Chapter 5: Now and Always
The house was quiet now; the only sound was that of two hearts wound up in each other, slowing gradually as the world came back. Her dark hair cascaded around him as she leaned her forehead against his chest and sighed out, "Sweet merciful heaven, I love you."
A deep chuckle escaped as he shifted to his side and pulled her into his arms. "My thoughts exactly. It's rather nice to know that, even after thirteen years of marriage, we can still reduce each other to corny romance-novel lines."
Elizabeth laughed as well, then laid her hand against his cheek. "Are you all right, love? You've been very quiet today."
He sighed. "Just a lot of memories. Sarah's birth, Rachel's illness and all that's come with it… other things I'd just as soon not remember at all. Must be this new job, or the fact that I've really been with the Bureau for twenty-five years. It doesn't seem like that long."
"I know," she replied softly. "Seems like only yesterday I walked into the kitchen from a church meeting and found you, still in your best suit, fresh from a late briefing at the White House, covered in strained peaches you were trying to feed Sarah, and laughing about it."
"I forget; did that suit ever recover?" His quip earned him a poke in the ribs, and he chuckled. "Thirteen years… and I love you still more today. I guess it's just the thought of moving on to something… different. All I've ever known is the job I'm doing now; it's been—"
"A fervent passion for you. It still can be." She pushed her pillow up against the headboard and sat up, pulling the sheets around her and draping her arms over her bent knees. "In the years we've been married, I've met a lot of agents, and very few of them need to do this job the way you do. You have a chance now to instill that kind of passion, that kind of loyalty, in a whole new generation of agents. You've been given that chance because Dimitrius knows that you're the best person to do it."
"I guess," he sighed, capturing her hand and bringing it to his lips.
Elizabeth gazed at him quietly for a long moment. "Go see him."
Myles blinked. "D?"
The psychologist shook her head. "No. You know very well who I'm talking about. Something's not finished between you, and I think that's what has you concerned about this new job. So go see him tomorrow and deal with it once and for all."
He stared at her for several seconds; then he reached up and laid his hand against her cheek, smiling faintly. "Being married to a shrink does have its advantages." Tangling his fingers in her dark hair, he drew her down to kiss her. "Thank you."
She smiled against his lips and poked him gently in the stomach. "Thank me after you actually do it, love." She moved down to snuggle against him, her head on his chest, watching the moonlight that had broken through the clouds and was streaming in their window. "I love you, Myles."
"I love you, too, sweetheart." The words faded as he drifted to sleep.