Page 84 of Viktor at Sea

“I haven’t been sleeping properly at night these past few days. At the risk of sounding creepy, I’ve been watching you sleep,” I admitted.

“It would be creepier if we weren’t married,” she laughed. “So, what was different about last night?”

“Just knowing that today is our last together makes me want to ensure we make the most of it. That we spend all of it together and happy,” I told her, stumbling over the last few words as she dropped her night dress and reached for an ocean blue day dress. Astrid looked beautiful in everything, but I especially liked her in ocean blue. The dread hugged her curves most deliciously. It was going to be tough to keep my hands to myself all day. “I was thinking that after the picnic, we could go for a walk down the beach. We could then go to the market, maybe do a little shopping, and then we could get lunch at the square. And then–”

Astrid cut me off. “I don’t need a picnic in the forest to make me happy.” When she gave me her back, I didn’t hesitate to do up the buttons of her dress. “With everything you have plannedfor today, we’ll be exhausted by the time we make it halfway through the list.”

“I know,” I sighed, my fingers grazing over the back of her neck after I finished fastening the last button. “I just want us to have a good time.”

Astrid brushed her hair over her shoulder and turned to face me. “As long as we’re together, we’ll always have a good time, pirate,” she promised, a soft smile grazing her lips. “How about we enjoy some of that picnic here, and then maybe we could go for a walk? Maybe check out the market? And then my parents invited us over to lunch. Can we make room for that in your busy schedule?” She teased.

“I always have time for lunch with the Skaus,” I grinned. “But how about we switch it up and invite them over for dinner instead? Dustin and Freja, too.”

“I like the sound of that,” she grinned. “Come on. We can drop by to invite them over on our way to the market.”

After a quick breakfastof some bread, nuts and some of Astrid’s leftover strawberry jam, we were out the door, hand in hand, walking toward the market.

“We’ve never been to the market together before,” Astrid said, her hand curled around my arm.

“Before we got married, I don’t think we did much but argue,” I laughed. “Even now, I feel like we spend more of our time talking.”

“I like talking to you.”

“You also like arguing with me.”

“That’s debatable.”

“There we go again,” I laughed, and before she could move away from me, I swooped in and sweetened her with a soft kiss. Astrid melted into my side, and we were back on good terms. It was as simple as that.

We received a few disapproving looks from some passers-by, but I couldn’t bring myself to care in the slightest. Instead, I grinned widely and stared them all in the eye. Each and every one of them had the decency to look away in embarrassment.

If I wanted to kiss my wife, who were they to disapprove?

“Do we know what we’re going to be cooking today?” Astrid asked when we arrived at the market, glancing around at all the stalls, each of them selling something vastly different than the one beside them. “If you haven’t decided already, I was thinking some goat. I know you’re a fan of it.”

“What about your parents? Do they like goat?”

“Mother and Dustin love it. Father likes it, but Freja doesn’t, so maybe we should go with something else which everyone likes.”

“Or we could get a rabbit for Freja and anyone else who doesn’t fancy goat?”

“That would work.”

Astrid and I started by locating the stall that sold all sorts of meat. Thankfully, the vendor had goat meat in stock. We paid for a few fresh cuts of it, but before we could enquire about some rabbit as well, Garth came seeking me out to discuss a few things for tomorrow. I didn’t want to speak about tomorrow, or the next few months today, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

Thankfully, the conversation wasn’t long, and we were able to come to a solution pretty quickly. When I returned to find Astrid, she wasn’t where I had left her. Instead, she had wandered a few stalls down and was looking at some jewellery.

I noticed the sparkle in her eyes as she stared at a pair of earrings, toning out the jeweller who was talking her ear off inan attempt to make a sale. What she didn’t know was that she already had.

I approached Astrid from behind and rested my hands on her hips. I refused to resist the urge just because some people thought it inappropriate to show affection in public. I knew Astrid didn’t care either because instead of pushing me away, she leaned back to rest her head on my chest.

“Did you get the rabbit?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered, and I glanced down at the packages she was holding in her arms.

I leaned around to take them from her, but not before pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. It was already difficult enough to keep my hands off my wife. It was so much more difficult knowing that from tomorrow, I wouldn’t see her for several months.

“Do you like these?” I asked, staring down at the sparkly, teardrop earrings which my wife was so enamoured with.

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