
"Really?"
"Yep. And you and I are going to do something." Austin wrapped his arms around her.
Clara shyly smiled at him.
"But first you need to eat.
~*~
Texts between Clara and Austin's dad.
Clara: Thank you for giving Austin the day off.
Bill: It was no problem. You have a good day. And keep Austin in line.
Clara: I'll keep a close eye on him.
Austin walked out of the bedroom and sat on the couch next to her.
"Clara, can I ask you a question?"
"Yes."
"Why are you so insecure about yourself?"
"Oh..."
"You don't have to answer."
"It's okay. You should know. When I was fifteen I struggled with depression and social anxiety. No one knew. My mom and dad's pushing me to be the best of every sport I played, to be the best piano player at the school, and to be better than everyone else didn't help. At school, no one really paid attention to me, unless they wanted something. If a guy liked a girl and she didn't like him, he would 'like me' to make her jealous." Clara pulled her knees to her chest and began to cry. "I became insecure about my body and how I looked."
"Baby, you don't have to say anything else. You are perfect to me. You don't have to impress me or anything like that. I love you, and I will help you get over this." Austin pulled her into his arms and rocked back and forth.
"Thank you for listening to me. When I was a teenager, everyone thought people like me were weird. My family, friends, classmates, and teachers would talk about how people like me were just trying to get attention. So I kept it hidden."
"I will always be here for you to tell you how beautiful you are. Is there something I can do to help you feel less insecure about yourself?"
"I don't know."
"Clara, I wish I could just tell you and it all be gone. But I do want you to know you look beautiful all the time. No woman could ever compete with your beauty. You will always be my girl."
"And you'll always be my man."
"What do you want to do today?"
"I don't care. What do you want to do?"
"Babe, this is your day. You pick."
"How about we..." Clara thought for a moment. "I don't know. This is to hard."
All of a sudden a clap of thunder made her jump.
"Okay. So nothing outside." Austin said. "Do you want to bake something?"
"I'm pretty sure you don't want to do that."
"For your information, I am a great helper in the kitchen. Thank you very much."
"Oh yeah."
"Yeah, and I'll prove it!" Austin got up off the couch and pulled Clara to her feet.
"Race ya!" Clara said taking off to the kitchen.
"Hey that's not fair!" Austin yelled after her.
~*~
Austin walked into the kitchen, where Clara was bent over the oven pulling the cookies out.
Wow! She is so gorgeous with the blush from the heat off the oven!
Austin whistled from where he was. Clara looked over and laughed at the silly grin on his face.
"You know what would make you even prettier right now?" Austin asked walking over to her.
"Hmm?"
"This." Austin rubbed some flour on the tip of her nose. "Now there's no chance that any guy has a prettier wife or girlfriend."
"Stop it." Clara lightly pushed him. Austin quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. She leaned towards him less than an inch from giving him a kiss when she ran out of the room.
"Wait a minute! I didn't get a kiss! I want a kiss."
"That's a bummer isn't it." Clara called from what sounded like the living room.
"Do I get a kiss if I catch you?" Austin asked hopefully.
"Hmmm. I guess." Clara drawled.
"Oh I'm so going to catch you!"
Austin ran out of the kitchen just as he saw Clara run into the bedroom. He dashed after her to see her run into the bathroom. He ran in and she wasn't in there.
Where is she? The closet!
Austin quietly walked into the kitchen to see that she wasn't in there. The other door that was in their closet that led to the bedroom was slightly open. Austin tip toed out and saw her standing in the door way. She turned her head and saw him and ran into the living room. Austin ran as fast as he could into the living room and grabbed Clara around the waist.
"Gotcha! Do I get my kiss now?"
"I suppose."
Austin turned her around and smashed his lips to hers. After a few minutes, Austin pulled back to catch his breath.
"You're a great kisser." He complimented putting his forehead against hers.
"Why thank you."
"Any time, Cutie."
