aeon

four

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did i consider myself the luckiest man to grace this odious planet? with complete, and absolute ease. jane made the world seem a little less evil. she was the reminder that good was still present and existing amongst the tragedies and horrors of humanity.

i had never been religious growing up, but i figuratively prayed that i would be happy and healthy in my future years. i wasn't my healthiest, but i was definitely my happiest. if jane could have cured me of congenital heart disease i would have been ages ago, but i would settle for her providing me with joyous years.

she had gone to work early, leaving me to bask in an empty bed with no warmth. she loved her job and helping people decorate their homes to the way they could only dream. when it came to decorating our own house into a home, i relinquished any power she offered me. I knew she was passionate and wonderful at her work, so i let her have the time of her life, any time she would ask for my input i had chosen options that i noticed she lingered at longer and silently begged i would also decide on.

i look around at our bedroom and the framed photo she had asked me to hang on the wall. she nearly drove me crazy doing so. she was amazing at her job, but she was also a perfectionist. i went to hammer a nail into the wall, but before my first hit on the head she shouted at me to stop. she made me relocate the nail along nearly the entirety of the wall before feeling satisfied with its placement. that was just the nail. it took nearly fifty adjustment of the frame to get her to shut up. oh, but i enjoyed every second of her crazy antics.

i was excited to go into work only because i would be leaving early. i had to go to the doctor's as a routinely checkup and was able to escape from the office. after reviewing number after number, i packed up my belongings and headed to the doctor's office. sitting in the waiting room was normal for me, just as nurses and doctors fidgeting over me was as well. it had certainly died down as i transitioned into adulthood, but still fell into my rhythm of life.

he wrote a new prescription that he felt would better suit me and sent me on my way. i stopped at the pharmacy to retrieve the pill bottle before getting home to an empty house with little traces of jane evident. somehow, she had managed to imprint her coconut scent throughout the house and it was  confronting.

i flicked on the television remote and found myself dozing off unapologetically. there was nothing to do, and i knew jane was busy and hard at work, so i let my eyes shut and dreams had been living for years and years continue into my unconscious.

she had shaken me awake, and when that barely worked she sat herself on top of my torso, causing slight discomfort enough to wake me. she had a cheeky smile and her bottom lip bitten between her teeth. her ringlets atop her head frames her beautiful face better than i could have imagined in my sweetest dreams. "hey there, sleepy head."

god, her voice was what i lived for, and i could never hear it enough throughout the day. she could talk my ear off, or talk me into slumber and i would still crave to have the silky melody consume me. "hey, baby. did you just get home?"

it was later than the usual time she got home, but she seemed excited. she forced me to leave my comfort on the couch that had swallowed my body and told me to drive us to our spot overlooking the lights of the city. i didn't question her, instead just holding her hand across the console and stroking the back of it with my thumb.

when i parked the car she kicked me out. she told me to get out and had the biggest smile on her face while doing so. but i could never deny her a request, not after that first fight as husband and wife.

i stood outside of the car, rubbing the cold air off of my arms and observed her through the window. she unbuckled her seatbelt and rolled the windows down before turning on the headlights. "love, what on earth are you doing?"

she gave me a mischievous smirk and connected her phone to the car's bluetooth. soon that song was filling the air. she turned it up and joined me outside of the car and met me in the spotlight the headlights created. "dance with me."

she was humming along, so gently you could almost lose it in the high volume of the song. her head was rested over my chest, and found a place directly over my heart. i held her body close, one hand on her lower back, the other on the backside of her head. she would tell me that she loved my irregular heartbeat. i would respond and say it only continued for her.

i didn't know why she brought me there. in fact, i didn't know why she did a lot of things. we knew why i would wake up at midnight to shuffling in the kitchen and find jane warming up pizza rolls, her guilty pleasure, but i would join her anyways and we would talk until the plate was empty and her craving disappeared. i had no clue as to why she would sleep with the covers over her head sometimes, and it worries me that she wouldn't get enough air so once i knew she was asleep i would peel it off of her face and kiss her forehead.

but as soon as she quit humming and she formulated words with that sensuous voice i adored, i knew why we were standing at the top of that street swaying our bodies. i knew why ella fitzgerald's voice was hugging us tightly, and why jane was so excited with that smile that had her bottom lip between her teeth. "i'm pregnant, mike."

i held her shoulders from against my body to an arm's length, and i just stared at her for a moment. she had some ringlets fall into her face, and the smile with her teeth enclosing her bottom lip, and absolute divinity. i found myself on my knees, wrapping my arms around her waist and placing my head on her abdomen. she ran her fingers through my hair and chuckled. she lead my head back slightly and cupped my cheeks between her palms lovingly. her lips were soon on mine and then she pulled out the ultrasound photo.

i really wasn't sure what i was looking at, but it didn't stop my excitement from pouring over my emotions. i didn't think i would be able to sleep that night, turns out i slept my best. i held her close, and couldn't imagine ever letting go.

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