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[The moon stares through a curtained window into a room clothed
in darkness and domestication. In the middle of the room, ALLI and NICK lie peacefully among
white cotton sheets, quiet dreams, and a future for two.]
ALLI
Babe?
NICK
Mm?
ALLI
Are
you asleep yet?
NICK
Yes.
ALLI
Really?
NICK
[Sighs.]
Not anymore.
ALLI
[Her voice is soft, tone bordering on regret.] Oh. Sorry.
NICK
[Opens
his eyes tiredly and moves to focus on his wife, whose face is pale and freckled in the moonlight. He smiles sleepily.] It's
fine. What's wrong?
ALLI
I was just thinking...
NICK
Did you blow a
fuse?
ALLI
[Glares. Or tries. Truth to tell, his hand on her waist is making it difficult for her
to remember how to be angry with him.] No, thank you. I was just... [A pause.] Do you ever wonder how long this is going to
last?
NICK
This? [His voice is confused, but his eyes are knowing.]
ALLI
Yeah,
this. [Gestures around her.] All of this. Scarlet, you, home. Shopping lists. Peppered fish. Movie nights.
NICK
[Smiles
elusively, because she is reaching her hands out to him in the midst of a vast unknown, and he is reaching back.] Well, I
don't know about the shopping lists, but you can definitely count on the peppered fish and movie nights. Hell, we've been
having movie nights for years. Remember?
ALLI
[Smiles as a young NICK fumbles
for Pinocchio in her mind's eye.] Yeah. I remember. We had fun as kids.
NICK
We have fun
now.
ALLI
Yeah, we do.
NICK
So why the questions?
ALLI
[Shrugs,
because she is not sure. She knows only that she wants to be right here, right now, for the rest of her life. For the rest
of his life.] I don't know. I just...I wanted the reassurance, I guess.
NICK
[Chuckles, a deep
rumble that begins in his chest and shakes his abdomen.] What, the rings and the two-hour ceremony weren't enough?
ALLI
[Smacks
him playfully, pulling him closer.] No, it's not that. I just don't want to lose what we've got. You know me. I worry sometimes.
NICK
THINKS
I love what I know about you.
NICK
No need to worry, baby. Sometimes you just
have to trust what you feel.
ALLI
[Smiles, because it is her turn to taunt and tease.] Cold?
NICK
[Smacks
her playfully, pulling her closer.] No, babe. Not cold. I don't know about you, but this feels like forever to me.
ALLI
THINKS
Me too.
ALLI
Forever sounds like a scary word when we're sitting in darkness.
NICK
[Hugs
her tightly to him, because he wants her to feel nothing but forever, and the chill is keeping him from her.] We'll just have
to leave a light on, then.
ALLI
[Frowns.] For forever?
NICK
No, not
for forever. For you.
ALLI
For me?
NICK
For us. Us and our forever.
ALLI
THINKS
Forever can take its sweet time in getting here.
ALLI
I love you.
NICK
THINKS
We definitely won't be waiting up for it. We've got lives to live and things to do and babies to make and
love to give.
NICK
I love you, too.
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