I felt her before I saw her.

A slow, lazy warmth pressing against me, followed by the faintest trace of her scent, something soft, like vanilla and sunlight. Then, a hand. It started near my collarbone, fingers tracing slow, thoughtful circles over my chest like she was drawing something only she could see.

And then, the first kiss.

Cheek first. Then another, a little closer to my jaw.

The third one landed on my lips, gentle but enough to drag me from that half-sleep I was pretending to still be in.

"Hey," I muttered, my voice still rough from sleep.

Her lips curved against mine. "Morning, husband."

Yeah. That word. Husband. She'd been calling me that since university. Four years of mock ceremony and teasing affection, but somehow, it still made my chest tighten every single time she said it.

I smiled, but before I could even return the kiss, she leaned in again. And again. Each one more deliberate than the last, like she'd decided to test the limits of my lung capacity.

I tapped her arm, laughing quietly against her lips. "You trying to kill me?"

She pulled back, eyes gleaming like she'd just won something. "Are you awake now?"

"Would you let me go back to sleep?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She tilted her head, wearing that unfairly innocent look that could melt entire governments. Then she shook her head.

"Figures," I sighed, resigning myself to my fate.

The grin that followed was trouble dressed in morning light. "Since you're awake…"

"Oh boy."

> "...I've got some things planned for today."

Of course she did.

I groaned, dragging a hand over my face. "Of course you do."

"It'll be fun!" she said, tugging at my arm to get me to look at her. "I promise."

"Your definition of fun terrifies me sometimes."

She laughed and managed to pull my arm away anyway, beaming like I'd just agreed to something major. "You'll love it. Look."

Before I could protest, she reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone. A few quick swipes later, she was showing me her gallery.

Correction — her endless gallery.

Pictures. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. Skating rinks dusted in white lights. Street cafés with steaming mugs and cozy sweaters. Some outdoor food market I didn't even know existed. And one that looked suspiciously like a pottery class.

"You…" I blinked, "want us to do all of these today?"

"Not all," she said with that smile that always came before chaos. "Just like... ninety percent."

"That's what all means," I said flatly.

She giggled, biting her lower lip. "Okay, fine. Eighty."

"Oh, great. Huge difference," I muttered, but the corner of my mouth was already betraying me.

She caught it immediately. "See? You're smiling already. You love my plans."

"I tolerate your plans," I corrected.

"Semantics," she said, completely unbothered.

Sometimes I wonder if she even realizes how she looks in moments like this, hair a little messy, still in one of my shirts that's way too big for her, all bright eyes and excitement before 9 a.m. She looked like she was built to ruin my attempts at sleeping in.

I leaned back against the headboard, still half tangled in the sheets, watching her scroll through her list like it was a national mission.

I looked at her again, more closely this time — this chaotic, radiant, impossible woman planning a full-day adventure before I'd even had coffee. And for a second, I thought I had her figured out.

Then she laughed at something on her phone, hair falling into her face, and I realized I didn't.

I still hadn't found a name for her.

And honestly, what could I possibly give someone like that?

She looked up, catching me staring, and smiled like she could read my thoughts. "What?"

"Nothing," I said, smiling back. "Just… thinking."

"Dangerous habit," she teased, poking my chest.

"Yeah," I murmured. "Especially when it's about you."

Her eyes softened, and then that grin returned, the one that meant trouble. "So, does that mean you're agreeing to my plans?"

I sighed dramatically. "Do I have a choice?"

"Nope," she said cheerfully. "Now get up, husband. We've got a full day ahead of us."

I groaned again, throwing the blanket over my head. "Remind me why I love you?"

"Because I'm adorable," she said without hesitation.

I peeked out just long enough to see her grinning. "You're impossible."

"Mm-hmm," she hummed, standing and stretching, sunlight catching in her hair. "And you love it."

Yeah. I really did.

---

We didn't even eat at home. According to Val, "We don't have time for that, husband. The day's waiting."

So I drove while she sat cross-legged in the passenger seat, feeding me breakfast one bite at a time from a paper box she'd somehow managed to balance on her lap.

"Eyes on the road," she said as she lifted a forkful toward me.

I gave her a look. "You realize this is a terrible idea, right?"

> "Terrible ideas are usually fun."

I sighed, opening my mouth anyway, earning a pleased grin from her. Vanilla latte in one hand, fork in the other, she looked far too proud of herself.

We hit the city just as the morning crowd thinned. Christmas lights still hung along the streets, flickering faintly in the gray light, and the air carried that sharp chill that made you want to stay close to someone warm.

Our first stop?

A small Christmas market tucked behind the main square, the kind that looked like it belonged in a postcard. Wooden stalls lined with hand-knit scarves, the smell of cinnamon and roasted nuts drifting everywhere.

Val was in heaven.

"Ooh, look at this one!" She pointed at a stall selling tiny glass ornaments shaped like stars.

I followed, mostly because I didn't have a choice. She was already halfway there.

"Don't you think Duchess would love this?" she asked, holding up a small ornament shaped like a cat wearing a Santa hat.

"Duchess doesn't have a Christmas tree."

"She will now," Val declared, buying it before I could protest.

By the time we left, she'd collected a small paper bag of "essentials" — two ornaments, a jar of spiced honey, and what looked suspiciously like a snow globe of a cat.

"Tell me again why we came here?" I asked as we walked back to the car.

She smiled. "To make memories, obviously."

I groaned but smiled anyway.

---

The next stop was the park, one of those sprawling winter gardens they decorated every year with fake snow and fairy lights.

Val found a booth that rented out sleds, and before I could finish saying no, she was already halfway up the small hill, calling over her shoulder, "Come on, husband!"

"I'm not eight!" I shouted back.

> "Then you'll slide faster!"

And somehow, ten minutes later, I was sitting on a sled next to her, gripping the sides while she laughed like a maniac. We hit the slope, cold air slapping my face, and she screamed, half out of excitement, half out of chaos.

We crashed at the bottom in a puff of fake snow, her laughter echoing through the cold air.

"See?" she said breathlessly, hair a mess, cheeks pink. "Fun."

"You're insane."

> "Probably. But I'm your insane."

And that was that. I couldn't argue with her logic, not when she was looking at me like that.

---

By late afternoon, we'd eaten street food twice (both times, she fed me again — apparently my hands were "too cold to function") and stopped by a small bookstore she'd found on her phone. She wandered between aisles, humming softly, while I followed her with a coffee cup in hand, wondering how someone could find so much joy in doing everything and nothing at once.

She picked up a book, flipped through it, and said, "Do you think Duchess would enjoy bedtime stories?"

"She's a cat."

She squinted at me. "And?"

I just stared at her, and she burst out laughing.

---

Our last stop was the ice rink downtown, all glittering lights and music and people holding hands. Val laced up her skates with the kind of focus she reserved for science experiments.

"You sure about this?" I asked, tightening my own laces.

> "I'm better at this than you think."

Five minutes later, she nearly fell twice and used me as balance both times.

"Better, huh?" I muttered, holding her steady.

She glared up at me. "Don't start."

"I didn't."

> "You were thinking it."

I grinned. "You're right."

She smacked my arm lightly, but her laugh slipped out before she could stop it.

By the time the sky turned dark, we'd skated until our fingers were numb and our cheeks hurt from smiling. She looked like she belonged in a dream — scarf loose around her neck, eyes bright, laughter fogging the cold air.

And maybe that's exactly what she was.

Because even as I groaned at her enthusiasm, I couldn't help watching her. The way her lips pursed when she concentrated. The small laugh she let out when she saw a picture she liked. The way she talked about the simplest things like they were new adventures waiting to happen.

She's chaos, yeah. Absolute, beautiful chaos.

She's also comfort. And warmth. And the person who somehow made my apartment feel like more than a place to crash after work.

She's the kind of woman who will threaten someone for insulting me one night, and the next morning, she'll wake me up with kisses and talk about ice skating.

Domestic and wild at the same time. Unpredictable, but home.

My best friend. My lover. My headache. My peace.

And right there, while she kept her focus on the street show she'd dragged me to next, I found myself thinking again about that nickname she wanted.

What could I even call her that captured all of this?

I've tried before. Star. Genius. Trouble. Every word felt like it was only catching a fraction of her.

She's not just brilliant or beautiful, she's everything between the lines.

She's the calm before my chaos and the chaos after my calm.

She's warmth wrapped in precision, love tangled in logic.

She's the girl who stayed up three nights straight to help me prep for my thesis, then showed up to class half-asleep just to make sure I ate breakfast.

She's the one who fought through sickness, through pressure, through everything, and still looked at me like I was her world.

And somehow, I'm supposed to find a name for that.

Her laughter pulled me back. She was leaning against me now, watching the street performer juggle flaming torches.

"I can't believe he's doing that without gloves," she said, half in awe, half in disbelief.

"Yeah," I murmured. "Some people like danger."

She shivered a little, tugging her scarf tighter. "I'm cold."

"I told you to wear a thicker coat."

> "And I told you it didn't match my outfit."

I raised an eyebrow. "So now what?"

"Which means I need you to keep me warm." She said, grinning.

I stared at her. "That's your plan?"

She nodded proudly.

I stared at her. "You're unbelievable."

> "You love that about me."

"Debatable."

> "Liar."

I sighed, shrugging off my sweater and slipping it over her shoulders. She grinned — triumphant, smug — and I didn't even try to argue. There was no point.

She turned back to the show, humming softly under her breath, completely content. And I just watched her. Because really, what else was I supposed to do?

Every time I tried to define her, she became something else. Every time I thought I had her figured out, she'd tilt her head, smile, and rewrite the rules.

She's stubborn, proud, brilliant, reckless, gentle, fiery, nurturing, mischievous, protective, childish, selfless—

She's everything.

And the more I thought about it, the more it hit me.

Maybe I didn't need to give her some new name at all. Maybe the one she'd been calling me for years was already perfect. Husband.

Because that's what she was to me — every part of that word flipped around and mirrored. The one she'd already written into every part of my life.

Wife.

I tapped her shoulder lightly. "Hey."

She turned, smiling. "Hm?"

"I think I found your name."

Her eyebrows lifted, eyes dancing. "Really? What is it?"

"Wife."

She blinked, surprised at first, like she thought I was joking. Then her eyes softened, warmth spilling over everything in that quiet way she had.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That's perfect."

And she leaned in, hugging me tight, her breath warm against my neck.

We stayed like that for a while, the sound of laughter and distant music wrapping around us, the cold fading into something softer.

Somewhere between her heartbeat and mine, everything else just… disappeared.

It wasn't official, not yet.

But in every way that mattered, she was already mine. My chaos. My calm...

My wife.

---

To be continued...

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