Chapter 51
Jannis
Four years later
“Do you have everything you need? Your tablet?”
“Oh, crap!” Nael races up and down the stairs at record speed. “We’re good to go!”
He plops down on the back seat with impact and Dayyan starts the engine.
Here we go. Firas and Nael are moving out. The two of them are starting university in Karlsruhe and are really excited. They’re moving into Louis’s apartment, which has been empty since David and he came back, and are looking forward to student life in a big city.
I still can’t believe we managed to get them both through high school, and with good grades at that. On exam days, Dayyan and I were more nervous than the boys themselves.
***
“Listen,” Dayyan whispers when we get home at 10 p.m.. I strain to hear the sound he might be referring to, but there is nothing.
I shrug my shoulders in confusion, which makes my husband laugh. Loud and free, and I love it when he laughs like that. He gently nestles up against my back and wraps his arms around my waist. “Listen!”
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly! We have the whole house to ourselves. All day, all night, all week.”
Oh, that sounds tempting. “And what do you think we could do with that time?”
Dayyan presses his hips firmly against my ass, I feel his hard cock in my crack, and fuck, I like that plan.
Slowly, his hand wanders down, and grabs hold of my cock. My phone vibrates, but I’m more than willing to ignore the interruption and watch as Dayyan unzips my pants.
But the vibration doesn't stop. “Answer it, it might be important.”
Reluctantly, I reach for my phone and see my brother’s name. Everything is fine, I’m sure of it. And yet, for a moment, my heart sinks.
“Luca, what...”
“Are you naked?” I’m rarely speechless. Right now, at this moment, he’s done it again.
“Excuse me?”
“I know you’re alone. If I were you, I’d be so naked.”
“Why are you calling if you’re sure we’re naked?”
One could answer the question, but my little brother thinks that’s unnecessary. “Have you opened the letter yet?”
Dayyan frowns in confusion. “What letter?”
“Well, this letter!”
At that moment, the mailbox slot rattles and we find a blue envelope with orange-red butterflies on the floor. “What is that?”
“Can you hear me rolling my eyes? Open it!”
In the background, I hear a smoky voice. “What’s he doing? He’s not usually so slow on the uptake.”
Dayyan looks at me questioningly. “Is that Valérie?”
“Ah, cool, you’re here!”
“Of course! Congratulations, you two.”
I have no idea why we haven’t opened the door yet, but both Dayyan and I are standing there rooted to the spot, lost in confusion. This scene is just too bizarre.
“Okay, open the letter!” Dayyan’s voice vibrates with excitement. My gaze falls back on the envelope with the orange-red butterflies.
“Finally, they got it.” Cheers erupt outside our door, and I wonder how many people are actually standing there.
“Talk soon.” Then there’s a click on the line and Luca is gone. Dayyan carefully turns the envelope in his hands. I have an idea what’s coming and I’m happy for my brother. After all the shit life has thrown at him, I’m glad he too has been able to find and hold on to his happiness.
“I’m so happy for them.” Lost in thought, Dayyan strokes the butterflies. “Honestly, after everything that’s happened, I’m surprised they waited so long.”
“It certainly wasn’t Luca’s fault.” Shaking my head, I think back on the past few years.
For the second time that night, my phone vibrates, this time with an incoming text. “Open the door.”
A small gap is enough for my brother to squeeze his long, slender body into the house and throw his arms around my neck.
“He said yes.” Luca’s voice in my ear is quiet and fragile, when he pulls me close to him. Seriously, what else could he have said? Maybe? Perhaps? No? But I get it. That’s how it is when someone who hasn’t experienced love for twelve years of their life is suddenly loved unconditionally.
I look at Dayyan and I understand my brother a little bit better. It’s still a mystery to me what this wonderful person, this loving and strong man, saw and still sees in me.
Little by little, our house fills up. Nothing is quiet anymore, every corner is filled with love, just as my in-laws always wanted.
“So, now that the twins are out, don’t you want to have another little one?”
“We’re thinking about getting a new dog.”
Luca rolls his eyes and Louis laughs. Flocke died two months ago, peacefully passing away at the age of fifteen. We definitely want a dog again, but so far, the opportunity hasn’t arisen. Dayyan has two breeders in mind, so we’ll see.
“I was thinking more along the lines of maybe becoming an uncle again.” Ah.
Smiling, I pull Dayyan a little closer to me. “We don’t want children.”
Our family with Firas and Nael feels pretty complete.
Who knows what life will bring, but we had a hell of a lot of responsibility at a hell of an early age.
Because that’s what we wanted and because it felt right for us, but right now, we don’t want to start all over again.
We want to travel, we want to do all those things couples do when they’re new together and feel like they have all the time in the world.
Sitting on the terrace all night, fucking on the kitchen table, all that.
I make a mental note to prioritize the latter.
It’s already rather early when we have the house to ourselves again. Entwined and cuddled up together, we lie on the sofa and watch the first rays of sunshine dancing on the small magnolia tree in our garden, which we planted when we moved in.
“Are you happy?” My words whisper softly in Dayyan’s ear, too afraid to scare away the happiness that has returned to us.
“Yes. And you?” I nod slowly, because I am, even though I keep asking myself what our life would be like with the people in it who had to leave us far too early.
But the intervals are getting longer, the “what ifs” fewer, I love the life that Dayyan and I have built, and I am increasingly allowing myself to enjoy this incredible happiness unconditionally.
“When I fell in love with you, I always felt like I was cheating on Danny and that you were taking me away from him. But you are my person, that was clear from the very first second, even if I didn’t understand it at the time.”
“Is that so?” With a mischievous grin, Dayyan turns to me and I nod slightly.
“I love you, Jannis Delfosse. And there’s no one else in the world I’d rather sit next to in the front row of this roller coaster called life.
With my hand in yours, I know no matter what comes our way, we can make it through. ”
I close the distance, my lips approaching his, slowly but surely.
“Love conquers all.”
THE END