The End Of An Era

Each Coming Night- Iron and Wine

I set my alarm for every two hours and wake Peony up to go to the bathroom so she won't have an accident. Luckily there is a staircase off of the terrace, so we just take her down that, rather than having to walk though the whole palace.

Alex, being the gentleman he is, takes her every other time so by the morning we are both decently rested. When we wake up, Alex gently kisses my forehead and I roll out of bed. I walk over to the bathroom, Peony following my every step, and start my morning routine.

I gather my blonde hair in a pony tail, and then swipe some mascara over my eyes. I put on some workout clothes and head down to our gym. I find a man down there who introduces himself as the live in trainer, so he and I talk about what I like to do.

I mention running, cycling, and ab workouts. I don't really need to have abs but I like to try to keep my tummy flat. Plus if I do like six sit-ups, later I feel better about eating like six slices of cake... for some reason.

I stretch and then start running on the treadmill. After about three miles I have to stop, and I look over and Peony is chewing on a small exercise ball.

"Peony, don't chew on that!" I say firm but not mean, and she stops, trotting over to me.

The trainer then moves me to a mat on the ground and gets himself one too.

"Already Princess, now we're going to do some core strengthening." He says and I smile, taking a sip of water.

We do twenty sit-ups, ten push-ups, thirty Russian twists, twenty scissor kicks, and then a one minute plank. By the end I have sweat dripping from my forehead and he hands me a towel.

"So you did great today, I'm just going to try to build you up to five sets, but luckily you're not out of shape so that shouldn't be too hard." He says and I smile.

"Well thank you so much, I'll be back tomorrow, around the same time." I say and he smiles. Peony and I head outside so she can go to the bathroom and then walk back upstairs so I can shower. Poor little girl whines when I'm in the shower and I hear a deep sexy voice.

"I know, I hate when she won't let me shower with her too." I hear him say and Peony responds with a squeal. I smile and finish up, and I walk out to see Alex rubbing Peony's belly on the bed. They both look up when I walk in and Peony starts wagging her tail.

"Well, it's my two favorite people." I say and kiss Alex on the cheek. "I thought you were busy today baby?" I ask and he nods.

"I thought I was going to be but the Prime Minister rescheduled for next week, so I'm all yours." He says and I smile, pulling him in close.

"Well I was just going to go down and get some breakfast, and explore outside a little." I say while pulling a a blue silk slip dress over my chest. I grab a white sweater and roll the sleeves up to my elbows.

He comes up from behind me and kisses my neck, making me smile. "Well, do you want company?" He asks and I look into his eyes in the mirror.

"Of course." He smiles. Once I look decent enough, I slip on some ballet flats, and we all walk downstairs. When we get outside Peony bounces off chasing a butterfly and Alex grabs my hand.

"I love you." He says and I kiss his cheek.

"I love you." I say as we walk through the garden. It's so beautiful. We walk through the hedge maze and then I smell a bunch of lilacs and follow that direction. I scoop up Peony in my hands and she just contently looks at everything with us. For being a puppy, she is surprisingly well behaved.

I find a pathway on the edge of the garden and look at Alex confused. "It's a secret." He says raising his eyebrows and I immediately start walking on the cute stones. There's a little creek, and I hop on rocks to get across, Alex following me. After a couple minutes we reach a clearing and I look out to see a gazebo overlooking a beautiful lake. I look up and see his old castle.