LOVE&FAMILY

24) Love & Family

I bit my lower lip, "Have... Have you ever loved Cecelia?"

After he understood the question, a small smile appeared on his face, "the absolute truth?"

I nodded. He stood up and went to the swing next to me, sat on it and looked to the sky.

"Cecelia was and is that dream girl that everyone watched from afar, that never looked at me twice or if they did, it will only be for a ball then, I am forgotten to them. So, when she came to me, talked, laughed and actually showed genuine interest, I had to be moved"

He looked at me with red cheeks and guilty eyes, "to speak the truth, at that time, I adored her"

He looked to the sky again, "at that time, of course, I did not really know you. Our first conversation actually happened because... Um... Ah," he wasn't easy.

I smiled, "Because of Meg, I know"

"Well, yeah, that. Then, the men did not do you any justice so; I decided to stay with your sister though you really interested me!"

I raised an eyebrow, "interested you!!"

He smiled, "Yeah, I loved our conversations and I was very interested to know, well, how your brain works"

I laughed loudly, I just could not suppress it and when I looked at Edward his cheeks were redder than tomatoes.

"Proceed, Sir!" I said.

He cleared his throat, "as I was saying, I preferred Cecelia at the time and seeing that you got well with Charles really helped the situation. With time, my affections increased for your sister and to speak the truth for you too. But your sister was much more. I proposed to her and she accepted then, well, I started to see a new face of Cecelia"

"The society lady face," I said a little distant and to myself more than to him, "the face I hate the most"

"Yes," he replied also a little distant, "after marriage, that face dominated our life more until I forgot the face that I loved... The person that I loved"

"That was a very dark era in my life," he continued with hurt, "my work was getting harder, I was facing a lot of problems, then. No wife by my side and no one to talk to. I was shattered," I felt his hand on mine again, "then, you came. You came with conversations, comforting, love, caring and happiness. You came and made everything bad in my life good. Then, you tried to distance yourself and I was so scared, then. I was scared that my life will become dull again. You made me so happy that I couldn't imagine my life without you"

He paused then, continued, "The answer to your question is yes, I adored her in a part of my life and I loved her in the rest. Even when you were with me, there was still a part of me who loved Cecelia, the true Cecelia, not the social heartless lady who couldn't care less about me"

A smile appeared on my face and it was my turn to kneel in front of him. I rested my head on his legs and he played with my hair.

"You are not angry?" He asked.

I looked at him, "I admire you, now more than I ever did, before"

He frowned, "I am happy to hear that but... But why?"

I touched his cheek, "Because I will have a husband who loved his wife though she was not perfect or even near it"

"So you are not calling our engagement off?" He asked with a hopeful smile as he stood up.

"Of course, not," I shouted as I stood up.

He smiled, took me for a hug and spun in a circle. A joyful scream came out of my mouth as my feet were off the ground.