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love them both more than mere words could express and as for Ayden, he’s the most loving little boy in the whole world. He makes every day worth getting up for.
     
    ***
     
    The chalet comes into view as we pull into the holiday park some hours later. I’m just glad to finally be here, to get out of the car and stretch my legs. Anna is getting Ayden unbuckled and out of the car, so I walk round to them and take Ayden in my arms. I whirl him round in the air and he giggles at me. I love the musical sound of his laughter so I spin round again before placing him on the floor and taking his hand. We book in at the front desk and are back at the chalet within minutes. Anna opens the door and we all walk in to see where we’ll be staying for the next week. There’s a spacious lounge, a kitchen-diner that won’t see much cooking because I refuse to let Anna cook—we are on holiday after all. We move down the hall to see the bedrooms. They are spacious and light. I decide to go out to the car and bring our bags in.
    Once we’ve unpacked, we sit and chill in the lounge for a while. Having driven for so long, all I want to do is relax, but Ayden is nagging Anna to go and see what’s on site for him to do. We saw a playground on the way in, so I grab my shoes and put them back on.
    “Let’s go, little man,” I say as I open the chalet door.
    “Where to, Daddy?” he asks as he looks at me expectantly.
    “Well, I don’t know. You want to explore, so that’s what we’ll do,” I reply as I walk out into the sunshine.
    “Okay. Is Mommy coming too?”
    “That’s up to Mommy.”
    “Of course I am,” Anna says as she slips her shoes back on and grabs the key to lock up.
    We head off in the direction of the playground and I know Ayden knows exactly where we’re going, his excitement grows as we get closer. I pick him up and give him a piggy back, making him squeal with laughter.
    Approaching the gate, Ayden shimmies down from his place on my back and runs to look at the playground.
    “Can I go on the big slide, Daddy?” he asks as he pushes the gate open.
    “Of course you can, buddy. You go and play on whatever you want. We’re staying for half an hour and then we’re off to explore some more,” I say as he races off to the slide.
    Anna and I sit on a bench and watch Ayden as he plays. I take her hand in mine and stroke the back of it with my thumb. My God how I love this woman. She and Ayden are my world, I wouldn’t be anything without them. I make a point of telling her each day how much she means to me. I’ve loved and lost without them knowing how much they truly meant to me, so it’s important that Anna knows how much I love her.
    “I love you, baby,” I whisper close to her ear, making her shudder. I place a kiss on that tender spot on her neck, then kiss my way along her jaw to her beautiful full lips. I pull her to me and lick at the seam of her mouth, silently asking her to open her mouth to me. She surrenders to me and I draw her in for a deep kiss, full of passion and love. She tastes likes peppermint and smoke, a combination I have come to not only put up with, but love.
    As I pull away for breath, I look into her eyes and see love and lust. This woman would do anything for me. The reasons to love her are an endless list. To this day, I still can’t believe she’s mine. What I did to get quite so fucking lucky, I don’t know.
    We end up spending an hour at the playground before going off to explore the rest of the site. We discover there’s a bar, a swimming pool, and a place for kids to join a group and play with other kids from the site. The three of us head back to the chalet to chill for the evening. Anna opens a bottle of wine and we watch a DVD. Ayden falls asleep early on the couch and I carry him to bed. Anna changes him into his pyjamas without him waking and we return to the lounge to watch a film and snuggle up on the couch.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
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