Chapter Text
Slowly, Olivia opened her eyes and, convinced that she was still dreaming, she watched the man lying next to her with loving eyes. His ginger-blond hair shimmered in the early morning sun and his brow twitched every so often while he dreamed. He looked gorgeous and Olivia wished she could really just open her eyes and see him lie next to her like this.
His breath tickled her skin and she just about suppressed a giggle at the sensation. What might he be dreaming of?
Quiet whimpering from the baby monitor distracted her soon after and still walking on clouds, she got up and walked into the nursery next door. What a beautiful room, she thought, ere bending over the side of the bed.
"Hello my gorgeous boy," she whispered and carefully she picked Henry up and held him close. It didn’t take long for Tom’s footsteps to be heard on the carpet and with a gentle smile she turned around. What a vivid dream, Olivia thought, as he breathed a kiss onto her lips.
"Morning," Tom whispered, stroking along her back. Olivia leaned onto him, determined to soak up the intensity of this dream as much as possible for later when she was awake.
Tom cooed at his baby boy, breathing kisses onto his fingers, onto his cheeks and his head. Henry watched him with wide and curious eyes before he stretched his tiny fingers out to grab his Daddy's hand. He showed his white, small denticles as he smiled and Olivia couldn’t help but smile along. What a wonderful, peaceful dream.
"Come on darling, let’s get you ready for breakfast," she mumbled against Henry's cheek and, avoiding the squeaky toy that Sam had left lying on the floor, she placed him gently on the changing table.
Her eyes fixed on the giggling and gurgling boy, she took his romper and diaper off. Without even feeling for the knobs on the chest of drawers, without hesitating, she grabbed the right utensils until her son lay changed and dressed in front of her. If only it were always this easy, Olivia thought.
Tom stared at her open-mouthed when she turned around with Henry back in her arms. "What is it?," she giggled, breathing in the clean, fresh baby scent of the little toddler.
"How did you do that?," Tom mumbled, pointing a little helplessly at the baby changing unit.
"Everything is possible in a dream, silly. Didn't you know that?" Olivia laughed quietly and walked past him out of the room.
"Yes, but this isn't a dream, Olivia." His voice was low and a little croaky.
Olivia came to a halt. "What do you mean? Of course this is a dream, Tom."
She jumped a little as he gave her a gentle pinch. "Ouch, what did you do that for?," she muttered, turning back towards him.
"If this were a dream, it wouldn't have felt that way, would it?," he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.
Slowly, realisation dawned on her and if it hadn't been for Henry in her arms, she would have collapsed there and then. As it was, she managed to place him gently into his bed again, much to his surprise, before she sank down onto her knees, shaking, shivering and sobbing.
***
Still somewhat wearily, Olivia entered the house ahead of Tom and Henry. The visit to her doctor had caused almost as many questions as it had answered but fact was, she could see again. Sometimes her vision became a little blurry still and she also had a headache but she could live with that, she thought. But what would it be like to adjust to this new life after living in the dark for almost twenty years?
Peeling out of their warm winter clothes, they went into the living room together where Tom placed Henry into his little playpen. Babbling away happily, the toddler grabbed his toys, unaware of the miraculous events of the past few hours. Olivia watched him as he grabbed his stuffed teddy bear and chewed on its ear. Then she closed her eyes and listened. She listened to Tom cluttering around in the kitchen as he made a cup of tea for them. She listened to Sam’s paws on the oakwood floor. She listened to Henry’s mumbling and to the passing cars outside.
Wordlessly, Tom placed the mugs on the living room table ere he knelt down in front of his wife and wiped the tears away that were streaming down her cheeks. He could only imagine how overwhelming it must be for her, how wonderful yet also weird and frightening.
Slowly, Olivia opened her eyes once more, her vision blurred by tears. She took her time to look at Tom properly. Obviously he looked older than the last time she had seen him but he had aged well and looked handsome through and through. He still had the same wrinkles next to his eyes, which became even more prominent when he smiled.
“Go ahead,” Tom whispered with a smile, knowing that she longed to touch him to confirm it was real. Olivia blushed.
Gently, her fingertips traced the contours of his face. She knew what he felt like, what he smelled and sounded like. And now she knew what he looked like, too. What he really looked like.
“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered, placing a finger on his lips when he tried to protest. “In my mind you were always the Tom I knew, the 20-year-old who took me out for a drink in Cambridge. And now I can add another Tom to my memories, the one who has married me, the one who has spent these past decades with me. It’s just so…” She didn’t finish her sentence as tears once more overwhelmed her and, burying her face in his jumper, Olivia cried without shame. It was all a bit too much.
It was Sam’s heavy head resting on her thigh that made her look up again eventually. Sniffing quietly and wiping away some of her tears, she looked at her guide dog, her loyal companion. “Hello there you gorgeous boy,” she mumbled with a loving smile, gently stroking along his head, and the Labrador briefly licked her hand as if he knew exactly how she felt.
***
It was late when Tom eventually joined Olivia in their bedroom after a brief walk with Sam in the park. She looked tired as she sat there, holding their sleeping baby boy in her arms.
Once more tears glistened on her cheeks and after slipping into his pyjama bottoms, Tom crawled onto the mattress next to her.
“Hey, don’t cry,” he breathed, pressing a kiss onto her hair while he held her close to himself.
“I’m scared, Tom. What if it’s only temporary? What if I wake up tomorrow and I’m blind again? I don’t want to be blind again! I want to see you every day and I want to see Henry. I’ve missed so much already,” she whispered, desparate, afraid, and crying.
“Let’s be optimistic, darling. Let’s believe in this miracle and let’s not get lost in ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’,” he mumbled against her temple. Olivia nodded after a moment of hesitation.
“I still can’t believe that this is our little boy,” she whispered after a while. “He is so beautiful, so very beautiful.”
“That’s because he is your son, my love. He’s inherited your good looks,” Tom grinned, relieved when she looked up at him and smiled herself. “Just look at you, my darling. Just look at that twinkle in your eyes and your flushed cheeks and those kissable lips. Everything about you is wonderful, Olivia, and I am so glad that you can finally see all of it yourself,” he added, earnestly. Olivia blushed even more.
“I love you, Tom. And there’s nothing better than finally being able to look into your eyes while I say it...I love you! I love you! I love you,” she repeated again and again, albeit quietly and with a few more happy tears rolling down her cheeks.
Gently, he kissed them all away before breathing against her lips. “I love you, too, Olivia. I love you, too!”