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Chapter four

She thought about all this as she slipped on his t-shirt and set about wiping off the drips of chocolate sauce from the counter. She was sticky with chocolate, her hair was disheveled, her bra was likely ruined forever, but she glowed with happiness. He came back and joined her in cleaning the kitchen and decorating the now cool pan of brownies with the little remaining chocolate ganache. They put the pan in the fridge to set and went to have a shower, taking their chocolate-covered clothes with them.

They splashed and played in the water, continuing the silliness from earlier and making bad jokes about chocolate and kitchens and laughing until their sides ached. He massaged shampoo and conditioner into her hair and pouted when she laughed at his lack of it. When they were clean and dry they went downstairs again and ate the brownies. He played her guessing game and got the cardamom right but missed the saffron and black pepper.

When they were done he rinsed the dishes while she gave the kitchen a final once over to ensure no traces of chocolate remained. Then they went upstairs to her bedroom, brushed their teeth side by side and sank into her bed. "It really has been the perfect day," she said. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"It really has. We should do this every week," he said.

"I wish we could," she sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll do it again when you return," he assured.

She was quiet for a while. "I know I said I don't want to tie you down, and I won't be here for a lot of next year, and probably many other things that were very logical reasons to not get married anytime soon," she said. She felt his body tense beneath hers. "But I was wrong, and you were right. I want this for the rest of my life. Just being home with you." He exhaled and she felt all the tension drain out of him.

"You make me feel at home," she said, raising her head from its place on his shoulder so she could look at him. His eyes were luminous with joy and unshed tears. He kissed her and she reveled in his happiness.

"You make me feel at home, too," he said when the kiss ended. "You better watch out, I'm going to be stealing chocolate even when you make brownies for our grandchildren," he said and she laughed.

"They'll probably be trying to steal chocolate, too, being our grandchildren," she said.

"True," he said, laughing along with her. Then he sighed and brushed her hair back behind her ear. "Until I met you, I never thought I'd want children," he said. "But now I can't imagine never seeing you as a mother, never seeing a little girl with your eyes. I want a family with you. I want to grow old with you, surrounded by our children and grandchildren."

Her eyes shone. "I want that, too," she said. "I can just imagine you telling them stories and inciting them to mischief."

"And you sneaking them treats behind our children's backs," he said, smiling, "And our children complaining how unfair it is that you're so lenient with our grandchildren when you were so strict with them."

She laughed. "You know you're going to spoil our kids so much that I'll have to be strict to maintain some discipline in this house," she said.

He laughed and nodded. "Let's get married and make babies," he said.

She laughed along with him. "Let's," she said. "But not yet. In a couple of years, once I'm done with my film, once you're done with yours, okay?"

He pouted, then shrugged. "Okay. You say when, you say where and how. I'll be ready."

She smiled, then said, "I want to do this properly. We'll only get married once. I want to have nothing else on my mind when we do. I want it to be a celebration for a lifetime of happiness."

"Whatever you want, baby," he replied.

"You've got no requests?" she asked. "Nope. I just want to marry you," he said.

She smiled and snuggled into him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," he replied, kissing her forehead.

They fell asleep like that, soft smiles on their faces, dreaming of a future together where the laughter of children echoed through their house and their days and nights were spent by each other's side. In the years to come there would be ups and downs but the memory of this day would keep them going. It would inspire them to keep taking steps towards each other because when they were at home and together, nothing could be better.