"You… that experience… it scared the living daylights out of me.
"And then you were gone.
"I somehow convinced myself that I made up the whole thing. Experiences like that aren't real. They happen only in movies and books and are completely exaggerated. So I went back to Greece and continued on with my vacation. Just that I couldn't get you out of my head."I had seen you for a minute, maybe two. So how did you become a permanent fixture in my mind? I tried to ignore my feelings. And I resisted ringing Lex to find out everything there was to know about you. But fate intervened, and I took it as a sign."When we literally ran into each other in Switzerland, and our eyes locked for the first time, it was as if you could see right through to my soul, and I had this overwhelming sense of coming home.
"I've never felt more content."
I swallow the lump forming in my throat, the emotions I've been holding back surging to the surface.
"Home. That one word kept echoing inside me.
"It sealed our fate.
"Home no longer is a physical place. It's wherever you are.
"You, Ella, are my home.
"When I'm with you, I find comfort, solace, and an undeniable sense of peace. But you also bring an exhilarating excitementinto my life, stimulating my mind and spirit, and presenting challenges that push me to grow and become a better person. Your presence is a perfect balance, a blend of calm and thrill that makes every moment with you both grounding and electrifying.
"But it took us a bit to get here, didn't it?" We both chuckle at that."You resisted 'us' and everything we could be together, but I think we both knew it was only a matter of time before my charm and determination were going to wear you down." I wink at her, and she squeezes my hands."Then we were pulled out of what should have been the happiest time of our lives, and everything was suddenly overshadowed by fear and complete uncertainty. At times it felt like it would swallow me up whole.
"But God couldn't have been that cruel to dangle everything I ever dreamed of in front of me and then tear it away. That thought kept me going. Now that we're well and truly through that dark night of the soul, I can even be grateful for it."Master Sachinanda used to say, nothing is ever good or bad. It depends on the perspective. If you see the bad, then look for the silver lining. It is, without fail, always there."We grew so much closer in that harrowing time. All walls either of us had ever built were demolished, and we're stronger for it, individually and as a couple. And that's something I will never take for granted."We deserve this happily ever after. And I intend to celebrate it… celebrate us, for the rest of our days."To pledge my life to you today for always and forever is the easiest thing I've ever done. But that doesn't mean I take it lightly.
"Ella Rose O'Neil, I promise to love you, protect you with my life, and hold you above all for always and forever."
By now, tears are streaming down my Sunshine's face, and she's dabbing at her face to dry them.
I feel myself well up too, and I pull on her hand to bring her closer to me. I take her face in my hands, and rub my nose against hers.
And I can't help it. The love I have for this woman can't be contained for a second longer. It bursts free and I connect my lips to hers, needing to share everything I am because of her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ella
Ade's lips crash into mine in a kiss that makes my toes curl into the sand. The depth of his love is flowing into me, unleashing my own dam of emotions.
I wrap my arms around him, pulling him as close to me as humanly possible. But it's not enough, especially in a moment like this one—I need him closer. Any distance between us feels unnatural and wrong.
His speech of me beinghometo him… the tears couldn't be stopped after that.
It's not the first time I've heard him say it. He talked about precisely that when he proposed, but in this setting?
With the sincerity in his voice?
It ricocheted the meaning to a place deep within my soul, resonating more profoundly than before. My own heart swells with the same profound love and commitment.
As our lips meet, I pour the intensity of these emotions into the kiss, my mouth melding with Aiden's in a fervent, tantalizingexchange that ignites every fiber of my being with a fiery passion and complete devotion.
We're lost in a bubble that only contains the two of us and, for that moment in time, everything else around us fades into oblivion.
Until…
Rigorous coughing jolts us back to reality. With a glacial pace, I let my lips slip from Ade's. The giggle escaping me is light and bubbly—just like my insides.
"We're not at the kissing part yet," Father Josef remarks, his cheeks and ears flushed with the hues of the red sky around us.
Oops.
