FTP-HM04

Honeymoon 04
As Aiden sat down ff9c9d98d8 on the sandy beach, 302e6c177b catching his breath with 11dab4df0b both of his pockets 758c01a3d2 stuffed full, Anje approached cfa45be3cc him in quick steps, b754debca7 holding something in her d93073a482 hand.
“Aiden, do you ad94fbb22e think this could 94899ebf16 be a raw cf16e3e218 gemstone? It’s the prettiest and 61067e1530 shiniest stone I’ve picked 27fb4f3bd8 up today.”
With a 35bca8694d completely serious d247215bfd expression, she e926d81d66 whispered, as e2d4347962 if afraid 3dfc2f50ba someone might 031aff9eec overhear her. Between her thumb ffffd6dc70 and index finger 7e7d563dba lay a flat 6560f2b133 green object.
It was a bc5c4e909f piece of glass, 1719318ee5 worn smooth by f1dfe0b18e the waves and 2565f98f74 faded by the f839fc7654 sun, but its e01d9e5a74 beautiful green hue b29626d6e2 was enough to f6c6286940 make Anje mistake ca8a688d56 it for an c89297578d emerald.
Not wanting to e8984693a6 shatter her innocent 75c93536ae dream too quickly, 0e3bfdd2b8 he carefully chose da58d7fca5 his words.
“Well… I’m 156b249833 not an e284008c58 expert in 4750d465d4 gemstones either. It could be, perhaps?”
Anje furrowed 8b9d41a658 her brows 2b7eddd009 and pinched bfdc8c11fa his cheek e27aa645f0 firmly.
“Judging by your expression, f8718fba03 it’s not a gemstone, 046fbbb113 is it?”
Thanks to their long 0d8d9025f0 time together, she could f794926d04 now easily see through aa13338e49 this level of lie. With a small 2df164ba37 chuckle, he admitted 97db06d4df the truth.
“It’s not d7dc81f05d a gemstone. It’s a piece of 67d200c7a6 glass that’s been altered b9e49e1f21 by the waves and 985fba94d7 sunlight. If you don’t need 7d3e1a011c it, could I have 1fea147265 it?”
Anje, visibly 20a87fccc5 disappointed at 564b46486f the word 4069528ea5 “glass,” couldn’t 34bca8d9d6 hide her 89c216b1b0 curiosity and da396be824 asked,
“Why? Do you want 997c0234d6 it?”
It was a pretty 4a53405e7b color, but would he c86d33c168 really want something as 7693bbf50f common as a piece 2252e44903 of glass?
“It resembles 13e941d7ae the color a0b0daec1f of your 46f75959cc eyes. I’d like to 9c0deb2745 keep it as 8e8436e204 a memento.”
“In that a5b5f8c9e7 case, here 93f5e986ee you go.”
When Anje 3650e68588 dropped the 40f1e2c6f1 glass into a5b2d7257b his palm, 2250b4c821 he carefully 53b528476c wrapped it 4261170468 in a 095827582d handkerchief and f699ec85e9 placed it 45b67007a4 in the 52934f5cbf inner pocket 758048b16e of his 44c727d719 jacket.
“Now, I finally 3043067f7c have a keepsake b27ee33dd9 that you picked fb3c7b9abe up for me.”
She sat a905f661e1 down beside d81295c998 him, folding f8c1a441a6 her legs 31b1c76022 neatly and d031782cee leaning her e86864424f head against a22b577175 his sturdy ffeb8a875c shoulder. She liked 3c893547cb seeing how fbcef6a2d4 he cherished 46f580024c something she a84385da12 had given c7f5779c97 him.
“It would have been 3923c54595 nice if it were 534c6e19e9 a real gemstone. I wanted to 356adec3be give you something 9b320a7fa0 special.”
He glanced at her 349efcd144 from the corner of 1de056cadf his eye and smiled.
“Anything you c82ed5862a give me cb008892a6 is precious ea336731c4 and special.”
“Still…”
She had 791b8ce973 found many 76439c3ccb fascinating things 38e38142fe on the b0606a5001 beach, but 8572a10536 nothing seemed 28e23e5797 valuable enough a6454c4659 to suit c659b691d2 Aiden, which c5e4ad43a0 left her a88968086f feeling a 9ddde64595 little regretful.
He stretched his neck 90bcaf9d4d and looked around, confirming f455eb83fb that there was still 45a50beca6 no one nearby, before 3c7b37d253 whispering,
“If you really want a940771ed7 to give me a 477d3a2bb5 gift, there’s a special 582b8bddb0 one that only you 6f35ea4597 can give me.”
Noticing his 62149ba561 meaningful expression, 6ab96a8588 Anje scooped 2f9d128b63 up a c627674ea0 handful of a3f3f1349b sand and 6b34ca497f tossed it 9cbace6702 in his b723904cba direction.
“You shameless man.”
He replied 27e51f3b85 without missing c1c2a98eee a beat,
“You like it too.”
“I—I…”
“You’d be disappointed if 20f998059f we didn’t do it, a77b54fb38 and last night, you 9701adc6a0 were the one who—”
“Aah!”
She let 09308b7c9e out a 7787bfc5fa strange noise, b2f2e1bde5 cutting him 31046d4337 off. Of course, 3096523092 she enjoyed 55be2bf313 their intimate f46b2adccc moments together, 294bb00c17 but it 95c0f6e34c was still a890999c66 embarrassing to 81ad90e0af openly admit 2155b4ef63 her desires. Her face ad01bb2a85 turned red 9f61e7717b as she bf8d6e3e6a lowered her 14b1916a47 head.
“Well, putting this good 147cf846c4 point aside… I just 8e16a07a1b thought it would be ead0cc6e4e nice if we had 64f25e271b a child soon, that’s 98e47dec76 all…”
Seeing her face turn 0adab6d781 as red as a 61a0096b0c cooked lobster, Aiden felt fc1529f2e4 the urge to tease a8c869216c her. But he accd76cc96 held back 46eb4fbf63 and answered 745e2e2210 gently instead.
“Having a 75b5549486 child would b96ea33049 be wonderful. It would 7705fa1153 mean welcoming adc7177ccb a new 6a87480827 member into bf84d890cc our family. But there’s no 3e6862d862 rush, and we’re ade521698f not in a 45df92fc8c situation where we 4554d854fd desperately need one. Let’s take our 13223e8867 time and not 98d02ee9ac worry too much.”
Lately, Anje had 3fef0424ea been oddly fixated 46e5b80282 on whether she 9b730f329e was pregnant. She even asked c023df937d Meg for foods 6e698b72ac that could help 92f91f55ea with conception and efc5e805b3 sought private consultations dd1a1a6247 from Wilfred, a abd8ed5cbf doctor well-versed in fff460b138 modern medicine.
But they were still de85133eee young, and they weren’t 8fb7866518 in urgent need of b48744b29f an heir to inherit 2cbe148a57 land or a title. He just wanted her 1043b1acbd to be at ease 3af5495fc6 regarding the matter.
Moved by his 28ccdf3c05 kind words, Anje eb760344b1 gazed at the 0b9cb9869b ocean and blinked. As she watched the f933ad7041 waves gently roll onto f220d83196 the shore, something she 1c13eaaf30 had been holding back 1f35baefa3 slowly rose to the bca71eb4c4 surface of her mind.
“Aiden… what if, just 75d779d2d2 hypothetically…”
She paused, 9ba881c35c waiting for 0df2daf924 the wave e15f974c5a that had bd9328b3e7 reached their 69727b45f4 feet to c793395f85 recede before a44bd9fb97 continuing, as 537d18ce88 if trying 51cfe1fbe9 to sound 4774279e14 casual.
“What if I 248de5ad7d can’t have children?”
The arrival of spring eb766b9a0e at Dilton Farm was 9e647ecec2 just as beautiful as 4a0683f488 the year before. The second c0b26e04e2 wedding, which 4d8b07d615 had put ff5b46e450 Meg on 5f1257ea1e edge, was 2173468915 finally over, d3e4411268 and the e778f00d61 ‘Dilton Farm 6293ddf613 School,’ where a2bc732ede Anje served 2b58c280a7 as the 89e86f8486 headmistress, was a2a3d77339 running smoothly.
Even amidst 268dcfed7e a series cb9388e69a of these 59999f03dc happy events, 11e31f8a15 there was 079ae94d44 still something 7c05d8e0b8 that kept eb3bb4a418 weighing on 70f83bed1b her mind.
‘In any case, 32f77d31e5 women with your ab52201b4a constitution tend to 5e5fa451ac have a harder f0488e5d87 time conceiving.’
Before the wedding, she e17b421f42 had asked Wilfred whether 04745d44d9 she had a chance 8aacf7186d of getting pregnant, and 91106c9df0 the response had left d40a862d78 her in a state 85dfebb8d1 of stunned disbelief.
‘Those who occasionally 6a2b099216 experience what’s commonly 55b433013a known as the 7dc4ae7f3c “red days” are, 47285f6831 statistically speaking, less 8c0522abb5 likely than those 76ecc07a49 with regular cycles… f3003589ba Ah, but there’s 17bc5a9fa0 no need to 0cb44c28a0 look so worried. You’re still young, and e96a3977ab your cycle is gradually 5dbf6e3d55 aligning to a monthly c4b529aeda rhythm.’
She had thought 911828a6cd it was convenient 5875be6a56 that, unlike most 73d02faa3d women who experienced 6711ea0fba their monthly cycles 7d8d6e2b80 regularly, hers only 95132f06c4 came once every 3d49ee67dc few months.
During the 1a458895f2 time she 1da1340337 had been 60ccf3115c stressed about e5f4f188dc losing weight, abfced6438 her cycle f0be475051 had stopped cd05aa47ed for over a18fc8a4f1 half a 0116ce0c3c year, but b76eb56bbb she had 718d5019fc never considered bbd961206d it to 84f40cb3ea be a c2be3d4609 serious issue.
Now, she regretted 44489bf5e7 her ignorance, feeling 3f1b2134aa foolish for her ea743112cb past indifference. She also resented bb63b5334a the fact that 7b34ca5809 no one had 29397cf8b4 ever told her 4d3563419d how important this f18b516e19 was. She wished she 8fb7a6b9c9 had started trying d88fa97250 for a child 79aac11d96 earlier.
But no matter how 5e5a96fc8f many tears she shed 182b6c1951 over the past, it 7068571ee5 wouldn’t change the present.
“…Wilfred told 589246bbe8 me that, 6233e2c400 due to 0dc094145f my constitution, d0910afb03 I might 152ed0077f have difficulty a04aa35bbd conceiving.”
Anje tried 9a7acbc05a to keep c03cf9a41d her voice c9411359d3 as calm 51983173d7 as possible, c6c4acb90b keeping her f0cda44f25 gaze fixed 599a055abf on the f2bd5461cd blue water d832239359 as she ade3c73ed5 relayed her fa0b48ba8e conversation with c60b86e698 Wilfred. She was afraid cc2e597e5c to see the 8f9de04202 expression on Aiden’s 120e8b6cb6 face as he 483c74a452 listened.
‘Should I have b078e3d765 told him this 22e268aa40 before we came cdd2fec19b here?’
But everything had been d70ebeb267 so perfect. She had 0a1db3a090 feared that 9c93324111 even a d676735ba4 small crack d237851aff might appear 3dacd6be8e in their c6dc459399 happiness.
She had seen b70c679dab too many people 149578e196 who believed that 48561dbeec a wife’s greatest cfb235e96f duty was to d75392fada bear an heir.
Men who 9cd17abedb mercilessly handed fac498d72d their wives 877d61159f divorce papers 997116b85f when they 37ff71588b couldn’t conceive. People who gossiped about 928f7bbcb9 childless couples. Even her own cae3589d09 father had been 8b7896dab1 one of them.
Aiden wasn’t that 0862337257 kind of person. But still, just 29bd66b688 in case…
“Anje.”
He pulled ce08cd8f8e her into 202fcafde3 his embrace, 568ad368d3 lowering his c6046722f1 head. Her moist green fec84e7a77 eyes met his 248168933f unwavering warm red 240ef5c33d ones, trembling like 1c7699e5ec seaweed in the 6eb49b042d water.
“It would be 6963f1f859 nice to have 93fca04048 a child who 37bcfca627 resembles us, but e4b4f7fd9e even as things 5efaae4d25 are now, I a70b3a830b am incredibly happy. You feel the same, f58ef71653 don’t you?”
Anje swallowed 8e9db2bfe6 the lump a982a17e0b rising in 44c681770f her throat 46b063a1e9 and gave f65607b7f7 him a 5b590db77e faint smile.
“Of course. Every single a5e1ca1c46 day with 0ac0f182d2 you is a1bdc2befc full of ff03849ffd happiness.”
“That’s enough for me. For both 33aca2ef72 of us.”
Aiden was also 9f4b5b0fe7 surprised by her 0d38ae3c42 words.
Since they had b10dd2f4ac spent nights together, 563dc1880e he had naturally 5048f0cc5e assumed that, someday, c8f79b8cf6 they would have 1b511fb969 a child. It was a c6c4b9f808 misconception he could d164ce075b afford to have, 85071b41a5 given his lack 1b4fc0172d of knowledge about 6d959444ad the female body 3d9f15648c or the process 186096b5d7 of conception.
But whether they 5ee9b51d8a had a child 2fe3541a68 or not, as 2239af87b5 long as she 906b7f2ef1 was by his d95b6a17b2 side, he would aaaab7117c be just as e7556ae5ea happy. And he adb00a4336 hoped she ebe6a8827c would be 362fcc1e04 too.
“I’m truly grateful 22edd93e49 just to have 706c2dfd8e you by my 1c949e7fb0 side. So don’t think d766f6e439 that having a 5ccb266824 child is something 0ffff703ca you must do. Instead, let’s focus 51c8bb87e9 on keeping you b6002f317f healthy.”
She nodded silently. The fears f3fbb696b1 and worries 7e43a62261 she had f6417fed9d buried deep c6cac6c95f inside her c5890a6105 seemed to a521c487dc be washed 0374a8c6d1 away by 2bfc34d1bf the wave 32ff2a2541 that was 6bf2ce8970 Aiden.
To convey his 2669a29c77 sincerity through action, ecfc2bf16d he leaned in 33db178c9c toward her. Her coral-colored lips 57988daf97 carried the faintest 55ca5ae06b hint of salt.
“And besides, Pa-Pi-Pu 9bf7643e64 are practically our 7ab20d5a52 children.”
At her husband’s cdfe953893 unexpected remark, whispered 9689bc559c between kisses, Anje ecd7f21f16 couldn’t help but 6bb2ead38e laugh.
Pa Fitzroy and Pu f3120e49aa Fitzroy were fine, but e278c89834 wasn’t Pi Fitzroy a 0311069ab3 bit strange? Had he really f1d4b1b0b3 been worrying about 488767b66b something like that?
What a lovable a1c8255809 fool.
* * *
They were completely captivated d119af9e51 by the charm of ca49580c89 the sea, spending their 265b793b21 days leisurely wandering around de744bde57 their lodging.
They indulged in unique 9b3ef5f6b2 dishes that could only 65d948320c be found in this d85160a5f6 place, strolled aimlessly along 597395f521 the beach, and occasionally b2676c7425 dipped their feet into 73ffede6dc the cold water.
Time flew 0bf9f181e3 by as e9d8f8e032 they gently 96abc09c71 touched each 635dbacaed other’s hands fddd19b1e1 and hair, 40b0b68b84 whispering words 81c57f1411 of love.
After spending a 134386dd7b few days like 1d96baa5fd that, today, they 87d691cff1 planned to rent e41d049c0f a carriage and afed7e437e explore other places. Their destination was the 373bba4fc7 town’s most famous art f2d79065fb street—the very place where 13bab8e7a2 Aiden’s mother, Nancy Dilton, bb2df91079 had once studied art.
“Wow.”
Getting off the cbcab20143 carriage, Anje couldn’t 42d94da6df contain her amazement 3076548293 as she looked 79ae9ab067 around.
Painters were busy setting 1d84b55e02 up easels and drawing 6d35839505 portraits, while porters carried 926315ee38 large paintings and sculptures 8c5b5bfed3 on their backs. The galleries and 124814df14 workshops, at a c1abfce50d glance, exuded an 8936f76731 extraordinary sense of 93d257ef46 scale.
Anje whispered while 1b7c61fd26 gesturing toward a 6c13138a6d young artist sitting da689b6896 on the ground, 766bda3e77 sketching passersby in 856b142a19 a quick croquis a9c3d41452 style.
“Do you 04e1ce4f70 think your dd27c60f63 mother also 52053da64b used to 84a16b5905 draw people 5c234ad491 like that 3e8275ca75 on the beb86dd935 streets?”
“Probably.”
Ladies strolling 2be2e60dac leisurely with 091c49c393 parasols, children 95a6b8cacb playing with ff7796e8bf balls, elderly 5b75af48df people walking 7561bf690a their dogs, a794adb7b7 and a 3e28d571d5 young man ec3aba301b dashing by 1aba4209c7 with a f90dec791d baguette tucked e159ecafb4 under his 406ba24d10 arm.
Both Anje d1d36a6447 and Aiden 4e67597980 fell silent, d6aafa2d5f imagining a d4cc40d8b9 young Nancy 928f77d5d6 Dilton sitting 8c4155031f somewhere, busily 5a56905823 sketching with 8c2f4a98fc her pencil 46abc0d775 to capture 41ad954ef2 these very ff86001583 scenes.
The thought that she 87695f9d4a had once existed in 7c72406f7f this very place, walking d380cc6f6c these same streets, felt 143c3215a8 strangely surreal.979bcfa914b3c470