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We met at the table after she’d washed up and I’d piled both of our plates with food. She’d made sure dinner was in front of me every night since she’d been here. It was my turn to fill her stomach with flavors I loved and foods I appreciated. Tonight, we were enjoying a spring salad, sesame and sweet chili garlic noodles, and a bowl of onion soup to wash the ramen down easier.
Underneath the entertainment stand where Aussie hid most of her gadgets, I found the laptop buried with doll heads and flashcards. When I lowered my frame in the chair next to Aeir, she was twirling her fork around in the noodles.
“Are we not waiting for each other?”
“Yes. I’m starving, Malachi,” she groaned. “And figured I’d prepare my noodles for consumption, so when you finally sit down, I—”
“It’s okay, baby.” I laughed, grabbing her hand after she’d laid her fork on the plate.
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I couldn’t stop the peaking of mine, admiring her moment of despair while trying to put her worries to rest simultaneously.
“Dear God,” I said, bowing my head. “Thank You for this day. Thank You for this world. Thank You for this life. Thank You for this woman. Thank You for the food that we’re able to prepare from the garden that keeps on giving. Thank You for day and night and dark and light. Keep blessing us. Don’t take Your hands off us. And, know that You are head of our lives. I pray that this food is nourishing to our minds, bodies, hearts, and souls. Amen.”
“Amen.”
Aeir wasted no time devouring the noodles she’d collected on the fork.
“Ummmmm.” She hummed, closing her eyes and savoring the taste. “My God, this is good.”
I said nothing, but I shared her sentiments. Watching her in her element left me speechless. From her brown skin to her delicate nature, she was flawless and unafraid. When I pushed away, she pulled me closer. There hadn’t been a time where she forced her beliefs or desires on me.
She allowed me the time I required to process her presence, my feelings, and the possibility of a future. I appreciated that level of patience. Without it, we wouldn’t have gotten here so soon. My stubbornness wouldn’t have allowed it.
“Is there a code?”
She reached over her plate to grab the laptop. It powered right up, partially surprising me. It hadn’t been charged in some time, which was why I’d brought the charger along with me.
“No. There isn’t.”
“Great. Can you hand me the cord? We don’t have much life in this battery.”
I figured as much. She attached the cord and tapped the internet icon. Google was her first stop.
“Okay. I’ve been leaning toward different hues of brown with hints of olive in the equation. I need your help deciding on those hues.”
“Whatever you need, Aeir.”
“You say that like you mean it,” she replied, blushing red while batting her wispy lashes.
“Because I do. Anything that comes from my mouth from this point on, believe it. When a man has nothing else, he has his word. You have mine. When I say it’s whatever you need, Aeir. It’s really whatever the fuck you need, baby.”
Sun-cracked lips parted slightly as charismatic eyes leered in my direction. I waited, with bated breath for words to escape them, but to my dismay, nothing surfaced. Instead, those succulent lips lifted in the corners, revealing a smile that warmed my heart by at least twenty degrees.
“Worry me,” I instructed. Seeing the look on her face told me she had things on her mind she wanted to get off.
“I’m truly sorry, Malachi, that life has been so unkind to you and to your heart. But, I promise I will love you and your heart back to perfect health. I’ll be your lifeline. I’ll sacrifice my body, my heart, and my soul to rescue you.”
Nodding, I reached over and cupped her hand in mine.
“Malevolence has no home here. Release your guilt, your worries, your strife… release it. It’s the only way you’ll break the chains keeping you bound. You deserve freedom. That’s how Anna would have it. It’s the only way I’ll have it.”
“I know.”
The strength to admit that my precious Anna would be disappointed in the mess I’d become over the two years had been beyond me until this very moment.
“I’m here, okay?”
“I know.”
