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December 24, 30 years old
"Baby! Be careful!", Aspen said as she laughed. She was splashed with water as her two year old daughter splashed around in the bathtub. Her daughter, Yara, giggled as Aspen as she put shampoo in her hair. She finished giving her daughter a bath and wrapped her in a towel, drying her off. She carried her into the baby room and set her down on the bed, grabbing clothes from the dresser. She dressed Yara and led her to the kitchen where she gave her breakfast. Liam came out of the backyard, "It's extremely cold but I got the firewood!", he dragged in a few logs and closed the back door with a huff.
As he started the fire in their fireplace, Aspen set the rest of the table for Liam and herself. Once she finished, she sat down and he joined her. Yara was in her baby chair, eating little pieces of bananas and having a good time.
They finished eating and Liam helped Aspen get all the dishes in the sink, then took Yara to the living room. Aspen finished up in the kitchen, drying the last dish and joined her family on the couch. Liam looked down at her lovingly, "How did I get so damn lucky?"
Yara then looked out the window and began to point excitedly. The two looked outside and saw snow slowly falling. Aspen knew this meant Jake was there. He appeared in the living room next to the fire, "God, she's adorable", he said looking at Yara. Aspen smiled at her young daughter in her husbands arms looking outside. She stepped away and turned to Jake, "She's a blessing. I missed you, how have you been?"
"I miss you, always. I've been doing good for myself, working hard. I don't know if you saw me, but I was at the wedding."
Aspen furrowed her eyebrows, trying to look back to the crowd, "I don't think I saw you."
"I didn't show myself to you because I didn't want you to get distracted. It was your big day, I didn't want to get in the way of that," he smiled, remembering the beautiful scene of the ceremony.
They both turned to Liam and Yara, playing together, rolling around on the floor. Jake looked at Aspen, looking at Liam with warmth in her expression. "You really love him, don't you?", Jake asked, already knowing the answer. "Yes. He's the love of my life, my soulmate."
Jake stayed silent, knowing she was unobtainable permanently now.
"Thank you for putting on such a great show for Yara, she loves Christmas time," Aspen turned her head to Jake, smiling.
"Anytime, Aspen," he gave her a heartfelt smile, feeling the warmth in his heart when she smiled back, looking into his eyes.
Aspen did the unexpected and kissed his cheek as a sort of thank you present and before she could see his flustered face, he disappeared.
