A Duchess in the Pacific

Nineteen

I was a child and she was a child
In our kingdom by the sea
and we loved with a love that was more than love.
I, and my Annabel Lee
- Edgar Allen Poe, Annabel Lee

The others let Duchess and Hoosier be alone, especially after the hunch all the women had that Hoosier's visit was going to come with a marriage proposal. Duchess gave Hoosier a tour of the whole house, purposefully ending with her bedroom.

"You're kind of far away from everyone else." Hoosier remarked.

It was true. The upstairs had three wings. One went left and that was her mother and father's side of the house. The middle held the guest rooms, that was were the girls slept, each of them with their own rooms. The right wing was Duchess'. Charles, Isabel, and Dolores all slept downstairs in their section of the house.

Duchess had her room and then a bathroom and, of course, a spare room that she used to store miscellaneous other things or used as an art/music room. Hoosier imagined his small quaint house in Indiana, that he grew up in. And as he brushed over the velvet of the ring box in his pocket, he wondered if he could give Duchess everything she needed.

Duchess shrugged, "I suppose." She agreed with him.

Duchess moved to sit on her bed and looked at Hoosier bashfully to join her. He smirked at how her demeanor had changed with him. She had always been so casual and comfortable around him apart from the first few days that they met. But now here she was with rosy cheeks and turning her face away from his gaze. It excited him, knowing that she suddenly felt shy around him. He moved to sit next to her. She leaned in closer to him and grabbed his hands.

"Hoosier-" She began but corrected herself. "Bill." She began again, using his name because what she was about to say was important.

Hoosier's heart swelled at the use of it, as always. He normally wasn't the biggest fan of his name and often preferred Hoosier. But the way it fell out of her mouth, in the voice that he had long admired, it made his blood pump through his entire body and he began to want her more in that moment than he thought possible. He reached up and tucked a curly strand of her hair behind her ear, tracing his fingers along the softness of her cheek as he pulled his hand away.

"That day on Pavuvu, before you left for Peleliu. You told me that you loved me and," Duchess began, trying to keep her composure. But she was filled with such emotions that it was difficult not just break down sobbing out of happiness, out of relief, out of everything. She exhaled and continued, as Hoosier was patiently waiting for her to finish.

"And, oh sweetheart, I should've said it back. Because I do. I really do love you. Because when I found out that you got hurt and that something terrible could've happened to you..." Duchess' voice broke on that last part.

Now she was crying, there was no stopping it. Hoosier pulled her in and tried to calm her, running his fingers through her hair and kissing her forehead. But she pulled away from him, determined to say exactly what she needed to.

"And I know that it's been a long time since that day, but Bill please. Please say that you're still in love with me. Because I'm so in love with you. I don't wanna be apart from you any longer." She finally finished.

Hoosier's eyes went crystal at the sound of Duchess' words. He had really hoped all this time apart would make her realize she loved him, he had bought a ring after all. So he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, despite the fact that Duchess was so emotional.

"Baby, how could I ever stop loving you?" He said sweetly, before grabbing her hair gently and tugging her into his lips.

Duchess kissed him eagerly, desperate to have him as close to her as possible. Hoosier could taste her tears as they fell into his lips and mouth. And though he knew it was an odd thing to get aroused by, there was something about knowing that those tears were for him. That she loved him so much that she was crying real tears just to tell him. He felt suddenly possessive of her, after years of having to share her love and attention with everyone else. Now there was no one else. Just him and her, in her bedroom. And she wanted him. And he knew that she wanted him.