The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

“It’s ours,” she corrects me. “I’m asking for your opinion because I want you to love our home
too.”
I nod at her and entwine our fingers. Designing our home together has been much more fun than I
expected it to be. It truly feels like we’re making it ours, but it’s bittersweet, because it also means
I’m washing away everything related to Hannah. Raven and I haven’t spoken about her at all recently,
and I’m hoping to keep it that way. It’s odd, the way she and I attempt to exist in this bubble where we
pretend I wasn’t engaged to her sister for years, yet it seems to work for us, for now.
“Are you done with work?” she asks, glancing at my laptop.
I nod and close it. “Yeah. I’m exhausted.”
Raven glances at my pajamas and nods. “Let’s go to bed then.”
She tightens her grip on my hand and pulls me along, both of us quiet as we make our way to our
bedroom. Day by day, each memory with Hannah gets overwritten, until one day, I’ll look around and
find nothing but Raven written onto my walls.
Raven lets go of my hand and walks over to her side of the bed, her cheeks rosy. We’ve gone to
bed together every night since the first night she fell asleep in my arms, but she still gets shy about it.
It’s odd, because we’ve always been so comfortable with each other.
We’re both silent as we get into bed, and I turn toward her with a smile on my face. “Why are you
so nervous, Cupcake?”
She chuckles and turns onto her side too, the two of us facing each other. “I’m not sure. I guess
this is still just new to us?”
I look into her eyes, trying my hardest not to let my eyes dip down to her breasts. “Is it, though?
You fell asleep in my arms on the sofa not that long ago.”
Her eyes widen just a fraction and she looks away, her cheeks reddening rapidly. “Did you have
to remind me of that? I’m so embarrassed about my behavior that night, Ares. I can’t apologize
enough.”
I reach for her and cup her cheek gently, turning her face back toward mine. “Don’t apologize,” I
whisper. “I didn’t mind it one bit, despite what I might have told you then.”
She nods and lets her eyes fall closed, hiding from me once again. This time, I let her get away
with it.
“This is not so bad, right?” she whispers eventually. “That night you told me that you’d never
want me, and I know that. I know I’ll never be Hannah, but…”
“Don’t,” I cut her off. “Don’t mention her in our bed, Rave.”
She looks at me with so much sorrow in her eyes. “Moment of honesty? This bed doesn’t feel like
ours. Every single night, I feel like I’m sleeping in her bed.”
Raven turns away from me, but I lean over her and force her to face me. “Then we’ll throw the
whole damn bed out, Raven.” Her eyes widen, and I cup her cheek gently. “Let’s just order a new
one.”
She nods and hesitantly reaches for the collar of my pajamas. “Can we throw these out too, then?”
I glance down in confusion. They’re plain blue checkered pajamas.
“I know Hannah and you have matching pajamas, and maybe it’s petty and immature, but I…”
I sit up in bed and pull her up with me until we’re both sitting on our knees. “So take it off, wife.”
The sheets bunch around her waist as she lifts a trembling hand to my chest. Her eyes meet mine,
and she hesitates for a moment before she undoes my top button. I watch her beautiful face as more
and more of my chest comes into view, taking note of the way she blushes, the way her breathing
accelerates. She undoes the last button, letting it fall open as she grabs the collars.