"Mom" Jr Ethan's tiny voice said the moment he opened his eyes. "My baby" I whispered as I planted a kiss on his forehead. "Where am I?" he asked and I told him.
Ethan came closer to him and smiled, they really had a lot in common, their eyes and nose, even the way they smile, I was glad to introduce Jr Ethan to his real father, at first he didn't say anything like he was thinking about what I just said and was trying to accumulate it properly.
"Dad?" he said looking at Ethan and crying.
"Yes.. Yes my boy" tears rolled down Ethan's eyes and he came closer to kiss his temples.
I was happy this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, I was happy that maybe all this drama was over, I was happy that my life was finally falling at the right track.
Mark couldn't hold himself from crying, so he hurried out of the room, leaving us to bond as one family.
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Years have passed since everything that happened to us did, Ethan and I were now living as a happy family and Jr Ethan well...we had to start calling him Leonard, Mark became a father of a set of twins and it felt so good to welcome them.
"Mom!" Ethan called out to Maryam, yes.. Maryam had been his mother.
She could not bring herself to tell him because she felt she was going to maybe hurt him or freak herself away from his life.
I watched both of them talk and listened to their laughters, Leonard sitting on his father's lap but jumping off it out of excitement of seeing Mark and his wife with the kids.
To be sincere I was happy to see everyone happy, smiling in slow motion I turned to see Ethan looking at me, I couldn't help but smile the most.
In every storm you were the lighthouse, the direction in which to swim. There were days I felt that I had drowned, yet you shone in the belief that I would swim when strength returned. You could not fashion a boat, nor take me from the waves, but your love was oxygen in my lungs and it was enough. So I grew strong, a good swimmer, and made it to your rocky shores. So I thank you eternally for your light, for your graceful persistence when I had lost my way.
Gratitude feels as such a tiny word, but then so is love, and it is the emotion behind them that is infinite, my inner mind plays with my head as I watch him walking towards me.
"Hey beautiful" he said as our lips met, I smiled. "You should go back to Mark," I told him.
"Are you sure about that?" he asked me, reaching for my belly bump and kissing my stomach.
"You know If I were to make receipts for every good thing you had ever given me, there would be not a tree left standing on earth, nor oil in the ground from which to make ink" he told me and I couldn't help but giggle.
"Don't flatter me" I managed to say.
In that cozy state, when we cuddled up together, the rest of the world and its worries ceased to exist for a precious few moments. We were each other's sanctuary, each other's safe cocoon, our love healing one another, giving the sort of fortitude that supports a sustainable sense of joy.
Happiness is in everything, I dare you to invite it in. It is in the rain, cool and fresh, just as deeply as the sunshine, for they bring forth different emotions. Happiness is enjoying the moment, being present for that gift that is living, and allowing it to become intense.
"You really look beautiful in that dress" Mark said as she came closer to sit next to me. "Awwwn.. Thanks a lot" I appreciated her.
"Mark!.." she called her husband.
"You know you should always be around me right this babies needs their father.." she said as she stood to go fix herself inside the room we already gave them, Ethan looked at me and we silently laughed at Mark as he ran past us to follow his wife.
Maryam came to join us with Leonard and holding her hands, he won't stop playing. " You know you should learn to be like your friend Ethan" Maryam said.
"Mum" Ethan called her and I laughed
"You should listen to your mother's baby, especially now that you're expecting a baby girl" I told him and Immediately realized I just spoiled the surprise I had for him.
"It's a girl!" Maryam and Leonard burst out crying.
"I don't want a baby girl!.. I want a brother not a sister!" he whirl
"But sisters are good too hunny," Ethan said, but that even made him cry the more Maryam had to go find ice cream to calm down.
"So it's a girl" Ethan asked and kissed me. "Surprise!" I said rather too late.
"You're my happy ending, baby, and I'm yours. Because around you I have the serenity I've been seeking, and I hope I am the same for you. So take me in those arms of yours because I wish to stay there, safe and warm" I told him and kissed me the more.
"I love you so much baby" he said.
"I love you so much babe" I told him and our lips met.
"Mark!.." his wife yelled and he froze at the stairs and sighed, we all burst into wide laughter.
THE END