“Happy anniversary, Em Baby. I love you. I’ll thank you every single day for the rest of my life if I have to. A second chance at love with my first love—it can’t get no better than this. You’rea phenomenal woman, mother, and wife. God must really love me.” I kissed her forehead.
“Happy one year anniversary, My Reason. I love you too, handsome. Besides our children, you’re one of the best things that’s ever happened in my life. I wish I had all the words to tell you I love you, but I promise to show you, baby.” She flashed that pretty smile of hers. “But, um…”
“Um, what?” I stared at her.
“I hope you have a lot more love left to give.”
“Em Baby, you lost me.”
“I figured that would happen. Hold on.” Ember stood and rushed back to her seat to grab her purse. She rummaged through it until she pulled out a small bag.
I watched her closely, wondering what she was doing. She came back to me and positioned herself on my lap again.
“This is for you. Once again, happy anniversary, babe!” she said happily.
Quietly, I looked into the bag and pulled out a square-shaped jewelry box. I took my time untying the bow, then opened it. My mouth dropped open. Inside was a stack of ultrasound photos. My focus shifted from the box to Ember, who was lighting up my jet with her pretty, bright smile.
“Does this mean we?—”
“Yes! Yes! That’s exactly what it means. We’re having another baby!” she interrupted before I could get all the words out. Ember bounced up and down on my lap excitedly.
Tears of joy filled my eyes, and a nigga couldn’t contain himself. Forget hiding my emotions; I was happy as fuck. I went from being a father of two to soon becoming a father of three. This was the best anniversary gift I could’ve ever asked for.
After we got done with all the emotional shit, Ember got up again. I gazed at her, admiring every inch. She was an amazing woman, and she was all mine.
She came back with a gift-wrapped, medium-sized box. “Babe, I forgot Mama T gave this to me and said for us to open it while we were on the jet.”
“What do you think is inside?” I asked, knowing she probably didn’t have a clue.
“Not sure, but she said it was an anniversary gift for both of us. She also gave me specific instructions that we open it together.”
I laughed. “That sounds like my mama.”
We opened the box together, and I was stuck for a minute, looking at the hundreds of envelopes that filled the box.What the hell?Ember looked confused too.
“A box of envelopes?” she questioned in a low tone as she picked one up. Her hand began to shake immediately. She dropped the letter and covered her mouth as she started to cry.
“What is it, Em Baby?” I picked up one of the envelopes and realized why she was crying.
My mama had kept all the letters I had written to Ember that were returned unopened. All my love, tears, pain, and heartache were inside those envelopes, written on paper. My woman picked up the envelope again and opened one. If I had seen that box of letters before Ember came back into my life, it would’ve triggered me. But knowing my baby was here to stay, my reaction was different. She was about to witness my vulnerability and see how far back my love for her went.
For the rest of the ride, she read every letter, and not once did her face dry. It seemed like Ember cried more after reading each one. After she read the last letter, we were descending, and she was repeatedly kissing me and telling me how much she loved me.
“Mr. and Mrs. St. Pierre, welcome to Ember’s Retreat,” the pilot said on the intercom.
Ember’s neck snapped my way. “Huh? Did he just say Ember’s Retreat? Reason, babe, where are we?”
“Surprise, Em Baby. Welcome to our private island in Central America.”
“Are you serious?!” she shouted as her tears started up again. “Oh, my goodness! I gotta be dreaming… I gotta be dreaming,” she kept saying as she stared out the window at our mansion.
“You ain’t dreaming, Em. This real life, baby. Happy anniversary.”
EMBER
Two Weeks Later
Reason and I were back from our honeymoon, and I still couldn’t believe he purchased an entire island for us. Not only that, but he had a mansion built for us too. Our entire honeymoon was filled with happy tears, him giving me great dick, us eating good food prepared by a private chef, and constant laughter as we enjoyed each other’s company. I felt like I was permanently on cloud nine.
