Chapter 23
"If you want to know how many reasons I have to love you, you'll have to count my heartbeats."
—Ron Israel
William
The image of Devon and Aurora in the pool stirred an indescribable emotion in me, and my heart beat with happiness.
They played and laughed joyfully, and I could only thank life for that.
I had a beautiful family and, above all, we were happy and loved each other.
I stood watching them for a few minutes in silence.
The sight of Devon in such harmony with Aurora moved me deeply.
I felt the need to pull her out of there and hug her, kiss her, and lose myself in her, to let her know that I was her love, her man, her everything, and that she was mine, she was my love, and she had completed my world.
“How are my loves doing?” I asked, surprising them.
Both turned to look at me. Devon with a sweet smile and Aurora with a mischievous grin as she took advantage of having a small ball and threw it at me as hard as she could. I let it pass as if I couldn’t catch it, and my daughter laughed heartily.
“Daddy, come play.”
“Give me a minute to change and I’ll join you. ‘Sweet,’ today we should go shopping for the things we still need to buy,” I reminded her, because Christmas was in two days and we still needed to buy Aurora’s gifts.
“You can play with Aurora for a while and then we’ll go,” she commented, which didn’t surprise me because she always tried to make sure I spent time with my daughter.
“I don’t want to leave too late because we won’t have enough time to shop around.”
“All right, when you come back I’ll get changed.”
I nodded and went into the house to change from my suit into casual clothes.
When I entered the bedroom, the first thing I did was put what I had bought at the jewelry store for Devon in the drawer of my nightstand.
I had thought of giving her the necklace before Christmas so she could wear it that day, and leave the wedding rings under the tree.
I took a quick shower and put on black jeans and a white shirt.
When I got to the pool, they had already gotten out, and Devon was wrapping Aurora in a towel while tickling her, making her laugh happily.
I must confess that I never imagined my daughter could love someone the way she loved Devon.
It never crossed my mind that she would refer to a woman as mom, but it was evident that Devon had earned it because she truly was a mother to Aurora.
There might not be a blood connection between them, but there was one of love, and that was more important.
My heart was certain that Aurora would always be able to count on Devon and that my daughter would be by her side all her life.
I realized that I had never felt as comfortable in my home as I did lately.
I realized that at last I felt I was in the place meant for me, with those two people whom I loved with all the love one can feel.
It wasn’t until my vision blurred that I understood I had been moved to tears.
I wiped them away discreetly and looked at them again, amazed by that vision of pure love.
As I watched them and reflected, I didn’t notice that Devon was looking at me with a smile.
“What were you thinking about?”
“About how wonderful you are and how happy I see Aurora,” I stated with conviction.
“She’s clearly a happy child,” she said, looking at her with adoration. “Stay and play with her while I go get dressed so we can go shopping.”
I approached them and took Aurora in my arms.
“I won’t be long,” she said, walking away.
“Now you have to tell me what you asked Santa Claus for,” I said, sitting on one of the lounge chairs around the pool and keeping Aurora on my lap.
“I wrote a letter and left it on the Christmas tree,” she said with a big smile.
“And how did you write the letter?”
“Mom helped me,” she said happily, and I was moved again hearing her call Devon that, “and I made some drawings.”
I stroked her soft hair and gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose. She smiled and put her hand to her nose.
“Daddy, you tickled me,” she said, laughing and rubbing her nose.
“Tell me what you asked for.”
“I asked for lots of games and paints and also for a Princess Rapunzel costume.”
“Ah, very good,” I said, having no idea what costume she was referring to, but certain that Devon must have known exactly what it was. “I’m sure you’ll get those gifts because you’ve been a very good girl.”
“Daddy, what did you ask for?”
“I didn’t ask for anything because I have everything I need to be happy. I have you and Devon.”
Aurora laughed and then said:
“Does Santa Claus bring presents to grown-ups?” she asked, with that wonderful innocence that made me both laugh and feel emotional.
How extraordinarily good it would be if all people preserved that pure innocence of childhood and didn’t harbor so much evil in their minds and hearts!
At that moment, I thought about what Devon’s childhood might have been like and, from the little I knew about her mother, I assumed it hadn’t been very good.
From now on, I was going to do everything in my power to make Christmas a time of happiness for her and ensure she would remember it with joy.
“I think he gives them something, but most of the gifts are for children.”
Devon’s voice interrupted us, and I was truly grateful because I didn’t know what else to tell Aurora.
“I’m ready now.”
I turned to look at her. Our eyes met and, as always, I felt that deep emotional connection that bound us together.
She smiled and her smile dazzled me. She looked beautiful.
She had put on white pants and a sleeveless blue blouse.
Everything highlighted her slender and perfect figure.
And she was completely mine. I was the luckiest man in the world because I had what mattered most, her heart.
Alba was coming with her, so we were ready to do our Christmas shopping. It would be our first time doing it together and I planned to enjoy every minute by her side.
While I was choosing games for Aurora, I watched Devon in the book section, very focused on reading the descriptions of the ones she picked up.
“Do you want to give her books?” I asked, approaching her.
“I think she would like them, if we choose well. Books have many benefits, they improve concentration, stimulate imagination, enhance language skills, and Aurora loves them. She really enjoys our nighttime reading and we can share that moment with her.”
I couldn’t help but smile. It was as if she were giving me medical recommendations in response to a consultation. Evidently, she couldn’t separate herself from her profession.
“If you say so, doctor.”
“Are you making fun of me?” she asked, frowning.
“I wouldn’t dare,” I replied, unable to wipe the smile from my face, and her frown disappeared, giving way to that beautiful smile I loved so much.
“What did you buy her?”
“I chose board games and paints, you know she loves to paint. I still need the princess costume she asked for, but I can’t remember the name.”
“Rapunzel,” she said immediately.
As I suspected, she was perfectly clear about what Aurora wanted regarding princesses.
“Rapu... what? Why do they give them such strange names?” I asked, just to enjoy her smile again, though truthfully, the princess’s name was a bit difficult for me too.
“Rapunzel,” she repeated, still laughing.
“Okay, I’ll go tell the saleswoman,” I said, and walked away to find the person who had been helping me, this time to ask for help finding the costume of... of... I’d remember it.
“Excuse me,” I said, approaching the saleswoman who was placing some boxes on the shelves, “could you tell me where I can find the costume of... it’s a Disney princess.”
“We have costumes for almost all the Disney princesses. Which one are you looking for?”
“The name is a bit difficult, I think it was... Devon,” I said, looking toward where she was.
“Devon?” she asked, looking at me with a puzzled expression.
“That’s my wife’s name, not the princess’s. I’m calling her because she’ll surely remember it.” I turned my attention back to Devon, my savior, who was looking at me, waiting to know why I had called her. “What did you say the princess’s name was?”
She approached slowly with a smug smile on her face. She was surely mocking me because, although she had told me minutes before, I couldn’t remember that horrifically difficult name. When she was beside me, she looked at the saleswoman and, with all her elegance and calm, said:
“The costume is for Rapunzel.”
In these matters, I felt as if there was a disturbing abyss separating me from her and Aurora.
“Yes, we have it. Please come this way,” the saleswoman indicated, looking at me as if I were a criminal for having forgotten such a strange name.
“Why is she looking at me like that?” I whispered, nodding toward the girl who was helping us, and Devon looked at me as if I were challenging her.
“How would you feel if I forgot the name of one of your favorite superheroes?” she asked, as we followed the saleswoman. “Because I assume you have one.”
“Of course. It’s Iron Man,” I replied proudly, as we were now entering territory well known to me.
“And what would happen if I told you I didn’t know him?”
“You can’t not know him,” I stated, though I understood her point; a princess was one thing and Iron Man was quite another.
“There you have it, that astonishment you feel at the idea that someone doesn’t know your favorite superhero is what happens to us when you don’t remember the names of the princesses,” she stated confidently.
Point for Devon, but I still intended to explain the differences between Iron Man and... and... Ramanuel or something like that, but I was interrupted.
“All the costumes are here. This is Rapunzel’s,” she said, emphasizing the name and pointing to the costume, and I couldn’t help giving her a serious look.