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"Let me look at you." His voice darted over the rose bushes they were currently cutting back, her head turning toward him.
They stood there in the garden looking at each other. "Enough?" "Not nearly", he answered to which she turned her face down hiding her blush.
He always did that. Making her blush without effort. It always made her feel warm and content when she looked up into his eyes, so full of love for her. She has long learned to handle those feelings. Hearing him say such things, however, still was unknown to her even after years.
"We need to finish here, Francis", she muttered shyly. Another thing unknown to her. For as long as Mary could remember she was bold and confident, used to drawing attention wherever she went. If someone needed help, they came to her, and she would never hesitate to think about it. But with Francis it was different.
He first came to work in the garden when Mary was 8 years old. They were mostly picking the fruits then. She remembers being annoyed by his being taller than herself, especially since he was two years younger. But nobody ever stays annoyed for long in Eden, there was no reason for negative emotions. Therefore, by the time the sun went down they were already running around the hills laughing and throwing flower petals and feathers into the air.
"Francis is a girls name", she whispered into his ear before running off laughing, knowing he would chase her. They were inseparable ever since and not before long the angels saw their union. The trust Mary had subconsciously given into Francis and the way he looked at her first. The angel saw in them Adam and Eve again and with God's blessing took their vows to each other once Francis had turned 18.
Three years have passed since that union, 15 since Mary first looked into these clear blue eyes and still it hit her with such force as if the angels were taking her to fly above the gardens.
"I think we're nearly done here." Confused, she looked back up making him laugh again, she loved that laugh. "What?" "I said, I think we're almost done here. With the roses", he smiled still, teasing now and walking around the flowers. "Where did you go again in that pretty little head of yours?", he asked, his smile softening, taking one of her hands into his while holding her chin with his other. There was something mesmerizing of seeing this loud and confident woman blush. Her beautiful pale skin turning red, so full of life, just because he was near her.
"I don't know what you're talking about", she replied polished and turned away from him cutting the last of the withered roses. In fact, she now remembered that he only gave answer to her previous question but wanted to make a point now searching for even the tiniest brown spot in the bushes.
"Come ooon", he said taking her hand again and tugging at it. "No, these have to be perfect." "They are, they always are when you do them because you care about them in a way as if you were one with them. They will be fine for another few days. Besides. It's almost sundown." He sounded like a boy sometimes still rather than a man when he wanted something and despite herself Mary always gave in.
She could not say no to Francis whenever he stood there in the last lights of the day, a bit of dirt still on his face and his curls hanging all into his face. He almost looked like the angels themselves. Francis always felt the second she let go and started running away with her.
She shrieked briefly when he stopped to pick her up and then smiled down at him radiant as the sun. "You're so beautiful", he whispered and lowered her back to the ground. "So, so beautiful", he tucked away a strand of hair, holding her face only for a second longer. She smiled, standing on her tiptoes to give him a chaste kiss before running off again towards the lake.
By the time Francis arrived Mary had already started dancing with her friends. Greer, Aylee, Lola and Kenna. The latter being her companion since she first saw the light, the others gradually joining them with Aylee being the youngest at 18. Behind them Francis found Sebastian sitting in the shadows weaving a flower crown for Kenna, who recently became his wife.
Walking towards the group Mary quickly left the circle to spin a couple times with Francis, their laughter filling the air before she turned back to her friends and Francis joined his brother. They were not related by blood, but he was the one who always taught Francis the easiest thing as a child when he had wandered too far to ask his parents. Sebastian in many ways was a bigger brother to him, and he always made sure to thank the Lord for that.
"She only has one head, you know", Francis teased as he sat down next to the other man hinting at the flower crown. "It started falling apart earlier", he muttered, completely focused on his task.
Francis gave a sound of agreement to it starting on his own crown for Mary. Red flowers to contrast her features, her dark hair and eyes against her pale skin, giving her outside the warmth her heart carries.
She looked so beautiful today between the red roses, he thought.
The two men were completely focused on their tasks not noticing the girls ending their games to sit around with them. "It's beautiful", Mary’s quiet voice hit Francis and made him shake only a little as he lost his focus before looking at her with a grand smile. "Not as beautiful as you.", he muttered before returning to his task. Mary smiling put her head on Francis' shoulder watched Sebastian replace Kenna's old crown with the new one, putting its predecessor on his own head.
She was filled with so much joy to see her friend so happy. Mary prayed all their friends found their happiness soon. There was a feeling in her that last time when Lola saw Collin it was lighter than previously. They would make a lovely pair.
"I made one for you too", she whispered sleepily into her husband's ear, his attention immediately back on his wife. She smiled at him, sitting back up running towards her bag as if she had not just sounded tired mere seconds ago.
She hid it behind her back and slowly made her way back toward Francis. He looked at her with those blue eyes and she felt like the world just had gotten lighter because of it. How much more could she possibly love him; she thought and sat down before him.
"Close your eyes" she giggled and pushed him gently when he gave her an annoyed look. "Please" she tried again and this time he agreed. Happy she won Mary pulled out a beautiful flower crown with lush green leaves, thornless, red roses and beautiful white daffodils. It looked so beautiful against his golden curls, hardening his soft features just enough.
"Open them," she said and slowly he let light back into his blue eyes. "Beautiful", she whispered and kissed him gently. "I want to see it!", he exclaimed but Mary swiftly pulled him back down. "Finish mine first, I want us to match. Like a king and his queen."
The hours passed like that, Francis finishing his crown for Mary, dancing and telling old stories. Mary never thought she could grow tired of this. Here, surrounded by love and friends. She thought no one ever could. There was not one day she thought again she would not want to wake up next to Francis, working with him and dancing in his arms for hours. It was so perfect to hear the choirs sing when they danced and laughed with each other.
As the sun went down behind the hill, they all gave their last thanks to the lord and followed the angels back into their little part of the garden. A little neighborhood the friends made up two years ago, not long after Mary and Francis said their vows. An unspoken promise that they will be a part of their future child's life just as they are of each other’s.
As they stepped into their house, the flower crowns put into a basin of water to preserve their hard work just a little longer, the world narrowed. Outside the garden seemingly went on forever but here, in the little home they made it was manageable. You could see everything just by turning around yourself once. It was comfortable and silent in a way they never craved but always welcomed.
"You're thinking", Francis said wrapping his arms around her waist. "Do you think that's what they felt like outside?", she said. "Who?" "Adam and Eve", she explained, "back when it was only them. Do you think this, this quiet I mean, is what they always felt, everyday even outside?" "I am not sure. What makes you think that?", he let his hands wander from her shoulders down grasping her hands again.
She let out a breath and laid her head back into his shoulder. "I just couldn't imagine what it must have been like. If I could spend all my day just with you. What would we do all day?" He snorted, "we would climb the trees, dance, tell each other stories, watch the clouds, kiss and..." she turned quickly and slapped his shoulder. "Francis!"
He laughed at that, pulling her back into his arms.
"I think I would tire of you and your antics. I am glad we have our friends here with us.", she muttered into his chest holding tight at his ribs. "I love having them around too.", he answered softly, kissing her head. "We should go to bed."
Mary smiled, understanding the meaning of his tone and let him lead her towards their bedding. If Francis was gentle with her outside, he touched her with what she imagined the wings of the angels felt like when they gave themselves to each other. His fingers gently traced her skin as he removed her linen dress, kissing every inch of skin exposed skin. It was easy to forget herself for a second when his lips touched skin usually untouched by him, easy to completely give herself to him as he surrendered himself to her.
Her fingers tangled with his curls making his breath hitch in a way that tugged at her heart, making her stomach flip with so much love. The way his body shuddered as if cold when she bit into his ear and traces her fingertips down his neck as he pulled her into his lap joining their bodies together, making them one as the first humans, now ascended, once were.
Sleep came easy to them that night, as it always did, their dreams filled with a future of a boy with brown curls and bright blue eyes running across a meadow towards his parents.
It was a beautiful dream, and one Mary desperately wished it to be true when a few weeks after that heartfelt night she found herself with child. It was Aylee who figured it must be when Mary started "glowing" as her friends had described it. Apparently, she had noticed the same glow in Kenna, when she fell pregnant not too long before her.
"Oh, this is just wonderful. They can grow up together and be lifelong companions just like we are!! What a blessing!", Kenna jumped in front of her friend clutching her hands beaming. "Have you told Francis yet? I am sure he will be challenging the sun with his beam when you tell him.", her friend kept gushing.
Mary, still confused by what had happened in the past few minutes, slowly found back to herself and stammered a few words that her friends collectively answered with "yes". Like a switch Mary went from a neutral expression to a big smile of excitement. "I am with child", she whispered more to herself, but her friends heard and immediately hugged her again.
"What is this commotion, ladies?", Bash yelled from a few meters away, Francis and their friend Leith in tow.
The girls immediately went quiet, looking at them, still teary-eyed and smiling. "Nothing.", they said in unison, knowing they won't keep their secret long. Especially once they left Mary and tugged the boys away leaving their friend with her husband.
"Mary, what's wrong?", his worries voice carrying over the second he noticed the tears. Hands all over her checking for a scratch. "Are you not well, what happened?" She couldn't help but laugh at his state. "Francis, it's okay, I promise. I am fine. Francis", she took his hands in hers steadying him. "Look at me. I am fine. I promise." His expression turned confused immediately. "Then what is it?"
Mary, still holding his hands, took a step forward. "You know how we have been married for three years now?" He nodded, "the best years of my life." She smiled. "Mine too." She looked away briefly watching the birds. "You also know how we love each other so deeply we pray for a child every month?" Again, her husband nodded. "Mary", he started after a second making her look at him, "if this was not the right time either-" "I am with child.", she interrupted him. He was silent in an instant.
"What?", he finally got out. "We are to be parents.", she said again, her smile growing even bigger. "I saw it in a dream but Aylee, she is certain. She was certain with Kenna too and she's started showing!", Mary rambled on her excitement growing with every word infecting Francis. "We're having a baby. I will be a father", he finally said before lifting his wife up yelling again about him becoming a father.
It's uncertain what made the onlooker decide on his next move. Whether it was the happiness of the young pair and their creation of life. Or if he had just now finalized his plan but only a week after when Francis and Mary woke up for the days’ work there was a fire burning in Eden.
They woke not as usual to the sounds of the animals but to thunder and screaming. "What's wrong?", Mary asked no one in particular since obviously Francis would know as much as her. "Stay behind", he urged her when they both walked towards the door of their home. "No, I am going where you go." "Mary, you carry our child.", he tried to plead with her. In the corner of his eye, he saw a tree burning.
"I am scared Francis. I don't know what to make of this feeling. But I think in my head as much as it hurts that you may not come back to me. I cannot stay here, not knowing. Tell me you could!"
His silence settled it. They opened the door and stepped out together, holding tight onto each other and for a second it felt like breath lost their body.
The garden, usually so green and alive, now lay in wrecks. Angels fighting, wind gaining power. It was colder now. Had Satan made it to their Paradise to continue his war?
They wandered around trying to find their friends, both of them scared now. It took them a few minutes until they realized the angels fought humans rather than the fallen. That made them stop. "Why are they fighting us?", Francis whispered stunned. Mary’s hand had held her stomach the entire time, tears streaming down her face. They passed the hedges where they had worked on the roses not too long ago. The daffodils and roses that grew there now tarnished and grey.
"Francis! Mary!", the pair turned quickly and exhaled in relief upon seeing their friends. "What happened?", Mary asked falling into the arms of her friends. They had found shelter in a small cave with no purpose other than watching their home be destroyed.
Sebastian tried to steady his voice, but it barely did anything. "It was Luis. He ate from the tree."
They all knew what that meant. The tree of knowledge of what evil truly meant. The consequences always had been death, and this would be it.
Mary stopped crying in an instant, the shock leaving her without emotion. "Why would he do that?", she heard someone ask and she barely registered an answer but inside she was numb. She saw an angel striking Olivia, a girl that lived close by. They used to braid each others hairs when they were children.
"This can't be happening" she whispered. "Is there not something we can do?", she asked now, desperate, more than anything her thoughts circling only around the idea of Francis dying. Of their child never seeing this beautiful sky. "It can't end like this. God can't just undo us all, can he?", she asked again but falling quieter again with every word.
It turned out there was nothing they could do as they sat in a circle speaking their last goodbye. Hours passed until something hit the cave and broke it apart, rocks falling. Mary only subconsciously gathered that Aylee had been buried beneath them. She could only make a choked sound of pain, having hurt herself her head. But none of this mattered to her. She had to get to Francis, who lay just a distance next to her, eyes closed.
His beautiful blue eyes. As much as she would be grateful for his dying quickly, she needed to tell him once more, needed to see him once more. "Francis" she cried, pulling herself towards him as more rocks and gravel flew around them. It had started to rain and she was cold. "Please, open your eyes", she whispered once she reached him. "Please", her hands tucked the hair out of his face.
Faint she felt his heartbeat still and let out a desperate smile. "Francis", she tried again lying down next to him. If she dies, she wants to die looking at him and his blue eyes. One last time. She could see how much it cost him to open his eyes but nonetheless she was happy he did. "You are so beautiful. If you could see what I see..."
Despite herself and the pain she chuckled slightly. "I am quite happy with my view.", she replied hoarse.
He smiled. "I love you, Mary. Forever, I promise you that"
She lay her forehead to his when his eyes gave out light, closing them for him, one last time, and taking his hand before she herself closed her eyes.
In the midst of the war the angels took notice of them and though they could not save them from the consequences they knew of their love so pure and granted them one last blessing to love each other and grow together till death part them one last time and their souls be claimed by heaven.