"you are so good"

~

Neva sighed as she sat down on a soft couch near one of the windows in the mansion. Hank had taken River out for grocery shopping, Charles was supposedly doing some organizing in his office, so she was mostly alone for the afternoon. She leaned on the fluffy pillows, book and pen in her lap, while her gloves were on the floor next to her. Neva had planned on writing (she hadn't written for fun in what was almost forever), but she slowly felt herself slipping into sleep.

~

Neva opened her eyes to see Alex's blonde hair blowing softly in the small breeze. There were faint chirps of birds and the yellow brightness of the sun hiding behind the

"Hey, Neva!" Alex grinned at her. She rubbed her eyes and grinned back. They had just spent another day picnicking on the mansion grounds.

Neva loved whenever they picnicked because the gardens were always beautiful, and it was always very relaxing compared to teaching moody teenagers. Speaking of teenagers, the pair could hear some in the distance, yelling and fooling around. Neva rolled her eyes. They were supposed to be inside for lunch right now.

"I'm glad we have this spot to ourselves," said Alex. Neva nodded. Her head was on his shoulder while he played with her gloved fingers. They both leaned on a tree while sitting on a blanket.

"I agree," she said. After the school started up, the couple decided to pick a secluded area for picnics or dates where no children or teachers would go. It was near the lake, but hidden slightly by the tall surrounding trees.

"How's class going?" asked Alex. Neva shrugged,

"Class is class," she said. "We're covering creative writing this month though, so that will be fun. I can get the kids to write stories, and some of my kid are really good at writing, so I'm excited. They sometimes go overboard on imagery and figurative language, but at least they try. I'm proud of them." Alex smiled at her. "What are you grinning about, Summers?"

"I just think you are really cute when you ramble about your class and writing in general," he said, laughing. Neva elbowed his side. "Ow!" She started laughing, which made him laugh more. Alex began to tickle her side, causing Neva to fall down laughing. He continued, now hovering over her and poking her stomach.

"Alex! Alex! Get off!" she laughed. Her cheeks were hurting from the grins. Alex smirked and then scooped her up. "What are you doing, Alex?" she asked, still grinning and now trying to wiggle her way out of his strong arms.

"Mm you'll see," he said, pecking her cheek. She got a flash of them hanging out after class earlier that day. Alex began to walk over to a certain body of water.

"Alexander Summers! I swear if you-" She was cut off by a yelp as Alex threw her into the lake. A quick thought passed her brain as she hit the water: Why exactly am I dating Alex Summers, the biggest prankster ever?

Then, as she started to kick her legs to the surface, Neva felt strong arms around her waist and she let herself be pulled upwards. Once above the water, she pushed back her hair and grinned at the blonde in front of her.

"I hate you, you know that?" she said, mockingly. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Well, I love you, Neva Liu," he grinned. Neva's heart melted every time he said her name with those words. It was like a dream come true.

"Stop being so sweet," she laughed. Alex grinned more.

"The world would miss my charm," he declared.

"I doubt that," Neva snorted. He laughed. They stayed in the shallow water, letting the soft sounds of nature surround them.

"Would you marry me?" Alex whispered. Neva took her head off of his chest and looked into his eyes to make sure he was being serious. He was. She smiled and pushed back some blonde hair that was plastered to his forehead.

"Of course," she said. "Why?"

"No reason," he smiled back.

"Secretive Alex is not my favourite," Neva said, raising her eyebrow.

"You'll have to get used to it, hon," he said with another grin. He kissed her quickly, a recent memory passed through her mind, and then picked her up again, bridal style. "Well, I think we should probably get back before we catch hypothermia or something."

"Whatever you say, Alex," Neva laughed. She put her head on his chest again, wrapping her arms around his neck, and smiled to herself. She was going to be married soon.

~

Neva woke up with a start. The feeling of happiness and longing still ached in her chest. She heard noises of River and Hank coming through the front door. She could hear River yelling loudly while Hank shuffled in with paper bags. Neva took a deep breath, stretched, collected up her notebook, and then went to help him.

"Auntie Neva!" River said happily, reaching up for a hug. Neva smiled and gave picked her up. "We got ice cream!" Neva looked at Hank, who pushed up his glasses innocently.

"I told her not to tell you," he mumbled. Neva laughed and put River down.

"Go bug Charles, Riv. I need to help Uncle Hank," she said. River nodded with a big grin and proceeded to sprint into Charles' office. Neva grabbed two bags from Hank, who nodded gratefully. The two went into the kitchen, and she started to unpack.

"Sorry 'bout the ice cream, she was being really persistent," Hank admitted. Neva shook her head with a smile.

"It's fine, but she's hyper now," she said. Hank laughed.

"She's always like that," he said.

"True," Neva smiled. She put the milk bottles into the fridge. "I wonder how she's going to turn out as a teenager."

"Probably a cool kid," Hank said.

"Maybe. Or she will try to be cool with the ways Alex taught her," Neva laughed. Hank grinned. There were sounds by the doorway, and they turned their heads to see Charles wheeling in with River in his lap.

"Hello Hank, Neva," the Brit said.

"Hi to you too, professor," smiled Neva. "Sorry about Riv. I told her to go and bug you." River grinned up at the three adults.

"It's no problem, but did she have sugar?" Charles said. Hank looked down at the floor.

"Yeah!" River proclaimed excitedly. "Ice cream!" Neva facepalmed.

"She's going to be the most honest teens ever," said Neva.

"Not a bad thing," Charles said with a smile. He wheeled over to Neva, who picked up River again. The small girl hugged Neva's neck.

"It's my birthday soon!" River said loudly.

"Mhm. I can't wait to see you grow up," Neva said. The thought of River growing up made Neva happy.

"I won't!" River grumbled. The mutant adults laughed.

"Yes, we know, dear," Charles said.

"Want to play in the lake, River?" Hank asked. River nodded and jumped down from Neva to hold his hand. "We'll be outside." The two walked to the backyard, River practically pulling Hank with her.

"So are we doing anything for her birthday?" Charles asked to Neva. She shrugged and put some more groceries into the cabinet. They consisted of flour, eggs, sugar, and more. "A cake, I am guessing."

"You read my mind!" Neva teased. Charles rolled his eyes but laughed.

"Bad puns seem to be your forte recently," he said.

"I've been studying," she smiled.

"Keep doing that, dear," Charles said with a smile. "Well, I'm going to finish cleaning." He started to wheel off, and Neva remembered she had to tell him something, but couldn't quite catch what it was.

"See you later, Charles," she said instead. As she kept unpacking the birthday materials, Neva smiled more and more. River would be so excited.

~

February 10, 1973

Dear Alex,

I fell asleep today and had a dream of that one time you threw me into the lake. It made me smile a lot. Remember how you asked me if I would marry you? I thought you were about to propose right then and there in the water, but you didn't. Oh well. I also thought that we would be engaged in less than a year. That didn't happen also. I guess I'm still waiting. It's ok though, I trust that you'll be back soon and we can get married. The thought of that makes me real excited but also nervous. But again, I trust you. And yeah, I guess I already know how we end, but I'm trying not to think about that right now.

On another note, I've started writing stories again, but so far, I haven't thought of any good stories to tell. Maybe I can tell ours. I don't know. I can make it have a happy ending and no war and then a happy life. I'm not sure yet. Seems too cliche.

Anyways, it is River's birthday in two days! Today, Hank went out to get supplies for a cake and other stuff for her favourite foods. She also went with him, but apparently did not notice him buying all the supplies. Kids are hilarious.

I hope you can come in time for River's birthday. That would be the best surprise and present for her, I think. But then again, you can't really plan and ask the army for that.

Well, I really really hope you come back soon.

Miss you lots.

Love, Neva Liu

A/N

two more lettersssss

(wedding????)