"Mel, come help a bit!" Émilie shouts, as she's holding a poster against a wall.
"Hold on, Emi, I'll be there in a sec, I'll just put this box away, and… there! I'm done! The kitchen is unpacked and ready!" Melinda says, as she walks through the door to the living room, where Émilie stands near the wall.
It's a rather large room with a big TV on one wall and a large couch looking at it. There's also two large armchairs and a big bookshelf. One of the shelves is filled with various photographs, all of them of the two of them.
There's a picture of them in a company retreat at a spa; there's a picture of them hugging in front of a big Christmas tree. There's a picture of them at a picnic in the middle of a summer, and there's a picture of them at a sunset, holding hands, both dressed in white flowing gowns and flower crowns. There's a picture of them in front of a giant, wooden number five, where they’re both laughing and pointing at it and each other.
"I'll hold this; you put it up, you're taller," she says.
Melinda walks to her, grins wide and grabs her from behind, taking her into a big and tight hug.
Émilie screams loudly and starts to giggle, while the poster falls to the floor.
Melinda lifts her up and swings her left to right, laughing as she goes.
Émilie laughs and giggles uncontrollably.
Melinda puts her down and picks up the poster, while Émilie is catching her breath. Melinda lifts the poster to the wall and looks at it.
It's a picture of a dim, starlit forest that looks somewhat unreal, with its pinkish tones and larger-than-life scale of trees and other plants. One-third way down, it says, "Thank you for ten years of working with us! Good luck to both of you in the future!" It's signed by a whole bunch of different names at the bottom of the poster.
Melinda smiles and sticks the poster to the wall, then steps a couple of steps back. She wraps her arm around Émilie's back, who leans her head against Melinda's shoulder. They both look at the poster and smile.
"Five years from that," Émilie says fondly, and puts her hand around Melinda's waist.
"Yeah…" Melinda says, and nods.
Émilie snuggles closer to Melinda. "And ten years to the day since that one day when I broke up with Evans," she says.
Melinda turns to look at her, smiles, and kisses the top of her head, then leans her head against Émilie's. "Yeah…" she says softly. "Tens years since you woke my up, and my life really started…"
"Silly goose," Émilie says and pokes her in her side.
Melinda yelps and Émilie chuckles. Melinda catches her in a hug and lifts her up.
Émilie kicks the air and giggles loudly.
"Now listen here, my little wife," Melinda says. "I may be older than then, but I'm not too old yet!" she says, and topples her over to the couch and leans over her. She pins her arms on the couch and pushes her knee gently down between her legs. "It's a new couch, by the way… maybe we should test-drive it now…" she says and grins.
Émilie bites her lower lip and quivers.
"I love you so much, my little bottom wife," Melinda says.
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