Page 80 of Eternally London

“I’ve really been slacking in my old age,” he jokes.

“Totally.” I smirk.

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” he says, his voice lowering to a husky whisper.

“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do?” I ask eagerly.

“You’re going to have to wait. It’ll be a surprise. But you’ll enjoy yourself. I promise.” He kisses me.

“I always do,” I say when he pulls away.

“Shall we go make sure our kids aren’t choking or fighting?” he asks.

“Probably a good idea.” I take his hand in mine. “Are you ready?” My stare goes down toward the water.

Loïc repositions himself with his free hand and then replies with a nod, “Ready.”

I walk to the shore with the love of my life, toward our greatest blessings, in one of the most special places on earth. Their voices carry out to us, and even though they’re bickering—this time about whether I used peach or apricot jelly on the sandwiches—the sound makes me smile.

They’re my entire world.

I’ve spent my life traveling, never settling down in one place for too long. Important milestones are marked by geography instead of time. Sweet memories are categorized by where I was when I experienced it. These places hold meaning; they shaped my life.

My world started in Berkeley, California, when a perfect baby boy was left on a fire station step. He was adopted by an amazing family who carried the fateful name that I’m so blessed to hold now, too. We named our eldest daughter after the city where I’d discovered the greatest love of all—the love a parent has for their child. We named our twins after the city where we’d first fallen in love—Ann Arbor. We fly into London every summer, where so much of Loïc’s family history exists, to spend precious months of time in our own utopia.

I’ve been all over the world and seen some incredible places. Yet our family holds the names of the most spectacular, the ones that changed me forever. These places remind me of the true miracles in my life—my reasons, the ones that make every step in this journey of life so very worth it.

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