The Illusion

Epilogue - Part 1

Leo's hand held on tight to my thigh through the white silk dress. He was driving, the wind was in my hair. My family were unaware we'd managed to escape the claustrophobic rehearsal dinner and I had not a single clue on where he was taking me, but it wasn't there.

The air was hot this year, suffocating if it wasn't for the breeze whipping around us as Leo pushed the car a little faster. He'd never been one to do things in small doses. All or nothing and nothing wasn't actually an option.

I turned in my seat slightly, watching his relaxed side profile. Amber sunglasses covered his perfect eyes, the white shirt I'd forced him to wear clinging to every muscle, every vein his tattoos peeking from under every single hem. A smile line appeared on his cheek, squeezing my leg a little tighter as my stomach flipped.

I'd met Leo in the middle of chaos. In the darkest of rooms, in the darkest time of my life. The first 2 months of us wasn't just life changing. It shattered me and I've spent 2 years rebuilding myself from the aftermath with my hand in his. And in a few hours he'd be my husband. I'd have a new ring to sit on my left hand and he'll have one to match and forever it's going to be us against the world. I wanted to take this in right now. To absorb the good and let it swallow all the darkness whole.

Leo was the good in the world. He was a light in the dead black of my night. A lightning bolt in the middle of a storm. A torch during a power outage. He's my hope that everything gets better. He can hold my hand and paint me with bruises from his lips, he can wrap a hand around my throat and have tears streaming down my face as my lungs collapse and my body explodes with hormones.

When my world was burning he didn't stop it. He burned with me. He held my hand and we burned to cinders. We emerged, slowly. Nurturing each other as we rose, wounded and weak and we rebuilt a new life. A life where we were both safe and could make our own choices, together. A life we now thrived in without bloodshed. The parks handed off their businesses for huge profits and invested in genuine sales. We've lost enough. Alara was enough.

Leo pulled up into a look out we'd found last year when we came out here looking for the best villa, for our big day. We knew we wanted to be somewhere sunny where we could put down some roots eventually. He pulled on my thighs, moving me across the car and into his lap.

"You look unreal Rey. Let's go get married now. Like right now."

"You can wait like 16 hours Leo. It's not going to kill you."

"Are you sure? Pretty sure I'm having a heart attack right now." I chuckled.

"Wait until you see me tomorrow." He grumbled at me, pushing his head as far into my neck as he possibly could, breathing in deeply when I pushed my nails into his freshly trimmed hair. "I've got a surprise for you."

"For me?"

"No, Yu. One of the guests. Yes. You. My husband. A surprise for my husband." He smiled.

"It sounds weird."

"It really does. I was just getting used to fiancé."

"Well, it'll only take you a year to get used to husband. That puts us on a good timeline really. You smell so good. Take your dress off." I laughed, head falling back as he kissed down my chest. "I'm not joking."

"Excuse me. No sex before marriage." He snorted, lifting his head up. "I'm a good little catholic girl."

"Not what you were saying last night when you were on your knees, chocking on my-"

"LEO." He burst into laughter, echoing through the otherwise silent canyon. "Carry on and I'll become a horrible naggy wife."

"That simply isn't possible. You could never nag me, I do my jobs straight away so you don't need to."

"I'm sure I can find something to nag you about. I want to redecorate the spare rooms."

"Again? Rey, we did them like 4 months ago. Those rooms have had more redecorating since we moved in than they probably did in the last 10 years." I crinkled my nose, sitting back on his lap a little. "Why?"

"I don't know. I think it's a little dark."

"You chose the-" He closed his eyes and sighed, plastering a smile on his face. "You know what? You want to redo it baby, we can redo it."

"Okay good because I was thinking if we go with a beige like in the hallways we can just add more colours in the decorations right?"

"Mhm. Show me the boards." He smiled, perfect teeth as he reached for my bag, grabbing my phone and putting it in my sweaty hand. "How did I know you had boards?"

"Because I have nothing better to do with my life than make mood boards for everything." I pulled the phone away from his view and opened the PDF I'd saved a few days ago. I zoomed in, fitting it perfectly to my phone before smiling softly, turning it around to him.

"Okay, let's see," He pulled his sunglasses up onto his head, taking my phone and examining the series of pictures a little too closely. "Babe, these are nursery ideas. We said we wouldn't decorate until we got pregnant. The doctor said it could take months, it's not necessarily going to be quick easy." He looked up.

"I know." I leaned forward, pulling up and moving to the next page I had open. "Apparently it was though." He looked down for a quick second and back to me. "I said I was stuck in traffic on Thursday but I was at the hospital for the first scan. I was at the doctors on Monday with that nausea and I thought I could be but hadn't tested so we did and we worked it out so he sent me for-"

"Your pregnant?" I nodded quickly.

"12 weeks."

"12 WEEKS?" I bit down on my lip, nodding again. "How did we not-"

"You know how bad my periods are at following schedules and the signs I just put down to wedding planning and I thought I was just bloated with stress."

"But it's a baby?" I nodded, grabbing my bag and taking out the ultrasound scan and an envelope, Mr name written neatly across the front in what was possibly the prettiest cursive I've ever seen in my life. "Holy shit." He breathed out a laugh, grabbing my face and kissing me quickly, pressing his hand against my stomach and staring at the picture in my shaking hands. "Is everything okay?" I nodded, not really having many words right now. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"I didn't want to without you."

"We can-" I passed him the envelope. "It's in here?"

"Uhuh." He pulled his finger along the top of the paper, ripping it open but not taking out the paper inside. His fingers moved in gentle circles over the tiny bump.

"Whatever they are Rey, I don't care." He moved his hand to the back of my neck, pulling me down until my head was against his. "My whole world is right here. Me, you and them. I love you. Both. God. I love you both."

"Okay, open the letter before I throw up for the tenth time today."