— This is the most peaceful wedding night in the world.
I laughed softly.
— Perhaps also the oldest.
— No — he said.
He squeezed my hand.
— The luckiest one.
We stayed talking for hours.
We remembered our youth.
The letters that never arrived.
The paths we took.
The lives we built separately.
And little by little, without realizing it, sleep began to overtake us.
Before I fell asleep, I heard Manuel murmur:
— Thank you for coming back into my life.
I closed my eyes.
For the first time in many years, I didn’t feel lonely.
The next morning, sunlight streamed gently through the window.
I woke up first.
I turned my head and saw Manuel asleep next to me, breathing peacefully.
His white hair was slightly disheveled.
His hands rested on the blanket.
I smiled.
Outside, the sounds of morning could be heard: a bread vendor passing by on the street, a dog barking, the distant rumble of a bus.
It was a completely ordinary day.
But for me…
It was the beginning of a new life.
Not the passionate life of one’s twenties.
Not the busy life of one’s forties.
But a quiet life.
A life where every morning there would be someone by my side.
Someone to share coffee with.
Someone who might ask:
Did you sleep well?