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    No words were sufficient to help me express how I felt. I couldn''t believe my eyes. After all of those years, I was finally standing in front of my childhood home, and it was all because of Julian.


    I was speechless, unable to tell him how thankful I was that I was finally here. When I came back from New Jerry, Lavoided passing by in neighbourhood because I couldn''t bring myself to see the house I loved the most and not being able to get inside because it simply wasn''t in


    anymore.


    I made the best memories of my childhood in that ce. My mum and I used to y together in the garden and since she loved gardening, she always used to attend to her nts. She taught me a thing or two about gardening and I still remember them until that day "I don''t want to interpret this the wrong way. I told Julian, hope filling me. "Is this house yours? Did you buy in


    Julian shook his head, and my heart sank. Then what were those keys in my hand!


    "This house isn''t mine, sunshine. I did buy it, but I bought it for you" he told me, and my face broke into a huge smile. "Merry Christmas, sunshine." I found myself closing the space between us and 1 kissed Julian for as long as I could


    He ced one hand on the small of my back and the other on my cheek. I was on cloud nine, Julian was making each of my dreamse true and I didn''t even ask him to do anything for me.


    "How did you get the idea?" I wondered as we pulled apart,


    "Do you remember when I found yo


    you so sick in your bed during our first year of marriage?" It took me a moment to recall what he was talking about. That day, I was terribly sick, and my body was so weak that I couldn''t even bring myself to call Maya or anybody else to bring me any medicine. I didn''t know "That day, you told me about your childhood home and how much you loved it" I was upset with him on that day because of the way he spoke to me when I came back from my outing with Sam. I was only replying to him because I was trying to be polite since he took great -When you left because of me, I made a vow to myself that I was going to get back everything you lost and I knew


    how much that house meant to you, so I made it my mission to get it back and I did. It has been waiting for you for years and now that you''re here... it''s yours." My heart danced as I realized the love he had for me and all I could do was hide myself in his embrace. "I wanted to give it to you a long time ago, but when you refused to take back yourpany, I hesitated, so I thought to myself maybe I should hold on until the right time woulde. I think there''s no better time than this."


    "You''re the absolute best," I murmured as I kissed his cheek.


    "Let''s get inside, beautiful," He kissed my head and reached for my hand. 1 opened the front gate with one of the keys in the sunshine keychain 1 held in my hand. The closer I stepped towards the front door of my childhood home, the quicker my heartbeats got.


    When my eyes fell in the garden, I noticed the massive changes that had been made. Instead of Mum''s favorite light pink carnations that lined the edges of each green patch in the garden, there were red roses. The light pink carnations looked so much better. I was going t Rosie.


    I looked at one of the huge trees that once had a swing dangling from it and frowned when I didn''t find it. Julian was surely going to help me reinstall it. The house was finally mine and I was going to do whatever I wanted with it


    I smiled a little to myself when I noticed that the front door hadn''t changed despite the long years I had been away from that ce. At least something was still the same.


    I ced the key in the lock and twisted it. There were myriad emotions inside of me and was hard to tame them all. I looked at Julian and found him smiling at me. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and took a step inside. Slowly, I ambled inside and felt Julian right b There was no furniture inside the house, which was something I was d for. I knew that somebody must have lived here for a while, but I still didn''t want anything to tarnish the look I had in mind for the house. I was aware that the


    style was different than how it used to be thirty years ago, but there was a vision I had in mind that I nned on implementing.


    wanted


    you to style your house ording to your liking. That''s why I didn''t furnish it," Julian spoke.


    "I''m d you didn''t," I said, kissing his cheek "Come on! Let me take you to my childhood bedroom. I was like a little child who was excited because they finally received their dream toy.


    I opened the door and saniled upon walking inside. This could be Rosie''s room just like how it was once mine. There was an en-suite bathroom, vo she could have all the privacy she needed.


    "I used to have a tent here!" I pointed to one of theers. "I liked to sleep in it even after I started to grow. My mum would find me balled inside with one of my dolls in my arms.


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    Would you like us to build one for Rosie?" he asked me and I vigorously nodded. "What else would you like us to have?" he asked, turning me to nce him as his hands rested on my waist, I want a big firece!"


    Consider it done. What else?"


    "A swing dangling from one of the big trees in the backyard."


    Your wish is mymand, sunshine.


    "A mini atelier for me to design freely here."


    "I already have this in mind."


    ""And a big library!" I eximed


    "Sure." His lips met mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck as I took in the minty taste of his lips. "Now, let me show you something."


    He intertwined our fingers and took me downstairs. We headed to the backyard and I asked myself what else he had in mind. Wasn''t that surprise enough


    I gasped when I saw arge pic nket on the grass along with a massive basket that probably contained food and beverages for us. My eyes fell on the JBL ced on the nket and I immediately knew what he had in mind.


    I stopped walking and made him look at me. "You''re absolutely perfect and I''m in love with you" I wanted him to know that the past was finally behind us and there was nothing in this world that could make me run away again "And I''m n in love with you too," he said. "You''re the air I breathe and thepass that guides me in this life. He leaned in and pecked my lips.


    Was that what true love felt like? When I was with Matt, there was this heaviness in my chest that refused to set me free whenever he would tell me that he loved me. But with Julian, things were way different. I felt like I was walking on clouds. He made me experience a sort of ecstasy. I was a bird, flying freely and enjoying the beauty of nature.


    Julian dug his hand in his pocket and took out his phone. He connected it to the speakers and yed one of the songs I loved. "May I have this dance, mydy?" He extended his hand towards me.


    "I would love that." I smiled widely and ced my hand in his.


    I didn''t know how long we stayed at the house, but I knew that we stayed there for long because one moment we were dancing, the next we were having dinner together, then wey down and ended up stargazing.


    For years, I was alone, trying


    to findfort in thepany of my daughter and attempting to fool myself that I could be in another rtionship with another man other than Julian. I tried to numb all the feelings I held inside of me by drowning myself in work, but all it took was a nce at him.


    I tried to act like I didn''t care and he was nothing to me, but I was a liar because he had always been everything to me. I tried to build a life with Matt and kept telling myself that love didn''t have to be the main basis of our rtionship, yet it was hard to do that. Because I k I know what it


    felt like for the time to stop and for everything to blur because all you wanted was to be with a certain person. I knew the desire to run towards the one you loved the most to tell them about everything that happened in your day. I knew what true joy felt like because your pa were in and suddenly, you were no longer alone. I knew how amazing it was to have the person you loved as your best friend.


    Julian was the one who taught me all of that. Even my rtionship with Chester was nothing like what I had with Julian. I thought that I loved him and after what happened, 1 would never be able to love anybody else.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    But then Julian came. He exceeded all the expectations I had in mind and stole my heart.


    The best thing was, I didn''t even want it back.