THE GREATEST OF THESE

The first few months without the baby rival the first few months of our marriage. They are a test to get through, but each day that Elizabeth wakes up beside me is one I am more than thankful for. The pain that Elizabeth feels ebbs with each passing day, and when Rachel, Andrew, and Hannah prepare to leave for England barely a month later both of us go down to the docks to see them off. Rachel promises to write, but Elizabeth and I know she will not, not with a new baby to care for in a new place.

Several times when Elizabeth lies awake late at night with tears in her eyes I wonder if we made the right decision. Almost six months later Elizabeth comes to me with desire written upon her face, and then I know that we have made the right decision. She stands before me and opens her mouth to speak, but I silence her at once with my lips upon her own. I leave her gasping for air, her lips nearly bruised with the forcefulness of our passion.

Her nightgown tumbles down from her shoulders leaving her naked and pale against the dark bed sheets. Her breasts rise and fall as though a bird were trapped in her ribcage and was trying to escape. It is our wedding night as it should have been; she the virgin bride and I the gentle groom fumbling in the dark, lost in our needs.

Every kiss, every caress is reverent, and we make love deliberately, each movement a bittersweet token inching us toward a restoration that can only be found in each other. In the midst of it all I look down at her, my vision blurred. She is beautiful, this woman opening herself to me. She is mine, and I am hers in body and soul; Elizabeth, my wife. Together, we are right on the edge of Heaven, and at this moment, to come crashing back to Earth would be an unwelcome fall. Our release is all too fleet as she wraps her legs about my waist, pulling me closer, with our names on each other's lips. We collapse into one another and fall silent as Elizabeth settles into my embrace. She closes her eyes, preparing perhaps to fall asleep, but then her brow furrows, and she opens her eyes again.

"James?"

"Hmm."

"How were you able to wait so long for this?" she asks quietly, trailing a finger down my chest.

I ponder for a moment how to reply, and then ask, "Do you remember that Sunday at church after you told your father and myself that you were with child? The Reverend preached on Hosea?"

She nods, and I can tell it is still a painful memory for her, but I continue nonetheless.

"After the service everyone left, but I was very conflicted about whether I should continue to pursue marriage with you or not, because I knew you did not love me. I knew it would be a gamble, a leap of faith, but I also knew that I could not back down from the challenge, not when there was so great a reward to be had."

Elizabeth looks up at me and her eyes meet mine. "And has the reward truly been great?" she asks, and though she already knows the answer I indulge her.

"Greater than I could have ever imagined."

- fin -

Authoress' Note: To all my faithful readers – thank you SO much for reading this and reviewing it with such heartfelt enthusiasm and careful criticism. :) You have all made this long journey a wonderful one, and I hope you have enjoyed it just as much as I have. For right now, this piece will stand as my last at . I have another year of schooling left for me, and that is where my focus will be. Thank you again, and I hope you all have a blessed year! xoxo Larael