The Baptism

I pour myself a drink and freshen hers. Lately it seems as if our marriage has been in a state of discontent. Our eyes are locked and it is completely quiet around us, save for the cracking of cold ice cubes that are being enveloped by warm gin. Lately I have been having my doubts about our marriage. It is not that I am interested in anyone else, it is just that I have lost why I fell in love with my wife.

I raise the glass to my dry lips and drain it completely until the tattered lime touches the tip of my tongue.

"What are you thinking about?," she asks me after she takes a sip of her own drink.

I never really liked this question and have always tried to avoid it. I answer back that we should take our little cocktail party onto the front porch to watch the sunset. The kitchen is too stuffy from dinner and the smell of food hangs around our heads. She agrees and takes me by the hand. We get up from the table and head to the front door but, not before I take the ingredients for another round and not until she turns on the CD player.

We sit in our chairs and hold hands while watching the summer breeze disturb the giant oak trees that surround our property. As we sit on the porch and listen to the chorus of crickets and the music of Pinback floating out of our speakers; my wife turns to me and asks if I am happy. "Happy with what?," I replied.

"With your life silly, with our life," she said after a nervous giggle.

You see, it was my wife's idea to move out to the country and get away from the city. To get away from the fast pace of city life where nobody cares about anyone than themselves. To get away from people who could give two shits if you were dying in the streets, just as long as they made it to work on time. So we sold our house that we bought together the first year we were married and bought this little two storey house in the country. She loves this house and so do I but, she is always worried that I am lying to her just to make her happy.

"Well?," she says, "You haven't answered my question." And as I was about to answer her I noticed the way that the sun hit her profile. It made her look the way she used to when we first met.

And I think back to all the mistakes that I have made throughout my life. I thought back to all the mistakes that we have made in our marriage. I set my drink down on the table next to our chairs, and take both of her hands into mine. I look into her eyes and find myself lost in a sea of green. And as I bathe into the deepness of her eyes and become baptized by her soul I realize how much I love this woman.

When I snap out of my trance I turn to her and kiss her on the head. After, I freshen up our drinks and watch the setting of the sun thinking how lucky I am to have married such a wonderful person.
The End.