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I have a gazebo. A real, white, wooden gazebo––not some plastic tent pretending to be one.

I step into it, the floor lined with blankets and pillows, and our breakfast is set up like a picnic.

“Oh my God. This is the best day of my life.” I can’t stop staring in wonder.

When I turn to face Hayden, he’s watching me happily from a few feet away, his hands in his pockets. “I assume that means you like it?”

“I love it.” I run up to him and pepper his face with kisses. “This is the best thing anyone has ever gotten me. Thank you.”

“Anything for you.”

“And it’s staying, right?”

He laughs. “Yes, it’s staying. Unless you don’t want it anymore at some point, then we can get rid of it.”

I shake my head. “Never going to happen.”

His hand finds mine, and he leads me inside the gazebo, pulling me down with him onto the sea of pillows.

I take in the breakfast spread, my stomach growling again. Waffles, bagels, muffins, fruit, orange juice, you name it. “There’s so much food. How did you make all of this in such a short time?”

“I prepared a lot of it last night before I picked you up.”

“God, I love you.”

He leans in and gives me kiss. “I love you more.”

“Obviously,” I say jokingly. “You built me a gazebo.”

We spend the next hour eating and talking. I fill him in on the cruise and my mom, while he tells me about the new bike he’s working on and his dinner with Darlene a few nights ago.

I push my plate away. “I can’t eat another bite.” I fall backwards into the cushions.

“Me neither.” He pushes the remaining food to the side before moving a pillow so he can sit with his back against the gazebo railing.

“Come here,” he says, patting the spot between his legs.

I climb between his legs, resting my back against his chest. He wraps his arms around me and I sigh.

We sit in the gazebo, neither one of us speaking, and I just take it all in.

This past year has been the best year of my life, and a lot of it is thanks to my boyfriend. Not only does he make me happier than I’ve ever been, but I also live in my own little dream house that nobody can take away from me. And while I was terrified of my new job at first, I’m now genuinely excited every day when I get to work, and my new boss, Megan, has become a good friend. Hayden goes to visit his sister once a month, and sometimes I go with him.

“Remember Darlene’s funeral?” he murmurs.

“How could anyone forget?”

“Remember how we wrote the little notes about what would make us sad if we didn’t get the chance to do it? Our one big regret, or something like that?”

“Oh, yeah. The ones we left in the casket? I wonder what happened to them. Do you think she threw them away?”

“She didn’t.” I feel his body shift as he leans to the side to move his hand under a blanket.

I sit upright a little and notice him pulling out two envelopes that were hidden underneath. “Are those the notes?” My eyes widen.

“Yes.” He sits up straight again, pulling me back into his chest with my head now resting under his chin. “I asked her if I could have ours, and she gave them to me last week.”

“That’s so cool,” I say, taking the envelopes from him. “I completely forgot about them.”