In the mountains across the borders ...

I lose myself in you again.

"Here Comes the Rapture," Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Epilogue

Elsie sighed happily, albeit a bit exhaustedly, as she made the now-familiar right-hand turn up the long, winding drive. As her destination came into view, she slowed the car a bit and smiled.

She parked the car in its spot and climbed out gingerly. Five hours in the car, with only one stop, had taken a toll on her body. As she walked, she stretched her back and then shook some sensation back into her pinkie finger, which had fallen asleep about twenty minutes before she'd arrived.

Elsie didn't go inside, choosing instead to walk around to the patio behind the house, figuring everything that she'd brought along could sit for a few minutes longer. She stopped halfway there, however, to take in the incredible view: a panorama of red mountains in the distance, the setting sun shining off of them and deepening their color as its light added to the dark tones of the stone itself, with wispy clouds hanging in the midst. The red was broken only by a scattering of trees; there wasn't a single other house visible from her vantage point.

Having taken her fill of the vista, she turned the final corner onto the patio, smiling at the new scene before her - a much less majestic view, to be sure, but one that filled her heart with even more wonder than the previous one.

Charles had fallen asleep on his half of their double patio lounge, his fingers laced over a book that had fallen sprawled atop his stomach. His reading glasses rested just above the tip of his nose, and he was softly snoring … with two smaller, furrier creatures snoring at his feet.

Knowing he'd kill her for it later, Elsie quietly slipped her phone from her pocket and snapped a picture, fulling intending to make it her home screen later on that evening.

The click of the camera startled the cats, and Boots was the first to wake and spot her; he jumped down and padded over to her feet, and she crouched down to give him a bit of a cuddle.

"Hello, love," she said softly, and he purred and licked her hand before heading into the house in search of water.

Only when Boots had disappeared did Robbie come forward to greet her. He was the new addition: a petite, black cat with a bit of white mixed into his fur. He'd been a gift from Robert and Cora, hence his name (although Elsie would always insist he'd been named for Robert Burns and not Robert Crawley), and both Charles and Elsie had fallen in love with him immediately.

"Go on," she encouraged after scratching Robbie behind the ears. "I'll watch over your Da now."

He meandered around the patio, sniffing here and there, before joining Boots inside the house.

Elsie put her phone on the side table and gently climbed onto the lounge. She slipped the book from underneath Charles's hands, smiling at the sight of the platinum band that now graced his left ring finger.

"Els?"

"I'm sorry," she murmured, leaning over and kissing his temple. "I didn't mean to wake you."

He extended his arm, and she tucked herself underneath it and up against his chest, wrapping him in a tight half-hug.

"You must be exhausted yourself," he said in a gravelly voice. He kissed her hair, and she nodded.

"I am, but it was worth it not to spend the night alone." She poked him playfully and added, "And you're the one who disappeared this morning."

"Ah," he agreed, yawning. "I did. But you came looking for me."

She picked herself up enough to be able to look him in the eyes. "As promised," she said.

His chuckle rumbled in his chest, and she could feel it throughout her body.

"Arizona," he said with a sigh, sitting up a bit to look out over the patio wall at the setting sun. "Who'd have ever thought we'd really end up retiring here?"

"Not me," she replied sleepily. "Now lie back down so I can cuddle you."

"My pleasure, Mrs. Carson," he said, and as they rolled into one another's embrace, they both drifted off to sleep.

oOoOoOo

They woke about an hour later and agreed that a late dinner would be better than no dinner at all. Elsie had become rather adept at preparing simple meals over the last few months, and so she got something going while Charles - who had been unpacking the boxes from the move all day - took a shower.

He re-emerged just as Elsie was setting their plates on the table, and his arms wrapped around her waist.

"You smell amazing," she commented, turning to face him. "And you owe me a proper kiss hello, I might add."

"So I do," he said, leaning in.

A small mewl sounded from somewhere inside of her as his lips met and moved against her own, his tongue gently grazing her lip in promise of things to come.

"Welcome home," he murmured when they broke apart, and she swallowed with a bit of difficulty.

"Thank you," she managed, taking her seat.

They discussed his progress with the unpacking over dinner, highlighting the things that remained for the following couple of days. Elsie updated Charles on her meeting with Mary and the new projects that CFP would be starting in the next month, and he offered opinions about some of them. The cats jumped up on an empty chair next to Charles at one point in an attempt to swipe something off of his plate. Elsie shooed them away with a laugh.

"Wedding photos came in today," he said eventually, and the comment was met with a delighted gasp from his wife.

"You never said until now!?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," he clarified, the amusement evident in his eyes. "They're … well, they're spectacular, actually. I'm glad we decided on mostly candids. Wait until you see the ones from after the ceremony."

Their wedding had been a very small, intimate affair, with only their closest friends and the Crawleys in attendance. Robert and Cora had served as best man and matron of honor, a nod to the long-standing friendships between them all. It had been the easiest wedding decision Charles and Elsie had made; given that the Crawleys had seen them through the entirety of their lives together - both phases - it had seemed only fitting.

"I'm so happy you like them," Elsie said, reaching to squeeze his hand. "You're pickier than I am, darling." Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "They took one of me with Elizabeth, didn't they?"

"That's my favorite, actually," he said, "aside from the one where I'm kissing you. You're looking down on her with such amazing love written all over your face, Els." His eyes misted, and she squeezed his fingers a bit more firmly, nodding.

"I can believe it," she said. "I adore that girl, Charlie."

"Me, too."

His voice was wistful, but they'd both had that conversation already, and each had shed enough tears over the missed opportunity to have their own family.

They didn't speak much after that.

When they finished eating, Charles took his turn in the kitchen while Elsie went to soak in a hot bath.

She emerged from the bath feeling refreshed and relaxed and found Charles sifting through the photos.

But Charles felt his heart thump hard when looked up to see her - his beautiful wife, completely nude, approaching him slowly.

"Well," he said, placing the photos on the nightstand and scooting to sit at the edge of the bed, and he stretched his arms out to welcome her into a light embrace.

"Well," she mimicked before grasping his face in her hands and placing a deep, hot kiss to his mouth.

His hands caressed up and down her body, from her thighs to her shoulders and back again.

"Welcome home, love," he said as he fell back onto the bed, pulling her down by his side.

She propped herself up on her elbow as her hand dipped below the waistband of his pajama pants.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," she said.

"Forever?" he teased, gasping as she squeezed him gently.

"Forever," she confirmed.

His eyes met hers, and he smiled.

"Finally."

Thank you, thank you, thank you. xxx