Page 160 of Fighting With Light
The race for governor of Massachusetts will be called in just a few hours, and I know what the outcome will be. He’s been leading in the polls for months. All the work Aelia and I did was for nothing. I can’t find it in myself to be completely mad about it, though. We did some good, too. We saved some women and kids from a fate worse than death.
Aelia and I found love.
I would do it all over again if it meant that I get her in the end.
“Hey, so, I sort of got you something.”
She looks up from her phone, and I can see pictures of a beach she’s scrolling through. “What does sort of got you something mean? Does that mean you didn’t get it yet, but you were thinking about it?” she asks.
I chuckle and shake my head no. Reaching for my phone, I pull up the photo and hand it to her.
She looks at it for a minute, then zooms in. “Wait, why is there a building with my middle name on it?”
“Because I wanted a piece of you to go with it.”
“What?” she says, her expression pinched in confusion.
“Gabriella’s Place. It’s a women’s shelter, Aelia. It’s the most unorthodox and weirdest wedding gift on the planet, but I knew it was better than any diamond on Earth.”
“You started and fully funded a women’s shelter forme?” Aelia asks.
I nod, hoping that I didn’t overshoot. Maybe I should have gotten her a diamond necklace or something. I still could.
Aelia stares at the photo until the screen goes black. Then she tosses my phone and crawls onto my lap so she is the only thing I can see. She kisses me and says, “You have no damn idea just how special you are, do you?”
I grin and wiggle my eyebrows.
She smiles. “You have such a beautiful soul, Liam. I still can’t believe I get to call you mine.”
“I am pretty awesome,” I say.
“You are and I love you for it, every second of every day. Thank you. This is so unbelievable, and thoughtful. It’s going to help so many.”
“It’s yours to run or hire someone to run, whatever you want. I know you’ll do an amazing job.”
“Thank you,” she says, biting down on her lower lip. Her eyes glitter and I know this was the best gift I could have given her because it means more than the love that sits between us. It’s the outpouring of what we have built together in such a short time.
Love comes in hot and fast, and there’s no stopping it; it will overflow. What better way to pour into others who have suffered like our mom’s?
“You’re welcome, mon amor,” I say and kiss her cheek again. “I figured it’s time to start changing the tide.”
“This just in: polling places closed an hour ago, and we’re calling it for the governor for the state of Massachusetts,” the news anchor says.
I look into Aelia’s eyes, and she stares into mine. We know what’s coming, but I have her. We have our family. We will find another way.
“Fred Coldwell has secured the governorship for the state of Massachusetts with a seventy percent vote.” My phone goes off, but I ignore it, captured in her hazel gaze.
She kisses me and says, “And we will keep swimming.”
The End
