Eight months later…
“You’re going to spoil that boy rotten,” Marguerite says, looking down at Timothy curled up in my lap.
He looks so small when he’s sleeping. I love when he falls asleep on my lap after I’ve read him a bedtime story. It’s our thing we do in the evenings before Vincent gets home.
“I think I will. Is that bad to set out to spoil your kids?” I chuckle. I call him mine, because he is. He became mine the day I stepped back into this house, and I will look after him as such for as long as I live.
Marguerite laughs. “Maybe it’s okay to spoil them with love. Not too much spoilage though. Too much of anything is never good.”
“What are we talking about here?” Vincent says, coming through the door.
Marguerite and I both look at him at the same time.
“Spoilage. I think I may be guilty of spoiling my son rotten. I can’t resist though.” I laugh and gently ease him onto his pillow. He stirs but then settles back into his slumber.
“Then don’t,” Vincent says and reaches out his hand to me.
I go to him, slipping into his embrace, and he gives me a brief kiss. Marguerite watches us with awe, and I smile back at her.
“We’ll try not to be too late,” Vincent tells her.
“Take your time,” she bubbles, then my wonderful husband ushers me out the door.
We’ve been married for five months, and our lives have been filled with happiness. We spend our evenings together either having one wild adventure after another at The Dark Odyssey or having a quiet night like tonight when we head to the ballet.
The ballet was his idea a few months back. Just us going together, and I loved it. Watching has never been the same as doing it, but watching it with him is a different magical experience altogether.
“So, I’m looking forward to tonight,” he says as we walk down the stairs.
“Watching the ballet?” I smile. I know it’s not his thing. It’s nice that he does it for me though.
“No, watching you watch it,” he answers with that smile that always melts my heart.
I stop and gaze up at him. “Thank you.”
“What for, baby?”
“Everything. I love you so much.”
He presses his head to mine and kisses the top of my nose.
“I love you too, Bellezza.”
Every time he tells me that, I feel it all over. Inside me and all over.
I realized that the people in the coffee shop weren’t a fantasy.
They were always us, and every day that we’re together is another fantasy waiting to happen.
My dark knight in shining armor made me whole again.
***
Vincent.
I stand back and watch her in the garden with Timothy.
She’s playing with him in the little sand pit and they’re making a castle.
The both of them get the biggest smiles on their faces when they see me.
What’s even better than their smiles is them rushing up to me.
It’s the best thing about coming home every day.
This part when I hold them and I know they’re mine.
My boy and my girl, my wife.
Timothy squirms out of my arms and rushes back over to play in the sand pit. The sun picks out the lighter parts of his hair.
I continue to hold Ava and beam down at her in my arms.
“I love when you get home early,” she says standing on the tips of her toes to give me a kiss.
“You love when I come home early because it means more bed room time for us.”
“Busted, can you blame a girl? It’s no bad thing to fit in as much bedroom time as possible.” She giggles.
“No it’s not.”
“Besides, how else are we going to fit in the other two children you want?”
I smile wide and crouch down to kiss her stomach. She’s only a few weeks pregnant and we’ve both been obsessed with the news.
I hold her out looking at her tiny frame and think of how she healed me.
“I’m not complaining,” I answer standing up. I cup her face and pull her in for a kiss.
As she kisses me I feel like the prince.
She really was the princess who tamed the beast inside me.
She was solace for my soul and I love her.
Following my heart was one of the best decisions I ever made.
The End.