Fiona

“Happy Anniversary!” the kids yell as they rush into our room. 

I’d been awake for a few minutes, but Wes was fast asleep and just about jumped out of his skin when the kids came charging in. 

Audrina has a tray full of food in her hands, April has two drinks, and the boys, Sam and Dex, throw silverware on top of us. 

Wes rubs the sleep from his eyes. “Breakfast in bed?”

“For the best mom and dad ever!” April cheers. 

“It sure feels good not to have to get up early to cook,” I say sweetly. 

Wes and I enjoy our meal, then wash up and get ready for the day. 

Audrina and April take care of our morning chores, and because we have the day off, we decide to pack a picnic lunch and go for a long walk. 

“We had Javier bring this by!” Audrina says, handing me a picnic basket. 

“How did you know we were going to go for a walk?”

April giggles. “You and Dad are about as predictable as a clock.”

She’s not wrong. 

We stroll through the fields, into a forest that has several trails. 

It feels good to be out in nature, with Wes by my side. 

Since we officially started dating, after the terrible night when my shop got broken into, we haven’t spent more than a handful of days apart. 

I still think about that night often, and how it could have been so much worse if Wes hadn’t rushed to save me. 

“Let’s stop here,” Wes suggests, gesturing to a log. 

I spread out a blanket, and Wes takes out the bottle of wine Javier packed for us. 

“Do you ever get bored?” I ask Wes.

He chuckles. “With four kids and a ranch to manage, I’m too busy to be bored.”

“True.” I take a sip of wine, wondering how best to word my question. “What I mean is, do you ever get bored with me?”

“Never. Not for a second.” His smile falters. “Why? Are you getting bored with me?”

“No, but I know you were a little wild before we got together, and sometimes I worry you miss that.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t even think about the time before you, because you’re all that matters. You and the kids fill me in ways I didn’t think possible. In fact,” he pulls out a box from the picnic basket and hands it to me, “I got this made, so we’re always together.” 

Inside the box are two bracelets, each with a charm in the shape of a half-heart that locks together. 

“Look inside the circle at the charm,” Wes tells me. 

I hold it up to my eye and see a picture of him. Then I look in the other circle and find a picture of me. 

“How did you get it to look so big?” I ask. 

He shrugs. “No clue. It was Audrina’s idea. She even picked out the pictures.”

“She has good taste.”

“Now, don’t let me hear you talking about me being bored again.”

“How could I have been so silly?”

After we eat, we stretch out on the blanket, existing in each other’s presence in a peaceful way that’s not easy when you have four kids. 

It’s crazy to think we’ve been married for twelve long years. I still see a youthful face when I look at him, though I know there’s crinkling at the corner of his eyes, and a few grays have sprouted. If I’ve aged, and I know I have, he never tells me and his desire for me is no less ferocious than it was when we started dating.

We head back home late in the afternoon, and I give Wes his gift: several high-end show chickens to breed.

Yep, that’s right—show chickens. 

Since the Prospers gifted him his own track of land, he’s been raising animals and has entered them into a few competitions.

We eat dinner as a family, with the kids making enough noise to wake the dead, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

When we finally slip into bed at night, we make love as we’ve done so often throughout our marriage, cherishing every moment of each other as we fall into rhythm, reaching our peak together.

“Do we try for another?” Wes asks after he collapses onto the bed next to me. 

“Do you want to?”

“Heck, yeah! My kids are perfect, and I’ll take as many as I can get.”

“Sure, but you know the girls are going to throw a fit if they get another brother.” I turn toward him, and he brings his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. 

“They sure will.”

As I start to doze off, Wes whispers, “I love you, Fiona. You’re the only girl for me, and I don’t ever want another.”

And with my last waking breath, I mumble out, “I love you, too.”

The End

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