Chapter 19 #5
We fell asleep embracing, feeling our bodies wonderfully coupled together.
That night I slept as I hadn't slept in a long time, with the peace of knowing that when I woke up, she would still be by my side and that from that moment on, she always would be.
I fell asleep with my heart beating with happiness.
“Aurora, Devon and I want to tell you something,” I said, sitting her on my lap, while Devon sat next to us on the couch.
“I want to play with Divon,” she said, not paying much attention to me.
“You'll be able to play with Devon whenever you want because she's going to live with us.”
Before continuing, I paused and looked at her to gauge her reaction, but what she did and said next left me speechless.
“Yaaay! Divon is my mommy!” she exclaimed, and jumped from my lap to Devon's who, though surprised, received her with open arms.
“Aurora, I’m not your mom,” she explained gently, stroking her hair with delicacy. “Your mom’s name was Cristina and, even though she’s not here anymore, she’ll always be your mom. But it would be an honor for me to share my life with you and your dad.”
“Yes, you are my mom.”
Devon looked at me and for the first time I noticed she didn’t know what to say.
“If you allow her and she wants to call you that, I don’t see any problem with it,” I affirmed.
After all, Devon was going to be in her life fulfilling that role, and I knew their relationship would be for life. If it made them happy, it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Mommy,” Aurora said, looking at her with the love and admiration she always had for her, and my heart squeezed, but with happiness.
When I looked up to observe Devon, I saw silent tears running down her cheeks, and I felt an irrepressible urge to hug her, but I limited myself to placing my hand on hers and squeezing it.
She loved my daughter, I was sure of that, and I had no doubt she would be a great mother, the mother Aurora never had.
And the love was reciprocal, because she had also won my little one’s heart.
Devon had a special magnetism with children.
I believe children, the most innocent beings in the world, have an innate intelligence that allows them to perceive when they’re in front of a good or bad person, and Aurora had needed only seconds to realize how magnificent Devon was, which is why she always had that special relationship with her and felt such great admiration.
Devon was a woman with great empathy and sensitivity, which is why I had no doubt she was a highly sought-after pediatrician, as well as a woman you adored the instant you met her.
“For me,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion, “there is nothing more beautiful than being called that by you, and I promise that, no matter what happens, I’ll be by your side, caring for you and loving you always. Thank you,” she finished, but this time she looked at me too.
I nodded and then couldn’t resist the impulse to embrace them both, opening my arms to hug them. Aurora began to laugh out loud while struggling to escape from that triple hug, and Devon was laughing and crying at the same time.
“What do you say we go to the beach?” I suggested.
“Yaaay!” Aurora shouted.
“Sounds great,” Devon said, hugging Aurora again, “but I need to go to my apartment because I didn’t bring any swimsuit.”
“We can stop by your place and while we’re at it, you can bring more clothes so you can stay with us,” I proposed.
“Alright,” she said, leaving Aurora on the couch. “Let’s pack a bag with a couple changes of clothes for Aurora. It’s good to bring clothes to change her so she doesn’t stay in wet clothes.”
“Whatever you say, doctor,” I said, smiling.
“No. Divon is not my doctor, she’s my mommy,” Aurora said, with a frown and her hands on her hips, making Devon and me burst into laughter.
If Devon wanted to torture me, she had succeeded.
That black bikini looked spectacular on her.
Her body was fabulous, and you could tell she exercised a lot because her entire body was toned and perfectly shaped.
I was a damn lucky bastard. I noticed men turning to look at her—it was impossible not to—but she didn’t seem to notice.
I was invaded by a deep possessive instinct and had to make a great effort not to punch every guy who laid eyes on her.
She was mine. I had never been a jealous guy, but with Devon I felt a fierce jealousy.
Devon and Aurora were playing at the shoreline, walking and collecting seashells and colored pebbles, storing them in a little beach bucket.
They walked hand in hand and laughed happily.
I was sitting on the sand under our umbrella and couldn’t stop watching them, feeling like the happiest man on Earth—what am I saying—in the entire Cosmos.
At one point, I saw a man approach them and greet Devon.
It was an innocent kiss on the cheek, although his gaze was anything but innocent, and she seemed uncomfortable.
I immediately tensed up. Before approaching, I preferred to observe the scene because I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, and perhaps he was a friend and I was the one behaving like a crazed jealous man.
The stranger was a tall guy with a gym-built body and a playboy appearance.
He must have been just over 30 years old and was looking at Devon in a strange way, as if he was claiming her, and that made me furious.
I stood up immediately. My eyes fixed on her, and she seemed nervous, as if the man’s presence had disturbed her.
Something told me I needed to approach, and I didn’t hesitate.
When I reached her side, I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to me. The guy looked at me with a frown, and Devon smiled at me, but I confirmed what I thought—she was tense and nervous.
“Good afternoon,” I greeted.
The guy looked at me with an unfriendly face, and I returned his gaze with even less friendliness.
“William, we were just about to come back to you,” she said, which confirmed to me that the guy wasn’t a welcome presence for her. “This is Lino Coller...”
“Her husband,” he said, interrupting her and leaving me completely stunned.
What? What do you mean her husband? Weren’t they supposed to be divorced? To my relief, Devon immediately clarified.
“Ex-husband, Lino, don’t make mistakes or say things that aren’t true. We’ve been divorced for quite some time now,” she stated, frowning, and at that moment I noticed that the discomfort disappeared from her face with lightning speed and gave way to anger, which made me glad.
“I am her future husband,” I said, looking at him with increasing seriousness and tightening my arm to pull her even closer to my body, “and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t address my woman in those terms.” I looked at Devon with a calmness I didn’t feel and added: “Shall we go, my love?”
“Yes, let’s go because Aurora is hungry,” she said, and under the watchful eye of that wretch, she bent down to pick up Aurora in her arms.
“I want to keep playing, mommy,” Aurora said, looking at Devon.
This Lino guy opened his eyes wide. He looked at Aurora and then at Devon.
“Mommy?” he asked, completely bewildered, though I could also see irritation reflected in his eyes, and that not only concerned me, it made me feel a monumental fury. “How old is that little girl?”
Who did he think he was to pry into our lives?
Especially him, who had abandoned Devon because she couldn’t be a mother.
Damn bastard! I had to make an even greater effort not to land a good punch on him, and I would have gladly done so if it weren’t for Devon’s look stopping me.
She seemed to understand my intentions and with her gaze begged me not to do it.
“Goodbye, Lino. Take care,” she said, looked at me and nodded, letting me know that we should leave without giving any explanation.
I didn’t even bother to say goodbye and took Devon’s hand to get my family away from there, though Coller’s voice stopped me.
“We’ll be seeing each other soon, my queen,” he said, with a mocking tone in those last words.
I turned and confronted him again, though I noticed Devon tugging at my hand to keep walking, but nobody messed with my family or me.
“Coller, I told you to address my woman with respect. She is nothing to you anymore, not your queen nor anything else, you lost that right a long time ago. Devon is my woman,” I stated, emphasizing my woman.
“I don’t think I disrespected her, I simply said that because she was and will always be my queen.”
And he really shouldn’t have said that because in a second I was in front of him, and I didn’t grab him by the neck only because they were watching me.
“I believe I told you that she is nothing to you.” I lowered my voice and added: “And let me tell you that you didn’t treat her like a queen, so don’t come here boasting about what Devon means to you and leave her alone because you don’t know who you’re messing with.
Devon is my woman, only mine. If you come even within a meter of her, you won’t live to tell about it,” I threatened, looking at him with a deranged expression.
I turned, seeing how his face contorted with fury. I went back to them, took Devon’s hand again and we continued walking toward our beach umbrella.
“What did you say to him?” Devon asked.
“To leave you alone, not to mess with my family.”
“I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t think he would behave like that,” she said, as she set Aurora down on a towel on the sand.
“Had you seen each other again? I mean, after the divorce.”
“Never. We hadn’t seen or spoken to each other. This was just a coincidence.”
I looked toward where the guy had been, but there was no trace of him.
I searched for him with my eyes, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen, it was as if he had disappeared.
I don’t know why, but I had the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time we would encounter him.
It was an uncomfortable sensation, like a thorn stuck in my side causing a discomfort or premonition that I didn’t like.