Years ago, before we really started going out, she told me that the kind of gig we’re in wasn’t one where you can just hang it up at the end of the night and snuggle with your honey.
Thank God she was wrong.
I’ve never forgotten it though, because a lot of her pain comes from that. She’s had more than her share of pain from loved ones – all I can do is try to make up for it by loving her. I think I’m somewhat succeeding. When I was young – up until I met her in fact – I always pictured myself getting married and raising lots of children in Iowa, just the way *I* grew up. You know, a life straight out of a Grant Wood painting.
Then, *she* appeared, dropped a bunch of thick books on my head, talked back to the Bitch Monster of Death herself, and I was done for. Head over heels in love with a petite blonde I knew *nothing* about.
I’ll always remember that moment in the clocktower when we came face-to-face with each other – and our respective weapons.
It’s been years, and I know her secret, I know her past – the pain and the happiness – but she can still surprise me. She does every day, simply by becoming more beautiful than the day before.
We got married as soon as she graduated – I think some part of us was afraid that we wouldn’t have a long future. In our field of work, it’s something you learn to live with.
We didn’t move to Iowa to raise our numerous children on the farm. Instead, we bought a small house right here in Sunnydale, where we live alone with each other. It sounds sad, but it’s nothing but. She simply can’t afford to be out of the game for close to a year – and let’s face it, I don’t think I would want to bring a child into the world we live in. We make up for it by spoiling our friends’ children rotten.
Years have passed by, thousands of demons have been defeated. And yet, it never ends. I don’t think it ever will, even when we’re both gone.
Some people wake up one morning – generally around our age – and realize that they’ve done nothing with their lives. We don’t. We have a purpose in our lives. We make sure that other people can go on with their lives because the Earth will continue to turn tomorrow. We make sure that they can have the life we both wanted so much but, given the choice, would refuse without a moment’s hesitation.
We have each other. Whenever I feel glum, her smile always makes the day seem brighter, the injuries heal faster, and my life seem worth it. And when she comes home a bit frazzled and all she asks for is a hot tub and a massage, I know I’ve reached the goal I set myself the day of our wedding.
I’ve made her happy.
The End