by Danielle Fox
I glanced down at my mother’s ring on my finger and felt my cheeks rise with a wide smile as I thought about what it represented. The fact that my dad had given it to Julian was overwhelming in itself, but the fact that my mum had told him to pass it on to me the day I married someone worthy of me, warmed me as much now as it had on our wedding day. Julian was that one man who was worthy of me, and my father had known it from the very beginning. I finally felt like I had a part of my mum, like I was a part of my mum.
On the opposite wall was a large studio photo of the four of us together. Oliver was just a year old when the photo was taken and Julian was gazing down into his eyes as he held him in his arms as Oliver smiled back at his daddy. It didn’t matter how many times I looked at the two of them together, it melted me every time. Julian had argued that the photo that would take pride of place on the bedroom wall should be one where we’re all looking down the camera and smiling, just as Maia and I are in this one, but I had simply refused to chose another photo. I loved this one, the way Julian looked so natural with Oliver, and the way they looked at each other, both of their eyes equally filled with so much love and adoration, this one simply had to take pride of place. It was beautiful. And my final favourite picture that stood proudly on my bedside cabinet was of Julian laughing with Maia on the day he officially became her father, shortly after the wedding, as promised. I was sure I had never seen him looking happier than he did that day, and this photo captured that moment perfectly.
The bedroom door opened, disrupting my imaginary slideshow of all the happiest moments of my life, and Julian walked through it, kicking it closed softly as he unfastened his tie with a wicked glint in his eye. Within seconds he was pinning me to the bed beneath his solid body as his mouth ravished my neck.
Even after seven years of marriage, each time we made love was just as passionate as the first, and I couldn’t imagine that ever being any different. Julian was my everything, he had saved me. He had morphed my entire life into one that was so fulfilled, so full of excitement and so full of love, and I could never thank him enough for that. He had bought me to life. He had freed me.