Expired With Me

Chapter Forty-Six

Jonas

Iris straddles my lap. She kisses me, soft, and deep. I kiss her back, pulling her close. "Get a room," my brother complains, his eyes closed.

"I would like nothing more," I whisper between kisses, moving a lock of Iris' hair behind her ear. She smiles.

"Let's go for a walk," says my wife.

"We'd have to stand." She tilts her head.

"I can wait a few more minutes."

"Please. Go. Now." Colton looks as if he's about to gag. I lean deeper into my wife, but she breaks away, standing, holding out her arm. I roll my eyes, take her hand, and stand.

"Digamma, watch Mr. Blackwood," I say over my shoulder, not caring if he does or doesn't.

"Aye aye, captain." Bently salutes me.

"And Colton, if Abella calls, feel free to throw his phone into the ocean."

"I am one step ahead of you, brother." Colton takes Bently's phone out of his hand, slipping it into his own pocket.

Iris starts to walk away, giving me a coy smile. I smile back, following her, until we walk side by side, our feet buried in the sand. I look at her, forgetting about our expiring time, and let myself fall deeper in love, as the wind lets her hair fall perfectly.

"This is nice," she says. "The beach. Pretending we're normal." We swing our arms, keeping with the rhythm of our feet on the boardwalk.

"Will you be happy?" I ask, not being able to avoid the future no matter how much I try. "Can you?" She shakes her head.

"I don't know."

"I want you to. More than anything."

"Will you?" I think about it.

"I've had more years of happiness than I've ever deserved."

"Don't say that, Jonas. This is your second chance."

"And let's hope your third goes better." For a few minutes, we walk side by side in silence. Eventually, we reach the end of the pier and sit, our legs dangling in the water. Iris rests her head on my shoulder.

"I want you to love her. Your... Amoris." I shake my head.

"I don't think I can."

"You will. For me."

"Do you think you'll..." She shakes her head.

"No, I can't. I'll love you. And besides, I was never supposed to marry."

"Neither was I." Iris traces our intertwined fingers.

"I don't want to go," she mumbles.

"You need to. For them." I glance at her stomach, at the child I will never have a chance to meet. "Give them a life I never could." Iris looks up at me.

"I'll teach them about you, their home. Amorian."

"How to fight?"

"And shoot."

"We won't know their Date."

"It will be long, I promise you."

"Promise me that yours will be too?" She shakes her head, but I wait for her to answer.

"I promise."