The Best Is Yet To Come

When We Were Young

Her husband. She has a husband. Sanem would've pinched herself if her arms weren't pinned down by the man next to her. The same man who had given his heart and soul for hers to keep. As quietly as she can, she wiggles out of his arms, picks up his discarded shirt from the floor, and walks out to the balcony.

The view is amazing. Sanem always loved the sea. She was grateful that Can insisted on going back to Agva for their "honeymoon". It was a beautiful party despite the short notice. She's still surprised Leyla had managed to pull it off. As far as the employees of Fikri Harika were concerned, they attended a company party. Only four people knew the real reason behind the party. Can even had the foresight to address it as a "family picnic" so her parents and extended family can attend as well.

Sanem feels his presence before he wraps his arms around her waist. In his typical fashion, he sniffs her neck.

"I missed you".

"You just had me".

Can raises his eyebrow at her slip of tongue. She can feel herself blush. She's a married woman now. There is no need to be coy about what she wants. With that in mind, she tells her husband what she wants him to do. He throws her over his shoulder, and they don't come out of their hotel room for another day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sanem often imagined what their reunion would be like. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that said reunion would consist of a hospital bed. She should've known better than to let Orion walk in front of her. Big boy, Mama. He's so much like his father, fiercely independent and stubborn as a mule. Orion may have gotten Can's looks and his mannerisms. Unfortunately, he inherited Sanem's klutziness. Luckily, she was close enough to push her son out of the way when a speeding car jumped the sidewalk.

Sanem remembers going to the hospital and the excruciating pain. She remembers the doctors' words: internal bleeding, broken tibia. She even remembers crying out for Can just like she did when the twins were born. She hopes no one made the connection. You chose this. Words she kept telling herself as she drove her motorbike out of Istanbul. Words that have shaped the woman she is now.

Sanem looks at the sleeping man on the couch in her room, the one cradling the most precious things in her life. Her little bird is sleeping against his chest and her little lion's head safely tucked against his father's neck. Mannerisms that their children had inherited from them. Over the years, she wondered what type of father he would've been. Would he be the disciplinarian or would their little munchkins hold his heart around their fingers?

Once upon a time, Sanem would have rejoiced at what she was seeing. But that Sanem was long gone along with her naïveté and innocence. Sanem had learned to harden her heart throughout the years. All because of him. Completely lost in her thoughts, she doesn't notice the man entering her room.

"How could you do this to him?"

Sanem looks at her brother in law with a grim smile on her face.

"I did it for them."

She can tell he wants to argue with her, but they were both distracted by his voice.

"Hello, my love."