Two Arms and a Heartbeat

Carlo/Carla

I've always looked for love in different places and found fake ones in different faces.

But then, meeting the right person at the wrong time is a myth. It's not true because we never meet the wrong person in our lives. Everyone holds a special chapter in our existence that makes us whole. They're either a blessing or a lesson. Either way, they were the right person at that moment. They were the right person to hurt us, they were the right person to make us raise our standards, and they were the right person to make us grow. They were meant to stay in our lives either for good or just for a couple of seasons.

I had my heart broken a couple of times—a cycle of falling in and out of love. I waited for the perfect one and in my waiting season, let me tell you that time is moving really slow. I kept searching for a love that will last until my heart grew tired of looking.

And out of nowhere, out of the blue, I met you on a normal sunny day in the streets of Ayala Avenue and my heart suddenly became full.

Vows of friendship and love can't compare. It is stronger than any force. Because on a scale of one to ten, if you ask me how good is it: it is off the charts.

I used to be scared of love, frightened of all the consequences after numerous rejections and heartbreaks.

But I'm glad you know your way around my heart, now you are my home. It is way more than I thought it will be, way more than I expected it to be.

Suddenly, all of the things are amplified to be twice as better as they should be with you around. Wait, erase that, even a hundred times is an understatement.

Everything just started to make sense.

And when things get tough, you didn't push me away.

Your eyes shine differently when love hits you hard. You glow like the insides of your well-being are made of a thousand light bulbs and when you smile, the curves on the corners of your mouth form a different arc. It just feels different, it feels magical. It feels raw and it changes you.

And now my home is in between the two arms of who used to be a stranger.

Then there's a lifetime waiting for us. And if this lifetime ends, I'll look for you in the next one and in every lifetime after that.

Oh, and one more thing, you made me excited to approach all of our tomorrow. Not perfect, but sure as hell as fine.

I found a love like 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in you.

Love that is so patient, so kind. When it doesn't envy and it doesn't boast. It is not proud, just proud to have you. It does not dishonor. It is not self-seeking. It isn't easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil. It rejoices and praises the truth.

It always protects.

It always trusts.

It always hopes.

It always perseveres.

And it will always be a definition of you.

And of how we will shower the same love we felt to our little bundle of sunshine.

I thought that love only hits you hard once—to the person you're destined to be with for the entirety of your life.

But my eyes shone differently for the second time when we learned about her because love, once again, hits me hard. It made us glow like the insides of our well-being are made of, not a thousand, but a million light bulbs and when we smile, the curves on the corners of our mouth form a different arc.

It just feels different, it feels magical. It feels raw and it changes you.

Her eyes will shine so brightly, it will illuminate the darkest of rooms. It only sees the good in people—the bright and the lovely. Her cute little tiny feet will be travelling to distant places and will be conquering the world. That in every land she steps into, it will turn into a garden full of roses because she's standing in it. Her hands, although cannot hold tight of her milk bottle, will become like the hands of Midas, that everything she touches will turn into gold. Her giggle will be the music to our ears and it will be enough to take away all the weight the day has given us. We'll be coming home to her every single day and we will be loving her for all the days of our lives. And her heartbeat, her heartbeat will play this joyous tune we'll ever hear that will make ours beat triple times.

And if the world becomes too harsh on her, she doesn't have to worry, because her home is in between my arms and yours, and her lullaby will be the music of our hearts beating when she snuggles in our chest for comfort. And we'll keep her safe and sound.

Because there's only one important thing right now.

Her.