The Neighbors

Chapter 36

Harry kissed me and said, "Welcome home, Mrs. Styles." Then he picked me up, bridal style of course, and carried me through the front door of my house, our house.

When he put me down, I looked up at him and kissed him back. "I've never been happier, Mr. Styles."

"Me neither."

We had just returned from our honeymoon in the Bahamas. It was a perfect escape from the frigid January air. We got married on New Year's Eve, just after Harry's 20th birthday, so at least I could say that I didn't marry a teenage boy.

The very next item on our agenda was for Harry to petition to adopt the girls. We had a meeting scheduled with my lawyer to begin that process the following day. It still tickled me to see how excited Harry was at the prospect of being their legal father, even thought he had already been their daddy for so long.

"When are your parents bringing the kids home?" He asked.

"They said they'd be here around 4:00."

"Hmm, that gives us a few hours," he smirked. "You know what I want to do?"

"I have a pretty good idea," I whispered.

He picked me up again and carried me to our bedroom. He set me down and locked the door behind him. This time, when Harry made it obvious that he wanted me, I didn't have to decide whether or not it was right. I was his and he was mine, and I let him love me the way he wanted to. The way I wanted him to.

Afterward, as we lay intertwined with one another, I said, "I'm glad we waited."

"Me, too," he said, kissing my temple.

I thought about how it had been with Eric. I didn't want to cheapen what we had, because Eric gave me three of the most precious gifts in my life. But I know that Eric didn't understand love, and I don't think I fully understood love at the time, either.

Harry loved me. I'll never quite understand how or why he walked into my life and fell in love with me and my children. But I know why I fell in love with him. He was good, selfless, and virtuous. He was also kind and funny and energetic. But that doesn't even come close to summing up the reasons why I loved him. His love was simply better than anything I could put into words.

When Harry and I first made love in England, I knew he was sharing something special with me, not just getting off. When we made love again on our honeymoon, and again today, we experienced a profound bond between us that wasn't meant to be broken. That bond will be strengthened with every act of love from now until the day we die. Our love is so much more than physical attraction or warm feelings or making ourselves happy. It's about us being together, becoming closer and closer until we are one. When we make love, it feels like I can no longer distinguish between Harry and myself. I can't imagine having that closeness with anyone else, because Harry is the one with whom I will spend my life, raising our children, facing the ever-present challenges of life, and supporting each other through it all.

Even before we got married, we had experienced the testing of our vows.

I promise to be true to you: Harry had been my best friend and closest companion since the day he first arrived from England. He was there for me through so many challenges in my life that I lost count.

In good times and in bad: Harry and I had weathered literal storms together as well as the real sorrow of his father's untimely passing. We stood by one another through the challenge of embarking on an unorthodox relationship, only to prove to everyone around us that we were indeed made for one another.

For richer or for poorer: Harry had helped me when I wasn't receiving child support, even though he had no other reason to do so except out of the goodness of his heart.

In sickness and in health: Harry was almost immediately at my side after Rachael's accident.

I will love you and cherish you: Harry had proven to me, time and time again, that he loved me without limits. I only hoped that I could love him the way he loved me.

Til death do us part.

Now that we were married, I felt that we were stronger because of everything we had already been through.

And our age difference no longer mattered at all because our love was better than words could ever express.