Chapter 53- SURPRISE

'I could see that you were very happy seeing your friend again" Aurora pointed out as she folded the clothes from the laundry, the ones that Leonardo had washed all by himself with the aim of making her workload lighter.

'Yes I was happy seeing him and a little upset with him"

'Why?"

'What do you mean why? He literally almost knocked you over with his car, do you know how fast sports cars are?" Leonardo asked her and Aurora covered her mouth, holding in her laugh.

‘It's not funny Avena, you could have seriously been hurt" He told her. His sad eyes burned into hers and for the first time, she could see fear in Leonardo's eyes. Aurora placed the folded cloths on their bed, walked over to him, placing her hands on the side of his face.

'But I am right here, nothing is wrong with me" she told him, her voice soft, tapping into his emotions. He looked at Aurora and he could not image his life without her in the picture and all he wanted was to make the world a better place for her.

'But what was going through your mind that you would walk into the middle of the road and not notice a single thing?" he asked her, Aurora tried looking away but Leonardo pulled her back, placing his around her hips and pulling her towards him.

She placed her hand on her bare neck and tears ran down her face. Her reaction was one that left Leonardo feeling anxious.

'What is the matter my love?"

'I think I lost my mother's locket" she managed to get the words out, even though she sobbed as she told him. Leonardo threw his head back and ran his hands through his hair as frustration coursed through his vein.
His one chance at surprising her had caused Aurora more heart ache than he had expected to the point where she not only almost died by the hands of his best friend but also of heart break.

'My love, I am so sorry"

'No need to apologize, it was not your fault. It was my own ignorance" she told him, putting up a fake smile as to not bother Leonardo with her own problems.

'You do not get it"

'Get what?" Aurora asked him, confused as to what Leonardo was trying to say to her. Leonardo moved away from her, walked towards his beside draw, pulled out a black leather box and presented it to her.

'Here" Leonardo handed Aurora the box and she simple stood still, looking at the box and confused as to what Leonardo was trying to do.

'What is it?" she asked, studying the exterior of the box rather than taking it and looking at what was inside the box.

'You will only know if you take it and look inside" he told her, drawing the box closer to Aurora until she was finally forced to take it. Slowly she looked at the box and opened it, her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped as she stood before Leonardo in utter disbelief.

She looked at Leonardo and just as always, he had a smile on his face but her lips began quivering as the emotions overtook her small frame.

'Do you like it?" he asked her, not knowing whether she liked the gift or not. Leonardo watched impatiently as every second went by and Aurora simply stared at the box, until she lifted her gift out from the box.

Her eyes now detached from her gift as she looked at Leonardo, her eyes weighed down by the tears filling them. Leonardo's heart dropped, feeling as though he had just failed at making his wife happy
Like an alarm setting off in his head, one leap and he was right in front of her, his hands on both sides of her face and looking into her teary eyes.

'I did not mean to make you sad my love, I just thought that I should—"

'It looks beautiful" Aurora told him, a smile brightening her face even though her eyes were filled with tears. Leonardo let out a sigh of relief, seeing that his gift to his wife made her happy.

These past few months all he ever wanted was to make her happy and it was time such as these that he realized that he wanted more, more than just a marriage of paper and definitely more than just a marriage of convenience.

'Well I am glad that you like"

'I don't like it, I love it. But how did you—"

'The owner at the restaurant informed me that you had lost your locket, I then took it to the jeweler to have it polished. It seems like polishing is not the only thing that your locket needed. The jeweler fixed your clasp as well as the hinge, now you can look at the pictures inside"

'You know ever since my mother gave me this locket, I have never opened it. It was so old that it has always been shut" she smiled, half crying as she told him this.

'Maybe you should open it" Leonardo encouraged her. Aurora tried to open the locket but her phone rang, interrupting the moment before them.

'I wonder who that is" Aurora walked over to her phone and looked at the caller ID, her heart stopped and she turned her head to look at him.

Leonardo saw that Aurora's body language had changed and she looked worried as she looked at him.

'Who is that?" Leonardo asked, worried that that Aurora might be in distress. Aurora swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing quite well that Leonardo might not be pleased to hear whom it was.

'It, it's your mother" she told him. Leonardo turned his face away from Aurora, thinking of his mother and what she had done to him had left a bad taste in his mouth.

'You do not have to receive an okay from me before you do anything, answer her if you want" Leonardo told her before exiting the room, leaving Aurora holding onto her phone.

**
'She is your wife and not your slave" Leonardo repeated those words to himself the entire as he paced their living room. His mother calling had ended the romantic atmosphere, typical of his mother to ruin things for him.

Leaving Aurora in the room had been the hardest thing that he had done and he was less thrilled that he had only delivered half of the surprise to her.

'Keep walking like that and you might set my carpet on fire" Leonardo quickly looked in the direction and it was Aurora smiling at him.

'I thought that you were talking to—"

'Your mother? No need to worry, I will not be speaking to her"

'Why not? Just because I am mad at my parents, it does not mean that you too have to have a problem with them"

'I may not know a lot about you but I do know that you are a very sensible man and you would not have been
upset with your mother unless the matter was serious. I will not be speaking to mother until the both of you have ironed out your issues"

'But—"

'But nothing Leonardo, we are married and the two of us are in this together and I believe that we are in an agreement" Aurora stood firm for the first time in her life. For months since being married she had been feeling like this, whether it was the new name that she had acquired or the just confidence from living with a courageous man such as Leonardo, Aurora had no idea.

All she knew was that she was finally standing up for herself and making decisions for herself.

'Okay, I heard you loud and clear" Leonardo responded, surprised that he was seeing a new side of Aurora that he had never seen before. His little shy wife was finally soaring on her own and becoming her own person.

'That's good, now come and help me fold the laundry' she teased him.

'I am proud of you" Leonardo blurted out, shutting his eyes as he realized that the words had already left his mouth and he could not take it back anymore.

'Why are you proud of me? I haven't done anything heroic" Leonardo opened his eyes and Aurora was right in front of him, with almost no space between the two of them. Even when he towered over her, Leonardo still understood the rules and I this game, his wife was the boss.

'I am proud of you for being amazing, for standing up for yourself and speaking out"

'I am sure a lot of women do that?" Aurora tried to wave it off and Leonardo hated that. He had watched Aurora disappearing into the background, allowing others to shine rather than taking the center stage for something that she had worked on.

'No, no they do not and that is why I am proud of you" Just one look into Leonardo's eyes, Aurora knew that she was truly blessed to have a husband like him. In such a short time she had created her little family and she was determined to protect her little family.

'Are you going to wear that?" he pointed at the locket in her hand.

'Yes I am"

'Give me a second and I will put it around your neck" Leonardo offered. Aurora tried to argue but he kissed her lightly.

'Don't argue" he told her, his warm hearted smile was enough to melt Aurora's heart into saying nothing. She turned around and just like that, Leonardo placed the locket around her neck. Aurora shut her eyes as he did that, his soft hands touching her skin setting off fireworks inside her body.

'You look beautiful" Leonardo whispered into her ear, the heat from his mouth tickling her into a world of submission.

'You're just saying that" she moaned. Her moan setting off alarm clocks and bells inside Leonardo's head.

'I always mean what I say and I must say I am the luckiest man in the world to have a wife as beautiful and talented as you" His words rang in her ears as they were nothing but the honest truth. He wrapped his hands around her hips from behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

'Tomorrow I'll take you out but only after I come back from work"

'Promise?"

'I promise you my love, I have another surprise for you" Leonardo told her, Aurora removed herself from his grip, turned to face him, looking into his eyes and surprised by his words.

'No! You will not get me another surprise, I mean you fixed my locket and—"

'Shh, I don't think I will ever stop gifting you with presents" He reached for her face and placed his hands on the side of her face. He watched her face and worry clouded his smile when he saw that Aurora was saddened.

'But I didn't get you anything" she whispered but not soft enough that Leonardo had heard her.

'But you have already given me a gift, I have you and you are the gift that keeps on giving" Aurora flashed a weak smile at him but even Leonardo knew that Aurora was still not content with his answer.

He wanted to embrace her but there was no amount of embrace that would have solved the matter at hand, but he knew he needed to show Aurora that she truly was his best gift.