He cautiously shook my hand while clinging onto his father with the other. He looked down at the ground and then quickly glanced up at me before looking down at the ground again. “Nice to meet you.”
“”Well, now that we have the introductions over with let’s head over to the Wacky Barn.” Sebastian looked down at Jaden. “Does that sound fun?”
“Yeah!” Jaden jumped up and down and practically dragged Sebastian in the direction of the Wacky Barn.
Sebastian looked at me and winked. “It’s his favorite place in the zoo.”
The barn smelled the way you would expect a barn to smell but I barely noticed because Jaden lit up when we walked in. He let go of Sebastian’s hand, grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the sheep.
“They let us touch them!” He looked up at me with his big, blue innocent eyes. “Do you want to?”
I was instantly in love. He was so adorable there was no way I could ever say no to him.
“Of course I want to!”
“Oh goody!” He turned to Sebastian. “Daddy, we’re going to touch the sheep! Watch, okay?”
He chuckled and nodded.
Jaden clung to me the entire time we were together. We ate lunch around 12:30 and he made sure that he sat next to me. At around 2:30 Sebastian said it was time for Jaden’s nap and he did not want to leave.
“Jaden, we’ll do this again, okay? Next time we’ll go on the camel ride, does that sound fun?”
His eyes lit up when I said that and he nodded his head like crazy.
Sebastian looked at me and I could see the love in his eyes.
“Do you want to come over while he naps?”
Jaden answered before I had a chance to. He grabbed my hand and jumped up and down. “Yes!”
We both laughed and I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess I’m coming over!”
Jaden did not let go of my hand all the way to the car and he wanted me to sit in the back seat with him. Once he was buckled in his car seat he chatted with me non-stop about his favorite animals. When we got to their house he grabbed my hand the second he was out of his car seat and didn’t let go until we were in his room. Sebastian put him down for his nap and I gave him a hug and told him I would see him when he woke up.
We went down to the family room and relaxed on the couch. Sebastian’s butler brought us iced tea, which was delicious, and we settled in for a couple of hours.
“Jaden really likes you, Elena. I have never seen him take to someone so quickly.”
“I like him too, he’s so adorable Sebastian, and very sweet.”
“I knew that you two would like each other, I just had a feeling.” He absent-mindedly played with my hair as he sat next to me. “You’re perfect for me.”
“I can say the same about you.”
“Would you like to stay for dinner?”
“I would love to.”
Chapter Twenty – The End of Brian
I had dinner with Sebastian and Jaden a couple of times after that incredible Saturday and each time I saw Jaden I fell in love with him a little bit more. He was such a sweet little boy and I honestly enjoyed being around him. He had such an infectious energy and happiness that it was impossible to be anything but happy when I was around him.
Sebastian made arrangements to go with me to Brian’s sentencing hearing and the second he saw Brian I glanced at him and could tell that it was taking everything in him not to leap across the bench and strangle Brian. Brian got a very heavy sentence because he committed other crimes on his way to see me.
Since he committed two more felonies while on probation he ended up getting the maximum of 60 years plus another 10 for attacking me while on probation. I hugged my attorney and then Sebastian and I cried like a baby as we held onto each other. My nightmare with Brian was finally over. I couldn’t wait to call my parents and tell them the good news.
Sebastian took me out to lunch to celebrate and he rented out the entire restaurant for us.
“What’s the occasion?”
“I wanted you to be free to express yourself and your feelings about what you’ve been through without having people gawk at you.”
“Thank you, Sebastian that was very thoughtful. It’s still kind of hard for me to believe that the Brian nightmare is over.”
He gently held my chin in his hand and tipped my face up to look at him. “Well it is, and he can never hurt you again. I will never let anyone hurt you again, Elena.”
Tears quietly spilled down my cheeks as I thought about how wonderful Sebastian was. I was so grateful and happy to know that men like him existed.
“Thank you for your support and for being there for me through all of this, it really means a lot.”
He gently brushed my hair out of my face. “You’re welcome. I will always be here for you, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss on the lips and I was in heaven.
Epilogue – Two Years Later
Things with Sebastian and me just got better every day over the last two years. Jaden was my buddy and the three of us hung out together all of the time. We were in Dubai and we just finished the opening ceremony for the new Blu Sierra Dubai which is absolutely stunning. All of his brothers were there, his father who was newly single was there, and his mother also flew in for the ceremony.
Things were still strained with Sebastian and his father and Sebastian and Spencer, but I was making it my mission to bring them all together again. It was going to take time but I really believed that they would find a way to forgive each other and start over with new relationships.
I met his mother shortly after I met Jaden and we instantly became friendly. We have lunch together once a week and I love her like a second mother.
We had a couple of hours before we had to go to the celebratory dinner and Sebastian told me that he wanted to take a walk with me on Jumeirah Beach. Dubai was simply beautiful and I did literally pinch myself to make sure that I was really there. I kept telling myself that there was no way that this was my life, but it was and it was so amazing.
We were walking in silence for a while, just taking in the beautiful scenery, when he suddenly stopped and turned to me and held my hands.
“Elena, you make me happier than I ever knew was possible. The first time I laid eyes on you I knew that there was something special about you and I was right. I believe that you were made for me, and I was made for you. There is no other woman in the world that I would rather be with and no one will ever make me as happy as you do. I love you, my son loves you and my family loves you. I cannot imagine going through this crazy thing we call life without you and I want you to be in my life forever.”