Of course, 6:30 AM is not my normal wake-up time, unless one of the girls gets up...so I could hardly get myself to stay awake.
"Hey, sleepyhead...wake up..." I could hear Eugene quietly saying this repeatedly, but I couldn't even lift my head! I finally managed to, though, mumbling.
"I'm up, I'm up..." I yawned, working to peel my eyes open. When I did get them open, I caught Eugene giving me an amused expression. "What?"
"Nothing. Sorry to wake you up, but Zelia's coming in about half an hour," he whispered, brushing the huge amount of hair out of my eyes.
Half...half an hour?
I stretched, reluctant to get moving. "Ughhh. Okay. I need to get ready, but I don't want to move...and I don't want to wake the girls, either."
"Understandable. Stay here for a bit, then," he told me, wrapping me up in his arms.
I grinned, allowing my eyes to shut again, but I'd no more than gotten comfortable again, and then Jordan started whimpering.
I shot upright, twisting to see her. Eugene quirked a brow as he sat up too. We both watched her, waiting to see if she was going to wake up or not.
After I was sure that miss Jordan wasn't going to wake up and I'd decided to stop watching the girls sleeping (cause they're so sweet and adorable...), I turned back to Eugene as a thought crossed my mind. I hadn't even realized how different I felt now that I wasn't completely and utterly alone in the doll world.
I turned sideways, twisting my torso so I could look him in the eye. "Eugene? Um, thanks."
"What?" Eugene gave me a puzzled expression.
I sucked in a deep breath, but held it, trying to decide how to explain. Instead, I just let it out in a huge exhale, starting to turn away. "Never mind - just me being weird." I gave a self-depricating, quiet laugh.
"Hey, you've peaked my curiosity now, hon. What's up?"
"Thanks, cause I just realized that...I ah, I haven't had that lonely, hopeless feeling in a long time. So th..thanks for sticking with me." I buried my face in my hands, feeling my face heat up terribly. "I'm sorry. That sounded so stupid."
He chuckled. "No, it didn't. And..I'm actually really glad ya feel that way." He winked, and I reached to give him a quick hug before slipping away to get ready for the day.
I wore my normal dress, but I braided my hair, scattering a few flower-ribbon things Tangled Fan had made throughout the braid.
I'd just finished up when Zelia dropped down to our shelf - a bit more gracefully than when she had come down a few days ago.
"Hey, sis - wow, you look great!" Zelia said, giving me smile.
I almost choked. Sure, Zelia's changed, but I still wasn't used to getting compliments from her. "Oh, um, thanks..."
"Great? JUST great?" Eugene came up behind me, carrying Jordan. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I saw the love pouring from his eyes. "You look beautiful."
I laughed, rolling my eyes as I went to go see what Audrey was up to.
Playing with Pascal, as was her norm.
"Hey, sweetie, Aunt Zelia's going to watch you guys today. Be good, sweetie, okay? Love you," I told her, reaching to hug her.
"Okay. I like Aunt Zelia, she's fun. Love you, Momma!" She hugged me back, and my heart squeezed. I gave her an extra little hug and then left her to resume playing with Pascal. I held Jordan while Eugene said bye to Audrey, and then Zelia took the baby from my arms.
"You guys stay out as long as you like - I think I can handle them. And I'm glad to be on a shelf other than the one I'm always on," she coughed and rolled her eyes upward.
"Say no more," I giggled. "Well, thank you. I'll see you all later!"
"Have a good - romantic - day, guys!" Zelia teased as soon as Eugene came back and we'd turned to leave the shelf.
I thought for sure my husband was going to fall off the edge of the shelf at that one.
His face grew red. "Uh..yeah...Um...we will."
As soon as we got to the floor, I giggled. "I'm sorry, bud, but you're never living that one down. Your face is so red..."
"You haven't seen your face, have you...." he told me, and I felt it get hotter.
"Hmmm." I shook my head, grinning.
We walked in silence for a bit, but then Eugene slung an arm around my shoulders comfortably. "You really look nice today, hon." He gave me that classic grin of his.
"Oh, well...I don't really think so, I mean, I just put those flower things in my braid, but...thanks," I blundered on, and he chuckled.
After that, we just talked for a good, long time. Reminiscing, discussing an assortment of things, and discussing the future.
We also watched Tangled on Tangled Fan's laptop. I cried like a baby at the end...and when I glanced over at Eugene, he was staring at me. Not sure whether he was thinking about the movie, or wondering if I'd lost my mind. But regardless :D And we both sang "I See the Light" at the top of our lungs. Yeah, you read that sentence correctly - I sang too. Eugene knew better than to say anything about it, knowing he'd embarrass me, but he gave me a surprised smile, which quickly turned into an adoring gaze as he started singing, too. :]
By the time we were done watching Tangled, it was dark on the floor.
"We'd better get back to the shelf," I told him, but he shook his head.
"Let's go check and see if the sky's clear...if you want to stargaze for awhile?"
I gave him a broad smile, my heart quickening with excitement. "Is that even a QUESTION, Eugene?! Of course!" I thought for a minute, though, considering the fact that he hadn't been on such a long trek since his accident. "But..your legs-"
"-Are fine. I promise," he winked, giving me a quick, one-armed hug before leading me up to the windowsill.
When I glanced up at the sky above, the sight nearly took my breath away. And then Eugene, who was behind me, put his hands on my shoulders, resting his chin on top of my head. "I had hoped that we could do this tonight. Go back to where our life together started to begin."
My heart fluttered as I thought back to the evening we'd gotten back together, gotten engaged, and, I think, fallen in love with each other even more than we'd been before.
"Hmm," I sighed, grinning up at him. I allowed myself to be led over to the corner of the windowsill, where Eugene settled in the corner, pulling me into his lap.
We sat in silence for awhile, just looking up into the sky and enjoying one another's company. I was also reminiscing on the night we'd gotten engaged. I know it was just about over two months ago, but still. That night would always hold an extra-special place in my heart. I finally gave a content sigh, snuggling up a bit closer to Eugene and wondering if he was thinking back to that night, too. When he put his arms snugly around me, tracing my hairline with little kisses, I figured I had my answer. When he spoke up, I was positive. "We should do this more often. This makes me think about when we got engaged. I'll never forget the feeling that came over me when I saw you on the chair, waiting for me that night. Gosh, I'll never even forget what I felt when I saw you for the first time."
I laughed. "When you saw me on the chair, you probably thought, 'Oh, great. The crazy chick's back.'"
He burst out laughing, but when he was done, he shook his head, his eyes glimmering in the darkness. "More like 'Oh my gosh, here's the girl I adore, who I thought I'd never get to see again.' And when I met you for the first time...I dunno, you just seemed like everything I ever wanted was...hanging off of an alarm clock cord. And at the same time, my world as I knew it was crumbling down, because I wasn't usually brave enough to go help some strange doll, let alone talk to her."
I gave him a shy smile as he studied my face with a gentle expression. I knew I could never top THAT little speech, which had just made me melt. Except for the part reminding me about my near-accident with the alarm clock.
"Well...I'll never forget the feeling that washed over me when you took me in my arms for the first time in about two weeks. Hmm...I'll never forget how you made -and make - me feel - every moment between meeting you and the day my plastic life is up." I laughed, totally botching what I'd hoped would turn out to be a sweet, heartfelt, perfect monologue. Hah, me? Perfect? Funny.
But he didn't seem to be affected negatively. He gave me that special grin of his again, looking like he wouldn't trade me for the world. (But seriously, what's a doll gonna do with the world?...)
I pulled away from his arms, resituating myself to face him so I could lean over and kiss him. Our lips met in a slow, gentle kiss, and when it ended, I gave him another shy grin, settling back down on his lap and leaning my head up against his chest, gazing out the window once more. He draped his arms around me, giving my shoulders a quick squeeze, and then proceeded to stroke my hair.
We sat there, whispering to each other for awhile and watching the sky above us...until clouds came in and the snow started. By then, we were tired anyway.
Getting back to our shelf was tough, since it was really, really dark in the room by then. Butttt we made it back around 9:30PM.
Both the girls were asleep, and Zelia was dozing on the chair when we got back.
I was just about to get Zelia a blanket to let her sleep down here, when she jerked awake.
"Oh, gosh! You guys are back. Hey. Uh..the girls just went to bed about an hour ago, they tuckered themselves out. They were really good, both of them! How was your day?"
"It was wonderful," I told her, and she smiled.
"Romantic?"
Casting a sideways glance towards Eugene, I grinned, seizing the opportunity to tease. "Very."
His face grew horribly red - so red that I could tell it was, even though it was dark-, and Zelia laughed quietly.
"Okay, well...can I see you guys tomorrow sometime?"
"Sure," Eugene said, and I gave her a quick hug before she left.
I don't know about my husband, but after that, I fell asleep as soon as I curled up on my side under the blankets, tired from the day. Tired, but content. (:
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