Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Aiden

“ I love Ireland.” élodie smiles as we’re waiting for our luggage. “Are we seeing Daideo and Mamó while we’re here?”

“They want us to come for dinner tomorrow night.”

My grandparents live in Ireland and we all try to visit them as much as we can.

“That will be nice, I miss them. Are we staying at our house? Because if so, we’re going the wrong way.” She raises her eyebrows at me

I laugh. “Just sit back and enjoy the drive, M’anam.”

I can see her making faces at me and it makes me laugh even more.

“I promise, it’ll be worth it. We’ll be there soon, maybe fifteen minutes.”

élodie nods and smiles at me.

“I love you, Aiden. In case I forget to tell you, thank you for this vacation.”

I take her hand and kiss it .

“You’re welcome, my love. You deserve it and I hope you love it.”

“I’m sure I will, I’ve loved everything you’ve ever planned for us.”

I slow down as we get closer to the castle. I see élodie sit up and start looking around.

“Okay, M’anam, I need you to close your eyes. After I park, I’ll come around and help you out of the car.”

élodie giggles. “Okay. Eyes are closed.”

I pull into the driveway and make the short drive to the castle. It’s even more beautiful than the pictures I saw. It’s nestled on a small mountain, and you can see the Cliffs of Moher from here. Our closest neighbor is a tiny blob on the horizon. The castle has ten bedrooms and eleven bathrooms. A gourmet kitchen and enough space for not only our family, but our extended family too.

I park the car and run around to élodie’s side.

“Keep your eyes closed,” I say as I help her out of the car.

She gets out slowly and I lead her over to face the front of the castle.

“Okay, open your eyes.”

élodie

When I open my eyes, I can’t help the gasp that comes out of me. The castle in front of me is one I’ve only dreamed about. I look to our left and see the Cliffs of Moher. It’s one of my favorite place in Ireland. And to our right? Open land as far as I can see. There are a few homes around, but not close at all.

“Oh Aiden. This is incredible.” I wrap my arms around him and kiss him.

“You don’t know how hard it was to keep this a secret.” He laughs.

“I love you so much, thank you.”

“I told you I would give you the world if I could. And this is the closest I can get, for now. ”

“This castle is just like the one I described to you. How did you even find it?”

“I’ve been looking for the last five years. I found some that were nice and almost what you wanted. But it never felt right. Then a few months ago, Daideo called and told me a friend of his had a castle that he rents out. And he sent me pictures. The moment I saw them, I knew it was the one.”

“I wish we could own it.” I sigh as we walk around inside. “It’s so perfect, I’d like to bring the kids next time. I think they’d love it here.”

I nod. “We can come back again soon. And I agree, the kids would love it.”

I don’t know how Aiden knows exactly what I want. But somehow he always does.

We take our time exploring the castle. I wish we could own this one, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a castle. Maybe one day we’ll own one like this.

“Thank you for doing this, Aiden.” I walk over to him and hug him. “Thank you for always taking care of me and our children.”