Gracie Hartford is the daughter of a very powerful man. He means well but his dirty motives cause a tear in his family. Once the power goes to his head Gracie wants to find her way out. Jonathan has a way out, but it's not so easy to get past her fa...
One look. All it took was one look and I fell in love. I didn't realize it then, but looking back it couldn't have been more obvious. I went home that night we met and our time together played over and over in my head. I could still smell her perfume in my tie, her voice played like a record in my head. If I closed my eyes I could still see her so perfectly. Her big curly hair and those beautiful hazel eyes.
And just like the first time I looked at her, every time after that stuck with me too. She was like my favorite song I wanted to play over and over and over again. And I do, I never get tired of that song and I never skip it.
So that brings us to now, the year 2021. Since 2010 we have won three more cups, I've played in over a thousand games and don't plan on slowing down any time soon.
Gracie and I have three beautiful children. The oldest is Bryan, he's 9 now and loves to play hockey. But he's a defensemen because he loved watching Duncan play when he grew up. Then the next oldest is Lucy, she's a fire ball. I think she's been hanging around uncle Patrick too long, they both made me want to pull my hair out. And the youngest one was Rutherford, or Ruth for short. Named after her amazing grandmother that she unfortunately will never meet. But she embodied her grandma, only 5 and such a wise little girl, she gets it from her mom really. Not too long ago Gracie gave her her moms necklace, I've never seen her take it off until then. Not when she was giving birth or swimming in the ocean. That necklace was a part of her, and now it's a part of our daughter.
Things haven't always been easy, but nothing compared to our first year together. And no matter how hard times get, I know that as long as I have her, there's nothing we couldn't do. We've been through lockouts and deaths and trails and tribulations. We've had our fair share of people who look at us and didn't agree with our choice to be together because of the color of our skin. But being together was never really a choice. It was more of a need-to-be basis than a want-to-be. But we never explained our relationship to those people. No point in wasting our breath. Instead we just fell more in love until eventually no one can question if we belonged together.
And as for today, it was our tenth wedding anniversary and we decided to go somewhere where we always talked about going. We still enjoy traveling and going to nice places. Plus we love coming home after it all and hanging out to with the kids and Maddie.
We end up in Africa for a week over the summer. Exactly ten years ago we said our I do's and now, after ten great years, we get to relax and simply enjoy our time together. We get to live out our dreams of coming back to the root of where Gracie's family started and I get to learn about yet another culture.
"Are you coming" Gracie asks as she walks out of the bathroom.
She had on s white shirt that showed off her beautiful baby bump. She was about four months along and I don't think she's stopped glowing since the first baby was born.
"Right behind you sexy mama" I assure her as I walk up behind her. I put my hands on her stomach and she smiles up at me.
"I wish my mom was here for this. She would have loved this" she insists.
"She's here" I promise. "She's always with us."
We head out of the B and B we were staying in and went into town. We helped the locals get clean water and we cooked everyone dinner. Even though Gracie was pretty far along in her pregnancy, she never wanted to sit down while we worked out here. It was hot but she never did complain. She felt like she belonged here, and she was right. Coming here was the best idea I've had since I proposed to her eleven years ago.
After a long day in. The hot African sun it was time to call it a day. I grab Gracie and take her a little way away from the camp sight we were at. The starts to set and I pull her to a little watering hole.
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"Wow" she gasps as she captures the beautiful scenery in her hazel eyes. She smiles big as she takes it all in. "Isn't this amazing" she asks.
"Almost as amazing as you" I tease and she giggles. She turns to me before pressing a quick kiss to my lips.
"It's been a great ten years, hasn't it" she asks.
"Yeah, it really has" I agree. "And i can't wait for the rest of our lives together."
