Page 64 of Chula
Epilogue
Luna
One year later
I finished everything I had to do inside our new place. When we first got here, we rented a place while we had something built. I think it was the best decision that we’ve made since coming here.
I walk outside to find Marco sitting on the beach. His legs are stretched out in front of him, and he has no shirt on. I can see the water from his latest swim as it clings to his skin. I walk over and step in front of him so he can see me. He looks up and takes me in from head to toe before motioning for me to sit down with him. I drop down onto the towel, and he immediately puts his arm around me, pulling me into his side.
“You okay?” he asks.
“I was going to ask you that,” I tell him.
“I’m perfect. You were right about moving here. Everything feels like it’s falling into place, Chula.”
“You’re comfortable here?” I ask him.
“More than that. It almost feels like home here.”
“Almost?”
“There are days I miss it all. I miss the guys, the crew.”
“But not what you used to do?” he shakes his head.
“No. I don’t miss what I did. I think everything that I had to go through just showed me how much I needed to fucking grow up. I wasn’t being a man back then. I was acting like a fucking child,” he tells me.
“Do you regret any of it?” Once more, he shakes his head.
“No. I wouldn’t be where I am today. We wouldn’t be here if I changed anything.”
“You know that I’m behind you, right?”
“I don’t want you behind me, Chula. I want you by my side, where you belong. This is our life now. This is who we are. We’ve made mistakes, we’ve fucked up badly in the past, but we’re here now, and this,” he says, reaching over and running his fingers over the ring on my finger, “means everything to me.”
“You really want to get married still?” I tease him.
“I want everything with you, Chula. You wanted to talk about kids once things settled down, and I think now is that time.”
“Really? You still want to have kids?”
“Look at how you light up when we talk about it. You’re going to make a great mom.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you’ll marry me and have my babies. Say that this is forever because just the thought of losing you would kill me.”
“You’re never losing me.” I know that he has nightmares, and some nights are horrible. Some nights, he has flashbacks to when he was in prison and what happened to him there. We do our best. We talk through it, we sit together for hours if that’s what it takes, and we do it all for each other.
Marco has come a long way with those things. He can basically calm himself down now, but there are times when he can’t, and that’s when I’m there. I never want to let him down, and so far I haven’t.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
“I don’t want to let you down, Marco.”
“Chula, come on. You’ve never let me down before. You’re always here when I need you, and I love that about you.” I sigh and lay my head on his shoulder as the sun starts to go down.
“Damion is coming out next week to visit,” I tell him.
