“No. The women in Larsa lined their eyes with kohl. You looked so much like Li’ili in that moment, I could scarcely breathe. But I did hate that red dress. Because you weren’t wearing it for me.” He brushed a lock of hair off my cheek. “But I liked your hair pulled away from your face so that I could see more of it. I never tire of looking at your face. I never will.”
I could hardly see for the tears now. “Casziel…”
“And I’m sorry I didn’t dance with you at the wedding. It should’ve been me, not Guy. I should never have put your hand in his. I should never have said those terrible things to you. I said them instead of what was in my heart, and that is that I’ll love you forever. I have loved you forever, through every century, with every lifetime that’s passed and every lifetime to come. There is only you. There will only ever be you. My love. My life.” His jaw clenched. “And if you’ll have me again…my wife.”
He opened the box to reveal a gold ring with an oval of lapis lazuli, surrounded by tiny pale blue diamonds.
“Lapis is the sacred stone of our people,” he said, taking the ring from the box. “The same color as your eyes.”
My hand flew to my heart. “Cas…it’s so beautiful.”
“Not half as beautiful as you. In body and soul.” He slipped the ring on my finger and pressed my hand to his lips. “Lucy Dennings…we were wed once before, but I’ll never take your love for granted. It is the greatest gift I’ll ever receive, and I’ll spend this life making myself worthy of it, if you’ll let me.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, Cas. Of course, I will.”
His smile was breathtaking, and he kissed me softly, his mouth taking mine in tender touches, pouring his love into me.
I could taste it, feel it, breathe it in until it filled me up and left no room for doubt. I rested my head against his chest while he held me, and we sat in the twilight, basking in the wholeness of us. The ring wasn’t merely pretty, it felt like a seal to bind us together. A promise fulfilled, at long last.
“Will you miss it?” Cas asked after a while, nodding to the barren lot below us.
“A little. It’s where I found you. Twice.”
“You were so brave, Lucy. To see me as I was and take me into your home. To accept me.”
I smiled. “It helped that you were naked.”
He laughed a little. “I don’t remember what happened on the Other Side, but I know I have a lot to make up for.”
“Be one more good person in the world,” I said. “That’s all it needs.”
“I think I can do that. I have you to show me how.”
Cas kissed me again and the joy flowed through me freely. My beloved. My soulmate, and my happily ever after.
II
Two years later…
“Are you sure?” I asked, holding my wife’s face in my hands.
“I’m sure,” Lucy said, smiling gently. “If something is going to happen then it’s going to happen. We can’t let it stop you from this opportunity. It’s huge, Cas. Once in a lifetime.”
I shook my head. “The opportunity is nothing compared to you. If something went wrong and I wasn’t there…”
“I’ll be okay,” she said, pulling my hands from her face and pressing a kiss to the tungsten and lapis wedding band on my left hand. “I insist. It’s just a week.”
A week was an eternity when your wife was nine weeks pregnant for the second time. Her doctor said everything looked good, but how could she know for sure? If we lost this one too…
“No,” I said, the thought curling my stomach. “I can’t leave you. The Cairo presentation will survive without me.”
“The Cairo presentation is you.”
I fumed. A trove of Sumerian artifacts had been discovered in the gulf region. They’d been transported to the National Museum in Cairo where they awaited me to date and identify them.
“It’s a box full of rubble. It doesn’t mean anything, but you…you are everything.”
“And you are so sexy when you say things like that,” Lucy said, kissing the scowl on my lips.