you were my happily ever after

Rhyme coughed deep in his lungs as he roused from slumber. It felt like the crystals were growing into his lungs, almost like every day he had less lung space. So far his performance in the pack wasn’t noticeable, but he knew he was keeping Samara awake at night as his body tried fruitlessly to remove them with the cough. From the difficult winter to this odd affliction, Rhyme was worn down but he hadn’t even been able to admit it to himself. Business as usual even if he was pushing himself harder than he should.

Part of him was defiant of the obvious, the natural wearing of time. Something he’d thought about before heavily but now he clung to his life. Rhyme was content with where his life was now, everything had fallen into place beautifully and Samara was the whole reason for that. They raised a beautiful family together, and now their children were children no longer. Rhyme had a deep amount of loss and pain buried beneath the life he lived, but he always wore a smile because this was everything he had ever wanted.

He caught his breath and stretched his limbs, moving stiffly as he struggled to get himself to his paws.