Ever After New York

Secret Garden.

I step out of the shower, the cool air hitting my wet skin as I wrap a towel around my body. Hero and I have spent almost a week at the cottage by now, but to say I was missing my little girl was an understatement.

Martha, god bless her soul, updated me constantly on how Annie was doing. Thankfully, she was doing perfectly fine, but I still felt like a piece of me was missing without her.

I knew Hero missed her too. I could see as he anxiously stood by me while I was on the phone with his mum, waiting to hear how she was doing.

"What're you thinking about?" I hear him ask, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Annie." I smile softly before grabbing another towel off of the rack to dry my hair.

"I miss her." Hero sighs, leaning against the sink.

"Me too." I say, before unwrapping the towel around my body to hang it up.

On my way out of the bathroom, I catch a glimpse at myself in the mirror, making my brows furrow.

"What?" Hero asks quietly.

My lips fall into a frown as I look at my stretch marks, my fingers tracing over the discolored skin on my abdomen. I had almost completely forgotten that they were there, given that I've pretty much been on a high for the past week. But now that my head was coming down from the clouds, I saw the imperfections of my body once again.

"Jo?" Hero questions.

"Annie really did a number on me, huh?" I sigh, turning at an angle to see the marks that wrap around the side of my torso.

"You look beautiful." He tells me.

I look up at him, into his brilliant green eyes as they look into mine with wholehearted affection.

"Please don't just say that..." I beg. "These marks... I mean, look at them!"

"I am." He says before moving to stand behind me.

He places his hands on my hips as he rests his chin on my shoulder, looking into the mirror at our reflections. "I'm looking at the most beautiful woman in the world."

I hang my head, staring down at his hands which covered the discolored marks on my skin, the beauty of them contrasting with the ugliness of the scars. "I just wish the scars could be beautiful too."

"They are." Hero tells me, placing a kiss to my shoulder. "They're the most beautiful thing in the world, because they're apart of you. They symbolize what you did to bring our baby into the world, and that's while I'll never judge them."

I feel tears forming at the corners of my eyes and Hero quickly moves his hand up to wipe them away.

"I don't deserve you." I whimper, turning around in his grasp.

He hugs my naked body to his clothed one, the feeling of his security warming my entirety.

"Can I take you somewhere today?" He asks, placing a kiss on top of my head.

I nod my head in response. "Yeah, where?"

"Get ready and we'll go." He smiles at me.

"More secrets?"

"I think you'll like this one." Hero grins before releasing me.

I follow him out of the bathroom and head for my suitcase. Hero leaves me to get dressed, and I choose a white sundress. The neckline dipped down far enough to show off my rocket necklace as it rested in the valley between my breasts.

I slip into a pair of white sandals before brushing out my long hair, deciding to put it in a plait as I wait for Hero to come back.

When he finally enters the room, I only then notice the ironic contrast in our clothing.