Chapter 198: The Shape Of Tomorrow
After roasting enough fish for themselves, they arranged the food on plates and began eating beneath the open night sky. The sea stretched endlessly before them, calm and quiet beneath the moonlight, while the breeze drifted around them. Darkness spread in every direction except for the warm glow of the fire that continued to burn nearby, and both of them remained wrapped in the shared cloth.
"Why don’t we play a game?" Rosalind suggested.
"At this hour?" Rowan asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at her.
She nodded. "It doesn’t require any physical activity. We just take turns asking each other questions."
"Okay," Rowan agreed.
Rosalind smiled. "What do you think you’d be doing right now if we’d never met?" she asked.
Rowan sighed quietly... Not that he disliked the questions but they always seemed to catch him off guard because they were never the things he expected her to ask.
He took a moment before answering. "Working, probably. The same thing I always did."
"And would you have been happy?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
His gaze shifted toward the fire as he chewed thoughtfully. Rosalind noticed the subtle movement of the muscles in his jaw.
"I wouldn’t have known I was missing anything," he said calmly.
Rosalind chewed softly as she considered his answer.
"Okay, your turn to ask." She said and there was a hint of excitement in her voice.
Rowan glanced at her, studying her face as he considered what he wanted to know. "What did you imagine marriage would be like?" he asked.
Rosalind smiled softly. Her gaze drifted toward the stars overhead before returning to him. "I imagined our marriage would be quiet, peaceful, and full of love, just like it is now... This is exactly what I thought it would be like, and somehow it’s even better."
She looked at him as she spoke, and seeing that smile on her face drew one to his own. Rowan leaned closer and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before pulling away.
"And a lot of that too," Rosalind added with a chuckle, her cheeks turning pink.
"Your turn," Rowan said.
Rosalind nodded. "What did you also think marriage would be like?" she asked quietly.
Rowan paused, and silence stretched between them for a moment.
"Hmm?" Rosalind prompted, leaning forward slightly.
"To be honest, I never thought about it much," he admitted.
"Really?"
He nodded. "I always felt like marriage was some distant thing that happened to other people."
Rosalind waited a moment before asking the question that naturally followed. "What about now?"
Rowan pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. His eyes settled on her, carrying a look she had become very familiar with, and immediately she felt warmth creep into her face.
"Now..." he said slowly.
His gaze lingered on her. "Now I wake up beside you and find myself very disappointed whenever you leave the room."
The words were simple, but somehow they settled directly in her chest.
Rosalind tried to hide just how much his words affected her. "One would’ve thought you couldn’t say things like that. I always assumed you were very shy," she said.
Rowan tilted his head slightly. "I can be," he replied. "And I know when not to be."
The teasing note in his voice only made matters worse.
Rosalind slowly looked away, her face already flushed by then. After a moment, she turned back to him with a look that was both playful and faintly warning.
"So..." She leaned forward again, completely forgetting that it was supposed to be his turn to ask a question. Rowan didn’t point it out, however. Instead, he simply let her continue.
"Do you think you’d make a good father?" she asked, her eyes searching his as she waited for an answer.
It was something that had been weighing on her mind, and she genuinely wanted to know what he thought.
Rowan studied her for a moment. "No."
The answer caught Rosalind off guard. Her lips parted slightly in surprise.
"Why?" she asked.
He was quiet for a moment before answering. "I think I’d worry too much," he admitted. "And I’d end up messing things up."
"Is that what you’re worried about?" Rosalind asked softly.
He nodded.
Without hesitation, she reached over and took his hand in hers.
"That’s why I’m here," she said calmly. "I’ll make sure you don’t mess things up."
Rowan looked at her for a long moment, and eventually a faint smile found its way onto his lips.
"But have you ever imagined them?" Rosalind asked.
After a brief pause, he answered. "Perhaps."
Rosalind’s curiosity immediately sharpened. "So what did you imagine?"
"A little girl."
"A daughter?" Rosalind asked, surprised.
Rowan nodded. "With your eyes."
Rosalind narrowed her eyes at him. "She’d be very stubborn."
"Definitely," Rowan agreed with a quiet chuckle. "Although I think all our children would be troublesome."
Rosalind’s eyebrows rose as he continued. "They’d inherit your inability to stay out of trouble."
"And they’d inherit none of your faults, naturally," Rosalind replied.
"Naturally," Rowan echoed, humoring her.
Rosalind let out a sigh as their banter settled into a comfortable silence. Then she suddenly turned toward him. "I’ve been asking so many questions that I completely forgot it was your turn."
"I know," Rowan said.
Rosalind blinked. "You did?"
He nodded. "It’s nice talking like this."
The simple reassurance eased her embarrassment.
"I could listen to you all day long," he added.
Rosalind smiled immediately, unable to help herself.
After that, she continued talking while Rowan listened. Occasionally he answered her questions or offered a comment of his own, but for the most part he simply watched her. As the fire crackled nearby and the sea murmured softly against the shore, the darkness wrapped itself around them while the conversation drifted on long into the night.
At some point, Rosalind glanced toward the shoreline.
"Do you think the fire will still be here if we take a walk?" she asked.
Rowan looked toward the fire that was now burning lower than before. "I don’t think it’s going anywhere."
Rosalind smiled and rose to her feet. Rowan followed shortly after, and together they began walking along the beach while the waves rolled gently onto the shore beside them.
The night felt calmer now, leaving only the sound of the sea and the occasional cry of distant birds.
Rosalind intertwined their hands as they walked. "Do you think we’ll ever become boring?" she suddenly asked.
Rowan glanced at her.
Rosalind explained, her gaze meeting his "Like old married people... What if one day we run out of things to talk about?"
"We won’t." His answer came so quickly that she raised a brow.
"How are you so sure?" She asked him.
"Because you talk enough for both of us." He answered.
Rosalind stared at him before lightly hitting his arm.
Rowan’s lips twitched.
"I was asking a serious question." She said.
"And I gave a honest answer." Rowan responded.
The breeze pushed strands of hair across her face and she tucked them behind her ear. "I think growing old sounds nice."
"Does it?"
She nodded. "Very nice."
He found himself asking, "Why?"
Rosalind looked at him thoughtfully. "Because I want white hair and wrinkles... grandchildren who will visit us and ask for sweets all the time."
A smile touched his lips as he considered what she just said. "I think I can see it now" He mused.
****
For a while they walked in silence, their shoulders occasionally brushing whenever the path narrowed closer to the water.
The excitement Rosalind had carried all day was finally beginning to catch up with her. Between learning to fish, eating by the fire and talking for what felt like forever, her body was slowly beginning to lose the battle against sleep.
She yawned.
Rowan noticed immediately. "Tired?"
"No." She replied.
Rowan raised an eyebrow. "I see."
"I’m not tired... I could stay awake all night." Rosalind protested.
"Hmm."
"I could."
"You almost fell asleep while saying that."
"I did not."
A few more steps passed before Rosalind’s foot dragged lightly through the sand.
Then she stumbled.
Not enough to fall, but enough that she bumped directly into Rowan’s shoulder.
He caught her automatically.
Rosalind froze.
"So..." Rowan said.
Rosalind was about to defend herself further when another yawn interrupted her.
This time she couldn’t even argue.
Rowan stopped walking. "We should head back now" Then, before she could say anything else, Rowan lifted her into his arms.
Rosalind settled comfortably against him. The steady sound of his heartbeat reached her ears while he carried her back along the shoreline.
Rosalind rested her head against his shoulder and watched the moon reflecting over the water. "Rowan?"
"Hm?"
"I’m glad we came here."
His hold around her tightened slightly. "So am I."
By the time the house came into view, her eyes were already growing heavier. She tried to stay awake, but the warmth of his arms, the sound of the waves and the exhaustion from the day were stronger.
When Rowan looked down at her, her eyes were closed with a small smile lingering on her lips.
And although she was asleep before they even reached the door, he carried her inside carefully as if she might still wake, unwilling to disturb her even for a moment.
