A gentle breeze flowed into our bedroom through the open balcony doors, the light drapes flowing in the wind as the cold but refreshing feeling started to pull me out of sleep. My lips parted into a wide yawn, my eyes squeezing shut before fluttering open again as the yawn ended. I looked down at the muscly arm that was wrapped around my waist to hold my back into his chest, a smile curling onto my lips and my heart fluttering like it always did at the feeling. I looked over my shoulder and was met with the always perfect sight of Tom still sleeping, my boyfriend's lips slightly parted and his unruly curls covering his face as he still slept. I bit my lip and just looked at him, my heart and mind still unable to comprehend how we'd ended up here. After all, I had known Tom for two years now, when he had hired me to look after his children, and it was no easy memory to forget that they had hated me when I had started. Given the fact that the children didn't approve, plus the fact that he was my boss, I had figured that I would never have a chance with the man who turned into the love of my life. How luckily wrong I'd been. I looked to the door as it quietly opened, a smile curling onto my lips as Leo and Jess silently crept into our bedroom. I smiled at the now six and four year old children as I nodded to their still asleep father, and they giggled quietly between themselves.

"Come here, you two, help me wake up daddy." I whispered as I cautiously sat up in bed so that I wouldn't wake Tom up. They crept to my side of the bed where I picked them up and gently put them on my lap, both children looking at each other before jumping into the air and right onto Tom.

"Oh my god!" Tom exclaimed, his eyes squeezing shut and a groan leaving his lips as the children both landed on his chest and stomach.

"It's the day, daddy, it's the day!" Jess squealed as both children continued to jump on the bed and I couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

"Remind me what day it is again, sweetheart?" He mumbled sarcastically, making me smirk as he opened one eye to look at me with a tired smile on his face.

"We're going on HOLIDAY, DADDY! HOLIDAY!" Leo screamed.

"Oh, so it is." Tom smiled, making me laugh as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest, my hand resting on his stomach as he kissed my head. I still couldn't believe that we were here, a year and a half into dating and us truly wanting to spend the rest of our lives together, especially after the negative start that I'd had with the children. Nevertheless, the children had warmed to me soon enough, and Tom hadn't wasted any time once it was clear that the kids liked me to make his move too.

"And they all lived happily ever after." I quietly told the end of the storybook, Leo lying in his bed as I sat on the end of it with a sleepy Jess cuddled into my arms as she struggled to stay awake. I flicked my eyes up, my heart fluttering in my chest at the sight of Tom leaning against the doorway to the children's room with his hands in his trouser pockets. He gave me a small smile and a wink, making me return the smile and bite my lip as I closed the book that I'd been reading to the children. I'd been their governess for four months now, and as was obvious from the fact that Jess was falling asleep in my arms, the children absolutely loved me now. It had taken many difficult nights and many screaming tantrums about how I'd never be their mother, but we got there eventually.

"Alright then, darlings, time for bed." I spoke gently as I closed the book, and gently picked Jess up to put her in her bed.

"Goodnight, little man." Tom gave Leo a small smile, making the boy return it as Tom leant down and kissed his head as I placed Jess into her own bed.

"Goodnight, my princess." Tom whispered to Jess too, the love of my life once more kissing his daughter's head before standing back up and turning to me. He put a finger to his lips, making me nod as his other hand landed on my waist, and he silently led us out of the children's rooms. I closed the door behind us before puffing out, Tom smiling down at me as he walked us into his living room.

"See, darling? I told you that they'd warm up to you." He smiled cheekily, making me smirk and playfully roll my eyes as we sat down on his sofa, and his hand immediately landed on my knee. Of course I was okay with this, Tom and I had also been getting closer in the last four months, to the point where interactions like this were normal and fine with both of us.

"Yeah, I guess that they have, and I have to admit that I'm so glad that they did." I chuckled.

"So am I, my love, because I couldn't do this before my children approved of you." He nodded before starting to lean in. My eyes widened, my heart violently jumping in my chest as he leant in and gently kissed me. I returned it immediately, my eyes fluttering shut and my hand raising to hold his face as his hand landed on my waist. Tom broke the kiss after a moment and joined our foreheads. I couldn't help but smile and bite my lip as my eyes fluttered open, our first kiss having been more than I'd ever imagined as we stared into each other's eyes. He returned my smile as his eyes flicked over my face.

"I love you, Y/N. I've truly fallen for you since hiring you. At first, I just needed help, I was so alone and needed the kids to feel that less too. But you've become so much more than their governess. You've become their safe place, you've...become my safe place. And I will never stop loving you for that." He admitted quietly with a shake of his head. My eyes wavered at his words, tears pricking my eyes as my heart swelled hugely with love for Tom.

"Isn't it funny that you're my safe place too, and I love you too?" I whispered in response. A wide smile spread back onto Tom's lips, making me return it and giggle as he leant in and gently kissed me again.

The memory was one that was dear to me, especially in moments like this, where Tom, the children and I were sitting around the dinner table of the Spanish villa that Tom had rented for our holiday.

"Was that super yummy, you two?" Tom smiled at the children, making me return it and bite my lip at how fucking cute they were as they finished off the last few scraps of food that were remaining from the simply perfect meal that we'd just had. They both just nodded and continued to finish the food, Tom and I chuckling and shaking our heads at them as he turned to look at me.

"What about you, sweetheart? Did you enjoy that?" He asked as he took my hand into his.

"It was lovely, Tommy. Thank you so much." I smiled.

"Of course, my darling. Now, for the important part of this night." He nodded. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to what he meant as he untucked his napkin from his collar and put it on the table before sitting forward slightly.

"Tommy, what are you-." He raised his hand and put a small velvet box onto the dinner table, making my eyes flick down to it. My gaze wavered, my heart dropping to my feet in anxiety as I immediately recognised the size of the box as a ring box. Tom opened it and further confirmed my suspicions, a choke leaving my lips as the first sight of the absolutely stunning engagement ring that was held in the box.

"Oh my god, Tommy, oh my god." I cried and shook my head, tears starting to leave my eyes involuntarily as my shaking hands raised to cover my mouth.

"Darling, to say that you've turned our lives around is an understatement. When I lost my wife and the children lost their mother, a part of me was truly lost with that. But that part came back to me the day that you turned up on our doorstep." Tom shook his head, making me choke and smile at him as he gently took my hands into his own as he gazed into my eyes.

"Things weren't easy for you at the start, I know that, my love, and yet you stuck it through and stayed with us. You saved me, you saved my children. You became so much more than what you were originally meant to be, but I thank the universe everyday for that being the case. So, Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, will you marry me?" Tom finished. I just stared at him, my mind screaming at me to say yes, but I was in so much shock that even the simple word was proving too much. I gulped and nodded, making Tom raise his eyebrows in confused concern.

"I-is that a yes-."

"I'm sorry, yes, Tom! Yes!" I laughed and shook my head. Tom's eyes widened, a sigh of relief leaving his lips as he gently took the ring out of the box and delicately slid it onto my finger. As soon as he did that, I shot up, my arms wrapping around him in seconds as he stood up too. I smashed my lips against his, Tom returning the kiss within a moment as he held my waist and I held his face.

"I can't wait to marry you, darling, you're my entire world." Tom choked and shook his head as he broke the kiss and instead buried his face into my neck.

"I can't wait either, Tommy." I smiled. Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands on my legs, making both of us look down as Leo and Jess appeared next to us.

"She said yes, my loves! Y/N is going to be your new mummy!" Tom smiled as he picked Leo up and I picked Jess up too.

"Yay! New mummy!" Jess squealed, making me laugh and shake my head, tears still running down my face with just how much things had changed as Jess tightly hugged me. Tom also wrapped his arm around me so that all four of us were hugging, my heart impossibly full of love for my new family as I held onto them for dear life. It was so hard to believe that this had started innocently enough with my previous employer sending me to Tom, and me having to work extra hard to get the children to love me. But we were here now. And for that, I wouldn't have changed a thing.