Writers: Ever After
Aug. 27th, 2010 02:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spongetastic"There was a man, a woman and a marriage......"
Sounds more like the end, doesn’t it? That’s how all the fairy tales end, after all: the prince and princess got married and lived happily ever after. But in real life marriage is never an ending. In this case it was just the beginning.
They were in love before they married, obviously. It started off as just surviving together that slowly evolved. The woman was pregnant with a child and the man did everything he could to protect her and her baby. He wasn’t sure if the child was his, though to him it didn’t matter. They were both still important to him no matter what.
The two didn’t technically live together. He found her a safe place to stay where she could raise her baby boy. He was away a lot but whenever he came back he fell a little deeper in love with her. Many nights he would lay in bed next to her and hold on just a little bit tighter. Just enough to assure himself that she was there.
When he confessed he loved her out loud it was taking a step in a new direction for both of them. It took a long time for him to get to that point. He lost so much that he was afraid of losing this, too. He didn’t want to get close and risk one of them being hurt. Now he couldn’t pull away even if he wanted. He loved her and told her every chance he got just in case.
Of course he proposed to her and she accepted, and they both created something they never thought they would have: a family. A family that eventually grew with the addition of a beautiful baby girl. He was the father of a son and a daughter. It stunned him and he was overwhelmed holding the squirming bundle in his arms.
Their lives would never be normal. It was coded deep in their DNA. But they managed to get incredibly close. They went to school plays and dance recitals; he coached T-ball teams and cooked barbecue. They were happy. Like every marriage, theirs went through some rough spots. Eventually, though, they came back together. They still loved each other even when they were fighting.
Years went by filled with birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, school graduations and first dates. Like any other parent he lamented on how his children grew up so fast. Unfortunately he had something else playing against him. Still, the two managed to grow up as normally as he could hope for given their parentage.
The house became quiet and the two were alone. She was growing older but he knew ways to make her feel young again. When they were together it was like time didn’t matter. He took her out a lot just to neck her in public and smile knowing every other woman was envying her. He fell in love with her wrinkles.
“It’s such a beautiful love story,” the girl sighed out longingly. “So what happens next?”
“She dies,” he answered flatly. The girl’s smile dropped at once.
She got sick and refused to let him treat her. She could be stubborn like that. It was cancer, and though modern medicine fought against it the illness was stronger. He could have healed her in an instant but it wasn’t what she wanted. So instead he stayed by her side the way he always had.
He tried not to cry in front of her. He waited until the dead of night when she was asleep, then walked outside to let the emotions bubble out. They loved each other and gave as much as they could with the time remaining. She held his hand and told him she loved him as often as she could, just in case.
“So sad,” the girl blubbered, eyes brimming with tears. It was probably unfair for him to think of her as a girl but then, by comparison every woman was a “girl” to him. So very young even at age forty.
“I know,” he agreed. It was a long time ago and it still made his eyes misty.
“But it’s a beautiful story,” she added.
“Yes.” His eyes drifted down to the gold ring he wore on his left hand. “It’s very beautiful.” There was silence between them. He filled it by bringing the ring to his lips and kissing it.
“So… your scar….”
“Oh, that.” This time he couldn’t help the upward twitch of his lips as his finger brushed the scar. “I never tell that story.” He left her with that, getting up to get a fresh drink.
While he waited at the bar he twisted off his ring. Engraved on the inside were the words “Peter and Elle forever”. As long as he kept talking about her, he could make sure she stayed with him ever after.
Sounds more like the end, doesn’t it? That’s how all the fairy tales end, after all: the prince and princess got married and lived happily ever after. But in real life marriage is never an ending. In this case it was just the beginning.
They were in love before they married, obviously. It started off as just surviving together that slowly evolved. The woman was pregnant with a child and the man did everything he could to protect her and her baby. He wasn’t sure if the child was his, though to him it didn’t matter. They were both still important to him no matter what.
The two didn’t technically live together. He found her a safe place to stay where she could raise her baby boy. He was away a lot but whenever he came back he fell a little deeper in love with her. Many nights he would lay in bed next to her and hold on just a little bit tighter. Just enough to assure himself that she was there.
When he confessed he loved her out loud it was taking a step in a new direction for both of them. It took a long time for him to get to that point. He lost so much that he was afraid of losing this, too. He didn’t want to get close and risk one of them being hurt. Now he couldn’t pull away even if he wanted. He loved her and told her every chance he got just in case.
Of course he proposed to her and she accepted, and they both created something they never thought they would have: a family. A family that eventually grew with the addition of a beautiful baby girl. He was the father of a son and a daughter. It stunned him and he was overwhelmed holding the squirming bundle in his arms.
Their lives would never be normal. It was coded deep in their DNA. But they managed to get incredibly close. They went to school plays and dance recitals; he coached T-ball teams and cooked barbecue. They were happy. Like every marriage, theirs went through some rough spots. Eventually, though, they came back together. They still loved each other even when they were fighting.
Years went by filled with birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, school graduations and first dates. Like any other parent he lamented on how his children grew up so fast. Unfortunately he had something else playing against him. Still, the two managed to grow up as normally as he could hope for given their parentage.
The house became quiet and the two were alone. She was growing older but he knew ways to make her feel young again. When they were together it was like time didn’t matter. He took her out a lot just to neck her in public and smile knowing every other woman was envying her. He fell in love with her wrinkles.
“It’s such a beautiful love story,” the girl sighed out longingly. “So what happens next?”
“She dies,” he answered flatly. The girl’s smile dropped at once.
She got sick and refused to let him treat her. She could be stubborn like that. It was cancer, and though modern medicine fought against it the illness was stronger. He could have healed her in an instant but it wasn’t what she wanted. So instead he stayed by her side the way he always had.
He tried not to cry in front of her. He waited until the dead of night when she was asleep, then walked outside to let the emotions bubble out. They loved each other and gave as much as they could with the time remaining. She held his hand and told him she loved him as often as she could, just in case.
“So sad,” the girl blubbered, eyes brimming with tears. It was probably unfair for him to think of her as a girl but then, by comparison every woman was a “girl” to him. So very young even at age forty.
“I know,” he agreed. It was a long time ago and it still made his eyes misty.
“But it’s a beautiful story,” she added.
“Yes.” His eyes drifted down to the gold ring he wore on his left hand. “It’s very beautiful.” There was silence between them. He filled it by bringing the ring to his lips and kissing it.
“So… your scar….”
“Oh, that.” This time he couldn’t help the upward twitch of his lips as his finger brushed the scar. “I never tell that story.” He left her with that, getting up to get a fresh drink.
While he waited at the bar he twisted off his ring. Engraved on the inside were the words “Peter and Elle forever”. As long as he kept talking about her, he could make sure she stayed with him ever after.