Breaking The Ice Queen

Chapter ten

I got comfortable in an old blue dress, clipped my hair up, and decided to run around barefeet. I love walking around with no shoes on my feet. Not that it makes me feel like a child, but because how at home it makes me feel.

"Okay, we're leaving," Ariana says, running down into the kitchen with Tania. I look at them and wrap my arms around Ariana. "Mom, Nick is waiting for us."

Nick works for me as one of the models, but often I rent him to drive Ariana around wherever she wants.

"Enjoy it," I say and kiss her hair. I let her go and hug Tania as well. "Thank you for everything, Tan. I really appreciate what you're doing for Ariana."

"Are you kidding me?" She giggles and looks at me with her hands on my sides. "She's like a little sister to me. I have to thank you for making my dreams come true and giving me a family."

I giggle and kiss her cheek. She pulls away with a blush and follows Ariana out to the waiting car. I breathe deeply, watching them leave. I admire their relationship so much. I wish I had met Stephen earlier in life so that I could be a mom to Tania. She is who she is because of what she's been through, but I would've liked her to experience motherly love and comfort.
Stephen pulls in the driveway. He parks his car behind mine and gets out, holding a basket in his hand. I had no idea men packed baskets.

"What's this?" I ask with a giggle.

"Hello gorgeous," he chuckles and holds the basket up. I step out of the way for him to enter the house. This is very odd. I close the door and watch him closely. "I just thought we could do something different tonight. We are alone after all, aren't we?"

"We're not watching movies?" I ask him and follow him through the house to my back door.

"We can watch a movie later," he replies and pushes the door open. I look around in my backyard. He stops and looks surprised at the garden. There's a big pool aside, beautiful plants, a little fountain, beddings, and the grass green and recently cut. "This is perfect."

"I take it we're having picnic," I smile and shrugs my shoulders at him. "I'll get us a blanket."

Stephen is an extraordinary man. He has such an amazing nature, and he's very gentle. It's as if he's right out of a fairytale.
We lie down on the blanket and watch the stars in the sky. The backyard lights are switched off, and only one little light is shining so that we can see each other. I look at him and take a deep breath in.

"Stephen, have you ever wondered how your life would've been if you moved on?" I dare to ask him. He looks at me and sits up straight, getting his glass of wine. "Like if you would have more kids..."

"I wonder about a lot of things," he replies and brings his glass to his mouth. I sit up straight as well, waiting to hear more from him. "Like when Tania will settle down and start a family. When I retire, will I see the world? If I had more kids, what type of dad would I have been. I've been very overprotective over Tania. I never allowed her to go out with friends or sleep over by them."

"Well, you know what happens in similar situations, Steph. So I can't blame you," I reply and lean towards him. He nods and looks down.

"Do you wonder about things?" He asks. I nod my head and look up at the stars. "Can you tell me?"

"I wonder when I will get my life right. When will I settle with the right person? When I do, will I still be able to have kids?" I whisper and look down at my tummy. "I want more kids, Steph. I want to have stability. You don't get married thinking of when you'll get divorced, but I'm afraid that it's the only thing that will be stuck in my mind when I stand on the altar again."

"You don't have to be married to have kids," he says. I give him a faint look. "Yes, you want to have stability, raise them in a stable home, but take it from me. I grew up in a house where my parents were unhappily married. They got married because I was born. If I wasn't, both of them would've parted paths and went on with their lives. It hurt me more as a child watching them fight every day and do stupid things as what it would've if they just broke up instead and gave me normality."

"Stephen, I'm so sorry," I whisper and touch his hand. He looks at our hands and smiles softly. "You've learned how to deal with the hurt since you were a child. Now I understand why you couldn't move on after Tania's mom. She was your first true love and only thing that felt worth everything."

"They say you fall in love three times," he adds and smile at me. "At childhood, even if it's stupid and feels like nothing, when you start to consider settling down and starting a family and thirdly, you fall in love with the person you want and would be worth every pain because you feel like you have nothing left if they had to take the last bit of you."

"I think you can fall in love easily, sweetheart. The important thing is liking the person. That's more important than love. How can I love you after thirty years if I don't like you in our first year together. And liking someone doesn't come overnight," I reply. His eyes burn through mine. A little smile forms on his lips. "Maybe you eat with your mouth open or snore when you sleep. I have to learn to like that about you, and if I never do, that's also okay, but I have to like you in order to love you."

"I see," he nods with a smile and looks up at the stars. "So, do you currently like someone?"

"At the moment?" I ask. He nods and looks at me again. His grey eyes dances around on my face. "Well, I'm not seeing anyone except you. So there's nothing romantic going on with me now. Besides, it's a little too early to move on...for now. Imagine what the media will write about me if I get emotionally involved with someone so shortly after my divorce."

"It's not about what the media says about you," he says and bumps his shoulder gently against mine. "It's about following your heart even if it means getting it broken a million more times."