***
"Good morning," Aria walked into the dining room with her arms stretched out above her as she yawned, dressed in a silk red nightgown having just gotten out of bed.
I would have liked to be there when she woke up, seeing as it was both of our days off today but this idiot of a brother picked this day specifically to come and bother me first thing in the morning, stating that he was bored since his husband had work today.
"Morning, sleepyhead. Long time no see," Antonio grinned at her.
"What are you doing here first thing in the morning?" She asked, giving me a morning kiss before sitting down on the chair beside me as one of the workers stepped forward to pour her a cup of tea which she had to consecutively have every morning.
"I'm bored. My hubby's at work and I ran out of things to do," He grumbled, leaning forward on the table and she narrowed her eyes at him but laughed it off, digging into her food.
"Wanna play with me today, former student and current sister-in-law?" She laughed at him but nodded her head without a beat of hesitation which had my heart fogging up with jealousy but mostly annoyance towards my brother at the fact that he was trying to get between me and my wife's alone time.
"She can't," I casually said, pouring myself another cup of coffee.
"Why not?" They both asked at the same time.
"Because..." I racked my brain for an excuse. "...She promised to help me with something today," I decided to answer vaguely, still trying to think up a better excuse.
"You did?"
"I did?" They both shared a look before turning to look at me.
"Yes... She did... Now, stop questioning me about it. I don't have to answer to a weirdo like you," I grumbled, glaring at him while simultaneously sipping on my beverage.
"Well, whatever you say. I'll just hang out in the pool while I wait for you to finish doing whatever it is that you need her to do," He waved his hand, dismissing the topic but I felt myself growing more frustrated.
"Can you not just go home? You have a pool there too," I reminded.
"I don't wanna swim by myself," He mumbled. Ugh, why was I related to such a dense fool? How in the world did he succeed in becoming a professor with that severe case of naivety? Realising that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon, I kicked him under the table.
"Ouch! Hey-"
"Aria, let's go. We've got work to do," I stood up, noticing that she was finished eating and held her hand as I led us out of the room while she waved at Antonio who was massaging an injured leg instead of finishing his food.
Going to our room, I helped her get changed out of her pyjamas and into a simple baby pink sundress that I remember buying for her a few weeks ago, she had been staring at it for a few seconds and I took the initiative to buy it for her, much to her protest.
After getting ready, I went to my study and started working on some documents as she sat on the couch in the room all comfortable while flicking through a Sherlock Holme's story.
"Is this what I promised to help you with?" She eventually asked.
"...Yes," I replied, typing away on the laptop before moving to scribble something down on the paper that sat on the desk beside the laptop.
She hummed, sending me a pointed look but didn't say anything and went back to reading, her face telling me that she knew I didn't want her hanging around my brother when I wasn't there. She knew I got jealous easily and I was possessive of her but she loved me despite that and I couldn't have been more thankful about it.
"Are you done yet?" She asked, coming to sit on my lap.
"Yeah," I nodded my head, putting the paper I just finished reading and signing through onto the pile of other papers.
"What do you want to do?" I asked, brushing her hair out of her face.
"Let's..." She took a moment to think about it. "...Let's go swim, I wonder if your brother's still there," I prayed that he wasn't but either way, I nodded along to her request and she gleamed, running to our room to get changed into her white swimsuit while I did the same to get into my trunks before following her excited self outside on the rare sunny day.
"Oh? You're still here," I grumbled, seeing my brother swimming back and forth in the odd-shaped pool. He came to lean against the ledge, grinning up at me with an annoying face and grumbling, I sat down on the ledge, dipping my legs into the water.
"Cannonball!" Aria shouted before she jumped into the water but despite her excitement, there wasn't that much of a cannonball effect.
"Ooh, I see someone knows how to have some fun. I wonder what Aria was thinking when she decided to marry such a grumpy man like you?" Antonio jumped out of the water and I glared at him but he didn't seem to be paying much attention to it.
Instead, he counted to three and I was quick to get out of the way. "Cannonball!" He shouted before following Aria's previous actions but unlike her, he splashed a whole few gallons of water everywhere, succeeding in soaking me.
"That... Is... It!" I growled, losing my patience which I had barely been holding onto since he appeared at my doorstep this morning, looking like an ugly dog. "You better run, right out of this house because if I catch you then I'll make sure that you eventually go home looking unrecognisable to your husband!"
"Aria! Save me!" He shouted, jumping into his slides before skidding around the garden, bumping into anything that stood in his path.
"Hey, let's sit down. Come on, breathe in and out," Aria quickly swam up to me, laughing at me as she spoke but it was enough to calm me down. "You're so cute," She laughed, resting her hands on my knees as she smiled up at me.
I pulled her wet hair out of her face and smiled back at her. "I'm not cute," I mumbled, picking her up in my arms as she sat on my thighs, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Where did Antonio run off to?" I mumbled, looking around the large expanse of our garden but not being able to catch his annoying face anywhere.
"He went inside, probably drying off," She replied and when I turned back to look at her, she was squeezing the water out of her hair, putting it to one side of her neck and rubbing her face with her arms to get rid of the water there.
"Why are you so beautiful?" I whispered, my knuckles running over the softness of her features until my eyes found her blue ones and I found myself being entranced by her, no matter how long we stay married, I can never grow bored of her.
"I don't know how to reply to that... Thank you?" She unsurely replied, tilting her head to the side and a deep chuckled reverberated from my chest as I leaned in to lightly kiss her on the lips. She tightened her arms around my neck, leaning in and deepening the kiss.
"I love you," I whispered.
"I love you too. Forever," She mumbled, nestling her head in the crook of my shoulder as my fingers ran up and down her spine, the both of us simply enjoying the warm, serene silence.
"Thank you, my muse," I whispered, kissing her neck lightly.
"What for?" She asked, confused.
"...For making me a happy man," I smiled.
"Then I should be thanking you too, for making me a happy woman,"
"Your welcome," I laughed with her, showering her face with kisses as she moved her head back to look at me and I breathed in her intoxicating scent, recording this memory in my mind.
"Thanks to you who has the heart of a saint, I can be a simple man in love. I'll travel worlds and universes to be with you, so don't ever leave me. Okay, my muse?" She stared at me for the longest time until her lips curved up into a wondrous smile.
"I promise,"
And that was the story of how I, a simple man in love, found the love of his life after travelling through worlds, universes and even death itself to find the only woman he will ever love.
...
THE END.
Thank you for reading A Simple Man in love, I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it :)