Playbook

Chapter 43: Aurelia

Sean pursed his lips and shook his head. "No. I don't know. Do you want Lilies or Daisies?" He called from the couch.

I finished off our pineapple juices with two little umbrellas, mine pink and his orange, then dropped in matching swirly straws. "White Lilies, they're so pretty!"

I watched him nod as I sashayed to the couch in our rundown cheap apartment. As my hands were both preoccupied and my glasses were sliding down the bridge of my nose, I scrunched it to push them up. My plan failed, so I asked Sean to do it for me.

He smiled, which made me happy. He has been so stressed about our wedding, and it's been my duty to calm him down with kisses and sweet talk. He poked a finger to the nosebridge of my glasses, then leaned up to peck the tip of my nose.

I smiled down at him, mumbled a thank-you, then set down our glasses. I wiped my hands on my apron and started back to the kitchen, where I was cooking Ramen noodles since we had so little food.

It was late at night, almost midnight, and we hadn't had dinner because I waited for Sean to get back from his part-time job at the gym. He was now only in his blue pajama pants, exhausted. He had taken a shower once he got home, and now his hair was dripping wet, but with as many times as he ran his hands through it, his dirty blond strands were pretty much dry.

"Dinner is almost ready," I sang to the tune of Once Upon A Dream, dancing around the tiny little kitchen.

"Look at you," Sean breathed from the nearby couch.

Our flat by the base was pretty condensed considering I was only a kindergarten teacher, and he was in the military. We didn't have much, but we had each other, and that's all that really mattered.

"What?" I asked, not turning around, but adjusting the heat of the Ramen noodles pot.

Sean pushed away from the couch, I could tell by the crinkling of the cushions, and his loud footsteps as he came closer to me. "Look at you," he whispered again, and when I turned around, he was shaking his head. "Look at how perfect you are, Aurelia. My little sunshine," he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "My ray of golden light."

I blushed, fiddling with my apron he bought me that says, "My fiancé is hot like the stove I cook on!" I thought it was a super cheesy gag gift, but he was sincere, so I pretended to really like it. I untied the knot so that it fell to the ground, leaving me in only one of his t-shirts that I sleep in, and nothing else -- other than my underwear. I bit my lip.

"Aurelia, I love you so much, darling," he said, grabbing my small hands and enclosing them in his big ones. "Never forget that."

Then he leaned in real close and put his forehead on mine. I smiled as I looked up into his beautiful green eyes. His eyes scanned my face, stopping on my lips before his slowly pressed his onto them. His hands tightened around mine as he kissed harder, and I smiled into the passionate kiss, truly happy with the life I had laid out before me.

As Sean pulled away, I studied his happy expression, and stifled a giggle.

"How was that kiss?" He asked, letting go of my hands to caress my cheeks.

I shrugged, teasing him as I broke away to say, "Eh. Not as good as Trace's ever were." I peered at him out of my peripheral vision and saw his face get beet red.

He lunged for me, but I was already running through the narrow hall to his bedroom -- which after the marriage would become ours and mine currently would be turned into my music room I always wanted. I laughed joyously as I ran towards the door to his room, but I was not fast enough to outrun him. His strong arms wrapped around my waist and shoved my back into his rock-hard chest and abs. I giggled as he lifted my feet off the ground and tilted me farther into him and farther from the Earth.