Elena.
I catch her in the crowds, laughing and smiling. She’s radiant, particularly now that she has our baby inside her. She looks up and catches my eye and I realize that I need nothing else in the world than her. I want her with every fiber of my being. Every possessive bone in my body just wants to own her, love her, cherish her.
And now, for the rest of my days, she’s mine.
“It’s time for the cake!” Elena’s mother cries, carrying the cake in through the kitchen. I join in as everyone sings Happy Birthday, as I making my way over to her. When I reach her she clutches my hand hard and looks into my eyes with a sweet smile.
“I know what I’m wishing for,” she murmurs.
“You’re not supposed to tell me,” I tease, but she tells me anyway. She leans in close to my ear.
“I wish we will be together forever,” she whispers. “And that we’ll have so many children together that our house will always be filled with noise. I wish that we have the perfect life together.”
“You don’t need a birthday wish to make that happen,” I growl. “I’m going to take care of you, baby. I’m going to give you everything you could possibly want in life. I’m going to love you, make babies with you, and take you all over the world. We’re going to have the life you’ve always dreamed of. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispers. She kisses my lips softly and everyone in the room awws at the sight of us together. They might not have wanted us to be together at first, but now they can see that we’re inseparable. We’re a perfect couple, the type of pairing that everyone aspires to be like. As she turns to blow out her candles, her hand still gripped in mine and I close my eyes to make my own wish.
I wish that we can stay this perfect forever.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
EIGHT YEARS LATER...
Elena
Nine years of bliss. That’s how long Landon and I have been together. Nine years ago today he moved in next door to me and my life turned upside down. There was so much uncertainty at the time. My father didn’t want us to be together and I thought it was all going to be too much. But since then, everything has been so perfect. We’ve made a life together that I adore. I love him more and more each day.
And then there are the kids. S turned out to be a girl, our firstborn named Sally. Then we had Samson next, or Sam for short. Now, our youngest, Annabelle, has a new pendant on my bracelet with her initials on it as well.
Three kids. One marriage. One home right next door to my parents. It’s the perfect life I never imagined for myself until I met Landon. I thought maybe I’d be alone forever, unable to find someone to love me the way I deserve. Now, as I wake up next to Landon on our nine-year anniversary, I know that’s not true.
His body is warm next me and I snuggle into him. Annabelle slept through the night so we have a rare moment of quiet to just be together. He wakes up and reaches for me right away, pulling me in for a kiss.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he growls. He calls me that every single day and it feels damn good. I have someone who appreciates me exactly the way that I am.
“Hey, baby,” I whisper back. “Happy Anniversary.”
“Happy Anniversary.”
We kiss again and I get this feeling that we’re leading up to something else. Just as he begins to climb on top of me, though, Annabelle starts crying on the baby monitor.
“Damn guess we’ll have to wait until later,” Landon says. We’ve had sex every single day since we met without fail, so today will be no different. No matter how long a day it’s been, or how busy we are, or how tired we feel, we always make time for one another. That means making love every single day and nine years on, it still makes me feel as good as the first time.
“I’ll go and see her.”
“It’s okay, you stay in bed,” Landon tells me with a kiss on my lips. It’s so damn sexy that he’s such a good father. He helps out as much as he can around here, especially now that he’s retired. We’re still living in the house where we met, but I work part-time as a pharmacist while he stays at home with the kids. He said he enjoyed his career as a personal trainer for the stars, but the best career he’s ever had is being a father. This is the life he craved before he met me and now he’s found the perfect woman for him to raise a family with. And she just so happens to be me.
“Thanks, baby,” I tell him as he goes to see Annabelle. “I’ll get up and make breakfast.”
It’s a Saturday morning. The kids will be running amok all day, but I don’t mind. I like the chaos. I get up and make scrambled eggs with bacon, a family favorite. By the time Landon has got Annabelle settled, Samson and Sally have come downstairs and made a mess with their toys in the living room. As I cook, I watch with a smile as Landon sweeps both of them up in his arms and swings them around to make them laugh.
“Keep going, Daddy!” Sally giggles, as Landon dizzily sets them on his feet. He shakes his head.
“Absolutely not. If you don’t puke first, I definitely will. Come on, let’s get some breakfast. What do you say to your Mom?”
“Thanks for making breakfast, Mommy!” Samson says angelically, smiling and revealing his gappy teeth.
“And Happy Anniversary,” Sally says sweetly. I smile.
“You two are the cutest. Now eat up your breakfast. We’re going to have a movie marathon in our pajamas today,
