Something Sweet

~1~

"Bring me back something, will you?" She said, her figure cutting an impressive image. Hands on her hips and feet spread apart she took up the whole doorway. "Something sweet." She added as an afterthought. These days, there was nothing else the woman loved more.
I smile, remembering the times when she'd turn her nose up at the smell of sugar. "Of course."

My wife was a tiny thing, but after years of shouldering leadership she learned how to take up her own space. Her posture was perfect despite the heavy belly weighing her down. She might have intimidated me, if not for the decades we spent together. The military had hardened her, but she refused to give away her spirit. With that and her pregnancy, she practically glowed. 

I remembered the time when she didn't look so good. It was immediately after the war. She'd looked like a wilted leaf with the life sucked out of her. I'd  seen how the imposing life had changed her; eyes sunken, lips turned down. No one left that profession unaffected, but she learned to hide the terrors. She'd have her moments behind closed doors, soft sobs racking her petite body. I'd always wondered how her small shoulders could hold the weight of so many soldiers but I always knew the answer. She was strong. Stronger than anyone I knew.

And not only mentally. Her muscles squeezed me tight as she hugged me, giving me a whiff of the candied scent she carried. Frequent goodbyes were a norm for us. Her job forced us to have little time together, something we both knew and accepted long ago. But it didn't affect our marriage. 

I stood in her embrace a moment longer, holding her as close I could without squeezing her stomach. Even after years of marriage, she still managed to captivate me. Her cropped hair, sharp to touch, shone gold in the sunlight, illuminating her thin face, all angles. Her smiling lips pressed her newly carved lines, crinkling her twinkling eyes. 

"You have a flight to catch, old man." She laughed, using my latest nickname. I let out a puff of air and put some distance between us, holding her at arms length, simply looking. She let me, smirking a little. Maternity suited her. 

For the immense amount of times she travelled away from home, our goodbyes didn't get any easier, no matter the length of the trip. Sometimes she would be away for months, sometimes days. We had learned the value of our time together and we always tried to cherished it to the fullest. 

"Remember to water the plants, my love." I remind her, pointedly looking at a withered shrub in the the corner of our garden. I rarely went away from home, but when I did, I always feared for my garden. 

"It was one time!" She says, throwing her hands in the air, indignant. She glared at me, daring me to tease her further. I lift my hands, palms up, surrendering, though I smiled behind them. 
"Lets keep it that way, huh?" I wink, drawing a 'humph' from her. My laughter ends with a sharp ring, an alarm I'd put for just this very reason. 

"Now, go! And don't forget my gift!" She shooed me down the porch, her eyes already glimmering by the prospect of my treat. She had never really eaten sweets, mainly because it interfered with her training, but for the past few months, fitness hadn't really mattered much. I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm to get me to out, but I had to agree. We both pride ourselves on being punctual. 

With a chaste kiss I headed towards the taxi, smoothening the wrinkles from my suit. I sat in and glance out of the window, watching my dearest almost break her arm waving, the other curled across her round belly. Her cheeks splitting with a grin, teeth glinting from afar. I too waved back and settle in with a smile, already thinking of pretty cakes and chocolates to bring back.