Marital Bliss by Lacey Thorn Page A

just snorted.”
    “That was definitely a snort,” Mischa said.
    “You are officially welcomed as a true member of the girls’ night out club,” Jacey said.
    Bronte shook her head. “You guys are so funny. I’m really happy I met you.”
    Bronte snorted again and set them off into peals of laughter. “Oh my god, my sides hurt so badly. I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in my entire life.”
    “That’s awful,” Dee said. “Life should be filled with moments just like this.”
    “So how did you picture me?” Mischa asked, tapping her fingers on the table.
    Bronte tilted her head. “I pictured you petite when Clint said you were Filipino.”
    “Well, I got my height from my dad.” Mischa shrugged. “He’s over six feet tall.”
    “He was in the military, right?” Bronte asked.
    “Yep.” Mischa nodded. “He hated Clint when I first brought him home to meet them. My mom loved him but my dad, not so much.”
    “You are such a daddy’s girl,” Jacey said. “No one would have been good enough for you.”
    “I know,” Mischa said. “Clint was a wreck every time we were around my dad. He loved my mom, but then she was always trying to feed him.”
    “I’ve had your mom’s leftovers at work,” Bronte moaned. “I can understand the love for her. I’ve got a bit of that myself and I’ve never met her.”
    “She can cook,” Mischa said. “I remember the night Clint talked to my dad. He’d come over for dinner. We’d been seeing each other for about four months at the time. Dad would bring up old boyfriends and what they were doing and just say all sorts of things to poke at Clint. Clint always just let it roll off his back but that night he’d had enough.”
    “Your dad did that?” Bronte shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t even imagine.”
    “That’s my dad,” Mischa answered with a shrug. “That night Clint stood up to him. He point-blank told my dad that no man would ever love or respect me the way he could. Then Clint said that he would never make me choose between him and my family because he knew how hard it would be on me if my father, the man I loved and respected most in the world didn’t like the man who planned on marrying me.” Mischa sighed in deep contentment. “He won my dad’s respect that day.”
    “Had he proposed already?” Bronte asked.
    “No.” Mischa shook her head. “He did that later when it was just the two of us. But he wanted my dad to know what his intentions were. I think he knew it would set my dad’s mind at ease.”
    “And obviously made you love him,” Bronte said.
    “I loved him before that day,” Mischa said. “I knew the moment I met him that I was going to marry him some day. No doubt in my mind. But no one had ever stood up to my dad before. Clint did. He did it for me. That was when I knew that he really loved me.”
    “And they’ve been happily married for a year now,” Dee sighed.
    “Oh, we’ve had our ups and downs,” Mischa laughed. “Trust me, marriage isn’t all happily-ever-after bliss. Like anything else, you have to work at it. We never go to bed angry. We don’t hide our feelings if the other does something to irritate us. We take time for each other every day. And we remember the importance of the little things.”
    “The little things?” Jacey questioned.
    “My mom always said that she and dad have lasted so long because they never forget the little things,” Mischa answered. “Compliments, saying I love you and not just assuming the other person knows it. Holding hands. And remembering to be forgiving and say you’re sorry. If we have stress or anger from our job, we get ten minutes to vent about it and then we move on. We still write each other love notes.”
    “That is so sweet, Mischa,” Dee said with a sappy grin.
    “Do you think you’ll still be doing all that stuff five years from now? Ten? Twenty?” Jacey asked.
    Mischa laughed. “My parents still do. I grew up watching them and