Marriage?!

Part 2

"Good morning, dear." Rosaline nods as she approaches. Her husband, James, lowers his reading glasses just slightly, her small smile tilting his lips to the corner. "Morning." He replies in his usual low and breathy tone. He coughs and shakes his head, drinking his water. That familiar burn down his throat continues.

"Have you heard?" She pulls a seat for herself and sits beside him. She takes the pen from his pocket he brings almost everywhere, and begins to fill in the word puzzle at the back of his newspaper. He puts it down on the surface, right in front of her. "Heard what?"

She fills a box while she speaks. "Our neighbour across. Their daughter had married a fine man the other day." She laughs. "We should have given them gifts." She places the pen down to look at him. James closes the tip of the pen for her. "Oh, is that so?" He glances outside the beautifully carved window to the view outside. He takes her hand.

"Look, the sun." James pulls her to the window with him, his breathy voice continues, and then he coughs. Her husband's gesture makes her smile. "Yes, the sun." She chuckles fondly.

Isabelle watches quietly by the doorframe. Her heart is warm, like it is every other day when she sees her parents interacting. They have grown old. She likes to think about what it was like when her parents first met. What were their feelings when they met in the rain?

"Izzy, what are you doing just standing there?" Her name snaps her out of her reverie. She shakes her head, walking into the dining room and pulling a seat for herself. "It's nothing, just dark spots." She shrugs, referring to when one instantly stands after lying down for a long period. 

After a while, her parents return back to their seats in front of her. It's a quiet morning, one that smells of sunshine and warm rain. The light refracts, creating a faint trapezium of a rainbow on her palm. It is the little things she likes to think of as special, something that would keep the words flowing in her mind as she types away on her keyboard. Filling pages with words, then  deleting them and starting over. Her father is the one to break the silence.

"Well then, I suppose I should head to the shop now. There are pots to paint and vases to glaze. Young men to teach." James stands, offering a warm smile to the ladies. "Greet Grandpa for me, hm?" And he walks slowly out of the dining room to head out the door. Rosaline turns to her daughter, a wry smile on her face. "Would warm bread suffice?" She asks. Isabelle rubs her face with a sigh.

She doesn't want to think about her Grandpa at all. But she offers a smile back and nods. "I'm sure he'll enjoy it."