December, thirteen months later. 

Shopping in December was a nightmare.  Even with the rise of online shopping, the mall was still congested, the roads were blocked, bumper to bumper. People were just plain rude for no reason. I slipped past a woman violently rummaging through a clearance bin of sporting goods and she elbowed me in the rib before giving me a warning glare. 

I didn't bother telling her I wasn't in need to half price tennis balls or hockey pucks and decided to keep weaving through the shop with a pair of Jordan's under my arm. A little pair for a little girl. Lottie wanted a pair for Christmas after she'd seen Leighton wearing some at Thanksgiving. 

Lottie was a big fan of Leighton after he started spending more time with us. Ash, Sadie and I went to the games as often as we could and afterward, we tried to do dinner or a quiet night in at our apartment. Leighton was an overgrown child and he seemed to mesh well with Lottie. Ash would never admit it, but I had a feeling it gave her baby fever. 

Christmas was in three days, so technically I was part of the problem for leaving the gifts until the last minute, but work kept me slammed. I'd taken on more projects than I could keep up with in the last six months but I was grieving the house in Upper Lonsdale. I'd completed it from beginning to end, signed it off and had to say goodbye to a house I felt emotionally invested in. 

I had a new rule about design. The clients weren't allowed to give me creative freedom. It was too hard to create something so perfect and know I'd never get to live there. 

After I'd paid for the shoes and safely made it to the car, I drove back to the apartment where Phoenix was waiting for me. 

My husband. 

The love of my life. We'd tied the knot during his off season just been. I still didn't have a full recollection of my twenties but over the past year, there were snippets of fractured memories that popped up once in a while. Some of the things I remembered were strange. Like the time I threw up on the sidewalk outside of a club. Or the fight I had with Paul when I ended our engagement. Or the day Sadie and Jason got married and I had to give a speech. 

But some of the memories were more meaningful. The night Phoenix first told me he loves me. The meltdown I had when he asked me to move in with him. Our second date when he promised me he would never betray my trust. 

Those memories were great but it didn't change that I'd had the privilege of falling in love with him all over again. He withstood so much for us. He was patient when I needed time, he was honest, he was sweet and charming. He was the one and I was so glad that he'd never given up on us, even when I made it difficult. Processing those emotions in the beginning of the amnesia was hard, it felt like I couldn't trust myself. But he never faltered. 

When I got back to the apartment, Phoenix had the fire going, the music was a soft hum and there were a few candles creating a low ambience. I shrugged out of my coat and hung it beside the door, leaving my bags of shopping under the hall table. 

Phoenix was in the living room in nothing but sweat pants. His shirt and hoodie were draped across the sofa while he watched television and fastened the watch on his wrist. I admired his defined back, the smooth skin stretched over muscle. Dark waves of hair licking the back of his neck. He dragged his attention away from the game he was watching and turned around, smiling at me. 

"You survived," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets. 

I circled the sofa, coming to stand in front of him. "Yeah, no bumps on the head for me."

His smile dropped. "I don't like that joke."

I tipped my head up, staring at him with a grin. "As if you wouldn't spend the rest of our lives trying to win me over if you had to."

His lip twitched and faster than I was prepared for, he leaned down, slapped his hands to the back of my thighs and hoisted me up. I tightened my legs around his waist and felt the butterflies going wild. He still had that impact on me. I think he would forever. 

"Amnesia or not, I will spend the rest of my life winning you over," he murmured, my hands clasped behind his neck. "No getting comfortable, no forgetting how valuable you are."

So far, he'd proven that to be true. He showed me in the little things. The foot rubs, the baths he drew when I came home late, the lunches he had delivered to my office when he was on the road, the flowers, the way he'd find me in the crowd at his games and blow me a kiss, the way he would show up at home with my favorite coffee or ice cream. A day didn't pass where he didn't show me that I was his entire world. 

I leaned in and kissed him, feeling light headed and grateful. I still wasn't sure I deserved a man like this. He seemed too good to be true. 

"Guess what," I whispered against his mouth.

"What?"

"I got you a new plant today."

Phoenix leaned back and his grin stretched. "Yeah?"

Ever since I'd moved in and started introducing house plants to his life, Phoenix had become kind of attached to them. He watered and fed them, he freaked out when a new leaf appeared, he bought them new pots as they got bigger. He was more obsessed than I was. 

"What is it?"

I slid down the length of him and did a little skip over to the bags I left at the entrance. In a paper bag, carefully surrounded by tissue paper, was a plant that made me giddy with excitement. I heard Phoenix walk up behind me as I slid it out of the bag and turned around. 

"It's a love fern!" 

I was dancing on the spot and he started to laugh, brushing his fingers over the leaves. 

"From the movie?" He asked. 

"From the movie," I confirmed with a big nod. 

We'd watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 days a few weeks ago. It had been a favorite of mine in College and though it didn't jolt a memory for me, I still loved it. This seemed like the perfect plant for us. 

Phoenix took it from me, his smile infectious. "I promise, this will be the most well looked after plant in the entire house."

"I know," I stepped back as I slipped my phone out of my pocket and took a photo of him. I took a lot of photos of him and us. I took another one of him putting it on the cabinet beside the television.

He turned around and tipped his chin up, gesturing at the hall. "Go and get dressed into something comfortable, we're going out."

My shoulders fell a little. "I just got home from work. I don't want to go out."

"You don't even know what we're doing."

I shrugged. "What are we doing?"

"I can't tell you."

The vague response did make me curious, but perhaps not curious enough to want to go out again. It was below freezing temperatures and my favorite thing to do after work was sit in my apartment, keep warm, eat and relax. The freedom of my own home was incomparable.

I folded my arms and gave him a hopeful look. "Let's just order in."

"Nope." He slid his hands into his pockets. 

My stare turned defiant. "I'm not going out unless I know it's worth it."

"It will be worth it." His face told me he would not budge. 

Thinking of the one thing that might deter him from this mission to go out into the freezing cold, I gripped the hem of my sweater and pulled my hoodie up and over my head, taking my thermal with it. Down to my bra, I unclipped it and let it slide off. 

Phoenix bit his bottom lip, his gaze drinking me in so deeply I could almost feel it from three feet away. He didn't have to put his hands on me to make me feel touched. 

"As hard as I am right now," his voice was gravelly and his chest expanded on a deep breath. "You can't distract me from this outing, baby. You're going to want to behave and come with me."

Ugh, I loved it when he went all daddy on me. 

                            I was blindfolded and not in the fun way. Phoenix drove while I sat in the passenger seat and sang along to Kelly Clarkson. There was something to be said about the amount of trust it took to be completely at ease being blindfolded in the passenger seat of someone's car. I mean, that person was Phoenix, so I trusted him without hesitation. 

"Is this blindfold going to serve any other purpose during our evening?" I asked, tipping my head back and trying to peep out the bottom of it. 

"Quit it," Phoenix spread his hand over the top of my head and tipped it back down. "I think I can find another use for it."

"Oooh," I hummed, putting both feet on the dash and spreading my legs. "I look forward to it."

"Get your feet off the dash."

"Make me."

I heard his sigh and had to bite down on a grin. I wasn't sure why he still took me in the car with him. I got too bored and drove him insane. 

"If we have an accident, your hips will end up shattered and you'll never walk again," he warned, as he had a thousand times before. I stuck my tongue out in his direction. "You'll never feel my cock inside of you again."

I slipped my feet off the dash and sat up straight. Phoenix laughed and I felt his palm slide across my thigh, his fingers close to my center. 

"I'm glad to know that's what motivates you to make safer choices."

I slipped my hand over his. "That, but also the fact that I like our little walks through the forest and I don't think the vibes would be the same if you had to push me in a wheelchair."

He bellowed a laugh and I reveled in the sound of it. My person, the person who made me feel safest. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too. After all we'd been through, I knew my heart was in good hands. He'd proven that making me feel loved and valued was the most important thing to him. 

Eventually, the terrain got bumpier, the car was going jostling on uneven ground and we came to a slow stop after what felt like two ish minutes. My anticipation grew as Phoenix got out of the car and I listened to him walk around the front of it, my door opening a moment later. 

"Keep that on," he said, his fingers grazing my face as he checked the blindfold was still secure. "This is a big moment."

"Weird," I hummed thoughtfully, holding his hand as I slid out of the truck. "We're already married, I'm definitely not pregnant. I'm out of ideas."

His hand threaded with mine and I heard his soft, teasing laughter. I huddled against him, cold and shivering in the late December weather. I should've been used to him dragging me out into the middle of nowhere by now. It'd happened enough times. It was always worth it too.

"Stop," Phoenix said, his tone hitched with excitement. We came to a standstill and I bounced on the spot. I loved the smell of the woods in winter. Which is where I assumed we were due to the snow beneath our boots, the rich aroma of pine and damp wood. 

Phoenix stood behind me and I felt his fingers working the blindfold. It slipped down and as soon as I saw what we were here for, I sucked in a breath. Confusion made me blink and I twisted, looking over my shoulder at him before I turned back to the house. 

A house I recognized, with big windows and a deck surrounding the second floor, snow dusted tree branches hanging over the railing . It was built with rounded logs and stone. Spot lights surrounded the foundation of the house and illuminated the beautiful transition from stone to wood. 

"I know this house," I mumbled, stepping forward. I couldn't put my thoughts in order, none of this made sense but at the same time, it all made total sense. This was the house I'd just spent months and months perfecting and I thought I would never see again. 

When I looked at Phoenix, he was watching me with a glassy glimmer in his eyes. His dark hair sat underneath a beanie and his smile was boarded by close shaven stubble. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever met and when he looked at me like that, he was even more breathtaking. 

Somewhere, deep down, I knew what was happening, but I still couldn't make sense of it. 

"What's going on?"

Phoenix tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, his finger tracing my jaw. "I'm the client."

I sucked in a sharp breath and felt like curling over. 

"You're the client?"

"I am. This is our home, baby. You made it just the way you wanted it. Surprise."

I tried to talk but words evaded me. All that passed my lips were billows of white air as I blabbered and stared between my husband and the house I'd become so attached to. 

Phoenix stepped into me and left no space. His hands slipped onto my waist and clasped at my lower back. "I bought this land for us about five months into our relationship. You called me insane but you also started designing it the second we got home. After the injury, well, it was one of those things I didn't know how to bring up."

He looked at me, haunted by the past and the decisions he'd made. I'd long since forgiven him for not knowing how to handle those early months after the amnesia. It was a massive learning curve for all of us and it'd overwhelmed me. Things were different now. I loved Phoenix, I knew him, he knew me. There was no lingering resentment. 

"After we patched things up," he continued. "I figured the months that it would take for you to design this house, would be a good time frame for us to rebuild our relationship and when it was finally done and we were in love, I could reveal it to you."

I grinned because it didn't take long at all for us to rebuild our relationship. Once I let myself fall, I was head over heels for him in just a few short months. I wanted to be his wife and start a life together. 

"We moved a little faster than the house," he said, ducking in and kissing my smile. "But I wanted it to be a surprise. A gift. I wanted this house to be yours. Because I know how much these dreams of yours mean to you. You wanted this big beautiful house in the woods, with pine needles touching the deck and lanterns dangling from the branches. It's yours and I'm just glad you want me to be part of it."

My lip was wobbling but I bit down on it and did my best to keep the tears at bay so that when I got to go inside, I wasn't looking at it through blurred vision. I leapt off the ground and threw myself at Phoenix, wrapping my arms around his neck and nuzzling the crook between his shoulder. 

"You're not mad then?" He murmured against my ear, holding onto me. 

"I don't think so," I arched my head back and gave him a cunning grin. "Don't forget, I was promised dogs."

"You were the one that designed that dog room and a wash station in the laundry room."

"I love you. In like, an obsessive way."

He lifted my feet off the ground and kissed me. "I'm glad I'm not alone in that feeling."

We went inside and of course I'd already seen most of it when I came for a final walk through. There was no furniture but Phoenix and I had belongings and I supposed we would get new things to suit the interior. It was open plan with windows surrounded by forestry and lights in the trees. The fire was going and there was a Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. I wondered if we could get some furnishings in here fast enough to be here on Christmas morning. 

The kitchen was looking over the living space and had an enormous island and copper fixtures with a wrought iron rod above the island for hanging pots and pans on. This entire house was designed and built at my own creative freedom and now I got to be the one that lived in it. It seemed surreal. It still felt like not long ago I was heating up noodles in a microwave in my dorm room and putting condiments on them to add substance that wasn't really there. 

And now I was moving into my dream house with my dream man and we were going to get dogs and I was going to sip coffee on the deck while snow fell between the tall trees and covered the forest floor below. 

"Wait, is there a pond?" I asked standing in the middle of the bare living room. "We need an ice skating rink for our children."

He raised a brow. "I thought I had time to sort out a rink. You said children came after I retired."

"I'm thinking ahead."

"You pregnant?"

I gave him a look to suggest he was ridiculous and sighed. "No. I'm not pregnant."

"That would've been the icing on the cake for this entire reveal."

I laughed and skipped over to him. He didn't hesitate to sweep me up and we started a slow dance in the middle of our living room. The lights were dimmed for ambience and with the forest right outside, we could've been in the pages of a beautiful book. I stared up at his face, my heart swelling with love. I couldn't imagine living another day in this life without him. 

"When I know you'll be home to help me raise a baby, you can knock me up, daddy. I promise."

He tipped his head back, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as he grinned. 

"I'm not doing it alone," I said.

"Don't you want our child to come and watch me on the ice? The other wives bring their little ones on the road."

"Good for them," I said, brows pinched, though I knew he was teasing me. We were on the same page about our future and how children fit into it. Phoenix didn't want to miss a minute of it. 

"I could have another ten years left in me, babe."

"I'm not having a baby when I'm thirty eight."

He tsked. "Guess we better re think those terms and conditions then."

I pouted and Phoenix kissed my mouth. He wanted to retire soon. He was the one that talked about getting out and settling into a new sort of life. One that allowed him to slow down and be present. His priorities had changed and while I would never truly make him retire before I had a baby, it was nice to know how important his involvement was to him. 

There were a few things I wanted for us before we became parents. Some time to travel as a couple and take vacations that were less child friendly. Those would come in time. I wanted us to create memories and have the strongest foundation possible before we brought children into the mix. I wanted to spend a few years working full time before giving myself over to motherhood. While I knew I could have both, I wanted to be an at home mom for the first few years. Having a plan meant a lot to me and Phoenix loved me enough to want that too. 

"Thank you for loving me Phoenix Maverick," I whispered, enamored at him and forever in awe of how he made me feel. 

He slowly shook his head, his eyes locked on mine and full of promise. "Thank you for letting me, Kinsley Maverick."

____

Thank you all for reading my story about Phoenix and Kinsley. I loved writing this story. It was something a little different for me and I had a lot of fun with it. Keep an eye out for bonus chapters to come.