February 2, 1204
"The bedroom is to your liking, I hope? I know you tend not to care much about decor or anything, but if only for the sake of comfort--""Shh." Hollie tapped her finger to Ricky's lips. It was sweet of him to consider such things, but as sweetness and consideration were typical of him, she doubted he could have made a bedroom unfit for her if he tried. "I'm quite happy with it. Cozy, but not cluttered--and simple, but not dull."
"Ah, good." His arm on her shoulder relaxed as she drew back her hand, though he choked out a nervous chuckle all the same. "Maybe it's good luck, a bedroom that fits the same description as one's husband?"
"You're not simple, and I'll box the ears of anyone who calls you such.""I'm flattered that you're so eager to defend my honor." Ricky slipped his free hand beneath Hollie's knees and nudged her up to his lap. Comfortable though he'd made sure the bench was, she preferred this alternative seating.
"All those years of my nagging parents were worth it, you know. I'm sure I could have found someone who didn't make me miserable, but no one makes me happy like you do, Hollihock.""And you likewise," she agreed, leaning inward until they were brow to brow. His eyes may well have been the only blue in the room, but there came and went a distinct second in which her whole world was that color. "Here's to all those years and then some of us figuring out how to make each other even happier."
"Each other, and ourselves from time to time. I know you're still figuring things out. If there's anything I can do to help you find yourself, know that there's nothing you can't ask of me."
"I know--but I'm a lot closer already." Closer in time, closer in space, closer in every sense including the gaps between thoughts and the strings that tied hearts together. "It helps when you have someone who will love you no matter who you are."NEXT CHAPTER:
5 comments:
...I'm like 99% sure I had something more concrete in mind for these two to talk about in this post, but damned if I remember it.
Um... Holly looks disturbingly like her mother-in-law in that second picture. XD'
Something Ricky's not telling us? ;P
Reason #1342987 not to marry your first cousin? :P
Let's go with the least creepy answer of "Ricky doesn't see it".
Oh my god, Hollie does look so like her in that picture. But with all the cousin marriages going on in Naroni, maybe it's easy to overlook the resemblances? There's practically an army of people with Roderick's eyes running around, after all.
Hollie and Ricky are so adorable together. I'm glad he stuck out all those years as a bachelor so Hollie would be an option. (And glad that Lorn had his 'the duke must pick his own duchess' rule.) And Hollie has managed to come into her own after one of the most atypical childhoods imaginable for her time and status.
(And I can't help but hope that Ietrin is burning up that Jeda's daughters are the queen and the future ladies of two shires. So much for sending them to the ends of the Earth!)
That's true. I'm sure Ricky wasn't the first man in Naroni to marry a first cousin of his who happened to look a lot like his mother, and he probably won't be the last either. And since they're both Roderick-grandspawn, it really was kind of inevitable. XD
They really are sweet together, ooky resemblances aside. Ricky has always been unconditionally fond of Hollie, even before any romantic feelings would have been there. And Hollie's always found Ricky to be a low-pressure safe space, which she really did need for a while there; now that she's come into her own more, he's still able to fill that role as she figures out what to do with her adulthood.
Any posthumous spite to Ietrin is fine by me. :)
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