The Homecoming Bride

Chapter Five: Sledgehammer

CHAPTER SONG: "Sledgehammer" by Rihanna

Will and Emmy made their way home in the graying afternoon, slightly disheveled from their rendezvous of passion by the lakeside under the cover of hazardous weather with the passing thunderstorm overhead in the sky.

She had done most of the chatting along their trek home, telling him about her dinner with Joseph and Charlotte, her status as a widow of Private Seymour from Joe's regiment and Emmy's going back to the Blake house after sneaking out last night to let them know of what was happening with Molly and her estranged husband.

The happily engaged couple kept close at each other's side, their hands interlocked as they walked through the dirt covered trails leading them back to Molly's house. Will lifted Emmy's hand to kiss her knuckle near the engagement ring on her finger.

"We burnt the Princess Bed... me and Joe. We set it on fire last night." Emmy wasn't sure why she was telling him, but she wanted to be honest and not leave her fiancé out of something he had contributed to.

Will almost stopped in his tracks at her unexpected confession, his grasp on her hand slightly tightening without causing her discomfort. He looked down at his beloved, seeing her green eyes meeting his blue ones with slight worry. "What happened, darling? Was it done accidentally?"

His tone of voice was gentle and concerned, reassuring Emmy that he held no animosity toward the situation, just surprise and curiosity at the reveal. He hadn't given much thought to that bed in many weeks, since she had miraculously awoken.

He was determined to move on from the pain of sitting by her bedside as she had lain helplessly vulnerable and comatose, not knowing any moment if she would be revived or deceased by the turn of the New Year...

Occasionally glancing up at him as they walked together, she continued talking, her smaller hands cradling his scarred hand to her bosom above her heartbeat.

She wanted to tell him how she loved the feel of his hands and fingers... their constant touch of adoring sensuality on her skin and hair...

They were a woodworker's hands of strength... a soldier's hands of protection... the hands of her Will.

"We might have been a little drunk... but I was talking with Charlotte in the orchard when we saw it covered in fallen branches and leaves, the tent collapsed around it. I suggested we set it on fire, a signal that I overcame that coma and I'm not going to leave here again. I know you and Joe worked hard on that bed for me...and I hope you're not mad about it." She placed a tender kiss to his long fingers.

Will absorbed her words pensively as they kept walking, coming closer toward the house. He stopped in his gait as she looked up at him to do the same, gently pulling his hand out of her grasp he could run his fingers through her chaotic curls, placing a kiss to her forehead. "My Emmy... I couldn't be mad about you finding closure about what's happened to you. All that matters to me is that it's behind us. Whenever I think of my future... all I see is you. A life after this war, without you... would be empty. That bed in the Blake orchard symbolizes your near-death and us grieving at your wake and I couldn't be happier to hear that it's burnt to ash."

Both of his hands cradled her face, his thumbs stroking her pale blossom cheeks as she smiled up in relief, turning her head to kiss the scar on his palm. "Will...I love you..."

He leant down to kiss her on the lips as she turned upward to him again and he finished the declaration for her. "...more than anything, my darling. More than my own life."