"This is the last of it," Michelle announced, holding two small plants that I'd bought yesterday. "Where do you want them?"
Mads looked from the dresser where she was folding and tucking away our clothes, to her mother, then to me—and smirked as she gave me a wink. "Ask Harry. Those are his purchases."
I grinned her way before looking at Michelle. "You can just leave them in here for now. I'll figure out where to put them later."
It was officially moving day. Mads had been bringing things into our New York flat for months, but today was the day where we each moved the rest of our stuff over. Of course, I didn't have too much, myself. Only some clothes, really, and whatever Madelyn and I had bought together. The rest was spread out between my house in L.A. and my house in London. But this... this was home now. This was where I would always want to be.
Mark and Will walked into the room, both sweaty and panting. "Just brought in the armchair." Mark said. "That's it for the furniture."
Michelle studied the two succulents she was still holding. "I think these would be nice in here. Maybe by the window." She walked over to where I was standing, trying to fit the linen curtains we'd purchased onto rods.
"Did you guys want me to run the dishwasher?" Emily asked, poking her head into our bedroom. "I put some of the bowls in there, but I didn't know if there was anything else you wanted to go through."
"No, you can run it," Mads said, folding one of my shirts. Emily headed back down the hallway.
"Do you need us for anything else?" Mark asked, his hands on his waist, dark patches of sweat on his navy blue t-shirt.
"Did you put the chair where I told you to?" Mads asked, pausing with another of my shirts in hand to look at her brothers.
"No, we brought it all the way up here to toss it out the window," Will said, crossing his arms.
Mads pressed her lips together even as I snorted a laugh, but before she could say anything to them (or to me), her mother interrupted.
"Madelyn, what is this?" Michelle asked, now at the nightstand Mads had claimed as hers when she'd piled it high with lotions and books and boxes still unopened. Michelle lifted the top off of a shoebox. "Why do you have these?"
I glanced over as Michelle rifled through the box, the curtain rod momentarily forgotten in my hands as the sound of clinking and clanking filled our bedroom.
"Mom, just..." Mads let out a sigh as she hurried around the bed toward her mother. "Just leave it alone."
"You need help getting these up?" Mark asked, and I only realized he was speaking to me when I felt the weight of the rod lessen at the other end.
But before I could say thank you, Michelle's next question sliced through my concentration. "Since when do you collect Snapple caps?"
I whipped my head around, the metallic sound now making sense, and my heart thumped a little erratically as Mads met my eye.
Only for a moment though. She blushed, smiled quickly, and took the top of the shoebox from her mother to fit it back on. "Mom, you don't have to start looking through everything now that we're done bringing it inside. You can head home if you want."
Mark made a sound low in his throat—something like a warning paired with amusement. His eyes were wide when I looked at him, and I smiled as he stepped up onto the ladder with the curtain rod—trying to prevent that smile from turning into laughter.
We both knew what was coming.
"So, that's the thanks I get for packing up my car with all of your things, and, and, driving you over here, and picking up little things here and there that I thought you might want to have in your new home. For giving birth to you, I—"
Mads sighed, and she was holding the shoebox now. "Okay. You're right. Okay? Don't get so dramatic."
She rolled her eyes a little when I looked over at her, and I swallowed back what I was sure would be a more audible laugh as Mark tugged a little on the curtain rod. I held my end up so that he could fit his into place.
"Shit, Maddie-o. Little harsh, don't you think?" Will asked from where he stood by the door. But I didn't have to be looking at him to know he was smiling, too.
"Language, Will," Michelle scolded.
We all laughed a little then, and Mads was still giggling as she said, "Well, she didn't need to pull out the birth card!"
"She is standing right beside you, and she is your mother. You'd do well to remember all that I do for you, Madelyn," Michelle said before pushing aside more of the clutter on the nightstand and setting the succulent she was still holding down onto it.
If this conversation had taken place when I'd first started dating Madelyn, I would've been quaking in my shoes right about now. Mads and her mum had always had a rather tumultuous relationship, and this kind of conversation would've ended with either Mads or her mum (or both) storming off, the misunderstanding like a wall between them.
But a lot can change in five years. People, especially.
Mads threw her arms around her mother, a wide smile on her face. "I know, and I love you, Ma," she said with a laugh, closing her eyes.
Michelle laughed a little herself before her arms went around her daughter, and she held on just as tightly. Still, she gave an exasperated sigh before saying, "I love you, too."
I stared at the two women, my heart warming at the sight. And when Mads opened her eyes, still hugging her mother, when she looked at me her blue eyes caught the sunlight, and sparkled even more than the diamond ring she now wore on her finger.
Every day for the past two weeks—every second of every day—felt just like that moment when she'd said yes. Two weeks chock-full of breathless, exhilarated, completely, overwhelmingly, head-over-heels in love kinds of moments that left me with nothing but disbelief, and the most perfect kind of happiness.
She'd said yes.
And as if she knew what I was thinking, she smiled at me over her mother's shoulder, the memory rushing into her gaze.
"Yes!" she had shouted in my bedroom after I'd opened the box with her ring nestled inside it.
I hadn't even had a chance to ask the question.
I'd started laughing so hard, her response to my unasked, but heavily implied question leaving me deliriously happy, all I'd found myself able to do for the moment was kiss her.
Mads had grabbed onto my face in return, pressing her smiling lips to mine over and over again as we both continued to laugh. I tasted the salt of her tears before I finally managed to pull myself away—and I was still holding onto her ring.
"You didn't even give me the chance to ask," I'd said, still chuckling. "I had a speech planned and everything."
The sheets she'd been clutching to her chest had puddled around her waist, and she was gasping as she laughed, her cheeks completely red, before she brought her shaking hands down to tug the sheets up again. Tears were still streaming down her face, and she had sniffled before saying, "You're right. I'm sorry, I—"
I ran my fingers down her warm cheek, chuckling even more. "You're apologizing?"
Mads had barked a breath of laughter and closed her eyes, shook her head—as if she, too, were feeling dizzy.
"Go ahead. I promise I won't interrupt." She'd opened her eyes and taken a deep breath.
But she'd already said it. She'd already said yes. And I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.
I'd taken a deep breath then, too, still trying to right something inside of me that felt like it had toppled over. But it seemed that my new state of being was one that was off-kilter, spinning madly in an endless circle of happiness. And I was more than willing to adjust.
"Madelyn," I'd said, wondering where to start now that all the words I'd been planning to say had been upended along with the rest of my emotions. I'd chuckled again, the only thing to do, it seemed, to release any of what I was feeling. The hand holding her ring was shaking.
Mads had reached out, though, steadied it, and looked right into my eyes. Hers were still teary, and she was still gasping quietly, trying to catch her breath.
I wasn't sure mine would ever completely return.
I'd clutched her hand with my free one, intending to wing this now as best I could. "I—you know I love you. More than I ever thought it was possible to love another person."
She'd laughed again—a breathless happy sound that matched what was going on inside me perfectly. There was nowhere for this kind of happiness to go but out.
"But you may not realize that ever since I met you, I've imagined this moment. Asking you this question. Hoping for the answer that would jump-start the rest of my life. The rest of my life with you."
She'd whimpered a little then, and squeezed my fingers. But she'd still been smiling even though her bottom lip was quivering.
I'd glanced down at our joined fingers. "I—I was so in love with you so soon after I met you, and..." I looked up. "I knew that what we had was real. I knew that it was rare."
I'd smiled at her.
"Which is why..." I'd glanced down at the ring that I'd picked out—a vintage 2 carat round stone that the jeweler had called an "Old Mine Cut", surrounded by smaller diamonds in a platinum band—as beautiful and unique as she was. "I was able to ask your father for his blessing before he passed." Madelyn only stared at me for a moment, her eyes widening, her lip quivering even more. Then, her face crumpled, and the tears she'd successfully bested moments before streamed down her cheeks once more. "And I asked your mum, too, the last time I saw her."
As if she hadn't been able to help herself, she'd leaned forward, let her head fall to my lips as she cried, and I left kisses across her forehead, brushing her hair back. "And you should know," I kissed her hair as she dug her face into my chest, "that they both gave it to me."
Her body shook with sobs then, so I waited a bit, held her close, breathed her in. But I was too nervous to wait much longer, so before she'd lifted her head, I went on, "I feel like I've always known it was you. Even when we first met, there was... something about you. Something that lit a fire inside of me."
She'd lifted her head then, sniffled, looked into my eyes. Her cheeks were blotchy, her nose and eyes red. I brushed more of her hair aside.
"In every way, you are that fire, Mads. You bring out the very best bits of me. Every day, you inspire me with your love, with your kindness, with your laughter... And I couldn't ask for more than that, Mads. The years we spent apart..."
Madelyn's brow had crinkled with sorrow at that point, and that wasn't what I wanted. I'd only wanted to make her smile. I'd only wanted to keep her happy.
"I lost that fire when I lost you. I lost that bit of me that you bring out. And I never want to lose that—to lose you—again."
The time spent without her. It had strengthened me as much as it had broken me. Because it had forced me to understand with absolute certainty that life without Madelyn was simply not good enough. And that meant that I had to fight for her, work with her, love her as much as was possible in the time we had together. Every single day.
"All I want, all I hope, is that I can make you just as happy as you make me—every single day for the rest of my life, if you'll let me. You're my perfect complement, and I know now, more than ever before, that I don't want to live this life without you by my side."
Mads was still crying, but at that, she started to laugh again.
My smile grew, too. "So, Madelyn Jane... my girl..." I held the ring up for her to see again, and she clamped her lips together as she looked from it to me. And I chuckled when I realized she was stopping herself from shouting out the answer again before I could ask the question.
I had put her out of her misery at that point. "Will you marry me?"
Mads had sucked in a breath then, and it was more a gasp of happiness than anything else. "Yes!" She nodded emphatically, smiled widely. "Yes, Harry, of course I will."
My heart picked up it's pace now just thinking about it, just as it had in that moment, when I laughed in disbelief and slid the ring onto her finger. Relieved tears had fallen from my eyes when she'd kissed me, when she'd pushed me back onto the bed and kept repeating, "Yes," breathlessly all over my skin as we made love once more.
It was the best day of my life.
But so was every day since.
"Harry!" a voice called, and I looked up at Mark still standing on the ladder. He smiled when I met his eye. "Hold it up a little higher for me, buddy."
Mildly embarrassed by how distracted I'd gotten, I did my best to keep my focus on the job at hand, and tried to ignore the way her presence in the room felt like a constant shiver down my spine.
But all day, as her family helped us put together our apartment in a way that we'd both envisioned, I was distracted by her. Whether she walked by and kicked up a breeze of coconuts, or laughed from across the room, or slid by me so that our arms brushed—I was aware of it all. But because we were busy, and because we weren't alone, there wasn't much I could do about it—except look forward to tonight, when we'd spend our first night together in our new home.
So until then, every so often I'd touch her just to touch her—whether it was running a hand down her arm, or letting my fingers linger on the small of her back, or even something as simple as making sure to touch her fingers when she handed me a water bottle. And when I could, I'd steal a kiss, leaving her a giggling, blushing, beautiful mess.
She was my fiancee. She was going to be my wife. And the thought of that hadn't yet ceased to leave me a giggling, blushing mess, too.
Even at dinner, when we all sat around the dining room table eating pizza as the waning rays of the day's sunlight filtered into the room, I couldn't keep my eyes off her.
Madelyn's hair had been in a messy bun all day, and strands of it fell into her eyes as she laughed at something her brothers were saying. She kept having to flick them out. And she was wearing one of my t-shirts—a plain white one through which I could make out the lines of her gray sports bra. And even though she'd worn my t-shirts many a time, the sight never failed to turn me on. Not to mention the fact that she'd been running around in a tiny pair of bum-hugging shorts all day as well.
When her cheeks went pink from laughing, I wished I'd chosen a seat next to her so that I could slide my hand over her knee. Perhaps let it skim along her skin on it's way a little closer north.
But we were all exhausted and sweaty, and everyone had sort of just fallen into seats when the food came—the first time any of us had the chance to sit all day.
So, for the time being, I could only continue to be aware of her, to watch her, to be completely distracted by her.
But that was okay. Because as soon as next week, I'd be leaving again. And I needed to commit her, this, every single moment, to memory before saying goodbye.
It was an exciting time in my career as well as my personal life. I'd be promoting my next solo album, filming the music video for the first single, traveling around the world doing television performances and greeting fans and getting everyone excited about the release.
Then, I'd be able to come home to her.
Only to have to go out again weeks later for tour.
This was our life now. This was what she'd lived with in all the time we'd been together, and this was what had very nearly broken us completely more than once. But this was what she had agreed to. This was what she knew to expect. And this was what she'd put up with.
All to be with me.
The moment she'd said yes, she hadn't just said yes to living her life with me. She'd said yes to living her life with the eyes of the world on her. And though it had always been something I didn't want for her, the magnitude of her choice, of the way she loved me, had been settling into me these last couple of weeks—as if the weight of what she was willing to do for me was putting roots down in my very soul.
And all the time we'd spent apart—the time she'd wanted to spend apart from me—made even more sense. Because a future with me would never be normal. She would always be in the public eye. She would always need to watch what she did and said. And anyone, not just Mads, would need time to decide if that was what they really wanted.
Time that she'd had. Time that hadn't changed her mind.
Not only did she want to be with me. She wanted to marry me.
I felt like the luckiest guy in the world.
"Harry," Michelle said as she and the boys and Emily filed out later that evening. She reached an arm out to hook it around my shoulders, and kissed my cheek as she pulled away from our hug. "Enjoy your first night."
"Thank you. And thank you for all your help."
Michelle waved a hand as if to say it was nothing, and gave me a wink. "That's what family's for."
My heart pounded hard once, then went warm all over. And I couldn't help my grin.
"Right," I said, sensing Mads just beside me hugging Emily. I squeezed Michelle's arm. "Get home safe."
Michelle smiled and touched my cheek. And she didn't say the words, "I love you," but she didn't have to.
I remembered that night when I'd asked her for her blessing all too well.
After I'd left Madelyn asleep on the couch, closed the sliding glass door leading into their backyard, and walked over to her where she was sitting on a deck chair, Michelle had gripped my hand.
"Sit, Harry," she'd said, gesturing to the chair beside hers.
So, I'd sat.
And tried to come up with words.
But after maybe thirty seconds, when all I'd managed to do was sit forward and tangle my hands together between my knees before deciding that wasn't making me more comfortable and sitting back again, Michelle had laughed, leaned forward, and touched my hands again.
"Will told me, you know," she'd said.
And when I'd turned to look her in the eye, she was smiling.
"That day, when you spoke to him, after you spoke to me and told me how much you loved Maddie, after you both left... he told me what you said." She studied me. "You mentioned marriage to him."
I'd taken a shaky breath then, and clasped my fingers together again. "I did."
Michelle's lips pursed a little before she let them widen in a grin. "You want to mention it again now."
I'd grinned, too, even as my heart sped up. "I want to do more than mention it."
Michelle gave my hand another squeeze now, before she walked out into the hallway after her sons and daughter-in-law. And I could barely remember what I'd said when I asked, but I would never forget what she had said.
I'd been in such a rush to get words out, afraid Mads would wake up and I'd miss my chance to ask, that the words came out all jumbled. So Michelle had lain a hand on my arm and shushed me.
"Harry..." she'd said, and paused to gather her thoughts, her eyes falling to her hand on my arm. "Will and I, when we talked about what you said that night... Well, let's just say, I've been anticipating this conversation for a good long time now. Looking forward to it, even."
I'd done nothing but stare at her. I didn't know what else I could do.
And she'd struggled a little bit, too, at that point. I'd been able to see her turning words over in her mind, swallowing back emotion she didn't want to show.
So, when she'd finally been able to speak, the sight of tears in her eyes made something burn at the back of mine.
"If I'd been given the chance to handcraft a partner for my daughter," Michelle had squeezed my arm then, looked right into my eyes, "he still wouldn't have been as wonderful as you." I'd squeezed her hand in return, feeling my bottom lip quiver as she pressed hers together. "I think... we've all really come to love you, Harry. I've come to love you. So, yes. You absolutely have my blessing." She shook my arm a little bit as one tear worked it's way down her cheek. "Will's, too."
Now, Michelle glanced back at us as she and her sons made it to the elevator, and she smiled at me as it dinged.
Mads sidled up next to me, slipping her arm around my waist as we waved goodbye to her family, and she kept it there as we closed the door.
Leaving us alone.
Finally.
In our apartment.
Mads blew out a breath and gave me a great big, exhausted smile, her arm still snug around my waist. "We did it."
"We did it," I repeated before kissing her temple.
She turned to face me, still smiling, and wrapped both arms around my waist, keeping her lower half pressed against mine as she looked up at me. "We live here now."
I did my best to pull her even closer, and grinned down at her. "And thank God they left cause I've been thinking about nailing you all day."
Mads' eyes widened for only a moment before she burst out laughing, and the sight made my heart stutter. "So, it's true what they say..." she said when she was able to catch her breath, "the ring's on my finger, and romance is officially dead."
She gave me a wink as she pulled away, and I followed her to the kitchen, watching her hips swing all the way to the sink. "You mean that wasn't romantic?"
Mads giggled again as she ran the faucet and began rinsing the glasses we'd left in the sink. "Not quite." She glanced at me over her shoulder. "But I won't say it didn't work either."
I grinned when she smirked at me again, and walked closer to her. She giggled a little more when I gripped her hips, and leaned into me as I pressed myself against her. The running water was like white noise between us, and she held a glass under it, turning it over and over so that soapy suds swirled down the drain.
"How about this, then..." I said into her ear, and I felt her body shudder in my arms as my breath hit her skin. I smirked, and kept my voice low. "I couldn't keep my eyes off you all day."
Mads stiffened a bit. "A little bit better."
"Hmm, these shorts," I slid my hands down her hips until they found the warmth of her skin, and skimmed the tips of my fingers around to her bum, "how was I supposed to stand a chance?" Her head fell against my shoulder. "That's not to mention the fact that you're wearing my t-shirt, which, Mads... you know how I feel about you in my clothes."
Mads giggled again and turned her head, bringing her lips much closer to mine than they were moments before.
"And your laugh, Mads..." I stared at her mouth, felt the corners of mine quirk up. "That beautiful smile." It fell a little bit as I spoke, but only because she was listening so intently. I studied her whole face. "I can't believe how lucky I am. I can't believe that this—you... I can't believe how lucky I am that you are my life now."
Mads turned in my arms, and I could see the emotion in her eyes as she scrambled to come up with something to say. I touched the sides of her face.
"I can't believe how lucky I am that I get to have this every single day of my life—the smiles, the laughter... the sight of you in these shorts."
When Mads started laughing again, her eyes were shining, and I chuckled along, because Jesus I was so happy.
Mads reached up then, took my hand in hers. And I looked down at our joined fingers, touched the ring I'd placed on her left hand nearly two weeks ago, and smiled. "I can't remember the last time I was this happy. I don't think I've ever been this happy, and that's all down to you, my girl. I don't think you even understand just how happy you've made me."
"Oh, I understand," Mads said, breathing a chuckle as she squeezed my fingers. "I understand completely." She reached up to touch my jaw.
I couldn't help my grin as I stared into her eyes. And I wanted to be closer to her. So, I pressed my forehead to hers, and when she closed her eyes, I closed mine.
And I don't know how long we stood like that in the silence of our flat. There was more to do. We still had boxes we hadn't finished unpacking, and there were still some things we needed to purchase for the bathrooms and the office and the guest bedroom, and there were still dirty glasses in the sink, but none of it mattered in that moment.
Because all that mattered in that moment was that we were home.
"So..." I said to end the silence. And I smirked when she opened her eyes. "How was that for romantic?"
Mads scoffed and whacked my arm as she turned back to the sink. "Such an ass."
"What's this? The ring's on your finger so you're starting with name-calling?" I looped my arms around her waist again and pulled her close, nuzzled her neck.
"Like that wasn't deserved."
When she giggled, I lifted her up off her feet.
"Harry!" she shouted through her laughter as I carried her away. "The water's running!"
"I'll get it in a minute," I said, heart pounding at the thought of what I was about to do. "We haven't christened the new couches yet."
Mads giggled as I carried her over to one of them. But she wasn't giggling for long, because once I got those shorts on the floor, she had to save her breath for other things.
The water was running for much longer than a minute.
We were both completely knackered by the time we actually made it into bed. But still, we were smiling. Because as Mads curled up beside me beneath our new sheets, as she fit her arms around me and I pulled her as close as possible, and as we looked around at our new room, neither of us truly felt like sleeping despite our exhaustion.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Mads asked as we stared up at the moon streaming in through our window.
We'd left the curtains cracked open for that very reason.
"But like, a really, really good weird," she clarified.
And I grinned. I knew what she meant. It didn't feel real, being in that bed with her, knowing that our whole lives were ahead of us—completely ours for the taking.
I played with her wet hair. "A bit." Then, I turned to kiss her. "But I'm with you, so... things are always a bit weird."
Mads smacked my chest, and the two of us were off laughing again.
And I wondered when—if—each moment with her would stop feeling like the best one I'd ever had.
I hoped it never happened.
She pressed her face into my shoulder when we calmed, and I could feel the moist heat of her breath on my bare skin. She touched her lips to it.
"I know we've already been together again for a year, and I know we've been in love with each other a lot longer, and I know we've been engaged for a couple weeks," she said softly, "but... I don't know. For some reason, tonight, being right here with you right now... this feels like our beginning."
I turned my head to look at her.
"Doesn't it?" she asked, her blue eyes wide and open and full of love.
Staring at her, in our bed, in our bedroom, in our apartment—knowing that every night for the rest of our lives I'd be looking into her eyes—
I swallowed over the lump in my throat.
"Yeah," I said, and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling her close. And holding her in my arms—feeling her breathe onto my skin, feeling her heart beat in time with mine—I intended to savor every second. "It does."
___
Author's Note:
The image at the top is what Madelyn's ring looks like, but if you'd like a better look at it, go to this link: https://www.estatediamondjewelry.com/product/2-04ct-old-mine-cut-diamond-engagement-ring/
I've never given much thought to what I'd like my engagement ring (should I ever get engaged) to look like, but it turns out I have very expensive taste, HA!
Lots of love to you all as we end A Love Like Ours for good. I hope that you enjoyed the epilogue, and I can't wait to pick up Madelyn and Harry's story again in September!
Thank you for EVERYTHING.
xx