All My Life -

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and it was created solely by me as the author. All characters are over the age of 18. Any similarities to characters, businesses, places, or things are all happenstance, though my appreciation to those who have

inspired

my works is immense.

Author's Note:

This is the second part of a series I believe you've been finding enjoyable. It's a nice buildup into the hot and heavy scenes, but, as usual, my stories are STORIES, so many details make for fun, exciting, and interesting plot lines. Please remain calm in awaiting the next installment, but I assure you, it'll be worth it.

Some clarifications: I would love to be able to decipher for you when Ana is writing or typing to Alex with different fonts, but as there is only one font available, you'll have to forgive my approach. I have tried to make it as clear as possible. Also, where it's not mentioned

all

that often, sometimes their Catholic faith and practices (such as prayer) come up. I hope that's not offensive to anyone. It's a reality in many lives, really, and I am simply sharing it from a POV where those with faith can also be part of love stories (and hot ones at that). Hope that's cool with y'all.

Questions and comments are welcome. Please take the time to rate this story also. I hope everyone will be kind.

All My Life - pt. 02

In the morning, Alex was woken up by music. "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah... They say it's your birthday! Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah... It's my birthday too, yeah!" When he opened his eyes, he found Ana dancing on the bed mouthing along to the music. It didn't take long for Alex to get a good hold of his girl and lie her down so that he could hover over her.

"Now

that

... is the best birthday wake up I've ever had," Alex teased and smothered her face in kisses. Ana was attempting to giggle, moving under him and waving her arms and legs wildly until he began giving her quite the kiss on her lips. She then made a sound (what would have been a moan if she'd had any voice, he imagined), stopped squirming so she could wrap her arms around him, and pulled him down on top of her.

"

Mmm

," Alex moaned and slid his hands under her to hug her back. "You know what?" he asked as he pulled his lips from hers. "I had made some plans for today, but let's

forget

that. I could spend another day in bed on

you

and be very happy." Ana giggled and shook her head. "No? Why not?! What could we do that's better than this?" Ana shook her head some more as she smiled at him and tried to wiggle out from under him. "Ugh, fine," he'd conceded and laughed. "But if you don't have a good time doing any part of it, don't blame me."

Not at all surprised this time, he'd found that his coffee had been sitting next to his side of the bed. Ana's was on

her

side on the little table, though she grabbed it and sat with him against the headboard when he sat back to drink it before starting their day. When Ana handed him her notepad, Alex took it, read it, and then nodded.

"Smart girl," he responded and kissed the top of her head. She'd written that she hadn't made breakfast in case he had wanted to go out for that. Otherwise, she was prepared to make whatever he had asked for to the best of her ability. She then amazed him when she pointed to the notepad again. Alex gave her a curious look as he lifted the page he'd just read and saw that there was more written on the other side. He read her additional notes and then smiled.

"Yes," he answered and kissed her head again. "We will most definitely be done in time for you to make me dinner and dessert. And yes, I'm happy to take you to the store to pick up whatever it is you want or need to make those and any other meals you might have thought of since we last visited there." Alex breathed in deeply and let out the air as he looked down at her. "Whatever did I do to deserve you?"

When Ana just shrugged, Alex shrugged back at her as he set down his coffee. He calmly turned to take Ana's half-empty mug from her and set it next to his. Before Ana could figure out what he was about to do, Alex jumped and tackled her to the bed. "Ha! I've got you now! You're mine, and I'm never letting you go!" Ana had begun making notes of shock and laughs, not to mention gasps of surprise. She wiggled and squirmed under his grasp until he finally let up on the "attempts on her life."

"You make me so happy, Ana," Alex finally revealed to her. He slid his finger along her cheek and then changed up to cup her face. "

So

happy," he reiterated before slowly bringing his lips onto hers. Ana happily reciprocated the kiss and then got up to head into her little side room to pick out her outfit for the day. Alex headed over to his dresser to grab his t-shirt and boxers before heading into the bathroom.

When they were all set to head out, Alex made sure to have their snow gear packed in the backpack he had with him. They wore their snow boots knowing, after the storm and all, that they'd be necessary. Ana didn't know what they'd be doing as Alex hadn't told her, but

he

knew she was going to have the best time.

They first went to breakfast and enjoyed birthday waffles until they were quite full. Because Alex had planned the whole outing, he knew when they needed to head to this place or that, so Ana seemed relaxed and just happy to be with him, which was exactly what Alex had hoped for her to feel. Once they were on their way to the first stop (after breakfast), Alex began telling her the plans.

"Alright, yesterday, you blew me away with your epic execution of making my wish come true. Now, it's my turn." Ana tilted her head and waited for him to continue. "First, we're headed to a large hill where we are bound to find many other snow lovers with the same idea. On our way, we'll be picking up the contraband." Ana turned her head sharply to see if Alex had been serious or not.

"Oh, from your reaction, I'm going to guess you aren't a fan of doing illegal things?" Alex mused as he watched her wide eyes searching for answers. "I don't have a sled," he admitted as he walked into the back of a shop which he clearly knew had been unlocked for him. "Come on," he encouraged, and he laughed when she saw that he could just walk into these places.

"Alexander!" Mr. Cardinale exclaimed and headed for Alex to embrace him warmly. "I have your sled right here. Now, now. Who do we have here?"

"Mr. Cardinale? I want you to meet Ana Lopez, my girlfriend, and I may even go so far as to admit, my future. Ana, one of the few business owners to whom I love to give money who doesn't take advantage of me because of my wealth, Mr. Cardinale." He watched as Ana took off her glove and extended her hand to him. Rather than shake it, though, Mr. Cardinale bent to kiss her bare hand.

"Ms. Lopez, it is a great pleasure to meet the woman who has finally captivated this young man's heart. Dare I ask? Do you feel the same?" Ana nodded and blushed as she took Alex's arm and looked up at him lovingly. "Ah, there it is. Yes. Yes, this warms my heart better than the finest and most tasty

Pasta Fagioli

."

"Mr. Cardinale, I want you to know that soon, we shall both have the great pleasure of hearing Ana speak, but at this time, she suffers from an intense case of laryngitis. I assure you, sir, bringing her here to talk with you will be one of the first things I will do when the time comes. I believe it will be music to both our sets of ears."

"Mr. McLleyn, I agree, young sir," Mr. Cardinale offered. "I do believe that will be the case. But alas, daylight is burning up already. 'Tis the matter we face with winter months. Go, go! Enjoy! Bring the sled back whenever it is convenient."

"Will do, sir," Alex promised. "In fact, when we're done, we will be swinging by here to drop it off as it's on the path to our next destination after sledding. Thanks again. See you soon."

Ana slid her gloves back on and offered to carry the sled so that Alex didn't have to carry their entire load. He turned her down, but only because he could continue to hold her hand on the way to the park. Sledding was every bit as much fun as they had hoped. They got a few pictures of themselves sledding or posing

on

a sled, and Alex could not remember a time on any hill which had ever been that enjoyable.

Once they'd dropped off the sled back at the shop, Alex then brought Ana to the ice rink about half a mile south of where they'd just been. As they walked there, Ana pointed at a snow owl in a tree, and Alex showed her a family working in the park on a family of snowmen.

"Do you ever or

have

you ever done snowball fights?" Alex asked her. Ana shrugged. "Would you like to?" Ana nodded and shrugged at the same time in concession. "What about building snowmen?" Ana smiled and nodded. "Ah, it looks like you'd definitely be up for that. Now, tell me the truth. Where

is

the right place to put the carrot and two pieces of coal?" Ana gasped and playfully slapped Alex in the stomach. "What?!" Alex asked and laughed at the same time. "On the face, right? What were

you

thinking, Ms. Lopez? Gosh, where did Miss Innocence go?"

Alex continued to laugh as he led her off the sidewalk toward the entrance of the skating rink. He pulled her to the side so they wouldn't be in the way of other patrons. "We have an hour here at the rink, and then I've lined up snowmobiles for an hour. I had thought about taking you skiing too, but that will have to be an all-day thing and maybe even an overnight experience somewhere." Ana laughed when he raised his eyebrows a few times.

"We'll head back toward my place and stop to get a late lunch before pausing at the store to shop for everything your heart desires for the next few days' worth of meals," Alex told her quietly as he bent to put his lips by hers. "We have a bit more to do back at home, I think, so let's get this fun outdoor stuff out of the way so we can focus on the cozy, yummy, indoor stuff we still have coming. Sound good?" Ana nodded and kept the eye contact she'd held with him since he'd begun talking to her. "Kiss me so we can do this." Ana obliged readily and sighed to herself when it was over.

Ice skating was a new experience for her, but Ana had been a regular at the roller-skating rink back home, so she took to it rather quickly. They held hands, tried different skating techniques, stopped regularly to take pictures (including one that had them kissing rather intimately), and both felt bummed when their hour was up. Once they got to the snowmobile track about five minutes away, they'd gotten over their disappointment.

The usual occurred as they geared up, rode the trail, stopped to not only take pictures but to fully make out seeing as they had been told they were the only ones on the track, and raced each other in the open field of which they were excited to utilize. After their hour was up, Alex helped her out of her snow gear just as he had at the sledding hill, and Ana held the backpack open for him to store it all away again.

At the restaurant, they shared a sandwich and fries and enjoyed warming up with two delicious hot chocolates. Another picture was taken, this time by the server there at the relatively uninhabited restaurant. The server made sure to tell them what a cute couple they were, particularly that they were using this day to make great memories rather than schlepping right back to work. "Enjoy your youth, your time, and each other. From the looks of it," she continued, "you're well on your way."

"Thanks, Ethel!" Alex shared appreciatively and took his phone back from her. "And you're right. We're having the best time. Thanks for that advice. I think I'm going to take it and run with it." Alex left a $50 bill on the table for the food, handed all

three

servers $100 bills, winked at Ethel, and helped Ana into her coat before putting his own back on. "You ladies have a great day, stay warm, and maybe take up some of that advice as well."

"On to the store!" Alex announced as if he had a calvary with him. Ana smiled and shook her head. Once inside, he pointed at the cart. "Show me what you can do. Make this boyfriend proud." Ana couldn't help but show her glee as she grabbed a cart and headed for the aisles. Alex wandered around and picked up a few items to purchase as well.

It was something Ana had done on that first shopping trip which had intrigued him. Ana would go through the items and appear to be calculating recipes or meals in her head. He thought it was just because she had been worried that they would be snowed in and possibly not have enough. But that wasn't it. She did it again this time around. It was her way of avoiding the need to go without for a meal. He had a sneaking hunch that she had begun doing this to avoid problems with her aunt and uncle.

"No worries," Alex reminded himself nearly silently. If he had anything to do with it, she'd never be returning there. Ana looked around for him and then smiled when she found him standing nearby. "You ready?" Alex asked. Ana nodded and smiled as she pushed her cart toward the checkout counter.

While they were in the elevator, Alex looked over at Ana and smiled. "Did you have fun today?" Ana gave him a look which clearly told him she had (but also to say, "Duh!"). "Me too, and the day is young." Though they had their hands full with the shopping bags, his fingers tingled. He wished they'd been holding hands.

"Hey, are you good to put these away so I can go unpack our snow stuff? I'll just hang them to dry, and then we can move along to the next thing. Sound good?" Ana nodded and began sorting through the bags. Alex couldn't help it. He wanted to stay with her. When he still hadn't moved, Ana waved her hand to get his attention. She lifted her shoulders in a shrug as she held her hands out as if to say, "What's up?"

Alex laughed as he walked over to stand in front of her. "It's silly." Ana's face got serious as she let go of the bags and turned to face him.

She mouthed, "What?"

"I... oh my gosh, I feel so stupid saying it. Ugh, it's... nothing. I'll be right back." He turned, but Ana caught his hand.

"What, Alex?" she whispered. "Tell me."

"I don't want to leave you," he admitted. "I don't want to leave your side for even a second because I'm so

drawn

to you. Even just going to our, uh, my room," he stuttered and could not

believe

he'd just called it their room already. "I was just going to say that even from the next room, I'm going to miss you."

Ana squeezed his hand before heading to the living room. She returned carrying her notepad. As she wrote, Alex watched her in amazement as she focused on her words. She then handed him the note and nodded.

"Well, that must mean I'm silly too then, because I don't want to be away from you either, Alex. I didn't mean to end up by your side that first night, but I'm just certain it's where I belong, and even in my sleep, my body reached out for you. And I remained there because I fit there. I'm yours... if you'll have me."

It just didn't seem possible to feel the way Alex did at that very moment. The moment he knew without any doubt whatsoever that he was in love with the woman who was looking up at him right then. And if she felt the same way in the way she'd just written out her feelings, he knew that would be the final straw. The last of the control he'd always had before. Hooked. Captivated. Hopelessly in love.

Alex cupped her cheek and bent enough to put his forehead to hers. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, Ana. And I'm yours, completely." Ana slid her hands up his arms to set them on his shoulders. As if they were completely in sync, they moved ever so slightly to share a kiss.

"I don't know how or exactly when it happened, but Christiana Maria Lopez? I know without a doubt the way I know how to breathe that I love you. I'm going to spend the rest of my life devoted to you and aiming to make you happy every single day that we exist on this earth."

"Alex," Ana whispered and kissed him again. She put her lips to his ear and sighed. "I know... I love you too," she whispered and then kissed his temple before pulling back to face him so they could kiss again.

Alex pulled back once they'd stopped sharing the sweet kisses and held her hands in his. "I guess we'd better go do what we were going to do. I'll meet you in the living room. Sound good?" Ana nodded and smiled as he reached for the backpack and left without saying anything else.

"I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with that girl, and I couldn't be more excited about it," Alex told himself quietly as he hung their snowpants and accessories to dry in the bathroom. When he was done, he leaned against the sink and looked up. "God, thank You for her. Thank You for putting her in my life exactly when she was supposed to be part of it. Help me to do right by her. Please guide me to make the transition of the miserable life she had before we met into what I can give and make for her a smooth one." Alex made the sign of the cross, kissed his thumb, and raised it up as if offering it to God as a promise.

In the living room, Alex found Ana sitting on the couch with the laptop. Music was playing from her phone, and she was tapping her foot to the beat of the music against his coffee table. Her little notepad was right there where it belonged as well. He was beginning to think he'd be thrown off as well if it was out of place at this point. He smiled. Life was so good. He couldn't wait for an eternity of this.

Ana looked up when she'd noticed Alex had walked in and motioned for him to sit with her. She sat forward, set the laptop down, and waved for him to sit behind her so that they could be close. Alex slid in behind her with a leg on each side of her and wrapped his arms around her waist with his hands resting on her stomach. She sat back and sighed with her head against his chest. When she looked up at him, he leaned down to kiss her.

"

Mmm

, luckiest birthday boy ever," he whispered and then kissed her again. She sighed against his lips and gave him one more little kiss before leaning forward to pick up her phone. She set the timer for 4:30pm and then set the phone down. When she was about to sit back, she stopped, scooted forward, moved herself to a better position, and waved for him to do the same so they could sit in a more relaxed position.

Alex was easily being lulled to sleep by the soft music which was still playing on her phone. Ana pulled the coffee table to sit closer so she could type out a few things. Alex tried to watch what she was typing, but his eyes kept getting heavier. Before long, he was asleep.

The phone's alarm went off causing Ana to move from beneath Alex's hold. He inhaled deeply and stretched before wrapping his arms back around his girl and hugging her from behind. Ana sighed and turned her head. She kissed him gently but lingered which caused Alex to want more. He tilted his head and deepened their kiss. Both made small noises in appreciation of the wonderful sensations flooding their most sensitive regions. Hormones. They were definitely awakening in both of them and anxious for some more activity.

Ana pulled away and motioned with her head for him to follow her. He pointed at the bathroom and stood up after she had gotten up so he could do his business first. He watched Ana as she walked toward the kitchen. He knew she was set to make his birthday dinner, and he couldn't wait to try her chocolate chip cookies.

Ana had a bowl out and several ingredients sitting nearby as she prepared the cookie batter. When Alex tried to steal a chocolate chip, Ana swatted at him and waved her finger back and forth as a warning. Alex laughed as he then tried to bend over to grab the pot for water to boil for the spaghetti, but Ana shocked him by spanking his butt which caused him to stand in surprise.