1.13 You're my hero

Although their wish for a baby had not yet been granted, the house was getting rather full. With three horses on their hand, one of them being a mystical unicorn, Anna and Jo had less and less time for themselves. The garden was not taking of itself on its own, and there were still two jobs that wanted to be done on a daily basis. Still, Anna and Jo tried to squeeze in some private time whenever it was possible. The last weeks they had barely talked to each other, which is why they desperately wanted to catch up. Besides, tonight was a special night.

Tonight was Jo’s sixtieth birthday. Both of them knew it had been coming, of course, but they had successfully pushed it aside for a long time now. Sixty was a large number, and especially Anna was afraid of the amount of numbers that remained now. She still was not pregnant, and her boyfriend was already a senior now. How much time would she have left with a complete family? Although she tried to be happy for Jo on his special day, she couldn’t help but worry. Jo seemed to have similar thoughts, since his aging face was particularly filled with worry lines tonight.

He didn’t look that different, it was just his hair that had clearly changed within the last few months. Shining in a dark brown, almost black, for many years, it could by now be called grey. He was old, and they both knew it.

After they had a delicious carrot cake with carrots freshly harvested in their garden, Jo said that there was something he wanted to tell Anna. She didn’t know what was coming, and she had most certainly not expected it. Years later, whenever she would try to explain what had happened that night, she didn’t find any words. The pictures were still present in her head, as vivid as on this special night that changed everything.

 

Jo asked Anna, the love of his life, to marry him. She said yes, and refused to wait another single moment until she became his wife.

Their private ceremony was followed by a few hours that only belonged to them. The world had to wait.

What couldn’t wait for the following weeks was a sudden sickness that always struck when Anna woke up. She had barely time to make it to the bathroom, before everything she had eaten the evening before, vanished in the toilet. Had their biological products gone bad? Or was something else the reason for this, something…bigger?

Author's notes: next chapter will include official introduction of Jo ;)