| 68 | Always

Your fingers entwined slowly with mine,

And suddenly life made sense.

~Perry poetry

__________________

Two months later

"I still can't believe it! He's about to get an apartment, I did it I helped someone" I gush out to Zara on the phone

"I knew you'd do it, someone with a kind heart and a mindset of never giving up was bound to make a difference in someone's life" Zara replies and I can hear the smile in her voice,

My mind is still reeling from today's talk, I remember a man walking up to me whom I'd seen from the very first day of this organization, and he said he got a job almost two months ago and that he's now looking for apartments, that he's not giving up until he's achieved his dreams,

I'm proud of the people who have not given up, there's a couple that has jobs, and slowly I can see their mindset shifting, how they get to the talks with a smile on their face and ready to gain another piece of information to help them out,

"You're doing amazing Vanessa...I'm proud of you" Zara continues, I hear her giggle and shush one of her twins in the background

"Mommies on the phone-you can have a treat only after you finish your lunch" she talks quietly

"Sorry bout that, the kids are hounding me for dessert before lunch" she laughs

"It's alright, and thank you, it means a lot to hear that someone's proud"

"Are you guys all set for the summer trip? It's just in a little over a month" Zara out of nowhere says

I chuckle "well I've already started packing, but Aaron thinks I'm doing it way too early"

"Yeah we'll men are dumb when it comes to the art of packing, I mean if I did what Enzo does and pack the day before the trip I'd forget like ten things I needed!" She exclaims

"Mhm...I guess it's an all-guy thing for them to pack a day before, Aaron does that too" I let a laugh out as I forward a couple of emails to Aaron

I let my gaze shift out to the window in my office, I smile as the sun shines through the New York buildings,

My mind wonders to the entry I read this morning before work, my dad's last entry...the last words he wrote me before he died,

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘱,

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘵...𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 the many 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝑎𝑏𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯...𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥...𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺...𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥~ 𝘋𝘢𝘥 ♡

I wish I could tell him that I'm happy...I'm so incredibly happy and healthy, and I let someone in who completes me...

Who I married and can't wait to spend forever with.

I hope he and my mom is proud...I think that's what kids wish from their parents, For them to support them...love them, and be proud of them.

I talk to Zara for a few more minutes and then decide to get back to work,

I've been doing less work here and mostly focusing on the organization, and it's been nice,

I'm still at the office almost every day, that hasn't changed, I still love knocking on Aaron's door every morning with his coffee,

I love the way his face lights up, The way he smiles...when I walk into his office, the way he pulls me to him, and then kisses me after he hugs me,

His hand always covers my left hand when he pulls me to him from behind, and his fingers graze my wedding ring, and then I feel his grin against my neck,

I think both of us can't believe that we got to this point, where we're married, together, and happy.

And we sometimes need small reminders of the good, the fact that I'm safe and healthy, and that we're both alive.

I get a knock on my door and tell the person to come in,

A man walks in, his face completely covered by a huge bouquet, my face immediately lights up in excitement and awe at the beautiful arrangement of flowers, and then in the middle of the bouquet there's a heart made with red roses,

"Wow" I whisper to myself as I walk up to the man,

"For a Vanessa Huxley," he says

My grin widens "that's me"

I grab the bouquet from him after giving him a tip "thank you, have a good day"

When the delivery man leaves I just sit on my pink couch staring at all the flowers,

I see a little note attached to the side and grab it,

To my wife,

Get your pretty ass out of work and be ready for our date at six,

~ Aaron

I bite my lip to attempt to hold in my smile, as I set down the bouquet carefully and head to Aaron's office

I completely forget to knock as I run into his office and run into his arms completely not giving him a second to even think,

"thank you for the flowers, they're beautiful"

He chuckles as he holds me tight "you're welcome, did you read the note?"

I nod against his neck,

"Mhm, so why are you still at work?" He nips my ear

"What's with the random date? And what do I wear?" I ask looking at him curiously

He smiles "it's an anniversary of sorts...and what you usually wear to our dates will be perfect"

"Anniversary? Did I seriously forget an important date" my eyes widen

"four years ago...to this date, you walked into my office wanting a job, and even with the first moment, I was already gone for you" he shrugs with a smile

"Awe, I love you, you're so cute"

He starts tickling me making me squeal and squirm out of his hold "go get ready" he laughs

"And don't call me cute" he adds as I head toward the door

I grin and as I open the door immediately saying "bye cutie"

He shakes his head with a smile as he watches me leave.

Overjoyed...so unbelievably in love,

Those are the only two things that are on my mind, what I can somehow put together with how I feel,

It's incredibly difficult to put into mere words how good you feel at a moment...,

God, I love her beyond just words and feelings, it's indescribable the way I feel, the air she's breathed into my lungs that didn't have enough oxygen, the love she's given me...

"You truly are the cutest, most sweetest, gorgeous man I've ever met" Vanessa grins as she cups my cheeks and peppers kisses all over my face,

I chuckle darkly while holding her close to me, letting her cover my face in sweet kisses that make my heart skip a beat,

Her touch sends waves of goosebumps all along my skin, even after almost a year and a half of dating each other,

And the rest of those moments married.

"It's just a sandwich sunshine," I say, humor lacing my words

She gasps dramatically and places her hand over her heart "I'm offended, truly appalled that you...who knows my love of sandwiches would say such a thing"

"I mean you taking me to the sandwich places we had our first date it's almost like you re-proposing" she laughs

"You want me to get down on one knee now" I smirk raising a brow

She grins "absolutely...but you wouldn't, you're way too proud of your mean and bad man act you have going on"

I grab her hand and slide the wedding band and engagement ring off, I watch her eyes light up as she bites her lip to hold in her grin

"You wouldn't, this place is packed right now" she quietly giggles

I slowly get down on one knee in front of her as she sits on her seat,

I hear some gasp around us, I try keeping my laugh and embarrassment in,

But the minute my eyes connect with beautiful green eyes, all embarrassment washes away, at her pink blushing cheeks, and the small smile that quickly grows as she watches me.

"This was the very place we had lunch almost two years ago...where you loved that sandwich more than anyone, and I watched your eyes lighting up and I knew I wanted to be the reason for the glow on your face, I wanted to be the source of that big smile on your face-

I love you more than life itself, more than any amount of success I may have in this world, you are the source of light In my life...you're my sunshine and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you"

"Vanessa Adler...will you make this grumpy work-obsessed man the happiest in the world, will you marry me?" I ask with a small smile watching her tear up

"Yes" she whispers with a soft smile and nod

Then the whole place erupts in cheers and people clap,

She cups my face and kisses me and against them says "imagine I said no and then everyone here had to awkwardly watch that...ooh yeah redo it so I say no, I wanna see people's reactions"

I burst out laughing as I pull her close "I love you"

A tear rolls down her face and I immediately wipe it away "yeah...I know, no grumpy man would've gotten down on his knee in a random sandwich shop and professed his love for his woman...oh and by the way, your words were very sweet and I'd Marry you again"

I smile watching her, all cheering around us blurs as I take in the presence of the very person who's completed me...

I was somehow lucky enough...out of billions of people on this earth, to find the one person my heart couldn't beat without,

I was lucky enough to be loved by Vanessa...

And I'll never take for granted the love she shows me, how important she makes me feel.

"Let's take this lunch to go at our place, I'm getting a headache with all the attention" I whisper

She chuckles and calls over a worker and asks to pack our sandwiches to go,

The worker gushes over her ring and congratulates us, I quickly put my hand that has my wedding band on, in my pocket so our bluff of 'just getting engaged' isn't ruined

"Really it's so sweet how he just said all those cute things! You guys get free sandwiches for two visits, on me!"

Vanessa brightens "thank you! That's so sweet"

Then a second later Guilt washes over her face and she whispers in the worker's ear...probably fessing up our fib,

The worker chuckles and looks over at me, I shrug and pull my hand out of my pocket, she looks at it and laughs "you guys still get the free four sandwiches, ya'll funny"

"We'll thank you so much! I love sandwiches" she sighs with a cute smile

"Yeah..probably more than me" I sigh with a smirk

She rolls her eyes "there's nothing and no one I love more than you"

Dammit, there goes that overwhelming beating of my heart,

I love her more than anything...and anyone, and the fact that she feels the same,

Feels more incredible than anything ever could.

I sit next to Aaron at the table, Henry on one chair, Enzo, Zara, and her kids here, as well as Ava, Matteo, and their kids...

All sitting around the table,

It's here within the laughter and smiles that I truly feel peace, that I feel loved and chosen,

I have a family.

Sometimes family isn't blood...it isn't the people you are forced to love and have to call family, sometimes it's the chosen people,

It's the friends and significant others...

Life is so short and shouldn't be taken for granted, one minute you are out having fun with friends gossiping, drinking, and forgetting everything around you...

And then a moment later, when least expected you get news that shatters your soul, that destroys your joy,

Then your life is changed...it's hard and drags on when all you want is to give up,

And sometimes if you're lucky you'll find people who grab you out of your dark moments, they make you feel safe and loved even in hard times.

Sometimes you find good people in a world full of bad.

"I love you" Aaron whispers in my ear just as his parents walk into the dining room, food in hand smiles and all,

"Forever?" I smile as I near closer to his side

His eyes crinkle at the corners as he watches me with all the love in the world, making me feel like the luckiest person.

He leans down and kisses me softly "Always sunshine...Always"

The end.

Bonus chapter ;)

this was the most difficult chapter to write...the amount of stress I had to try and make it special was unbelievable,

But I decided short and simple would be best, just like her father's last letter, they're journey was rocky, filled with grieving, sorrow, and so many tears,

But they overcame their struggles and over time realized that love is the most powerful emotion, it's good and they're deserving of it.

I'm so thankful for all of you who have been here from the first chapter I posted,

Who's left me sweet comments and dm's (ultimately making my day and making me love the experience of digging into these character's stories even more)

I love you all and I truly hope you enjoyed this, this story holds a special place in my heart since I wrote a lot when I was stressed,

I'd write chapters to escape the saddens and fear I felt for the future, the overwhelming moments when I didn't understand how anything could be good in life,

Every share, follow, comment, and read on this book has truly carved its way into my heart and I'm so appreciative of it all♡

Stay tuned for their epilogue!

Word count: 2481