He devoured my lips as my tears hungrily cascaded upon my cheeks. Silently told me by his actions that he would never let me go. His loving embrace warmed my core, seeped into my soul. His gentle touch upon my face entrapped me. In my heart I knew he would always be with me. A taste of heaven that only happened when I was with him.
He slowly let go, our breathing laboriously worked. His lips lingered against mine.
So naturally, I slowly caressed his face. He had been crying, too. Knowing that I caused him this pain. I lovingly erased his tears with my lips and kissed them away. I smiled afterwards and looked deeply into his coral blue eyes as my hands touched his handsome face once again.
This face that I had longed to see and now it was right infront of me. A dream that I thought would never be, had turned into reality.
Then suddenly he went down on his knees, buried his face on my tummy. Eric kissed me there against my shirt and hugged my thighs.
"E-Eric?", I ran my fingers upon his hair.
"Please baby, no more. I don't want to be apart from you. I can't breathe without you. Come back to me, Nicolaa", he looked up at me. "Please, baby?", he begged.
"Please, stand up", I asked him.
"I love you. I cannot live without you. I love you, Nicolaa", he whispered.
I nodded and before my tears started falling again, I nudged him up and hugged him tight.
Buried my face upon his hard, muscled chest.
"I love you, too", I declared. "So much, it's killing me."
"Thank God", he said and wrapped me tightly upon his loving arms. "I love you so much. I love you.. I love you... I love you... Only you", it was like a beautiful chant to my ears.
My heart was overfilled with joy.
"I've been waiting for you to tell me you love me, Eric", I whispered.
"I was waiting for the right time", he murmured.
I nodded my head again. There was no more room for explanation. What's important was his presence.
He carried me in his arms and we sat on the sofa with me sitting on his lap. He nudged me close and we cuddled.
"I miss having you in my arms."
"You didn't come after me", I said in a small voice.
"I thought you didn't want me to", he continued. "How could I do that when in fact you left me?", he took a deep breath, "I didn't want you to accuse me again of forcing you to stay married with me", he hugged me tighter. "God, I almost drove myself crazy of missing you too much. Nicolaa, I'll give everything and promise you the world just to win you back."
I gazed at him, he smiled sadly at me.
"Eric how about Portia?", I asked him outright.
He frowned. "What about her?"
"Does she know about this?", I referred to his declaration of love to me. Eagerly waited for him to answer.
He looked more confused now. "You mean about her ruined painting?", I shook my head no but he continued. "It was my gift for him."
"H-him?", me, dumbfounded.
"Yes, for her husband Jacques."
"H-husband?! Jacques?!"
Eric grinned.
"It was for their third year wedding anniversary."
"She's married?!", I asked, shocked. My eyes almost jumped out of their sockets.
He laughed.
"Baby, Portia is my cousin."
"Cousin?!"
"Stepcousin."
"Stepc-cousin?!"
"Do you need to repeat every word I said?", he grinned silly, amused at my expense.
I shook my head again, tried to clear my addled head.
"Her mom is dad's stepsis so she is my stepcousin."
"B-b-but the tabloids-?"
"Are written by bunch of losers and liars. Don't believe what you read there, most of them are just made up stories", he explained. "Actually it was better for people to think that we were lovers. It was safe to be linked to your stepcousin than with some random woman whom you've never even met before. Also, no one will think I'm gay or a playboy, too."
"C-cousin?!", I asked again, still in a state of shock.
"Yes, cousin. Her father is French."
Silence.
I bit my lower lip.
"I'm sorry. I thought it was for the best of everyone", I whispered. I apologized again for leaving him. I couldn't quite look him straight in the eyes.
He caressed my face and lifted my chin to stare at him. He knew what I pertained to.
"I thought you were so secure and sure of my feelings towards you. Nicolaa, the only thing that makes this right between us is that wherever you go, you always have a part of me with you."
"Tell me I'm the one you need, Eric", I said.
"No, I won't", he teased.
He pinched my nose and kissed my mouth.
"Know this, next time you leave me, take my heart with you. I don't have a need of it anymore. But I'm going to tell you now, you're the only one I love. Now and forever. Nicolaa, you're mine, forever."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. He loved me this much. Everything felt alright for he was by my side now.
"But please don't leave me again", he begged.
"I won't. I promise".
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
I woke up the next day with a smile on my face. The warm kiss of sunrise upon my face made me think that this was a new day to start all over again.
Last night he brought me home after he called Tori that we made up.
Both she and Shawn were ecstatic to learn about our reconciliation.
She even reprimanded me of being too stubborn and prideful.
Imagine? I was jealous of his own cousin for so many months now. I guessed, I need to apologize to Portia for jumping into conclusions. For being rude and thought badly of her.
How stupid was I for not asking him the true nature of their relationship in the first place?
I sighed.
That was the past. The and our tomorrows together were more important.
I stretched my arm to check if he was still abed beside me but my hand touched nothing.
I opened my eyes and stood up, donning his robe. I quickly scanned the room for his presence but he wasn't there.
I went back to bed and bit my lip. There lies a parcel of a letter, a stemmed red rose, a glittering red long gown laid out at the foot of the bed with a set of jewelry boxes and a matching pair of red shoes.
I picked the rose, smelled it, sat down on the edge of the bed while reading the scented note. His beautiful handwriting boldly written in flourished.
Dinner at 7.
I have a surprise for you.
I love you very much.
Your Loving and Devoted Husband
I smiled. Totally letting go of my inhibitions. Here lied the proof of his love and devotion towards me. A cold, frozen heart melted.
When I would see him later, I would surrender and give him my unconditional love.
I closed my eyes and touched my slightly, rounded tummy.
Thanking God for He gave me the greatest gifts in my life.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
A white colored limousine came by the house at exactly 6:50 in the evening. A tall, handsome man wearing an evening black suit came out of it, saluted and grinned at me.
I smiled back.
It was Shawn.
Then to my surprise, another person came out of the other side of the car. It was my sister Tori, wearing a white evening gown that made her look both sophisticated and regal.
"What are you doing here?", I asked them, smiling widely as they walked over to the front door.
"We are your usherettes", Tori declared.
"No woman, you are. I'm the driver a.k.a. chaffeur", Shawn corrected her and winked at me.
Tori rolled her eyes.
"Whatever", gazed at me and sighed dreamily.
"You look radiant and very beautiful", she leaned and kissed my cheek.
"Thank you, so do you but I'm not sure what to do with my hair so...", I pointed at my high ponytailed hair.
"It will do", she said.
Then I glanced at Shawn and asked, "What is he up to?", meaning Eric.
Shawn grinned at me, "It's a big surprise."
"As if I don't know that", showed him his big bro's letter.
"Let just say it took him almost fifteen years to prepare for this day", he explained.
"What?", I frowned, more puzzled than before.
"Well, it seems like you even forgot what day it is today", Tori, pouted.
"It's Saturday", I answered.
"Yeah, right. Hey, Mr. Driver let's get going. We're late", she commanded Shawn who automatically went over to start the car.
"Tori, where are we going?", I asked her when we were inside the car. I knew not why but I was nervous.
She grinned at me. "We're going to meet your husband."
"Silly", we laughed.
Then she smiled at me and grasped my hand, serious now but her eyes twinkled.
"You're going to have the surprise of your life, Nicolaa. Let's just say you deserve it and it's worth the wait."
I nodded my head, excited and anxious at the same time.
I took a deep breath to calmed my jittery nerves.
And thought...
What kind of surprise is it?