The shifting of colors over my eyelids woke me. Golds and greens with warm orange ambers. The faint rustling sound of the leaves would have sent me dozing back off, but the birds had been singing for quite a while now.

I felt warm, oh so safe, but should have been cold. It was autumn. Then again, I wasn’t alone.

He shifted beside me, between our blankets, cuddling me closer and nuzzling the top of my head before stretching his legs out as long as he could. I burrowed my cheek into his chest and hugged him close. After a moment or two, he kissed the top of my head. “Good morning, kiddo.”

I smiled, rolled back a bit to kiss his lips, then rested back, his arm pillowing my head so that I could look up into the branches that had been our roof.

Last night, the tree gave us intriguing shadows and sounds to accompany our whispers. This morning, the sunlight painted the leaves in jewel tones and dripped the bark with loving detail.

As comfortable as I was in his arms, all I wanted to do was climb.