"Home?!" I splutter, "What do you mean 'home'?"
"The Vault. She needs to raise the baby there."
"Are you seriously thinking about that?! We'll be shot on sight!" I yell, "She's already fragile enough as it is! She doesn't need her father pointing a gun at my face!"
"You and I both know what needs to happen. We aren't equipped to be a maternity ward here."
"Then I will go out for a supply run. Every single day for 9 months if that's what it takes." I snarl, "She can't do this."
"Winter, she needs this Vault. You and I both know that this is what she and this baby needs. Like it or not, this is your child as well. You've made it clear that you'll stay with Amata, so this is your baby too. You love this baby right?"
I lick my lips and shake my head, "I love Amata and the baby, but… I don't think that I can look at that baby and not see its father."
"I know. I still can't look at you without seeing Catherine. But you want her to be safe."
"I just…" I run my hands through my hair as the reality of the situation sets in, "I won't be able to stay."
He slowly shakes his head, "No. I personally cannot see the Overseer allowing you back in."
"Oh god…" I rub my face and slump down into the chair.
"You know what has to be done here."
"I'll never see her again, though," I whisper, scrunching my eyes tight and tugging at my hair.
"You probably won't," he shrugs, "But if something happens to her or that baby, who will you blame?"
I shake my head and stand up, "I… I need to think about this."
"There really isn't much to think about."
"Yeah, Dad, there fucking is."

I leave Dad's office and walk into the courtyard where Amata is sitting down with her legs crossed.
"Hey," she sighs when she sees me, "How did it-"
I slide down onto the dirt beside her and kiss her deeply. I almost break down into tears when she eventually kisses back, but I have to suck it up, again.
"How about that walk I was talking about? Before I did my jail time of course," I smile.
"What got into you?" she chuckles when I break away.
"Nothing," I get up and look toward the gate, "are we gonna go?"
"Honey I'm not feeling so up to it," she chuckles.
"I will never ask you to clean my revolver ever again if you walk with me for 20 minutes," I press my palms together into a pleading position with a small smile on my face.
She gives me a suspicious look and I smirk, "I swear I won't make a move, I swear."
"My god are you actually offering to do something romantic for the sake of being sweet and not for the sake of sex?" she gasps as she stands up, "it must be my birthday."

…

I twirl my fingers around hers and look down at the ground.
"Honey…" she trails off, "are you OK?"
"I'm fine beautiful," I smile weakly.
"I was thinking while you were talking with your dad about what we should do."
Oh god, thank you god. Amata will know what to do. She'll discover this place that we can live in forever.
"I think we should probably go and scavenge one of the abandoned Vaults that didn't break."
Yes! Of course!

"That is a very good idea," I grin, "That's good. I'll definitely think about doing that."
"Jesus, honey; it isn't that good an idea." She chuckles.
"Trust me, it's a good idea." I nod rapidly.
"O…K I'll take your word for it," she frowns.

"Do you think we'll be OK?" she sighs, resting her head against my shoulder.
"Relax hon, I'll be fine," I smile, kissing her goodbye, "We'll be OK."

…

We sit outside for a long time. I listen patiently to Amata, who constantly yaps on and on about things she read in baby books and her various future appointments with Li and Dad. I understand that this is just Amata's "therapy", she says stuff she worries about to me, and I nod and agree with what she plans to do or offer advice towards her. It keeps her happy, but it keeps my mind on the fact that this may be the last few weeks or months I have to share with her. I love her idea, but these Vaults have been abandoned for 200 years, I honestly doubt that I can find so much as a packet of pain killers.

Amata finally talks herself hoarse, and agrees to go into Jefferson to get something to eat. On our way back, Washington suddenly walks up to us and stops me.
"Daniels, I've gotta show you something pronto," he says quickly with a huge grin on his face.
"What is it?" I frown, looking back at Amata.
"We just got a new supply convoy, you've gotta see what our buddies down the mid-west have gotten us."
"I'll leave you two to it," Amata chuckles and walks back into Jefferson. Washington and I tend to get overexcited when new "toys" have arrived. For me it's unsettling, I never expected I'd allow myself to get excited over a new type of gun or a new bullet that can carve into a concrete wall. But, y'know… go figure.

…

"What the fuck is that thing?!" I yell, jumping away from it.
"A horse," he rolls his eyes and pats the neck of the large beast. Oh I'm a fucking idiot. How could I possibly forget what a stupid horse looks like from all the western movies I watched as a kid? Pft, kid. I was 19 and I was still watching these. That was two years ago, I'm still a kid.
"We got 'em from a group of traders a few hours ago, a good few dozen of them from parks in Virginia." He says proudly, "This one's called Kai."

Kai, in actual fact, is a pretty nice looking animal. He's tall and strong looking, with a rich bronze coat and honey hair. A fading bronze saddle sits on his back and stirrups looks like they'll rip off the second I put weight on them. Kai lowers his head so it's in level of my face and I delicately put my hand on his forehead, like he'll bite my hand off the second I touch him.
"Aw he likes you," Washington teases when Kai nods his hand up and down as if to make my hand pet him.
"Shut up," I chuckle, "So where do I have to walk him?"
"You're learning to ride him."
"What? Why do I need to learn to ride a horse?"
"All MPs are required to learn to ride. Because of the fact we're travelling around so much, it helps to have something to make getting to our assignment faster and easier. This bad boy here'll outrun most everything but a Yao Guai. Born and bred for speed and endurance."
"No shit," I raise my eyebrows, "can he outrun a bullet?"
He shakes his head and starts to laugh, "Fucking smartass; just get on the fucking horse."

Three weeks later

I sprint out of Jefferson and spring up into the air. I spring and push myself up on the back of Kai's ass and sit firmly in the saddle. I smack his ass again and he blasts off into a sprint, kicking up dust as he runs.
"Come on," I snarl, jabbing him with my left heel. He runs faster, breathing heavily through his nose and determined to go as fast as he possibly can.
"Come on!" I yell, smacking him again, "come on, Kai!"
I spot my target, moving quickly along the dirt road, running as fast as she possibly can toward nearby raider camp carrying valuable BoS information. Right now she's a distant speck in the distance, but she's rapidly becoming larger and larger.
"Come on, boy," I growl, "Come on you bastard I know you can run faster than this!"

Kai is a champion. He actually gains speed, snarling like a demon and sprinting with everything he has. My target is within shooting distance.
"Easy boy…" I grunt, slowing him down a bit and un-holstering the gun at my hip. I fire a shot, and the tiny green ball speeds toward the target's back. A small green splat hits her back and she collapses onto the ground.
"Easy…" I slow Kai down and dismount him. I go into one of the bags and grab one of the apples that Li had growing in her lab that I may or may not have stolen.
"Good boy," I smile, feeding him the apple and scratching his mane.
"Goddamn…" a soldier sighs, rubbing the green spot on her back, "that fucker's gonna sting in the morning."
"Ha!" I laugh, "Sorry Nichols, I didn't want to aim for your head."
"On second thought, that's fine, I can live with the back injury."

Nichols, I think her first name is… Anna? Alex? Alice! I'm sure it's Alice! BoS rarely refer to each other by our first name, and I doubt Washington even knows mine, and I don't know his. Nichols served as a stable girl for the horses. Since Kai is "mine", I spent some time getting to know him in the stables. Amata usually comes with me when she doesn't have an appointment with Dad or Li. Because I'm the only one who gives half a fuck about
"Just get us back to base, this 'Intel' is heavy as hell."
I stuff the intel into one of the satchels on Kai's saddle and slip onto the saddle. It's difficult to get on with my bad leg but weeks of practising have given me a decent strategy, though I still look like a fucking idiot.
Nichols, a few years my senior and the ripe old age of 29, gets on the horse behind me.
"Just… for fuck's sake cowgirl, just- don't go so- fuck!"
I jab Kai's side and he breaks into a full sprint. I laugh when Nichols flings her arms around my stomach and almost presses my stomach against my spine.

"I swear to god I'm going to kill you, Daniels!" Nichols shouts. I swear if Kai could laugh I think he would be laughing his ass off right now.
"You'd think you'd never ridden a horse before."

I smile when I see Amata walking out of Jefferson. Nichols, for my benefit, takes her arms away from my stomach. I slow Kai down to a small trot and go up to her.
"Hey," I smile, hopping off the saddle and landing smoothly on the ground. I dig into the satchel and bring out the intel, files stuffed with old bible pages.
"Here you go ma'am," I say in a heavy southern accent, holding the intel toward her.
"Oh, my hero," she smiles, wrapping her arms around my neck and pecking my lips.
"Ugh," Nichols chuckles and sticks a finger inside her mouth and acts up a gagging noise.
Amata blushes slightly and steps away from me, holding out her arms and taking the papers. This entire exercise is simple, find out what's missing in Jefferson, and go after the thief before he or she gets to home base. Having a horse makes it a million times easier, and having a 200 year old paintball gun makes it much less deadly.

"Nice cock-block, Nichols."
"No problems," she shrugs, patting Kai's cheek.
"Yelp, have fun cleaning him. I," I hand his reigns over to Nichols, "am going to go make out with my girlfriend."
"Oh I'm so jealous," she mocks, "have fun holding a screaming brat in 9 months' time. Please, enjoy yourself while you can."
"Wow you're in a good mood today. In fine form," I mutter sarcastically.
"Well you did just shoot me in the back," she rolls her eyes at me and walks off with Kai, "Just go ahead and stick your tongue in the Hispanic all you want."
"Easy." I frown, surprised at her sudden lash at Amata, and such a cheap shot as well.

"Hey," I smile slightly at Amata, who's fiddling with a few medical supplies. I walk up behind her and slip my arms around her stomach and softly peck her neck. Her hand moves up and touches my cheek and she turns around to kiss me properly, though there isn't much passion behind it. The love is there; sure, it just doesn't have the enthusiasm. And, in all honesty, I really can't blame her.

Amata is very gradually on the mend, though it doesn't mean she doesn't flinch whenever I unexpectedly touch her. I reluctantly break away and sit down on our small bed and allow her to get her composure back. She knew it was me in the room with her, but she still jumped a bit when I wrapped my arms around her.
"Get off of there!" she gasps, pulling me up and bashing my arms as I lie down.
"Ow! Hey, what the hell was that for?" I whine, jumping up and getting off the bed like it's on fire.
"You are covered in dust and dirt," she scolds, "I don't want to be sneezing all night when I start to breathe it."
Her hands start to unbutton my jacket and she sighs, "I'm sorry I hurt you but, come on, honey…"
"I'm sorry!" I chuckle.
"How the hell did it get on your arms?!" she gasps, shaking her head and rubbing some dirt off my olive tanned arms., "go take a shower."
"Yes mother," I tease. Amata rolls her eyes and begins to slip my shirt over my head, when the door suddenly swings open.
"Shit!" Amata gasps. She quickly shoves my shirt down and looks toward the door.
Dad is standing in the doorway, flushed bright red and holding a doctor's bag.
"I… um… I'll come back later."
"No, Dad," I laugh, "it's fine. I was just going to take a shower."
I walk into the bathroom and chuckle to myself.

…

When I come out from the shower Amata is lying down on the bed with Dad taking a blood sample from her.
I sit down beside her and she shuffles up so her head rests in my lap. I put my hand on her shoulder and Dad smiles slightly at me, a kind of "I hope you're OK" smile. I run my fingers through her hair subconsciously and look at him with a stern look. He shakes his head and carefully packs up his things.
"I can already tell by now that you need to start eating more," Dad sighs at Amata, "you're supposed to be gaining weight, not picking at your food during dinner."
She sits up and nods, "I'll try to eat more."
"Don't try, do," he says firmly, "just read the books we gave you, OK?"
Amata nods again and I thank Dad, but we weren't finished yet.

"Dad, Amata and I have been talking about the possibility of Winter salvaging supplies through one of the Vaults in D.C."
"Yeah, it was me who suggested it," Amata nods, looking at me.
"Would it be something that you'd be interested in Winter doing?" Dad looks at me, even though he's talking to Amata.
"Well… I'm never comfortable with Winter being in danger… but I suppose I wouldn't mind if she would only be gone a few hours." Amata shrugs.
"It would be around a day and a half if I stop to camp for the night." I shrug, "but I'll have Kai with me so it'll be faster."
"Uh… OK I guess…" she nods before smiling at me, "I know you'll be OK. You're too stubborn to get hurt."
"So I'll go tomorrow?" I glance between Dad and Amata.
"Sure," she nods, "You'll be fine."

…

My Pip-boy starts to beep at around 4AM. I open my eyes and carefully push a sleeping Amata off my left shoulder and arm. I get dressed and load my rifle and revolver before stuffing rifle magazines and strapping on a bandoleer stuffed with revolver rounds.
"I'll be back soon," I whisper and kiss Amata's temple. She doesn't stir and I brush the hair off her face before leaving.

"Nichols?" I yawn when I walk into the stables and rub the back of my head, "You ready? Nichols?"
I poke my head to look through the stable and find Nichols curled up in a stable. Her messy blonde hair is tied back into a loose bun and her flannel clothes are crumpled. I pick up a small pebble and toss it at her.
"Mph…" she grumbles, "go away, Daniels."
"Come on," I smile, "you've gotta move your ass."

She picks herself up and finds her horse, officially named Thunder under BoS records but lovingly called "Fuckstick" by Nichols when no COs or Knights are hanging around the stables.

"I don't understand how you can sprint a horse all day but freak out when you're a passenger." I frown, climbing onto Kai using my left leg first and swinging my right over using my hip for momentum.
"Because I bounce around like a mother fucker when I'm riding your crazy ass horse," she sighs, guiding Thunder out of the stables, "and it's called galloping you retard. Why do I even have to go with you anyways?"
"Always the charming one," I laugh, nudging Kai into a canter and leaving the stable. Stable is being generous. A makeshift square fits nicely. They'll build more secure ones soon, but until now we just have to pray it won't collapse when a horse nudges against the wall at night.
"Nichols, you have to go because you have to make sure Kai doesn't wander off when I'm searching for supplies." I say patiently as she follows beside me.
"And you couldn't bring Washington because…?"
"Because Washington can't ride for shit," I smirk.

We ride mostly in silence toward Vault 108. We share a few words every now and then, but otherwise it's mostly an uncomfortable silence. Halfway through the ride, after around 6 hours, my hip starts to ache almost unbearably from the constant jolting against my hip bone from my fake leg, and I start to whimper in pain.
"Are you doing OK?" Nichols frowns, "we can stop if you want."
I shake my head and close my eyes, "I'll manage, it's good."

It's late afternoon when we get to Vault 108. My hip is in absolute agony but I really want to get out of this damn Vault before 6, when the sun goes down.
"Stay here," I look back at Nichols, "it actually won't be that bad an idea to set up camp."
"Yes, boss," she chuckles, dismounting her horse and gripping hold of Kai's reigns.
"I'll be back soon." I smile, walking into the entrance to the entrance of the Vault and opening the old wooden door.

It's the standard entrance to any bomb shelter. Various skeletons litter the walkway to the entrance and there's always a video camera, but this time, the Vault door is wide open. I sigh and walk through the door, muttering to myself when I see bullet holes around the walls and shell casings around the place. I turn around a corner and I see something I didn't expect to see; a person.

"Gaaary," He smiles, walking slowly towards me. He's dressed in a Vault jumpsuit, but doesn't have a Pip-boy to his wrist like I do. He's older, around his 30's with greying hair, with wild brown eyes.
"Uh… hey… Gary," I chuckle awkwardly, taking a step back, "I didn't expect this place to still be open."
"Gary," he licks his lips and takes another step toward me.
"Woah buddy," I put a hand on my revolver handle, "I'm just here looking for some supplies. If you can't spare anything, I can just leave. I'm friendly, I'm not going to shoot you."
"Gary!" he snarls angrily, leaping toward me.
"Shit! Stay back, man!" I yell ripping out my revolver, "I don't want to shoot you!"
He grabs a hold of my arm and lifts it up to bite me, saliva dripping from his mouth and a grin on his face.
"Get off!" I yell, swinging and smashing my fist against Gary's head.
"Gary! Gary!" he screams, covering his ears, "Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary!"
"Jesus Christ…" I trail off, stepping over his hysterical body and going deeper into the Vault.

Luckily, every Vault constructed by the good ol' folks at Vault-Tec has roughly the same layout, so I use my memory of Vault 101 to move into the medical clinic. The hallways are empty, but there are cans of food everywhere, just opened and thrown carelessly around the halls. The smell is incredible. Does the incinerator in this Vault not work or something? I move further down the stairs and turn to walk through the cafeteria. "Oh… shit…"

Twenty Vault residents sit upright in their cafeteria. They all stand in unison, and look exactly the same to the smallest detail. They all are men in their early 30's, but with balding, greying hair. They're dressed in the same Vault uniform, look exactly like the guy I encountered not 10 minutes ago, and they all say exactly the same thing.
"Gary…" they trail off, their voices eerily flowing towards me like a lazy current.
"Back!" I bark like I'm scolding my dog, whipping out my gun and aiming it with two hands.
"Gary…" they drone, walking toward me like zombies.
"Back!" I snarl and fire a bullet into the air, "get back!"
They all snarl like animals and start to limp-jog towards me, like their legs are broken.
"Shit," I gasp and fire a few rounds and put down six before I have to reload. I run up a stair case and shove a nearby desk against the open doorway, blocking them from just walking past it and testing their less than perfect coordination.
I sprint away from the staircase and shove six bullets into the chamber and snap it shut. I hide behind a pillar and fire at the group of Garys.
"Goddammit!" I swear when I hear the moans getting louder, which can only mean my gunfire has stirred more of them up. I'm too far deep in the Vault for any radio signal to Nichols to be transmitted, but at least I have them in a tight corner. I crouch down on one knee and fire for their chests. The bullets make blood spray up the hallway and ceiling as several of the… I don't know "men?" fall in front of me. I look down at my bandolier and smile.

"Fire in the hole!" I holler as the grenade goes flying into the air. I timed it so I threw it with a mere four seconds to spare before detonation. It isn't the greatest thing to hold a live explosive in your hands, but whatever, it gets the job done. I hear the explosion, and I hear a series of large splashes, like when someone dumps a bucket of water on concrete.
I close my eyes and wait.

After 30 seconds I don't hear another noise, so I fire one shot into the air. When I don't hear another round of "Gary"s, I warily stand up and walk down into the staircase where I dropped the grenade.
"Oh Christ!" I gag and stagger away. The walls and ceiling are now painted in thick red goo, with body parts flung everywhere. I run away from it and gag a further few times, before limply tying one of my spare jackets around my nose and mouth to mask the smell. I take a run up and jump down the staircase, over all the mess and I slam into the clean floor below me.

"Ugh! Ow…" I cough and gingerly pick myself up, before running out past the cafeteria and into the medical clinic. The door is locked and the keypad for the door access slides open. I remember Dad always typing his pass code. I type the 12 digit code in and the keypad slides back into the door and the door slides open.
"Shit… why did I have to jump over that?" I wince and rub my sore ribs on my left side. I open the medicine cabinets and my eyes widen.

There's so much in here. Pain killers, antibiotics, vitamins, cold tablets, bandages, Band-Aids. I start to practically drool and I open my backpack. I stuff the vitamins and antibiotics into my bag and start to rummage around for different supplies. I look up at the higher shelves and cough a bit, sliding a few of the packets into the bag and zipping it up.
"Damn I need another bag," I sigh irritably. I had expected this place to be nearly picked clean, not overflowing with everything a person needed when it came to a pregnancy, as well as preventing one.

I fling the bag over my shoulders and look down at some gas cylinders. They're too heavy for me to carry by myself but I smile when I see some green whistles. I only saw one birth in the Vault, when I was around 18 and Jonas was sick with a bad flu. I remember the mother sucking down green whistles like there was no tomorrow and acting like I do when I'm high on Jet.

After I stuff some whistles into my bag I walk up the levels in the Vault. Me, notoriously known for not thinking ahead, have forgotten that I had to go up the bloodied stairs, as well as travel down them. My shoes sink into the goo with every step and I have no choice but to look down to avoid tripping over a ribcage or large organs. It's almost like a cartoon, just red everywhere like when the Chinese soldier exploded when "America's weapon paves the way toward freedom!"

I reach the top of the stairs and fight to keep my food down. I eventually make it into the entrance and smile a bit when I see sunlight.

…

"Hey, Kai," I smile, patting his neck and feeding him an apple, "You mind waiting here for just a while? Nichols, can you help me with something?"
"Where are we going," Nichols frowns as I walk back into the Vault.
"I found a cylinder that makes you fall asleep; I don't know what it's called. It can help if we have to give her surgery. But, it's too heavy for me to carry by myself." I smile and lead her down.

…

I find a high pressure hose in the maintenance room and spray the staircase clean of blood and muscles until it's mostly pooled to the sides. Nichols doesn't have as strong a stomach as I do, the second she sees the massacre on the stairs she turns around and vomits all over the cafeteria.
"Whoa," I frown and put a hand on her shoulder, "you OK Nichols?"
"Fine," she coughs and wipes her mouth, "What did you do?!"
"Grenade," I shrug.
"Why?!"
"They were clones or something. I tried to reason with them, I shot warning shots, I told them to get back, they didn't budge, I swear… Do you want to go further or do you want to take a break?"
"I'll be fine. It's a little shock, that's all."
I smile and squeeze her shoulder, "Let's get to it, then."

It takes us a good hour, but we manage to lug the gas cylinder using two ropes I rummaged through Thunder's saddle to find.
Nichols manages to keep her food down as we drag the gas cylinder up the staircase. I found some anti-nausea pills and fed them to her before we left though, apparently it seemed to help.

We finally lug it up to the entrance of the Vault and manage to finally, and carefully, put it down beside my supplies.
"We'll have dinner, sleep, then set off first thing tomorrow," Nichols decides.
"Yeah, I'll go with that," I nod.
"Thanks for taking me with you." she smiles and sits down cross legged beside her sleeping bag.
"Seriously? I thought I was going to take you to see a shrink from your reaction to that staircase." I laugh.
"No… well yeah that was pretty damn messed up," she sighs, "I mean, that… I don't know… it's just good to get out of Jefferson every once in a while."
"I hear that." I laugh, opening a can of beans and ignore the dirty spoon beside me and decide to just drink it instead."
"Damn, so lady like," she smirks.

"Fuck you," I grin.
"I'm gonna go to bed," she sighs, crawling into the sleeping bag, "Goodnight, Daniels."
"Night, Nichols," I smile and get to work on starting a fire.

…

"So it was just abandoned?" Dad frowns, crossing his arms.
"You could say that. It was fully stocked, and this was only in the medical clinic, no telling how much is in the storage facilities."
I decided on the way back to Jefferson that I wouldn't tell Dad about the insane Garys in the Vault. I told him that the Vault was locked and the people inside it long gone, probably pushed into the wastes or overrun by impulsive raiders who didn't stop to realise that every door had a lock.
"You got all of this in one supply run?" he holds up the vitamins.
"Absolutely. If I go for one run every month, maybe even bring Dogmeat a few times with some bags tied to him, we'd be more than ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To have the baby," I shrug, slipping the bag over my shoulders, "We've got the supplies to do almost everything we would need to do, as far as I can tell there's no danger, and I'll die before this kid grows up in danger."
"Winter!" he gasps, "I thought we agreed on this!"
"Dad, I'm not having this argument. Go work on the project and I'll deal with it."

…

I impatiently walk out of Dad's office and into the courtyard, keen on slipping in a smoke.

I look back and see Amata walking toward me with some bags.
"Where are you going?" I frown, slipping the unlit cigarette into my packet and tucking it into my pocket.
"Back home." She sighs and tosses a bag at me, "I need to get away from Jefferson for a while. Besides, I've missed our Megaton love nest."
I cringe and she pecks the corner of my lips.
"You know I hate when you call it that," I scowl and pick up my bags and follow her.
"Just come on!" she laughs, shaking her head almost in disbelief.

"You can't be serious," I sigh, "It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon and I just got back from hunting for supplies. I can't bring Kai because I technically don't own him. Do you want me to yell at you or something? Because this is a pretty shit idea."
"Oh, I love you too Winter," I can feel her rolling her eyes as she walks in front of me, "you always say the best things to cheer me up."

"Honey," I groan, "I hate to ask this but I have to. Is this that freaky pregnancy emotion thing I was reading about?"
"Oh my god you sound exactly like your father," she gasps and turns to face me in amazement.
"I'll take that as a yes," I smirk and dodge the plastic water bottle she hurls at me.
"I had to get out of there. If I had to feel your father's hands on my stomach one more time…"
"Nope!" I shout, covering my hands with my ears, "I really don't need that image in my head!"
Amata rolls her eyes, "Winter, come on."

…

"Aw man, I really don't want to build a fire," I whine as I drag my feet along the dirt, "Aw I really don't want to cook Iguana bits on a shitty camp fire."
"I have to listen to you talk in your sleep every night so whatever."
"I think you're making that up," I jab my finger against her shoulder playfully, "I don't have any annoying habits that you can hold against me so you had to make one up."
"Who's Cindy? And Matthew?"
"Cindy is my mistress," I tease, my chest aching a bit when she brings up Matthew, the brother she doesn't know that I had.

"Pft, like you could find someone who could stand you that isn't me," she scoffs.
"I suppose…" I fake a deep sigh, "so I'm stuck with you, then?"
"Yep," she smiles, "and I'm stuck with you too."
"Nah sweetheart, you'll find someone easy." I smile and catch up to her so we're walking side by side. She holds my hand and I kiss the top of her head.
"Maybe I don't want someone else to," she almost mouths and strokes my front palm with her thumb. I smile at the act of affection and kiss the top of her head.
"Eh the time will come when I'll ask if you really want to be stuck with me forever," I say casually, "pretty soon I imagine."
She flashes a grin at me and I smile, looking ahead at the area ahead of us like nothing happened.
"I love you," she laughs, "but don't tease me like that again."

Pft, I wasn't teasing.