We’d walked to the new house given to us in silence, with the sky taking on the pre-dawn light that announced the arrival of a new day. The house was larger than the one we’d shared with my mom. The door unlocked and a surprised yelp escaped me as Lucius picked me up to carry me across the threshold of our new home. I was lost in a kiss as he carried me up the stairs to a bedroom that I vaguely remembered being covered in the soft glow of a lot of candles. The world disappeared in our first hours as man and wife.
Before I opened my eyes I knew he was there; standing next to the bed, looking down at me. I’m not sure how long I slept but I could hear the shower running in the bathroom. Lucius bent down and took me in his arms and walked to the bathroom. The room was steamy and Lucius headed straight for the shower big enough to accommodate us both. To my surprise he walked right in and started washing my hair. With gentle of hands, Lucius soap my hair that had grown out to my waist. My back was to him and I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his hands in my hair. He rinsed it before moving on to wash my body. There was nothing sexual in what was happening. Lucius didn’t speak and I didn’t interrupt as he preformed what felt like ritual, even with the intimacy of what he was doing. When he was finished he turned off the water and took a large towel and dried my hair and then my body. He led me to a door on the other side of the bed that was my closet.
It was big enough to have a vanity. I sat down and he surprised me further by brushing my hair. I closed my eyes, reveled in his touch and surrendered completely to him and opened the bond between us. We didn’t know a lot about our bond but knew shielding was not something we did consciously. It was part of the growing unknown when it came to me and my abilities. Finished with my hair, he turned me to face him before he knelt at my feet. He took a bottle of oil from the vanity and rubbed it on my feet and legs before moving to my arms and hands. He stood up and pulled me to him. I was in the strong embrace of my husband who had so lovingly washed me. I hadn’t thought I could love him more but I did.
“You have honored me in a way I never thought possible.”
In a voice I’m sure only the ears of an angel could have heard, I answered. “Until I am no more I will love you.”
Lucius came into the kitchen in that purposeful stride that I had grown to love and took me in his arms. I slid my arms around him and hugged him back. He released me, just enough to pick me up so that he could kiss me.
“Hey you” I said, when we were finally able to get ourselves under some kind of control. He lowered me to the ground but didn’t let me out of his arms.
“Making breakfast I see.” Eyeing the uncooked food on the counter, Lucius smiled at me."It’s more lunch time than breakfast and we need to go to Ruth’s.”
“What time is it?” I asked a little surprised that it was lunch time. I would have guessed brunch at the latest.
“Two, my love” he answered while planting kissing in my hair and around my temples.
“So late” I groaned. “It seems that we never have enough time.”
“We have an eternity.”
He lifted my chin and kissed me gently on the corner of my mouth, and for reasons unknown, or maybe a slew of them that were, my eyes filled with tears. I loved him so very much and I just wanted our life together to start. Why was it so hard? Why couldn’t we just be together like any other couple? I realized how silly these thoughts were. We were anything but an average couple.
There was a knock on the door before it was thrown open by Sariel before either of us could open our mouths, let alone call out for him to come in. Amara was on his heels. As soon as she saw me she ran to me. I had just enough time to untangle myself from Lucius, before she threw her body into mine.
“Why are there so many people in my kitchen on what is the first office day of my honeymoon?” I asked, as I hugged my ever over-enthused sister.
“We’ve come to walk you to Ruth’s,” she answered backing away from me. She hugged Lucius before turning and spying the breakfast food I’d yet to start cooking. “I can help,” she offered and just like that, took over making breakfast for the four of us.
There were people out working in their yards, some just out. All curtsied or bowed as my sister and I passed. I knew this small quiet village as home and the people were still a little shell-shocked to have two Mother’s living within the small community. Small kids ran out to the road to give me flowers or to touch me. We walked down the small sidewalk talking to people. Lucius gently nudged me through our bond if I took too long at one fence or another, sometimes he would walk close and put a hand on my shoulder, or around my waist as he joined a conversation. My favorite was when he put his hand low on the back of my neck and rubbed his thumb from just behind my ear into my hair line or down the base of my neck depending on which hand he was using.
There was a lot to go over at Ruth’s and it was important stuff or we wouldn’t have been on our way to her house on the morning after my wedding. Sariel showing up with an army of angels and then the oath they’d taken had set the board and the game had finally begun. Whatever the consequences of last night’s events they weren’t so bad that they needed immediate attention and I took the time to stop and connect with the people who had come together and made my wedding perfect.
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