NERTHUS – Six months later
I take a sip of my coffee, hugging my denim jacket closer as I watch the children run around the statue of Alice in Wonderland.
Thinking about how my life has changed in the last year, I nearly can’t believe my luck and I push down the urge to ask myself how I deserved this kind of life.
So many things have happened in these six months and it is just crazy how I’m just living my days with a partner in crime, an adopted boy and a stolen dog.
As they had liquidated my uncle’s and aunt’s assets, and as they couldn’t get hold of my cousin, I got nominated as their heir. First, I didn’t want to have nothing to do with it, but with Arawn’s and Danny’s support, I got to the house where I lived before I came to New York and we searched for something that I would want to keep before he arranged for the clean-up and the sale of the house. Naturally, I didn’t want to keep anything. But as we searched the house, Danny found a hidden safe where there were various documents stored. Between useless documents for the church and private account stuff, we found a diary that must have belonged to my mother. Until now I didn’t have the heart to open it and gave it to Arawn to read as he was being nosy. He read it without even grimacing once and honestly, it made my blood boil.
Because how is he so good at keeping his emotions in check?
After reading it, he was especially caring towards me which just enforced my instinct that I wouldn’t have been ready for it.
Detective Ramirez had talked with Danny and me twice or three times already.
Maybe it has been even more.
We had to describe how Lizzy, or rather Kimberly, had been the one he had been investigating on for ages, but if our words wouldn’t have been enough, the marks she had left on Danny’s chest would surely have proved it instead.
He believed that she would have abducted the women she liked with the help of mercenaries to then torture them and after having had her fun, disposed of them like they were some random trash.
And weren’t her obsession for a bit.
Naturally, I lost my job at her cafe but I think that was for the best.
Doesn’t look like we were really compatible.
I had asked Detective Ramirez about what would happen to the shop and he explained to me that it would simply go into her succession.
Of course, Arawn got a whiff of that and together with Harvey, they were able to find out that she was in fact alone and without heirs. Before I could even notice what was happening, Arawn had already made a deal with the City of New York, making me the owner of a cozy bakery.
I’ll never forget how he held me as I was sobbing in the middle of the shop when he surprised me with it while joking about the fact that he had to clean out an entire altar for me.
He laughed about how he was thinking of leaving it as it was and joining the cult, making me laugh between the tears.
A small bark makes me jump out of my thoughts and I look up to see Danny being dragged towards me by Goldie.
He is wearing a big smile, the same one Arawn is flashing me as they approach me.
“What are you two doing here?” I ask while petting Goldie who is jumping up my legs.
Arawn sits down next to me while Danny pulls at Goldie’s leash to take him on a walk. “We thought we would come visit you. But we aren’t as boring, are we, Goldie? We’ll go play a little bit.”
“You two are cute,” I say lowly, closing my eyes as he kisses my lips.
He chuckles, leaning back against the backrest of the bench. “You are the only woman I know who celebrates her birthday with a statue.”
“Well, I thought that we have been living near this park for so long and I never had the chance to visit my favorite place, so what better time would it be to start with it than my birthday,” I say with a bright smile as I watch Danny playing with Goldie.
Turning towards him with narrowed eyes, I purse my lips. “And we are having a party tonight, right?”
“Yeah,” he laughs, nodding. “We are having a party tonight.”
I take another sip of my coffee, clasping the cup. “I can’t wait.”
Even before he shifts, my heart is already racing.
In the last weeks, I had caught him and Danny talking in whispered voices. It took me a bit to understand what they were plotting, and I soon discovered that Arawn was rehearsing something that was making him nervous.
He clears his throat, and I straighten my spine, putting my cup of coffee away.
His grin brightens as he gets down on one knee, making me swallow a squeal.
“It’s not the top of the Eiffel Tower,” he starts, making me shake my head.
“Who cares,” I breathe out, gesturing with my hand anxiously. “You already made me wait too long.”
The buzzing of the people slowly catching on to what is going on mixes with the sizzling on my skin as I watch him pull out a small velvet ring box.
“We both came from a very dark place and while I had given up ever finding any light ever again, you exploded into my life like a fucking flashbang.” He smiles widely at me as I laugh, fighting to keep the tears out of my eyes. “Thanks to you, I not only found the missing piece to my soul and heart, but also my voice and my smile. You filled my life with laughter and are so fucking beautiful that you got me kneeling while reciting phrases like a teenage girl.”
I gasp as he opens the box, the sparkling of the insanely huge diamond nearly distracting me from his words.
“Nerthus Hendricks, will you do me the honor to become my wife and make me the luckiest man on earth until death does us part?”
“Oh, my God,” I push out, my heart flipping in my chest. The emotions well up, making it hard to breathe as I barely manage to nod. “Yes! Oh, my… Yes!”
Holding my hand towards him, he slides the beautiful ring up to meet my promise ring and I laugh while my heart sings. “Oh, I will have to get used to that weight.”
Arawn looks like he was really scared for a second and I get down from the bench to wrap my arms around his neck.
I get engulfed by his cologne as he hugs me tighter while we kiss.
The cheering of the crowd around us has my heart squeezing. I feel his hands on my cheeks, his happiness seeping through my skin, making me feel even happier.
After he breaks the kiss and leans back against the backrest of the bench, we receive congratulations from the spectators with a big smile. Just as the crowd leaves to go their way again, he clears his throat, making me look at him with teared-up eyes.
“You didn’t just say yes to make me look good, did you?”
I shrug, distorting my face. “It’s my job,” I whisper, making him shake his head. “I always want to make you look and, also, feel good.”
He laughs out loud, squeezing my hand before lifting it to his lips.
“What would you do if it was really like this?” I ask as he kisses my knuckles.
Leaning in, he lets go of me to lay his arm on the backrest of the bench. “I would book you right away for tonight.”
“But we have a party tonight,” I scrunch up my nose, giggling.
He shrugs, flashing me a smug grin. “I’ll have you for breakfast then.”
“Oh, I’d love that,” I say in a gasp and turn my head to see Danny look at us with a happy expression.
I wave at him, making him run towards us. “I guess he didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Yeah,” he says, looking at me as he curls up a strand of my hair around my finger. “I think he was more nervous than me.”
I laugh just as Danny reaches us to congratulate us as well.
“That, I will never believe,” I joke, standing up to hug Danny.