Avery and Ivery grab ahold of my hands, and Emery takes one of Aiden’s.
He glances at me and gives me a wink.
I close my eyes and tuck away the memory. The perfect crisp weather that feels more like fall than winter. The bright sun shining on my head. My sisters being silly. Aiden sliding his free arm around my shoulder.
Perfect blissful happiness.
“Watch!” Gracie demands as she drops to the ground and does an off-balance somersault.
“We can do cartwheels and backbends!” Avery tells me.
All the girl rush ahead of us to show off their gymnastic skills.
“You do a cartwheel, too, Kiki!” Ivery says.
I smile, run across the field, do a cartwheel, and then a round off. The girls screech and clap like I just did an Olympic-medal-worthy routine.
“Aye-den, you too!”
“I can’t do a cartwheel,” he says. “But I can do this.”
He does a perfect handstand, shows off by doing a couple of handstand pushups, then walks on his hands, before falling over in the grass.
“Get him!” I yell, picking Gracie up and running to where Aiden is lying. We both leap on him and start tickling him, the triplets quickly joining in.
Aiden laughs and almost screams, which makes us tickle him more.
He playfully tosses the girls off him.
They take off, skipping, doing cartwheels, and laughing.
He rolls on top of me, pushes the hair off my face, and looks deeply into my eyes.
We stare at each other for a few moments, his soul speaking to mine in a language I finally understand.
“I love you, Keatyn Elizabeth Douglas,” he says.
“I love you too, Aiden I-dont-know-your-middle-name Arrington.”
“It’s Asher,” he says as our lips touch in a very G-rated kiss.
Just like the very first time he kissed me on the Ferris wheel.
It’s a slow, perfect, time-stood-still, fireworks-in-my-eyes kind of kiss.
No open mouths, no tongues; just a kiss.
A little teeny kiss.
That means so much more.
Everything with Aiden has always been so much more.
Avery yells, “Look! They’re kissing!”
The girls giggle as he slips his hand into mine and pulls me to my feet.
I have the same reaction I did back then.
My hand belongs in his.
Forever.
It’s a scary thought. Forever.
But being here with my family, sharing them with Aiden, makes it seem not as scary.
Because, right here, I can’t see the guards.
I don’t feel afraid.
I feel like anything is possible.
Anything and everything.
Which makes me even more determined. I need my life back.
Now.
As we continue our walk to the gazebo, Emery says, “I wanna kiss Michael.”
“Who’s Michael?” I ask.
She sighs dreamily. “You know, Michael on The Princess Diaries.”
“Oh, he is cute. He’s a little old for you, though, don’t you think?”
“When I grow up, he won’t be too old,” she tells me very seriously.
“I wanna kiss Prince Eric.” Avery says.
“From The Little Mermaid?”
“Yeah, he’s cute and he has a castle by the ocean. I love the ocean.”
“Me too.” I lift her up and give her a hug.
She looks at me and Aiden. “You were kissing Aye-den. You love him.”
I glance at Aiden, who’s grinning like a maniac.
“Are you gonna get mare-weed?” Gracie asks.
“No. You don’t have to get married when you’re in love,” Ivery says with a sigh, like they’ve had this discussion before. “Momma and Daddy aren’t married.”
“Would you like it if they got married?” I ask them.
They scream, “Yes!!!”
“If they ever did, you would have to be very well-behaved. No tantrums, Gracie. No screaming. Good little ladies.”
“Momma says we will get to carry flowers. But not ’til we’re older,” Ivery says.
“Yeah, not ’til we are older,” Avery confirms.
“What do you think of the pretty flowers on the gazebo?” I ask them.
They run around it, through the middle of it, and back to us.
“Look at all the butterflies!” they squeal.
“What do you think of the butterflies?” Aiden asks me.
I take in the octagonal gazebo covered with grapevines, a riot of pale flowers, ribbons, and little butterflies.
“I love them. I can see why Kym was freaking out though. They’re a little tacky up close, but when we were farther back the effect was beautiful.”
I walk to the backside of the gazebo and decide to pluck off a few butterflies for the girls.
“Come here, girls!”
The four of them tear around the corner.
“What!?” Avery asks.
“Would you each like to choose a butterfly to take back to the house?”
They jump up and down with excitement and yell, “Yes!”
“I want that pretty blue one,” Ivery says, pointing to one clear at the top.
“I don’t know if I can reach that one. Hey, Aiden, we need you.”