The imagination of a perfect life

Chapter nine

Archie sits on the couch and pulls his dress shirt down lightly to keep it straight. Veronica is still in the bathroom. He grabs his phone to check the time, 7:15. He wanted to be at the restaurant by 7:30 but that won't happen anymore.

"Ronnie baby, are you ready?"

"In a second"

He takes another look at his lock screen and a little smile flashes over his face.
It's a picture of him, Veronica and the kids from their summer vacation in California two years ago. The twins were still tiny, only three years old. They are standing at the beach, a few palm trees in the back. He is holding Emilia in one arm, his other is wrapped around Veronica. Aurelia was shorter and is standing in front of Archie with her brother in her arms. Veronica's hand lies on her daughter's shoulders. All the kids have an ice cream cone in their hands even though the twins probably have more ice cream in their face than in their mouth.
Archie chuckles at the memory and runs his thumbs over the screen.

The sound of heels clicking against the floor bring him back to reality. His eyes travel from his phone to his wife walking towards him and his heart skips a beat.

"Wow Ronnie, you look.... wow" he gets up and takes her hands into his. His eyes travel up and down her body.
She's wearing a dark blue dress which defines her curves perfectly. Her raven curls lie over her shoulders and her makeup is simple but beautiful. He licks his lips and feels how his heart starts to race. He could look at her forever.

"Thanks" she grins.

He spins her around and pulls her into his chest. His hands rest on her stomach and his head on her shoulder so he can place little kisses to her cheek.

"You're so beautiful. The most beautiful woman in the world"

"Aww Archie, you're so cute" she squeals and kisses his lips softly.  "I love you"

"I love you too baby"

"Speaking of baby..."

"You want one?" he asks excitedly.

"Still no Archiekins but let's talk about that dog"

"Can we do that during dinner because I'm really hungry"

"Yes" she giggles.

•••

About 20 minutes later they sit across from each other in a sweet, little Italian restaurant. Their interlaced hands lie on the table. She keeps on talking about an episode of keeping up with the Kardashians but Archie's not really listening. He's just staring at her, absorbing her beauty. Sometimes he asks himself how he got so lucky. How or why did she fell in love with him and not someone else. He feels so blessed that she let him be the father of her children. From the second he met her, he knew he would spend the rest of his life with her. He adores her in every single way.

"Archiekins?"

"Huh?"

"Are you even listen to me?"

"I'm sorry baby, I got distracted"

"By what?"

He grins and squeezes her hand before he answers her question. "Your face"

"Wow" she giggles.

"Ronnie, can we talk about us?"

"Us? Is something wrong?"

"No, god no, no, I love you, more than anything else in this world. Everything's perfect" he says and runs his thumb over the knuckles.