Page 53 of A Minute Past Midnight

“No.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Samir.”

“You love saying my name and questioning me, don't you?” he asked, smirking at me. “Happy birthday, love.”

I stared at him. “You bought this house?”

“I did.”

“For me?”

“For you.”

The tears immediately returned as I shook my head. “No.”

“Juliana—”

“You’ve done enough.” I tried handing the folder back, but he wouldn’t take it.

“Baby.”

“No, Samir. It’s too much.”

“Juliana.”

“You brought everybody to Bali. You planned this entire birthday. You—” My voice cracked. “You don’t have to do this.”

He stepped closer. His hands gently held my face. “As long as you’re with me,”—I looked into his eyes—“it’ll never be enough.”

My tears continued falling. “Babe.” I cried.

“You’re giving me something I’ve never had with no other woman, Cinderella. Something I reached for, for a long time, but could never seem to grasp.” His hand moved down to my stomach. “Happiness and a piece of us that we’ll cherish for a lifetime.” His eyes became emotional. “A family.”

I completely broke after that.

He pulled me into his arms while I cried against him. Not because I wanted the house, how beautiful it was, or because it sat in front of one of the most breathtaking oceans I’d ever seen, but because someone loved me enough to want to give me something so beautiful.

Someone cared enough to celebrate me, to see me, and to make me feel special.

I slowly pulled away and looked down at the deed again. My head shook as if I could somehow clear the overwhelming emotions swirling inside me. “This is too much.”

He smiled softly. “It ain't, though.”

“It is.”

“You’re worth it.”

I closed my eyes as another tear slipped down my cheek. When I opened them again, I looked at him, then at the house surrounding us. The ocean outside, thinking of the life growing inside of me, then back at the man standing before me.

The man I had begun falling hopelessly in love with but didn't know how to tell him.

I clutched the folder against my chest, then wrapped the other arm around him. “Thank you.”

He kissed the top of my head. “You’re welcome, my love. I’m going to make all of your fairy-tale dreams come true.”

As we stood there together, surrounded by the sound of the ocean and the warmth of a love I never believed I deserved, I finally allowed myself to believe something I had spent years running from. Maybe happiness wasn’t something waiting to hurt me. Maybe, just maybe, it was something I was finally allowed to have.