Emilia slept much better that night and as the morning came, she had a shower and dressed herself in plain T-shirt and jeans.
She went downstairs, straight into the kitchen, shuffling around, as usual, to prepare her own breakfast and brew.
"Good morning, Bernie." She smiled at the housekeeper who just arrived back home with Barky. "Hello you!" Emilia bend over and have the dog a big scratch behind his ear which he welcomed with excitement, and then she gave him food too.
"Good morning, Emilia." Bernie smiled back at her.
"Do not worry about setting my place at the table today. I shall accompany Mr Hayden for breakfast."
"Are you certain?" Bernadette asked with worry written on her face.
"Yes." Emilia smiled. "I think he ought to have a bit of company once in a while."
"Mr Hayden enjoys his solitude. I am not sure whether it is a good idea." Bernadette followed her out of the kitchen.
"Good morning, Christopher." Emilia said to her new husband with a wide grin as he just approached the table. "Bernie is concerned that I am making a grievous mistake by joining you for breakfast."
Christopher looked at Emilia first, surprised by her high spirits and more so, surprised that he heard his name from her lips. As her words sunk in, he diverted his gaze to the housekeeper, and then back to Emilia.
"Emilia, you can join me whenever you wish."
"Thank you."
"Bernadette, Dr Hayden has a final say in everything. Please, do not doubt her choice again."
"I don't go by 'doctor'." Emilia grumbled.
"Mrs Hayden." Christopher smiled as he watched Emilia set her plate up next to his. She was already spreading raspberry conserve on her toast, when he nodded Bernie to leave. Bernadette obeyed his wishes.
"You know, I wish there was a change in a honorific title for men too to indicate their marital status."
"If you wish, I'll change mine."
"And what would you go by?"
"I'm not certain. Do you have a suggestion?"
"Misterress." Emilia said straight away, without a second of thought. "I think we should all stick with Mx now. Or Mre. Mystery Hayden!" Emilia seemed particularly pleased with her last suggestion.
"Mystery Hayden. Works for me." Christopher agreed as he dug into his boiled egg. His smile didn't fade.
"What's the matter?" Emilia asked looking at Christopher.
"What are you asking about?"
"What makes you smile?"
"Oh, it's simple. I never thought we could be like this."
"Am I bothering you too much?"
"No, not at all. If anything, I was upset that you didn't bother me enough."
"I thought that's what you wanted."
"I mean, yes. That's on me. I did tell Cosby that I didn't want someone to notoriously bother me. But when I've said that, I wanted to avoid someone continuously whining to me or badgering me with trivial matter, not the complete lack of communications."
"And I feel like now I have to be bothering you about the most trivial things." Emilia's eyes twinkled. "Talking about the benefits… Smiths University has a networking event with alumni including a few talks. Would you be interested in giving a talk?"
"Do you want me to?"
"It would be beyond appreciated."
"Then yes. Just let me know when it is."
"Seriously?"
"Yes." Christopher agreed without a moment of hesitation. It was a very small request in comparison to what Emilia could be demanding, but also, it was Emilia's request. He was happy to do much more for her.
His answer made Emilia squeal in excitement and her cheeks flushed. She was breathtaking. Christopher struggled to take his eyes off her.
"That's great. Thank you, Christopher."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"I will be returning from the suspension within a few days and I will be going back to writing a particularly challenging bit of coursework. I wondered if you could review it."
"Again, not a problem."
"Thank you. Now, what would you like from me?"
"What do you mean?"
"You agreed to two of my requests so it is only fair if I can offer my services to you."
"I thought it was part of your newly forming benefits package."
"I haven't been fully serious about that. Although I appreciate you agreeing to both of my requests."
"Hmm… if you feel up to it, there's a dinner gala in two weeks. I could use your company."
"That's a fair request." Emilia nodded in approval. "I will accompany you."
"Thank you." Christopher said as he looked at his watch. "I will see you later." He started getting up to rush to work. It was more tiring to manage everything himself without his trusted assistant by his side, but he coped.
"Have a good day at work." Emilia said behind him which made him leave the house with the widest and goofiest grin on his face.
Throughout the day she cuddled Barky as she started looking through her phone which was left on the dresser in her room while she was unwell. She noticed many missed calls from Grace and quickly popped her a message asking to meet up later in the week. She read throughout the day and slept, before she was absolutely shattered by the late afternoon, crashing on the bed with Barky by her feet. She was so tired that she didn't even hear Christopher quietly opening the door in the evening to check on her after she hasn't responded.
Christopher stood by the door for a moment taking everything in; Emilia who was peacefully asleep and a dog laying on the bed by her feet. She was his wife now and he had the next few months to love her, and maybe even have her love him back. Their entire relationship suddenly changed since Emilia came back and he couldn't have hoped for anything else.