Stories of Our Life: The Second Volume

9: Braid

Her hair's longer than usual now, Newt noted as he watched his wife brush her now shoulder-length hair in front of the mirror, reading a book that sat on the dresser in front of her. A soft smile tugged at his lips as he leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

The length suited Tina, in Newt's opinion-not that she didn't look beautiful with short hair; Tina's beautiful no matter how she looked. But, maybe it's the fact that he rarely saw her grow her hair out past her shoulders. Whenever he noticed that her hair was almost past her shoulders one day, it'll be cut short in the next, back to its usual length that ends just below her chin.

Either way, Newt liked seeing her hair like this.

Pushing himself from the doorframe, Newt entered their bedroom and silently padded his way to stand behind her. Seemingly, she didn't notice him, for Newt saw in the mirror that her eyes were still trained on her book. He chuckled quietly and gently took hold of the brush in her right hand. Upon touching that hand, Tina jolted and quickly looked at the mirror. Newt met her eyes with a smile.

"Here," he whispered, gently taking the brush from her. "Let me." And he began brushing her hair in her place, taking the opportunity to marvel at how soft her hair is.

Tina hummed her thanks, throwing him a small smile, and returned to her book.

As Newt brushed her hair, an idea popped into his head. He knew Tina wouldn't like that idea, but he decided to go with it anyway. It wouldn't hurt, right?

He murmured a levitation charm on the brush and let the object float beside him. Then, he ran his fingers through Tina's hair, divided it into three even sections, and began crossing them over each other. Newt knew Tina noticed because he saw her look at him in the mirror, a scowl on her face.

"Newt, what are you doing?" she asked, raising a hand to the back of her head. Newt playfully swatted it away with a chuckle.

"Shh. Stop fussing, love," he reassured her. "I'm just braiding your hair."

Tina cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "Braid?" she uttered. Then, her expression morphed back into a scowl-more like a pout, in Newt's eyes. "Newt, you know I hate styling my hair into anything," she told him.

Newt grinned, working on the end of her braid. "I know, love. I'm almost done." After crossing the last section over, he secured her braid with a blue ribbon. Leaning backward a bit, Newt nodded with satisfaction for his work. He draped the braid over her shoulder and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He gazed at her lovingly in the mirror, hand on her shoulders and his chin on top of her head.

"Beautiful," he sighed happily.

He watched Tina toy with her new braid for a moment, a look of contemplation on her features. She grazed her fingers over the braid. Then, she smiled. "Wow...this is...this is good, honey," she complimented him.

"Thank you," Newt smirked then pecked the top of her head. "It suits you, y'know."

"Really?" Tina arched a brow.

"Yes. I find you rather beautiful with long hair."

Her face fell. "Oh...so you think I'm not beautiful with short hair then?" she asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Newt internally panicked, his eyes going wide. "W-what? No!" he stammered, "What I-what I meant was-I mean...you look beautiful in any style. I-"

Tina laughed, placing a hand on his to stop him from talking. "Newt," she giggled, "I was just joking."

"Y-you were?" Newt gasped. She nodded, smiling teasingly. Newt heaved a sigh of relief, wrapped his arms around her shoulder, and buried his face into her neck. "I thought you were gonna be mad at me," he mumbled into her neck.

"Aww, Newt," Tina cooed, running her finger through his hair. "It's alright. I'm not mad at you."

Newt looked up. "Really?"

"Really."

Newt sighed in relief, placing his chin on her shoulder. He watched Tina admire her new braid for a while, before she asked, "Since when did you learn how to braid hair anyway?"

The question earned a laugh from Newt. "Well," he shrugged, "when you have a sister like Prim, you pick up a few things along the way."

His wife giggled again. It was true. Prim liked to put her hair into simple styles, such as braids. So, when she was younger, whenever Newt would come to the Manor for a visit and their mother was out of the house, she'd ask him to braid her hair. AT first, Newt didn't know how, but with Prim's instructions, he slowly learned until he managed to create a perfect braid (in his standards, anyway). She'd also ask Theseus the same if he were around (yes, Theseus knows how to braid hair, too. He did Leta's hair before and she loved it). Thus, braiding and chatting over tea became the siblings' little way of spending time together.

"Hmm, you learned a lot from that, then," Tina smiled, turning her head to kiss him, aiming for cheek. But, Newt swiftly turned his head to catch her lips with his.

They kissed for a minute or two before parting for air, bright smiles on their faces. Newt stole a quick peck and admired how beautiful Tina looked at the moment.

"You're the most beautiful creature I've had the pleasure to lay eyes on," he whispered. "And I am so lucky to have you as my wife."

A small blush bloomed on Tina's cheeks. She snorted. "Flatterer."

Newt grinned lopsidedly. "What? It's true!"

[Edited and Re-uploaded: August 8, 2020]