Abbie hummed a tune as she hopped up the steps into the cabin, still smiling at one of Jenny's ribald wisecracks. The party was going well, despite Crane's initial reservations. Their small but loyal band of comrades had all arrived in good time, ready to kick up their heels in honour of Crane's birthday. Hawley's gift of a 15th-century crossbow was particularly well-received, as was a bottle of expensive Scotch from Jenny.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she noticed Crane standing in the corner, his shoulders slightly bowed. His phone dangled from his fingers and there was a distant look in his eyes.
'Crane, honey? Everything ok?' she asked as she pulled the cake from the refrigerator. It was a mouth-watering sponge cake filled with strawberries and slathered with chocolate icing – Crane's favourite.
'Hmm. Oh, I'm not quite sure to be honest.'
Abbie carefully placed the huge confection on the table and approached him with concern. 'What is it, baby?' Talk to me.'
Crane struggled to find the right words. 'It seems that Hawley's contacts were unsuccessful in their attempts to obtain a counterfeit birth certificate for me.' He let out a hollow laugh, full of barely-concealed regret. 'I continue to be legally invisible.'
Abbie tenderly stroked his cheek, running a thumb over his beard. That was their last chance of making Crane an official citizen of the United States, and he had staked all his hopes on it.
'Don't worry about it, baby. We've managed ok so far, haven't we? You have your work and so do I. We'll be fine.'
Crane had been working for the Sheriff's Department in an unofficial capacity for nearly two years, offering his services as a consultant in return for a monthly stipend. Sheriff Reyes had been surprisingly accommodating, looking the other way in return for Crane's assistance in solving Sleepy Hollow's most cryptic cases.
Since Moloch's death, Sleepy Hollow's supernatural population had decreased to zero overnight. It took a while to realise that their duties as Witnesses had reached a hiatus, but then Crane had other things to worry about. Having restored Abraham's soul to its rightful owner, Katrina suddenly announced that she could no longer deny her feelings for her former fiancé.
Crane had not seen her since that day.
He sighed. 'Oh, I'm sure we'll manage financially, but there are other considerations. It does rather put our other plans on indefinite hold.'
Abbie saw his genuine distress. She wrapped her arms around his waist, enveloping herself in his familiar warmth. 'I don't need a ring on my finger to know you love me.'
It had been almost a joke between them at first, a plan concocted after too many glasses of red wine. The day Crane finally became an official U.S. citizen – he vowed – they would apply for a wedding permit. It had taken a whole year for the two of them to surrender to the inevitable and admit their feelings for one another. At the time, Abbie had scarcely given Crane's half-jesting, half-deadly serious proposal a second thought. Now that it had been snatched away from her, she began to feel curiously deflated.
Crane gave her a loving squeeze. 'That is a comfort, sweetheart. Still, it has been my dearest wish to stand up in front of God and the world and declare that I am yours forever.'
Abbie was struck by a sudden sense of loss, of an unknown future denied to her. She rebelled against that certainty with her usual stubbornness.
'We can make those promises to each other – that's what matters.' She tilted her head and looked up at him with the utmost sincerity. 'I love you. I choose you. I don't want anybody else. I will never betray you, or desert you, or deceive you. I will say by your side for the rest of my life, and die in your arms.'
She could feel him trembling with emotion. He spoke with solemnity. 'And I… I shall endeavour to protect you with all my strength, to honour you with my every breath, to love you with all my heart. I shall never forsake you. I shall stay by your side for all my days, and die in your arms.'
Slowly, Abbie reached up and kissed him gently, sealing their vows. She longed to drag him into the bedroom and let him slowly undress her, revelling in each other for hour upon decadent hour. As tempting as the idea was, she knew that they had guests waiting.
After a few moments of blissful silence, she whispered, 'Well, what do you say we cut that cake and celebrate with our friends?'
Crane smiled down at her, his eyes shining with contentment. 'Nothing would make me happier, wife.'