"I can still see the look of the one who really loves me."
- Shania Twain, Forever and for always.

**

It was a warm spring afternoon in the compound of Hammedatha Manor - perfect for target practice. In the archery grounds were the two contenders for the position of General of the Prince's Guard, which would be decided in nine years time. Their trainer happened to be the current General as well as their father, Kieran Hammedatha.

He watched over the twins as they practiced archery and as usual, they bickered. Aurora and Levi liked to turn everything they did into a competition and so far, Aurora was ahead of Levi by 5 points.

At nine years of age, the twins were quite the stubborn pair, and caused mischief wherever they passed. If they weren't fighting with each other, they were fighting with their father. And if not with their father, with their younger brother, Prince Lukas' son, or their cousins. Well...play fighting, anyway.

Elena watched the twins argue about the extent to which Lukas' son was stuck-up, and shook her head. Lukas and Kieran were best friends, but their children were anything but. Aurora usually complained to Elena how mean he was to her.

One of these days, she would bring the twins - and Lukas' son before Lady Justice Mara's court for a conciliation hearing.

At the moment, she was settled on a bench with Maruja as they sorted some herbs together. Suddenly, Elena felt something move within her belly.

"Oh!" she chirped, placing a hand on her bump. "The baby moved."

"I noticed you stopped using pronouns," Maruja said from beside her. There was a large bamboo tray stacked with herbs in between them. "You and Kieran halted your fight about the gender?"

Elena smiled. "We decided to wait for the surprise."

Both of them had thought their second born after the twins would be a girl, but it turned out to be a boy. And three years ago, they'd argued about the gender of the third born - it was a girl. It was only a week ago that they finally decided to leave the next gender to fate.

"I want mine to be a girl," Maruja professed, looking at her own bump.

The two of them had gotten pregnant at around the same time, and were both 5 months along. Maruja's first born, a son, was now six years old. He was the spitting image of Aaron.

"And I want her to look like me," the redhead added. "Estelle looks so much like you, it's spectacular."

"Does she?" Elena put the herb branch in her hand onto the tray and looked up at the bright sky. "She has Papa Rory's ears, though."

Maruja sighed. "They all have Kieran's ears. What are you, a sorcerer?"

Elena giggled. The one thing she'd hoped and wished with all her heart for her children was for them all to inherit Kieran's bush baby ears, and they all did. Everyone in Hammedatha Manor knew how obsessed she was with his ears, and found it miraculous how her dreams came true.

"I just had unshakeable faith," Elena replied. She looked down and flinched with shock when she found a tiny human girl staring up at her.

She sighed as her heart calmed down. "Estelle, you scared me. Please do not show up out of nowhere like that. I have told you this many times!"

Maruja scoffed. "At least you know what it feels like. You still do that too, Elena. You and Estelle are a lot more alike than you believe."

Elena looked down at her three year old daughter, who was wearing a cute little floral print dress. Her hair was black and shoulder-length, her eyes a deep blue. Her skin was fair, and her cheeks and arms chubby. In her hands were three daisies.

Elena lowered her voice to a soft soothe as she spoke to her daughter. "Where's your brother? Weren't you playing with him?"

Estelle looked down at her daisies and twirled them in her hands.

"Did you leave him?" Elena asked.

Estelle shook her head, still looking at the flowers.

"Did he stop playing with you and go away?"

Estelle nodded her head.

Elena sighed. Of all her children, Estelle was the only shy and quiet one. As a result, no one could really tell what she wanted because she never said it or spoke much for that matter. She also never insisted, which made her an easy target to walk over.

"He's probably with my son," Maruja said to Elena.

Estelle looked up at Elena and extended one of the daisies to her.

Elena gasped. "For mama?"

Her daughter nodded.

Elena took it with a smile. "Thank you, sweetie."

"Teetie," Estelle murmured and gave the second daisy to Maruja, who in turn thanked her.

She held on to the third daisy and looked at it as she twirled it in her hand.

"For whom is the flower in your hand?" Elena asked softly.

With reluctance, Estelle turned her head towards the twins. Elena followed her gaze and realized she was looking at Kieran, whose back faced her.

"Is it for papa?" Elena inquired.

Estelle looked back at the flower and nodded her head.

"Then why don't you go and give it to him?"

Estelle didn't reply. She just stared at the flower as she twirled it.

"Estelle doesn't spend as much time with Kieran like she does with you," Maruja noted. "Is it possible that she's afraid of him?"

Elena knitted her eyebrows. "Honestly, I do not know," she confessed. "Estelle's a strange girl. She hides from him most of the time, but there are times when she is scared. For example when she has a bad dream or wakes up when the night light is out, or sees something that frightens her. At that point, the person she runs to is Papa Rory. And she won't let anyone but him touch her. She'll only sleep when he cradles her."

"She must have picked those habits from you, sister-in-law."

Elena rolled her eyes. She disregarded Maruja's statement and cooed at her daughter. "Estelle, sweetheart."

Estelle looked up at Elena with the same blue eyes.

"You gave this flower to me because you love me, right? And you gave one to Aunt Maruja because you love her as well, right?" said Elena. "Don't you love papa? By giving him that flower, you'll let him know that you love him." She stroked down her little girl's hair. "Like how he always tells you he loves you."

Estelle kept staring at Elena, who offered her a smile. "Will you give him the flower?"

Estelle nodded.

Elena watched as she turned and made her way to the three warriors. Halfway there, she turned and looked at Elena, who encouraged her to go on with a motion of her hand. Estelle walked forward and reached her father. The top of her head only reached his knee, so she had to tug on his trousers to get his attention.

Kieran looked down at the new comer and immediately grinned, saying something Elena couldn't hear. Estelle extended the daisy up to him and he gasped, bringing his hands to his mouth in mock shock. Elena smiled.

He said some words as he took the daisy, an Estelle nodded her head. He stretched his arms down to her and she lifted hers, letting him carry her up. She hooked her small arms around his neck and rested her head in his shoulder just as he faced the twins again.

Now that she was with him, it would be a hassle to separate her from him. It was the one thing Estelle insisted on, and Elena didn't blame her. Kieran's arms were quite addictive.

*****

The sun was setting, and Elena stood by the lake to witness the magical blend of the sunset colours in the sky, and beyond the meadow. It was something she never got tired of looking at, and sometimes wondered whether there was someone in the sky who painted those colours each evening. If so, he or she must have been the greatest painter in the universe to come up with such a marvelous view for the people below, and loved them a great deal to paint the sunset everyday.

She was startled when a pair of hands slipped across her belly from behind, but relaxed at the familiar touch, and the familiar scent. His hands caressed her bump as he snuggled his face in the curve of her neck.

"Hello, you two." His voice was a low hum in her ear, and her eyes fluttered close when he planted a kiss below her lobe. He felt warm and nice, and every slight display of affection always made her mellow.

Always.

"What are you thinking about?"

Elena turned around and looked at her husband while he kept one hand on her belly and the other at the small of her back. His hair was held up by that red and gold hair tie she'd given him so many years ago, and his ears stood out adorably. His olive skin gleamed in the orange and yellow sunset colours, and his usually cyan eyes looked bright green in the light.

The brightness in them had everything to do with the way he gazed at her, and it made a toothy smile to split her face.

"About you," she replied.

He arched an eyebrow. "You're only saying that because I've just arrived."

"Yet that is what I am thinking about." Elena laughed. "About you and us, the life we've led and built over the years, and how long we've been together. In spite of it all, nothing ever gets old with you."

"Well except ourselves." He shrugged. "We will grow old."

Elena's fingers toyed with one of the two hanging strings on his dark red tunic. "Yes, but we'll grow old together. And in spite of how many children or grandchildren we raise in the old and grey future, the way you make me feel won't ever change."

"But of course." He grinned. "I'm Flames, aren't I?"

Elena giggled and nodded. She looked into his eyes the same way he gazed into hers. The brightness in his veered towards something dark, something deeper; a representation of want mixed with need.

"I love you, Elena. Forever and Always."

For a moment, her heart beat twice as fast. There were times when he said it and she smiled, when he said it and she melted, when he said it and her heart responded just like this.

She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. "You are so-"

Cheesy, she wanted to say. But she gasped instead when she felt an excited movement in her womb. His hand was still on her bump, and from the way his eyes went wide, he felt it too.

He looked down at her bump. "What was that, junior? You love me too?" He bent down and pecked her belly while her hand rested on his head.

"Mama needs some sugar too," Elena purred and tugged at his ponytail, causing him to raise himself up.

She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, tipping her head back. She heard him chuckle a moment before his lips met hers.

His kisses definitely never grew old. It was the same warmth and the same sparks and the same excitement. He kissed her slow and tender, like the way he did those times when he was being sweet. But whether the kisses were sweet or sizzling with passion, she loved them at whichever time.

He pulled back and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're glowing," he whispered as his eyes roamed her face.

"I am happy," she replied and brought her hands to his neck, her thumbs caressing his jaw. He locked his gaze with hers.

"I love you, Kieran. Forever and always."

He bit his lip, clearly holding back a smile. "You are so unoriginal. Don't just copy me. Say something fresh and-"

She rolled her eyes and drew him down to kiss him - deeply.

As deep as the fall she had when she fell for him.

THE END.

A/N:

That's all folks!

Shania Twain, because I am an old-timer.🤷🏽‍♀️

Started publishing: 19th October 2020.

Ended publishing : 22nd August 2021.

Thank you for reading and Please vote⭐😁