This is for you, Steph. Thank you for everything. Literally. Everything.
He likes to play with her hair while they lay in bed at night. He likes to trace her mouth and tickle her sides alternately, making her smile. That makes him bury his face into her shoulder and whisper, "Seven."
At the precinct, he'll bring her a cup of coffee, just the way she likes it. Even before they got together, she'd smile up at him, poking her cute little tongue in between her teeth as she smiled the smile she'll only give to him.
One time, he writes on the mug, "Billion," and tells her, "Remember that."
When they go to the shooting range, she'll smile at him when he shoots better than her, even though she claims (outside of the room) that it annoys her.
He knows that she could very well have a better shot than him, but he tends to lean in and murmur in her ear, "Smiles," which catches her off guard and throws off her aim.
Sometimes she'll come over to his loft to have dinner with Martha and Alexis, and as they're washing the dishes, insisting on cleaning up while the rest of his family goes to the living room. He'll wrap his arms around her as she loads the dishwasher and pulls her into his embrace, and as she rests her head on his shoulder, smiling peacefully, he says, "And yours."
She's confused, he can tell, when he tells her, "Is." and she smiles the confused/slightly agitated/but she loves him smile. He shrugs and helps her into her coat, and guides her to the precinct's elevator.
He proposes to her the time he says, "My." She thinks it's a part of his proposal and raises an eyebrow, and he shakes his head, laughing slightly.
"No, Kate. That's not a part of this whole shebang." And she smiles that toothy smile once again, and as she says yes, he twirls her around and kisses her, deep and passionate. He whispers, "My," once more and then he's laughing happily, exhuberantly with her.
They're at their wedding when he utters the last word at the end of their vows.
"Favorite." He states, and she glances at him weirdly, and he says, "That's the end. That's the last word."
And he tells the priest to continue with the ceremony.
She's moving into his loft when she finally figures it out.
He's picking up a heavy crate of god-knows-what, and then she's launching herself into his arms and kissing him senseless, and she's smiling into the kiss and he's grinning with her, and she's saying over and over, "Seven billion smiles, and yours is my favorite."
(Later, she'll comment that the world's population has surely changed since that quote was written down, and he'll brush her off, kissing her forehead as they lay in bed together, staring at the ceiling darkened by nighttime.)
"seven billion smiles and yours is my favorite."
-poetryandtruth
Tonight, the girl to whom this is dedicated to saved my life. This is just a minute way of me thanking her.
