AN:
Hey guys! Long time, no see!
Someone asked me some time ago to write a little one shot about April and Jackson's life after The Hamptons. I'm not sure I'll continue this, but for all of you who loved The Hamptons so much and have always supported this story, here's a little something. I truly hope you enjoy it even though it's so short!
…
Central Park.
He stops, takes a second to find her, spots her at their meeting point, recognizes her from behind. She looks lovely, like a vision on the midst of this New York autumn dream. Dark green beanie covering her head, long scarf wrapped around her neck, partially covering her rosy cheeks, her red curls falling down her back. Her pale skin contrasting perfectly with crimson coat she's wearing. He notices how she's carefully observing a couple of kids playing in the distance. Smiling, he wonders if maybe she's dreaming about how one day she'll have a family too. She's his family now, almost everything he has. They've been living together for a couple of years now. Manhattan is their little island, their safe haven. Living with her has been revealing, all her secrets, all the intimacy one can share unfolded beneath his eyes, and all the little things that only he knows about her simply makes him love her more.
She likes coffee in the morning. She drinks her tea late at night. She falls asleep reading novels, and that's maybe why there are so many unfinished books beside the bed. She loves to watch the sunset, and even though she likes the warmth of the sun, she just loves a rainy day. Autumn is her favorite season, mainly because she loves to cook pumpkin and chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the day, for no reason at all. It just makes me happy, she says. She listens to the same old bubbly pop records every day, and she loves to dance around the living room and sing along, when she thinks no one's watching. She's an innocent stealer, keeping his sweaters, and his pillow too. She says it's because they have his smell, and it gives her an indescribable feeling of being home. She loves to take the remote control and make it her own, and he can't help but smile when he finds her sleeping on the couch, curled like a ball, with some old cheesy movie playing on TV. She likes to keep the house clean, but she always seems to forget her curling iron on the bathroom floor. She's the most organized person he's ever met, and keeping his part of the closet in order is her job. She still collects memories, there's a bookshelf full of journals, and picture frames on every wall. And even when she's stubborn, she always has the best intentions, her kindness is innate.
As he walks down the nearly empty park, with his hands on his pockets, and his heart on his sleeve, he notices the changes on the weather, the cold outside that leaves him almost breathless, and how the winter, the snow, the sad, darker days are slowly approaching. The trees are now completely undressed, late autumn leaves on the floor, and there's a familiar cinnamon scent in the air.
He keeps his hand around the little blue velvet box in his pocket. The ring he just bought, it's a treasure he can't lose. There will be a new chapter on their book tonight, when she least expects it…
He will propose.
…