The air shifts.
I lift my hand.
Brush a strand of hair from her face.
She inhales.
So do I.
This would be easy to tip into something else.
But it’s the first night.
And this deserves patience.
“You can take the master bedroom tonight,” I say.
She tilts her head. “We’re negotiating already?”
“I’m being generous.”
She laughs softly.
“That’s okay,” she says gently. “I’ll take my new room tonight. Goodnight, Gabriel.”
“Goodnight, Natalie.”
She pauses.
“Goodnight… husband.”
It hits harder than it should.
When she disappears up the stairs, I stand there for a second.
The house hums.
Daisy sighs.
Everything feels… permanent.
The custody threat still exists.
But it’s not what’s sitting in my chest anymore.
What scares me now is something else entirely.
How right this felels.
How easy it was to say I do.
How natural it was to kiss her.
How much I’m already thinking in terms of we.
I turn out the lights, climb the stairs and look down the hallway where my wife just walked.
This wasn’t how I expected it to happen.
