Dinner time. They sit across from each other at the table they purchased for their tenth wedding anniversary.

That was five years ago.

He doesn’t notice the new hair cut she got last week while he was away on business. She doesn’t comment on the over-sized love mark on his neck. It is silent as they both shove fork fulls of baked chicken and seasoned rice into their mouths.

He talks about work and she half listens, wondering if she should attempt to salvage this dwindling union. Should she put on that new lingerie set she bought a while back when she first suspected his infidelity? She decides against it. The recent weight gain talking her out of her confidence. Sexy is not a word that she would use to describe herself anymore.

As he talks, he notices her for the first time since he’s been home. Her midnight blue fingernails. The way she chews slowly in order to savor every bite. Did she change her hair? It doesn’t fall over her eyes anymore. She must have cut it. When did she become so beautiful? When did their union become so repulsive? It must have been while he was away looking for a release from his routine in someone else’s bed. He loves her. Despite both her indiscretions and his own.

And with all this love, he helps her clear the empty dishes and straighten the table. But tonight, dinner is not the only thing that she would give him to nourish his body. After all the small talk and chit chatting, they find themselves back at the kitchen table.

Her bent over it. Him thrusting his apologies and sad songs deep inside the depths of her heart. Her body is much softer than he remembers. Her pleasure sounds much more sensual. So much more magnificent than her once high pitched screams.

They became man and wife once again on that kitchen table, where she always served his favorite meal. Baked chicken and seasoned rice. Because she loves him. She has for so many years. She will for so many more. She will be his for one hundred more lifetimes.

They both know that tomorrow the sun will rise and they will both wonder if forever is too long to exist attached to the same human being. They will both question if it really is death that will do them part. Or life. The tumultuous changes of life.

But right now, they are not concerned. This night, he made love to her and she received him like they were just wed. Like the very first night she learned to make baked chicken and seasoned rice. Like forever is as simple as “I Do”.