A Unique Kind of Love (34 page)

“As I said before, merry late Christmas and happy late Valentine’s,” he replied, grinning at my reaction. He kissed my cheek, causing it to burn.

“I love you!” I blurted out, instead of thanking him. His face brightened, if possible. The smile on his face lit up the whole room, it was infectious.

“You know I love you too.”

And in my head, I had been happy dancing.

I got a spontaneous idea; the perfect way to pass time while Ellie was sleeping and to simply have fun together.

“Are you up for a snowball fight?”

He burst into laughter, making my heart flutter.

“Your mom would kill me; you know how sick you were last week. You could barely take any notes in class and you went out of class at least five times to freely blow your stuffed nose. And when Mr. Collins refused to let you out, your nose-cleaning made the whole class look at you.” His comment caused me to slap his arm jokingly; it wasn’t nice of him to make fun of me like that.

“But I’m fine now! Please, please, please, please,” I begged, giving him a look that resembled the one Ellie gave him earlier. He let out a sigh and stood up. He started putting his jacket on and I copied his actions. When we were finally ready to 
play 
in the snow, we went out. I guided him to my backyard, where there was a fine coat of snow.

“What about Ellie?” he asked, suddenly stopping.

“She’ll be sleeping for a long time and knowing you, we won’t stay here for more than half an hour,” I reassured him, poking him with my gloved hand.

I let myself fall in the snow, not caring about how my butt was going to freeze. The jacket I was wearing covered me to my knees, so my rear end was in safe hands. Pulling myself up, I took a handful of snow and formed it into a perfect snowball.

“Heads up!” I cried out, throwing the snowball at his hip. His lips formed an “O” and he started forming his own snow ball, hitting my back.

“It’s on!” He screamed.

And soon enough, several snowballs were being thrown in the air. I didn’t know how much time had passed by, nor did I care. Snowflakes were one of nature's most fragile things, but look what they could do when they stuck together; attack my boyfriend. I was creating warm memories in the cold of winter with Liam and that was all that mattered.

“Boo-ya!” A ball crashed into his head, making him laugh heartily.

Throwing another snowball, I grinned, satisfied by the fact that it directly hits his heart.

“Oh no, I am dead!” he exclaimed dramatically, falling in the snow-covered ground with a 
thump
. I giggled, running to him, every footstep seeming to cause my leg to be pushed further into the snow.

“Oh no, my prince is dead! Maybe a true love’s kiss will save him!” I said, pecking his lips. A few wisps of my hair fell to my face in the process, as I tried to blow them away. Liam’s fingers tucked the lost strands behind my ear, smiling.

“What?” I asked, lying beside him in the snow. He took my mitten-covered hand in his and we both stared at the sky.

“We have such a sappy love story, do you realize that?” he wondered. His blue eyes were glued to the heavy, swollen clouds above us. A snowflake landed on my cheek; it was snowing, and I couldn’t feel warmer.

“Yeah. But it was all worth it in the end; we’re here now, aren’t we?”

And it was true. We were happy.

“No, but I mean our love is different, I think."

“Good different, or bad different?” I thought out loud.

“Definitely good. Of all the books I’ve read and the movies I’ve watched, I’ve never felt anything like this. I guess you could say that our love is just-“

“Unique?” I finished, happiness settling in my heart. I had a feeling that it would stay there for a long time.

“Yeah, definitely.”

Aeternus Eternus

(Epilogue)

❝
I made all my plans
And she has made hers
She kept me in mind
But I wasn’t sure
I searched every room
For a way to escape
But every time
I tried to leave
She keeps holding on to me
For dear life
And blocking my way

Patience, my enemy
And loving’s my friend
It’s harder to leave
With my heart on my sleeve
Than to stay and just pretend
Oh, she knows me so well
Oh, she knows me like I know myself

And like the back of her hand
she already understands everything
"Won't you stay?", she says
And she already knows how it goes
And where she stands I'll stay, anywa
y❞
　

~Ed Sheeran~

Year 2025

Narration

Lena went through two years of a photography course. She now owns a small shop called ForeverTogether in Times Square, which, throughout the years, had been making a lot of progress and becoming more and more known. During Liam’s first year of University and Lena’s first year of the photography course, they mutually agreed to take a break. They both needed to concentrate on their studies, it was their priority. And in their hearts, they knew that they were to be together again.

She had invited Liam to the opening of ForeverTogether and that was how they reconnected again. Two years later, upon finishing University, Liam gathered up the courage to ask Margaret for her daughter's hand in marriage and proposed to Lena in the park; the same place where they formally met and where he asked her to be his girlfriend.

As for Tori and Adam, they broke up after two years of being together. Adam went back to Australia, and was a businessman now. Tori got married to a guy she'd met at University, Ian. 

Belle graduated from Princeton and became a high school teacher. She was engaged to Christopher, a family friend her mom had introduced her to.

Lena admitted that she didn’t mind being engaged to him while Liam had Med School starting. She was willing to wait a few years before getting married, she was just happy to be linked with Liam. And to be perfectly honest, Liam was the happiest guy on Earth. Margaret, though, refused to let Lena move in with him. She insisted on her principle; you don’t live together until you’re married.

 On the 1st of May 2019, the happy couple finally got married. The wedding was small and private, and it had everyone they had or needed in their lives.

On the 24th of August 2021, the world was introduced to Jake Adam Black, brown eyes and black hair. He had Adam's cheekiness, Liam's sweetness and Lena's impatience. He was his parents’ world and was loved by everyone. Liam and Lena were both terrified at first; they had both had messed up childhoods. So, they vowed to do everything they could and be extra careful to stay there during Jake’s life.

Today, on the 21st April, after about nine months of waiting, a fourth member would finally be joining and complete the Black family. Lena refused to find out what gender it was, but was rather sure it would be a boy. Liam, on the other hand, had a gut feeling that he was about to be the father of a beautiful baby girl.

♥♥♥♥♥

Liam Christopher Black, 29

“Liam? Please wake up. Liaaaaaaaaaam,” said a distant voice. I felt someone poking me repeatedly, so I lifted the covers over my head and turned away from the voice, groaning. I closed my eyes, savoring the seconds of silence and drifting away to sleep.

What did anyone in the world want in the middle of the night?

“Liaaaam! Come on, babe, wake up!” I opened my eyes, annoyance growing towards whoever was trying to wake me up. I recognized Lena’s voice and stayed still for a couple of seconds, trying to process what exactly was going on.

Shifting my body towards her, I snuggled my head against the pillow and looked at her. Her hair was messily put up in a bun and her brown eyes shone with fatigue and determination. I was immediately alert when I noticed that she was lying down to the side, her bump brushing my lower back. It was a bad position for her, especially during the ninth month.

“Yeah?” I said, a yawn escaping my lips. “What’s up?”

“I really want some orange juice.”

I straightened my position, sitting up a little. Looking at her with incredulity, I scoffed.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” I raised an eyebrow at the way she’d said that, but then again it wasn’t surprising. “I really feel like drinking orange juice and all we have is stupid apple juice.”

“B-but you hate orange juice!” I exclaimed, sighing.

“Well, now I like orange juice and I really want some. Please go to the store and get me some,” she pleaded.

“So, you woke me up at-“I stopped to look at the red clock hung up on the wall. “-4 am for orange juice?”

She eagerly nodded, tucking in a wild hair strand.

“Can it wait?” I asked, anticipating the answer.

“No.”

Running a hand through my hair, I groaned with frustration. “Lena, please, just wait until morning, alright?”

“I want orange juice,” was her only response.

“Lena, it’s the middle of the night. You won’t die if you don’t get the damn orange juice. Please go to sleep now, ‘kay?”

She gave me no answer, but slowly stood up and started patting the pair of jeans sitting on the wooden chair beside our bed. A jingle was heard and she stopped searching. Lifting the keys up, she opened the closet and took her pale green coat out.

I stood up, blinking several times to clear my vision. Taking a few steps, I placed my hands on her waist. A sniffle came from her and she slid my hands away with her free hand. She put on the coat, still not facing me.

“Lena,” I urged, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards me. She turned towards me, tears in her eyes. I lift her chin up, so that she could properly look at me.

“Where are you going?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“To the all-night store to get myself orange juice,” she replied, sniffling.

“Daddy?”

We both turned to the voice simultaneously. Jake stood there, holding his stuffed turtle, Rave, tightly, looking at us with innocence and wonder. Lena sighed and walked over to him. She wiped her cheeks with the tip of her sleeve.

“Why you up, sweetie?” she asked, lifting him up with difficulty and setting him on the bed, since she couldn’t kneel down.

“I heard you and Daddy being mean. Please don’t be mean to eachothah’. Even Rave hates it when you’re mean,” said Jake, pouting and holding up the turtle. Lena looked up at me, her expression unreadable. It was obvious who had won here.

“We’re not being mean, we’re just talking. Now, Jake, let’s go to sleep, alright?” I said, picking him up and supporting his back.

I entered the room beside ours. Star stickers glowed in the dark and a green nightlight was my guide in the room. I was careful not to step on any toy Jake had forgotten to put away. I walked towards Jake’s big, dark red bed. I held his tiny waist with my hands and carefully laid him on the bed.

“Daddy? Sing to me?” He asked, holding the covers closer to himself. I tucked him in, watching as that caused him to laugh.

“Sure,” I replied, fully knowing that he’d be asleep as soon as I started to sing.