Dalaric

+ : "𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙀𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨."

I finish my water and leave for home when I get a text from Dalaric.

grumpy4ever: I'll be a little late, leave without me. Text me when you get in the car, when you leave it and when you get home.

Me: okie dokie :) I don't know what you're doing but no onesies. can u get carrots

2grumpy4ever: Use letters and yeah. I love you.

I reply with a paragraph of hearts and giggle at his demand. Username checks out.

Once I text him three times and I'm safe and sound on the couch with Kipp on my shoulder, I turn on the T.V.

I'm starting an internship soon which is why I'm very adamant on getting all the experience I can beforehand so I don't mess up. Ben Dover, the author, is also the CEO of a similar company that I'll be working at and he has my dream job too!

Oh man, to be rich with hard work is kind of hard, to be fair.

The door opens as I'm solving my inner-conflict about capitalism and I squeal, running to hug the man who inspires me to keep working and not sell my soul for money.

"Carrots, please." We kiss and hug for a good two minutes before he lays one of the two bags in my hand and walks quickly into our room.

Odd. But not odd enough to stop munching on this carrot. I wash all of them in some veggie cleaning solution before cutting some up to feed my family of three. Dalaric, me and Kipp.

I also take out leftovers and set them on the table just in time Dalaric exits the room, freshly showered.

"I told you I'd cook." I feel two hands hug me from behind and then push me down onto the chair.

"You're tired. Sit down. As a wife, it is my duty- ow." I rub my nose when he pinches it.

"How were your classes? Did you get the assignment back yet? T said it wasn't that hard when he did it. A, right? Prolly."

Sigh.

Double sigh.

Everyday. Every single day, I'm reminded of why I'm so in love with this dude. It sounds unrealistic and insignificant but he's anything but. He's pretty much the only person who asks me about me but that's not why I want to pounce him and eat him instead of dinner.

It's just the effort. He works so much. The expansion invited incredible amounts of stress and I saw how wiped out he was earlier today. Yet, he still asks. Tries. Cares. And it means so much.

Admittedly, I thought I provided most of the emotional support in this relationship- especially getting him to open up more. In reality, it was always him.

The silent effort that doesn't ask for anything in return, the extra long hugs he gives me before an exam, the mornings where he does my hair for me when I'm feeling dark and droopy.

It's rare, it's small but it makes my entire week.

I never expected the effort to be consistent, and it isn't, there are days where we both feel tired and barely boop each other once or twice. We forget good mornings or stay safe's.

And I think that's okay. Because I get this hunka chunka at the end of it all and it's worth it.

"I love you so much. And yup, A! hehe. I love you." I don't miss the 'What's wrong with her' smile Dalaric tries to hide as he feeds me a carrot.

Once we're done with the food, I insist on cleaning up. Dalaric says he'll get into bed and he yawns adorably and I try to sneak a picture which results in my phone being taken away. His yawns are kind of loud. They sometimes scare me at night but I don't want to hurt his feelings. Maybe he feels the same way about my burps...

After tidying the couches a bit and feeding Kipp some dinner too, I skip to the room, ranting about billionaires in space when I clamp my mouth shut.

Oops, grumpy is asleep. I waddle to his side to drape the blanket over him when I notice something that sends my heart racing.

Oh.

A bookstore bag.

My penguin sticky notes and pens.

And...

Software Engineering: The Future Ahead by Ben Dover.

Oh.

As silently as I can, I slide out the book that he attempted to hide below one of the penguin pillows I bought for Mr. Jones' Sr.'s back problems.

I feel my heart squeeze when I see all the multi-colored sticky notes stuck messily to the chapters. There's a big question mark on one of them labelled 'Ask T.' and another, on one of the chapters I ranted about today, in all bold,

'(M)'

I shakily sigh, running my hand gently on his head, my eyes already embarrassingly wet. "Silly...you could've just asked, y'know?"

I put the book back, leaving about 5 'I love you' penguin tags all around and a big kiss on his forehead.

Yeah,
it's always him.

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love always,
- Aj.