The first year of marriage was about learning to live rather than just survive.
They traveled—visiting places Kieran had loved over the centuries, showing Aiden the world through immortal eyes. Tokyo, Paris, Cairo, Prague. Everywhere, vampires knew them, respected them, sometimes feared them a little.
"We're like vampire celebrities," Aiden joked after being recognized for the tenth time in a Prague blood club.
"More like symbols. We represent change. Evolution. The possibility of happiness after centuries of prescribed loneliness."
They made a home—not just Kieran's penthouse, but a real home. Upstate New York, a renovated mansion with acres of privacy. Close enough to the city for connection, far enough for peace.
Aiden decorated with enthusiasm, mixing modern aesthetics with pieces from Kieran's collection.
"This painting," Aiden said, examining a Renaissance portrait. "You told me about this. The artist—you knew him."
"Leonardo. Arrogant bastard, brilliant artist. That portrait is of someone I loved in the 1400s. Before you, there were... others. Never bonded, never eternal, but loved nonetheless."
"I'm not jealous of your past. Your past made you who you are."
"As yours made you." Kieran pulled him close. "Every lifetime prepared us for this one."
They fell into routines—Kieran managing his business empire remotely, Aiden discovering talents he'd had in past lives. Turned out he was an exceptional strategist, a skilled negotiator, and possessed artistic abilities that came from incarnations as a painter, sculptor, writer.
"I could do something with this," Aiden said, looking at his sketches. "Maybe open a gallery. Support supernatural artists."
"Do it. We have eternity and unlimited resources. Build whatever you want."
So Aiden built. A gallery in Manhattan that secretly featured vampire and witch artists alongside human ones. A foundation supporting supernatural youth struggling with their identities. A network of safe houses for supernatural beings fleeing persecution.
"You're changing the world," Kieran observed, watching Aiden work with passionate intensity.
"I'm trying. We won our battle. Now let's win the war—the war for coexistence, acceptance, peace."
It was ambitious. It was beautiful. It was so perfectly Aiden that Kieran fell in love with him all over again.