Sunsets were definitely one of the few things he has always loved about the world around him.
The last dying rays of the sun mixing with the lovely deep purples and rich golden-orange of the sky on the horizon all coalesced into the greatest light show anyone could ask for, and it happened every day, at the same time, no matter how much time passed.
It was one of the few things that had remained the same since the beginning. And he loved it because of that.
Sitting in his library with his chair turned away from his work for once was a rare occurrence, but he was feeling a little more nostalgic than usual and wanted to watch the beautiful display of nature, and so he turned toward the window and sat back, lips turned upward in a slight smile.
The quiet, serene mood was broken slightly by the sound of the door opening.
He smiled a little more and turned his chair, expecting to see Abe with another one of his dates, wanting to introduce the lovely girl to his 'roommate'. But instead, he got his far lovelier wife instead; a little older, a little wearier, but no less beautiful than the day he'd first seen her.
"Hey," he said, allowing himself to grin widely at her.
She returned the smile, if somewhat stiffly. That was odd; Abigail was usually all smiles at all hours of the day, even when she was completely unconscious.
He furrowed his brows slightly in concern, sitting forward to catch her eye. "Something the matter?" he asked slowly, trying to recall if anything had come up that could be the cause of her seemingly somber mood.
"Henry," she sighed, sounding tired and fondly exasperated all at once, shuffled forward around his desk until she was in front of him, directly in front of the window, allowing the dying sun's light to catch her hair into a golden fire as it once had been when she'd been much younger.
And with a sharp breath and a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realized just how different his wife seemed from the bubbling young woman who had come to him with a small baby in her arms, afraid that the child had been injured.
She was smiling at him sadly, as if she'd guessed what it was he was thinking about.
"We need to talk."
The golden sheen faded from her hair as the sunlight faded into the night.
A/N: Part 1 of 3. Be prepared for angst like WHOA in the last few chapters.
~Persephone