To Have and to Hold

“Don’t try me. We can’t until we get home to change.”

“You’re killing me, Gideon,” she breathes, and that neediness turns me on and just makes me want to force her to wait longer, maybe until we get to Bora Bora.

Deciding that’s what I want to do, I need to change the subject.

“You look so beautiful in that dress. This one is more you.” The dress she had at our first wedding was one her mother picked out, and I knew she hated it. Did she look gorgeous in the princess-style ball gown? Yes, but the dress doesn’t make the woman. The woman makes the dress. And my wife was glowing tonight.

She sits back in her seat with a sigh, knowing I’m not going to give in. “Thank you. I love it. You and Junior looked so adorable in matching suits.” She smiles fondly.

“Lilac looked like a spitting image of you. So beautiful, my little one,” I add.

We go silent, her hand playing with mine, her head on my shoulder.

“This is real. You and me,” she whispers.

“Yeah, all of it. Always has been.”

“Since day one, I knew you were trouble.” She laughs.

“Don’t you ever forget it.” I squeeze her hip where my hand lays comfortably around her.

“Gideon?” she prompts after a few moments pass.

“Yes, baby?”

“Never let me go. Promise?”

I smile, knowing she needs that reassurance, and loving that I’m the only one who can give it to her and that she wants it from. “I could never. I even made a vow about it.”

Lifting her head, she places her hand above my heart.

“What?” She giggles.

“To have and to hold—as long as we both shall live.”

I can’t explain the look she gives me. It’s as if every word I say is so profound.

“Say it,” she whispers, and I know what she wants.

“I love you. Now you say it.”

Kissing my lips, then my jaw, she returns to looking at me. “I’m yours, Gideon Pierce.”

Yes. Yes, she is.

The End