Page 29 of It Must Be Fate

“Hi, baby,” I whisper as I reach her side.

She turns towards me with the kind of smile on her face that I’ve only ever seen her give me. Warmth spreads through my chest at an alarming speed. When I die, I’ll be donating my body to a research center so they can study the unique phenomenon that happens inside me when my wife looks at me.

It’s the least I can do for science.

Six stands, giving me room to sit on her now empty chair. I grab her around the hips and pull her back down on my lap. Shesnuggles into me, pulling her legs up against her body as she lays on my chest and burrows her face in my neck.

The bothersome static that’s always there in my head when she’s not near me quiets and I welcome the inner peace that the silence brings.

“What did you want to show me?”

“Regarde.” She points at the sky, excitement clear in her voice. “Look how bright Sirius is tonight.”

I look up at the sky.

At our star.

Well, it’s not technically ours because the IAU won’t let me buy it no matter my repeated attempts, but it’soursin every other way. It has been ever since we both looked at it from our respective countries when we were separated over Christmas, ever since I had it tattooed on me.

And tonight, it shines brighter than ever.

I often find my wife away from the group, staring up at it in awe and something else, something like longing. I know how much it means to her and I won’t give up until I get the International Astronomical Union to sell it to me.

“You’re right, it looks even closer than usual.”

“I know,” she answers happily. “I wanted you to see it.”

I hum, kissing the top of her head. I hold her more tightly as I reach into my pocket and pull out an envelope.

“There’s no better setting than this one to give you your present.” I hold it out to her. “Happy anniversary, wild girl.”

Six sits up, turning towards me and waking my cock in the process. “It’s not our anniversary.”

“It is. It’s fourteen years to the day since you made me a flower crown.”

“Nix,” she says with a fond smile. “You can’t make every day an anniversary.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t get you anything!”

“You got me you. I don’t want anything else.”

“I feel the same way and yet you still get me presents.”

“That’s because I still have some groveling to do to make up for how I treated you.”

She cups my cheek lovingly. “Nix…”

Her eyes tell me there’s no need for me to keep apologizing, but she doesn’t say the words.

She knows they won’t do any good.

I was an asshole to her foryears. If there was ever a time where I deserved her love, my behavior erased that. Every day I wake up knowing how lucky I am that she ever forgave me. Telling her and showing her how much she means to me is how I atone.

Six turns the envelope over and opens the lip, pulling out the certificate inside.

She gasps and her eyes fly back up to meet mine.

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