This weekend was the three year anniversary of Alice and Frank getting married.
Alice did not know the plans of this weekend, all she was told by Frank was that she needed to pack a suitcase and pack an overnight bag for Brad as he would come with them then he would go to Jess's to stay the weekend.
The car journey to the secret anniversary destination was long but Alice's mind wandered back to the past couple of months to see if Frank had given any hints as to what this weekend would entail.
She remembered when Frank asked if Alice had a lovely cotton red dress, Alice didn't have one so he decided to splash out and purchase one for her.
Then he asked her if she had ever been for a romantic beach date , she replied with "once, the guy was a dick and quite frankly I don't remember it very well as it wasn't good enough to stay put in my memory."
Frank had chuckled to himself while driving as he knew that Alice would be taken aback by the plans he had rearranged all by himself.
"Here we are my love" Frank said as the car came to a halt.
Alice got up from the passenger seat and saw the most beautiful, crisp white beach house.
"Are you being serious? We are staying here. Oh my god! Thank you so much Frank. I love you!" Alice said before she launched herself to kiss Frank as a massive thank you.
They walked up to the door with Brad in front of them and saw that the owner had left a note on the door.
The note read - hi, please enjoy yourself this weekend (wink, wink!!!) You should have food, water and other supplies all in the house. Lovely views from the master(take as much advantage as you would like for photos as its a very rare and spectacular view!)
The owner.
Alice, Frank and Brad walked all holding hands and gasping at the interior of the house.
Accents of blue glimmer in the natural sunlight.
The beach had really been brought inside of the house.
Seashells, bottles of sand, and pebbles scattered around the living room.
The sofa was cream and had blue cushions, blue blankets.
When they walked into the kitchen , the counter island had a large wicker hamper basket , full of baked goods, teas, coffee pods, and small essentials.
"This is so sweet and kind." Alice said
Frank hoisted Alice up into his arms and carried her to the master bedroom.
The bedroom was all a light baby blue apart from the white painted wood furniture.
The light came in gorgeously, from the massive pane of glass that took up the entire wall.
From the window you could see the start of the sand and the start of the ocean met up.
"Wow, this view is amazing. Look, you can see the white lines of the ocean from here." Alice said as she was so surprised and overwhelmed with such a stunning view.
Frank enjoyed seeing Alice in this habitat where she got carried away with the littlest of things.
"Shall we get some lunch, then go down to the water?" Frank questioned as he made his way out of the bedroom, and walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see some bread from the local bakery and some bacon.
So for lunch it was bacon sarnies- bacon sandwich.
While Frank was frying the bacon, Brad and Alice were in the living room practising his counting with the pebbles.
Alice held out five pebbles all consisting of different colours, textures and much more.
"Ok, here, how many pebbles am I holding?" Alice asked Brad.
Brad used his index finger and pointed at each pebble in his mum's hand.
"One, two, three..." there was a bit of silence after Brad had counted up to three pebbles. So, Alice said "four, then what comes next?"
While Brad was trying to rack his brain to find what the next number is , he felt two large hands on his back and then he and Alice heard Frank say "Brad it's five pebbles, mummy is holding five".
"Is lunch ready babe?" Alice said.
"Yes, is Brad joining us or does he need a nap?" Frank said.
"Nooo! Daddy no! I want lunch". Brad declared to his parents.
After lunch was eaten, Frank told Alice that she needed to put some type of boots on her feet and put some on Brad as well.
Once they had done that , he led them to a hidden beach hut, knocked on the door and was greeted by a middle-aged man.
The man asked Frank if he had the security number, in which Frank had and then out of nowhere, a rowing boat appeared alongside Alice who was holding Brad on her left hip.
"Errr, Frank, why is there a rowing boat alongside me?" Alice asked as she looked at the boat and back at Frank awaiting his answer.
"My love, that is part of your anniversary gift, that involves brad." Frank answered Alice's question.
Frank and the man from the beach hut carried out the rowing boat to the shallow part of the ocean, before Frank grabbed ahold of Alice and Brad and placed them on the wooden seat that was pre-made to fit in the boat.
Once they were seated comfortably, the man gave Frank the ore and Frank sat down in the boat opposite to his wife and son and began to row.
The man then helped them all by giving the boat a massive push which made them calmly drift approximately three metres from shore.
"Well, this is nice." Alice said in a tone she doesn't use a lot and it made Frank overthink that Alice didn't like his gift.
Frank reached his hand out and placed it on Alice's knee and rubbed it gently.
"Frank, I do like it, you know. It's very kind of you to do such a great full trip, I can't imagine what lengths you went to for this." Alice said while she moved Brad to sit on the wooden floor of the rowing boat.
"The colour of the ocean really compliments your beautiful eyes my love" Frank admired his wife in such a loving way.
The rowing boat ride went on for a couple of hours.
The blue waves crashed wistfully against the wood rowing boat.
It was currently, nine pm. Brad had been put to bed for several hours so it was just Alice and frank.
Alice and Frank were relaxing on the deck in the garden of the rental house.
"This is definitely what we needed after everything that's gone on these past couple months." Alice said while she placed the cheese board on the coffee table.
"Come here." Frank directed Alice to his lap.
Alice swung her arms around his neck and smiled.
Three whole years they had been married for.
They had known each other for nine years , three of them as husband and wife.
"I love you,"Frank said. Alice replied with a passionate and loving french kiss.
Alice and Frank were out of breath. Even after nine years, they still had such an effect on each other. That just proved to them that you can really fall in love.
The next day was their actual Anniversary. Jess drove down and picked up Brad in the early morning, which meant that Alice was able to get up and make some homemade crepes for breakfast on the balcony overlooking the breathtaking view.
Alice was so focused on making the perfect crepes , she had not heard the heavy footsteps behind her.
"Mhhhm, this smells amazing. Let me guess crepes." Frank said, before perching over Alice's shoulders to see that he was correct.
Thirty minutes later, the crepes were spread with some greek yogurt, honey and berries.
Frank took a bite of his crepe and moaned at the yummy creation that was in his mouth.
Alice chuckled and then saw Frank symbolize the chef's kiss.
"Hahahah, I can't believe that my cooking actually made you moan." Alice said, laughing still.
"Well that won't be the only time we both hear that sound and I'm a hundred percent sure of that." Frank said, making Alice speechless.
The rest of the day until four pm, they explored the local town and ate local fish and chips on the beach itself.
At four pm, Frank brought Alice into the main bedroom and showed her a large black suit bag that hid what Frank had brought Alice for this exact occasion.
"Open it up," Frank said eagerly. Alice did as Frank asked.
Alice dragged the zip down the bag and smacked her free arm over her mouth.
It was the Vivienne Westwood dress she had wanted for years. It was red with an extreme split up the left leg with straps and a v-neckline.
"Oh my actual god. Frank!" Alice said while feeling the dress she had dreamt about many times.
Frank then unzipped his suit bag to show Alice that he had a black cotton shirt with the matching black blazer and a small box which held small red cufflinks with the initials B and A for Brad and Alice.
"Aww that is amazing. But where are we going?" Alice questioned Frank while she got the dress out of its bag fully.
"That bubs, is a surprise." Frank replied before he moved Alice's hair to her left side of her neck and he leant into her neck and gave her a cheeky kiss.
Alice then realised she had not brought the right shoes for the dress.
However frank came prepared, some black strappy heels did the job perfectly.
Thank god, Frank was brought up with an older sister and was well known to fashion and how to treat a woman like the goddess she is.
Once they both knew what they were wearing. Frank used the shower and then located himself in the guest room as he wanted to wait outside the front door to greet his wife before their anniversary dinner.
Alice pressed play on her 'You are still sexy and a great mummy' playlist on spotify and Beyonce came on immediately.
While the music was making Alice's endorphins work their magic she was trying her best to do her makeup simple and elegant.
In the end, Alice settled for a thin eyeliner, a nude/pink eyeshadow and a red lipstick which matched the shade of the dress perfectly.
Alice then moved on to curling her gorgeous brown locks.
After an hour Alice was strapping up her heels.
When she opened the front door she saw that Frank was in the exact outfit she had seen and was holding a bunch of roses, three of them were white while in the middle of red roses.
"For the three years of wonderful marriage and hopefully for many more" Frank said.
Alice smiled and to herself quietly reminisced about the first time she realized that Frank was the one for her.
~Flashback~
It was a cold English winter's day. Frank had taken Alice on a lovely date to the local bakery for some freshly baked goods, which Alice enjoyed very much.
The local cafe was only local to Frank. So he drove Alice back home.
In the car journey, Alice scrolled through her social media and looked at her messages. One of those messages was from her mum saying that her childhood dog had to be put down in the early morning.
As soon as Alice saw this she sobbed. She completely forgot her surroundings so much so she only realised that she was with Frank when he immediately pulled over the car and leant over to comfort Alice.
"Hey, bubba, I'm here. Come here and I'll cuddle with you." Frank said in a soft voice.
~end of flashback~
Ever since that moment, Alice knew that Frank was the one as he would always make sure she felt hundred percent. Frank also helped Alice grow in confidence.
"Let's go to dinner!" Alice said while locking up the door.
Frank had ordered a driver to take them to and fro from the restaurant.
"Is this the restaurant that I've always wanted to go to since the first time we went on a date?" Alice asked Frank while smiling.
"Yes baby it is. Are you excited to eat at the famous italian restaurant?" Frank asked even though he knew the answer.
When they entered the restaurant, the service was immaculate.
Alice and Frank sat down at the table with a very vibrant view of the beginning of the sunset.
"Babe, what are you going to order?" Alice asked Frank as she was curious to see what her husband was going to order to eat.
"I think I'm going to order the t-bone steak with parmesan fries and peppercorn sauce. What about you bubs?" Frank asked.
"I'm definitely having the special creamy bacon and mushroom tagliatelle " Alice said while she looked at the wine menu.
The waiter then came to their table and asked what they wanted to eat and as they told each other, they ordered the exact food and then decided to share a bottle of champagne as it is their anniversary.
The dinner was so luxurious yet it felt like good old comfort food at the same time.
Frank's steak was very delicious so much so that Alice was given a bit from franks fork so she also gave frank a forkful of tagliatelle.
After they ate dinner they continued drinking their glass of champagne and watched the waves calm down and the sunset slowly disappear in the distance.
"This is so beautiful and I don't know what to repay you with." Alice admitted to frank.
Frank responded by saying "No need for my love, having you as my view tonight and for every night until I die will suffice me enough."
Frank then leaned over the table and grabbed Alice's hands and kissed both like a true romantic.
The waiter then came over and asked if they fancied a desert.
They politely asked the waiter to give them a few minutes to decide. They decided to order the triple chocolate italian cake. Instead of having it at the restaurant they asked for it to be in a box to take back to the rental.
When they got back, they both ditched the fancy clothes and sat in the underwear cuddling and talking about how Brad would soon be in nursery school and if and when they would have another child.
After a two hour conversation about their son and what the future would/could entail, they got peckish and grabbed two forks and ate the cake.
Once the cake was eaten the bedroom was the only thing in their mind at that point.
The immediately fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
The next day the plan was to go down to the beach and relax before driving home in the late afternoon back to Wanda and Brad before the busy week ahead.
Authors note: So we have one more chapter left and then we will all say goodbye to frank and Alice. I have a new book out so please go and check it out. I absolutely adore that chapter you have just read and I hope you do.