Wedding Vow Sabbatical

I thought I detected a slight expression of disappointment from her. She said, "Let me go get the calendar and I'll put it on the schedule." After she got the calendar, I told her which weekend. I then said that I was looking forward to the best weekend ever at the Greenwood. Before she could say, "STOP, I don't . . ." I put my hand up. "I want to take YOU, if you want to go with me."

The surprise caused Olivia to ponder the invitation for a few minutes. "Okay. I think I do. I'll see if my folks will watch the kids. Thanks Mitch."

It did turn out to be a great weekend. I told her that I wanted to end the agreement early. She refused saying that it would continue for the full year. She wanted me to get this out of my system and I had a couple more months to go in case I changed my mind. I gave in.

I knew I would not change my mind. The last few weeks of the agreement seemed to take forever. I proposed to have a celebration at the end. Olivia agreed.

We had a glass of wine and a document burn in the fireplace. I had a speech prepared, "Olivia, I finally figured out why you did this. You wanted me to learn on my own what I really had in a wife. I knew it deep down, but I let my ego think I needed more, worse, needed more. I let my friends' fantasy world seduce me. I learned, probably even more successfully than you thought possible, that you are all I need. Just as importantly, you are all I WANT. I can't thank you enough."

First, I handed her the clean STD report. Then I handed her an oblong box. Inside was a Forever pendant.

"Oh, thank you, Mitchell. It's beautiful. I have something for you too."

She handed me a document. It was labeled: "OLIVIA DANIELS' SABBATICAL FROM HER WEDDING VOWS." It was exactly the same as my agreement but with the names reversed.

"But . . .Why? . . . Do you have someone in mind?"

"You don't have the right to know."

Epilogue

I was stunned. My heart fell into my stomach. I wanted to say, "That's not fair," but she was only doing the same thing as I had done to her. Now, I would have to remain faithful for a year and hope she would come to the same conclusion as I did. It tore my guts open, but, with tears in my eyes, I said, "Okay."

Olivia looked me in the eyes with a twinkle I had not seen recently. She took the document, wadded it up, and threw it into the fireplace.

"I just wanted you to feel what I felt when you started this mess a year ago. I told you I had faith in our marriage and I was right. Now, let's go upstairs. You need to throw away some condoms. I need to really feel you tonight."