Leah
Three weeks later
I always thought the strongest and best three words in the English language were “I love you.”
I was wrong. But not by much.
“I love us,” is much more powerful.
Xavier had embraced the idea of becoming a father with open arms. And the timing couldn’t have been better.
As soon as we left the coffee shop his booking agent had called him and let him know the client had agreed to the ad agency position. He’d since filled me in on all the details and today I started my first day at the new job in downtown Cape Town. Talk about a city being absolutely paradise. I wasn’t sure what I liked more. The weather. The friendly people. The way so many races from so many places intermingled and got along. I felt like I was in the middle of the world’s most beautiful cultural exchange.
For lunch you could go to one of The Townships and eat some of the best home cooked style soul food you could ever imagine, served up with a side of smiles and a whole lot of good vibes.
For dinner you could wet your appetite with a local wine from neighboring Stellenbosch while keeping it light with some locally caught fish as you watched the moon sparkle over Camp’s Bay.
Exercise? Climbing Lion’s Head or Table Mountain provided the ultimate reward. No Stairmaster beeping that you’d completed twenty minutes. No ma’am. Not here. When you completed your cardio here your rewards were some of the best views in some of the freshest air nature had to offer.
How did I never really hear about this place? I’d always dreamt of Paris, the windmills of The Netherlands, the greenery of New Zealand, and the open spaces of Australia…and those things were absolutely magnificent and still on my bucket list but I was completely blown away by this windy city that is Cape Town.
And I was blown away by his love.
And maybe the best part is that I had my HEA and I was in paradise. And of course my first child was on the way while I put in a few more months in my chosen profession which filled me with a great sense of purpose, as much as working can do.
But my real purpose was my family. And that included my brother. I had forgiven him for what he did. He had his “reasons” which I still dispute. Of course at the time I was way too young and still figuring myself out. He was being the protective older brother as older brothers are. The more I thought about it the more I though Xavier would do the same thing for our children one day…although I know he’d never make up a story to accomplish his goal. He’d just say it to you straight, just like he jumped straight on that plane to come get me…To be his forever.
We’d bumped into a local man at the market yesterday who helped us pick out the best ostrich burgers. Yes, there really is a thing and oh are they tasty. We got to talking and we were both just blown away by his combination of vitality mixed with calmness. The ultimate yen and yang. In a way he reminded us of Nelson Mandela, although that man is incomparable in a league all of his own.
We discovered he was a minister and here we find ourselves on the top of Table Mountain about to exchange wedding vows. We joked that our initials are XL, yet we’re having the smallest wedding in history. Just the three of us and Mr. Naidoo to preside over the affair.
Some people might call it a shotgun wedding, but it’s anything but. We’ve been mentally connected for years. Then we connected physically and now we’ll be connected forever. There is no greater feeling.
And the knowledge that the lifestyle here is less hectic is also a huge relief. No eighty to one hundred hour work weeks. People value family and friendship down here too much to spend time staring into a computer screen or running around making another dollar for someone else who’s already infinitely rich.
No thanks.
My stress got carried away the first time one of Cape Town’s winds blew across my back, and the wind has been at my back ever since.
And even more importantly is the knowledge that Xavier will have my back forever.
The man who was my first crush since my brother brought him by the house that day. The man with the muscles and the mind. The man who knew what he always wanted and held out for me just as I held out for him. True love for one another and only each other.
There was a famous song from back in 1991 called Now That We Found Love. It went something like this…
Now that we found love,
What are we gonna do…with it?
For us it’s an entirely different kind of question. The only question is how we’re going to celebrate it each and every day. We’ve got so much to do, so much to explore, and so much missed time to make up for.
So, what are we gonna do with it?
Well we’re well on our way into turning this love into one big ol’ family that we can share it with…forever.
“And do you take this lovely young woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Mr. Naidoo asks.
“I do,” Xavier.
“And do you take this handsome young man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” I say.
And with a smile he says, “I now pronounce you man and wife. Congratulations!”
We kiss as the drone hovers overhead capturing an amazing panoramic view of our moment, but we don’t hear it.
But we’ll get the picture printed out nice and big and be putting it in our baby’s nursery who will be with us in just about seven months from now.
We want to let our little bundle of joy relive this moment with us all over again.
He or she was there after all, after coming to us as a surprise.
And that’s exactly how we’re keeping our baby’s sex. A surprise.
Just like learning nine years after the fact that the one you love has loved you too.
The best things in life really are worth the wait.
And I’d wait for him until the end of time. I’m just glad I didn’t have to.