Rose petals

Chapter 37

Waking up the next morning the sun shone through the balcony doors and right on my face. I tried turning to face the window but was instantly restricted by Mason who was cuddling me like his life depended on it. His entire body on top of mine completely hiding me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran a hand through his hair. He instinctively cuddled impossibly closer and all I could do was smile.

I kept my eyes glued to the glass doors of the balcony and silently watched the sun, the trees, and the birds. I could hear the faint sound of their chirping while the wind softly whistled. Slowly closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath before slowing exhaling. I felt so relaxed. My entire body was so calm and serene I could lay here all day.

Barely five seconds had passed by and I felt Mason slowly stirring awake. His hold on me tightened as he opened his ocean blue eyes I absolutely adore and smiled. The small dimple in his left cheek became more prominent as he leaned up and pecked my lips before kissing my cheek.

"It wasn't a dream after all." He whispered, closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh.

"I love you." I whispered. I don't think I told him I love him ever since I got my memory back.

He froze. He didn't move for a solid few seconds. A wave of guilt washed over me, what if he really had moved on at one point and had fallen in love with someone else. What if he no longer loves me anymore, or not as much as he used to? He definitely did reassure me last night after we had put the kids to bed that he hadn't seen anyone, but maybe he was saying that for my sake because of how my brains been scrambled like an egg and tossed like a salad.

"It's not the same as the videos." He said with a sad smile as I looked at him in confusion. "I watched your videos, listened to your voicemails, and replayed voice messages everyday just to hear you say you love me. I forgot how different it is to hear you say in person." He said as I kissed the top of his head and hugged him as tight as I could.

"I'm sorry you had to do this alone, there's no way I could've done this myself but you've been the most perfect dad to them. We're lucky to have you, you know." I whispered, my heart feeling so full I felt as though it was overflowing with happiness and gratitude.

"And I'm sorry you were alone all these years, if there was an option for you to just keep those memories locked away I would prefer it so much more. But it's important you remember everything that happened in the last five years. I had our entire family behind me to help me at any time of day, you had no one and didn't even know." He said regretfully, as though he wished he had found me sooner.

The same day I had gotten my memory back, Kate had said we had to carry on with the EMDR to file away those floating, abnormal memories from the last five years. It's important I recall everything in case there's anything significantly important that I needed to know. Not only that, but I spent all those years studying, it would be a shame if I forgot everything I learned and had to redo it all.

Before I could respond, our room door was thrown open by two eager, yet sleepy kids.

"Daddy, Emmy copied my dream last night." Elle yawned as she rubbed her eyes while walking over to our bed.

"Yeah? And what was this dream?" Mason asked as he pecked my lips before sitting up. The twins walked right into his open arms and sat there. It looked almost routinely.

"I dreamed that mommy was home with us and then Emmy said he dreamed the same thing but I dreamed it first." She huffed and I almost instantly cried then and there.

"Morning babies, you not gonna give me morning kisses?" I asked innocently.

The sleepy looks on both their faces vanished into thin air as they quite literally shoved Mason out of the way and climbed up on our bed. Completely ignoring his existence, he got up from our bed in shock and walked into the bathroom like a zombie.