Disclaimer: I know nothing about constellations so this could all be wrong. Just try to ignore that part :P
"Jackson?" April groaned, opening her tired eyes. She had rolled over only to find that her husband had abandoned ship. She hated waking up without him. She saw his outline on the back deck and pulled on one of his tshirts and her slippers to find him. She was just happy that he wasn't paged.
Her face scrunched together as she observed him in action. He was aiming his telescope up at the stars. She'd seen it on the deck when she moved in but had never gotten around to asking him about it and he didn't bring it up. Because of that, she assumed it was just a decoration. But seeing him doing something other than watching sports or working at the hospital was oddly hot to her.
He didn't notice her presence so she took the opportunity to sneak up on him. "I don't like waking up alone you know." He took a break from the telescope to kiss his wife. "Sorry."
"I didn't know you actually used the telescope." She joked, motioning toward it. It was always pretty stationary on the deck. She thought it added character to their apartment.
He nodded. "I haven't used it much since you've been keeping me so busy." And the way he winked at her made her melt just a little bit.
"I used to study astronomy. My minor is actually in astronomy. I took so many classes just for fun they told me I had enough to major in it." He laughed. April had no idea. They still had so much to learn about each other but she liked everything he shared with her. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced he would be the kind of person who would be interested in astronomy.
"Do you actually know any constellations?" She teased, pointing toward the telescope again. He shrugged. He knew hundreds but always seemed to look for a few of his favorites. It also depended on where he was and what time of the year it was.
The way he stood perfectly still and gazed up at the sky meant he must have been aware of her behind him. He motioned for her to come take a peak in his telescope.
"See," He showed her, adjusting the scope just a tad. "Right there. That's Cygnus. My favorite constellation."
She took a minute to absorb the stars. Who knew that the night sky in downtown Seattle could be that prominent and bright. It really was a beautiful thing. But the constellation she was seeing looked like a bird, and if she had to take a guess, a swan. It confused her.
"You see it?" He asked, gently rubbing her back while she studied the sky.
April nodded and dropped the telescope. "All I see is a swan."
He let out a good belly laugh. "Cygnus is a swan babe."
She gave him the puzzled look she shot him so often when she was being weird and she didn't understand what he was talking about. Like the time he tried to convince her that condoms don't break or that he knew they could get to Lake Tahoe in thirteen hours.
It was obvious she was perplexed. "Out of all of the constellations, why is a swan your favorite? Aren't there Gods, and lions and…. kings that you could look for instead?"
He nodded. She was right. The sky was full of Gods and lions and kings. But they were of no real interest to him.
"There are." He agreed and as usual, she was right.
"Then why would you be so interested in a swan?" She asked him, finding a comfy spot on his lap since he motioned for her to join him in their big, comfy chair.
Jackson laughed and met her gaze. All shreds of humor were gone. "Because I'm in love with a swan."