Ocean Eyes - Maddie Poppe and Caleb Hutchinson Series (Book 3)

Chapter 3

Maddie's POV

"I can't believe the house is actually ours now," I tell Caleb.

"I know," he agrees, "so when do you wanna move in it?"

"As soon as possible," I laugh.

"You got plans for today?" He asks me.

"Mhm," I nod and smile, "I'm going to look at wedding dresses today."

"Oh, are you?" He asks.

"Yup," I answer, and there's a knock at the door, "I got it," I tell him, "it's probably my mom."

I open the door, and sure enough, it's my mom. I hug her tightly as she hugs me back, "I missed you, sweetheart."

"I missed you, more," I say.

"It's good to see you, Caleb," she says.

"You too, mom," he smiles.

"I'm really glad that you're here," I tell her, "the wedding is planned but I still have to go after a wedding dress."

"I can't wait," she beams, "I'm very happy for both of you."

"Thanks mom," I smile.

"And I can't wait to be a grandma again!" She grins.

My sister, Hannah, and her husband have a two year old son named Mason.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I ask her.

"Oh, no," she answers, "I'm fine, thank you."

"I think Gabby and Catie are coming in a little bit, and then we can head out," I say.

"Okay!"

"I've already got my suit," Caleb winks.

"I know you do," I laugh.

When I finally have my wedding dress, Gabby suggested that I should leave it at her apartment until the wedding, which is two weeks from tomorrow, so Caleb won't see it.

I come home and find Caleb sitting on the couch and he smiles at me, "how'd it go?"

"Great," I sit beside him and lay my head on his chest, "I can't believe that two weeks from tomorrow is our wedding day."

"I know," he says, "when are we supposed to be out of here?"

"By Monday," I sigh, "at least we've almost got everything packed."

"Yeah," he says, "I think I'm gonna go shower real fast."

"Okay! I think I'm gonna get some more of my stuff boxed up."

He kisses my forehead before standing up and going into the bathroom. I go into our bedroom, and open another cardboard box. I open my closet and start going through the items on the floor. I then see a box in the very back corner of the closet. Confused, I pull it out and open it.

When I open it, all of the memories start flooding back from years ago when Caleb and I dated for the first time. I find a bunch of folded letters he wrote to me, the ink a little faded but still visible, and I go through and read every one. I set them down for a second and continue through the box. I find a necklace that he bought for me, and I even find letters that I wrote to him that I never gave him.

I wrote these letters when I was still crushing on him. I laugh to myself, noticing how awkward I was back then, not that it has changed. And to think that was how I was going to attempt to ask him out. I put those letters down and look in the box again. I then find my black 'soulmate' bracelet that I wore almost everyday back then. Caleb had the matching one, and I wonder if he still has it. Under that, I find old photographs of us. I smile looking through them.

After I'm through all the photos, I gasp when I see another bracelet. I pick it up and take the heart charm in between my thumb and index finger. I see the 'M + C' engraved on the first side, and I turn it over and see '2-22-18 - Forever' engraved on the other side of the charm.

Then I remember the night he gave it to me. It was the night of our first date after we got together. I wipe my eyes quickly when I feel tears about to spill. I quickly put everything back in the box, and looking at them again, I feel extremely nostalgic.

I smile to myself when I think about how far we have come. We never gave up on each other and it led us to this point. Everything is coming together just like I dreamed it would. I always knew we would find our way back to each other.

Caleb comes out from the shower, and finds me closing the box.

"Look at this," I chuckle, handing him the box as he sits down on the bed.

"What's that?" He asks.

"Open it," I say, sitting with him on the bed.

He starts through it and chuckles when he sees his old letters. He smiles when he sees the bracelets, and he looks confused when he finds my letters.

"You never gave these to me," he states.

"I know. I was crushing on you so hard when I wrote these. And I was always too chicken to give them to you," I say.

After he goes through everything, he closes the box and looks up at me, "Wow."

"I know," I laugh, "it's crazy to think that was like... five years ago, and look where we are now."

"Look where we are," he repeats, "right where we're supposed to be."