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Whenever Stella and I would get into an argument, and instead of avoiding the conflict, she’d yell at me and get angry, I’d fall a little bit more in love with her. Because she was being her fullest self. She was allowing herself the space to exist at her fullest, even if that meant sometimes anger appeared. She also lived in happiness, too. Real happiness. The kind of happiness that came from the deepest corners of her beautiful soul.
Watching Stella learn to love herself made me fall even more in love with her. There was something so attractive about a woman who knew who she was and didn’t feel as if she’d ever needed to apologize for it.
About a year ago, she and I opened our first gallery shop: Cinderstella & the Beast. We began working together, tying her artwork into my photography, and selling our pieces on the regular. Even though I was still running Roe Real Estate, I’d found time to focus on my photography, too, because I’d learned how important it was to give myself to my craft. Being able to make art with a person I loved was a bonus to it all.
The business was running mostly by Stella, seeing how she finally felt comfortable to leave her position at the massage studio. She taught art classes to kids in the inner city, too, helping them develop their own skills.
After we received the money from Kevin’s will, we didn’t touch it for a long time. We sat down and figured out a way we could give back to the world in a positive way. That meant donating a lot of the money, and our time, to children in need. Both in California and my old stomping grounds of New York. Stella and I had many conversations about our core beliefs and what they encompassed. Luckily, we were on the same page: all we wanted to do was give back to those who weren’t given the same gifts as us.
“Hi there,” Stella said, walking up to me on the sandy beach behind our property.
“Hello.” I smiled, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “You’re tired. You should be resting.”
She shrugged. “The kids requested my attendance for the night swim, and who am I to disappoint them?”
Kids.
Our kids.
The sun was setting overhead as my family splashed through the water. It amazed me how much one’s life could change within the shortest period. It had been five years since Stella and I renewed our vows, and we had done it each autumn ever since. If I learned anything about love, recommitting to it was of the utmost importance.
Each year, our family grew.
There was Sophie, who came first, yet she wasn’t the oldest. We also added to our family two more siblings for Sophie to grow up with. Jaden was a fourteen-year-old boy who’d been in the foster system since he was a toddler. He had a heart of gold, and it felt like the biggest gift for me to be able to love him. The other day, while I was playing basketball with him, he told me he thought he’d never get this, a family.
Me too, kid. Me too.
Turned out sometimes wishes come true in tenfold.
Then there was Kai, a beautiful little girl of the age of eleven. She was a wild child whose soul felt safest whenever she was near the water. I’d spent so much time building the trust of that sweet little girl. She’d spent more days afraid than not, and she didn’t speak a word when she came to us at the age of eight. Now, it was almost impossible to get her and her siblings to be quiet.
I didn’t mind the noise of the house. It reminded me of my blessings each day.
I once lived within quiet walls, and I prayed I’d never find myself back there.
Then there was the next to come. Stella was currently two months pregnant, though the kids didn’t know another sibling was on their way to us. It was our secret for a little more time, and I couldn’t wait for the day to see my other children hold him or her as a newborn.
“Daddy, come in the water!” Sophie screamed as she splashed around with Kai, Jaden, and the sweetest dog ever, Milo. Each night, Milo slept next to Jaden after years of always being by my side.
The best kind of traitor. I was convinced that Jaden needed Milo more than I had. Maybe Milo needed him, too.
I’d join them in the water in a moment, yet for a few seconds, I stood back in awe as I watched my family, my world, dancing so freely within the waves. I studied their laughter. Stella’s chuckles being just as loud as the kids. Her sounds were still my favorite, and I was certain that would never change. But my children…
