And so, an hour before, their family had gathered on the grassy bluff overlooking the sand to celebrate their baby’s first birthday. The balloons and streamers were hung high in the trees, where Kara couldn’t reach them. Nearby, there was a small pile of presents that they’d just helped their daughter unwrap. None of the gifts were expensive. Beach toys, like a bucket and shovel. A truck. A teddy bear. As Honora had taught him, it was about love, not money.
Good thing too, since Kara seemed mostly interested in playing with the discarded wrapping paper.
They were planning to go down to the beach in a bit and make sandcastles, assuming the star of the party didn’t try to eat any of the sand. And later tonight, after dinner, when the sun fell softly into the sea, they’d gather around a bonfire on the beach, roast marshmallows and sing songs before Nico carried their sleepy baby against his shoulder, back to the house, to tuck her into her crib.
And then, Nico knew the rest of his family would finally disappear to their rooms, and he could be alone with his wife. He would hold her in his arms, setting fire to the night, as outside their bedroom’s open window the summer stars would sweep across the wide sky and the surf would roar against the shore.
He hoped they’d have more children. Five. Six. As many as she wanted—as many as they could handle. What the hell else was money for? He’d just buy a bigger house. A bigger jet. And be ready for a bigger heart.
“What are you thinking?” Sitting beside him on the blanket, Honora looked up at him suspiciously.
Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear, “I want to unwrap you.”
He had the satisfaction of seeing his wife blush, feeling her body shiver. Oh, yes. Six children. Tonight would be just the start of the joy that would last all their lives.
Nico remembered how numb and broken he’d felt in this empty house last summer, and all the gray months before. Then Honora had burst through the door and given him a new dream. A new life.
Now, as Kara toddled nearby and the grandparents laughed at some joke Patrick had just made, Honora suddenly leaned forward and whispered something in his ear.
With an intake of breath, Nico looked back at her, wide-eyed. “Are you sure?”
His wife nodded shyly, glowing with visible happiness. “In February.” As he started to gasp and turn towards the others, she whispered, “Don’t tell. Let’s just keep it between us for now. Our little secret.”
His glance dropped briefly to her belly, and he nodded, almost dizzy with happiness.
After years of making big real estate deals, he’d finally found the place that was the hardest to create, and the most precious to hold: a real home. In giving away his heart, he’d gotten back more love than he’d ever thought possible. Love was infinite, he thought, looking out at the wide blue ocean. It never ended.
Nico could hardly remember a time before he loved her. It seemed to him now that he’d loved Honora even before he knew her. They’d been brought together by fate, as she’d once said. And that was the greatest secret of all. The two of them were meant to be.
* * *