we keep this love in a photograph

Chapter 59

Jennie,

I'm not sure at what point in time this letter is reaching you, but I'm guessing it's roughly one week until I see you again! I'm not going to stop counting down until the final second that I see you again. Not even when I'm running off the bus, pushing everyone else out of the way if I have to. Until I have my arms around you, I won't feel like I'm home again.

Perhaps it's bad luck to say it and I'm hoping it won't jinx us, but there's nothing in this world that can keep me away from you now. You're stuck with me now! Of course, a week is a long time when I'm stuck over here, and I'd hate for everything to go wrong right at the very end, but one way or another I'll be home on time. I promise.

I think I must be driving everyone up here insane with how much I keep talking about going home, about how excited I am to have you to come home too. I think they're secretly jealous but I couldn't care less right now. I've been holding onto the thought of being on the plane for so long that I feel like I might burst with excitement at how soon it is. It's still two weeks away while I'm writing this, but I'm on the home stretch now as you're reading it. And now I can't help but feel guilty at how much the job has cost me in time, about how much we've missed together. But please don't think I haven't appreciated those firsts we've had any less though, because you've made thousands of miles seem small with how much love you've showered me with while we've been apart.

So thank you, Jennie, for showing me what it's like to really be loved. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your selflessness, your kindness, your stubborn determination to not give up. It means more to me than you could ever know and has truly shown me what kind of person I'm marrying. I can honestly say with every bit of me that there's no one else in the world that could ever make me feel this way. I think I made that clear when I proposed, but you've reinforced my decision to spend my life with you every day. I promise I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you because I know how hard it's been for you over these past few months, and I know you'd never ask me to do that, but I'll do my best to make sure everything else is easy. Because loving you is so easy, Jennie - as easy as breathing - and I know you don't think so but it really is. We're going to have an easy life, full of love and happiness and kids and me and you and I can't wait to come home and give that to you. It's what you deserve.

This is probably the last letter I'll write to you from over here, because I'll be home before the next one reaches you. Honestly, I'm filled with relief at the thought of our first last. It's a good one to start with. I love you more than you can possibly imagine, or maybe you can because over the past few months you've shown me just how much you love me, and I think it's pretty close. Thank you. I love you.

See you soon,
Rosie xxx