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He chastised himself for ever leaving her after the accident. What a foolish thing he had done. They could have been married by now if he hadn’t made such a poor choice. But what other choice did he have? It seemed like there was always something pulling them apart. Maybe they weren’t destined to be together. It was the last thought he had before he fell asleep.
Sunday morning, the snow had stopped. Ava looked out the bedroom window to the street below and saw that clean up had already begun. The wind was blowing again, and swaths of it blew by the window as it pushed snow off the sills above. She was glad they wouldn’t be going anywhere today. It was not a day to be outside.
She disliked winter but had gotten used to it since she moved north. Georgia didn’t have snow like they had in New York. Most of the businesses closed when you had a few inches there. Here you needed to trudge through the black slush to get to work since rarely did anything close. Snow pack mounted at each corner and became blocks of ice that you had to navigate carefully.
She went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and feed the boys. Xander was buried under the covers, and she didn’t want to wake him. The New York Times was in front of her door, and she slipped on her robe to retrieve it. She was about a half hour into the crossword puzzle when Xander emerged from the bedroom rubbing his eyes.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said as he stifled a yawn.
He went to her and planted a kiss on her head and removed the coffee from her hand so he could have a sip.
“Hey, that’s mine. If you want a cup, I can make you one.”
“Wow, is that what I have to look forward to when we are married?”
“You already know what living with me is like, this isn’t new.”
“But that was little cub, Ava. This is adult tiger, Ava.”
“Do you want me to make you a cup or not?”
“Yes, please.”
She rose from the couch, dropped a pod in the Keurig and pressed the button after she slipped a mug under the reservoir. Then she handed him the mug.
“Sugar is on the counter and milk is in the refrigerator. Make yourself at home.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No, why would you think that?”
“You seem a bit cranky this morning.”
She was being a bitch to him and it was probably because she was worried about the bar exam. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried about the exam.”
He sat on the couch next to her and embraced her. She had been studying for months, and he told her there was no reason why she shouldn’t be confident about passing. She kissed him, handed over the crossword puzzle and went into the bathroom to take a shower. When she got out Xander was still sitting on the couch in his boxers filling in clues while drinking his coffee.
He looked up when she came down the hall in her robe with a towel wrapped around her head. She changed with the door open, and he took the opportunity to watch her from the corner of his eye. Her hair was still damp when she sat back down on the couch. He loved when she let it air dry, and her natural waviness came out.
“You can go in the shower now.”
Xander did as she asked dropping his shorts before he went down the hall bare-assed. She loved his back end, firm and sculpted like that on the statue of David by Michaelangelo. He emerged minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair slightly dripping in the back. She watched him much the way he had watched her dress. He pulled the towel from his waist to dry the back of his hair then slipped on a pair of sweats sans underwear and slipped on a shirt.
He sat on the couch and picked up one of her study guides. For the next few hours, he drilled her until she begged him to leave her alone. She was hungry and needed some rest. She got up to prepare sandwiches while Xander turned on the TV and watched the New York Rangers.
“Sweetheart, sweetheart?” Xander said as he shook her awake.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“I guess a half hour. Do you want to work on some more questions?”
“I can’t anymore. I’m so mentally fatigued.”
“It’s okay. I will help you during the next couple of weeks. You will be more than ready by the time the test days are here. I’ll miss you at work those days.”
“You might not want to be around me because I’ll be like a lunatic. I’m nervous about the test. Suppose I fail?”
Xander knelt down in front of her.
