Ash

I stirred at the sensation of fingertips lightly trailing along my forearm. I looked around, my eyes struggling to adjust from sleep and darkness. I didn't feel Jesse beside me. Odd. I wandered a bit further toward consciousness, surprised at what I found. He was dressed and kneeling beside the bed gently trying to wake me.

"Ugh…what's…what time…?" I wasn't awake enough to form a sentence.

"Come on, sleepy. Get up, put this on," he whispered and held out jeans and a hoodie.

"What?" I was beyond confused.

"Get up. Put these on." he chuckled.

Every cell in my body protested, but I followed his instructions fairly well for someone who was half awake at best. By the time I was fumbling with the zipper on my jeans, he was standing in front of me, blanket slung over his shoulder, slipping his fingers into mine and leading me to the door. I was still too asleep to wonder what was happening. I'd have blindly followed him anywhere. Apparently even in the middle of the night.

"Shhh." He put his finger to his lips briefly before opening the door with an expression that said he hoped it wouldn't creak.

He led me down the stairs and quietly pulled open the large front door. I was instantly shocked into wakefulness. The air was moist and dense with the dew that would soon break, and far cooler than the previously sweltering day had suggested it might become. When I shivered,Jesse's arm and half the blanket instantly wrapped around my shoulder as he pulled me close. I leaned my head onto his shoulder as we walked away from the house. I didn't ask where we were going. I didn't care.

I was overwhelmed bythe barrage of new sensations this place offered in the early morning hours. Through the heavy air came the far- off, constant sound of crickets or cicadas, I didn't know enough about farm critters to guess which. Although the moon was a mere crescent, a silvery glow bathed the landscape, turning it into an ancient photo of old fashion farm life from a black and white textbook.

WhenI looked up, trying to find the source of the glow, the sheer number and brightness of the stars visible in this place dazzled me, and I stopped in my tracks, staring up, taking in the vastness of the universe that one rarely thought about while living so close to the brightness of a city. Jesse kissed the side of my jaw as I stood, frozen in place by the wonder of it all. He allowed me a long few moments before urging me forward once more.

"Come on. Plenty of time to look at them in a minute." he spoke softly.

We made our way out past the hydroponic barns and deep into the middle of a field before he stopped walking. The fresh, crisp scent of growing wheat was thick and sweet. The sound of it swaying in the light breeze was something akin to waves washing ashore on a calm beach. As I stood, transfixed by those ever-shifting waves, he spread the blanket on the dirt path we had wandered alongand sat, pulling me down tightly against him.

We lay on our backs with my head on his shoulder and his arm draped around my ribs, staring at the slowly moving stars. I didn't know what time it was, or how long we lay that way, but as we did, one by one thosestars seemed to fade from existence. The inky black velvet they rest upon was slowly replaced by the palest of blue skies, streaked with bright gold and burning orange.

The location he'd led us to seemed to be one he knew well, and it was perfect for this moment. We lay on a hill that slopedjust enough that while lying on our backs we had been able to stare at the night sky but could now see the horizon as the sun slowly rose, bringing warmth to replace the cool paleness of the evening light.

I'd always been a night owl. As I worked late, and stayed up even later, I don't think I'd ever actually watched a sunrise before. Though part of my body still rebelled at the fact I wasn't dreaming in a soft warm bed, the rest of me was intently focused on the astonishing changes taking place before our eyes and the way it felt to lie on the cool ground with Jesse's warmth beside me.

Just as the suncrested over the horizon, Jesse shifted at my side, andraised an arm to bring his fingers into my line of sight. Between them, gleaming brightly in the warmth of a new day's sun, was a thin band of gold. His lips brushed the side of my head tenderly.

"Marry me, Ash?" His quiet, self-assured voice resonated in his chest and vibrated through me where my head rested on his shoulder.

Though he asked, it was not a question. It was a statement of fact. He was simply putting into words the reality of the future we both knew lay before us. At nearly forty, I'd spent my life never considering the concept of a serious relationship, let alone a marriage that was intended to last a lifetime. But, in that moment, the man I'd been for those fortyyears faded completely, and nothing seemed more natural to me than the idea of never letting Jesse go. I let my fingertips reach up and trail reverently along the band of gold and the fingertips that held it.

"Of course." was all I could manage as I lay there in a state of blissful awe.

He shifted until we were both sitting, legs entangled, facing one another. The sun, continuing its rise behind me, reflected in his golden eyes in a way that made them look as if they were the source of the glow now covering the field where we sat.

I traced my fingertips along his jaw before taking it in my hand and pulling his lips to mine. They played so tenderly upon one another that perhaps they didn't even touch. I was thrown back to the memory of the first time his lips had brushed mine in my kitchen and a sense of wonder and peace and completeness settled over me as I realized it had been one year to the day. Whenwe slowly parted and our gazes locked, the same loving, knowing smile rested on his face.

His hand took mine and we both watched as he slipped the thin golden band onto my finger. He grinned up at me and fished around in his pocket awkwardly until he triumphantly produced its mate. I'd never known a deeper happiness than I did as I took the matching ring and slipped it onto his hand.

As the sun continued its climb, the world around us began to take on the hues it wore through the daylight hours. We sat; content to let the world pass us by as our fingers played idly and we watched the love we felt reflected back to us in the other's eyes.

"Come on." He eventually smiled broadly. "Everyone wakes up early around here. I'm sure they're already wondering where we are."