Page 104 of Bound By Flames
“Wanna try another?”
“Um…”
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s not push it.” He cups my face with his palm. “You did so fucking great, princess. I’m so proud of you.” Tears suddenly appear in my eyes and they seem to fall without me even noticing. Perhaps my body needs its own release method.
“I’m…I’m proud of myself too,” I admit, smiling, putting a palm on my mouth, amazed at the step I managed to take today.
To anyone it would be just a bite, but to me…to me it’s the beginning of healing. The beginning of a long journey ahead, but still, it’s like stepping on a ship and knowing you were meant to be there all along but just got lost along the way.
Ares stands and goes to the fridge, then takes out a large plate of salad with peaches, pistachios and boiled eggs. He swaps the pasta dish with it, then comes back, sitting next to me and digging into the pasta like a starved man.
“What?” he asks when I stare at my bear of a husband, gentle yet rough, tender yet brutal, loving me yet merciless with others.
“It’s just, I’m really in love with you, like stupidly in love,” I murmur, shaking away the tears, leaning in and leaving a soft kiss on his lips. He kisses me back, then hoists me on him, his thicks arms carrying me like a feather.
“I think we’ve seen enough of this kitchen,” he grunts, then stands and carries me back upstairs. I nestle in the crook of his neck, inhaling his reassuring spicy scent, the essence bringing me to a safe place where I belong. We’ve come a long way, but nothing has ever felt more right than us right now in our home. I never thought it would have come to this afterwalking down the aisle and meeting this stranger I knew nothing of.
“I love you, Mia, and I’ll keep your heart safe as long as you want me to,” he murmurs before kissing my hair.
“Might be a long time,” I whisper softly.
“Good thing, ‘cause you’re stuck with me forever, princess.” He smirks, biting my lower lip. I smile, giggling from happiness and leaving feather light kisses on his jaw as he passes the doorway.
I’m in love with my husband, so what?
THE END
Epilogue
4 years later,
“Atlas Malone, get your little feet right here, right now, or I will call your father, and—” My mini-sized Ares runs to his bed and jumps on it, giggling so much that he falls back and I catch him before his head bumps the bed frame.
Phew, saved the day. I’m out of breath, my back hurting as the little person in my belly keeps kicking me relentlessly. She’ll be a runner too. I can feel it.
How come I haven’t expected our kids to be fiery little people with little to no hope of getting them to focus on a chair for more than two seconds?
Wild, curious and eager to feel alive each second of their life.
Well, I guess it runs in the family…
“What’s going on here?” asks Ares, walking with his fists on his chest and mimicking a monkey, making our two years old burst into laughter.
“Daddy!” shouts Atlas, imitating his dad on his tiny bed, the bedsheets adorned with cars and trucks. My little man is growing so fast, it makes my eyes get all watery.
“I’m gonna catch you, Atlas. You better run fast!” Ares roars, cracking his neck and positioning himself like a sprinter on the starting lines.
Atlas runs toward me, hiding behind my legs, his laugh filling the space around us. Ares shakes his head, grinning, and then comes to us, circling my back, our son playing between our feet.
Our life is beautiful and I wouldn’t change it for the world. And just like anything worth it in this life, it comes with a lot of tough times and challenges, but we go through them as a team, and always get out of them stronger.
Atlas' arrival in our life was a major change two years ago, and I had to rethink my working schedule because I wanted to make him the priority. I took less clients and hired someone else to help me. I never stopped seeing Dr Ofenhaus in all those years, but I decided to only have a session per month to keep habits away. I’m still not fully healed, and maybe I never will be, but I can eat almost anything I want now without freaking out or even thinking too much about it. I think Atlas helped. I didn’t want to be a bad example for him, and in this sense it helped me grow and take my power back on my eating disorder.
“How’s my favorite girls?” He rubs his hand on my lavender, sequin mini dress.
Who said pregnant women couldn’t dress in party wear?
“Good, but your daughter has been hitting my ribs since this morning,” I complain, my head resting on his chest, his light stubble making me want to run my finger on his jaw.
