Hi! AHeartForStories here with another chapter for 'Married'!

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Married: Chapter 9 - Coming To Terms

Rouge was quiet as she packed her stuff. Today she was discharged from the hospital as they had deemed her well enough to go home.

Shadow was standing in the dooropening, leaning against the frame and watching his wife as she packed her bags. He was silent as he waited. He did not know what he could possibly tell her. Not after the news she received a couple of days ago.

"Are you done packing?" Shadow asked once the black sportsbag had been zipped up.

Rouge took the strap and swung it over her shoulder and turned towards her husband before nodding and looking back down at the floor. Ever since she had received the news, she had been quiet. Barely a word left her.

Shadow sighed.

"Come on, let us go home." He said, taking the bag from her and placing his arm around her shoulder before leaving the room together with her.

The walk home was silent. Neither one of them had the want to buy a car, even though, Rouge did have a driver's lisence. Neither just saw the use of having a vehicle when they had everything they needed near their home. The hospital was only a ten minute walk away and the shopping district only a mere 6 minutes.

They had everything nearby, so why not do it the healthy way and cross these short distance on foot instead of a car?

That did not explain their silence, though.

Shadow looked at his left, his eyes resting on the female bat walking next to him. A gloomy air hung around her. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say at the moment. Of course, he knew what she must be feeling. He wanted children as much as her, but that didn't mean that he knew what to tell her. He wasn't so experienced in comforting others.

Shadow looked back in front of him with a mental sigh. Maybe later he would know what to say.

"And we are home." The ebony hedgehog muttered to himself as he used his keys to open the front door for himself and his wife.

Rouge walked inside without a word and made her way into the livingroom. She was happy to be home after spending a couple of days in the hospital. It served to lighten her mood a little.

Her husband didn't follow her in the livingroom. Instead he made his way to the bedroom and placed the sportsbag down on the bed, deciding to take care of it later on, before he went to the kitchen.

"Anything you want to eat for dinner?" He asked Rouge, who had seated herself on the black couch.

"Not really." She simply answered.

Shadow sighed lightly. He guessed it was up to him to choose what their dinner would be this evening.

'Well, in that case... I guess, I am free to do as I wish.' He thought as he opened the fridge and searched for what he could possibly use as ingredients.

Once he gathered all the products and resources he needed to cook, he quickly got to preparing his wife's and his' dinner for tonight.

Not even an hour had passed before the table was set up and the meal, a simple spaghetti, was ready. The two mobians were seated at the table, enjoying their meal while one of them was also trying to ignore the ever-growing silence.

Fortunatly, Rouge noticed her husband's want to speak to her and decided to make the first move. She was wondering about something herself, after all.

"Honey? How are you feeling after all of this?" She asked her husband. She knew that he must be affected by all of this aswell.

"It should not be too hard to guess. We both wanted a child in the future and the news that we cannot is just something we will both need to accept. It will just need time." He answered, pausing to take his next bite.

"You're right." Rouge responded and fell silent again.

Her husband didn't pay her silence all that much mind now, knowing that, if she wanted to talk about the matter, she knew he would be there for her. That was one of the meanings of marriage, after all. Being there for eachother no matter what happens. And Shadow knew that both of them would uphold that promise.

The couple finished their meal in silence. But when their plates were empty, it took a while before either of them were making a move to leave the table.

Shadow stood up and gathered their plates and utsensils. Rouge followed his lead and took their glass, but hesitated to bring them towards the kitchen.

"Rouge?" Shadow muttered her name as he easily noticed her hesitance.

"Shadow, I was wondering... About our honeymoon..." Her sentence trailed off, not really knowing how to put it.

"You want to stall it?" He asked. It wasn't exactly showing, but that didn't mean that he wasn't atleast a little bit dissapointed.

"No, not stall it. I wanted to tell you that I still wanted to go, but I didn't know how to say it without sounding insensitive." Rouge explained carefully. She really didn't want to seem like she didn't care, even though, it was her husband who was often labeled as insensitive. Although, she begged to differ, she knew him better than anyone else, after all.

"You? Insensitive? Rouge, after all that has happened lately, I think it can be used to take your mind off of the situation. If you want my oppinion, I think it is wise that you keep your own health in mind aswell. It does not make you insensitive." He said and placed the plates with utensils back down on the table and placing a hand on her upper arm.

Rouge gave him the first smile in the last few days.

"Thank you for understanding." She said and quickly put their used glasses down to wrap her arms around her man, who accepted her embrace.

"It is fine." He muttered.

"Now than..." Rouge said as she drew away from him, making the hedgehog look back down at her.

"Our honeymoon is supposed to start tomorrow, right? We better get to packing if we want to get there in time." She said. Shadow nodded in agreement.

"I will get to packing then. You stay here and rest. Your injuries have yet to heal." The hedgehog told his wife, taking the plates with utensils and left them in the kitchen to wash later on before going upstairs to ready their bagage.

Rouge watched her husband leave. But when she was on her own, her smile dimmed a little.