The second installment! Prompt set this time is "Gamma", and the time period is the honeymoon and first few months of Harold and Marian's marriage, December 1912 to February 1913. A few of these snippets actually seem to me like they might be fun to expand into full vignettes someday! And I'm still open to doing one more of these chapters, which would probably take place after their children are all born, but I just need to choose the right prompt set for it.

xxx

1. Ring

Harold wore his wedding ring like a badge of honor, and it made him smile to look at it throughout the day and remind himself that Marian was his and he was hers at last, and that something had gone wonderfully right in the universe to allow him to wind up this way.

2. Hero

All the children of the town saw Harold as some sort of hero, and they would probably never know just how much Marian had done – and was still doing – to make him the bandleader that he now was, but she noticed in amusement that they treated her with some degree of awe simply by association with him, especially now that she shared his name.

3. Memory

She'd taken a little spray of baby's breath from her wedding bouquet to press between the pages of her Bible, and it moved her to tears when he requested if he could do the same and showed her where he wanted to press his – right in with the torn journal page that she'd never even suspected that he still had.

4. Box

In the first few days after returning from their honeymoon, she had insisted on spending some time unpacking her boxes, because, though it was hardly an enjoyable or romantic task, she knew that she simply wouldn't feel like this house was her own until she'd done it.

5. Run

She wasn't one to ever abandon her post at the library for anything less than the most essential of reasons, so Marian had soldiered on as usual upon realizing that she'd forgotten her spectacles at home; but Harold, who discovered at lunchtime that his dear wife was straining her eyes unnecessarily, would not stand for it, and he practically ran to their house and back to deliver the glasses, a gesture that so touched her heart that she nearly kissed him right at her desk.

6. Hurricane

Harold was chock full of stories, and thankfully, not all of them were scandalous – as they snuggled safely in their bed while the howling winds of a blizzard raged outside, he'd regaled his wife with the story of a fearsome hurricane he'd weathered on the East Coast in his youth, and the current storm ceased to seem threatening at all in comparison.

7. Wings

Maybe it was a bit silly of her to still be so utterly, meltingly besotted with a man who had been in her near-constant company for more than half a year and who was now her husband, but that didn't stop Marian from blushing pleasantly anytime he gave her a grin or a wink from across a room, her heart racing and her stomach fluttering like it contained a hundred little butterflies flapping their wings.

8. Cold

All in all, they felt grateful for the cold winter weather, as it was just the right sort of weather for sleeping cozily entwined in each other's arms – something that they certainly didn't want to refrain from doing now that it was finally permitted!

9. Red

She'd decided to take a little initiative on the night of Valentine's Day and come downstairs in a clinging scarlet nightdress that was easily the most scandalous garment she could ever imagine wearing, and had even dared to rouge her lips far beyond what a respectable lady should ever consider doing – true to form, she got precisely the reaction that she'd been looking for from Harold, and it was a near-miracle that the dress even survived that decadent night without being ripped in two.

10. Drink

When Harold had taken her out to a fancy restaurant on their honeymoon, he'd ordered a single glass of wine with his dinner – and though Marian hadn't the faintest desire to try any sort of alcoholic spirit, she had to admit that she'd greatly enjoyed the intriguing taste that the wine had given to his kisses that night.

11. Midnight

It wasn't terribly responsible of them to stay up past midnight making love, knowing that they had to work in the morning, but at the very least, they always went to work exceedingly happy these days, if not a little drowsier than before.

12. Temptation

"Do I tempt you?" she asked with feigned innocence when he returned from the washroom to see her reclining provocatively on the bed, widening her eyes and biting her lower lip as she teased him because she knew it would drive him wild – so wild, in fact, that he could find no better way to respond than to climb right onto the bed and crush his lips to hers in a hungry kiss, hands grasping desperately at her hips as he covered her body with his own.

13. View

There was a certain thrill for Harold in the view of tall buildings and busy streets from their hotel room in Des Moines, and he couldn't deny that it was exciting to be back in a big city – yet somehow he found himself longing for wide open fields, sky and trees and quiet, already a little homesick for the place that he hadn't even called home for very long at all.

14. Music

It made him feel remarkably relaxed just to go about his business and hear the sounds of the piano coming from the music room, though sometimes he couldn't resist slipping quietly into the room to watch her play, as it never failed to amaze him how his wife could make such beautiful music with the deceptively simple-looking motions of her hands across the otherwise impassive keys.

15. Silk

Since the moment he'd first laid eyes on Marian, he'd wanted to run his hands through that glorious golden hair that she kept mostly bound up according to society's strictures – and now he reveled in doing that and more every day and every night, her long tresses and naked skin feeling luscious as silk against his hands and her soft little mewls of pleasure caressing his ears just as sweetly.

16. Cover

Harold had always liked a good story, but it had been years since he'd had the time to read a book cover to cover... yet now reading had become one of his regular habits, and their second floor study – which he'd crafted especially for her – was turning out to be quite a draw for him as well now that she'd filled the shelves with her book collection.

17. Promise

His wedding had been the fulfillment of the implicit promise he'd made to Marian on that night in July, but he still had an important promise to keep to the rest of the townspeople, and he finally made good on it shortly before Christmas by giving them a band that not only played, but marched – and if the boys did neither with any degree of finesse, the River City-ziens were far, far too pleased to notice.

18. Dream

Before they were wed, he'd been besieged nightly by a heated torment of romantic and erotic dreams about her, but the dreams came much less frequently these days and were much more pleasant to wake up from – for how could his mind torment him with visions of what he could not have now that his life was better than anything he could dream up?

19. Candle

His first birthday spent with her overwhelmed him with emotion almost as much as their first Christmas had, as it had been years since anybody, including himself, had cared enough to commemorate the day; as he blew out the candles on the cake that his dear little librarian had baked for him, the only thing he could find to wish for was that their lives would always be so blessed.

20. Talent

She had naturally been very apprehensive about taking any sort of initiative in the bedroom, fearing that her lack of experience would render her embarrassingly incompetent – yet as she gradually became more adventurous, it seemed as though she could do no wrong in his eyes, and she had to wonder if this was because Harold loved her so much that he would have been ecstatic with anything that she did for him, or if she was in fact uncovering some sort of long-hidden talent in herself.

21. Silence

For somebody who was accustomed to sleeping in total silence, Marian did find it a little difficult to learn how to fall asleep to the sounds of his breathing every night – but before long, his breath, his warmth, his heartbeat had become no less than essential to her, and nothing lulled her to sleep faster than the not-silent silence of him by her side.

22. Journey

Their wedding-night train ride out to Des Moines had been so tense with the unspoken promise of what they were going to do when they arrived that they'd both nearly driven themselves crazy trying not to think about it, something so very close at hand and yet still somehow forbidden; now, on their journey home, Harold's mind was still on how they would be able to properly christen their own marital bed as soon as they got the chance, but this time, he had no trouble informing her of that fact and watching her blush and shiver in anticipation.

23. Fire

On a chilly evening just before Christmas, they had spread a few pillows on the floor so that they could lounge right in front of the fireplace, sipping hot tea and talking dreamily while all wrapped up in a down quilt – and then they had actually fallen asleep that way, making for a rather rude awakening a few hours later when they woke up to find that they were lying on a thin rug before a burnt-down fire that did next to nothing to keep the cold at bay!

24. Strength

Finding the strength to drag herself out of bed on a cold winter morning had always been difficult enough when she hadn't had the welcoming embrace of a husband to keep her there – they always managed it eventually, of course, but Marian prayed that no one took notice of her more-than-occasional lateness since her marriage.

25. Mask

The morning after their wedding night, Marian had discovered a few little red marks on her neck and other areas, clearly the result of Harold's vigorous love-bites, and though the idea of them excited her, she was relieved that her winter clothing would mask them from the public view; about a month later, on the first night that she felt brave enough to love him with her mouth, she took special care to repay him for this reckless tendency by leaving a few distinct marks on his skin.

26. Ice

The idea of ice skating had sounded romantic, idyllic even, when he had suggested it, but the actual experience had left them sore and bruised all over until they could barely move – though when Marian innocently suggested as they lay sprawled on their bed that they massage each other's aches, the situation took a considerable turn for the better…

27. Fall

It wasn't, he realized, that they had fallen in love, that it was some kind of completed phase from which they'd now moved on; no, they were falling in love still, both of them being continually awed and amazed by the other, and he hoped he would never cease finding new ways to fall in love with her.

28. Forgotten

The difficulty of being very newly married was that it was so hard to get anything done, even though there were so many things that needed doing – somehow, whatever household task they were attempting to tackle, they'd always end up entangled in a heated embrace and grasping for each other's buttons, all practical concerns entirely forgotten in an instant.

29. Dance

There was just something about dancing with her that had always made him want to take her to bed right away, as if even the most proper dance between them was a restrained parallel to lovemaking – the synchronous movements of their bodies and the intensity in the meeting of their eyes, the heightened breathing and heartbeats and the sheer closeness of it all – and when he'd taken her out dancing one night on their honeymoon, they were so intoxicated by the eroticism of it that they soon gave up and left early, barely able to keep their hands off one another until they were finally secure behind the door of their hotel room once again.

30. Body

Her body reacted to mere thoughts of him in the most embarrassing ways now – she could be working on some perfectly innocuous task in the library and all of a sudden she'd find herself craving all those wonderful, wonderful things she now knew he could and would do to her, and she'd wind up blushing and flustered in front of all her patrons with no good explanation to give for her odd behavior.

31. Sacred

He got a little antsy sitting in church every Sunday, as sitting still for long time amid a large crowd of people was not a situation he found particularly relaxing – but even if he didn't have the fortitude to concentrate on the reverend's sermon for too long, he inevitably found himself sending God a little prayer of gratitude when he turned to look at the woman sitting beside him.

32. Farewells

Marian still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of bidding farewell to her mother and brother every time she left them to return to her own house, but she could be content knowing that she was not leaving them lonely or unhappy now that Winthrop had grown into such a talkative and active boy.

33. World

Marriage had finally given them what they'd longed for all throughout their courtship: a little world unto themselves, a chance to retreat and avoid all prying eyes and social conventions and simply revel in being together and being themselves.

34. Formal

There was something almost amusing about how formally they still had to behave in public, as if in complete denial of the way that they carried on at home – though if anything, it might have been a bit easier than it used to be, now that they had the freedom to be as close as they wanted to be as soon as they were alone again.

35. Fever

Harold came down sick near the end of January, and as he huddled under the covers, miserable with a high fever and sore throat, Marian diligently ensured that his every need was taken care of, fretting to see her beloved unwell – and then just as he was getting better, she was unlucky enough to be struck by the illness too, and poor Harold had to dedicate the next week to taking care of her!

36. Laugh

She'd never laughed so much in her life – or at least, not since her Papa had died – than she had in the months that she'd known Harold, and she hadn't fully realized until now how deeply she'd missed that invigorating facet of life during her years as a humorless spinster.

37. Lies

It was true that Harold had sworn off lies for good, but he'd come to realize that it was not really possible for even the most upstanding man to abstain from all untruths, not if he wants to keep his wife from discovering where he hides her Christmas presents!

38. Forever

When he first saw Harold after the professor had returned from his honeymoon, the soon-to-be-married Marcellus jokingly inquired if the "one-woman-forever kind of life" was really all it was cracked up to be; though he didn't want to seem like he was kissing and telling, Harold could only grin like a fool and proclaim that it was even better.

39. Overwhelmed

Though she'd done much around the house for her mother for years, Marian felt overwhelmed in the first few days that she realized that she was now expected to keep house entirely on her own – thankfully, Harold didn't leave the work all up to her, and the fact that he'd never lived in a truly traditional household meant that he had developed little prejudice against helping with tasks ordinarily relegated to the woman's sphere.

40. Whisper

Even when they were entangled together in the midst of lovemaking, giving free rein to their most passionate moans and cries until the room echoed with the sounds of their ecstasy, he still felt the urge sometimes to bring his lips right to her ear and whisper every heated and intimate thought that came into his mind, thrilled by the knowledge that the words would pass only between the two of them and nowhere else.

41. Wait

They both wanted children together, but they also recognized that to have them would change everything, and when they'd hardly had a chance to fully enjoy their new married life, they weren't feeling prepared for everything to change again – yet they both secretly worried that perhaps it would not be so easy for them to conceive at all, and with that in mind, they could barely wait for the day when they would learn that their first child was on the way.

42. Talk

She insisted on keeping a tidy house, and had cornered him for a stern talking-to when she'd become frustrated with his habit of leaving his things all over the place after he was done with them – and although it hadn't exactly been a fight, it gave them their first opportunity to learn the sort of delightful things that can happen between a husband and wife who were both feeling rather apologetic.

43. Search

Nobody doubted his legitimacy as a bandleader anymore, but every time he raised his baton to conduct the band, it was the same as it had been the first time – his eyes searched the crowd for that sweet, lovely face, those eyes so full of love and trust, and then all of a sudden he would feel like he was capable of absolutely anything as long as she believed he could do it.

44. Hope

When Mrs. Paroo first saw Marian after her honeymoon, nearly the first words out of her mouth were an unsubtle declaration of her hope for grandchildren, and soon; Marian, who had been flustered enough by those sorts of remarks before her wedding, was now ready to melt right into the floor at the thought of her mother referencing, however obliquely, the sorts of things that she and Harold had been doing together!

45. Eclipse

Returning to the library after the longest break from work that she had ever taken was disorienting, and she knew that she had a lot of hard work ahead of her if she wanted to get caught up on all of the tasks that had piled up when she'd been away in Des Moines, but her happiness was so great that it utterly eclipsed any feelings of frustration that such mundane concerns might have once provoked.

46. Gravity

He'd almost held his breath as he watched Marian wake up next to him for the first time, feeling the tremendous gravity of the moment – would she still be as blissfully comfortable with him as she'd become the night before, or would she shrink away, mortified? – but his worries were quickly laid to rest when she opened her eyes and greeted him with the most radiant, trusting smile that he'd ever seen, and he joyfully kissed his new wife good morning.

47. Highway

Already, River City was gaining a bit of a local reputation as a place to purchase musical instruments if one did not wish to travel by train or take the highway all the way to Davenport or Des Moines, and Harold found it rather fortunate that he could now sell to such a variety of customers without doing any traveling at all, seeing as he had no desire to venture away from his happy home for long.

48. Unknown

Now that Marian knew the true extent of the passion that Harold felt for her, now that she knew just how much he had been holding back during the months of their courtship, she could barely fathom how he had done it; it was fortunate that her own passions had remained mostly unawakened and unknown to her back then, or she suspected that they never would have managed to remain chaste until their wedding night.

49. Lock

She'd always been incredibly charmed by the unruly locks of hair that had a tendency to fall over Harold's forehead whenever he exerted himself, but Marian had come to discover that she enjoyed his dishevelment even more when it was as a result of a delightful tumble in the sheets with her…

50. Breathe

It was in those moments just after their lovemaking, when they lay in each other's arms just trying to learn how to think and to breathe again, that Harold was acutely aware of how incredibly different it was to do this thing with the woman that he loved – because even as the haze of ecstasy was clearing from his mind, he looked at his wife and still he wanted her, not just her body but her whole self, and he knew without a doubt that he would never get enough of this, could never be too close to her, could never, ever give or receive enough pleasure in her embrace.