I sat sipping my coffee looking around the living room. JR and Hunter had spent the day decorating it in preparation for tonight’s party. They had finally left twenty minutes ago and I was enjoying the silence.

I still couldn’t believe that it was our 20^th wedding anniversary and wondered where the years had gone. It seemed only yesterday that Ben had carried me over the threshold in our newly purchased home.

This morning as we cuddled in our warm bed he’d told me he intended to do it again tonight. He may be 55 but I had no doubt he’d still be able to scoop me into his arms as easily as he had that day years ago.

The house itself hadn’t changed much over the years. We’d redecorated a couple of times, nothing major except for turning Hunter’s bedroom into an office for Ben when Hunter had finally left home.

JR’s room was still there for her when she visited from college, the nursery characters that once covered the walls now replaced with posters of her latest crush.

I remembered how I had balked at Ben’s suggestion of moving, the thoughts of leaving Liberty Avenue, which had been the only home I’d known, scaring me for some unknown reason. But Ben had planted the seed and in the end I realized he was right. Liberty Ave would always be part of me but my heart and life lay with Ben and Hunter, beginning a new life as a family in our own home. A place we could each stamp our mark on, laying the foundation for our future together.

I looked up as Ben walked in the door, the sight of him still taking my breath away even after all these years. My love for him was as deep as it was twenty two years ago when I had first seen him. He could still make me blush under his gaze as he whispered my name in that deep, sexy voice of his. When he made love to me it still felt like that very first time. I still ache for him when we are apart and find joy in every moment we spend together.

The façade may be bricks and mortar but it was a home filled with memories of nights of love making and days of laughter and love, and I loved it as much as I loved my family who made it what it was. My home. They say that home is where the heart is and if that is true then my heart belongs here forever.