Following Bliss (The Quest series) (17 page)

“Ann,” Shelby
said. “It is my greatest honor to meet you. I want to thank you for bringing
into this world such a creative, talented, and wonderful man. A man who makes
my heart sing, and who, as you told me to me so long ago, is my destiny point
as well. And I am so excited to share my life with him.”

Daniel’s eyes
widened. His mom had told Shelby that he was her destiny point all along?! He
should have known. His mother had never been good at keeping secrets…

Chapter 10

After Daniel’s
mother’s words to both Shelby and Daniel were out in the open and Shelby had
agreed to move in with Daniel, things moved quickly and with ease. Daniel was going
about his daily business when an email appeared in his inbox featuring a home
that he knew would be perfect for him and Shelby. It was located in the Sellwood
neighborhood of Portland, and was a small, craftsman-style home, complete with
three bedrooms, composting, a small garden, and yard. He immediately contacted the
owner to request a showing. Then, he forwarded the description and photos to
Shelby. She called him roughly two minutes later.

“Are you
thinking what I’m thinking?” she said with great urgency.

“That this is
the perfect house for us?” he responded.

“Abso-freaking-lutely.
Nice work babe! You have my a-okay to contact the owner.”

“Well, actually
Shelb, I already sent the email to see if we could view it either Wednesday or
Thursday  this week. Hope that’s okay.”

“First the
meditation, and now this. What am I going to do with you, Daniel?” Shelby
teased.

Since their time
at the cemetery with Daniel’s mom, Daniel had felt more certain than ever
before that Shelby was the woman he was meant to share his life with. He found
himself easily thinking about their future and was taking steps to steer them
in that direction. The week prior, he had suggested they do a meditation
together to visualize their perfect home and call it into their lives. He had
also started a conversation about marriage, and if that was something Shelby
was interested in. Her answer had surprised him, and it was something he was
still trying to process.

She had paused
for quite some time when he had asked her what her thoughts were on marriage.
This made his heart skip a beat. They had just finished watching the movie
Sleepwalk
With Me
at The McMenamins Kennedy School, and the entire film centered on
the topic of whether to get married and why it was (or wasn’t important).

After a few
moments of elongated silence, Shelby uncrossed her legs and turned to face him.
They were the only ones left in the theater, unable to leave the cozy couch
they had scored to watch the film.

“Daniel, I love
you and I definitely see a future together. But, after talking with Kathryn
about the not-wedding versus a wedding, and then being there for their
ceremony, I feel like it’s important to create a new paradigm. I don’t want to
sign up for marriage as it is now.”

Daniel was
silent, he had hoped she would have chirped with glee, “Yes!” She was sending
the whole topic of marriage in another direction he hadn’t considered. He had assumed
that Kathryn and Scott were new age hippies making a statement. He hadn’t
realized their statement had a profound impact on his love.

“Daniel,” Shelby
placed her hand on his arm. “I don’t want to drive a minivan.” She laughed and
Daniel smiled.

“Shelby. By no
means does marriage require you to drive a minivan. I swear. Scouts honor.” He
held his two fingers up to show his solidarity.

“I know. But
it’s more than that. I don’t want to cook dinner every night and not work. Or
be unable to manifest the highest level of abundance I desire, because I’m a
wife. And while there’s nothing wrong with any of these things—even the
minivan—they aren’t for me. Now, I don’t think you require any of these things,
but what happens is that these roles of husband and wife carry a powerful
energy with them. And when people enter into that union, they often end up
playing out what they saw growing up as the roles of husband and wife. It’s
totally unconscious, but it happens all the time. I want to be part of changing
that paradigm. And I think part of that is creating a whole new one that
energetically doesn’t carry the weight that the institution of marriage does.”

“You think the
institution of marriage is irreversibly flawed?

“It seems that
way sometimes, yes. But I do know that change is possible. And I’m suggesting
that maybe that change comes from creating a new paradigm of commitment. Either
way, are we in a hurry? Is there any reason we have to figure this out now? I’m
sure after we’ve been together a while, we’ll both have a more well-rounded
outlook. We can allow it to flow—and have marriage and children be part of the
distant future while we enjoy the deliciousness of the now.”

“I’m not in a
hurry per se…but I did want to see where you were at with things, because it’s
certainly on my mind. When would you want to re-evaluate this?”

“How about 10
years?” Shelby said with a nervous laugh.

“Really?” Daniel
didn’t realize her feelings around marriage were so strong. “Cause I was
thinking more like two.”

“Sweetie, how
about we meet up with Kathryn and Scott at some point and talk to them about
it? They could maybe explain it to you in a way that made more sense. I think
I’m so nervous about having this conversation with you that I’m jumbling things
up.”

Daniel didn’t
want to lie, he felt disappointed. Some part of him always thought he would get
married
some day
and do the traditional thing of having a wife, having
her take his name, and then bringing a few kids into the world. He didn’t know
what a new paradigm looked like for this. Shelby was certainly bringing in a
whole new way of looking at relationships into this world.

“Honey,” Shelby
said leaning in to him, her face lying softly on his shoulder.

“Yes, Shelby,”
Daniel said.

“Is this a
deal-breaker for you?” she practically whispered.

Daniel turned to
face her, her beautiful green eyes looking innocently into his. What Shelby
didn’t know, and that he couldn’t say right then, was that nothing would ever
be a deal breaker when it came to her. The messages from his mother, the
healing, and abundance that had occurred since she entered his life was more
than enough to solidify to him that he was hers—forever. Instead, he just
answered quietly, shaking his head.

“Absolutely not.
We’ll move forward when it feels right.”

But living together
did feel totally right for the two of them—in fact, it seemed to be in perfect
alignment. So, when Daniel saw the email for the house, he couldn’t hesitate.
Everything within him said, “Go for it.”

“I’ll let you
know as soon as I hear back from the woman, so we can go see this place, which
I am now going to start calling our home.”

Shelby giggled.
“Have I mentioned how incredible I think you are?”

“Uh no, you
haven’t. Maybe you should amp that up a bit.”

“Well, you’re
the most amazing man ever! And I intend to tell you this on a regular basis.
But, in the meantime, I have to get back to slaving away here at
Hello
Portland
. Don’t feel sorry for me though, I just sold 10 new pieces of
jewelry on Etsy and got asked to do a holiday party for one of the gals who
works here. I may be a solopreneur sooner rather than later.”

“Congrats Shelb!
That’s awesome. With our new place and the three bedrooms, you can have a room
for your business and I’ll have a room for mine, and then one left over for
both of us and all the sexy, naughty, delicious things I plan to do to you when
we get to sleep together every night. We’ll just call in a new, bigger house
when we start having kiddos in what— 10 years you said?“

“That sounds
perfect to me! And seriously. LOVE you...and hope no one is recording this
call. I’m calling from my work line.”

“Let ‘em do it.
I’ve got nothing to hide.” Daniel was grinning from ear to ear. “Okay love,
talk soon.”

Shelby was
having her own acceleration of abundance since she and Daniel met. She had been
making jewelry more and more, and feeling less apprehensive about sharing it
with the masses—or whomever she might meet. After they did their meditation
last week to connect to their perfect home, she realized it was something she
could do for her jewelry business as well, and she was now focusing on
visualizing her business soaring.

So far, she was
having incredible results. She was even thinking about getting a booth at an
upcoming holiday bazaar to see how things went. In fact, Shelby was feeling
unstoppable. Her work at
Hello Portland
felt unimportant and totally out
of alignment with who she was. She realized that to someone else she may have
what appeared to be a dream job—and at one point, it was for her.

But now, now she
was ready to step more fully into her truth; coming together with Daniel had
shown her that. It meant bringing whatever was out of alignment with her life
now more fully into alignment. Using her passion and creativity to design and
make jewelry made her heart soar. And having a portion of the proceeds go to a
domestic violence shelter allowed her heart to expand even further. She had
felt very inspired to have a portion of the funds go to the Raphael House and
had a call in to the director there to see how it might work. It really felt as
if her entire life was coming together.

# # #

The home at 1174
S.E. Commodore had pretty much everything on Daniel and Shelby’s list of
must-haves. Hardwood floors throughout, soothing colors in every room (mint
green in the living area, a second chakra orange accent wall in the master
bedroom, lovely earth tones in both of the additional bedrooms, and lavender in
the bathroom), a nice-sized yard with a garden plot, and a kitchen big enough
for both of them to cook in comfortably.

“Oh, and it’s
large enough to have friends over—Kathryn and Scott are going to love this
place!” Shelby said, grinning widely as she walked through the living room.

Daniel grabbed
her hand and took her into the bedroom. “And with this level of support from
the Universe,” he said pointing to the orange accent wall. “There’s going to be
a lot of second chakra sexual activity happening in this room.”

Shelby put her
arms around Daniel’s neck. “It’s perfect. I cannot believe it just landed in
your inbox.”

“Or can you?” He
said slyly, as he leaned in for a kiss. “It’s sort of how we roll now, staying
in the divine flow of the Universe and following the signs.”

They walked
hand-in-hand throughout the home, admiring the crown molding and character it
embodied. The move-in timeline of three weeks was a bit tighter than they would
have liked—Shelby would have to give notice and pay some overlap in rent, but
overall, everything about it was a perfect fit for them.

“I normally like
to take 24 hours to make a decision like this,” he whispered to Shelby while
the owner waited outside. “But, it feels like this is the place for us. Should
we go for it?”

Daniel had never
been so impulsive in his life. It had taken him years to save up the money and
courage to leave his job behind to focus solely on his dream of writing
full-time. And here he was about to move in with a woman for the first time in
less than three weeks, after only spending a half hour in the home. He could
hardly recognize himself, but at the same time, he knew to his core that he was
on the right path.

Shelby hesitated
in answering. Inside, she felt a “yes!”, but she also had never made a decision
so quickly before. She usually took time to at least speak to Kathryn or Laney about
it. She sighed, looking up at him.

“Too fast?”
Daniel asked.

“Too perfect.”
Shelby answered. “Seriously, all of this is happening so quickly and it all
feels right, but my mind is having trouble keeping up.” Shelby rubbed her
temples and closed her eyes. “My heart is saying yes and my mind is saying,
‘what are you doing?’ Make sense?”

“Absolutely,”
Daniel said, rubbing her shoulders. “The battle of the head versus the heart.
Right now, I feel like going with it. It’s been working thus far. Why don’t you
take a minute and go outside, close your eyes, get centered and see what comes
up?”

“That’s a great
idea. I’ll go do that.”

As Shelby walked
out the front door of the house, she had a strong feeling of déjà vu. Had she
been there before? She steadied herself and walked out to the yard, waving to
the owner. “I’m going to take a few minutes to get clear about this,” she said
to him.

He smiled,
motioning over to his car. “I’ll be over here, so let me know when you’re
ready.” He was a peaceful man, who seemed unattached to whether they took the
place or not. He seemed at ease with himself, the home, and anything that came
his way.

Shelby wished
she could be more like that—more at ease and certain. She doubted herself far
too much, especially in a situation like this. She wanted to believe people
could fall in love, leap, and the Universe would totally support them. And so
far, it had. But moving in together so quickly, and into a place that seemed
absolutely perfect for them, was slightly (if not totally) unimaginable. Her
overwhelm was coming on stronger than before, as her mind worked frantically to
keep up with the rate at which she was manifesting. Shelby had heard of this
happening before—manifesting so quickly that one’s mind is unable to maintain
pace with all of the goodness coming in. So, in an effort to feel better, the
mind has to do something, anything, to get back into a more comfortable place.

As Shelby sat
down cross-legged on the lawn, she realized that more comfortable place was
often in her own sheltered space, not in togetherness. Yet, as she reflected on
her life, time and time again she would make decisions that would keep her in
that comfortable, safe space. Being with Daniel certainly felt comfortable and
safe, but living together and really diving into their partnership made it all
the more real. She was really doing this.

Shelby closed
her eyes and took a deep breath. She quietly called in her guides and angels of
the highest light, asking them for a message. Was this the home she and Daniel
were meant to be in? Was it okay for them to move in together this quickly? She
took several more deep breaths and, as her mind focused in on the chirping of
the birds, she heard, “Yes.” It came through breathy and soft, but a yes all
the same. Shelby felt her heart open up a bit more and she relaxed into that
space. Slowly she opened her eyes, looking out at the other houses around her.
They seemed familiar, and the feeling of déjà vu returned. She was home.