EPILOGUE
I'm sure that if Mac were awake right now, she could probably tell me the exact time down to the minute that it is right now. As things are though, my Marine is sleeping soundly beside me. Some time during the night (after bouts two, three, four, and five of lovemaking) we had ended up spooned against one another with her body pushed firmly against my stomach and my arms wrapped possessively around her. I didn't think that Marines could sleep so soundly. Aren't they trained sleep lightly and attack at the slightest sound? Perhaps Mac missed that lesson or something. But that's fine with me. I'd rather not have her try to put a Kung Fu Grip of Death on me tonight. I think that that would kinda spoil the mood.
I reach my one hand up and brush a rogue lock of her hair back to behind her ear. She smiles in her sleep and I can't help but smile slightly along with her. Wanting to add to her grin, I trail my fingers lightly along the side of her body, tracing the slight swell of the side of her breast, down the slope of her waist, back up to her hips, and continuing to her thighs and… hello, what is this?
I can see a mark on her lower back, low down in the center on her tailbone. My hand stops it's journey and instead comes to rest on the feature. What is that? I crane my head, trying to make it out in the semi darkness. I don't want to move her and wake her up. And I certainly can't put on a light. The faint light from a street lamp trickles in through the window and I move myself away just enough to be able to see the mark. She shivers at the sudden absence of my body heat and curls herself tighter into a fetal position.
Oh my God. I can't believe it. I have found the mysterious tattoo. And it has to be a sign.
Smiling, I pull myself back to her, nuzzling my face against the crook of her neck. She's still sound asleep and her gentle rythmic breathing soon lulls me back toward sleep. I breathe deeply, smelling only her. I can taste the warm flesh of her neck against my mouth. I can feel the beat of her heart and the rise and fall of her back against my chest. I know that I'll be able to do this tomorrow. And probably the day after that and the day after that. But for now, I only think of the present. I only think of her.
My hand that had been tracing her back glides back over to rest on her stomach, flat and smooth. The stomach that may or may not be currently holding our child. Our child. I hadn't even thought about becoming a father. Not that I don't want to. And to be the father of a child with Mac was even more unbelievable. I press one more kiss to her neck and whisper, "Goodnight Sarah."
She mutters something incoherently and falls silent again. I begin to fall asleep and the vision of the rose tattooed on her lower back reassures me. It has to be a sign. In the end, things will come together if they are meant to. Years ago, back in that rose garden, I would never have thought that I'd be here now. Yet here I am. Some people don't believe in Fate. Others do believe and think that we are all just pawns, used by Fate in the way that She intends us to be used. They believe that we have no control over our own lives and destiny. But if Fate can bring two people from a meeting in the Rose Garden to this, then I am more than willing to be a pawn in whatever game that She's playing. Because in the end, Fate defines Destiny. And now I've found mine.
It's all good.
FIN
Finally! Didja like it? Hate it? Didn't care one way or the other?
I'm sure that if Mac were awake right now, she could probably tell me the exact time down to the minute that it is right now. As things are though, my Marine is sleeping soundly beside me. Some time during the night (after bouts two, three, four, and five of lovemaking) we had ended up spooned against one another with her body pushed firmly against my stomach and my arms wrapped possessively around her. I didn't think that Marines could sleep so soundly. Aren't they trained sleep lightly and attack at the slightest sound? Perhaps Mac missed that lesson or something. But that's fine with me. I'd rather not have her try to put a Kung Fu Grip of Death on me tonight. I think that that would kinda spoil the mood.
I reach my one hand up and brush a rogue lock of her hair back to behind her ear. She smiles in her sleep and I can't help but smile slightly along with her. Wanting to add to her grin, I trail my fingers lightly along the side of her body, tracing the slight swell of the side of her breast, down the slope of her waist, back up to her hips, and continuing to her thighs and… hello, what is this?
I can see a mark on her lower back, low down in the center on her tailbone. My hand stops it's journey and instead comes to rest on the feature. What is that? I crane my head, trying to make it out in the semi darkness. I don't want to move her and wake her up. And I certainly can't put on a light. The faint light from a street lamp trickles in through the window and I move myself away just enough to be able to see the mark. She shivers at the sudden absence of my body heat and curls herself tighter into a fetal position.
Oh my God. I can't believe it. I have found the mysterious tattoo. And it has to be a sign.
Smiling, I pull myself back to her, nuzzling my face against the crook of her neck. She's still sound asleep and her gentle rythmic breathing soon lulls me back toward sleep. I breathe deeply, smelling only her. I can taste the warm flesh of her neck against my mouth. I can feel the beat of her heart and the rise and fall of her back against my chest. I know that I'll be able to do this tomorrow. And probably the day after that and the day after that. But for now, I only think of the present. I only think of her.
My hand that had been tracing her back glides back over to rest on her stomach, flat and smooth. The stomach that may or may not be currently holding our child. Our child. I hadn't even thought about becoming a father. Not that I don't want to. And to be the father of a child with Mac was even more unbelievable. I press one more kiss to her neck and whisper, "Goodnight Sarah."
She mutters something incoherently and falls silent again. I begin to fall asleep and the vision of the rose tattooed on her lower back reassures me. It has to be a sign. In the end, things will come together if they are meant to. Years ago, back in that rose garden, I would never have thought that I'd be here now. Yet here I am. Some people don't believe in Fate. Others do believe and think that we are all just pawns, used by Fate in the way that She intends us to be used. They believe that we have no control over our own lives and destiny. But if Fate can bring two people from a meeting in the Rose Garden to this, then I am more than willing to be a pawn in whatever game that She's playing. Because in the end, Fate defines Destiny. And now I've found mine.
It's all good.
FIN
Finally! Didja like it? Hate it? Didn't care one way or the other?