Before "Noodle!" Before "Momo!"
Before, "Did you clean the litter box?"
Before, "I'm too tired."
There was us...
There was, "Text me when you get home."
"I can't wait to do life with you."
Late nights that felt endless.
Hands that didn't let go.
Dreams whispered between stolen glances
about a future we couldn't picture clearly,
but wanted anyway...
"I wonder how many dogs we'll have."
We laughed about names.
"A tiny white one called Ghost.
And a big black one called Demon!"
We promised we'd never lose whatever this was.
We had no idea how much life would stretch us...
Now it's half-empty packets of Schesir on the counter.
Laundry that never ends.
Exhaustion sitting heavy between us on the couch.
Conversations interrupted by tiny meows
calling out for us...
Now it's, "Can you grab their bowl?"
"Did you pay that bill?"
"Whose turn is it?"
Romance looks different now.
Quieter. Harder earned...
But sometimes, when the house finally goes still,
I catch your eye across the room.
And I see her.
The same woman who whispered about forever
like it was a promise,
one we had no idea would ask this much of us...
We're living the dream we once talked about.
Just not the polished version.
The real one.
The tired one.
The sacred one...
It's not always soft lighting and easy laughter.
Sometimes it's tension.
Sometimes it's repair.
Sometimes it's choosing each other
when we're both worn thin...
But this...
This chaos.
This partnership.
This building something worth fighting for...
This is love in its truest form.
Before "Noodle." Before "Momo."
There was us.
And even now,
in the middle of all this,
you are still my favorite part.
All nine lives.
