Tales From The Triple Suns (Chapter Twenty-Three) by Barbara at Story write

The final weeks seemed to drag by, with each day bringing another official, and another meeting for Craig to attend. I couldn’t understand why he had to be there, since he had been basically replaced by the military. He had explained that the situation had to be handled in a certain way so that rumors would not spread about the reason for the military presence.

I had already heard a few of the rumors, with everything from a military base being set up to utilize the open spaces, to using the planet as a staging platform for a possible strike against another planetary group. Devon was still on planet, but had moved from the accommodations above the Agro-Offices. Craig seemed more at ease without the constant reminder of his ex-friend hovering over him.

Devon still dropped into the office daily, but kept his distance from Craig. Unfortunately, Mark had now become his newest target, and I could tell that Mark was biding his time; putting up with Devon until it came time to leave.

Most of the original staff had opted to transfer off planet, and the new staff was scheduled to arrive about three days after we were to leave. Speaking of leaving, I was shocked and amazed at the things we had amassed in a single year. I didn’t remember having to unpack a gazillion boxes(okay, maybe not that many, but it did seem like a lot more than we had arrived with).

Part of me felt like leaving everything here for the next ‘boss’, and only take my personal belongings with me. The furniture that I so carefully selected for comfort as well as design would be remaining behind. We could have taken it with us, but really, there was no use. My…our…apartment was fully furnished. The only things I really wanted to bring were the bed(rather fond memories tied to that), and the paintings Craig had done for my office walls.

Still, that left an awful lot of things for us to pack up.

"Cali?"

I looked up from packing my office to find Craig in the doorway, looking at me. "Yes?"

He motioned his head to the side and I walked out from behind the boxes to follow him. He made his way to the couch in the living room and sat on it, patting the cushion beside him. "I was thinking," he said as I sat.

"About?"

"About how unfair this whole thing has been to you."

I looked at him, shocked. "To me?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I ask you to marry me, then spend ninety-nine percent of the next year away from you, planning this set up. Then I ask you to come with me, because…" he paused, "because I was too selfish to give it up and let someone else take over, and too selfish to come out here and leave you there."

"Craig..."

"Shhh." He gently put his forefinger on my lips. "On the trip here, I spent more time below decks…even when I didn’t have to, than with you. Then over the past year here, I basically had to schedule you in to have more than an hour alone with you." He sighed and leaned back against the arm of the couch. "It’s taken me this long to figure that out," he paused and closed his eyes. "And I’m sorry," he whispered.

I stared at him, wondering what brought this on. I know that we hadn’t spent nearly as much time together as we could have, and I had always wanted more of him to myself, but I knew that he was in demand, and accepted that it would only be for a year or so.

"I just finished a conversation with my head office," he said quietly. "They bought out my contract." He put a hand behind his neck and rubbed slightly. "Guess they want to disassociate themselves from this."

"Wha-?" I couldn’t believe it. "Why?"

He shook his head slightly. "No problem. A rival company offered me a better position." He stopped with a small laugh. "They actually called while I was on the vid-phone getting…bought out."

I was getting confused. My husband had just been basically fired, and he wasn’t upset. "Craig…"

"I’m officially scheduled to start a week after we get back home, but…" he exhaled and bit his lip. "I’m taking a year’s sabbatical effective immediately after my tenure here ends."

"Huh?"

"I want to spend time with my wife," he said as he took my hand in his. "I want to go to bed with you every night, wake up with you every morning, do everything with you…do nothing with you." He brought my hand up and kissed the palm. "They’re paying me a hell of a lot to buy out my contract, and the new company has me on retainer," he winked, "and I want to take you on the honeymoon you deserve."

"Woah!" I waved my hands in front of me slightly in confusion. "Wait…let me see if I got this straight….you got fired…"

"Technically."

"But another company already hired you."

"Yes."

"But you want to take a year off before you start."

"You’re three for three," he said with a smile. His smile widened at my confused expression. "I know it’s sudden, but…" he sighed. "The project the new company wants me to work on won’t begin for another year, so I told them that I would be on retainer, and that it fit my schedule perfectly because I wanted to travel with my wife."

"Okay," I said slowly, wondering at this turn of events.

"When I was on the vid-phone, I couldn’t help but think ‘this is unfair’. I thought about all the time I’d put into this set up…the planning, travelling…everything. Then I thought about how we had to reschedule the wedding, and it hit me. Cali, I know I can’t take back these last two years of…putting my work first…but I want to try to make amends for it." He ran a hand through the hair that hung over my shoulder. "I promise you that I won’t put anything before you ever again."

I could feel the tears threatening to flow as I looked into his eyes and saw the regret there. I have to admit that there were times that I felt like I was on the back burner and times when I could have screamed from frustration. Those memories all dissolved in an instant, and I found myself in his arms.

It was only when I felt him kissing the top of my head and gently rocking me back and forth that I realized I was crying.