Alice lay with her back on the bed and her feet resting on the wall, humming softly along with the radio. Beside her, Jasper sat with his back against the wall and his long legs stretched out in front of him. He was engrossed in yet another historical account of the Civil War. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them needed to. Alice smiled at her husband before turning her gaze back to the ceiling. She traced the dust motes in the air, connecting them into pictures much like the ancient Greeks had done with the stars. She decided she would name a particularly handsome gentleman Major Whitlock, and began compiling his “legend”.
Jasper smiled to himself at the waves of love and pure happiness radiating off of his tiny wife.
In less then a minute later, the ceiling and the handsome Major were gone and Alice was watching a vision of the future.
“Alice?” Jasper asked, but she was to busy concentrating on her vision to respond. Frowning, she searched for a clue to the time. She caught a brief glimpse of the clock radio before the vision cut off. Gasping, she flipped over to sit on her knees. Reaching out, she grabbed onto Jasper’s sleeve.
“Quick! Turn the radio to station 99.9!”
He frowned in confusion, but reached over and turned the dial. They listened in silence to the tail end of some song, something about a girl thinking her boyfriend’s tractor was sexy, before the announcers came on, promising the audience that they’d be returning shortly. “Alice, what’s going on? What did you see?”
“Shh!” Alice hushed him, listening intently to the radio. Finally, the announcers returned.
“And we’re back! Our next song is by Alison Krauss and it’s called “When You Say Nothing At All”.”
Alice hopped off the bed. Grabbing Jasper’s hands, she pulled him up to the standing position. As the opening chords of the song filled the room, Alice wound her arms around her husband’s neck. “Dance with me, Mr. Cullen?” she asked.
He smiled as he pulled her closer. “I thought you’d never ask, Mrs. Cullen.” They swayed together, content to simply hold onto each other. Alice sang along with the final chorus, her sweet voice meshing perfectly with the artist’s.
The smile on your face
Let’s me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes
Saying you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand
Say’s you’ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best
When you say nothing at all
They stayed standing, wrapped in each other’s arms as the song finished. Another one started, a man having to ask his friends about what he had done the night before and what they’d said. Slowly, Alice leaned back as far as Jasper’s embrace allowed. Gazing into his eyes, she smiled. “Thank you for the dance, Mr. Cullen.”
He trailed his knuckles gently down the side of her face. “Anytime, Mrs. Cullen.”
They stepped away from each other; Jasper to return to his book, Alice to bully Bella into another game of dress-up. On her way out the door, she paused and turned to look back at him. They shared a look, a smile and an unspoken understanding. Then she was skipping down the stairs and he went back to his book.