Sometimes it is just for Her Smile
Amber looked over the plans Dan had drawn up and then she looked back at him with her eyebrows raised. He smiled sheepishly. "I admit it will be a bit difficult."
"A bit difficult? Are you bringing in a construction team?"
He laughed. "Maybe we can scale it down and we can get Elena to set have everything done in the new estate." He pulled her to him. "I don't know what I will need to do, but you will not be giving birth here."
She kissed him and he felt her shoulders relax. She exhaled deeply. "Thank you Dan. You wanting to do this for me has made me feel one hundred times better."
He returned her kiss and kissed her again once she finished speaking, then he just held her close for a long moment. She fell into him and for the first time in a long time he felt like a part of her, he felt like something vital that had been missing.
He pulled back from her and looked into her eyes. "Don't think you are getting off that easily. I have the matte paint and the forest mural paper. Pick a corner, we are creating you a space to talk to read to our son."
Amber smiled and pointed randomly. Dan nodded and they got started. They painted the upper wall and the high ceiling in Vantablack Paint. Amber painted low while Dan painted the ceilings. They took a long break in the hydroponic rooms. Amber was still mesmerized by the orchard and fruit gardens. She loved vegetables but being able to pull fruit off of a tree, vine, or bush and eat it immediately was a wonder to her right now.
They picked fruits and berries and enjoyed them after their lunch. Later they laid down together under a large orange tree. Amber found herself gazing up at the large fruit above her, a slow smile spreading across her lips.
"Thank you for today Dan. You really helped me to de-stress."
He smiled into her beautiful green eyes and then he became serious. "What are you talking about ma'am? This was just day wait until you see the special wall paper and the projection surprise I have for you."
Amber nestled into his arms. "Dan, you have already done enough. I am fine now, I promise."
He kissed her head. "I know you are. I am doing this as a test run. I want to make sure all of my ideas do what I want them to do."
Amber stopped herself from rolling her eyes.
The next day they tackled the acoustic fabric together. "It's so soft."
Dan looked back and raised his head in uncontrollable laughter when he saw that Amber had become entangled in the fabric. They had the corner they were working in taped off and had been stretching the 'forest" between the painter's tape.
They both fell into laughter as they finished one side, feeling accomplished, only for the fabric to slide down to the floor. When they finally finished rhe sat in the middle of the room and looked at their work – both of them a bit awed by how beautiful the forest looked. It was like they could walk over and touch a tree branch.
Dan got up and got his phone. Amber giggled. "Darlinf, we already have orchards and you have created a forest her.."
Her words became caught in her throat as the four projectors had whirled to life and foliage fell from trees before her. Her eyes widened as shadows within the trees moved and there were quiet animal sounds and rustling. Dan came and sat behind her and pulled her into him. He kissed her shoulder.
"You like it?"
"Yes." The word was an awed whisper that seemed to float from her lips. She found herself excited about what they would do next.
They ended the day by coating fiber optic strands with reflective dichroic film. Amber looked up at Dan with a frown her hands frozen in mid air over her section of the strand. "You won't just give me a hint."
Dan shook his head slowly, a smile on his lips. "I am sorry love but I rarely have opportunities to truly surprise you. And you not being able to figure things out is too rare for me not to take full advantage." He shrugged as he smiled at his section of fiber optic strand.
Amber sucked her teeth, but she couldn't help but smile. "You ate enjoying this way too much."
"I know. I am so sorry." He blew her a kiss and kept working. Amber couldn't help but laugh.
They skipped a day of work – the fiber optic Strands needed more time than Dan anticipated – so Amber treated him to empanadas, soft kolaches, and two fruit cobblers. He had stayed in the dining suite with her the entire time. She kept looking up at him as he made notes about the baby's room and added, changed, or completely cut processes or elements.
She looked up at one point and her smile fell. She frowned. "What is it? Did something happen?"
He looked up at her with a forced smile. "It's not important. It just took me by surprise."
She pursed her lips. "If it's not important tell me what it is."
He shrugged. "The business park is having problems with the underground utilities. You were right to change the contractor. The first sections seem to have already worn and need repair.
He bit into a carne asada empanada and looked at her. She stared at him for a long moment, fully knowing he was not telling her everything. She looked back to her kolaches. "No need to say who was right or wrong. I already set things up for the second contractor to come back and inspect things and doo repairs as needed."
Dan nodded. He had told the truth. The contract found the problems and was already doing repairs. He had even said Amber asked him to make it so it would be easy to do the repairs.
But Dan had found out about that days ago. He had been reading a report on the stalker and he now knew that they were most likely facing a brilliant psychopath that was also a Trace-Progressive paying customer.
He was not about to allow Amber to hear about these reports.
The following day they began laying out the fiber optic strands according to Dan's specifications. This was going to be the last day and Amber was already feeling a little sad. But she forgot all about that when they finished and Dan turned the fiber optics on.
Because of the special black paint she could see it even before he turned off the lights – Orion, Ursa Major, and Cassiopeia caught her eye first and her mouth dropped open. She looked at the walls and the fiber Optics were twinkling like distance stars.
She got up to move closer and gasped again as the dichroic film's color shifted as she moved. She looked back at Dan with a wide smile. "Our son is truly blessed to have you for his father."
He smiled. "I am the one Blessed Amber." He pulled her close and they both gazed into the cosmos they created together.