TITLE: Partners
EMAIL: cybill@pacbell.net
AUTHOR: Cybill 
RATING: NC-17
CLASSIFICATION: MSR, Smut, Post-Ep 
SPOILERS: Je Souhaite 
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance
DISCLAIMER: If I owned them, they'd never make it out 
of bed to investigate. 
SUMMARY: What really happened when the Genie came 
into our dynamic duo's world. Read and find out. 
WEBSITE: www.cybillxfilesopus.com
FEEDBACK: Means so much to a writer. It's quick, 
easy, and cheap for you, but it's priceless to the 
person who you're sending it to. 

Beta Thanks: Mims, you really are the queen of 
comma's and new paragraphs. I actually think I 
learned the dialogue/comma dilemma I've been plagued 
with! It's taken a year, but by George, I think I got 
it! Are you hearing "My Fair Lady" in your head while 
reading this? Anyway, I digress. This beta is also 
extra special to me because it's exactly one year 
after I had you beta my very first fic, Call Girl, 
which was the catapult to becoming friends with you 
and Opus. Can you believe it's been a year already? 
You can beta-shred me anytime! 


This fic is dedicated to Xfilesopus, on our one year 
anniversary of being friends and writing partners in 
this wild and crazy community. Opus, you thought it 
would be great to read a Post-Ep that continued the 
conversation M & S had on the couch. Well, just for 
you, I started before that, added real dialogue from 
the actual episode, and topped it off with smut! 
Happy anniversary! You're the best. 

Now on with the show...

XXX

A Genie. Of course that's the only logical 
conclusion. Yeah right. Look at him. He's fascinated 
by her. Head cocked to the side, a sly grin plastered 
on his face. The "Genie" asks if we're going to 
arrest her but we have nothing to hold her on, and I 
tell her as much. 

"I think she's free to go," I tell Mulder. 

"No, I'm not, he unrolled me," she says coyly. I look 
over at him like he's suddenly grown three heads. 
He's watching her as if she's the most interesting 
thing on earth. 

"I get three wishes," he says stunned. Miss Jen just 
smiles in return. 

XXX

I can't believe this. He's bringing her home with 
him. How could he? We've barely been together for two 
months now and he's bringing another woman home with 
him. I mean, I know things have been strained between 
us this past year, but we finally crossed that 
invisible line, told each other how we feel. Well, 
kind of. Okay, our bodies have told each other what 
we are incapable of saying in words. We've never 
needed them before. Now it's as if I was just given 
the old heave ho.  

The plane ride is an utter nightmare. He's sitting 
between Jen and me. How quaint. He's spent almost the 
entire ride droning on and on about the history of 
Genies and confirming what he's known about them was 
either fact or fiction. She is all too happy to sit 
there and appease his curiosity. He hasn't once 
attempted to discuss the rest of the case, the fact 
that I had the largest medical anomaly of all time in 
my grasp before it up and disappeared, only to 
reappear again, literally. And what a surprise, she 
fell from the sky in a tattered rug. God I don't even 
know what to think anymore. I need a hot bath and a 
glass of wine. What I'd really like to do is take him 
home, and wipe that smug look off his face. 
Preferably with his face between my thighs. 

Arrrgggghhhhhh. The visual is not helping, and 
neither is his talk of 18th century France. He glances 
in my direction. Oh you realize I'm still here? 
Whoopee! I give him my best glare and he sinks back a 
bit in his chair, his eyes not leaving mine. 

Jen leans over to dig into her bag near her feet. He 
takes that as an opportunity to invade my personal 
space. He adjusts my hair behind my ear and softly 
whispers, "What's the matter?" My temperature rises, 
and not just from the heat of my irritation at him. 
His proximity, his lip barely grazing the sensitive 
skin of my ear, all adds to the melting pot. God he's 
gorgeous, even when he's being an idiot. I shoot him 
a look and move to tell him exactly why I'm pissed 
off, although I think he knows why.

A flight attendant interrupts us. 

To hell with it! If he doesn't know what's the 
matter, then I'm not going to tell him. He can just 
use that Oxford degree in Psychology and figure out 
on his own. I turn to the window and ignore the 
flight attendant, him, and the Genie.

XXX

"So, your partner left the airport rather quickly," 
She says while viewing my fish tank. "I don't think 
she likes me very much."

"I don't think she knows what to make of you. I, I 
don't think I do either." I cross my arms over my 
chest. "Really." 

"Well, you could always give up your three wishes. 
I'll disappear, no hard feelings." I consider the 
thought and sigh. It's too amazing to even think that 
a person actually has the possibility of wishing for 
something they want, and receiving it. 

"I didn't think so," she says knowingly. "So what's 
your first wish?" 

Already? I'm supposed to automatically come up with 
something out of thin air? 

"Well uh, what would your wish be, if you were, uh in 
my place?" 

"I'm not you, it doesn't matter." She puts down the 
book she's holding and sweeps back a strand of black 
air fallen into her face. 

"I just, well I'd like to uh, know." Why is she so 
evasive about this? 

She ponders the question for a minute. A huge, toothy 
smile breaks over her face. "I'd, uh, wish I'd never 
heard the word wish before. I'd wish that I could 
live my life moment to moment." She gets this sad 
look across her face. "Enjoying it for what it is, 
instead of worrying about what it isn't. I'd sit down 
somewhere with a great cup of coffee," she halts mid-
sentence, looking wistful. "And, I'd watch the world 
go by." 

I look at her with sympathy. I couldn't imagine 
living my life exclusively on the wishes of others. 
Going from place to place, person to person and only 
coming out of hiding because I've been found. I guess 
it's not that much unlike what I live with in my 
quest for the truth, and finding my sister. Maybe 
we're all a bunch of puppets, just with different 
forces or handlers pulling the strings. 

"But, then again, I'm not you. So, I doubt that's 
your wish." Her mood changes quickly and it's back to 
business. 

"You know, I'm beginning to see the problem here. You 
say that most people make the wrong wishes, right?" I 
think I've got it! 

"Without fail, it's like giving a chimpanzee a 
revolver." 

"This is because they make their wishes solely for 
personal gain."

She looks at me and laughs a bit. "Could be." 
"So the trick is to make a wish that would be 
altruistic, something that's for everyone." She's 
silent after my epiphany. Interesting. See, she 
thinks that I'll be just like everyone else. That 
I'll be selfish and not consider others or the good 
of humanity with such a blessing as she can bestow. 
"So, um, I wish for peace on earth." So there! I'm 
tamping down the desire to stick my tongue out at 
her. 

She licks her lips and grins. "Peace on earth? That's 
it?" 

Why do I get the feeling she's going to hit me with a 
whammy? I nod. "What the hell is wrong with that?" I 
look at her suspiciously. "You can't do it?" Maybe 
I've stumped her, or she's not as powerful as she 
thinks she is. 

She grins. "No, I can." Her smile grows wider. "It's 
done." 

That brings a big smile from me in return. Peace on 
earth. I look around and wait to hear something, 
anything. Rejoicing, people praising God, or Allah or 
whatever deity they believe in, and hear nothing. 
Wait a minute...

"Oh, crap." I look out the window. Nothing. I run 
down the stairs two at a time and make my way onto 
the street. Cars are everywhere but there are no 
people. God damn it! "I guess I should have seen this 
coming!" I scream out to the empty street knowing she 
can hear me. I'll bet she's real proud of herself, 
damn Genie. As I look around at the people-less 
street, one thought comes into mind. "Scully." She 
might be in the office. 

I run down the street, make it to the Hoover building 
and up toward our office. There's nobody in the 
building. Panic starts down in the pit of my belly. I 
can't live in a world that she's not in. I make it to 
our office. She's not anywhere to be found. 

"SCULLY!!"

No answer. 

After running through the office, then yelling at the 
Genie for being such a bitch, she replaces the world 
exactly where I'm standing. 

I'm standing in the middle of Skinners office, and he 
has a conference table full of people. That woman 
deserves a life of hell if she thinks this is funny. 
I thought Genies were supposed to be nice, and help 
people. Apparently not this one. Now I'm left with a 
pissed off Skinner, a pissed off girlfriend and a 
bitch of a Genie with one fucking wish left. 

I need a drink. 

XXX

I leave for one damn day and our boss calls me to 
tell me he thinks my partner is one card short of a 
full deck. Great, just what I needed to add to my 
list of fun things to be doing. 

I open our office door. Immediately I see the Genie. 
Could this day get any better? She ventures to the 
corner and Mulder looks up at me with a half smile. 
Oh, so he thinks he's going to get on my good side 
that quickly? He's got another thing coming. 

"Skinner called me, Mulder, is everything all right?" 
I play it safe. I'm not going to flip out on him at 
work, and most certainly not in front of that woman. 

"You don't remember disappearing off the face of the 
earth for about an hour this morning?" What the--he's 
gone insane. Finally all of the pressure has gotten 
to him. 

"Ah, no." I look at him in disbelief and he just 
shrugs his shoulders and goes back to typing whatever 
it is he's working on. 

"Well, then I guess everything's okay." 

I take a deep breath. "Mul--" Oh yeah, the Genie. I 
turn to her. She's coyly leaning against the door-
jam. "Could you give us a minute please?" 

She smiles and I face Mulder again. "Sure." I don't 
hear footsteps or the office door opening. 

"Like today--" I turn around to give it to her and 
she's gone. Just vanished. "Wha..." I walk over to 
the area where she was standing. Nope, she's gone. I 
looked back at Mulder. "Where the hell did she go?" 
He clasps his arms up to his chest, closes his eyes, 
and nods his head forward mimicking what a Genie 
would do when granting a wish. 

"Boing," he says on the uptake. 

"Ah," I shake my head frustrated. "It's gotta be 
hypnotism or mesmerism, or something." I'm 
exasperated that we're even talking about something 
so asinine. 

"Scully, it is what it is. You examined an invisible 
body. Remember?" He says the words like they're the 
answer to everything. Oh yeah the invisible man. I 
really thought that was going to make great strides 
in the area of science. 

I shrug. "I thought I did." He groans. "Mulder, 
alright. Say you're right, say this is what it is. 
Then what you're doing is extraordinarily dangerous. 
I mean, you even said that yourself." 

He shakes his head. "No, the trick is to be 
specific." He uses hand motions to get his point 
across. "To...to...make the wish perfect," he 
stammers. "That way everyone is going to benefit. 
It's going to be a safer world, a happier world. 
There's going to be food for everyone, freedom for 
everyone, the end of tyranny...the powerful over the 
weak. Am I leaving anything out?" 

Oh Mulder. He's such a kind-hearted man. Gullible, 
but kind-hearted. "It sounds...wonderful." 

"Then what's the problem?" he asks in a boyish 
manner. It's as if he's presented something to the 
teacher and is waiting to receive a high grade. The 
whole thing just saddens me. I don't like this Genie 
and I don't like what she's putting Mulder through. I 
don't like that he's letting her do it to him. What 
does that say about us, about our relationship? 

"Maybe it's the whole point of our lives here, 
Mulder. To achieve...that." I look him deeply in the 
eyes. "I mean, maybe it's a process that one man 
shouldn't try and circumvent with one wish." I turn 
around walk out of the office leaving him with that 
thought. 

XXX

"You ready?" I turn and look at the Genie, dressed in 
black, who suddenly appeared behind me. I take one 
last look at the computer screen, at the wish I was 
going to give to the world, and close it down without 
saving it. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to 
make a difference in one person's life, for no reason 
other than saving her and the rest of the world from 
her position. 

What Scully said reiterates what the great Carl Jung 
said. "The world wants peace and the whole world 
prepares for war. Mankind is powerless against 
mankind. And the Gods, as ever, show us the way of 
Fate." In this particular instance, it was the voice 
of the woman I love that reminded me we are powerless 
against one another. Everyone has good intentions, 
but prepares for the worst in others. And our Fate, 
the reason we are here, will be shown to us in due 
time. 

I look up at Jen leaning against the wall waiting to 
do my bidding. I nod at her original question of 
whether or not I was ready to make my final wish. 

"Genie, I wish for you to be free. For you to be 
removed from your gem and given the choice of living 
your life however you wish." The teardrop jewel she 
received so long ago disappears and is replaced with 
real tears. She's silent for so long I'm not sure she 
truly heard what I said, but I'm confident my wish 
has been granted. I stand up, grab my jacket, and 
toss it over my shoulder. "Can I walk you out?" 

She nods her head and takes my outstretched hand. She 
grips my hand so tightly in hers she could probably 
sprain it. We walk outside hand and hand. Curious 
coworkers gawk unbelievingly. They probably think I'm 
walking a new girlfriend out the building. We make 
our way outside and she turns into me, hugging me 
fiercely. I return the hug. She looks up into my face 
with eyes not quite as blue as Scully's. 

"I'm free," she says with wonder and a hint of 
excitement. 

"Yes Jen, you are. You're free. Enjoy it." I squeeze 
her shoulders and turn to leave. As I walk a few 
steps away I can hear her chanting over and over. 
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I turn one last 
time and smile over my shoulder at her. She smiles in 
return, looks up into the sky, opens her arms wide, 
as if hugging the earth, and spins in a circle.
 
XXX  

"I can't believe you don't want butter on your 
popcorn. Yuck. It's un-American."

"Caddyshack, Mulder?" She throws the videocassette 
holder down with a hint of disdain. 

"It's a classic American movie." I lean back, sitting 
next to her, and get comfortable. 

"That's what every guy says." She grabs her beer and 
sits back. "It's a guy movie." 

"You invite me over to your place and we can watch 
Steel Magnolias." She twists off the top of her 
bottle and tosses it into the bowl sitting on the 
table. Nice shot. I do the same and miss the dish 
completely. The plunking of my failed attempt pings 
across the floor.

She laughs and chokes on her beer. "So um, what's the 
occasion?" 

I flip through the channels on the VCR, trying to get 
the tracking right. I look over at her questioning 
face. "I don't know; just felt like the thing to do." 
I'm trying to make nice with you after this case. Of 
course I don't say that out loud. I know she's 
wondering about the Genie and where she's gone off 
to. "Cheers." I lean my bottle toward hers. She 
knocks the neck of hers against mine. 

"Cheers." 

We both take a sip and I fiddle with the remote once 
more. Okay, I've got to break the tension. 

"I don't know if you noticed but uh, I never made the 
world a happier place." 

She looks at me and nods. I return the nod. She turns 
her head away from my gaze and takes a deep breath. 

"Well I'm fairly happy. That's something." She turns 
to me and smiles. I could just look at her smile all 
day. It's only in these moments that she bestows one 
of those secret smiles on me. I'd like to think 
they're only reserved for me. "So what was your final 
wish anyway?" Aw, so she is interested. 

She stares at my face waiting for me to answer. I'll 
let her stew in it for awhile. Besides, I like just 
sitting here with her, drinking a beer, watching a 
movie and eating butter-less popcorn. However, I 
could do without the butter-less popcorn. She purses 
her lips. God, how I love those lips. I grin evilly, 
not letting her in on my last wish and she returns 
the smile. The music of the movie starts and I let it 
save me from answering. I'll tell her, she'll just 
have to get it out of me. Hopefully, with her on top. 
I adjust my pants, releasing some of the pressure. 
She settles into my side slightly and we watch the 
movie. 

XXX

Okay, I've had enough of male humor. I guess I'll 
just go home. I stand up and slide my hands down my 
thighs, straightening the wrinkles in my slacks. I 
slip on the heels I kicked off early in the film. 

"All right Mulder, thanks for the movie, I'm going to 
head home." He stands up and follows me to the door. 

"Wait, you forgot something." He grabs my wrist and 
turns me around. Before I know it, I'm up against the 
door with his mouth on mine. His left hand encircles 
my neck and lifts my chin up. He sweeps his tongue 
against my lips and I'm gone, lost in the sensation 
of his tongue contacting with mine. He tastes of 
beer, popcorn and mmmmm Mulder. I return his kiss 
with fervor, mashing my lips hard against his. He 
brings his other hand to my neck and clasps my head 
tenderly, turning it left and right, taking full 
control of the kiss. I grab onto him tightly, 
bringing him flush against me. I can feel the heat of 
his erection pressing into my stomach and I ache for 
it to press some where farther south.

His mouth leaves mine and I almost miss it, until I 
feel those talented lips skittering down my neck. 
"Sculllyyy," He groans. I moan in reply. "Stay," he 
whispers in my ear. 

Why the hell not? It's Friday night, I don't have to 
be anywhere. I nod. His hands grip my waist anchoring 
me to him. He slides his hands down to cup my ass. 
Suddenly, he lifts quickly and I wrap my legs around 
him. He swoops back to my mouth for another scorching 
hot kiss. This time I take control, having the 
advantage of free hands, and clasp his face to mine 
fiercely. I slide my tongue over his and nibble his 
bottom lip. I release it with a loud plop, and move 
to his neck, nipping and sucking the tendons I find 
there. I slowly drag my lips against the tender skin 
up to his ears. I know this drives him wild.

While I nip at his ear and swirl my lips around the 
cartilage, he moves us away from the door and into 
the bedroom. He maneuvers us down onto the bed, 
pinning me underneath him. I kick my shoes off and 
they fall to the floor with a big clunk. "I'm sorry," 
he says as he kisses my neck, then lifts my shirt 
over my head, removing it from my body. 

"For what?" He hovers over me and stills his 
undressing. 

"For Jen," he says. 

Arrrgggh. I cringe. Just the mention of that Genie's 
name pisses me off and just about puts a damper on 
our current festivities. He sees my mood change.

"I don't want anyone, or any thing to come between us 
Scully." He has a point there. "You know, I took your 
advice about the power she holds." He did? "I set her 
free with my last wish." Oh Mulder. He can be so 
selfless but I really don't want to talk about her. 
Especially not now. 

"Mulderrrr..." I say in warning. 

"No, Scully. You are the most important thing in my 
life. There's no one else for me. It will never 
happen."

He thinks that I thought he was into her? Okay, maybe 
I was a bit frustrated and a tad jealous, but... 
"You're it for me." He looks into my eyes and waits 
for me to respond. 

"I love you, Mulder." He blinks quickly and looks 
startled. Whoa! Did I actually say that out loud? I 
hadn't intended to, but it felt so natural. 

"Scully," he says in warning as if afraid to believe.
  
"I meant it." He lunges at me. His mouth and hands 
are everywhere. Finally! His hands skim up my sides 
and squeeze my breasts. "Oh, God." 

He smiles and leans down. With one hand, he pushes 
the lace of my bra down and latches onto one nipple. 
So good. His tongue flicks the peak lightly. He sucks 
once more and bites down. I grip his head to my 
breast, arching into his touch. He lets go and blows 
a cool stream of air across the moist area. It 
pebbles tightly at the assault and sends a jolt of 
desire through my body. He unclasps the front 
enclosure of my bra, and my breasts are freed. He 
pulls the garment from around me and tosses it behind 
him. I have an overwhelming need to feel his skin 
against my own. I lean up and grasp his t-shirt. 

"Off." 

He complies, pulling it over his head and tossing it 
toward the growing pile of clothes on the floor. I 
tug on his jeans. 

"These too." 

He stands silently, unzips them and drags them over 
his toned thighs and calves. I lick my lips as I see 
his muscles flex under the movement. 

"Boxers." 

"You're awfully bossy," he jokes as he hooks his 
thumbs into the sides.  

"I want what's mine," I say seriously. 

He looks up at me sharply, eyes completely devoid of 
color. His boxers drop to the floor and he steps out 
of them.

I look my fill of his body. He's one beautiful man. 
Tall, dark, handsome doesn't quite cut it. He's a 
work of art. God knew what he was doing when he made 
Fox Mulder.

He leans over and unclasps the button on my pants, 
dragging them and my panties down my legs and off my 
body in one fell swoop. 

"Yours, huh?" he asks as he pulls me to the middle of 
the bed. 

"Did I stutter?"

He smiles wide and covers my body with his. 

"Mmmmmmm" I forget everything we've been talking 
about as his body comes into full contact with mine. 
It's a euphoric feeling, skin against skin. 

XXX

She loves me? I'll have to wrap my mind around that 
after I've fucked her six ways from Sunday. Her hands 
are sliding up and down my back, feeling the bumps of 
my spine with her nimble fingers. She's so small in 
comparison to me. 

I look into her eyes. She's a vision of beauty. Her 
chest is heaving slightly, she continues to lick her 
red lips compulsively and her eyes are a murky blue. 
I love seeing her like this, and knowing that I'm the 
only one that gets to see this side of her. 

I stroke my fingers over her face and swipe my thumb 
against her plump bottom lip. I feel her tongue place 
a feather-light lick against the digit. 

"I love you," I whisper. Her eyes moisten but she 
doesn't cry, just leans up and kisses me softly. I 
break away and kiss my way down her neck, over each 
breast and to her stomach. I swirl my tongue around 
her navel and she chuckles lightly. I look up at her, 
grinning. I know she's a bit ticklish but hearing her 
laugh is music to my ears. Every chuckle just 
ratchets my desire for her up several notches. I grip 
her hips and kiss each of them, moving farther down. 

"Mulder, you don't--I'm ready." 

"I want to taste you."

Her head falls back against the pillow and I continue 
my trek down her body, finally reaching the promise 
land. I pull her thighs apart and place a long wet 
kiss to her center. I want to worship this woman for 
the rest of my life. Nothing is better than being 
with her, like this. Her body trembles as I breathe 
deep against her tender flesh, filling all of my 
senses with her. I slide my thumbs against her 
center, opening her fully. She moans and I dive in, 
licking and kissing in earnest. She howls in 
response. 

Her hips start gyrating with my movements. I insert a 
finger into her and she jumps a bit in surprise. I 
hook it up and twirl it around. Simultaneously, I 
clamp my lips over that bundle of nerves and she 
bucks into my face. I hold on while she moves, and 
add more pressure and another finger. Both fingers 
grip her inside and I nibble on her nerve center.

"Oh, Mulder, God...ohhhhh Mullllderrrr right there."

I ride her orgasm, switching my fingers to her clit 
and my tongue where my fingers left, tasting her 
completely. It's the most amazing experience watching 
her fly apart under me. 

She comes to a boneless halt, and I hover over her 
body and kiss her face. She smiles and opens her 
eyes. 

"Your turn," she says sweetly. 

I nod in agreement, kiss her, and hook her legs over 
my hips. She opens wide and I press my length into 
her in one long thrust. We both moan into each others 
mouth upon uniting. It's always like this. Over the 
past couple months, every time has felt like the 
first time with her. She's so warm and tight. Her 
body clutches mine like a tight fist. It's 
unbelievable. 

I slowly pull almost completely out and press back 
into her, going deeper than before. I clasp my hands 
around her shoulders, getting a firm hold onto her 
upper body.

"Don't hold back," she says. She's giving me full 
reign to pound her. I so wanted to take this slow, 
but it's been almost two weeks since we've been 
together and the need to just take her is 
overwhelming. 

"God, I do love you," I tell her once more as I bring 
my hips back and thrust them home. She groans and 
bites her lip. She does that when she's trying to 
contain her need to yell. For me, it's a goal to get 
her to lose control and scream in pure desire. She 
swings her legs up higher, crossing her ankles over 
the small of my back. The position pulls me deeper 
into her. "Sccuuullyyyyy." 

"More, Mulder, more."

I grip her hips and start thrusting into her with all 
of my might. On every thrust I feel as though I'm 
going deeper and deeper, imbedding my soul into hers. 
She's moving her hips up on each stroke down and the 
pressure is building to the point of no return, but I 
want her with me. I lift my head from the crevice 
where her shoulder meets her neck and see her eyes 
squeezed tightly together, concentrating on our 
efforts. I lean back a little and slide a hand 
between us. I reach her pleasure center and with two 
fingers press on the area while slamming my hips into 
her one final time. My own release comes in a moment 
of sheer nirvana. She wails in that same moment.

"Mulder ohhhh yeeessssss." 

I continue the pressure of my fingers until our 
bodies slow their movement. We both slump into each 
other and she holds my body to hers in a four-limbed 
lock.  

XXX

I think I fell asleep and I have no idea for how 
long. All I know is that Scully's sprawled over my 
body and is placing feather-light kisses on my chest. 
"mmmmmmmm" 

"Welcome back," she says with a grin. 

"If I get woken up like this, it's good to be back." 
She moves over and snuggles into my side. I have my 
arms around her naked form, keeping her close. I 
place a light kiss to her hairline. We're both silent 
for long minutes. I think the past couple months are 
the happiest I've been in a long time. Her presence 
just makes everything feel right with the world. I 
don't need a Genie for that, just her. 

"So, Scully, can I call you my girlfriend?" I ask 
hesitantly.  

"Do you want to survive until your next birthday?" 
She laughs.

"Then what are we to each other?" I ask concerned and 
deflated from her previous answer. 

"We're partners, Mulder." Like that's the only 
possible answer.

"Partners?" Well I already knew that. I wanted to 
know what our new relationship meant to her and how 
it has changed our lives. 

"Yes. Partners," she confirms. "Partners in all 
things." 

"In all things?" There's more excitement in my 
question now. 

"In all things." 

I squeeze her to me and lift her chin, sealing the 
deal with a kiss.

End