Today is our anniversary.

One year ago today, I met the woman who made me into a better man.

Never did I imagine that the woman who would be having my first child would originally start as just my patient. It really is remarkable at how much my life changed after I met her.

Alex wasn't like my last relationships, all possessive and controlling and selfish. Every single moment that we've had from the moment we met until now was real, and our connection still is as strong as it was the day I walked into that hospital room.

Something so minuscule like a dislocated knee started something that's so indescribably amazing that I couldn't imagine living without it.

Without her.

Everything that I could've ever possibly imagined was right in front of me. Alex was frantically worrying about what would happen to her knee, and there I was, just baffled at how stunningly gorgeous she looked. As corny as that is, it's completely true.

That long brown hair and matching eyes with her creamy skin was enough to paralyze my thoughts momentarily, because I'd get lost in her beauty as if it were a maze.

I'd gladly stay in that maze forever.

Later on that night that we met, I went back to my flat and thought of her. That look in her chocolatey brown eyes as she first shook my hand still played in my head. I remember how tentative and shy she was when she shook my hand, while I was a bit too firm with the handshake.

I remember after her reduction, and she was still sedated and how peaceful she looked. Everything in me was screaming not to fall for her, because with her being a patient and me being a doctor, I knew that there was probably a rule against fraternization.

But I didn't even care once I found out that her mother had been abusing her. Everything inside of me was hurting with Alex, especially when I saw her crying.

She looked so vulnerable just sitting there, just choking on the salty tears that fell from her eyes and trying to swallow down her cries. I tried to fight back my own tears once I watched her wince in pain as I tried to make her wounds heal a bit quicker.

All I wanted was to protect her from anymore harm that her mother had inflicted on her.

Now, I know that will never happen ever again. Alex will live the rest of her days without fear and without feeling worthless, and I'm going to make sure of that even if it kills me.

She deserves nothing but the best.

Just thinking about how Alex received nothing but the complete opposite of love and appreciation makes me extremely angry. Her mother never deserved someone as amazing as Alex.

Most men would call me whipped, but I believe that's how it's supposed to be. I cherish Alex every chance I get because I don't want to lose her, and I'm not afraid to show my emotions.

I break away from my thoughts when I feel Alex wrap her arms around me from behind, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I smile before turning around, grabbing both of her hands and kissing her again.

"Happy one year anniversary!" Alex cheerfully says, and I smile against her lips before kissing her again.

"Thanks, babe. Happy one year anniversary to you, too."

"What's that smell?" She inquisitively asks, and I smirk.

"I'm making us a bunch of food, because today we're going to the beach to have a picnic." I reveal, and she smiles.

"Baby," Alex exclaims, giving me a playful grin. "That's so cute!"

I laugh at her excitement, and my smile is hard to fight off. I return to my cooking, and her footsteps move farther and farther away from me until it's silent again. I begin to pack the food inside of the bag, and I put that in the trunk of my car along with the blanket. Once I'm finished with that, I head upstairs to get dressed.

Alex stands in the middle of the room, feeling her stomach before slipping on her dress. It slightly accentuates her stomach, and I smile at how protective Alex already is over our child as she holds onto her stomach while walking over to the bed.

Beautiful.

I walk inside, and she smiles at me before I can feel her eyes lingering on my body. I reach into the dresser, pulling out a white button up shirt. I take out a pair of jeans, putting those on as well as a pair of boat shoes. I roll my sleeves up to my elbows, and fix the collar of my shirt before briefly tousling my hair.

"How do I look?" I ask, and she smiles.

"Sexy, as usual. What about me?" She asks.

Stunning.

We grab hands, walking out to the car and driving off to the beach. Once we get there, I put the blanket on the ground and I stop Alex from trying to take the food out of the trunk.

"No, baby I got it." I insist, and she frowns before shrugging.

I put the food down, and we both sit down next to each other on the blanket. Alex struggles to crouch down, and she holds onto her stomach as she continues to switch her sitting position.

Alex dives into the basket, reaching for the wrapped corn on the cob that I slathered with butter. She carefully bites into it, and she giggles when the butter runs down her chin. I get out some corn for myself, and I search for the homemade Gyro.

"What's that?" Alex asks through a mouthful of corn.

"Gyro." I say.

"I've heard about these, but I've never tried it." Alex gasps, and I smile.

"Go right ahead."

Alex takes a huge bite out of the gyro, getting tzatziki sauce along the side of her mouth. Alex laughs again, and so do I.

I find it adorable when she's messy.

We've been messy so many other times before.

That thought causes a smirk to immediately form, and it tugs at my mouth.

"Man, I'm not very cautious when I eat, am I?" Alex asks, and I nod.

Alex playfully nudges my arm, and we devour most of the food before we decide to save the rest for later. After our delicious meal, we both lie down, side by side, staring up at the sky.

"Remember our first date?" I ask, and she chuckles.

"God, I've never been more nervous at one time in my life." Alex says, and I laugh.

"I remember how beautiful you looked."

"You look stunning, Alexandrianna."

"Thank you, you look really nice, too."

"Thank you,"

"I was nervous for nothing. That night went perfectly." Alex says, sigh afterwards.

"I agree."

We continue to reminisce over everything that we've done together over the past year, and it brings a smile to my face each time I see her eyes sparkle. My hand caresses her stomach, and she places her hand over mine.

"You know what I thought of the other day, babe?" I ask, and she raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Look at your necklace." I say, and she grabs the charms.

"What about it?" She asks.

"When we name this baby, I'm going to buy another charm for your necklace, and it'll be the initial of our child's name." I say, and she smiles.

"Aww, baby. Really?"

"Yes, really. Once we find out the gender, we'll think of names. Once we come to a conclusion, I'll get the charm." I say, and she kisses my cheek.

I want the necklace to be a reminder that I'm always there.

We stand up, putting everything back in the car before slipping off our shoes. Soon, we walk hand in hand along the shore, and the damp sand underneath my toes and around my feet with each step. Alex's warm hand never lets go of mine, and we both look out at the sunset while listening to the sound of the constant ebb of the waves.

The sky is an assortment of the most beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow with a hint of pink. The waves mirror the colors from above, and the waves are tinted with them as well. It's breathtakingly beautiful, and Alex gasps as we stare at this magnificent view.

The wind plays with Alex's hair, tousling it and letting it flow freely as she walks. The salty smell of the air comforts me, and it brings back the memories of when we came here for Valentine's Day. I lift my hand in the air, and Alex does a quick twirl before I wrap my arm around her shoulder and continue to stroll.

This is what I've wanted all along.

Before I know it, I can see the stars begin to freckle the sky with their benign light, and the moon slowly begins to overlap the sun. The white fluffy clouds soon appear, and they begin moving slowly across the dark blue sky.

"Where's this surprise you have planned for me? We've been walking for a while, and I still don't see it." Alex asks, and I smirk.

Impatient, are we?

"Look straight ahead." I flirtatiously say, and her jaw drops.

Ahead of us, is a candle set up in the shape of a heart. Around it are more rose petals, and it's in the perfect spot so we have the perfect view of the horizon.

"What's all this?" Alex asks, and she places a hand on her chest while smiling brightly at me.

"In order to honor our one year anniversary, I set this all up for us. A private beach a little far from home, a romantic set up for the both of us to enjoy. It's our time, and we're away from everyone else."

Alex smiles at me, and she hugs me before kissing my cheek.

"I love this so much, baby. Thank you. I've been wanting some alone time with you." Alex coos, and I kiss her cheek.

"I was thinking about just going to the hospital, considering the fact that we met there, but it seemed a little unromantic. The environment and everything about the hospital just wasn't sentimental enough."

"I would've been fine with that. I would be fine with anything, just as long as we're together." Alex gushes, and her eyes gleam.

I step over the candles, making sure that I don't knock any of them over. Once I'm in the middle of this heart, I hold out my hand for Alex to grab. Once she's in the center with me, I carefully wrap my arms around her from behind, and I plant gentle kisses on her neck as she looks at the moon.

I had almost given up on relationships after my last disastrous one. All of the sentimental value and meaning behind them had almost completely vanished themselves from my mind. Once I met Alex, all of those cliché quotes and cheesy thoughts came flooding back into my mind. I had realized that I hadn't lost faith in relationships, it was just those girls before Alex who drained me of my romanticism.

Alex really did bring me back to life.

My girl, my healer.

I think about how my dad used to consider my mother as his rock or his light, and that's how I feel about Alex. Yes, we may not always see eye to eye on certain things, but I still love her so much.

Alex turns her head so that she can look at me, and my lips are immediately placed over her lips as if they had some sort of magnetic power. That single kiss changes the atmosphere even more, adding more sensuality to the air.

Hotness washes over my body, causing a light sweat to form on my brow. I feel that enjoyable fiery feeling start in the pit of my stomach, gradually moving throughout the rest of me. My senses are being easily seduced with each pause that we take, because our lips are in such close proximity that we might as well be sharing the same air.

Alex's eyes darken and blaze with a playful lust before she leans in, savoring another delicate kiss from my lips. The hot friction is becoming almost unbearable as our tongues begin to graze against each other. My fingers trail along her smooth skin, and she begins to gently moan before whispering sweet endearments into my ear, and the tingly feeling makes this moment even more difficult to stop.

This is much more intense. Much more intense than our first kiss on my bed, or when we first made love, or any other time before.

"I love you so much, Rian." Alex says into my ear, and I smile.

"I love you, too, Alexandrianna." I whisper, and she smirks.

"I still cannot believe that I'm standing here with you." Alex giggles.

"Well, I can believe it." I say, looking into her eyes.

"When I first met you, I had no idea you'd be this important to me." Alex admits, and I nod my head in agreement.

"If you weren't clumsy at your cheerleading practice we probably wouldn't have met." I jokingly add, and she laughs.

"That's the first time I've ever had an injury and been grateful for it." Alex replies, giving me a wink.

Her voice from the day we met still echoes in my head, and I smile as I begin to reminisce.

"We've taken a look at your x-Rays, and your knee is definitely dislocated."

"What's gonna happen to me?"

"It's okay, Alex. We're going to perform a reduction in about an hour or so."

"I'm Dr. Rian Peterson, by the way. Nice to meet you, Alex."

"Later on that night that we met, I realized that I fell in love with a patient." I admit, and she has a wide smile on her face.

"And I fell in love with a doctor. You made it so difficult, too." Alex says, and I furrow my eyebrows.

"How'd I make it difficult?" I ask, genuinely curious to know.

"I was so smitten! With those gorgeous blue eyes and your generosity, you made it even harder to try and fight my feelings for you. I even had Xiu help me, because I felt like it was wrong but so right."

I definitely know that feeling.

"That makes two of us, Alex." I reply, and her cheeks redden.

Alex sighs happily before I kiss her forehead, and we hold onto each other.

"Not only did you heal my knee, but you healed my heart, too." Alex says, and I pull back with an arched eyebrow.

What?

Alex starts cracking up in absolute hysterics, and I laugh with her. Her smile brings a certain liveliness to her face, making everything light up as she continues to cackle.

Oh, Alexandrianna.

"Okay, that was really corny, huh?" Alex asks through a laugh, and I nod.

"Extremely corny, but it was endearing." I reassuringly add, and she grins.

Alex continues to smile, and I smile back as our eye contact doesn't flinch for a second. My large hands slowly trail down her arms, making her shiver instinctively. I take a hand and place is against her stomach, and we both smile at the same time.

"I didn't think that my patient would be carrying my first child, either."

"You know, at first I didn't really know what you saw in me. I was just some severely neglected girl who was injured, and nothing else. You just seemed too special for someone like—" Alex continues, but I place my mouth on hers to stop her from talking bad about herself.

"Don't say that, baby. Look, I know you were still healing. Not only were you physically going through an ordeal, but you were still upset about Austin and your mother. Emotionally, you were in turmoil. I knew that I wanted to help you out of that dark hole, that's why I waited until you were ready to have sex." I explain, and Alex gives me puppy dog eyes.

"Listen to me, Alex. Yes, you were damaged, but that didn't mean that I stopped loving you. That didn't mean a damn thing." I continue.

"That's it. That's exactly why I love you so much more than I anticipated."

"Because I don't care whether you were damaged or not?" I say, and she nods.

"I fell in love with you because you still loved me when I was struggling to love myself." Alex elucidates, and I smile.

"I knew there were times before when you seemed to doubt me, and that's perfectly fine. It doesn't matter now, because you've grown past that and you've finally begun to realize that you're worth something. You've finally begun to love yourself and myself, unhesitatingly. I'm so proud of how much you've grown, and I'm glad that I got to witness it."

Alex has improved so much over the past year when it comes to self-loving. I knew how insecure and unworthy she felt when we first met because her mother had ingrained that into her head. Plus, after being sexually used by Austin, I knew that she'd definitely be a bit hesitant when we would get intimate.

Now, Alex isn't afraid to love me as willingly and as hard as she wants. She knows that she's beautiful, and that she's a person, not a punching bag.

"What I have with you, I don't want with anyone else." I say softly, and she smiles.

"I can say the same."

"I really mean it, too. I'm so glad that you're in my life. I don't know where I'd be without you. There's no other woman who can make me feel this way. You're just—," I sigh, trying to find a word great enough to describe how I feel. "Everything I want."

As I look at her, I feel the nervousness that was claiming me earlier. My heartbeat is beating erratically, and my palms become sweaty.

Do it, Rian!

I reach in my pocket, and I get on one knee in front of her. Alex's eyes widen, and she gasps before covering her mouth with her hands. I open the box, revealing the large diamond ring.

"Alexandrianna Hawkins," I shakily say, looking up into her eyes. "Will you marry me?"

Alex's jaw is still dropped, and she's in awe as she stares at me.

"A-are you serious?" Alex stammers.

Why wouldn't I be?

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, my God! Of course, Rian!" Alex screams, and she bubbles with excitement.

"Yes? That's a yes?" I ask, and my smile becomes wider.

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll marry you!" Alex exclaims, and I stand up and kiss her.

Alex's smiles onto my lips, and our lips stay glued together. Deepening the kiss, I hold her by the waist as our lips continue to intertwine. My lips become numb after a while, but I don't even care. The wind whistles in my ears as Alex continues to press her warm lips against mine.

She said yes. She's going to marry me.

Not only am I going to be a father, but now I'm also going to be the lucky husband of this beautiful woman.

I pull apart from her briefly, and I take the ring from the box. Alex holds out her shaking hand, and allows me to put the ring on her finger. She giggles while staring at it as the moonlight causes it to shine even more than it already is.

"Rian," Alex gasps. "It's so beautiful."

"I knew that you'd love it." I say happily, and she wraps her arms around me.

"I love you." Alex says into my shirt, and I can tell she's about to cry.

"I love you, too." I say into her ear, kissing her temple.

We pull away again, and I wipe a tear from underneath her eye. We kiss again, this time more brief. We stare at each other, smiling like idiots for a while.

"Let's go home." I say, and she bites her lip while nodding.

I know what she's thinking.

"Let's go!"

I pick Alex up bridal style, and she giggles before kissing me all over my face as I carry her back to the car.

~~~

I pin Alex against the wall, kissing her neck as she begins to unbutton my shirt. She moans into my ear, and I let my shirt fall off of my body while staring at her. I'm careful when I grab her chest because I know that her breasts have been tender due to the fact that she's producing milk. I remove her dress, and she steps out of it before kicking it to the side.