A flash of lightning lit the room bright so that before her, Rose saw none other than Christopher appear as if by magic.
“Argh!” she cried out in shock and stumbled back.
“Rose!” Christopher exclaimed as he went for her.
His hand slid around her back, it pulled her to her feet, and then it pulled her into his soaking wet body and held her close.
Rose’s eyes were wide. Her breathing was heavy. She felt her husband holding her. She looked up slowly and found his eyes looking down at her with an expression she could not quite fathom. And she heard his heart thumping in his chest so that it drowned out the thunder.
For a moment, nothing was said. It was as if this were a dream, and Rose waited for herself to wake up so that she would be alone once more…
“I did not mean to scare you,” Christopher said, still holding her to him.
“Christopher…” She touched his chest and then reached up and rested a hand on his cheek. “You… what are you doing here?”
“I should never have left.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand…” She thought to push herself away but could not bear to do so, as if that might shatter the dream and rip him away from her a second time. “How are you… How are you here?”
“Rose…” His body was trembling. “There is something I need to tell you. Something that I should have told you when we first met.”
She licked her lips as she looked at him. “The truth?”
“All of it,” he said. “I –”
“Wait.” She held up a hand to silence him. “Before you do, I… I want to apologize. I should have never –”
“No,” he cut her off. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I should not have pried. I should not have stuck my nose in where it did not –”
“It belonged exactly where you stuck it,” he said with a smile that reached his eyes. “And I am the fool for not realizing it sooner.”
It was then that Rose realized what was different about her husband, and it was then that she understood the look on his face.
And no, it wasn’t his beard, as strange as that was to see. It was his smile, the way it made his eyes glimmer even in the darkness. Oh sure, she had seen him smile before, she had even heard him laugh. But it was always done with reservation, as if he was careful not to overindulge in something as natural as showing how happy he was.
This time, he wasn’t holding back. The usual distance in his stare was gone. The coldness he always wore had faded. There was life behind his eyes, the sense that he was looking at her for the first time. The real Christopher.
“What happened to you?” she asked in a whisper.
“I came to realize how wrong I have been. About everything.”
“I don’t understand.”
He nodded and took a deep breath. “We have much to discuss, Rose. So much that I need to tell you. But before I do, there is something you must know.”
She furrowed her brow but said nothing.
“What I am about to tell you changes nothing,” he said, and somehow, he pulled her in even closer when he did. “I am still the same man you married. I am still the same man you know. And most importantly, I am still the same man who… who…” His chin trembled, but he stayed it. “I am still the same man who loves you.”
The single word lit a fire inside of Rose like she did not know that she needed.
She leaned back, her eyes widened, a smile reached her face, and her heart began to thump loudly as if trying to escape. “You… you love me?”
“I know I might not show it,” he said. “I know that you have no reason to believe me. But it is the truth, Rose. The first of many.”
“Christopher…”
