To Love and to Cherish

With this Hand

Between his shaking fingers, Victoria's hand felt rather nice. With her delicate fingers wrapped around his, the couple ran down the hill, laughing out loud. Without a care in the world.

Victor couldn't understand why he was shaking so much. This wasn't the first time he held Victoria's hand. It wasn't the first time he took her hand as a married couple, but the first time Victor took her hand. Victoria was more physically affectionate. Husbands and wives took each other's hands, didn't they? He didn't have the knowledge after watching his parents. His mother was constantly swatting his father's hands away. Victoria didn't have a good example, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Right here," Victoria said, stopping at the end of the hill, "This is the perfect spot."

Victor glanced around. This spot didn't seem to be that special. It was out in the burning sun. Where there was no protection from seagulls, which, if he were to be completely honest, terrified him.

"Are you sure?" Victor had to yell over the sound of the blustering wind.

"Positive."

Victoria unraveled the blanket from under her arm. One of her own she made. Victor let her hand go, realizing how cold it felt now. He helped her set the blanket down. One corner refused to stay put, reminding Victor of how stubborn Scraps was in his puppy days. He pressed both of his hands down on the fold. Once he lifted them up, the wind took hold again. Victoria covered her mouth, but he could tell she was smiling. She found a sturdy rock and placed it by his hand.

"Oh," Victor said.

He moved away from the blanket and pulled up the basket which he placed near the center. Victor set it down. Out of fear, the basket with their lunch might also blow away.

Hesitantly, Victoria sat herself down on the blanket. Kicking off her shoes to dig her feet into the ground. She surveyed the area. Placing a hand on the blanket to prevent her from toppling over.

"Is this alright with you?" Victoria asked.

Victor cupped his hands around his mouth. "As long as it's okay with you."

Victoria nodded and took out a few food items they brought. Including plates and utensils for the meat their housekeeper prepared for them. A small chocolate pudding for dessert. She pulled out a pear, frowning.

"Everything all right?" Victor moved closer to get a better look at the fruit.

"It's bruised. Look."

She placed her finger by a small dark mark. Victor lifted his eyebrows. He wasn't aware fruit could bruise as a person could. Victoria tossed it back into the basket. Pulling out another fruit. She bit her lip. Victor leaned over a bit to see. The apple was also bruised. The couple began pulling out every fruit they could find. Each had a mark, signaling it wasn't edible.

"Well, I suppose that's that," Victoria said, putting the fruits back.

"I'm sorry, Victoria. I was probably caused it, I jostled that basket around a bit more than I should have," Victor replied. Although he wasn't certain how fruits got bruised, he knew if someone put a person inside a basket and throw them about, they would receive a few bruises.

"It wasn't your fault, dear. Fruits just . . . bruise."

Victoria began shuffling through the basket again. Pulling out a heavy platter with a covering. Victor helped her the rest of the way. She uncovered it, revealing their main course.

The salmon was completely ruined.

Its tender meat fell into small pieces. The sauce stained the plate and cover. A pathetic sight.

Victoria threw her head back and laughed.

Victor never heard her giggle so openly before. Usually, she would stop herself, in case of her mother hearing. But now she laughed and laughed. Victor gave in, as well. Although he remained in the dark about what was so funny.

"It's all ruined!" Victoria exclaimed, maintaining her jolly tone, "We're not the best at planning picnics."

"You're not disappointed, are you?"

"Disappointed?" She shook her head. "All I wanted was to have a good time with my husband and watch the sunset with him."

Despite himself, tension slipped away from Victor. He recovered the platter, setting it back in the basket. They stacked the now sand-covered materials back inside. Closing it with much more care. The young couple turned towards each other. Smiling equally big. Victor and Victoria faced the sunset. Their hands meeting and fingers intertwined.

They planned for the outing to be something from a fairytale book. Neither had gone on a picnic before. What better opportunity was there until now?

Yes, holding Victoria's hand was rather nice, Victor thought to himself. She was warm and comforting. He lifted it and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, earning a delighted grin from Victoria.

Holding each other's hand, they watched the sun go down.

I stumbled across a few one-shots I wrote that were based on the vows that I wrote in July. I really liked the idea, so I'm going to continue with them because I love fluff. I have no idea when these are going to update, as I am working on a pretty angsty fic for this fandom, alone with my other wips. I'm just doing these one-shots, when I want to write something fluffy. All of them will be based on lines from the wedding vows. Some will be taken literally, some not. Some of these will probably be angsty because I can't help myself. I had an outline for each of the one-shots, but I accidentally deleted them.

Anyway, thanks for reading!