Kristine woke up the next morning to the sound of birds singing. There were no gunshots, no screams of men or women. As she rolled over on to her other side, facing away from the wall she noticed Thomas was gone. With a little panic she sat up in her bed, about ready to jump out and call out Thomas's name, but before she could do that Thomas came walking in with his hands full with clothes. "Oh, so you're finally up? Here, these are for you." He handed her the clothes. "Good morning by the way. You slept pretty well last night."
Kristine picked some sleep from her eyes and yawned. "Only because you were with me." She held out the dress before her. It was a pretty navy blue cotton dress with long puffy sleeve and frills at the bottom. "Where did you manage to get this?"
Thomas cleared his throat. "I got it from one of the women here in town. She caught word of you and wanted to pass these down to you. She told me the dress was just sitting in her closet."
Kristine smiled. "You'll have to point her out to me so I can tell her thank you." Thomas nodded. "By the way," said Kristine. "What's the month?"
"October fourteenth."
"And if it's been three years, that makes it 1782." Again Thomas nodded. For a few seconds, Kristine pondered in thought and then suddenly smiled. "Eleven more months," she said more to herself than to Thomas.
"Eleven more months of what?" Thomas asked.
Kristine looked up at, the little smile on her face. "Next year on September third, the war will end."
Thomas looked as if he was about to call BS on this and stupidly remembered that she knew all about this war. "Are you sure? That's less than a year." he was so excited he almost jumped up and down like a happy child at Christmas. "Get dressed," he told her. "I'll show you around town."

Kristine slipped off her pajamas and put on wool socks, her boots, the slip and then the corset. Luckily for her, this corset was manageable to be put on by herself and she quickly tied the back. Lastly, she put on the blue dress, surprised by how well I fit her. She tried to examine her attire from the small mirror hanging on the wall but it wasn't much use. She did, however, manage to get a good look at her face and tried to gussy up. The bruise on her face from last night was painfully obvious and the sight of it brought back the pain. That didn't matter, though. She was safe now and with Thomas again. Kristine ran her fingers through her hair a bit before heading out of the room where Thomas was waiting for her just down the hall and talking to Gabriel.
"Ah, the Sleeping Beauty awakes," said Gabriel. He had some bread in his hands and offered her some but she gratefully declined. She wasn't up to eating yet. "Has Thomas taken care of that bruise on your face yet, little sister?"
A little taken back by Gabriel's comment about 'little sister', Kristine looked over at Thomas who was blushing. "What do you mean, Gabriel?" she asked, looking back at him.
"Well, it's only natural that you and Thomas will marry one day, so I might as well get used to seeing you as my little sister." he then looked to Thomas who was almost redder than a tomato now. "By the way, little brother, have you asked for fathers blessing?" he teased. As Kristine blushed, Thomas pushed his brother away. "Go finish your breakfast somewhere else." When Gabriel was gone and probably still laughing, Thomas turned to Kristine and held out his hand. "Walk with me?" Even though he never had to ask, Kristine gladly took his hand and walked outside with him.

The town was busy cleaning things up from last nights terror. All the British soldiers were dead and Kristine couldn't help but feel sorry for them. She walked by a few homes and even an old tavern that had been hit by one of the bombs. "It could have been way worse," Thomas told her. "We got extremely lucky; Kristine believed that.
"We should help them." Kristine offered the idea.
Although this was a generous offer Thomas shook his head. "You just back home. Take it easy."
Kristine smiled. "You just said home."
It took a few seconds for this to process through Thomas's brain and then understood what he had said. "Do you see it as home?"
Kristine nodded. "You know I do." she hugged his arm slightly as they continued to walk down the dirt path.
For the last year a thought had been nagging at the back of Thomas's mind: would Kristine prefer staying here in the past or going back to the future? Was a choice like that even possible? Would they even be able to spend their lives together? Whatever happened, Thomas made up his mind and told himself that whatever Kristine chose, he would choose also. "Which do you prefer?" Thomas asked her.
"Of what?"
"The past? Or the future?"
Knowing where Thomas was getting at, Kristine thought for a minute, the silence coming between them. "Oh, well, I'd go with whatever choice you'd choose."
Thomas smiled, almost laughing. "Well, it just so happens that I think the same. I'll go wherever you want to go."
Kristine enjoyed the simple pleasures here in the past: the view of the towns, the countryside, the people, everything. She liked the fact that the people here were more patient with things. They learned to take it easy; they were more prone to helping others, and in a way, they were more kind, especially in the manner in which they spoke. Gently yet hard working was the best way Kristine would describe the people and places here. Finally, she decided on her answer. "I'll stay here with you if I can."
"If you can," Thomas repeated. "That's what I was afraid of."
"How do you mean?" she asked him.
"Eleven months from now, when the war is over, what if you just disappear again and never come back that time around?" What Thomas was saying made sense. There was no telling when she would get sucked back to her time. She could be gone by tomorrow, or perhaps she would stay here for the next five years of her life. The possibilities and questions were endless. "This way," Thomas pulled her off the path and into the trees. "I want to show you something."

As Kristine continued to walk hand in hand with Thomas she looked up at him, his broad shoulders, wavy brown locks pulled back into a pony-tail, she couldn't help but softly sigh at the sight of his presence. "Ok, I think this is far enough," said Thomas.
"Far enough for what?" Kristine asked.
Now Thomas looked a little nervous. "Been thinking about what you said to me last night," he got down on one knee. Kristine knew what was happening and it took everything in her power to just say 'yes' already. "What Gabriel doesn't know is that I already have my fathers blessing. In fact, he was extremely happy about it." Thomas cleared his throat, taking Kristine's hand. "Why wait to get married after the war? We can get married now…today if you wanted." he paused for a moment. "Kristine…would you marry me?"
Tears fell from her eyes and she nodded and held out her arms. Thomas stood up and gladly embraced her. He gave her many loving kisses over her face and lips as he twirled her around. "You have made me the happiest man on earth right now!" he laughed. "I love you so much!"

Despite the events of last night, it didn't stop the townspeople of getting together a wedding for a happy young couple. Gabriel was more than surprised and very happy for his little brother and soon to be a little sister. It made him miss his Anne even more now. As Thomas waited in the front of the church for his bride, he puffed up his chest and stood a little straighter as the door slowly opened, showing a beautiful Kristine blushing and almost hiding behind the flowers she held. The whole town was there and the Militia sat right up front. She glanced at Mr. Martin and Gabriel who was smiling broadly at her and then she looked up at her Thomas and felt her face getting hot. It was a mutual feeling for Thomas as well. Kristine was so nervous that she could hardly understand a word the priest was saying, but somehow she managed to talk when she needed to. She then thought of her parents and how happy they would be to see her now, but then she remembered, her parents weren't alive yet. The Martin family was her family now and it was decided for her right then and there that she would stay with Thomas in the here and now. Goodbye cars, goodbye internet, goodbye fast food, goodbye texting, goodbye pain reliever medication.
"I do," said Thomas.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Thomas cupped Kristine's face and brought her into a loving kiss. Everyone cheered, even whistled. The still, silent church suddenly became the center of attention in the whole town. There was food afterward and dance and songs to sing to. Of course, Kristine and Thomas had the first dance, had the first bite of cake and sang the first song. Kristine couldn't stop blushing when Thomas serenaded her, the whole town, and especially Gabriel, ooh-ing, and ah-ing. When the wedding was over everyone helped clean up. Tomorrow they would work on fixing the buildings that were demolished. It was time for rest now.

Thomas led Kristine, his bride, back to the inn they were staying at before. And instead of going back to the room she had last night, they were offered the best room at the inn. Everything was nicely decorated and there were some tea and cookies waiting for them. Like a happy grown up-like child, Kristine walked quickly to the tea and cookies.
"These cookies are amazing. Try some, Thomas." and she handed one to him.
Thomas took one bite and set the cookie down and then took one sip of the tea while Kristine on the other hand down a whole cup. "I want to try something else," he told her.
Kristine swallowed hard, nervous and yet excited about what was to come next. "Like what?" she asked. Thomas only smiled and pulled her closer to him by the waist and kissed her. The kiss was harder this time and it surprised her, moaning under his touch. A funny feeling enveloped Kristine's whole body and it trickled all the way from her head, down to her toes. Thomas and Kristine walked to their bed and stood next to it as they both looked at each other. Thankfully Thomas made the first move and started by unbuttoning the front of her dress. He slipped it off her and Kristine turned around for him to unlace her corset and take that off as well, now standing in only her white slip. She wasn't scared, but she was nervous about letting Thomas see her naked body.

This time it was Kristine's turn to undress Thomas and she let her fingers playfully run down his shirt and then finally pulled it off of him, his bare chest showing. Kristine placed her hands on his chest again, feeling the nubs of hair. As Thomas got older his chest hair would become more visible. She smirked. Next, she started on his pants and unlaced them, her hands a bit shaky. Thomas lightly grabbed her hand, steadying her until she was ok to move forward. As she pulled down his britches, she noticed his manhood slightly bulging out from underneath his long underwear. Before Kristine got any further with undressing him, Thomas picked her up and plopped her on the bed. He hovered above her, moving his hands up her slip very slowly. He was teasing her! Or maybe he wasn't and he just wanted to take his time? In other words, it was driving Kristine crazy. A slight wave of warmth washed over Kristine as Thomas reached the rest of the way up her slip and grabbed her breasts. He bent down and kissed her, removing her slip over her head quickly. Thomas traced his hands back down Kristine's body and stopped at her hips, his fingers lingering on her underwear. She still had her underwear from her time and he grinned at the pretty white lace panties before slipping those off too. Thomas was about to take his underwear off, but before he could Kristine stopped him and did it for him.

For a few seconds she looked away, too embarrassed to look at his naked body, but over time she forced herself to look at him, manhood and all. With both of them naked, Thomas took the blanket and placed it over them, his body pressed against hers. Thomas continued to give her loving kisses all over her body while he teased and played with her with his hands. Kristine could feel Thomas's manhood brush up against her from time-to-time, her heart racing faster now. And when he looked at her with those loving green eyes of his she knew what that meant. With one little nod and a look of trust in her glazed over eyes, they became one.

I will leave the rest of their lovely night up to your imagination. Don't forget to review.
P.S. I really had to watch myself with the little love scene. This a T rated story. Haha oops.