Always Mine' by Caroline Kelly

Harold fastened the last of the buttons on her nightdress and gently laid her down on the pillow.  He picked up the lipstick and applied it as best he could.

‘Not the best job, Mary, but I know you don’t like to be seen without it,’ Harold whispered, leaning over to kiss her gently on the forehead.  ‘Now, I’ve put your best nightdress on.  I know you wouldn’t want people seeing you in it but I didn’t want to have to struggle with tights and underwear and all that.  All fingers and thumbs, me, you always said.’

Tears pricked at his eyes.  Harold blinked them away as best he could.  Now was not the time to start showing his sensitive side - too late for that.
He looked in the mirror and straightened his tie.

‘It’s not just you who doesn’t like to be seen under dressed in public,’ he smiled, lying down next to her on the bed.  ’37 years - such a long time, well a lifetime really.  I’d be lost without you, Mary.  We’re better together.  I know you don’t believe that but we are.’

He lifted the gun from the bedside table.

‘You might think you don’t love me anymore, but I know you do.  This way, you’ll always be my Mary,’ Harold said, pulling the trigger for the second time.