My freedom from Aiden Forbes, the new alpha of the pack that shares territory with ours, is short-lived when he returns. He's a nuisance I cannot escape and he makes his presence well-known. From a very young age, we've been rivals at everything. He...
One baby crying, two babies crying. This is the new life, waking up at three in the freaking morning to feed the twin or to attend them in anyway. Now that they're almost three, it's not much of a pain but they still have that baby personality. Aiden stirs beside me as I get up from bed to attend the twins.
"Already?" Aiden says in a sleepy voice.
"Every day," I reply.
"I'll help," he says and I feel him stand from the bed.
"Thank you," I say.
I'm so tired. I understand all the mothers in the world now. When I wake the next morning after a long night with the twins, Aiden is in the nursery rocking Caleb in the rocking chair. Caleb liked that. He still does. Carabella is in her usual deep sleep in her pink decorated bed.
"Good morning. How long have you been up?" I ask Aiden.
He looks up and smiles. "Since eight a.m. What time is it right now?"
"Eleven a.m.," I reply. "You've been up for like three hours."
"Yeah," he says.
I don't know why but this feels really awkward. I don't know it feels weird.
"I love you for being so supportive," I blurt out.
"And I you, for being the best mom our children can have," he replies.
Oh, no, no tears. Please!
"Thank you. That's, um, that's very reassuring," I say in the blink of tears.
"I love you."
"And I you," I reply. "So much has changed these past five years together."
"Yes, it has," he replies. "For the better."
"Of course," I say.
"We should head to the beach today, if you'd like," He mentions.
I feel my face brighten with happiness. I know which beach he's talking about. Our beach. Even though everyone goes there, it's still our beach. Our place. Now we share it with our kids. It's our little perfect family or almost perfect. I get everything ready to take for the twins.
We head off to La Push. When we get there, Aiden takes the twins with him. No, the twin run towards the beach out of excitement. They love the beach. Now that it's summer, it should be warm enough for them to jump in. I hear "Marry Me" by Jason Derulo from somewhere. I realize after that it's my phone ringing. I roll my eyes when I realize that Aiden messed with my ringtone once again. Why Marry Me? I shrug it off and answer him.
"What happened?" I ask.
"What? Nothing just waiting for you," he answers.
"Okay, I'll be there in a few," I say.
"Hurry up. I have a surprise," he says.
That catches my attention. "What surprise?"
"I can't tell you. You have to come see it yourself," Aiden says.
"Please, tell me?" I beg.
"Nope," he replies.
"Arsehole," I say.
"Just like old times," he says.
"No, not like old times. Better," I say.
"Better," he repeats.
I walk down the trail after hanging up. I wonder what he has for me. What will it be? I don't know. I can't think straight. When I get there, I freeze. There's a blanket on the sand, on top of that is a picnic set up, and there's Aiden sitting on the blanket.
"Hey, what's all this?" I ask.
"A picnic, duh," he says.
I laugh. "Obviously. Why did you change my ring tone for you again?"
I hold up my phone for him to see.
"I-uh-I wanted to ask you something," he says.
Oh?
"What is it?" I ask.
He makes me curious all the time when he says that or something like it.
I watch him get up and walk towards me. When he's in front of me he drops to one knee, searches his pocket, pulling out a small black box. He opens the box revealing a beautiful heart ruby shaped ring with two small diamonds on the sides. The love stones and my birthstone. I gap at him.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm about to ask you if you would do me the great honor of marrying me," he replies.
Oh. My. God. I don't remember any other moment where I've stayed quiet for a long period time.
"Well?" Aiden intercepts my thinking.
"YES!" I grin. "Yes!"
"Oh, thank god," He stands up, embracing me into a hug. "I thought you were going to say no."
"I would have to be stupid enough to say no to this," I tell him. "I love you."
He kisses me, and says "I love you too" against my lips.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I stare down at the band around my ring finger. I imagine back to the long years that it took to get me here. The bullying I had to go through, the moves that Aiden made on me, the fear of losing him, everything we went through got us here today. I'm happily married with Aiden and we have amazing children. Can anything be better than this now? I lay back down on the pillow, facing a sleeping Aiden. I smile and cuddle closer. This time I know that I'm safe by his side. I let sleep take over.
