Patrick Colasour (or Mannequin, as people had been calling him now) the Indestructible looked over at his wife, Colonel (actually General) Kati Mannequin, with a dumbstruck expression as they shared their wedding anniversary dinner at their home. She had the same stern look on her face as the day they met, but he could tell that she was enjoying the food.
"Patrick, you've barely touched your food," Kati suddenly said as she looked up at him, taking him by surprise. "Do you not like it?"
"Oh no, Colonel, I love it!" Patrick said enthusiastically, his surprise giving way to a happy-go-lucky smile. "I was just thinking about the day we first met."
"You mean when you were late to an important military meeting and acted unprofessionally, so I punched you in the face twice?" she asked matter-of-factly.
"YES!" he exclaimed in a childishly excited voice, as if those punches to the face had been kisses, which brought an amused smile to his wife's face. "When you punched me in the face, I thought to myself, 'Patrick, you need to marry this woman!'''
For perhaps the first time in the time they had known each other, Kati laughed out loud at her husband's charming stupidity. Part of her had always wondered what had made him ask her out six years ago. At first, she had assumed that in light of his past womanizing, he viewed her as his latest and most dangerous conquest, before it became apparent that it was akin to puppy love, but she never realized until this moment that said puppy love came from being punched. And perhaps the funniest part of it all is that his resulting earnest affection and devotion to her, no matter what was going on, made her fall in love with him, so what else could she do but laugh?
Patrick looked at his wife as she laughed, clearly surprised and confused at this unusual emotional display on her part. He was happy that she was also happy, but wasn't entirely sure what had brought this on. For a while, he attempted to laugh with her, but he was too nervous to really do so.
"Uh, are you okay, Colonel?" Patrick nervously asked, a timid smile on his face.
"Oh, I'm fine, Patrick, I'm fine," Kati replied, her laughter dying down as she wiped a tear from her eye. "In fact, I couldn't be happier right now, but I never realized until right now that my punching you in the face was what made you want to ask me out."
"Really? I thought you knew from day one," Patrick innocently asked in response, his timid smile widening.
This brought about another bout of laughter from Kati, though this time, Patrick genuinely joined in.
"God, I'm blessed to have this man as my husband," she thought as she laughed.
As their laughter subsided, Patrick and Kati continued talking until they finished their dinner, after which they retired to their bedroom, made love, then went to bed.