Jaclynn_m - Chicago - REVISED DRAFT lyrics

She sat on the patio and looked across the pasture. The dog was sitting by her side like he always does. She was drinking her morning coffee and relaxing to the sound of quiet, peace for once. She just took Brynn and Jacob to school. They were both a rowdy bunch but she loved them to d**h. Brynn was 5 going on 15 and Jake was 7 going on 30. They were best friends. She knew that they would be close, that's why she planned them only two years apart. She wanted them to have the same bond that her and her brother had while growing up. They are still the closest of friends. As she sat there and listened to the birds chirping and the snoring of their house dog, Roscoe, she thought about how lonely she sometimes felt when her husband, Todd was gone on business. He was usually always gone. His promotion as Senior Sales Rep for the popular pharmaceutical company in Montana caused him to be very distant lately. Of course, he was the only one in the family working; he had to. But she also chose the role of staying at home because who else would be home to take care of the kids and the 500 acres of land they bought three years ago for their 10th wedding anniversary. She used to be a high-powered marketing executive in Chicago. She loved her life then. She had a perfect apartment in the city, a good job, and the best friends she could ever ask for. Being born in Nebraska, she always wanted to get out of the small town country atmosphere. She had bigger and better dreams that were definitely for the city life. She was 27 and was enjoying life to the fullest. Little did she know a month after her 27th birthday, she would meet a handsome high-powered pharmaceutical sales rep from Montana in an upscale Martini bar one weekend. It was definitely love at first sight. Todd asked to buy her a drink and they spent all night talking and dancing and sipping on martinis. By the end of the night, he asked for her number and the rest was history. Since he was in Chicago a lot for business, they're relationship never seemed like it was too much of long distance. He made a point to treat their relationship like they lived in the same city. A couple years of dating, Todd popped the question and she uprooted her whole life to move to Montana with him. Montana was his life. He grew up on a huge pasture, which was all he really knew. Also, his job was something that he couldn't just let go with. So Jen quit her job, sold her apartment, said goodbye to her friends, and they were off for a new life in Montana. She told herself she wouldn't lose sight of who she is and she would make sure to visit Chicago twice a year. She made that pact to herself but it maybe only lasted a year. She never did find a good Marketing job in Montana that she enjoyed. So she started volunteering at the animal shelter and soon found out she was pregnant with Jacob. She couldn't have been more ecstatic. She always wanted to have a family, and she got her wish. Todd hadn't been traveling much that year. He was probably gone four days out of the month, and she could handle that. Now it is about 5 days every other week. In that moment when she found out she was pregnant was enough to feel that her decision to marry Todd and move to Montana was the best yet. She never really second guessed her decision to marry Todd but she definitely second-guessed her decision to move to Chicago every once in awhile. Chicago was her life, but she knew that there were more important things to come in life like the birth of her son Jacob. . She snapped out of daydreaming of the past when she heard Todd's pick up truck rolling through the rocks in the driveway He came in acting a little sneaky, she knew something was up. They've been together for more than 10 years, she knows when he acts a little different than usual. “Here we go again,” she thought. She hated when he came back from a trip acting different than usual. This made her worry. She knows about all the men who go on work trips and meet a plethora of different women. Although, she knows she can trust Todd, and he's not that type of guy, their relationship has been more distant than in the past. They don't communicate as much as she would like, and they seem to fight more about his job and how he's never home. He walked out to the patio, said hi, kissed her forehead and then told her he was going upstairs to take a nap. She thought to herself, “nice to see you too.” “Do you want to talk about your trip,” she asked. She thought he could at least talk about if he landed any new accounts on the road or maybe ask how her time was. He knew she had a banking contest she entered in the week he was gone. But she wouldn't have been surprised if he had forgotten. “I'm a little tired right now, Jen. I had a long week, can we talk later?” She just nodded her head yes and asked what he would like for dinner. “You know what I want, mine and the kids' favorite!” She did know what he wanted. It was her favorite dish to make. One that would make the children actually eat their vegetables. With that said, she could hear the footsteps of him walking up to the bedroom. These were the things that made her feel uneasy in their marriage. You'd think after a longs week trip of work and not seeing your family, you would want to catch up a little bit. But she must have been wrong as she watched him walk up those steps. The morning continued to be a little uneasy for Jen but she continued to keep herself busy. She cleaned basically the whole house except for the upstairs because she didn't want to interrupt Todd's sleep. Around 3pm, she got in her car and drove to the school to pick up Brynn and Jacob. She knew they were going to be so happy that their dad is back home. Whenever he would go out of town for a few days, it seemed like weeks to them. She knew that he would get up once they got home. No matter how iffy their relationship is at the time, he always made a point to treat the children as the fun loving dad he is, and that's what she loved about Todd. He was the best dad she could ask for to her children. She knows he got it from his dad. Todd's parents were like her second parents. She loved them to d**h and the kids loved them as much as they loved her parents too. She always had a strong opinion on what a marriage should be like based on her parents' marriage of 30 years, and Todd felt the same way. His parents were together for 40 years now. The kids saw Todd's family more than they saw Jen's because her parents still lived in Nebraska and Todd's obviously lived in Montana. “MOMMY is dad home?” yelled Brynn when she picked up the kids from school. “He sure is!” They were so excited. They ran through the front door and up the stairs and jumped on Todd. Todd picked them up and wrestled them. “How are my favorite children,” he asked. Jen walked downstairs to start dinner. She thought she would let them have some alone time since they haven't seen their dad in a week. She grabbed the chicken breast out of the freezer and started frying some on the pan. She was going to make the kids and Todd's favorite meal as he requested, Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo with broccoli with homemade garlic bread. She's always been a great cook; she learned it from her own mom. Todd wasn't bad either; he just didn't have the time to cook as much as Jen did. She could hear the laughter coming from upstairs. This is when she was the most at peace with life. Hearing her husband and kids happy. She just only wished that he could be happy with her too. Ever since Todd's brother, Ericc died a few months ago in a car accident, Todd has ben more distant than usual. It has definitely put a strain on their relationship. She knew she had to talk to him about his attitude lately. She wasn't afraid to confront him with her feelings. After all, they have known each other for more than 12 years. After dinner was served, and Todd read the kids a book, they were out. It had been a long night of playing catch in the yard and wresting with their dad, Jen was surprised they didn't fall out sooner. This was the time to finally talk to Todd. She cleaned up the rest of the kitchen and straightened up the rest of the house and walked upstairs where he was watching a movie. “We need to talk,” she said. “I've noticed you've been distant lately, and especially today when you got back. Is there something you need to tell me?” He just looked at her and then looked away real quick. She knew she had been right. Something was definitely up with him. “I've been meaning to tell you but things kept coming up at work,” Todd said. “I know we've been distant lately, and I haven't been the same since Eric died, and I really want to make it up to you. Eric's d**h has caused me to realize how important family is. I don't want to be anywhere else but with you guys. I've made some changes at work, which will allow me to only be gone once a month instead of 2-3 times a month like now. You and the kids deserve to have me around more often.” Jen couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. “Wait, are you being serious?” He would finally be home more. She knew this would cause their marriage to benefit a great deal with him being home more. “Yes, I will be starting my new position on Monday. Where I'm only required to travel once a month now.” She was so happy. When the kids were little, he was home way more than he is now, and their marriage was close to perfect. Their communication techniques were in sync with each other and they always took time out of the night for themselves. After their conversation, they watched a movie and fell asleep. Jen felt relieved that his distant was just from working too much, which she had guessed was the problem all alone. This work change will benefit his health as well, she thought. The next morning, she woke up to get ready to take the kids to school. Todd got up with her as well. “I'll take the kids to school with you this morning, I kind of have forgotten what it's like.” Jen agreed. She knew he had to miss the little things like that. He had taken this whole week off from work to distress before he started his new position at work. They rounded the kids up together, got their lunches packed, and dropped them off at school. As they were on their way home, Todd turned to Jen, “let's go to Mimi's like old times.” Mimi's café was a nice hometown café right outside the city limits. They used to go there all the time when Jen first moved out to Montana. Their children basically grew up in that café with family breakfasts on Sunday's, and Jen, Todd, and the kids have become incredibly close to Mimi, her husband, and their three boys as well. They ordered a feast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, toast, and bagels. They laughed and discussed their lives, his job, her time at the animal shelter, and of course the kids. Todd also had a surprise in store. He gave Jen an envelope that inside held a card inviting her to a showing of a beach house on Lake Michigan in Chicago. She was of course confused as she was reading it. “This weekend we are taking the kids to Chicago. We haven't been there in a few years, and I know it's really important to you. Also, the picture of the beach house, it's yours if you want it.” Jen was speechless. “Todd this is too much.” They have always talked about owning a beach house as a family but they never discussed the specifics of it. It warmed her heart knowing that Todd would have picked one out in the city that stole her heart so many years before, and the city that brought the two of them together as well. “Flights are already booked, we leave Thursday morning at 6am.” Jen couldn't wait to tell the kids. They have never been to Chicago before and she was so excited to show her babies her favorite city. Thursday morning came and she set her alarm for 3am. She couldn't wait any longer. She wanted to get the kids up and ready. When Jen and Todd broke the news to the kids about how they would be going on a family vacation to Chicago, they were so happy. They were most excited for the fact that they would be going to the beach. Montana wasn't very popular for beaches and the kids have only visited the ocean once before on a family vacation to California. She can still remember how much the kids loved the water and sand. They never wanted to leave. “Mommy is Chicago the place that you said you like more than daddy?” Jen had to laugh at that comment. That was always the joke, but obviously it wasn't true. “Yes, Brynn. Mommy loves Chicago almost just as much as she loves daddy.” Once they got to the airport they had a few minutes to spare to get the kids some breakfast. She ordered four egg sandwiches from the café airport, one for each. They sat down on the table and ate their breakfast until boarding call. She was surprised the kids were this much awake, but the excitement was still deep in their soul. But Jen was pretty sure she was more excited than all of them. She hadn't been to Chicago for a while, and that is partly what made her lose sense of herself. She needed to be reminded of the type of woman she was before she got married and had her own family. When they boarded the plane, the kids were a little nervous. Brynn and Jacob have only been on a plane once before in their life, but Jen knew that they would easily be fine. They were too excited to land in Chicago. Once the plane took off, Brynn and Jacob kept themselves busy watching movies they downloaded on their iPad and reading. Jen and Todd tried to catch a little sleep. They knew there probably wouldn't be much sleep going on on this trip. The wheels touching on the ground woke them all up fast. One by one each pa**enger grabbed their overhaul luggage and they were off. The first thing they did was grabbed a taxi to their hotel. They were staying at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. Todd had a lot of free points for traveling with work all the time. Once they were all settled in the hotel, they decided to get on their swimsuits and head for the lake. Little did Jen know, Todd had a surprise waiting for her. He told her to pack a white dress. She didn't know why, but she decided to just go with it. He told her to bring the white dress with them to the lake, so she packed it in her bag. Once they got to the lake the kids ran to the water and out of Jen's surprise, Todd got on his knee and asked Jen to marry him again. She couldn't believe what was happening. She agreed, of course. She loved that man to d**h even through their ups and downs. Soon after he proposed, there was an officiator and in seconds they had renewed their vows in the very same city they met. She couldn't believe how he thoroughly planned all of this without her knowing a single thing. She felt full again. Her family was back to the way it used to be, she was content and filled with joy. She knew God had blessed her with the best, way more than she had ever dreamed. She got back to the hotel after the wedding to change out of her dress. Todd was still out at the water with the kids. She heard the vibration of Todd's phone on the bed and saw the name, “Michelle,” flashing on the screen. “Michelle,” Jen thought to herself. The only Michelle she could think of was Todd's old secretary Michelle. She was beautiful. Michelle first started working for Todd when he got promoted for the first time. Jen was always a little jealous of how much time Todd and Michelle got to spend with each other; especially the trips they got to take together. Michelle now works in a different department than Todd but they sometimes do business together when needed. Jen didn't really understand why Michelle was contacting him now, when he was on a vacation with his family. “It was probably just work,” she thought to herself. She saw he had one unread text from her. She opened it and she almost collapsed. It was a picture of a positive pregnancy test. No words in the message, just the picture. Thoughts of devastation filled her mind.