a place we know| ✓

seventy seven

"And find a place where every single thing you see tells you to stay."
S E E K E R
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April 3rd
12:13 PM
New York
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New York welcomed the couple home and six days after their return, they fell into a familiar routine.

The weather was looking up as were their attitudes. It felt like spring was renewing more than the greenery scattered throughout the city but also their outlook on this new chapter of their lives.

She kept Penny in the loop of things, but she left out the part about Gunner going to LA for a drug delivery and his stay at the hospital. She did, however, inform her about the baby. It felt good to have somebody to share her joy with her. Audrey's eardrums were still recovering from how loudly Penny squealed.

"Of course he got you pregnant so soon. I bet you two have been going at it like rabbits," her friend had said. "But I can't blame you 'cause your husband looks like he can charm the pants off of any girl."

"Are you trying to say that he's hot?" She laughed. "Penny, don't tell me you have a crush on Gunner?"

"I don't. I love Marcus. That doesn't mean I can't compliment a fine man when I see one. He won the generic lottery, that husband of yours."

"Yeah, he's cute."

"Just cute, Rey?"

"I married him, didn't I? He's really sexy."

"But a more important question is," she failed at stifling a mischievous giggle, "how're his skills in bed?"

"Hey! That's private information." She was glad Penny wouldn't be able to see her dark blush. "But he's great. He actually got a whole lot better since we've been together, not that he was awful before or that I didn't like being with him. He's been so intent on trying new things out lately, which I don't really mind as much as I used to. I guess getting married had something to do with how comfortable we are now. Well, he's more comfortable than I am. Unlike me, he isn't shy about anything he does or says when we... you get it, right? I enjoy it, but I tell him to give me a break 'cause every day is way too much. Sorry for ranting. I forgot myself..."

"Woah, Rey, you really hit a jackpot, huh?"

"I really did." She smiled reminiscently but blushed again when she looked down at her wrists and at the imprints the handcuffs he bought left behind. "I'm glad."

That was how time passed on most days. She loved the way her life was turning out.

In the morning Audrey woke up next to her husband, and he always greeted her with the same grin on his soft lips before they'd be on their feet—on some occasions, he made love to her before they got out of bed. Then readying themselves and Leah to begin the day, they would prepare breakfast and head out the door to drop their daughter off at school together.

Audrey noticed how happier Leah was around both of them. Gone was the bashful, downcast girl who had grown so distant from herself and her parents. Her colour was returning and it was like the fog that hung over her eyes cleared, brightening those blazing hazels. Their little girl was a beautiful one, a keeper, and if Audrey was granted one wish, it would be to reverse how much Leah had grown. In a month she'd be another year older.

Gunner was no different. The troublesome boy she met almost seven years ago had come so far. She would never get tired of being at his side. From their first everything to their last, there was no falling out of love with her husband. Beneath the ink and drug addiction thrived a masterpiece; a small-town boy with big ambitions who happened to be blown in the wrong direction. But then he found her; he found her and gave her meaning.