“I found it in my stuff when I was packing up my old room at Mom’s. You remember that day?”
She nods as she wipes the tears from her cheeks. “That was the day that you asked me to prom. You got the whole band to play ‘Hanging By A Moment’ by Lifehouse.”
I smile as I remember how hard I had to work to get the band to do me that favor during their practice on the football field.
She reaches for me, and this time, I close the distance between us, pressing my mouth to hers as I pull her to my chest. We kiss for a moment before I feel the baby kicking between us. I pull back slightly, looking down at her big belly between us.
“He’s already staking his claim on you,” I joke.
She smiles as she looks down. She takes my hand and puts it on her belly where the baby is kicking. “He’s kicking for you. He likes when you make me happy.”
“Well, then he’s really going to like this,” I say, pulling her back and kissing her harder and faster, needing to feel her against me. As her tongue dances with mine, I can’t help but feel the overwhelming happiness bubbling inside me. I finally have everything I ever wanted. And all it took was for me to come back home. I have the love of my life. We’re going to be getting married soon, and we have the perfect house to welcome our growing family. Baby number one is already on the way, and we have plenty of time to make numbers two, three, four, and five, or as many as she’ll let me make. My father has finally retired and left the garage to me full-time. While she’s still working at the vet’s office, she’s taking business classes to set up her future for anything she wants to do as the kids grow up and prepare to leave us. I’m finally getting my happy ending, but we’re nowhere near an ending. This is only the beginning of us, the beginning of an epic love story that I can’t wait to tell our children and grandchildren.
I pick her up against me and carry her back to our bedroom, which doesn’t yet have a bed. I lay her down gently on the floor and crawl over her body. “I love you, Jade Karma Seymour,” I whisper as I pick up her foot to take off her shoe.
She smiles down at me, her blue eyes level with mine. “I love you, too, Memphis Alan Styles.”
I roll my eyes at her using my middle name and drop the shoe onto the floor at my side before moving to the other. “And we love you, Xander Alan Styles,” I say, bending down to press a kiss to her stomach. The baby kicks and I pull away as she giggles loudly.
“We’re finally here, baby,” I whisper as I lower myself down to her, pressing a kiss to her neck.
She turns her head, exposing more of her throat to me. “It’s only the beginning,” she whispers, bringing her lips to mine.
Copyright 2020 by Alexis Winter - All rights reserved.
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One
Nina
My alarm goes off precisely at six a.m. I’ve been lying here with my eyes open for the last hour, willing myself to sleep the remainder of the time. However, all I did was daydream about my future. I silence the alarm and push back my blankets. I move to sit on the edge of the bed and turn on the bedside lamp. The room fills with a soft light that doesn’t even bother my eyes. Getting up, I make my bed before leaving the room.
I walk into the living room and stoke the wood-burning stove—my only source of heat in this dream cabin of mine. I add in the wood, close the front, and start toward the kitchen to make some tea. I turn on the gas stove and pick up the kettle. I fill it with water and place it back on the burner. While I wait for it to boil, I prepare my breakfast of oatmeal with sliced strawberry, banana, and blueberries.
By the time the oatmeal is ready, the kettle is whistling at me. I turn off the burner and pour the hot water over the teabag already in my mug. I take both my tea and oatmeal to the living room to eat by the heater. The sounds of the wood popping and cracking as it burns relaxes me. In one way, it almost centers me, gets me ready to take on the day. I love having the wood-burning stove. However, I could do without chopping the wood.
I sit in my brown leather lounge chair, taking in the dark cabin. The walls are made up of rough-cut logs, along with the ceiling. The floors are good old-fashioned hardwood. Someone put a lot of work into this cabin. When I saw it, I couldn’t turn it down. Sure, I miss some of the fancier things, like central air in the summer, heated toilet seats, and a whole-home vacuum system, but this is so much simpler. I was told when I bought this place that it didn’t even have an indoor bathroom or power since it was just being used as a hunting cabin. I’m lucky the people I bought it from decided to add those things in order to make it a home instead of just a man cave.
When I’ve had my fill of oatmeal, I take the dishes to the kitchen and wash them before going for a shower. The bathroom in the cabin is rather small, with only enough room for a tub and shower combo, a sink, and a toilet. There’s just enough room for one person to move about. But I’m not complaining. At least I don’t have to walk through the dense forest to use the bathroom. I turn the shower on as I unbutton my red and black flannel top. I check myself over in the mirror. My long blond hair is starting to look stringy, and I make a mental note to get it trimmed soon. My blue eyes are bright and shining, but my pale skin looks nearly transparent—the typical cry from a nerd who spends more time in front of a computer instead of being out in the sun like normal people. Maybe I’ll even tan at the salon while I’m there getting my haircut.
I pull my eyes away from the mirror in an attempt to save my sanity. I know if I just stare at myself, I’ll fixate on everything I find wrong, like my stringy hair and vampirish complexion. I step into the hot flow of water and make quick work of washing and shaving. When I get out, the mirror is covered in steam. I tie my towel around myself as I brush my teeth and hair.
Thirty minutes later, my hair is dried and pulled back into a tight bun. The little makeup I wear is applied perfectly, a pearl-colored eyeshadow, brown mascara, a touch of blush, and a little shimmery lip gloss. I tuck my white dress shirt into my black pants and pull on the blazer that matches the dress suit. Walking back into my room for my shoes, I scrutinize myself in the mirror and see that despite picking at myself earlier, I look nice and put together.
I slide my feet into a nice pair of black flats and gather up the rest of the things I’ll need for the day. It’s going on seven-thirty when I step out of the cabin. The sun is just rising over the horizon, painting the sky with yellows, oranges, and pinks. The birds are flying around looking for their breakfast, and it’s warm already with just the slightest breeze. I take a deep breath, taking in the crisp mountain air, with traces of a hint of wet earth and the moss growing up on the rocks by the small pond next to the cabin.
I climb behind the wheel and look up at my property. Most would probably see it as rustic or maybe even run-down. But that’s not what I see. I see a beautiful escape settled right into the side of the mountain. There’s silence, relaxation, and, best of all, home.