He looks down at me. No smirk. He's serious now. "Mine too. Thank you for being my wife."
"I'll remind you in twenty years that you said that," I tease.
"It'll still be true then."
I sigh, stand on tiptoes, and kiss his lips softly. He's everything to me.Everything. I really hope nothing ever changes that.
* * *
The next day, the morning after Christmas, the morning after our wedding, Xander gets a call way too early.
"Ignore it," I whine. We spent most of the night making love and it feels like we just fell asleep.
He picks up the phone, looks at the caller ID. "Can't ignore it. It's Mr. Nichols."
My head lifts and dread fills my belly.
"Hello?" he answers. He looks at me while he listens. Then he closes his eyes and hangs his head. "Yeah." He listens. "Yeah." Pause. "Yeah, sure." Pause. "All right. See you then." He presses the off button but doesn't raise his head.
"What is it?" I ask, already knowing.
He sighs and rolls to his side, facing me. "We need to leave sooner than we thought."
I nod, fighting tears, trying to look upbeat—for him. "When?"
"In two days."
"Two days? But you just got here," I say quietly, when what I really want to do is scream.
"I know. Trust me, I know. They want us to play a New Year's Eve event." He's watching me closely and I am trying to give him nothing bad to see.
"I see. No New Year's together then," I say, and I don't hide the pout this time.
He pulls me to him, hugging me tight. "I'm sorry, T."
I nod. "I know. This is your big break. This is it. I know it, so I won't throw a tantrum like I want to."
He groans. "Fuck. Why can't you just go with us?"
It's a rhetorical question but I still answer. "Because I have to finish the year here if I want a chance at getting into a good college for the arts."
"I know."
Silence cloaks the room as we just stare at each other, our heads resting on a pillow, so close we can breathe each other's breaths. I mean, really, what's there to say right now? He's leaving. Again. We could complain and whine about being apart, but it's for an amazing reason. I would never do that to him.
* * *
And they're gone again. I sigh, my head hanging as I make my way to my car. As my arms swing, sunlight glints off of my wedding rings and I get butterflies in my belly. I press my hand against it.
Xander's my husband.Myhusband. Mine. Forever.
"He'll be back before you know it," a voice says from behind me, startling me from my thoughts. I let out a squeak of surprise and Carter laughs.
"Damn it, Carter. You scared the crap out of me!" I scold.
He chuckles. "Sorry. I thought you heard me but you must've been more lost in thought than I figured."
I nod, then tilt my head to the side. "What're you doing here?"
