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Aria shares my laugh then leans over and gives me a kiss. Our lips linger on each other’s for several long moments, and I groan contentedly. Aside from the very first kiss of the day after waking, this kiss, the first of the night after work is my favorite part of the day. Two small voices cry, “eeeewwwww,” then break into a fit of giggles. I turn and see our two youngest, Chloe and Archer making faces at us. Aria laughs then leans over and kisses me again, drawing more cries of disgust from the kids.
“They take after you,” I say.
“Yeah?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah. They’re kind of prudish and uptight.”
Aria squeals in laughter and playfully punches me in the arm. “You are just awful. Horrible. Terrible, in fact.”
“And yet, you married me anyway. What does that say about you?”
“That I was blinded by love. Or drunk,” she says. “Probably really drunk.”
We smile at each other, giggling like our children. It still sometimes feels weird to say, “our children.” For so long, I moved through my life thinking I’d never find true love, let alone have a family of my own. I truly believed that children weren’t in my stars even though deep down, I’d always wanted children. That first day, when Aria told me she was pregnant all those years ago now, I thought my heart was going to literally stop in my chest. I was afraid to breathe, let alone move, lest I shatter such a beautiful illusion.
But here we are, almost a decade and four children later. When we started on this path, I never would have imagined things turning out as well as they have. As amazing as they have, more accurately. My one-man firm is going incredibly strong, and my reputation continues to grow. I’ve gotten so busy, I’ve had to turn away work. It has me thinking about bringing in an associate or two. If I do that though, I’m going to have take steps to ensure it’s nothing like my last firm. I need to find a way to keep politics out of the office.
Aria got her law degree and began working cases with me and I extended my shingle to read, Benson and Gable, Attorneys at Law. We are partners in everything and it’s wonderful. But after a couple of years, Aria got an itch to work the type of cases that had brought us together. She wanted to handle pro bono cases for the underprivileged and underserved. I thought it was a great idea and encouraged her down that path. She’s so passionate and works so hard at it, I have nothing but the utmost admiration and respect for her. She’s an incredibly talented attorney and does an amazing job representing her clients.
We’re both busy as hell but one thing we agreed on early on was that we would set firm boundaries. We weren’t going to be absentee parents and would have a very distinct work and life balance. Although we have our nanny Miranda helping us with the kids, Aria and I make sure we don’t work unreasonable hours and that we’re always there for our children. We’re there for every soccer game, school play, or whatever event they’ve got going on. We take family vacations, have family game nights, and are very present in our children’s lives—something neither one of us really had growing up.
“I understand congratulations are in order,” I say. “I hear you kept Arturo Ledesma from going to prison for the rest of his life.”
“He didn’t do it. He shouldn’t have done a day in jail at all,” she says.
“And he has you to thank for that.”
She gives me a soft smile. “Just like I have you to thank for not going to jail,” she says. “It’s because of you that I’m so passionate about this, you know.”
A soft smile touches my lips. “I do know that. But your motives for doing the work are a lot more pure than mine. I did it to boost my profile in my quest to make partner.”
She laughs softly. “I knew that. Back then, you were obsessed with making partner. I’m so glad that you’ve moved beyond that,” she tells me. “But whatever the reason for you doing pro bono work, I’m just glad it brought us together.”
“You and me both,” I reply and raise my glass to her. “So, here’s to me being a selfish, self-absorbed, narcissistic and obsessive asshole.”
Her laughter is like music in my ears. “I wouldn’t say you were narcissistic necessarily.”
We laugh together for a little while before she scoots over and lays her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around Aria and squeeze her tight. We sip our wine and watch our children in silence for a while. I honestly can’t imagine anything more perfect and more fulfilling than being here with my family right now.
“Penny for your thoughts,” she says.
“I was just wondering how I got so lucky in my life.”
“That’s funny. I was thinking the same thing.”
I plant a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. “Sometimes, things just have a way of aligning just right.”
She nods. “They do. And I’m thankful for it.”
“And I’ll continue to be thankful for it—and for you—every single day for the rest of my life,” I tell her. “I love you, Aria Benson.”
“And I love you, Silas Gable.”
She lays her head back down on my shoulder and together, we sit in silence, watching our children and hearing their gleeful squeals as the sun slips below the horizon, bringing an end to another perfect day in an unexpectedly perfect life. And I for one, can’t wait to see what else tomorrow brings us.
The End
