Happily Ever After (A Parker_Games Fanfic)

Chapter 9

PARKER'S POV:

We had been at the cabin for a couple of hours, getting settled in, when my stomach started to rumble. Loudly.

"So, do we have plans for dinner?" I asked.

"We do," McKenzie stated, standing up from her seat on the couch and motioning me to follow her. She opened up the refrigerator and I was surprised to find food inside.

"What sorcery is this?" I joked.

"There's a service that will shop for you and deliver groceries to your cabin for you," she explained, pulling various ingredients out and handing them to me. "Just go ahead and set those on the counter for me, and I'll get started."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Sure. Chop these, if you don't mind."She handed me a wooden cutting board and a knife, along with several vegetables and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

As I chopped, she flitted around the kitchen, doing multiple things at once. Her ability to multitask- and do it well- never ceased to amaze me. When I finished, she took what I had done and mixed it in with some kind of sauce, covered the skillet, and continued cooking. She went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine.

"Do you want some?"

"Why not?"

Neither of us were big drinkers, and I couldn't remember ever having seen her drink a drop of alcohol since I'd met her. I had a beer here and there when I was hanging out with friends or watching some football with my dad, but it wasn't something I did very often at all. I took the glass and sipped cautiously, and was pleasantly surprised by how sweet the drink was.

"This is really good! What is it?"

"It's Moscato. Not too bad, huh?"

I nodded as I took another sip. I set the glass down on the counter and crossed to the living room, where there was a small radio sitting on an end table. I plugged my phone into the auxiliary port, pulling up a playlist full of songs that were pretty mushy, but that seemed to be what this little getaway was about. I scrolled through until I found the song I was looking for- a cover Ellie Goulding had done of Elton John's "Your Song". As the music swelled, I walked over to McKenzie, offering her my hand. She took it, and I pulled her close to me, swaying in time to the music, humming along. I looked down at her with a smile, planting a kiss on her forehead. Her arms were locked around my neck, and she rested her head on my chest.

"See I've forgotten if
They're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is
What I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen," she sang along softly, and cupped my face in her hands, giving me a kiss on the nose. I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms tightly around her waist, giving her a quick squeeze.

"I love you so much," I mumbled into her hair, which somehow always smelled of vanilla and cinnamon.

"I love you, too," she told me, moving back so she could kiss me. She let the kiss linger for a while, until both of us couldn't wait any longer to pull away to breathe. Just as I had caught my breath and went in for another kiss, the kitchen timer went off.

"Well, that'll be dinner. Hope you're hungry!"

"I'm so hungry, I could eat a Jeffery," I said, carrying over what I needed to set the table.

We both sat down and as always, I bowed my head to say a quick prayer. My faith was a big part of my life and always had been. McKenzie wasn't particularly interested in having anything to do with churches or religion, and I respected that, but hoped that one day, she would be. I finished saying Grace silently to myself, and when I looked up, she was staring at her hands, as she always did. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable by asking. She looked up and caught me looking at her. I cleared my throat awkwardly and reached for my glass, taking a sip of my drink. The wine was starting to get me a bit, I could feel it.