“Because they look like birds in paradise," he said gently as he kissed the side of her neck.
She laughed at herself; how had she never made that connection before? The beak, the plume... it all seemed so obvious now. She knew it wasn’t her fault. No one had been around to teach her those things when she was little; but this seemed like something she should have figured out on her own.
She threw her arms around him and held him tightly as if through the simple act of their bodies touching each other she could absorb everything else he knew.
He lifted her off the ground and spun her around. The vibrant colors of the flowers blurred together like the bold strokes in one of his paintings.
Today was her 25th birthday but she hadn’t told him. No one knew. She hugged him again and had to restrain herself from biting down on his ear. Sometimes she loved him so much it seemed like the only way to satiate her heart.
The smoke from the campfire he built them last night still lingered in his hair and mixed with the fragrances in the garden. It smelled like a dream she once had.
A hummingbird darted past their heads, circled back and then stopped just above his shoulder. She stared knowingly at its wings flapping ferociously while it remained suspended, perfectly still, caught in a moment between the past and the future.