Getting Gabriel (18 page)

"Wow," Alice blinked. "That’s quite an attitude change. Guess the separation was a reality check for him."

"Yeah – well, anyway, Mom’s happy to be going home. I don’t know if their marriage has any hope, but at least he’s realizing there’s a problem."

"Mmm..." Alice said. "Don’t get me wrong, I love your Mom, but.... did she go home already? So we have the house all to ourselves?"

Gabriel grinned. "Yup. She said her dogs were homesick, and left as soon as she could. Part of the reason she was in such a hurry might be my new plans for the back yard. She’s a horticultural nut, and thinks I’ve gone mad."

"What happened to the back yard? Did you cement over it or something?"

"Come take a look." He took her hand and pulled her out back, into a backyard that was slowly starting to look more like a yard and less like a construction site. He stopped, gesturing at a huge bed filled with spiky purple flowers with deep green leaves, rooted in fresh earth. "There you go."

Alice stared. She recognized the flowers. She realized their significance, but she didn’t dare get her hopes up. She looked at Gabriel, and spoke only when she could trust her voice. "What’s that?"

"Yeah." Gabriel’s chest lifted in a deep breath he tried to hide. "Do you remember what I wanted to say with thistles?"

She looked up at him with shining eyes. "Yes. I remember."

"Because I do, you know. Love you."

She smiled. His voice was gruff, unused to saying the words, but they were honest and true. Her throat was too constricted to allow speaking so instead she leaned against him and rested her head against his chest for the longest time, listening to his heart beat and reveling in the fact that he was all hers, now.

"I love you too, Gabriel," she croaked when she could speak again, and his arms tightened around her as he kissed her hair. Then he pulled away and cleared his throat. "You know, I think we should order those burial places."

"Huh?"

He gestured impatiently. "You know. You said you wanted someone to be buried next to so you could be together for all eternity."

She leaned her head against his chest, and he stroked away a tear with his thumb. "Aw, don’t get all weepy on me, Alice. You know I hate it when you do that. It makes me feel so helpless..."

She sniffed. "This is so sweet, Gabriel." She gestured at the bed of thistles. "And the thistles... I mean, your neighbors are going to hate you when they start fornicating and their offspring appear all over the place, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll chase them off with a shovel." She sighed. "You say I love you in such special ways."

Alice put her arms around him and stared up into his face. This was too good to be true. Wasn’t it? No. It was true. He loved her – she loved him. And nothing could take that away from them. "Gabriel, what are you trying to say? I don’t want to jump to any premature conclusions here. So spit it out."

She kissed his chin. "You have to say it, Gabriel. I refuse to jump to any more conclusions. And it’s not nearly as scary as saying I love you."

"How would you know?"

"Isn’t it obvious? You see, I’m going to want you to tell me you love me every day, but you only have to do this once in our lifetime. Go ahead. It’ll be over before you know it, and won’t hurt a bit."

"I know that line. My dentist uses it all the time."

Alice took his hands and ran them over all her pockets. "See? No hidden dental drills. Promise. Want to strip search me?"

"Maybe later." Gabriel laughed, and they kissed forever, and when they broke for air he mumbled something that sounded like "Mrrme?"

It was good enough, especially as he was looking into her eyes and there was a smile there, one that was pulling ever so slightly at his lips too.

"Yes." She kissed him. "I’ll "mrr" you, and I want that tombstone. There. It’s over. Now you never have to do that again as long as we live."

"You’re you. You’re Gabriel. Besides," she added with a smile. "I’ve taken self-defense lessons from a terrific teacher. You wouldn’t dare take me on. I can blind you, stun you, trip you and generally maim you. And that’s when I’m trying to seduce you."

"I love you, Alice."

She smiled and felt tears well in her eyes. She’d never known before how words could warm her, wrap around her like a cozy blanket. "Does saying that get any easier?"

"I think it does."

"Good." She dragged him down on the grass next to where the sun shone on her pretty thistles, and got down to some serious cuddling. "We’ll practice."

==The End==