𝐶𝐿𝑂𝐴𝐾 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐷𝐴𝐺𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒 [DISCONTINUED]

𝟐𝟓 | 𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎: 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ, 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑒?"
—𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝐵𝑦𝑠𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦

𝒩.

𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 her coffee into her usual mug that had a horrible science joke printed on it ('Don't trust atoms, they make up everything!'), she heard the bedroom door creak open and the sound of footsteps followed.

She suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind, causing her to giggle lightly, and a kiss was firmly planted on her cheek.

"'Mornin', princess," Diego, who had already changed into his usual sweater and jeans, mumbled before kissing her neck.

"Good morning, handsome," Natalia murmured as she turned to face him. She took a sip of her coffee as she watched Diego grab his own mug and go to the coffee machine. "Do you happen to know what day it is?"

"Mm . . ." He pursed his lips, though it was clear he was resisting a grin as he shrugged and poured his coffee. "No clue."

She giggled. "Oh, really?"

He used one hand to lean against the counter while using the other to bring his mug to his lips. "November fourteenth?"

"It is the fourteenth," she confirmed with raised eyebrows. "And the fourteenth is . . . ?"

He swallowed before blowing air from his cheeks, pretending to look stumped. "Gee, I'm not sure."

"Wow, all right, I guess you forgot." She gave a dramatic sigh as she rested her mug on the kitchen island and turned the other way. "I'll just go and—"

"Oh, you know I'm kidding, baby," chuckled Diego as he stepped toward her and kissed her gently. "I mean, it's our one-year anniversary. How could I forget?"

Natalia giggled softly before kissing him once more.

He kept an arm wrapped around her as he pulled away and quirked an eyebrow. "Do we have a plan or are we just free-styling the day?"

She glanced over to the phone she had put back only ten minutes before giving Diego a scrunched nose. "Actually . . ."

"Oh, no," Diego sighed.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"That's your 'I have bad news' face," he answered with a small shrug, causing her nose to scrunch even further.

"What face?"

"You squint your eyes and wrinkle your nose and all that shit," Diego said with a wave of the hand. "Just tell me."

Natalia sighed. "Well . . ."

"Spit it out, Nat."

She took another sip of coffee before leaning back against the island and raising her eyebrows. "You know Zenya?"

"Your student?"

"Not really my student, just a researcher in my lab," she corrected. "I mean, she's, like, five years older than me."

Diego nodded. "What about her?"

"Well," she began as she put her coffee mug back down, "her husband is currently out of town, and her sister just went into labour."