Can Yaman International Presents: Part 2: Erkenci Kus, The Continuing Story

Chapter 11: "Quite A Blindsided Gesture"

At the end of Chapter 10:  Aziz stood up, clasped his hands together and crossed over the deck to Sanem. He hugged her and said he needed their help. Her face brightened seeing his smile. Asking what he had in mind, she only received a wink from Aziz in response. He walked toward the back of the boat, turned around, and told them he needed their help, because he was about to do the craziest and scariest thing in his life. He was going to ask Mihriban to marry him.

(Author's Note:  Please read to the end of the chapter and tell us what you think of it. And don't forget to vote. Thank you!)

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Fate offers a balance of fortunes and misfortunes. Good days and bad days. It is also said that the good days may not be appreciated as much if the bad days did not come. Then there are days when the bad ones never felt worse. But Fate also has an uncanny way of unveiling the truth about those bad days, and in a way that no one saw coming. It may also end up exonerating the person that was hurt the most...

Enjoying family time was the time of day that Can and Sanem Divit loved the most. Work could wait. Final editing of her book could wait. Other matters could wait. Because what mattered the most was that they were together. They had survived through the darkest days of their lives. They had made it through and grew stronger because of it. They may have broken each other's hearts and souls into pieces but they mended them together. No one would ever know or be able to match the unity of what bound them to one another. They were one now - one heart, one soul, and one feisty heck of a spirit.

Where Sanem helped Can to look at things with greater compassion, his support allowed her to become more bold and confident. It allowed her to dream more and to reach new heights. Heights she never even considered herself capable of reaching. It was Can's idea for them to write the children's books they had spoken of so many times. The draft of their first children's book was already completed. Can promised Sanem that going forward, he would work only with her as a collaborator. He would be her only partner in her future projects. And he would not allow his camera's lens to take a single shot for a book that was not hers.

Likewise, their children's books would contain not only his photographs but his drawings as well. They had come up with the idea that their children's books would tell the story of a valiant father bird showing his three brave little birds all the wonders that the world and life had to offer. And at the end of every day, they would always return home for the evening supper prepared by their loving mother bird. They planned to title the books "The Albatross Family Adventures". They planned the books as a trilogy, a three-part story meant as a gift for each of their three children. The theme of each of the books was influenced by their children's names of Sea, Star, and Fire.

Sanem was sitting at the dining room table busy editing the last pages of her second novel. She took small glances at Can as he sat just outside on the patio with their children. Sitting in the warmth of the early evening sun, Can was lost in the tale of the brave baba bird, flying high around the world with his three little birds. Exploring, seeking new horizons, looking for unseen treasures only brave birds were destined to find. Sanem smiled whenever he spread his arms so wide and proud as he had a habit of doing. She loved that gesture. He was a true Albatross then. Her Albatross. No longer trapped, but confident enough in their love that he could spread his wings and always return to his safe haven. She had to admit that these kind of evenings were her favorite.

The editing of her book was forcing her to read back over and recall moments that cut her heart more than she cared to admit. The days she had spent by Can's hospital bed, begging Fate and the Amber Princess to bring him back to her. Then begging them again to bring his memory back after he had regained consciousness. Those memories still felt heavy on her heart. When Can left, her heart had turned to stone, much like what happened in her story of the Bride Rock. To a dreamer, a frozen heart felt like abandoning life. She felt alone, all alone. She felt betrayed. She felt abandoned by the one man who asked her to forsake all others and marry him.