On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Ten Lords a-Leaping
It had seemed so logical when he thought about it.
Their relationship was obviously no longer centered around working, how could it be, when he had not set foot in his office in over eight months yet seen her every day?
She had been there for him at his weakest and most vulnerable, and he had not been ashamed, merely grateful.
She knew him, knew every aspect of his personality and he had not even realized it until she was there in his every waking moment during his recovery, always saying the right thing, always doing the best for him.
She held him in the highest respect, even when he doubted himself. She believed in his goals even when he was ready to give up. She was his sole supporter, in the days after the fall of the Fuhrer, she was his co-conspirator in the days before, the only one he trusted to accompany him in what might have been his last act.
She was, he supposed, his best friend. His best friend who spend the night by his side, his best friend who spent the morning pampering him, coaxing him to eat at least something when he had no appetite, his best friend who insisted on opening the drapes and letting the light in when he preferred to brood in the darkness.
She was the most beautiful woman he knew, and he had never seen it, or never known he had seen it. Everything about her was suddenly perfect, perfect for him, exactly what he desired, the most attractive in his eyes: the shade of her hair, the curve of her cheek, her thin lips and rich brown eyes, her soft, strong hands and long fingers and her narrow waist and everything about her was her and only her and no other woman could possibly compare.
It was logical, then, that they should spend the rest of their lives together.
But logic does nothing to still the nervous heart.
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtledoves
And a partridge in a pear tree