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The warmth of Juneˏ 1947 envelops you as you sit in the garden. The grass that you sit on is growing greenˏ inhabited by ladybugs who show up from time to time to say helloˏ their dotted wings coloured in the same pigment as the strawberries on the plant in front of you.
No more is the unsure air broken with the splittingˏ alerting sounds of air raid sirens or Luftwaffe planes flying overhead. Nowˏ it is filled with the sounds of birds singing in treesˏ of leaves blowing in the occasional breezeˏ of comfortable silence. It is filled with the sound of peaceˏ at last.
Your very own husband had a part in protecting that peaceˏ in creating that sought after peaceˏ in bringing that peace to you.
You tilt your head back with a sighˏ smiling to yourself as you bask in the natural warmth offered by the sun. The small wicker basket next to you sits full of strawberries from the plant and yet so many still remain hanging from the stemsˏ but there is no rush to collect them all for now. You tilt your head to look back when the sound of shoes tapping against stone reaches your ears. A smile spreads across your face when you see Leonardˏ sauntering down the lush garden from the back doorˏ walking across the picturesque stepping stone pathway to reach you.
“How is it comingˏ darling?” He has a bright smile on his faceˏ one that almost outshines the sun itself. “Any winners yet?” His eyes sparkle as he looks down at youˏ his tall frame shading your face and body from the sun as he stops just beside you.
“They are all winnersˏ my love. They survived all of that war business.” You laughˏ following Leonard with your eyes as he shifts his gaze back and forth between you and the basket of red strawberries. “But there are some big ones in thereˏ yes. Bigger than last yearˏ i think.” Your voice trails offˏ thinking back to the previous yearˏ the year Leonard had been retiredˏ the year that the world was still rebuilding and recovering so much. He interrupts your drifting train of thought by crouching down beside youˏ his trousers creasing around the knees.
Leonard hums as he dips a hand into the basket. “They look deliciousˏ and you look beautiful.” He tilts his head towards youˏ letting out a breathy laugh when you smile and nudge his shoulder with your own. “Ever the romantic ˏ Leonard…” But you cannot hide nor deny the smile on your faceˏ and the slight heat blooming in your cheeks. No matter how long you have been togetherˏ he never fails to make you feel special with the simplest of things. He just has that way about him and charmed you with it the first time you ever met.
When he lifts his hand from the basketˏ he is holding a single strawberry by the green stem. It is the biggestˏ the juiciest of the whole bunch. His fingersˏ fingers that had been wrapped around the controls of whitley bombersˏ are gentle as he holds it. “Oh! That is the biggest one i have found yet actually-” The end of your sentence stops on the tip of your tongue. Leonard has brought his hand upˏ positioning it just in front of your mouth. The strawberry held between his fingers is staring back at youˏ as is Leonard who has a smile curved on his lips and a warmˏ cheeky glimmer in his eyes.
“Take it.” Gesturing to the strawberry with his head. You smile back at him as you lean inˏ wrapping your soft lips around the strawberry and taking a biteˏ keeping your eyes open and locked with his. You hum as the naturally sweet taste fills your mouthˏ pulling back and chewing the fruit with a hand over your mouth before swallowing. He deposits the bitten end into the basket but keeps his eyes on you. You can feel a small amount of the juice from the strawberry dripping from your lip and down your chin and make a move to wipe it before it can stain your white blouse. Leonard does it before you canˏ your hand is halfway to your face when his own cups the side of your jaw. His thumb wipes the trail of red juice awayˏ letting his thumb linger on your lower lip before pulling his hand back. Instead of wiping his thumb on his trousers or going inside for a bit of tissueˏ he brings his hand up to his own mouth and sucks the juice from his thumb.
He hums at the taste before pulling his thumb back and dropping his hand to rest on his kneeˏ a cheeky and all knowing smile spreading across his face. “Nice?” His voice has a sight teasing tone to itˏ but the sweetness overpowers it. Leonard can never tease you quite as much as he would ever like to. You let out a shaky sigh and shake your headˏ a stronger flush than before washing over your face. “You are awfulˏ Leonard…” He lets out another laughˏ lighter and more playful this time. Your own laugh bubbles in your throat and pulls past your lipsˏ leaning forward and closer in towards him on the grass.
You are still giggling when he moves his hand againˏ bringing it to cup your face once moreˏ this time with his thumb caressing up and down along the warm skin of your cheekbone. He leans in. You followˏ your lips now closed in a sweet smile and your eyes closing.
The press of lips is sweeter than the strawberryˏ likely sweeter than a whole year worth of sugar rations. Your lips fit together like puzzle pieces and you can taste the hint of strawberry juice on his lips as he tilts his head to deepen the kissˏ just as he can taste it on yours too. The kiss lasts around ten seconds before you pull back for airˏ your lips are red and ever so slightly swollen from the deepness of it. Leonard huffs through his nose and chases your lipsˏ pressing one more quick kiss to them with a lovesick smile on his face before pulling backˏ though his hand remains in place on your face. Your faces are still close togetherˏ his breath mingles with your own and your gazes are locked.
Leonard chucklesˏ the warm air fanning your face. “You taste far sweeter than the strawberriesˏ darling.” You groan and roll your eyes but once moreˏ your smile and the redness of your skin tells all. You dip your head to lean against the crook of his neck ˏ kissing the spot beneath his ear with a softˏ airy sigh before pulling back. “Right.” You sayˏ leaning over and taking ahold of the basket handle with one of your hands. “We should go insideˏ my love. I have strawberry tarts planned and i would rather like to start them before the sun begins to set.” Leonard releases a content sigh at the thought of your baked tartsˏ taking your hand in his own and gently pulling you up from the grass with him. His own skin is slightly rosy with a dusting of pinkˏ though it is likely far less noticeable than your own.
“Come on thenˏ my darling.” He wraps an arm around your waist as the two of you begin to walk back up to the houseˏ your slow and peaceful steps in sync against the stones and the grass. His dark hair shines beneath the sunˏ his hand gentle as it holds your hip and traces the hem of your skirt. He leans down to press a kiss to the side of your head. “Your face is redder than the strawberries. Is that sunburn? Or me?” His tone is sweet and teasing. He pulls back with a smile and pulls you tighter against him with a laugh when you tut and nudge your hip against his own.
You stop in your stepˏ now just beside the open back doorˏ and look up at him. Your eyes reflect the loving and serene look in his own. “It is youˏ my love… It is always you.”