Their Kind of Marriage
[a Friday Fluffstravaganza]
"Is there something I can help you with doctor?" She was smiling as she wrote the shopping list at the counter.
"You help me with everything, every day, just by being." He was reading a note by the phone.
"Enjoy your nap?"
"I did." He put his arms around her waist, resting his cheek on the back of her shoulder. Perks of married life with no more lodgers.
She put the pencil down and turned in his arms, his moving up to her shoulders as she fit hers around his waist. She could hear his heart as she rested her head on his chest. A familiar embrace, that was a perfect fit.
She leaned back against the counter, his eyes gazing down at her. So much love. No one had ever looked at her so deeply. He often looked somehow… surprised that she was there. Surprised that he was happy, silently thanking her for loving him, when she felt like the lucky one.
"You know, Christopher never looked at me the way you do." She studied his eyes for a response, knowing he wouldn't say anything. They shone with tears, a sad smile on his lips for her. She grabbed his face and kissed his lips, smiling. She was happier now. Lucien was never too proud to show his pure emotions. And it was one of the things she loved most about him.
Christopher would have thought him weak for his ability to emote so freely. His tactile nature, even with his patients and friends. Meanwhile, he was the strongest man she'd ever known. She once thought her first husband would have liked Lucien because of his strength, but she was wrong. He would have hated him, much like Jack did. For no particular reason, but that he was different. More complex, intelligent, and compassionate in his power.
She never realized how much she had dumbed herself down in her previous life, until she met Lucien. And it wasn't just at home. At church, the dramatic society, the boys school, the sewing circle, everywhere really. Always being who she was expected to be. But Lucien encouraged her mind, valued her opinions, made her question things, and life had grown so much more interesting.
"Penny for your thoughts." Lucien asked as he was getting some water.
After a few more lazy kisses at the counter, he had let her get back to what she was doing. He could see she was thinking, it was written in her far off eyes, and she seldom spoke of Christopher. He often wondered about the man. They spent very little time revisiting their pasts, but she knew so much about Mei Lin now, with the divorce and all. But she remained guarded about her first husband, and he had resigned himself to never push it.
"Do you remember me once telling you that there was more than one kind of marriage?" She turned to face him again.
"Yes. We were discussing the Connolly's, if memory serves."
"Partially. But I think we touched on our own then too, indirectly." She raised a questioning brow, he nodded.
"I was struck in that moment, by how different Christopher's reaction would have been to learning about the man's… sexuality." She walked over to him and leaned against him, leaning against the sink. "It's interesting, that I compared the two of you then. Like I knew something, before we were even a dream. Very telling, don't you think?"
"Oh, you had visited my dreams by then." He gave her a wicked smile and kissed the tip of her nose.
"But it is interesting. Are we a different kind of marriage?" He placed some hair behind her ear. Keeping the mood light, letting her steer the conversation.
"We are. I love who I am with you. I'm not sure I've ever told you that." She was smoothing his beard with her thumbs, looking deep into him. "Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for? You are the one embraced any new sides of yourself, to become who you are now." His thumbs hooked into her waistband, hands resting on her back side, "It takes so much more strength to change, than to remain the same. You inspired much of my own change, you're the strongest person I know. Thank you."
"We are both better together." It was barely a whisper, as she kissed his ear, then took the lobe with her lips.
"Well now, Mrs. Blake." And she relished in the rumble of his chest as he gave a little laugh, moving his hands to squeeze her bum.
She hummed, smiling into his neck in response "You know I missed my nap today." She had moved to face him.
"As your doctor, I must insist we remedy that immediately. How else will you keep up your strength, to be the strongest woman I know."
And he kissed her deeply, beginning to walk them toward the bedroom as he did so, stumbling, she laughed into his mouth. And he had to admit she was right, they were better together, in their kind of marriage.