Home

"Eve! Get your bags!" Ruby called from the driveway of their new home. The moving truck was filled to the top with different household items and what Ryder liked to call, 'things of the black hole.'

A ten year old girl came dashing out of the new house, her shoes clacking against the concrete sidewalk. Her dark hair flew behind her as she ran to her mom.

"Do I have to?" Eve whined, drooping her shoulders.

Ruby placed her hands on her hips and nodded, gesturing towards the suitcases up front.

Eve ran around towards their car and heaved out a yellow suitcase the color of a lemon.

She grunted as it hit the ground, then began to quickly roll it inside. Eve looked up at the towering house in front of her, wondering what mysteries it held.

Ruby watched as her daughter ran into the home, leaving the suitcase right in the doorway.

Feeling two strong arms snakes around her, she giggled like she was a love-struck schoolgirl again.

"What are we going to do with her?" Ruby joked, shaking her head. Ryder pressed a kiss on her neck, pulling her closer against his chest. He rested his chin on top of hers and sighed.

"We could always give her to the circus..." he suggested.

Ruby spun around and playfully whacked his chest. "You're real funny."

He laughed and pecked her lips, still giving her tingles. "Nah, I'm joking. I love her to death. Can you believe she's a combination of us both? You're great and all but I see more of me in there. The good-looking-ness, athletic ability, confidence..."

Ruby shook her head, chuckling at her husband's still arrogant behavior.

Inside, Eve was running up and down the staircase and through the hallways, jumping through every door she could find. There were small cabinets in which she would try and see if she could fit in. Closets with shelves that she could climb. A backyard with a large playground and a trampoline!

"Do you like it?" She heard her dad ask from behind her. Nodding heavily while still having her eyes glued to the swing set, she ran off and jumped onto the trampoline. Eve giggled as she flew into the air, waving her arms around at her parents that were standing at the doorway, smiling.

"A great house...a great family...how much better can this get?" Ruby said, nudging Ryder on the shoulder.

Ryder went back to the day he proposed, how he loved the sight of her every day, how waking up with her next to him meant the world.

That night, they all sat, eating Chinese takeout in their bare living room on a large picnic blanket on the floor from when Ryder took Ruby on the picnic in the meadow. Looking through their wedding photos, Ruby smiled, loving them completely.

"Look at this one," Eve pointed out at the picture in front of them. "Mom looks like she's choking!"

They all laughed at Ruby's picture of her cracking up at one of Ryder's useless jokes. Eve remembered that day clearly. The beautiful beaches of Hawaii, the palm trees in front of her hotel room, the clear ocean while on a surfboard. She had studied much about Hawaii for a project at school, but never would she have imagined that it would be this amazing.

"Ew..." Eve pretended to puke at the picture of her mom and dad kissing at the wedding, sealing the deal officially.

Ruby laughed at her grossness and recalled that kiss. It was as sweet and amazing as any other, but it sent sparks knowing that she was starting a new life with Ryder. The future adventures they'd share, the baby girl they would have...she never thought that her life could be as amazing and wonderful as it was.

As they sat on the blanket, looking through pictures and starting memories of their new lives, Ruby looked around at her new family. The people she would be sharing all her moments with. And for once, it didn't seem so scary anymore.

She didn't need a great big house or lots of money or fame to be happy and at home.

Because Ryder and Eve...

They were home.

I love you all so much, as you already know, and I hope that you fell in love with Ruby and Ryder like I did.

Keep reading, keep loving, keep going on with your life and make it the best you could ever imagine it to be. Take risks, have adventures, go places...explore.

And in the meantime...keep being the wonderful, grateful, beautiful people you are.

Have a fantastic day... a fantastic life, much love...

-Anne :)