here to share the celebration?”
“I don’t know,” she muses, her eyes dancing, “probably because the proper way to celebrate a two-year anniversary is to be alone. You know, fucking and all that.”
“Vera,” Mateo chides with a groan, “please don’t put images in my head.”
“Why not? Look at how hot they are! Who wouldn’t want to picture them?” She pauses. “Oh, I’m making this awkward now, aren’t I?”
Alejo laughs. “No, not at all. Please keep going, I love to hear how hot I am.”
I kick him under the table. “You mean how hot we are.”
“Sí, sí, sí,” he says. “We.”
I laugh and have a sip of my drink, my wedding and engagement rings catching the light of the chandelier, causing my heart to grow warm.
Three years ago, Alejo proposed and gave me the biggest honking engagement ring I’d ever seen, with the whole world watching.
Two years ago, he slipped the wedding band on my finger as I promised to be his wife, until death do us part.
Now today, we’re gathered in our townhouse in downtown Madrid, in the Salamanca neighborhood, not too far from where Vera and Mateo live, having our closest friends over to celebrate us. Because, in some ways, without Vera and Mateo, especially Mateo, there would be no us.
It had been Mateo who contacted me right after that now very infamous Champions League game of Real Madrid versus Manchester United and told me to go after Alejo. It was his idea to drive me to Alejo’s house while Alejo was collected from the hospital, and I was welcomed back into Alejo’s arms, into his utterly pure and loving and forgiving heart.
Mateo also helped me get my job back.
And most of all, he’s the one who took a chance on me to begin with and hired me.
Without Mateo, I would have never found the right path in life. I would have never found myself, and most importantly, would have never found Alejo.
Besides, Mateo and Vera have become my closet friends, and I can’t imagine not celebrating without them here, especially since it’s the summer and things have finally slowed down. We’re in between seasons, so there’s some time to have fun and think and just be.
A lot of things have changed in the last three years. In some ways, things feel the same and in others, it’s hard to look back and see where the journey has taken us.
After I moved back to Madrid, got my job back, and got engaged, things were fairly stable. Alejo ended up buying me my apartment above Esteban, which we still own, and now my mom and dad stay there when they come over to visit.
Then he bought this townhouse and the two of us moved in here, giving his big mansion to Armando and his mother, along with Yaya who moved from Tenerife to the mainland and is living with them now. We still see them for dinner every Sunday.
Then came our wedding.
The event of the century, or at least that’s what it felt like.
It was like I was marrying Spanish royalty, and I guess that’s kind of what it was since the King of Spain was actually there. As was the whole team, and every single notable football player or Spanish celebrity under the sun. I didn’t even know half these people, and apparently Alejo didn’t know either.
But we made headlines. And for once, not the negative ones. It seems like most of the press really fell in love with our unconventional love story, and even the shitty British media has eased up a little bit. Oh, they’ll still point out our age difference, and I’ve learned to get a strong backbone to deal with the rumors they keep spreading about Alejo being with younger women, or that I’m undergoing plastic surgery, or some utter nonsense like that.
Thankfully, my trust and love in Alejo is unshakable and nothing they can say can damage me, because I know him more than I even know myself. I know that man would do absolutely anything for me, just as I would make any sacrifice for him.
There’s only been one real snag in our relationship. Of course, I have moments of self-doubt, maybe about the way I look or aging, just superficial silly things like that, and Alejo is always my rock, always making me realize how unnecessary those doubts are.
But the biggest one, the one that hurts, is that we both want children. I’m not getting any younger and Alejo has always expressed his