THE LAW OF LOVING YOU °[KathNiel] ✓COMPLETE

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Five

I can see how much Serenity wants to stay awake for the night. She asks me a lot of random things for a few hours just to fight against her sleepy state. Most of her questions are obvious and nonsense, childish even, but I answer them without complaining because just like her, I don't want to waste even a single second while I'm with her. She made me sing random songs for her. She even let me play the piano. And the worst and also the best thing we did tonight before we plunged on the couch is dancing to almost everywhere in the unit. We ended up laughing our hearts out and sluggishly dived to the couch when both felt tired.

"Can you play the drums too?" She's lying down the couch comfortably now while her head is resting on my lap. Because of our positions, we can stare at each other without struggling for convenience. "I remember your sweet little niece, Darryl. She's already nine, isn't she?"

"She's turning eleven this year. How could you lose count?" Nakangiting tugon ko.

"Oh. She's ten. Sorry. I'm bad at Math. Kaya loyal ako eh."

"I'm not following." Serenity smiles that cute smile she used to charm me with before but without her knowledge—she's too innocent and naive but that just makes her even more adorable. The reason I get annoyed at her before is because she's turning me into someone else and it's late for me to realize that it was a better version of me that showed up when I'm with her. I've never been in a relationship and when I came to recognize my feelings for her, I felt scared of all the possibilities. And you can't blame me, she was so young, so innocent. I felt before that we are in parallel paths that are not meant to meet even in the longer run. But to sum it all up, I was just really scared—scared I might messed up, scared that it might not work, scared I might lose her.

"I'm not good at math. So I don't want to deal with exes. Kaya loyal ako gets mo na?" Tumango ako. "Kaya dapat walang ex."

Her explanation, though purely hilarious, paints a smile on my lips. I even snicker at it. "So, that means I am not your ex and I shouldn't be."

"No." Sagot niya kasabay ang lungkot na pumalit sa tumatawa niyang mga mata kanina. "Hindi naman naging tayo eh."

"Kung naging tayo ba, hindi mo ba ako iiwan noon?" My question brings her to look at me straight in the eyes. "Kung magiging tayo ba ngayon, hindi mo na ako iiwan? Hindi ka na aalis?"

"Five Palmer." She whispers softly as her warm hand reaches for my face. "Marry me in our next life, will you?"

"Baby..." My voice trails off since I feel her hand slowly falling as she eventually falls asleep. I love this woman so much. I've proven it. There's no way that my heart will ever love this way again if it's not her. She means the world to me and I don't think someone will be able to change that. It's funny to recollect about it now but I honestly remember accurately Serenity telling me about the law of loving. Funny but real, but when I fell in love with her, it remains and I can tell that it's going to be for lifetime.

Para makatulog na rin ng maayos si Serene, minabuti kong ilipat na siya sa kwarto. Nang ihiga ko na siya sa kama ay dumilat siya sabay sambit ng pangalan ko kaya napangiti ako.

"I love you." Bulong niyang nagpasaya ng labis sa puso ko. My woman, my beautiful wife. She keeps me sane but at the same time, she drives me totally crazy. Crazy about her.

"Mo..." She moans when I stroke light kisses down her neck. Her hands, warm and soft, are on my back harshly pulling me even closer to her. The music of her soft moans and utterance of my name evokes sensation that is much stronger than the last time I felt only with her.

"I love you, Serene."

The night is endless or so I thought. Serenity sleeping in my arms makes me forget the beauty of sleep because all I ever want to do is stare at her innocent face. Yet, our bodies demand for rest and I wish I am able to fight against that law of nature. Because when morning comes, I wake up having empty arms—no angel face locked in my embrace. My wife has left again. Serenity has run away.