Jotober Day 2: Tranquil

She’d missed this. The warmth, the lingering scent of the candle they’d extinguished the night before, the security of arms wrapped gently around her and the small lumps at the foot of the bed that were their two dogs.  Fuck school, honestly, fuck the dorm room that had been her first taste of freedom.  She’d rather have this: home.  She’d missed home.

Home.  For the longest time she’d associated the word with anxiety and heartbreak, with fights and yelling and wanting to die.  Now she associates it with her little house on a huge plot of land, late nights of bad movies with the man she’ll be marrying in a few short months.  They’ve come so far for this happiness, this tranquility, fought so much, but here they are.

It’s a lazy Sunday, same as the day when he’d asked her to marry him.  They moved so fast, the two of them, from that first kiss on New Year’s Eve to their engagement in the spring.  And now it’s October, and she is as certain of their future as she was the day they got engaged.  Her mother had been so uncertain, wary from her own first marriage that had broken so quickly.

She wants to laugh, because this isn’t the same at all. Her parents weren’t willing to try and make their marriage work; she is.  She would do anything for the man lying behind her – and he would do anything for her. They’ve proven that to each other time and time again.

She shifts a little, and he makes a grumbling noise.  “Where’re you going?”

“I have to pee,” she whispers.

“Noooo,” he whines a little, burying his face into her neck, “You’ll disturb the puppies!”

She does laugh then, reaching down to gently pry his hands away from her.  “They probably have to pee, too.  You should take them out.”

“Mm.  Fine.” He presses a quick kiss to her neck and then releases her, allowing her to stand up and stretch.  “But then can we get back in bed?”

“Of course, honey.”  She blows him a kiss of her own.  “It’s an October Sunday, after all.”