Ruth Silver - Moirai

“Well, congratulations are in order,” Elsa laughed. She threw her arms around me, giving me a hug.

“Thank you.” I laughed, nodding. “I can't believe we're married. I mean, I guess we were before but…” I shook my head. It was so hard to wrap my mind around being married, then suddenly we weren’t. We'd come to accept the rules of the cities outside of Genesis, and finally we had decided of our own free will that we wanted to marry each other when the time was right. There was no one else in the world we wanted to be bound to for all of eternity.

“It's been long enough,” Elsa smiled. “I wanted to ask you before your honeymoon.” She winked encouragingly. “You've been eating the Silphium?” She walked along side me towards the house.

I nodded with a nervous laugh. “Are you sure it'll work?” I was beyond nervous. I was terrified!

Elsa smiled. “When you asked me to find a plant that would prevent pregnancy, it took some digging. I mean, it's not common knowledge these days,” she reminded me. “I'm certain that Silphium was used in ancient Rome.” Elsa smiled. “Fora had a large supply of it. It's also used to treat a sore throat, cough, and fever.” She patted my shoulder as we stopped at the house. “Don't be nervous.”

“I'm not nervous.” It was a lie. I hugged her again. “Thanks, Elsa, for looking after me.” I wasn't sure too many others would be so generous. It seemed as though everyone these days had their own agenda.

“Just take your time and enjoy it,” she laughed.

My cheeks reddened as I gave a brief wave. I was more than slightly embarrassed as I headed inside our home. “Joshua?” I called, glancing around, wondering what he was up to.

“Everything okay?” He smiled, coming down the stairs, standing just above me.

I nodded. “Yeah. Everything's good.” My cheeks were still tinged red and I reached out my arms for him.

He pulled me into his embrace. “I was wondering where you disappeared to. I wanted to tell you something.” He laughed, bringing me to sit down on the sofa with him.

“Tell me what?” I asked. I tilted my head slightly to the side as I plopped myself down on the couch beside him.

He leaned closer, resting his forehead against mine. I felt his fingers push the hair behind my ear as he wrapped his arms around me. “Do you remember months ago when I told you I had a dream that felt so real I was certain we had shared it together?”

I frowned, trying to remember back to what he was talking about. “No.” I laughed. “I'm sorry.” I shook my head, not remembering.

“It was a while ago, while we were recruits.” He smiled. “I told you the day after we had the Mindonsiphan administered to us that I was certain we shared a dream, because it felt so real. You brushed it off, telling me I was crazy.”

I laughed now, remembering the conversation. “I never said you were crazy. What I said was I believed it had been the sedative that had caused you to have such elaborate dreams.” My fingers moved down his arms, feeling him shudder from the touch. “You never did tell me about the dream.” I smiled wider. “I always assumed it was a sex dream and you were too embarrassed to share it with me.” He leaned in, his lips capturing mine. “It wasn't that.” He smiled, pulling back. “Not that I haven't dreamt about that with you,” Joshua teased. “But no, that wasn’t my dream.”

“Okay,” I laughed. “So what was it?” I couldn't believe he'd waited this long to share it with me.

“The parade, the proposal. All of it.” He smiled, feeling my body tense. Then he frowned. “It was in detail but not the type of detail with Adelaide there.” He shook his head. “Though you were wearing the exact dress from the dream.”

“How is that even possible?” I asked. Joshua shrugged. “Maybe it wasn't a dream but a premonition.”

I couldn't help but eye him skeptically. We could do a lot with our talents, but I didn't believe in seeing the future. I couldn't believe in it, because it constantly changed. Our choices determined our fate. It wasn't written in stone. “No way. Consider it weird,” I offered. “But it wasn't a premonition.”

“Come on.” He found my hands, squeezing them. “You have to believe me, Olive.”

I knew he'd never lie to me. I breathed in deeply, moving to rest my forehead in the crook of his neck. “I believe you think you saw this, us being married. I believe there may have even been a parade,” I offered. “But come on. Every detail down to the dress? A dress that didn't even exist months ago? You couldn't have known it was going to be made just for me.”

“I didn't know,” Joshua laughed. “I can't explain it. It's just, that's what I saw.” He held up a finger. “Maybe you'll believe me when you see this.” He got up from the sofa.

“Where are you going?” I asked, watching as he disappeared down the hallway.

“Joshua?” I called to him, wondering what he was up to. A minute later he reappeared bringing me a sketch he'd drawn. It was remarkable. It was obviously me, in the gown. My hair was different. It was up like it had been when we were married by the government. I smiled, glancing up at him. I knew he had a talent for drawing. He didn't do it often, but I'd seen him on occasion with a pencil. “Wow.” I stared at the picture. I knew he couldn't have drawn it in the last few minutes while I'd been outside with Elsa. It wasn't possible.

“I drew this a few months ago. After the dream.” He handed it to me. “Believe me now?”

I nodded slowly, unsure how else to explain what he was showing me. I didn't fully believe in the ability of premonitions and seeing the future. Anything could be changed. I didn't want to disappoint him though. I smiled weakly, wrapping my arms around him. “Of course,” I whispered, kissing his cheek. “I have some news of my own.”

“You do?” he asked, pulling back slightly.

“I haven't told you…” I hadn’t been sure how to bring it up sooner. I wasn't even sure I was ready, or when I would be, but at least now we would be protected. Joshua merely stared, waiting for me to elaborate. “There's a plant I've been eating that will keep us from getting pregnant.”

He tilted his head slightly. “Are you positive it'll work?”

I shrugged with a nervous laugh. “I don't know. I hope so. I've been eating it for a few months. Since before we left for Torv,” I admitted. “Elsa read about it in an ancient book about Rome. Apparently Fora had a supply for its medicinal purposes. Luckily, she managed to cultivate some in the greenhouse.” I smiled up at him. His thumb reached out, stroking my cheek as he leaned down, brushing his lips against mine. “We don't have to do anything you're not ready for.”

I knew he was right. I knew he wouldn’t push, and yet I felt the desire building inside of me as his lips touched mine. A single spark of electricity was all we needed to ignite the burning fire I felt. Never before had I been touched in the way he touched me now. His fingers smoothed down my back as I opened my lips to his. I felt his body, my hands against his chest, but it wasn't close enough. We weren't close enough.

“Upstairs.” I pulled back slightly, feeling myself out of breath. Gasping for air, we headed up the stairs, Joshua ahead of me as he took my hand and led me up behind him.

Once inside the bedroom, together we fell in a heap against the mattress. His fingers skimmed my thigh as my leg shifted, wrapping around him. I couldn't find the words to speak. My breathing quickly became ragged and hot as I pulled at his clothes. I touched him, felt him, let my fingers graze against warm skin. Every detail I memorized. Every breath I felt caused me to shudder. Joshua was everything I'd wanted. Everything I'd dreamt of for so long. Finally it was mine. He was mine. It was all within my grasp to take.