Page 130 of Let the Light Shine Through

“How could I forget?” I tease, running a quick check over her thin frame, but with her wearing a one-piece set of long johns, there’s only so much skin I can make out. Thankfully. We are in a glass igloo after all and, with the northern lights putting on an erotic-as-all-hell show, you can bet we’re not the only ones awake right now.

It’s okay though, I did a more thorough check earlier…multiple times.

“Oh, like you forgot your promise to me two years ago.” She arches an eyebrow while pulling her snow pants on.

“I didn’t forget.”

“Mmhmm.”

“We were a little busy,” I say, making her laugh.

Thankfully, Gia did choose. She chose to fight, but on the condition that I snowboard again. Not professionally, but she wanted me to have something to strive for if…if she wasn’t around to push me herself.

After that first appointment with the oncologist, Gia started receiving simultaneous radiation and chemo treatments almost immediately. We were in and out of the hospital for the whole first year, and we’ve been taking things slow, getting back out in the world now that she’s in remission. Her body’s still healing from everything it was put through, but she’s currently cancer-free according to her last several appointments.

“You could’ve gone without me.”

I frown. “No. I couldn’t.” There’s literally nothing that could’ve pulled me from Gia these past two years. “Besides, we’ve discussed this, I was waiting until you could join me.”

She stands, fastening her pants, and I walk over to hand her one of my sweaters.

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” she says once her head’s free of the neckline.

“Well, I’m a shitty listener like that.” I wrap an arm around her back, closing the gap between us. “You know I wanted you beside me.”

“I’m beside you now,” she tells me, draping her arms over my shoulders.

“You’re beside me always.”

“For better or worse.”

I finish the vows we just took, promising, “In sickness and in health.”

Fuck, I love my wife. We’ve only been married for a week, but we were bonded way before that, having already gone through the thick of it together. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Gia’s my soulmate and I wanted to make it official, so this past summer, after clawing her way back from the pits of emotional and physical fatigue hell, when Gia finally started feeling like herself again—her new self because she’ll never be the same either—I asked her to marry me. Unfortunately, she turned me down, straight rejected my ass. But then New Year’s Eve came along, and as we were counting down in our new home, down the road from her dad’s, she looked into my eyes, and I knew—we were about to have another adventure. A life-long adventure.

New Year’s Day we got married, starting the year off right, with as many friends and family as we could scrounge up. Rowdy was there to be Gia’s man of honor while I chose to leave the best man role open, in honor of Salvy. My old roommates showed up surprisingly, even the underwear thief, Fletcher, and we all watched teary-eyed as Al struggled to hand his daughter over to me. He and Rowdy were involved in Gia’s journey the entire time, just not in-person once we had to rent an apartment in the city for a while when traveling back and forth to receive treatment became too much on Gia. I kept them both up-to-date on her condition though and the three of us grew closer because of it. They’re the only two people that love Gia as much as I do, so we were all in the trenches together, fighting the same battle to keep Gia alive.

We also invited my parents to our impromptu wedding, but they weren’t in town, off on some vacation or another. They never did come around about our relationship…until they heard where we were honeymooning. Gia calls them Woodpeckers, peck, peck, pecking for any little morsel regarding my old life, and I bet they’re absolutely feasting on the fact that I’m getting ready to snowboard again. It’s too bad they won’t get to see it. If they ever get around to pulling their noses out of the air, then maybe. Maybe.

“Dress warm.” I give my wife my own peck, smacking both her heavily padded ass cheeks. “Extra warm.” Her team of doctors barely gave us the green light to come here. Gia being in remission, her body’s still more susceptible to infection right now, so we’ve gotta be careful in everything we do. We’re even going night boarding to avoid crowds.

“Are you even wearing a coat? A real coat?”

“My body doesn’t need as much gear.”

She slides her arms through her own coat, muttering something about her husband being singlehandedly responsible for global warming, the words “my husband” coming out of her mouth making my cock start to swell. I swear that shit better not ever wear off. I love hearing her call me that.

“Or we could stay in and I could warm you up myself,” I generously offer before catching the beanie my wife throws at my face.

“Don’t even think about it. You seducing me will not get you out of snowboarding.”

“Baby, I haven’t even started seducing you yet,” I tell her, putting the beanie on the top of my head so the majority of it sticks up. We’re only thirteen hours into our honeymoon and I’ve already seduced her every which way, but it’s good for her to wonder what my next move is. Gia’s always keeping me on my toes, so I gotta return the favor every now and then.

Plus, I saw that her long johns have one of those ass flaps and I plan on taking full advantage of the easy access as soon as possible.

“I’ll be outside, getting everything ready,” I say before I change my mind and actually seduce her. “Now hurry up, Mrs. Fancy.” I swirl my finger in an exaggerated circular motion, causing us both to laugh. Yeah, I can’t pull it off as well as her.

Back outside, I take in the length of my board, studying the clean lines and vivid colors of the brilliant, almost glowing, poppies swaying in a light breeze as tiny snowflakes dust their orange-red petals. They were Gia’s parents’ flowers, and now they serve as a reminder that it doesn’t matter what goes right in life, only what feels right. Perched on a branch in the middle of the field of poppies is a male Cardinal. Head held high, he’s ready to take on anything.