Marcie and Leo

(Greetings readers,

This is the last story celebrating Marcie's birthday. I hope you have been enjoying it.)

It was agreed between Marcie and I that we would meet down in the lobby around five to get our ride to the restaurant I picked out for us. Because I knew how long her spa treatment was for, it was easy for me to slip into the room and get ready first. That was part of the master plan although I was trying to think of everything else. As I headed down to the main floor, my phone went off. I looked at the display and smiled.

"Are we ready?" I asked.

My operative said, "All is ready."

As I thanked my operative, I started to think about all the steps that we had to take to make the experience work. It was during that time that I was alerted to a presence near where I was sitting. I looked up and saw my gorgeous wife looking at me.

Her skin was glowing. The hairdresser did an excellent job on her hair. She was wearing the gorgeous dress I bought for her thanks to her friend who helped me with my suits back around Christmas. She found the corsage I left on our bed that I had the local florist send. As she stood there, I could see her eyes sparkle.

"This is too much," she started before she held out her arms for me to hug her tightly.

I held her for a while, working on calming myself down because she was so beautiful, and I was as nervous as before we said our wedding vows. It was then I felt her breathe a little bit.

"This is too much, but I trust you, Leo. Where are we going all dressed up like this?"

I looked outside and saw a limousine arrive. It was when I saw a familiar face smiling at me that I took Marcie by the hand and led her to it. The "driver" opened the door for us before we slipped inside. It was a total surprise to Marcie who was in the limousine waiting for her.

"Happy birthday!" Aubrey said before she hugged Marcie.

Wes, who sat next to me, gave me a fist bump before we saw Marcie start to cry a little from the excitement. As the girls started to talk, I started to remember all the preparations that went into the surprise so far. It started at the travel agency.

To start with, I didn't buy one reservation for the resort. I bought another reservation for Aubrey and Wes. It was partly to surprise Marcie, but also to thank Aubrey for all she had done since we lost Missy. When I talked to Matt about the surprise after he handed me the estimate...

Wait.

I looked at my phone.

"We're ready, Team Leader," the text read.

I smiled again. Wes noticed. He smiled also as we watched the girls collect themselves before we arrived at the venue. There, the real driver opened the door and helped the ladies out of the limo before we stood there looking at the venue. Marcie looked at me with a questioning look on her face.

"Leo, what did you do?"

I smiled as I took Marcie by the arm and walked into the building before us. It was as we neared the prepared table for six that two other familiar faces smiled at us. He stood and we shared a bro-hug while his wife and Marcie hugged each other.

"Did we do well or what?" Matt asked.

My smile was huge.

I started to flashback to when Matt handed me the estimate for the resort. It was then he mentioned how much he'd want to take Shannon to the same place. It only took a small amount of convincing for us to concoct a plan on how to spoil our wives at the same time without realizing. It also took some slick texting at different times to keep the girls separated so Marcie didn't suspect a thing. As Marcie sat down at her side of the table between Aubrey and Shannon, the wine was poured, and the socializing began. Matt, Wes and I were talking about how smoothly the logistics worked before Marcie looked at me. There was a smile on her face and her eyes sparkled.

"Leo, you little shit," she said before she smiled.

It was at that moment I took the first cleansing breath of the trip. It was a difficult feat to try to keep my mind as clear as I could and to carefully maneuver everything without Marcie knowing. At the same time, I realized one of the biggest desires I had since Marcie and I became serious. I was able to sweep Marcie off her feet, with a little help from my friends of course. As the dinner was brought out by the local catering company we hired, everything was going well.

During the quiet time between the main course of steak and the dessert, I handed Marcie a tablet where I had birthday wishes from her four siblings and some of her nieces and nephews. There was even a message from her niece Dee telling her to make sure Uncle Leo made her smile. I blushed at that before Marcie laughed out loud. It turned into story time when Marcie told the other ladies about the first time I met the precocious daughter of Marcie's eldest brother.

At the end of the night, we all piled into the limo and headed back to the resort. As worn out as I was, I knew that I did my job as best as I could. Marcie and I had a few more days at the resort where we would spend at the pool and exploring the area around the resort. I knew Matt and Shannon were heading back in a couple days. Aubrey and Wes had an extra week, a thank you gift I gave to them for all they did. The thought of spoiling Marcie was always there. The thought of celebrating her birthday without the team was something I dreamt of, but I needed them to make it work. As we had one last toast in the limo, I had to hold back the tears. My friends helped make her birthday amazing. It was just like the way Marcie made my life after losing Missy. I was happy to show Marcie how much she meant to me, even if I needed some help to do it.