Memories (4/4): Making New Memories
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 17th September 2005
Characters: Carmora, Almonteo
Description: While cleaning out a box of keepsakes, Carmora remembers some of the most important moments of her life with Almonteo.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 7, day 22 of Turn 3
Carmora smiled as she turned the music over in her hands. The morning after their argument, she'd found this under a stack of papers, the ink still wet enough to have left a smear on the papers above it. She'd known that he'd written it that morning, written it for her... and had tucked it in her pocket to demand a private performance later on. Of course, that evening their son had gotten sick, and then there'd been the flurry of activity getting their eldest ready to go to her new home. By the time she'd found it again she'd spent two straight sevendays throwing up every morning, and had tucked it away as a memory of the rather spectacular start her new son had gotten of to. Some of the notes had blurred over the turns, but she traced her fingers along the paper and wondered what it would sound like. She had faith in her husband's skill, but she doubed _anything_ could have captured the feeling of that night... the fire and the heat and the way it had burned down to gentle warmth...
Almonteo walked into their bed chamber, humming away in his usual manner.
He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek in greeting and then continued humming his little song as he went about changing into something a bit more comfortable for lounging. Finally he turned to look at Carmora and saw a strange light in her eyes as she gazed into his. "Now what are you up to there?"
She smiled at him. "I was remembering the night I threw two of our plates at your head..." "You seem a little to pleased at the thought of throwing things at my head, wife," he said as he sat down beside her. "Or was it _after_ the plate throwing that you were thinking of?"
Her hand found his shoulder and slid up to curl around the back of his neck.
As she coaxed him down for a kiss, she let the music fall into his lap so her other hand could stroke his chest. It had been nearly twenty-five turns since that day, but the fire was still there. It was more than Carmora had ever dreamed for when she'd married him all those turns before.
"Hmmm," Almonteo hummed contentedly when their lips finally parted. "If remembering the night you through plates at my head brings out this kind of response, what will reminding you of the week you made me spend on the sofa produce?"
She chuckled and kissed him again, this time dragging it out until they were both a little breathless. "I miss you. If nothing else, I'll be glad when we've moved so I won't have to be without you any longer. I'm afraid I got sidetracked with the packing, though... I found a few memories." "I'm thinking of a couple myself," he chuckled as he slipped one hand to her backside and began nipped at her earlobe. "Which ones are _you_ thinking of?"
She reached past him to pull the box closer. "Look what I found... the first letter I ever wrote to you. And the flowers you brought me the day after our wedding..." She rescued the music. "And this... I found this after the plate incident... I'd meant to ask you about it but then I ended up pregnant and life got... hectic. More hectic." The harper forgot his seduction as he took the paper carefully between his fingers. "Carmora, where did you find this? I thought I had lost it!"
"Oh, I found it turns ago... the morning after that fight we had." She watched his face as he scanned the music, loving the way she could almost _see_ him hearing the music. He'd heard music in his head all of their life, but he'd always shared it with her. "I was going to ask you about it that evening... but things just kept getting in the way and then I forgot." His lips curled into a smile as his eyes scanned the page. "I wrote it that morning. You were still asleep and I just sat there watching you for a minute. And I couldn't help but think of that first morning when I woke up next to you, that morning after we were married. And I just thought about how lucky I was to have found you. And I was even lucky that I was the man who got to keep you."
Carmora wrapped her arm around him again, leaning into his side. "Will you play it for me?" "Why don't I hum it for you." Almonteo was loath to let go of his wife right then, a thousand beautiful memories of his life coming back to him, and all of them with her. He leaned cheek gently against the top of her head and began humming the simple song he had written for her that day, twenty-five turns before.
"Almonteo!" Carmora pulled back to look at him. "But... that's the song you hum all the time!"
He smiled down into his surprised wife eyes before gently kissing the tip of her nose. "I might have lost the paper, but I never forgot the tune, my Carmora."
She shifted to kiss him again, and gave him a gift that she hoped would move him as much as his simple song had moved her. "Well, then. I suppose we'd best spend the evening packing. You don't think I'm going to wait around here when there's work to be done, do you? When your harpers arrive, I'll have a place waiting for them." "My beautiful girl, you are so good to me." He gave her a smile full of mischief as he said, "But let's not pack _all_ evening. There is still some time to add a memory or two to that box of yours."
Last updated on the September 17th 2005