Inn Love

And every single day, he insists that I already do. He makes me feel like I’m doing something right for once. He tells me I’m a good mother, wife, and career woman. And it makes me feel complete in a way I never have before now. He was the last missing piece of my jigsaw. He filled the empty spot in my soul and made me alive again. Now that we’re together, I know I can never bear to be apart from him again.

I show my daughter all the love she deserves in her life, my nurturing side working overdrive as I wonder at how beautiful she is. Our Fay! Our tremendous love for each other has created this wonderful child who will want for nothing, but most importantly, she will always have a family who loves her, no matter what.

And then there’s my new family. Elijah’s parents have made me feel like one of them. They’ve given me support with the baby, a job at the Inn, and a place in their family. Elijah’s parents, who have been a blessing to me, fill the void of the family I never had.

I never expected that I would get any of these things, and yet they’ve made it seem like no big deal. They’ve made it seem like I’m meant to be here among them.

So much has been fixed by finding Elijah. My doubts, my fears…they’ve all gone away now. Elijah has built up my confidence and showed me that I have value in the world. He’s made me realize that I don’t have to have a worry in the world. I’m enough. I always have been and always will be.

“Elijah?”

“Yes, baby?” Elijah growls in my ear, kissing my cheek. I feel heat moving to my cheeks. I’ll never quite get used to him treating me so nicely. It feels so good, and I never want this feeling to end.

“I just want things to be this way forever,” I murmur to him. He tilts my chin up so that I’m looking him in the eye.

“I promise it will be,” he says. “You don’t ever have to worry about things changing. I’m going to love you to the end of time. You and me, we’re eternal. I can promise you that.”

I shudder. He always knows exactly what to say to me. I let him kiss my lips gently, and then he holds me close again, our perfect child resting in my arms. This is exactly how I imagined paradise to be. But now I have to tell Elijah that we will be adding to our family paradise.

I give Elijah a knowing smile, and because we are so in tune with each other, he picks up on my look.

“Are you pregnant again, my love?” Elijah asks.

The twinkle in my eyes and my head nodding confirm his question. Elijah whoops with joy. He does a happy dance and settles down to hug both Fay and me.

“What say we ‘celebrate’ while we can after I put Fay to sleep,” I ask Elijah.

His only reply is his famous growl.

TEN YEARS LATER

Elijah

Sometimes, I forget to stop and think about my life. I forget to stop and smell the roses, to realize how lucky I am. But today, on my tenth anniversary with Olivia, it’s not one of those days.

She looks so perfect as she sits at the rooftop bar, her curves accentuated by the green silk dress I bought for her. It’s the first date night we’ve had in a long time, given the fact that we have a house full of kids, but it’s been worth the wait. She looks even more beautiful than the day I met her, and that’s saying something.

“Cheers to us,” she says, raising her cocktail glass to me. We clink glasses and I take a drink, but I don’t take my eyes off her for a single second. I can’t bear to tear my eyes away from her.

She’s different now than when we first met. Her body has changed from the four children she’s birthed, and her curves are only more accentuated than they were before. I know it makes her self-conscious, but I think it only adds to her perfection.

How can she not see herself the way I see her? The Gods created her perfection, and I feel like the luckiest man on earth to have made her mine.

Ten years is such a long time, and yet it’s passed me by so quickly. Faster than all the other years in my life, certainly. I guess time flies when you’re having fun.

Every single day with her has been an adventure. Every day has felt perfect with her by my side. We’ve had so many good memories, from the births of our children to family dinners to quiet date nights where we get to be alone.