Love Around the World 25: Ypres

Boarding was eventually called for our flight, rising to our feet, Clara clutching tightly at my hand. Turning to kiss her softly, her eyes sparkled as always, a beautiful smile on her face. Her excitement was positively infectious.

Walking onto the plane, we were walking into a future together.

*****

Epilogue

Clara loves living in Australia. She still holds her Canadian passport though she is now an Australian citizen. So are our three children. A son and two little twin girls. Despite living in Australia, we're raising them in a bilingual household as Clara is teaching them how to speak French. They're still too young to be taking that class at school though we know which high school they will be attending and hope they'll be taking French classes throughout the six years.

We married six months after our arrival in Australia and three months after we'd moved into our own place. A rental to start off with, as I couldn't buy on just my salary alone. Her parents, sister and extended family all flew out for the wedding. I surprised them all by speaking in French with them more often than not. Even though Australia was English-speaking only, I wanted to learn French for my future wife, and given the idea of visiting Quebec at least once a year, I wanted to be able to converse in the language.

She didn't throw her pills in the bin immediately, wanting to be married before we started trying. After a honeymoon up on the north coast of Queensland, that's when her birth control pills were thrown out and we started trying for children.

I'm forty-five years old now. Our son is eleven years old; our twin girls are eight years old. After having our girls, I got the snip as we agreed three was more than enough and me getting the snip was easier than any sort of procedure for her. My son is a chip off the old block, a younger version of his father, while our little girls are just like their mother. She's got a lot of old photos, and when you look at my wife at the same age, it's amazing how alike they are.

There was no greater feeling than coming home to be greeted by my son who wanted to go outside to kick a ball around with his dad, and my two little girls would both smother my face in kisses when bending down to hug them. Tea parties with Daddy were something I got used to very quickly, and I loved spending time with my children.

On the night of my forty-fifth birthday a couple of months earlier, my wife made sure she left me thoroughly drained before cuddling into my side, her fingers running through my chest hair. I hadn't gone bald though I had started to see flecks of grey in my hair, in my stubble and the occasional grey hair on my chest.

"Want to try again?" she teased.

"Carla, we don't need the excuse of trying for kids to have a lot of sex. I don't think either of us has really slowed down since hitting our forties."

"I'm just horny all the time. Thankfully my husband still meets my needs."

"And if I didn't?"

"Please, I know you well enough, Mark. It doesn't take much for me to get you up and running." Her hand moved down my body towards my groin. It took only a few seconds of manipulation before she was laughing to herself. "And there's the proof..."

"Did you ever picture life like this?"

"I always wanted a happy marriage and a family of my own. The only thing I didn't think about was where I would be living." Snuggling tighter against me, she added, "I've spent the past twelve years as happy as I've ever been. I've got everything I want, Mark."

"I have my beautiful wife who still speaks French in bed..."

"I know how much you love it when I moan in the language..."

"And least I can understand it nowadays!"

"I love you, honey," she whispered, "Thank you for being there in Ypres that evening... I think it was fate."

We visited Canada at least once a year since we married. It was somewhat difficult when our children were babies, but we couldn't deny her parents from seeing their grandchildren. Clara and I made a real team. I loved being an involved father. I made sure the emotional burden in our marriage and raising our children didn't fall on her shoulders alone. Her mother and father both pulled me aside during each visit and would state they'd never seen their daughter as happy. They'd thank me every time for putting the smile back on her face.

Her parents would come out to Australia once a year, usually during the summer as they love to enjoy the heat for a couple of weeks, given that they're leaving behind a cold Canadian winter at the same time. Our children love it when their grandparents come and visit, amused by their funny accents though our children are being raised speaking French and English. I know her parents love the fact our children can speak to them in French.

As for my family, they adopted Clara to their hearts within days of our arrival back in Australia. My sisters absolutely adore her, and my mother treats her like a daughter of her own. Mum and my sisters are both happy to babysit to give Clara and me time to ourselves, and to be honest, the older the children get, the more often we take advantage of the offers. And the kids love being spoiled rotten by their grandmother and two aunties.

For our tenth wedding anniversary, we returned to Europe and Ypres. It was a place that would always hold a special place in our hearts. We had wanted to take our children to Europe but agreed it would perhaps be something they'd truly appreciate when they were a little older, perhaps when they were teenagers.

I'm not sure what the future is going to bring except I believe it will be further happiness. Clara and I are as deeply in love today as we were the day that we admitted our feelings for each other. Our marriage isn't without issues, but we rarely have blow-ups, making sure we discuss things and never go to bed angry and make sure nothing festers to become a bigger issue than it is. Our children certainly keep us on an even keel. If one of us is miffed with the other, it doesn't take long for the kids to have us laughing again.

"So for our twentieth anniversary, are we going back to Ypres?" Clara asked one evening.

"Maybe the same hotel I stayed in the first time?"

"Even the same room?"

"Will probably be a different bed by now."

"Should have brought the bed back with us. Many good memories were made on that bed."

"You're incorrigible," I murmured.

"Mark... You know you saved me, right? I was in Ypres because I was so lost. My life had fallen apart, I wasn't going anywhere in my private life..."

She went quiet as I left a soft kiss on her forehead. "I think we saved each other, sweetheart," I whispered, "I had no idea what I was doing with my life."

"That's why I think it was fate. Two lost souls finding each other..."

"I think that's a beautiful sentiment. I knew from the moment we held hands that first time, that spark they often talk about."

"Our first kiss... I knew from that first kiss, Mark."

Whether it was fate or not, I think we will always remember that first night in Ypres.