The cursed alarm. The blasted alarm. For once, I shared that feeling with Violet on a day that didn’t mean she’d be going to work. No, my annoyance was due to only having slept about three hours. Between the excitement of going to pick up our rings and us overindulging in our love showmanship, that was what I managed to sleep.

Violet on the other hand was still fast asleep and pinning me down under her in a way that I couldn’t reach out and turn off the alarm.

“Babe? Babe, wake up!”

“wha—?” she mumbled.

“The alarm, don’t you hear it?”

“Alarm?”

“Yes, the alarm. It’s ringing.”

She looked—and I use that word very loosely—at the bedside table where her phone buzzed, vibrated, and was being an overall nuisance.

“So that’s what it was,” she mumbled, turning it off and immediately dropping back on me. Luckily, I had figured she'd do something like that, and I managed to keep an arm free.

I called to her again, tapping her back, but to no avail. I then tried tapping and groping her butt while also teasing her ear and neck, but she only let out a moan, turned her face towards me for a kiss and hugged me closer before shutting down again.

I then kissed her, but even that was no use, tongue or no tongue. A low moan, a squeeze, and back to catching Zs.

I turned her over her back and sat on her, hopping and wiggling myself, trying to wake her up with some more openly sexual stimuli, but nope, I had the same result. I even tried the same thing I used to wake her up on the previous day.

Sure, she did move a bit and even called out my name as she patted my head, but then, she fell asleep again. So much for my charms being irresistible to her. And no, I wasn’t bitter at all, I’d just have her treat me to sweets and a foot and back rub, plus anything else I’d come up with in the meantime.

“Violet, wake up!” I told her as I pulled her torso up and shook her. No more niceties for my wifey. “Wake up! We need to go grab the rings!”

Why couldn’t we stay in bed? Because we needed to go to the jewellery store, return home to have breakfast with the whole family so that my dad could check out the place, go to Mathilda’s for lunch with the gang and watch movies, eat with them somewhere in the afternoon, and then, come back home. We could also go tomorrow, but I know Violet better than even herself. She’d be feeling bad for making me wait a whole other day.

For better or for worse, dragging her out when I too was feeling very tired was the better choice.

“Haah,” I sighed as I sat on the toilet, relaxing for a brief second before almost tumbling out of it as I stopped Violet from starting to brush her teeth.

“That’s sis’ toothbrush,” I told her.

She vacantly blinked at me before staring at the red toothbrush she was holding.

“Yours is the violet one, remember?” I told her very slowly and marking each syllable. “That one is red, right?”

“...Wrong toothbrush,” she mumbled, the fact that my words having registered or not being left a mystery.

I observed her trying to grab hers, but Violet could barely open her eyes, so I was forced to hand it to her after she grabbed the yellow—mine—and green—her dad’s— toothbrushes.

“Come on, Miss Sleepyhead, it’s your turn now,” I told her pulling down her bottoms and sitting her on the toilet.

She hummed a “thank you” as she tried to grab me for a hug that I had to squirm my way out of. Once Violet realised she wasn’t catching me, she started to move her brush super slowly, making me suspect that she’d fall asleep at any moment.

Unsurprisingly, I was right. I just took my eyes off her for just long enough to prepare my toothbrush and she was out again, sitting on the toilet, panties around the ankles and peacefully sleeping away with her arms on her lap. Truly, what a sight to see. I don’t even know how to describe what other feelings I was having besides exasperation.

I’d like to say that this had never happened before, but it was the third time I was seeing her like this. It was also the worst of them all.

“Haah, you really are something,” I grumbled as I straddled her after being done taking care of myself. “You’re lucky that I also love this side of you.”

“Hmm... love you too,” she moaned, as I started brushing her teeth.

She was a bit more awake now, her hands resting on my hips and her thumbs occasionally caressing me.

Still, I was hoping she wouldn’t try to kiss me. It’s not my idea of romance making out sitting on the toilet. Not like how we were anyway. We did make out sitting on the toilet lots of times, but it was in a lot more dignified situation.

“Come on, spit,” I told her as I grabbed her hair, using it to guide her head over the sink, someone knocking at the door as I played this reverse crane game. “We are almost done here!”

To make sure Violet didn’t go around bumping into furniture and doorframes, I crossed her arms over my chest and guided her out.

Sis started the conversation by asking if Violet and I used the toilet in front of each other since she heard the sound of flushing and followed that question with why we looked like pandas.

To the first, I answered that it depended on our business there and how much of a sleep zombie Violet was in the morning, nodding at my wifey who had rested her chin on my head and was nodding off once again. For the latter, I used our anxiousness over finally getting the rings as an excuse for our lack of sleep and immediately followed by asking Sophie how her night had been and if something special had happened.

“...I never thought it’d feel so good to sleep with someone,” my sis said, turning a bit red but showing a big smile. “I can see why you two never get tired of it.”

I widened my eyes and blinked a few times, a reaction sis didn’t see because she was looking away from me.

“...Just to be sure, we are talking about sharing the bed and snuggling, right?” I asked, finding it very weird that she’d honestly answer me about the two of them making love last night. She could be over the moon about it, but still, a bit out of character.

My sister gasped at the realisation that what she said was super suggestive and told me that, yes, we were talking about snuggling.

“The wholesome kind,” she added, glaring at me like she was afraid I’d make some sort of joke.

“Humph! If it’s making love, then it’s always wholesome. You’re thinking about sex, sis.”

“Haah, yeah, sure. Whatever you say.”

“You’ll see. So... you two did nothing?”

“Fufu, well, we kissed. A lot. But... I’m on my period, so...” my sis said, sounding disappointed. “Honestly, I’m feeling bad for him...”

“Don’t worry sis, he’s a grown man and a very good one at that. And not wanting to make you compare yourself with Charlotte, but he lived with her for eight years or so, so I’m sure he understands that there are times a lady isn’t available.”

“Yeah, you’re right... Still, maybe we should have done this next week instead...”

“Pfft, hehe. Look at you, so eager to make love and lose your virginity with the person you love.”

“N-no! I... I...”

My sister wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t. She knew that I knew she’d be lying, and she also didn’t want to lie to herself. She was probably a bit worried that Stan would hear her say she didn’t want to get intimate with him too.

“I’m really happy for you, big sis,” I told her, grabbing one of her hands.

She got very serious as she looked at me. Without uttering a word, she combed away some of my hair and smooched my forehead before doing the same for Violet. It was strange that Violet didn’t seem to mind it, but stranger still was that Sophie told me she wanted to talk with us once Violet was fully awake while appearing to be holding back tears.

I did not attempt to crack jokes to lighten the mood, I simply nodded in agreement with her.

Before leaving, she told us she had made coffee and asked if she could borrow a pad. She had been so nervous about spending the night here that she didn’t make sure she had any in her purse.

As I explained to her where we kept them, I had a brilliant idea of how I’d wake up Violet.

I dragged my sleepy princess to the dining table, sat her down and poured a cup of coffee with no sugar at all.

With the cup in hand, I straddled her again, Violet putting her hands on my waist, and I got some of the coffee in my mouth.

Bwergh! Sophie’s coffee is always so bitter!

The fact I had just brushed my teeth didn’t help either, but yeah, Sophie made the coffee so, so bitter, far more than Violet.

I held off the collapse of my face and the urge to spit it out. Instead, I gave Violet a big kiss and bird-fed it to her.

“Mmh! Mmh... Mmh...? Hmm!? A-Abby, what the hell!?”

“Remember how I woke you up yesterday?” I asked, after liking clean a droplet of coffee that had escaped her mouth.

“Y-yeah?”

“Did you notice that I tried doing it again today and you fell asleep?” I asked before taking another big gulp.

“H-huh!? I did? Ah! N-no! Sto—Hmm!”

This was part of her punishment. Or it was, until she started enjoying it and sis came back, asking with the voice of someone who lost all hope in us what we were doing.

I huffed as I looked away from Violet, mostly to tease her, and she picked up on that, starting to give my face little smooches as she sweetly apologised for having ignored me.

“...I also brushed your teeth... and helped you use the toilet again,” I whined.

“Y-you did? Well, erm... thanks,” she said, having only stopped very briefly from smooching me.

“...I want candy.”

“Fufu! I’ll buy you all the jelly-filled doughnuts you want,” she said in a low tone, still smooching me.

“I also want a backrub. And a belly rub. And a foot rub too,” I whined again, this time putting my arms around her neck.

She giggled and moved her lips closer to mine as she asked if I wanted anything more.

I whined that I wanted kissies before she started giving me lots of them. The only reason we cut that short was due to a slurping sound. We had both completely forgotten about Sophie and started making out in from of her, something she remarked, sounding extremely annoyed as she glared from behind her cup of coffee.

I got up to prepare a cup of milk for myself. I had just fed Violet a whole cup of coffee mouth-to-mouth and kinda wanted to be treated to the same, but alas, Sophie was with us, so that’d have to wait for another time.

I sat on Violet’s lap since she invited me with taps on her legs and she got to immediately give me a lovely belly rub.

“What did you want to talk about with us?” I asked Sophie after a quick kiss Violet fed me as per my silent request.

The posture of my sister changed into a very serious one. It was kinda scary to see her like that, and having no clue what it was about didn’t help one bit.

“...I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time but... I’m sorry. I’m sorry for having said such horrible things to you. I’m sorry that I was only able to understand you two after I started developing feeling for Stan. Most of all, I’m sorry that I wasn’t as supportive of you two as you’ve been about my relationship with Stan. I’m... I’m sorry... that it took me this long to tell you this...” she said in one single breath, tears starting to form as she finished her speech.

I had never brought all that up because I felt like it wasn’t needed. The three of us got along and deeply cared about each other, so why would I?

But that wasn’t how my sister operated. She had hold on to those feelings and they were spilling out. Unlike me, she still bottled-up stuff. Mum still had that kind of influence on her.

“That’s all in the past, sis, no need to worry about that,” I told her as I hugged her.

Violet joined in our hug, echoing my words. She also thanked Sophie because it was she who made Violet face her feelings towards me instead of staying in denial.

“Hehe! See sis? Thanks to you, we got together faster. And I also started healing faster too, all thanks to that. Have I already told you that I found out that Violet was in love with me because I asked her about it while she was half-awake?”

“A-Abby!” Violet whined.

“Fufu, I don’t think so,” my sis giggled, sounding a lot better now. “Good to know that something good came out of my foolishness.”

Yeah, if Violet hadn’t faced her feelings for me, then things could have turned out very different, and might I say, worse.

Something sis wasn’t recognising, for better or for worse, was how sensitive of a time that was.

Were it to happen in a moment like now that Violet and I were to be married in a little less than a year, I think things would have gone a lot smoother.

But there was no point living in hypotheticals, nor the past. Now, my sister would be the first to congratulate us on our wedding day and cry tears of happiness.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

♥♥♥

I woke up to a pitch-black world where the only two things that existed were Abby and I, her breathing tickling my chest as we laid in a strange bed. I felt completely awake physically and mentally, and yet, I still felt like I was in a dream.

I drew my left hand over her body, following her left arm all the way to her hand, stopping when I heard and felt a metal cling. That served as further confirmation that it was real, and I entangled my fingers with hers, Abby shifting slightly and moving a leg between mine.

The second thing I did was reach under my pillow and pull out my phone. The watch on the screen marked a quarter-past-six in the morning. I wasn’t surprised by it, but we had slept for almost twelve hours straight.

After we left the jewellery store yesterday, we made a short stop at her favourite bakery to get her some of the jelly-filled doughnuts she liked so much before returning home.

There, we were greeted by everyone who had been waiting for us to get started preparing breakfast. Today was dad’s turn to cook, and Sophie was going to help him, but it still would take long enough for them to make pancakes for all five of us, and Abby was anxious about putting on her ring, so I executed the plan I had changed right then and there.

I took Abby to our backyard and took out her ring from its little box.

I held her left hand and had the tip of her ring finger inside the metal band with “♥ you, V.E.” written on the inside before I started speaking.

“When I first met you, I couldn’t make up my mind about you, but now, I couldn’t make it without you. When we met the second time, I found you extremely annoying, but now, I find that extremely charming. The third time we met, I found you a very strange girl, and I still do, but have come to accept that and love you for it. You broke down the walls around my heart and now, you are a pillar in my world as you brighten it. With this ring, I make you my wife and pledge my life to make one together with you, to love and respect you always, to support you in times of need and to never make you cry with sadness. I love you, Abbigail Evergreen. I love you now, and I always will.”

I had written those words on the previous day after asking Sophie to take her somewhere for an hour or so. I thought I’d take that long writing them, but it all came out in one go. I also thought I’d need to read the note I had in my pocket, but they came out fluently again.

As for the location, the creek might have been a more romantic place in terms of environment, but that backyard had been where we first kissed, where we first loved each other, and where we first said that we loved each other out loud. For me, that made it a perfect place to have our wedding ceremony, even if it wasn’t a real one. That’s what I told my sobbing wife as she tried to form a sentence. I think that was part of what she was trying to say and ask, but I could only understand a few words, “shoo happy!” being some of them.

She did calm herself down enough to speak, also taking my hand and holding it in the same fashion as I did to her, my ring saying “♥ you, A.E.”

“When we first met, I thought you were interesting, and now, I find you absolutely fascinating. The second time we met, I thought you were kind and funny, and now, I can’t even begin to describe how kind you are, and how you always brighten my day. The third time we met, I thought you were cute and had a small glimpse of the wonderful person you are, and now, I think you’re the cutest girl in the world and can’t find the words to describe how amazing you turned out to be. When I was in the pits of despair, you came and shone a light that helped me find a path out of it. I hope such a thing never comes for you, but if it does, I’ll help you as much as you did for me with all my heart. You’re my safe place, my one and only true love, and with this ring, I make you my wife. With it, I vow to always love and be there for you, to face life’s hardships we might face without ever wavering my feelings for you. I’ll live my life with you so that we can be happy and able to hold our heads high. I love you, Violet Evergreen. I always did, and always will.”

I was a bit ashamed that Abby had a much more positive view of me since the very beginning, but I was also incredibly happy that she too had been able to come up with such wonderful vows. Yes, she used my formula as a base, but since they were wedding vows, I don’t think that matters one bit.

Back in the current moment, I moved my free hand to caress her face as she started suckling on me like a baby after having nuzzled my chest and found a nipple. It was a slow suckle, and I’d let Abby be as long as she didn’t start chewing. She was probably dreaming about our backyard wedding as she heard my heartbeat and got to the part where we ate pancakes afterwards, that getting her feeling a bit hungry in her sleep. I was feeling hungry myself, now that I thought about it. It had been a long, long time since we last ate after all, and we’d have to wait another two hours until they served breakfast.

After we exchanged rings and vows came the kiss to end our private ceremony. I told her that, for all intents and purposes, that day counted as our wedding day for me, no matter when we legally got married. Little did I know then...

I happened to bump my fingertips on her choker as I moved my hand back to her waist. I giggled at the thought that we had come such a long way from having that as a sign of our commitment. I doubt the chokers would ever come out, even if we now had the rings.

We got back inside once we composed ourselves and our stomachs started to grow at the scent of delicious food being made.

Inside, the adults were looking a bit strange.

“...Don’t tell me,” I gasped as I looked above the kitchen cupboards.

The small window above it that served to let some natural light and breeze in was open. They had all heard us, and we could be used instead of the stove for cooking with how embarrassed we got. Even with it at its maximum temperature, we’d still cook faster.

“We talked about it, and,” Will started, breaking the silence before pausing. “After we are done eating, go grab your IDs. We are going to the Civil Registry.”

“You don’t mean...” Abby and I drifted.

“Sophie is right, it makes little sense to make you wait longer after that. You two are on holiday too, meaning that it won’t risk messing with your studies as it could if we wait for you to turn eighteen. There’s also the matter of the paperwork and school registry. You two will be taking the national exams, so it might generate complications. There’s also the matter that, if you wait to be done with those exams, you’d be worrying about it instead of studying, and after that, there’s the matter of getting Abby into a good university and finding a good place for you to live. Finally, we adults all have unregular schedules, but Stan and I are taking the morning off and Sophie only has to go to work at the end of the day, so we can all have lunch together to celebrate too. It could be argued that since you made that private ceremony you two wouldn’t get too distracted when the real one comes, but Sophie is adamant about letting you two marry today.”

“...Sophie said all that?” I asked, having Abby tugging at my arm and pointing at her sister. She was back into a full sob, so it was impossible to understand a single thing coming out of her mouth. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t faring much better, but somehow, I was managing better than my now-wife.

We both hugged Sophie as she congratulated us, and the three of us cried with the men sweating from their eyes due to the summer heat as they too offered their congratulations.

My trip down memory lane was interrupted by movement coming from Abby.

“Mmh... Hehe, hi there,” Abby chirped from the darkness, stretching her body and probably smiling from ear to ear.

“Hi,” I greeted back, turning on my phone’s lantern to get some light inside the dossel bed.

Partially hiding her lovely face was my wife, her eyes glistening as she regarded me with love in her heart. I just had to kiss her, and Abby began tugging me to lay on her, whispering that she wanted to have our first morning lovemaking as wife and wife.

Without letting it distract me too much, I returned to remembering the previous day as we embraced.

It took us some time at the Civil Registry, all the way up to lunchtime, but that was still not as long as I expected.

Mathilda met us there, determined to be the brides' maid, writing her name down as one of the witnesses, and giving us a present we were only supposed to open when alone in the bedroom at night.

Come to think of it, we haven’t checked that yet.

It was probably something inappropriate, but I’d give her the benefit of the doubt and withhold that judgment until I saw it with my own eyes.

What we did after we were done making our wedding official and requesting new IDs to update our marital status and Abby’s last name, was being driven to Mrs. Fletcher’s B&B. She was offering us to stay at her place for a night as a wedding gift, and it was also the place where we’d have our celebratory lunch. Apart from Jacob, there were no other guests around at that time of the day, and I didn’t mind having him as a guest. Actually, let me rephrase that to make it sound more like how I felt about it. I liked having him as a guest and would have invited him regardless.

“You weren’t kidding, he does look like a movie star from a black-and-white film!” Abby said as she shook his hand. “Very dapper!”

Suffice it to say, they got along immediately.

To our lunch also came Margaret, but she was mostly serving, Stephen and Mathew, Paul’s girlfriend and Sophie’s friend Claire and strangely enough, Ms. Prescot, our homeroom teacher.

“Congratulations on getting married! Now, don’t mess it up like I did,” Margaret told me.

I felt curious about what she meant but thought it wasn’t the right time to ask about it with so many people around.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” I told Ms. Prescot after she congratulated us.

“That girl Mathilda, she bumped into me, dragged me here saying it was important, left me in the care of her aunt and only told me what was going on after you two arrived!” she said, sounding completely bewildered. “Erm, congratulations again.”

We apologised for our wild friend, and I thanked my stars for the hundredth time that Abby wasn’t that wild.

And Mathilda didn’t stop at abducting people to our party, oh no. She also prepared our room.

Scented candles, rose petals from the door all the way to and on the bed, a selection of bath salts and matching robes, you name it. If you can imagine the cliche-est newlyweds’ room deco, she had probably done it.

“What now?” Abby asked then and was asking now that we were cuddling as we took a break from making love before going to take a long, relaxing bath with the rest of the salts and have a much-needed breakfast.

Yesterday, we took a nice bath, made love, took a four-hour nap, made love again, stared longingly at the sunset over the garden through our bedroom window, and made love once again until we fell asleep.

As for now...

I pulled the curtain to let some light and fresh air in, us being able to see the blue sky through the window from the bed.

“...Dunno. Live happily ever after?” I said as an answer.

All the stories I knew about two lovers ended where we were now. After some tribulations, they’d get married, and that was it, end of the story.

Abby and I never saw us getting married as the end all, be all, but... there was this... vagueness about our future. It felt overwhelming. Was this something couples felt? Was it perhaps the reason why some would break up shortly thereafter? They “won” the game, so they grew bored of it? Maybe they got comfortable and bored because they let the passion fizzle out.

“Well, there’s still me getting into uni, finding a job, us getting our own little love nest, adopting a child, raising them the best we can, sending them off into the world, retiring someday... maybe buy ourselves our own island?”

“What about our honeymoon?”

“Aren’t we having one right now?”

“Hmm... Sure, but... I wanna go somewhere with you and stay there for a few days. Like... Hmm...”

“Like, a week in a cabin in the woods or the mountains?”

“Oh! That’d be nice!”

She giggled as she moved over me, resting her back on my chest and grabbed one of our phones. We started looking at cabins we could rent and how much would that set us back as I kept running my fingers up and down her stomach and sides.

We did find a place that was a mix of a camping park and a hotel way up north that rented some prefabs on the mountains. It was a bit expensive, but the place was very nice and even had some of the workers delivering groceries on request. Secluded, but not to a point where it’d be a hindrance.

“Bookmark that one,” I told her before starting to tease her ear and neck. “We’ll definitely go there someday.”

That, in a way, answered our question about what we’d do now. Simple enough, we’d make plans for things we wanted to do and achieve together.

“Babe, hold on, I wanna check what Mathy gave us,” Abby laughed as she placed her hands over mine.

We moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, Abby between my legs and still held by me.

The paper bag was a nondescript plain white one and had been stapled shut.

Abby made short work out of it and we both sighed after peeking inside.

“...I’m so going to hit her with a frying pan,” I sighed a second time, bumping my head on Abby’s shoulder. “Why couldn’t it be a toaster?”

“Or a waffle machine,” Abby said, emptying the bag on the bed.

Instead, what we got was: a bottle of strawberry-flavoured lube. Two sets of white lingerie that were practically see-through and whose backsides looked like they were supposed to be used as dental floss instead of underwear. They came with garter belts and thigh-high socks, the only things I could see myself wearing. Three bottles of body oil of different scents—coconut, lavender and honey, indian rose and cinnamon.

Lastly, a card congratulating us, explaining how to use the oils and asking for us to give her feedback on how it was using the oils and lube, and which we preferred. There was something more written, but I stopped reading then.

“I’m really, really smacking her with a frying pan,” I hissed as I put down the card.

“Huh, it does taste like strawberry,” Abby hummed, having placed a drop of the lube in her index and sucked it.

“Eww! Abby, that’s gross!”

“Kinda weird that it tastes this strong though. It’d most likely mask the subtle taste of your skin, and I already love taste just that without additives,” Abby said in a moany tone, not paying attention to what I just said and sounding like she was giving my skin a cooking review as she bit and licked my jawline. I mean, I was happy that she liked how my skin tasted, but she could have maybe phrased it in a way that didn’t sound like she was talking about food.

And how exactly is she supposed to do that when she’s talking about taste, hmm?

It was good that she didn’t seem to mind my negative reaction about tasting the lube because I spoke out before even thinking if she wanted to try it or not. It was no doubt these kinds of reactions that made her scared of sharing certain things with me.

Wanting to do better, I asked her if she had any interest in trying it, sounding as accepting as I could since I only found it weird that she’d try tasting it right out of the bat.

“The lube? Not really. The oils though... we can always just use them for massages if you don’t care to try using them as she described. And the lingerie is cute, isn’t it?”

I guessed it was kind of cute... and Abby reminded me that she enjoyed seeing my legs in thigh-high stockings in a way that sounded more like a request, so...

We turned our back since I was strangely self-conscious about putting it on in front of her, but it didn’t last very long.

We both laughed and turned, remembering how the first time we undressed in private went. That killed the shame I was feeling, and we ended up helping each other put them on.

I hate to say it, but Mathilda might have us better figured out than we give her credit for.

“Yeah, especially when she’s spot on about your measures,” Abby agreed with a pout as she made me spin. “I’m glad that it isn’t too tight or too loose, but... I kinda hate how spot-on it is.”

I felt the same as her because it fitted Abby like a glove. Still, I wasn’t in the mood to get angry because I was loving the contrast between Abby’s innocent childish looks and very mature underwear. To be a bit fairer towards Abby, she didn’t look that childish anymore. She still looked at least three years younger than she actually was though.

Since seeing Abby looking like a cute and sexy doll as she spun for me to see was putting me in a good mood, I changed the subject to asking how she felt about the string.

“Personally, I thought it’d feel like a wedgy, but... it’s breezy, but might be more comfortable than regular underwear,” I said, turning almost completely around for her to see what I meant, not intending to make her bite her lip, but that’s what I got.

“I might start wearing these under my skin-tight gym shorts,” she told me, caressing my rear while I stayed in position.

“No, you’re not!”

“But Violet, with these, I won’t show a panty line under them!”

I thought about it for a minute as I started to fondle her too. The more I fondled and thought about it, the more I thought the same.

“Couldn’t you just phase them out in favour of looser-fitting ones? You are super cute, so I’m sure there are lots of guys staring at you. I see them when we go out on dates, so I’m sure they stare at your butt jiggling as you walk by them even more when alone.”

“My butt jiggles?”

“Yeah... the muscle contracts and relaxes as you walk, and it makes this motion that really catches my attention.”

Hmm... perv,” she said, turning red and hiding her face on my chest. “Well... Sorry, but you’ll just have to deal with it.”

“...Yeah, you’re right. I really shouldn’t be telling you what to wear or not. Sorry if I made it sound like I was forcing you.”

To my surprise, Abby showed a smiling face as she rested her chin on my sternum.

“I get it. I’ll start wearing looser-fitting shorts when going outside the house.”

“N-no, erm... you don’t have to—”

“It’s fine,” she told me as she hid her face again. “They are skin-tight and quite short, they are basically underwear, really. You’re completely right in asking me not to wear them. And you’re asking, not telling me while also accepting that I’d refuse. If you’re going to pay me so much respect, then I should extend the courtesy, right? I can move just as freely in any other type of shorts that I have anyway.”

“...Thanks, honey.”

“Hmm... these buns are just for you anyway,” she said, wiggling them against my hands.

I warned her that I was going to lift her so Abby would move her hands around my neck.

I planted us both sitting on the bed, Abby straddling me, and we sat there quietly enjoying the peace each brought to the other. The only sources of sound were the birds outside and our calm breathing and hands caressing each other's backs.

It was after a long moment of silence that I commented how much I had lucked out on her, making Abby laugh and say in turn that it’d be better if it weren’t true because we still hopefully had at least seventy years together and her luck alone probably wouldn’t last that long with the projects we had.

“We’ll make it work if that’s the case, right honey?” I hushed as I caressed the face of the person I so hopelessly loved.

“Hehe, right.”

We started making out and hugging tightly, but in a moment when I was adjusting my hold on her, she shoved me down, making me let out a surprised squeak.

“After we are done stripping, which one do you pick?” she asked, sitting on me upright and holding the three flasks of oil in her hands, partially hiding her face.

I paid her back for having shoved me down by abruptly pulling her by the elbows, telling her right to her face that I didn’t care as long as I had her.

“Pff, ah-haha! Good answer,” she laughed.

Later in the day, we called Mathilda thanking her for the gift and a recommendation for the indian rose. It was embarrassing, but we had made wonderful memories with her help, so it was the least we could do.

Mathilda being Mathilda, asked if she could get a picture of us wearing the lingerie she gave us.

In a way we did it, only, we still had our dresses on and held a frying pan each with an attached paper with her name on it. I think she got the message loud and clear.