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"Love Birds"

An early winter's morning started off about as can be expected, Gavin rolling over in his bed to find that his wife had already gone to work. The alarm clock had just started to buzz and the sound made his brain hurt, so he slapped the top of his alarm clock, shutting it off before burrowing his face into his elbow. There was a distinct chill in the house and as Gavin sat up to look out the window, he noticed that it was snowing. The bull slid to the edge of his bed and stretched his muscular body with a long, open mouthed yawn before scratching himself and getting up. He started for the bathroom, his morning needs leading to a long three minute stand in front of the toilet before getting into the shower.

He hadn't forgotten the importance of the weekend, in fact he was going to be headed to the park in about a couple hours to meet Elisa. It was their anniversary, and marked a very special occasion, sprinkled with the thought that her family would be celebrating it with them. Gavin didn't cherish the thought of spending the weekend with Elisa's parents, they were so heavily condescending of their relationship, he was surprised he managed to get her out of the house when they were dating. When he proposed, he thought he'd never hear the end of it, but eventually the family settled down and he even started to hear good things from them about his character. Who ever would have thought that a family of horses would welcome a black bull to their family?

And then there was Ellis, Elisa's kid brother who; for reasons known only to him, hated Gavin. He wasn't sure if it was him taking his sister away, or some form of speciesism, but whatever the case he was glad he wouldn't be in attendance for the weekend.

Gavin showered and brushed his teeth. He decided to dress warmly for the winter wonderland outside; he put on a long sleeved black shirt, heavy blue jeans and the warmest coat he could find. It was a black leather jacket that was lined with faux fur on the inside, giving it some impressive warmth for what otherwise appeared to be a regular autumn wear jacket. The lining rounded the collar, giving it a bit of a warmth around his neck. Tying a blue scarf around his neck, he readied himself and made his way out the door.

The hotel was almost an hour's drive away, about halfway between their house and the airport. He wasn't sure why Elisa's family wanted to throw the party there, but he was willing to go along with it, especially at their offer to pay for the rooms and dinner. Gavin wasn't cheap to say the least, in fact he liked the idea of being well off, but he didn't refuse a gift horse and Elisa's parents were about the closest he would ever come to meeting real ones.

Kkkck "It's cold, cold, cold so make sure you bundle up..." The radio tuned into the weather station with a loud blurt of static. "The snow is only just starting to fall in the metro area, but we are expecting temperatures in the mid-teens throughout the day with a high of twenty-six later this afternoon, but this weekend is going to see temps drop even lower. Tonight's low will be negative six degrees and Sunday's high will be eight. Monday we'll see a bit of a warmer pattern starting to develop and a high of twenty-nine which will continue to get warmer throughout the week. But don't let that bother you folks! Just be sure to stay inside where the weather's warm and the beds are warmer!"

Gavin grumbled as he shut off the radio. Why this weekend of all weekends? Their anniversary couldn't have fallen on shorts-wearing weather could it? He chuckled to himself at the thought of a summer wedding, but the memories of the wedding they had still made him smile.

It took the bull almost eighty minutes to make it to the hotel. Recognizing Elisa sitting outside made his heart skip a beat; she was dressed in a heavy blue parka and ski cap that fell down almost covering her soft indigo eyes as she looked up to see him pulling in. As the vallet walked around to let Gavin out, he handed the man a set of keys and smiled. "Thanks." He said as he took the number from the man and slipped it in his pocket.

Elisa approached him with a worried look on her face. "Where have you been? They've been waiting for you."

"I thought you had work." Gavin said. "This whole thing was supposed to be set up by the time you got off and came over."

Elisa shrugged. "They can get on without me for a weekend, I was just to anxious to go in and I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, color me surprised." Gavin answered with a laugh as he placed his arm around her shoulder. "Come with me..."

"But the others?"

"They'll be fine for another half hour, come on. Let's go for a walk in the park."

Elisa looked at Gavin, then pointed toward the sky. "In this weather?"

"Yeah?" Gavin smiled. "What's so wrong about that?"

Elisa giggled a bit and leaned against Gavin as they walked. "I dunno... it's kind of weird, you're never down for this sort of thing."

The pair made their way down the drive from the hotel before taking a right onto a narrowly hidden path just past the turnout that led toward the park area. The snowfall had lightened to the point where the wind wasn't as biting and the wetness of the snowflakes weren't steadily invading the collars of their jackets. Gavin rested his hand on Elisa's shoulder as they made their way along the lonely and quiet path. "So, what did you see in me when we got married?" He asked.

"What did I see in you?" Elisa repeated. "I saw a determined bull that I fell in love with, the one who stayed with me despite my parents' objections to you dating me. I saw the love in your eyes when you proposed to me and the near-fainting expression you gave me when I said yes." She wrapped her arms around Gavin's elbow and smiled. "I think it was the best thing to ever happen to me."

Gavin sighed and smiled. "Good. 'cause your dad made it very... painfully clear what he'd do to me if I ever did something to upset you."

"He's not the only one." She said playfully squeezing his arm. "In fact..."

Gavin didn't even have a second to react as a big ball of white suddenly found its way wetly into his face. Gavin gasped and sputtered, brushing the snowball out of his eyes before noticing that Elisa had run ahead a few yards and was gathering more snow into her hands. "Oh, no you don't!" He said as he tried to run for her, but it was too late, and another snowball landed across his kisser. "Ooomph!" He flailed again and Elisa laughed even harder. "Oh, you little devil." He said as he lowered himself to the ground and in a wide grasp began to scoop a large chunk of snow into his hands. Laughing maniacally as he brought it into a ball the size of his fist, he lobbed it at Elisa.

The equine laughed as she deftly avoided the large ball and threw her own, hitting Gavin square in the chest. "You're going to have to move faster to hit me!" She teased him.

"You little... how are you so good at that?!" He asked half-amused.

"Well what can I say? I'm lobbing these at someone the size of a barn!" She taunted by sticking her tongue out.

Again, Gavin threw a ball of snow and missed, but this time, Elisa charged at him and jumped into him, knocking him backwards. "Whoa! Whoa!" He exclaimed, falling to the ground and landing in a big pile of snow with her on top.

They laughed together and Elisa tried to hold Gavin down while piling snow onto his face. He shrugged it off and grunted, grabbing her arms and rolling over once, then twice before making a third roll and landing on top of her. Both still laughing, but running out of breath as they lay in the snow together. The pair smiled longingly at each other, and Gavin didn't want to resist the urges he felt to kiss her right then and there. Leaning forward, he was only stopped an inch or two away from her lips by her soft, light fingers. A smile still on her face, she wasn't trying to shut him down, only trying to remind him of what they had talked about.

"Remember love. We're saving that for tonight."

Gavin stared longingly a moment more before responding. "Oh, right. Right." He said. "We've got to resist kissing until the end of our dance tonight. Stroke of midnight and the official day of our anniversary." He remembered. "Gotcha."

Elisa stared with a smile on her face for a few moments longer. "You know, Gavin. The snow is starting to drain down my shirt." She said.

"Right! Sorry." Gavin laughed to himself as he took the weight he had off his wife and helped her back to her feet. Holding her hand for a moment, he leaned in to give that a kiss instead. "Shall we continue our stroll?"

Their hotel for the weekend was on a lake, which was already frozen due to the winter weather, light glistened off the surface as Gavin and Elisa followed the long trail that went around it. It had a bit of a zig-zag pattern to it and occasionally drifted into the woods that provided the perfect border to the water. The woods provided some shelter from the continually falling snow, but nearing the halfway point, the weather definitely felt like it was dipping lower and the snow was beginning to fall a little bit harder. Both of them tucked their winter clothes tighter to them and resisted the urges to continue playing and throwing snowballs at one another, instead spending the time walking with one hand in their coat pockets and the other holding hands.

"It's so beautiful when it snows." Elisa commented as they made it three quarters around the pathway.

Gavin smirked. "I just wish it weren't so damn cold."

"Well, all you've got to do is stop thinking about how cold it is, and your mind will help you warm up a little more. Besides, you know what I'm thinking?"

"Sex in the drifts?"

Elisa giggled. "Okay, do you know what I was thinking? Hot chocolate."

"That sounds delicious." Gavin said. "I could use a cup right about now."

"Well, that's what you get for not wearing a hat on that rock-hard head of yours."

Gavin shrugged. "Hey, my fur is thick, I figured it'd only be minimal complaining I'd have to do, but now my ears are starting to go numb."

"See? Serves you right!"

As the path came to an end, both lovers were happy to see the hotel's lobby doors nearby. Rushing at a brisk pace, they entered the lobby where the heat from the blowing vents at the doorway prompted them to both stand there, enjoying the warmth before making their way to the large coffeeshop bar that was only a few yards away. Ordering a pair of large hot chocolates, the pair seated themselves near the end of the booths so they could look out the windows at the continually falling snow and enjoy a quiet moment together.

"So were your parents able to talk Ellis into coming this weekend?" Gavin asked after a bit of silence.

In the middle of a sip, Elisa managed to pull her lips away, but shook her head instead of giving a verbal response for a moment until she swallowed. "As a kid they couldn't convince him to brush his teeth when he needed to. His stubbornness has grown even more since then."

"I imagine." Gavin said. "I just wish I knew what I did to make him so angry with me."

Elisa sighed. "Well, you know how it is with my family. They envision grandchildren to help carry on the family line. You and me, well... we're just not easily compatible."

"Also they understand that we're not ready for kids." Gavin added. "Right?"

"I think they just want something to happen before they get too old to enjoy it, that's all." She said. "I think being my kid brother, Ellis isn't very keen on having kids anytime soon either."

"Mmhmm." Gavin answered with his lips on his cup. He sighed and hesitated for a moment. "Hey, Elisa... listen there's something I need to talk to you about."

Elisa put her cup down, her angelic face looking up with curiosity. "Yeah? What is it?"

Gavin wanted to tell her, he wanted to tell her about the... 'arrangement' he had gotten caught up in with Asner and that it all started with his cheating on her. Every fiber of him wanted to come clean, but he hesitated; to tell her something like this on their happy anniversary weekend together, that would end their marriage here and now. He had to find a way out of it, maybe telling her would release Asner's grip on him... and as he looked into those sweet indigo eyes, he knew he couldn't live without her. "I--"

"Elisa! Darling, how wonderful to see you!"

Gavin's words were cut off suddenly by the sound of the female equine who had stepped into the lobby. Sophie was dressed in a long, dark purple coat with black pants and a matching top. Elisa's mother was a sight, even at nearly fifty-five years old. She had an elegance that Gavin often admired. The horse behind her he immediately recognized as Elisa's father Bernard, who was dusting his dark jacket off of snow and shaking his mane out under the warm blowing vents in the doorway. The pair had stood up and while Sophie gave Elisa a kiss on the cheek, Gavin and Bernard shared a firm handshake that still hurt Gavin, even to this day.

"How're you two love birds doing?" He asked gruffly. "I hope we're not late for this party of yours, it is tonight, right?"

"Oh, yeah dad. You're actually the first to arrive." Elisa said.

"Ellis is sorry he couldn't come, he had other plans and just couldn't drop them for the trip." Elisa and Gavin shared a knowing glance at this. "But he did give me this to hand to you; a gift card." She slipped out a small red card and handed it to Elisa.

"Well, next time I'm at the bookstore, I'll know I've got twenty-five free dollars on hand." She said with a smile before hugging Bernard. "Thanks for coming, you guys."

"Are you expecting anyone special to show up tonight, Gavin?" He asked.

Gavin smiled and shrugged. "Oh, just a few coworkers I think, and a couple of my relatives I hope."

Bernard beamed. "Well good, I can't wait to hear the stories about you. You know me, always looking out for my little girl."

"Dad..." Elisa said, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

"What I can't look out for my own daughter's well being?" He said, semi-jokingly.

"Come dear, let us see what room they have us in." Sophie said, taking his hand and leading Bernard away.

Elisa started to follow, then paused. "Oh, what was it you wanted to tell me, Gavin?"

"Oh." Gavin said, remembering the conversation. "You know, it slipped my mind. I'll try to remember later, it must not have been important."

"Okay." Elisa said with a smile. "Okay." She turned around and literally bumped into someone behind her who had just come through the door. "Oh! Excuse me!"

Immediately, Gavin felt his heart sink. She'd bumped into none other than Vladimir Asner; his boss. He wobbled back and caught himself with a cheery laugh. "Don't worry about my fat ass! I'm just glad it was you I'd bumped into. You're Elisa right? Gavin's wife?"

"Yes, yes I am. And you are?"

"I am Vladimir Asner, Gavin's supervisor at the mall."

Elisa moaned in recognition. "Sooo you're the man huh? I tell you, you better crack the whip down harder on Gavin, he's such a slacker around the house!"

Asner beamed a bit and snapped a quick glance at the bull. "Ah, trust me. I'll make sure the whippings continue! How's it going Gavin?"

Gavin felt his heart racing all of a sudden. "Fine, everything is fine. I thought you weren't going to be able to make it?"

"Well when you're in charge of things, you also tend to be in charge of time off. I figured why not attend this lavish anniversary you two had planned and enjoy the weekend with my best employee."

"That's very sweet!" Elisa exclaimed. "You are one considerate boss, I'll tell you."

"My dear, you have no idea." He spoke through a set of grinning teeth.

"Well, let me get mom and dad checked in while you gentlemen talk and I'll make sure to get yours ready for you, Mister Asner."

"Please, call me Vlad." Asner said.

"Vlad then." Elisa smiled and gently departed.

Gavin glared at Asner. "What are you doing here?!" He asked.

"I just came to see my best employee on this special occasion." Asner said. "Also checking up on my bitch doesn't hurt much."

Gavin sneered. "I'm not going to have you ruin this weekend for me. I told you before I want out of that situation."

"Sure, you can get out of it. As soon as I tell your wife that not only did I catch you screwing with a vixen behind her back, but now you've been my indentured sex slave for months just so I wouldn't rat you out. That'll go over real well."

"I'm fucking tired of living under your thumb! Why won't you leave us alone?" Gavin could feel his temper rising.

Asner snorted. "Because until you fess up, I can do whatever the fuck I want." He said. "Don't test me, Gavin or I'll really find a way of making this weekend torture for you."

Gavin steamed, but said nothing. His tail was flicking madly, but Asner simply stood there and grinned. Gavin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine, you can attend. Just don't do anything to screw me over this weekend or our deal is off. Got it?"

"Got it." Asner said just as Elisa returned with a key card in her hand, which she handed to him.

"Here you go, Vlad." She said. "Looks like it's suite four-seventeen. It was such a pleasure to meet you at last."

"Lovely to meet you too." Asner said.

"The dinner starts at four." Gavin said as Asner walked away, the pig giving a wave of his hands to acknowledge them.

"He seemed nice." Elisa said. "I don't know why you've not had us meet before."

"Trust me, he can be pretty irritating sometimes." He said.

The afternoon seemed to pass by fairly quickly; some of Gavin's relatives showed up, along with a few coworkers. He was relieved that Roxanne wasn't able to show up. She worked most Saturdays, and he definitely didn't want to be caught in the same hotel with both her and Asner. They are the ones responsible for making his life hell. All in all, their party had forty guests checked in by the time four o'clock rolled around. His watch beeped its hourly alarm as he was putting the cuff links into the suit he was wearing.

"Honey, do I really have to wear the monkey suit?" He asked as he heard Elisa move around in the bathroom. "I mean, I'm the size of a big ape, sure. But do I really have to advertise it?"

"I think you look dashing in it." He heard her reply before getting off the bed and glancing at himself in the mirror.

Gavin fit into the suit, which was tailor-fit to him like a glove. His massive chest and arms almost accented the solid black color of the suit, he had a white shirt under it with a blood-red tie that dangled down below where the jacket came together. He did a half-turn in front of the mirror, tugging out his sleeves and pressing down on his collar before spotting Elisa stepping through the door on the other side. Again his heart felt like it was racing as soon as he saw her; she was dressed in a beautiful sky-blue gown that flowed down to her feet. A slit in the gown opened the dress enough for her leg to show while still leaving the remainder of the outfit somewhat tight on her body. As his eyes moved up, the dress slightly transitioned to a slightly darker blue and he began to pick up speckles of light reflecting off like stars. The neck on her dress was a bit of a plunge that fell to a 'v' right at the center of her chest between her breasts. A gold heart necklace dangled tantalizingly at that point and Gavin recognized it as one of the first anniversary gifts he had given her. Her dress had no sleeves, but a pair of white gloves that reached just past her elbow more than made up for that. The color matched her heeled shoes and the entire look nearly made him have a heart attack. Her mane was fashioned up rather neatly over one side of her head, leaving only a curled bang hanging from the other side. She smiled and blushed at Gavin's awe-mesmerised mouth hanging open.

"Too much?" She asked. "I wanted to make tonight special."

"Th-that... that'll do the trick." He said. "Do we have to leave the room at all?"

"Why Gavin Luhman, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were hitting on me." She said feigning a coyness only she could fake.

Gavin smiled wide. "If you weren't married Mrs. Luhman, I'd take full advantage of you right here, and right now."

Elisa giggled. "Silly."

Gavin cleared his mind of his dirty thoughts and strolled on over to his wife, extending his elbow, she subtly took hold of it and the pair walked past the door and out into the hallway.

The dining room was up on the fifth floor, a short elevator ride away. As the pair disembarked, they were met with cheers and applause from family and friends who were already in the room waiting for them. It was a fully stocked dining room with a wet bar provided for them by the hotel. Music played by a live band filled the hall with covers of popular songs as well as classic orchestral tunes. Dinner was a standard three-course meal with a salad bar, but that was the only time Gavin spotted Asner, who was busy schmoozing with Sophie and Bernard. After dinner ended, the party moved into the music hall where it was split off between people dancing and people simply talking and having a good time amongst each other.

After the sun went down, Gavin and Elisa stepped out onto the balcony to look over the moonglow reflecting off the frozen lake. It was still cold out, but Gavin wrapped Elisa in his arms as they looked out into the night.

"This was such a beautiful night." She said. "I'm not sure how we managed to pull it off."

"Well, it helps that your parents coughed up the dough for it." Gavin answered teasingly.

"And we'd do it again if you'd like." Bernard's voice startled the pair as he and Sophie also took a step out onto the balcony. "It is chilly out here though. Perhaps we should go inside again?"

"In a minute dear, I wanted to ask Gavin a question about mister... Asner was it?"

"My boss?" Gavin asked. "Why? What's he done?"

"Nothing, nothing really. I just wanted to ask if he's... you know, Russian or something? He said his name was Vladimir, but he definitely doesn't sound like it."

"Oh." Gavin sighed relieved. "I don't think he is. He'd mentioned at one point that his parents named him Vladimir because it was a unique, Russian-sounding name."

"Ah I see."

Just then, a familiar guitar chord caught Gavin's ears and he turned to glance inside to see the group on stage beginning to play a familiar tune; and the beginning of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" began to ring through. Smiling he took Elisa's hand into his own. "Oh would you listen to that?" He asked.

"Don't tell me you're having them play our song?" Elisa said slyly.

"Okay, I won't. But you better dance with me before it's over."

The music opened up and the pair stepped into the hall, much to the adoration of the audience who saw them come in out of the cold hand in hand. As they reached the center of the room, Gavin suavely spun Elisa against his body and the two began to dance across the floor. Everyone stepped off the dance floor to admire the pair, and a spotlight from above shined down on them as the bull swept the horse around in his arms. She moved with his lead as she felt his arm rest against her hip, her hand draped over his shoulder and as the music played, the melody seemed to get softer. She looked up into Gavin's face and smiled, watching as he had begun to lip-sync the lyrics, dipping her and swinging her in a slow and intent circle around the dance floor.

As the singer on stage reached the final "And I don't want to miss a thing!" The music climaxed into the final notes, and Gavin dipped Elisa down before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers in a soft, romantic kiss that caused the surrounding crowd to suddenly erupt into applause before the two stood up once again. The night couldn't have gone any more perfectly and the couple smiled as they were surrounded with cheering friends, even Sophie and Bernard getting in on the congratulations now going around the room.

The dance lasted for another hour or two after that, but Gavin stepped out onto the balcony to get away from the crowd and look out into the night alone once again. It had warmed up a little bit from earlier, someone from the hotel had gone out and lit a pair of torches on either end of the balcony that provided light and some warmth to anyone who wanted to stand out there. He was thankful he was the only one to step away from the party. His eyes began to water slightly as he remembered the huge setback to their marriage was standing in the hotel now--no... he was the huge setback, if he hadn't gone and slept with Roxanne, he wouldn't even be in this mess...

"Gavin? Are you out here?"

Gavin quickly wicked away any tears and looked back as he watched Elisa exit the party and step onto the balcony. "Oh, hey." He said. "No, I'm fine. I just needed some fresh air."

"Are you sure? You looked like you were someplace else just then."

"Nah. I'm fine. I was just thinking that it sucked missing your brother here. Maybe he'll feel better about me next year."

"I love you, Gavin. Even if Ellis is still a pain in the ass next year, we'll still have each other."

Gavin smiled. "I love you too. So much, sweetie." He said as he wrapped his arm around Elisa's waist and pulled her to him.

The pair kissed and Gavin closed his eyes to restrain any tears from coming forward. She felt good, she smelled good, and the way she kissed would make any 'proper' lady blush as they tangled their tongues rather openly for a good two minutes before finally parting their lips. Gavin made a goofy face and continued to smooch at the air, Elisa giggled and slapped his chest with her hand. "Now you stop that!" She said. "And come back inside, it's freezing and I'm sure as the host it's rude to leave your guests waiting."

Gavin smiled. "I'll be along in a few minutes." He said.

"Okay." Elisa said as she stepped back and turned to enter the room again. "Don't keep me waiting."

As she left, Gavin about collapsed into tears. Damn Asner, damn that bitch Roxanne... damn him for getting himself into this situation. "I'm such a fucking idiot!" He exclaimed before punching the balcony's stone railing and hurting his hand. "If I weren't so blind I would have seen this and never have been tempted... I love her, god why did I have to basically sell my soul to the pig devil himself to see this?! She's never going to forgive me, I'm screwed no matter what I do..." He almost collapsed onto the balcony railing as he continued to chastise himself. "She loves me and I threw it away, I'm nothing but pure garbage... why?"

He trembled as he stood upright again. He had to get back into the party, but after this how could he hope to be happy? Everything the night stood for was in the toilet now because he couldn't keep it in his pants and he's at the mercy of a sex-hungry pig and his bimbo accomplice. He needed to find a way out of this by any means necessary. He inhaled through his nose, cleared the tears from his eyes and readied himself for another performance because tonight would be about the wife he loved more than life itself. Tomorrow... is another day...

THE END