My wife is the most beautiful and amazing person that I have ever met...which as you will come to find out is saying a lot. From the way she enters a room to how she smiles, she effortlessly brightens a room with her very presence. The taste of her lips lingers with me long after she's fallen asleep in my arms. If I did not know any better, I would say that she is somehow magical. In my younger years, I would have suspected that she was some kind of witch who had bespelled me but nothing could be further to the truth. My Kathryn is no witch. She is no enchantress. She has no magical powers or any other powers to speak of...unless you count her amazing heart and her caring soul. And while she may just be a simple, ordinary school teacher, she is able to make me feel like I am the luckiest man in the world to be married to her.

Like a lot of couples, we met at work. I mentioned that Kathryn is a school teacher, first grade to be more precise. My job is a little more complicated to explain. My cover job is working for Heart to Heart, a charity organization dedicated to helping the victims and families devastated by X Day. While my position is fictional, I assure you Heart to Heart is very real and is doing so much to help restore St Louis to its former glory.

My real job is as a top ranking agent in a international organization chartered to police and protect against all paranormal activity; The Order. While The Order is now publicly known since X Day, key agents such as myself and a handful of peers that I regard as friends, are required to maintain dual identities. The logic behind this mandate is sound because it was designed not for our interests but for the protection of those close to us. Kathryn now knows everything, but that was not always the case. It seems like just yesterday when she used to think of me as her charity worker boyfriend.

As I mentioned before, we met at work. I came to her school as a representative of Heart to Heart. Heart has a charity fund raiser where kids sell paper hearts for a dollar to help rebuild St. Louis and a few other cities that were affected by the fallout of X Day. As far as charity fund raisers go, this one takes off like wild fire pretty much every where it is held. Even schools in New York and California have huge events with their kids. It didn't matter if you lived in St Louis or knew someone in St Louis, the events of X Day and the following weeks changed the entire world. No one was left unaffected. In many ways, I'm glad The Order was around to minimize the chaos. X Day was bad but the days after were even worse for people like me that The Order had not found yet. But I am getting side-tracked. While ours is a story with many fantastic angles and many layers of intrigue, at its core, our story is a love story.

I remember walking into her classroom a Wednesday afternoon many Augusts ago. If an Oracle had told me a week prior that I was going to meet my mate while doing the duties of my pseudo job, I would have have told her she was nuts. My own impressive precognitive abilities certainly did nothing to prepare me for our life-altering encounter. The majority of teachers that I work with are my grandmother's age. You can imagine my surprise when I first cast my gaze on the most ravishing creature that has ever walked this Earth.

“Hello, can I help you?” She asked with her silk voice that caressed my ears. Honestly, thinking back I am confident she had me at that very first question. For a moment, I stood in stunned silence as I took her all in. She stood a good head lengths shorter than me. Her small frame was highlighted by a very athletic build that I would later find out was thanks to years of running. Her piercing blue eyes contrasted her fair skin. In the middle of the silence, she flicked her long auburn hair and if I was not taken before I was definitely sold then.

“I'm sorry,” I said. My confusion I am sure was obvious. “I'm looking for Mrs. Kathryn Stevens.”

“You found her,” Kathryn said with a smile. “But it's Miss not Mrs, I've never been married.”

I could not believe what my eyes and ears were telling me. Though terribly abusive of my powers, I very lightly telepathically scanned her for any sign of dishonesty and was shocked to find none.

“You seem surprised,” Kathryn commented. “So now you know who I am...”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” I stumbled. My dark cheeks flushed with embarrassment as I realized I was gawking. “My name is Joseph Parker. I am with Heart to Heart.”