Stars

Max quickly jumped out of his side of the taxi and ran round to Rosie's door opening it and offering her a hand to get out.

"Thank you" she said pecking him on the lips once she was standing up

"My pleasure" he smiled back

"So where are you taking me then?" Rosie asked, she was still unsure of what Max had planned for her birthday evening.

Max took her hand and led her in towards the waterfront.

"There" he nodded towards the water.

"What?" She frowned, Max smiled wider at her confusion.

"There" he repeated and pointed out to the lights that flickered out in the bay.

"What?" she said again, yet this time in shock, "to the boat?"

Max grinned and tugged at her arm, "well come on then!"

(x)

The waiter finished pouring the champagne into their glasses and left the table

"Well" Max began lifting his glass "here's to you. Happy Birthday"

Rosie blushed slightly before clinking her glass with his.

"This is amazing Max" she whispered "thank you so so much"

"Anything for my beautiful wife"

(x)

At the end of their meal they took a smaller boat back to shore

"We're not finished yet" Max informed her as her eyes wandered the landscape

"We're not?" she reverted her attention back to him.

"Nope"

"Okay" she said, now used to her husband's endless plans. Her gaze returned to the surroundings, the boat still glistening in the water, the jetty, the buildings of the city lit in the distance. Rosie felt his fingers wrap around hers tightly and pull her in another direction.

They wandered a few minutes along the seafront, engaging in quiet conversation before Max turned towards the steps down to the beach.

"You might want to take you shoes off eh?" he suggested

"Right" Rosie agreed. Having removed her heels she joined him on the sand

"that's better" she sighed happily

"Yup" Max said, now able to put his arm loosely round her shoulder "better height"

Rosie giggled "not my fault you're a little on the short side!"

"hmm..." he wondered as they continued to walk

"This has been such a lovely night, best birthday I've had in a long time" she said after a while "thank you" she added with a whisper

"My pleasure" he murmured into her ear "and thank you, for being my wife"

Rosie gazed into his eyes and felt herself melt into him. They shared long and deep kiss, pressing their bodies together as they went. After a few moments they pulled back.

"I wouldn't want to be anything else but your wife" she said "and I wouldn't want to be anyone but you to be my husband"

"Good" Max said with a cheeky smile. He bowed his head and kissed her again.

"Come here" he pulled her towards the sand

"Max!" she exclaimed "not here!"

"Nooo!" he laughed at her interpretation " just lie down" he gestured to his jacket laid out beside him

"Okay" she clambered to the floor and laid alongside him, their hands entwined again.

"Do you see the stars?" he asked

"They're beautiful" she admitted gazing into the dark night sky

"See that one there, the small triangle with the line of stars linking to another line?" he pointed into the sky

"Uh-huh"

"That's your Pisces"

"Really? I never knew"

"And that one like a pentagon shape looks like a spider with only two legs. That one's called Phoenix"

Max continued to point out the stars and constellations in the sky above them.

"I had no idea you knew so much about them" Rosie said turning her head to him

"My grandfather taught me. He loved them and something fascinated me about them when i was a little boy so we just kind of shared this passion, he had telescopes and books and everything."

Rosie squeezed his hand knowing how much his late grandfather meant to him.

"He used to tell me how important the sky was" he continued

"How?" she asked

"He said your life is the night sky. The empty gaps are the future, what will happen. The greyish matter that's the Milky Way is your past and everything you've done and the stars are the people in your life, the ones that together make it beautiful. The bright stars are those that mean more to you and that there's one star that shines brighter than the rest. I used to ask him why and he said because that's for the person who means the most to you, the most important thing in your life. I complained because I could never work out which one was my brightest star but he said don't worry boy, your day will come and you'll notice it, it will be easy to spot.

When I used to visit him he'd ask me how the stars were and when I went to see him in hospital, just before he died he asked me if I'd found the brightest one yet, I said no but he said "don't worry, she's on her way". And sure enough about a year after he died I looked into the sky and saw the brightest star I'd ever seen. And that's when i knew that one day I'd marry you and spend the rest of my life with you because you were the brightest star."

Max finished and Rosie wriggled towards him slightly and kissed him.

"That was one of the best birthday presents I've ever had"

"What?" Max said taken a back "what I said?"

Rosie nodded

"That didn't cost me anything, what about everything else!" he gestured to the bracelet on her wrist

She giggled "you know what I mean; besides it was priceless"

Max kissed her again.

"Time to go home" he winked.

A/N I came up with this chapter after i saw the most beautiful night sky one night in Australia. I'd never seen so many stars in all my life, and the streak of grey matter of the milky way ran through the middle it was as if i was at a planetarium, i cant describe how beautiful it was and my camera wasnt good enough to get a picture of it. You'll just have to see it for yourself.

Oh and i just googled the whole constellation and described the picture, i have no idea about stars tbh! x