Chapter 33
“We should have gone to the hospital to have someone check on you,” I say to Stella as we are both submerged in the small bathtub in our hotel room, surrounded by fragrant honey and lavender bubbles.
There’s hardly room for the both of us, but somehow, we managed. Her body is accommodated between my spread legs, her back on my chest, while she caresses my hands, which rest on her little bump.
“I’m sick of hospitals, I’ve reached my limit of them lately,” she murmurs. “To the extent I’m tempted to have a home birth.”
“In your dreams,” I respond. I’m not going to put either of them at risk. They are too precious for me to gamble with their lives. We will return to a hospital, whether my wife wants it or not.
“I’m more worried about you than me.” She turns her head over her shoulder, so our gazes meet. “There is no hospital for the wounds of the soul.”
I can’t lie to her, no way.
“I’m confused, I feel sad for him. For the life he could have had and will no longer be able to.”
I drop my head back, closing my eyes. Broderick’s face as he said goodbye keeps repeating in my mind.
What would have happened if my brother didn’t get sick, and I was the one who stayed in that place? Would I have been filled with similar hatred like he was? Would I have blamed him for stealing my chance?
“That’s normal, I think,” she replies. “They say twins have a very strong bond.”
My body tenses. “How come I never felt it? How could I live my life without remembering my twin brother was lost and needed my help? I should have come back for him.”
Stella moves in my arms, this time she looks straight into my eyes, taking me by the chin.
“Don’t do that, guilt will eat you alive,” she scolds me, her gaze full of determination, and love. “You were a child facing a new reality. It was normal for you to forget. Let him go, Lionel, and honor his memory by doing what he asked of you with his last breath. Live, live for him and for you.”
Live, because he thinks we deserve it.
What have I done to deserve this wonderful woman? I thank the force that moves the Universe for having put her in my path.
You chose well, Brother . I also tell him.
“And also live for this gift that’s coming.”
That makes me smile, genuinely this time.
“You are right, Hvězda , for you, for him, and for her as well.” My hands go back to her belly, searching for her soft warm skin.
“She?” Stella asks, her hands falling on mine.
“She,” I reply confidently. “Hannah.”
“Hannah?” This time our eyes meet, electricity sparks, love is here, weaving its strings around us. Getting closer and closer.
“Our gift,” I reply, remembering what I once read as a child in an old story. “Our gift from heaven.”
“Hannah Kral,” Stella replies before leaning in to kiss me on the lips. “I love it.”
Me too, me too.
???
“I’m not enjoying this surprise,” Stella complains as I help her down the rock path on the side of the mountain. We walked slowly and very carefully, as she has a blindfold on, which makes her even more impatient.
She and I have a lot in common, our perseverance, as well as our discipline. Love for nature and for a simple life. We were two lost souls, looking for each other in the dark, now that we’re together everything is light, we fly together. She makes me live fully.
Gone is the time of us living in fear and remorse, now we’re free. Free to love, to build our future together.
But something is still missing, and I plan to solve it.
“Don’t be impatient,” I say as we continue down the path.
Kentucky is a beautiful state, full of magical corners. We have spent our weekends walking alongside rivers, hiking in the mountains, exploring waterfalls and streams.
That’s why I thought this place would be fitting.
We reached the bottom of the canyon and we both look up. I had seen photos of this place, but none of them do it justice. This place is magical.
“Lionel,” she murmurs, her blue eyes wide, as she turns around taking in all the surroundings around us. “This is beautiful.”
She’s beautiful, with rosy cheeks from the cold and showing off her little belly. Under the thick coat she’s wearing, our daughter is growing. We decided to wait until she was born to find out the sex, but I’m sure it’s a girl.
I take advantage of the distraction to drop to one knee, taking the small box from the inside pocket of my jacket.
It’s December, and with the humidity it’s quite cold. But my hands are not shaking. This is an important moment, and I am sure of what I want.
“Lionel?” she gasps as she realizes what I’m doing.
“Stella,” I start to say as I lift the lid of the box to let her see the ring I chose for her. Instead of a traditional ring, and because I know Stella’s taste, I decided to go for something less traditional. With the help of a jeweler in Louisville, I designed a round diamond eternity band. The jeweler also had the great idea that she wears a thinner one for her wedding band.
“You came into my life like lightning, when I wasn’t expecting it. When I wasn’t looking for you. Now I know I was wrong, because you are what I’ve wanted all my life, my home is not in a house I built hoping to feel complete, my home is you. You are my forever. Tell me that you’re going to make me the happiest man in the world, tell me that you’re going to marry me.”
“That isn’t a question, Mr. Kral,” she replies with a laugh, fire lighting those blue eyes like a flare.
Her cheeky answer makes me laugh. My naughty girl, you ’ ll pay for that later.
“Stella Lambert, will you marry me?”
“We’re already married,” she says, but thick tears fall from her eyes as her head moves up and down, accepting.
Hormones, they’re playing with her emotions. One moment, Stella’s laughing out loud, and the next, she’s ready to rip someone’s head off. But let’s focus on the important things.
“This time for real,” I add. “And in a white dress.”
She doesn’t say anything, just takes my face in her soft hands to give me a slow and intoxicating kiss.
“That means yes?” I want to hear the words.
“I would marry you a thousand times,” she replies.
I get up and take her in my arms, spinning with her, giggling like crazy with my head thrown back.
I kiss her like I’ve been waiting all my life to do.
My fiancée, my wife, the mother of my daughter.
Then I remember…
“She said yes,” I yell, my voice echoing through space.
Stella looks at me with her mouth open. I had taken it upon myself to make this special for both of us. A moment that she would proudly tell our grandchildren.
“Thank God,” a woman’s voice responds as she looks at us both smiling.
“What?” Stella asks as if coming out of a trance. “We’re not alone?”
“No.” I point my hand to the other side of the small canyon into which the water that falls from the suspended stone falls off a hill a few meters above.
Stella gasps when she realizes some familiar faces are there, watching us without missing a beat.
Lorraine, Felicia, Valerie, Ethan, and Alexandra with their two beautiful daughters. And closing the group, my mother. Incredible but true.
After Broderick passed away, my mother didn’t hesitate to fly to Kentucky. After learning what happened, we spoke at length. It wasn’t pleasant, we both shed a few tears and ended up with peace in the end. Much of what I am today I owe it to her and in my heart, she will always be my mother. After that, she apologized to Stella for interfering in our relationship and without much hesitation, Stella accepted her apology.
I wouldn’t say that they are best friends, but at least their relationship is cordial, and my mother is overly excited about the arrival of her first grandchild. I even think she has started looking for properties in the area. “Family comes first,” she said with a shrug. It might not seem like a big deal to others, but since it’s my mother we are talking about, it’s like winning gold in the Olympics.
All the pieces of the complicated puzzle of our relationship are finally falling into place—one by one. Our history is beautiful, but like all of them, it’s full of mistakes, mistakes that we both made. Of discussions that we have solved by shouting and ended with kisses.
This is us. Imperfect, but perfect for each other.
We travel with the wind, finding guidance in our hearts. It happened by chance, but together we fight and discover that the love that unites us goes beyond the ordinary.
Because we both decided to make our temporary thing eternal.
It is not what we wanted to feel, it is what we feel even without wanting to.