A chance to love again

LVI

Sanem

The following months were challenging from a business point of view for both of us, full of satisfaction and absolutely wonderful for us as a couple.
The presentation meetings for the release of my book often took me out of Istanbul but Can always made sure he was with me, he was there for me every step of the way on this wonderful journey that made a dream come true.

My book, I still can't believe it's true.

At each presentation, when the speaker on duty, introducing my speech, called me "the Author", something very deep moved in me, it was the pride and self-esteem that the simple girl from the neighbourhood, the intern at the agency or "the other" had seen so many times trampled and hurt.

Like a phoenix, I had been reborn from the ashes of a life that seemed to have no purpose, value or dignity, as Huma or Polen had so many times stressed, to emerge with strength and vigour and to impose myself on the attention of the general public, quickly climbing the charts of the most read books in Turkey and abroad.
It seemed unbelievable, I could hardly believe it, but that was what had happened, as unbelievable as the fact that the love for that wonderful man, which I thought had been definitively compromised when I had taken a plane to Naples, had risen from the ashes and had grown in strength and vigour, becoming even more powerful and profound than I had ever imagined.

Every day was a joy and a mutual discovery, everything was new and at the same time extremely intense. Love, passion, trust, respect, every day we discovered that we were able, together, to experience every emotion amplified and enhanced by what we felt for each other.

We are now in the last days before the birth, every check-up has been a magical and exciting moment to live together, hand in hand, waiting to embrace our son. We didn't want to know the sex of the baby, we've called it a boy until now, but we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl and, apparently, it won't make a difference as Can has said he's ready to give it a brother or a sister right away and then other brothers and sisters, in short, it seems he's willing to have a big and noisy family.

My heart tightens at the thought of how much this big, strong, decisive and self-confident man has an endless need for love. What he has experienced in his childhood has deeply marked him, perhaps he does not even realise it himself, but you can sense in him an extreme need for affection and family warmth.

How much damage Huma has done to his children and now he seems to be surprised that they do not take her into consideration as a mother. If she was shocked to find out that Can had married the simple neighbourhood girl, one can well imagine what she didn't do when she later found out that Emre was engaged to the sister of the said neighbourhood girl.

Layla told me that she screamed, bawled, threatened and feigned fainting, but luckily Emre, who was the one among the two brothers who seemed to have the biggest soft spot for his mother, was adamant and told her clearly that if she wants to have a relationship with him she has to accept his future wife.
Moral of the story within a few days Ms Huma, who had just arrived in Istanbul, left Turkey for an unknown destination and it is not known when or if she will ever return.

I am lazily stretched out on a deckchair in the shade of the patio of our house as I make these considerations, I turn to look at Can who is working sitting at the table next to me with his laptop.
He doesn't leave me for a second, he is working from home to avoid leaving my side for a single moment.

I smile with amusement thinking about his constant care, only a little while before he helped me to lie down, put the pillow behind my head in place, put a small table next to me with a cold drink, the newspaper and the phone. I never imagined he could be so attentive and tender, I am sure he will be a wonderful father.

I sit down with the intention of getting up to go to the bathroom and there he is, rushing to support me and help me, I look at him amused and am about to take his hand when... I look at him, I look down, I look at him, I look down.

I open my eyes wide, no doubt about it.

" Caaaaaannnn, the water brokeeeeeee"