Harry's POV
Ryndy is three years old now. We moved out of Ryle's house two years ago, and now the three of us have started living in a house. Athena mainly goes to the university, works part-time, and takes care of Ryndy when she's home. She is a good mother.
I, on the other hand, am basically at home except for work, so when I'm at home, I cook and hang the laundry with my son.
Our son is growing up fast. He's three years old, so it may come as no surprise, but he's already walking around and speaking by himself.
But one thing I wonder a bit about is that he often looks at me and Athena alternately when we're together, and he smiles like he likes to see us close.
Of course, I adore him so much. He's smart. He's caring. He's cute. He's sweet. Even on days when I'm tired or have had a bad day, I feel instantly soothed when I see him.
Now he's walking towards me with his little feet. "Dad!" He jumps up on me.
I lift him and hold him. He smiles at me, and I smile back.
"Ryndy, I have an important thing. Would you listen to me?"
His eyes look curious. "Yes, Dad?"
I exhale a little, then make a soft expression. "I'm thinking about... getting married."
He looks at me straight, opening his eyes wide. "With mom?"
"Yes. What do you think?"
He starts to get excited, flapping his legs in my arms, but he also seems to be happy. "That will be great! You two getting married!"
I'm so pleased with his words, kiss his forehead, and make him sit next to where I'm sitting on the couch.
He's moving his fingers adorably.
"But I don't know if she would say yes..." I breathe out nervously, then shift my gaze to my son.
He blinks, looks convinced, and says, "I'm sure she would say yes. She loves you so much, Dad!"
I can't help but smile at his overly cute response. He looks really happy about it, too, and I'm gently reassured.
I bring my hand to his head. "Would you help me with it?"
"Sure, I'd love to!" I hear the sweetest answer from his mouth.
Athena's POV
When I get home, I feel a silence. The floor is neatly lined with rose petals like a path, and it looks like a gorgeous red carpet.
"Harry? Ryndy? Where are you?"
But there's no response. I look through all the rooms, but I don't see them. As I go back to the living room, I find a small piece of paper on the table.
It says, "Follow the roses."
I follow the rose path as the paper tells. As I proceed along it, I first come to a hallway. Next, it leads to a large window that opens onto the garden. The roses are connected to the other side of that window, so I open that window and go out into the garden. I just keep walking following the petals of the rose, but nothing happens. And when I walk to the end, there is a wall in front of me and it is a dead end.
I look around to see if there is another way, and then a voice comes toward me. "Mom!"
"Ryndy?" I say, holding him. "What are you doing here?"
He gives me a cheeky smile. "Did you follow the roses?"
"Yes." I nod. "What did it mean?"
He doesn't reply to it but takes my hand. "Dad is waiting for you. Follow me!"
I have no idea what it is about, but he pulls me along, and I go after him. He takes me to a back road that seems to be connected to our garden. Knowing that there's such a back road in our house, I wonder where it leads.
As I walk, I enter a certain dark forest. Surrounded by trees, it's very quiet and relaxing, but also somewhat eerie. Is Harry here? If he is, why would he come here? I've never seen him coming to a place such as this.
But Ryndy's escort is not finished. He is still holding my hand and pulling, going all the way to the straight and narrow. We keep walking in the forest and finally find a small light.
Ryndy seems so happy and jumps up as he sees it, and then he pulls my hand harder than earlier and starts to run. I feel like a mother being pushed around by her son.
We go through a loophole. The loophole is a quite long way to walk, or run. When we get to the end of the loophole, he finally stops. As I gasp for air, trying to catch my breath, I open my eyes wide and am amazed at the view in front of me.
"Wow..."
There is a beautiful sea in front of me. The combination of the unblemished blue water and today's blue sky, which is clear and cloudless, is the most beautiful view I've ever seen.
"Babe." Then I hear a familiar voice from behind.
"Harry," I call him as I see how gorgeous he is. "You look... great."
He smiles. "Thanks, babe. You look beautiful as always, too."
The next moment I realize that I'm pulled closer to him, and our noses touch. He has a comfortable smile on his face, showing his dimples, which relaxes me.
"I love you," he says. But I feel his hand holding something, so I shift my gaze to it.
It's a ring.
"Athena," he breathes out. "I know we've been through a lot since we met. We've had many fights, we've taken many dangerous paths, we've troubled a lot, but we've also overcome them together. I need you in my life and I can't think of my life without you. I love you more than anyone else."
He gets down on one knee, holding the ring out to me.
"Will you marry me?"
I don't even have to say yes. Tears falling from my eyes tell everything, and he knows it. I jump to him and hug him so tightly, kissing him on the neck. "I love you, Harry. And of course, yes! I'd love to marry you!"
He hugs me back, and then gives me a passionate kiss. When I remove my arm from his neck and place my feet on the ground, I slowly hold out my left hand to him.
We both smile at each other.
Now he puts the ring on my ring finger. It's beautiful. Everything is beautiful. I stare at it as the diamonds sparkle on my finger. In the same way, the silver bracelet on my left wrist is also sparkling.
We are never enemies.
We are never enemies with benefits.
Because enemies with benefits can't have feelings for each other.