Need This! But Hold On To Your Wallets ....

Rockies Christmas - Day 1

Oops! This should have gone up yesterday!

Here goes:

Warnings: NSFW, Sex, Shameless Product Placement

The flight from NY to Vail was a little bumpy.  I held James’ hand a little tightly.  I still am not used to the smaller planes.  James had insisted on the private flight as commercial airlines would have to make a couple of stops and take about twice as long.  He just smiles and let me cling.

Once landed, our luggage is shifted from the plane to his big ass truck.  I gladly climb into the passenger seat.  James climbs in and the big truck rumbles to life.  After getting us on the main road, he drops his hand on my thigh, “You ok?”

“Better.”

“We’ll be home in about 40 minutes.”  His fingers gently pat my thigh, “You want to stop on the way for dinner?”

“Did we leave anything in the fridge that will still be good?”

James considers a moment, “Probably not.”

“Then we should kill two birds with one stone.”

He cocks a smile at me, “Sounds like a plan.”  I interlace my fingers with his on my thigh.  “What are we serving for Christmas Day dinner?” he asks.

Shaking my head, “I have no clue.”

“I’d like to do a prime rib.”

Smiling up at him, “I’ll leave the meats to you.”  He grins and pats my thigh.

We’ve spent the last month in my apartment in NYC for Thanksgiving.  James had never seen the Parade live.  Using my Grandmother’s tickets, I’d taken him to the Rockettes Gala performance and used her seats at the Parade.  We’d quickly become the top fodder on all the gossip pages in the NY papers.  I’d given one of the bedrooms in my apartment to James to make into a studio.  He’d already put together three songs in it.  When I thought about it, it still blew my mind that with his bandmates scattered all over the world – California to Hawaii to New York to Denmark – they could work together on their music.  And what I could hear, it is amazing!

It had been James’ decision to spend Thanksgiving in NYC.  It is mine to spend Christmas in Colorado.  I am slightly nervous as his kids will be coming to visit.  They’d spent Thanksgiving with their Mom.  At least in James’ place in Colorado, there’ll be enough beds.

James pulls into the shopping center and parks his truck.  As we met at the front of the massive rig James holds his hand out to me.  I have grown to like shopping with James.  He’d gotten used to having groceries delivered – especially during lock down - so wandering the aisles with him is fun.  He makes a stop at the butcher’s counter to place his order for Christmas dinner.  We select some sliced meats and cheeses for sandwiches.  Then wandering the aisles filling the cart.  I was glad that I’d selected the larger cart as he stocked up on the Liquid Death tallboys.  A quick run through the deli counter and we each selected something to go for dinner.  Checking out, we deposit the bags into the bed of the truck.  James holds the passenger door for me as I clamber into the big vehicle.  Moving quickly to the driver’s door, he steps easily in.

“What?” he asked, seeing the look on my face.

“You and those damned long legs.”

“I don’t hear you complaining when we’re in bed” he chuckles.

“I’m not complaining.”  I give him a sidelong look, “Just jealous.”

He just laughs with me.  “But you’d look funny with long legs.  I rather like your height.”

“Why?” a grin still lifting my lips.

“It makes it easy flipping you over in bed.”  His grin becomes wicked, his fingers grip my thigh a little tighter.

All I can do is whimper softly and smile at him.

A short time later, the truck rumbles into his garage.  He kills the engine and opens the door.  He’s careful to not clip my parked Shelby.  I carefully open my door making sure to not ding it against the wall.  “Kind of a tight fit in here” he grins. 

I go to help grab bags from the bed, and he grabs me around the waist, “Speaking of tight fits!”

I grind back against him, “I can still feel you from this morning!” I purr at him.  He rumbles into my neck.  I giggle, “There’s no doorman here to help unload the groceries.”  He sinks into my shoulder mumbling.  “C’mon.  This won’t take long.” 

He grabs several bags and unlocks the door entering the house.  I hear the security system beep off as James enters his code.  I collect as many bags as I can and head inside.  James passes me in the hallway.  I put my bags on the counter and head back to the garage.  “That the last of them?” I ask him as he kicks the garage door closed.

“Yes.”

I go collect several from him.  It takes us a few minutes to at least put away the cold things.  He wraps his arms around my waist, “I can’t wait any longer!” 

He pulls me from the kitchen up to our bedroom.  I giggle the whole way as his fingers gently work my sides, his mustache tickling my neck.  We barely make it into the bathroom before he’s stripping our clothes off.  He picks me up and puts me into the shower.  The hot water coming from the multiple heads feels wonderful.  His hands roaming my body feel better.  My hands roam his arms, chest, shoulders, neck, face.  His lips find mine in a gentle deep kiss that weakens my knees.  His strong arms wrap around my body, one around my shoulders, one around my waist, one of his long legs slowly presses between mine, spreading them.  I groan into his lips, my right hand pulling his head closer to my body, my left grabbing his hip.  The water pouring over us adds a sensual slick to our bodies.  He grunts into me.  I can feel his erection growing into my hip.  His fingers tangle into my wet long hair, tugging gently.  I pull back slightly.  He knows I don’t like my hair being pulled.  His fingers loosen their grip, but his hand still holds my head keeping my lips locked with his.  His other hand grabs my ass cheek tightly as he pushes me up his thigh.  My head rocks back as a loud moan escapes my lips.  His lips find my neck.  His arm around my shoulders keeps me locked to his body.  I grab his head tightly to me.  I whimper as he leaves his love marks on my neck and shoulder as I grind into his thigh.  Moving us, he pins me to the wall.  He lowers his shoulders a moment and hooks my right knee with his arm.  I gasp as he stands.  He widens his stance.  I wrap my left leg around his waist.  Reaching between us, I manage to position his cockhead at my entrance.  With one slow thrust, he seats himself balls deep into me.  My mewlings only make him grow inside me.  He pulls his face from my neck, the water pouring over his face.  He looks totally feral at me.  I grab his head and kiss him passionately.  He starts thrusting into me.  Hard.  My weight dropping down his length forcing him deeper into me.  My vocalizations get louder.  It’s a vicious cycle that I adore.  The louder I get, the harder he thrusts into me, his own grunts urging me to be louder.  Panting into his ear, “You feel so big in me.”  He bucks his hips harder.  “don stawhp … don stawhp” I lay my head on his shoulder.  He slowly lowers us to the stall floor.  Leaning over me, he goes totally beast on me.  I can only lie on my back and enjoy him ravaging my body.  My hands clinging to his arms, his hands on the floor over my shoulders, my legs wrapping around his waist pulling him impossibly deeper into me.  He finds that one magic spot deep inside me that makes stars burst behind my eyelids.  I cry out as I fall over the edge into my orgasm.  He chases his release with several powerful thrusts pushing us across the tile floor.  Our voices echo around the tiled stall loudly for a moment.  Then he collapses on top of me panting.  I wrap my arms around his head and shoulders panting myself.  I kiss his soaking wet hair, his temple, his ear.

He slowly raises himself to his elbows, “That felt good!” he purrs at me.

“mmmhhmmm” is all I can answer.

He gently slides out of me and kneels up between my legs.  His hands slowly run over my body from my breasts to my hips.  Gently pressing my thighs wider, he gives me a look.

“What?”

“I love making a mess of your pussy!”

I hook a foot around his neck and topple him onto me, “I love that you make a mess of my pussy!” as I wrap an arm around his neck.  He kisses me deeply.  I can feel him wince, “You ok?”

He slowly shifts and sits on the floor, “I really need to put bigger tiles on the floor in here.”

Looking at him, his knees are red with imprints of the little one inch square tiles that make up the shower floor.  “Ohhh!” I reach out to cup them gently.  He pulls me up to sit next to him and wraps his arms around me.  I can feel our mixed fluids seeping out of me. 

James stands and pulls me to my feet, “I suppose we should actually shower now” he laughs out softly. 

My legs are still a little wibbly as I put a hand on the wall, “You might have to hold me a bit.”

Keeping me close to his body, “Sure thing” he rumbles into my ear.  He tenderly washes and rinses my hair.  He gently washes my body as I get steadier on my legs.  I grab the scrubbie and use it on his body.  He rests his arms on the wall of the shower as I scrub his back, “Aww man, that feels so good.”  Then I wash his hair.  He rinses the conditioner from my hair and I rinse his.  He turns off the water and reaches for towels.  I wring as much water from my long hair as possible, then take a towel from him and wrap up my hair.  He wraps a bath sheet around me.  He’s already got a towel wrapped around his waist.  As I step out of the shower, my stomach gurgles.  He huffs a smile at me, “I guess we haven’t eaten yet, have we?”  He pulls me into his body.

I kiss his chin, “Not yet.”

He pats my towel covered ass as his stomach rumbles, “Maybe we need to get that taken care of!”

Minutes later, we are dressed in comfy jams grabbing our deli meals.  Collecting our plates, we make our way to the table.  James pops on the TV.  The local news is just starting.  The usual items – Parking lot car prowls where gifts have been stolen from vehicles, Christmas lights start a house fire, local store sued by customer who slipped on ice.  The weather report is a mixed bag.  The only common factor: COLD.  James turns it off.  I stretch and yawn.  He yawns, “Stahp dat.”

“Sorry, the alarm went off a little early this morning.”

He stands and collects some of the plates, “Yeah it did.”  He kisses the top of my head.  I collect what’s left on the table.

After tidying up the kitchen, he laces an arm around me, “C’mon.  Bed.”

“Yes, please.”  I let him lead me to his bedroom.  Our bedroom.  We both shed our clothes.  He flips back the covers, almost tackles me into the bed while rolling over me yanking the covers over us both.  His arms wrap around me, pulling my body into his.  I curl up around his arm.  I have become used to his arm being my pillow.  His nose is buries in my hair.  His breath warming the back of my neck.  “Good night, James” I breath out.

“Good night, Kira” he kisses my shoulder.  “Welcome home.”  He snuggles up a little closer, “Home Colorado home.”

I just snort in soft laughter.  His arms wrap tighter around me. 

We are both snoring minutes later.

Rockies Christmas - Day 7

Warnings:  Mostly Fluff, Slight parentage angst, Stranger Things mentioned (lots!), Shh! There's a secret! Don't tell James!!

Guide: CBF = Cali’s Boyfriend / CGF = Castor’s Girlfriend / MBF = Marcella’s Boyfriend {I didn’t want to give them names}

Getting this posted early. I suddenly have a craving for sugar cookies....

We both roll over at the same time stretching and yawning.  The sun is just climbing above the mountain tops.  James checks his phone.  “The kids are on the way.”

I flip the covers off us, “I should check the sheets on the other beds” as I get out of bed.

Climbing out on the other side of our bed, “I’ll help you.”

Pulling on sweats, tidying up our own bed, we both check on the other bedrooms.  Fortunately, there was only one bed that needed to have sheets put on it.  Once that is done, James sets about making his pulled pork.  I turn on the Christmas tree lights and start the stereo playing Christmas music.  “Kira?”

“Yes?” I return to the kitchen.

“Would you please turn on the outside lights on the patio?”

“Sure.”  I go to the patio door and flip on the switch.  I also check on the water in the tree stand, which was full.  Then I turn on the fireplace on low. 

Returning to the kitchen, James is scrambling eggs for us.  I put some sourdough bread into the toaster.  I’m buttering the slices just as James is covering the eggs with shredded cheese.  We sat at the kitchen table to eat.  Between bites, James fills out the name tags on his gifts.  I put them under the tree.  When I get back to the table, James is working on unloading the dishwasher.  I help him reload with the breakfast things and the pulled pork prep.  It’s not quite full when he starts it.  “We’re going to need some of those things later” is his reasoning.  He gives a quick check on the pork, then wrapping his hands over my shoulders, he moves us to our bathroom.  It’s by no means a short shower, nor one of our longest ones.  But most enjoyable.

Knowing that it’s the first time I’ll be meeting his kids, I pick out a pair of black loose-fitting pants and a bright red sweater.  I spend a little bit of time on my hair, French braiding it back.  James kisses my exposed neck that is usually covered by my hair.  I smile at him through the mirror.  He’s wearing a pair of black jeans and a green sweater.  I head to the living room just to make sure everything is tidy.  James wraps his arms around me, “It looks great” he whispers into my ear.  “They are going to like you” I feel his lips smile on my neck.  I breath out a small smile pressing my cheek into his.  His phone buzzes.  James makes sure that I’m steady before collecting his phone from the charger in the kitchen.  “The kids are in Denver.  Their flight here is on time.  At the moment.”  He scrolls on his phone, “And the roast is ready to pick up.”

I nod, “I’ll go get the roast.”

Looking out the window, “Take the truck” James says.  It’s snowing lightly.

“No.  I’ll take the Shelby.”  His eyebrows furrow ogether.  “If something happens to the rental van, everyone can squeeze into the truck.”  I look at him kindly.  “It would take a million runs in the Shelby.”

Nodding, “You’re right.”  He kisses my hair, “Just be careful.  There will be all kinds of idiots out there today.”

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I look up into his blue eyes, “I promise I will be good on the road.”  He leans down and kisses me gently.  I smile at him as we break the kiss.  “So, roast and food coloring.  Anything else?”

“The roast should be XX pounds and have good marbling….”

I press my fingers to his lips, then press his hand holding his phone into his chest.  “I’ll send you a picture.”

He laughs, “Ok.”

I grab my coat from the hooks by the garage door along with my wallet, boots, phone and the keyfob.  “I’ll let you know when I get to the store.”

“Please do.”

Smiling at him, I head into the garage hitting the button to raise the big overhead door.  I had to seriously move the driver seat forward on the tracks after James drove it to Denver and back.  Backing the little speedster out, I hit the remote button and the big door lowers.  The roads are slushy, but not too bad.  I only hope that they stay that way until his kids get to the house safely.  The parking lot at the store is a little crowded.  I deliberately park in the back of the lot in the Shelby.  Yes, it’s a longer trek into the store.  But it’s a Shelby.  I send a quick text to James.

Grabbing a cart from the parking lot, I push it in the store and to the butcher’s counter.  I give them the order number.  “Ahh.  There was a mix up and the big one that James ordered isn’t here.  But I have two for him to select from.”  I pull out my phone and make the butcher spin each roast while I video it.  I send the file to James.  I stand there a minute in awkward silence, giving the butcher a wonky smile.  My phone rings.

“That’s not what I ordered.”

“Hi.  There was a mix up.  These are what they have.”

“Can we get both of those?”

“James wants both.  Is that ok?”

The butcher nods, “For James, yes” he grins.

I smile at the man, “Thank you.”  Into my phone, “He’s wrapping them both up now.”

“Thank you.  Oh.  Horseradish please.”

“I’ll get some.  I’ll text you when I’m heading back.”

“Ok.  The kids flight is delayed 20 minutes.  Their flight crew is an inbound flight that was delayed.”

“I hope that’s the only delay for them.”

“Me too.  See you soon.”  He ends the call.

Taking the first wrapped roast from the butcher, “James wants horseradish.  I have no clue.”

Nodding, he sets the second wrapped roast in the cart, “Here, let me show you.”

Thirty minutes later and three texts from James, I have the roasts, horseradish, food coloring, pecans, buns for the pulled pork, sweet potatoes, sprinkles of all kinds and marshmallows paid for and in the trunk of the Shelby.  I fire it up and dial James’ phone.

“Hi!”

“Hey, I’m leaving the parking lot now.”

“Perfect!  The kid’s flight is in the air.  And I checked on the rental van.  It’s ready for them to collect.”

“Good.  I’ll be home soon!”

“See you then!”

I end the call.  The traffic is a little busy.  The snowplows have been through making the roads less slushy.  I get home without incident.  Parking in the garage, I make James hoist the roasts into the kitchen.  He’s smiling like a Cheshire cat as he checks them out.  His pulled pork is beginning to fill the house with a delicious aroma.  He settles the roasts in the fridge, and I kick him out to finish the icing for the cookies.

“Did you leave any sprinkles on the store shelf?” as he looks through the bags on the counter.

Shrugging my shoulders, “A few.  Maybe.”

As I’m finishing up with the icing, the doorbell rings and the front door is thrown open at the same time.  “Hey Dad!  We’re home!”

“I hope you don’t plan on doing laundry!”  James yells back as he heads to the front door.

I hear them greeting each other in the hallway, the voices getting louder as they approach the kitchen.  One of his daughters sees me in the kitchen.  She almost slams her purse onto the counter - I jump slightly - “I’m not calling you Mom.”

“Marcella!” James admonishes, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“James” I hold up a calm hand at him.  Looking to Marcella, “I don’t want you to call me Mom.”  That took the wind out of her sails.

“Why not?”  Obviously, Castor.  He’s the spitting image of his Dad in his 20’s.

“I’m not your mom.”  I can see the looks passing between the three kids.  “Just because I am involved with your Dad does not automatically make me your Mom.”  I smile gently at them, “You have a Mom.   And it’s not me.”

“Sooo what do we call you?” Cali asks. 

“Kira.”

Marcella moves her purse to the end of the counter.  “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have slammed my purse.”

“No worries” I smile at her.  “Do you guys want anything to drink?”

James has moved behind me and puts his hands on my hips and shifts me toward the kitchen table, “They know where the fridge is” he smiles at me.  Then he checks on the pork.

CBF looks over the counter, “Is that pork?” his eyes filled with joy.  And the two of them start to compare notes on pulled pork.

“Wow Dad!  The tree is gorgeous!” Cali says from the living room.

I watch James as he smiles, “Thanks!”  He grins at me, “It’s Kira’s first real tree!”

Cali joins me at the kitchen table, “Really?”  I just nod.  “I loved the picture of you two at the Parade on Thanksgiving.”

“That was a great day” I smile, fingering my ring.  James gives me a knowing look.

Castor sits by his sister, CGF on his knee, “Where are you from?”

“New York City.”

Cali, nibbling on a slice of bread, “What do you do?”

“As in work?” I ask back.  She nods.  “I’m an editor.”

“Books?” CGF asks.

“Books, articles.  I have done a couple of technical papers, but not really good at those.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not a scientist.”

There are some chuckles.

CBF stands behind her, rubbing her shoulders.  She has stopped nibbling the bread.  As the others are discussing books they’ve read – a couple that I know the editors – Cali pales a little.  Then she quietly gets up and finds a bathroom.  Books are still the topic of discussion when she returns, her cheeks a little pink.  CBF returns to rubbing her shoulders.  The general topic of books shifts to comics and graphic novels.  Cali nibbles on the slice of bread again.

James joins us at the table, pulling his chair close to mine, leaning on the table.  His eyes are sparkling. 

A phone rings.  Everyone checks their pockets.  Castor answers his.  “Hi Mom.   Yeah, sorry.   We landed about an hour ago.   The flight from Denver was a bit bumpy.”  He crosses his eyes.  James smothers a laugh.  “The roads were plowed.    Snow is light right now.   Supposed to get heavier tonight.   Hang on” he turns his phone to the table while hitting speaker, “Ok.”

“Merry Christmas kids!” their mother’s voice comes from the phone.  The kids all respond, “Merry Christmas!”  James rests his hand on my thigh.  I just smile at him.  Castor turns off the speaker, “Ok Mom.   We will.    Love you too!”  He gives me a look as he ends the call.  I just smile at him.  There’s a moment of silence.

“Did you kids leave all your luggage in the hallway?” James asks.

MBF pops up, “There’s still a couple of bags in the van.”   The kids all get up and head into the hallway.  I can hear James’ three tell their significant others where to find their rooms.  The front door opens and closes a couple of times, I am assuming bringing in luggage.

James leans over to me, his fingers gently lifting my chin, and kisses me.  I caress his chin, my thumb gently teasing his funky little soul patch.  He grins at me.  A couple of toilets flush.  He taps his forehead against mine, “It’s going to get noisy.”

I peck a kiss to the end of his nose, “That’s ok.”

From down the hall by his studio, “Hey Dad, mind if I play?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”  James gives me a lopsided grin as the drum kit in his studio gets a beating.  He pats my back between my shoulder blades and goes to join Castor in the studio.  Moments later his guitar is adding to the music.  Occasionally they stop playing and laughter is heard coming down the hallway.

Cali and CBF re-join me at the kitchen table.  “What do you think of Colorado?”

“It’s a lot different from New York.”

“What’s the biggest difference?” CBF asks.

“The number of people per square inch” I deadpan.

Cali giggles, “I have been there with Dad a couple of times.  How did you get him to the Parade.  He usually hates crowds.”

Shrugging slightly, “It was his idea.”

Cali leans on the table pointing toward the studio, “Who is that and what have you done with my Dad?”  Then she breaks out laughing.

“Oh my gawd!  Cali get in here!” Marcella calls from the living room. 

I follow Cali and CBF to the living room.  Marcella is pointing to one of their school made ornaments.  “I can’t believe Dad still has these!”

“I remember making that!  Ms Green was a fun teacher!” Cali’s eyes light up.

They spend time pointing out different ornaments reminiscing about them.  Cali points to my snowflake. “That’s new.”

“That one is Kira’s” James says as he and Castor enter the living room.  I hope my blush isn’t too evident as I remember what happened immediately after hanging the snowflake.  James claps his hands together, “I think the pulled pork is ready.  Who’s hungry?” 

There’s a chorus of “Me!”  I notice that Cali blanches a little and forces a smile.  CBF is right there beside her, his arm around her waist. He gently kisses her temple.  She smiles at him.

James puts the final touches on his pulled pork.  I pull out some sides.  Marcella and MBF pull out plates for everyone along with silverware.  It doesn’t take long for everyone to fix their plate and find a place in the kitchen to sit.  I sit on a barstool at the counter with CGF.

CGF points to my ring, “Did you two get married?”

“No.”  I set my fork down seeing the look in her eyes.  “That’s a long story.  And now isn’t the time” as I watch James and his kids.  “And it’s not an engagement ring” seeing the look in CGF’s eyes. 

“It’s complicated?” she asks quietly.

“A little” I say gently.

She smiles, “I get it.”  She takes a couple of bites.  “You two look really happy.”  I just smile.  “Castor said that he hasn’t seen his Dad this happy in a long time.”

“That makes me happy.”  I smile at her then turn my gaze to the table as laughter breaks out.  CGF also smiles.  “I know that he’s happy you kids are all here.”  CGF smiles back.

“Ok.  Let’s clean this mess up and make another!” James says taking his plate to the kitchen, scraping it into the compost bin and putting it into the dishwasher.  He looks up at the silence from his kids.  “What?”

Cali points to her Dad but looks at me, “Again, who is that and what have you done with my Dad?”

James rests his hands on the counter, “She made me better” he grins at me.

Collecting my plate, “And I can say the same thing about you” as I scrape my plate and put it into the dishwasher.

James grabs and dips me, planting a solid kiss on me.  My arms automatically wrap around his head.  There’s a chorus of “Ewww!”   “Get a room!”   “Dad!” from the table.  I know that I’m blushing when he puts me back on my feet.  Looking at the table, his kids are all smiling.

With so many hands helping, that meal is quickly put away.  I notice that Cali didn’t eat a whole lot.  James rubs his hands together.  “Now, someone was busy yesterday!” he gives me partial psycho grin.  He pulls out the big bins I’d found to store the cookies.

Marcella’s eyebrows are in her hairline, “You made those?”  I just nod.  “How many did you make?”

I shrug, “I tripled the recipe, so maybe 100?”

Castor collects the bin from James, “Holy shit!  You had to spend a lot of time baking!”

Hoisting a thumb at James, “He was cranking out something amazing, so I just kept baking.”

Putting his hands on hips, “So this is my fault?”  The grin on his face belays his words.  I just smile and nod at him.  Nodding, “I’m good with that.”

I pull all the frosting bowls out of the fridge, “These might be a little stiff since they are cold.”   There are eight different containers that I’d colored.  I pull all the butter knives out of the drawer.  James locates a couple of small spatulas.  He also grabs the bag of sprinkles.

I see Cali quietly rejoin the table.  CBF gives her a look.  She just smiles at him and takes a seat.

Castor pulls out a cookie and munches it.  “These are really good!”

“Thanks” I smile.

James munches one too.  “Grandmother?”  I nod.

“Grandmother?” Marcella asks.

“My Grandmother has an amazing collection of recipes.”

Asking softly, “Is she still around?”

“No.  She passed when I was twenty-six.”  Looking around, “We need something to put these on.”  I go grab a couple of big platters from the dining room table and turning almost face plant into James.

“You ok?” his concern genuine.

“Yes.”  I stand on tip toe and kiss his chin.  Seeing the look in his eyes, “I promise.  I’m ok.”

Looking at the platters in my hands, “We’re going to need more.”  He pats my ass as we go back to the kitchen.

The kids have dug into the cookie decorating with glee.  I set the platters on the table.  James comes back with some big plastic platters that he puts on the counter.  Then he joins in the fun.

Again, with so many hands, the cookies are mostly decorated in a short time.  Like anything with sprinkles, they are all over the table and floor.  Some of the cookies are elaborately done.  I feel like the few I did look as though they have been done by a grade schooler.  James smiles at me.  Then sucks frosting off his finger.  I squeeze my thighs together.  His grin goes mildly wicked.

“I have an idea!” James speaks up, “Let’s watch Stranger Things!”  Everyone is in agreement.

“Right after I’m done making cookies” Castor smiles at him.  “Please Dad?”

“Sure.  Let me help.”  James grabs about three undecorated ones and takes a bite out of the stack, his eyes sparkling.

I watch as Cali slips away quietly again.  I take one of the empty frosting dishes to the kitchen, put it into the dishwasher and fix a glass for Cali.

When she returns, “Hey Cali, come here a sec please.”  She comes into the kitchen.  “Here.”  I hand Cali the glass.

“What’s this?”

“A bicarb.”  She just looks at me.  “It’ll help your tum.”  I look at her, “And it won’t hurt the baby” I say softly.

She pales, “How do you know?”

Smiling gently at her, “Before Covid, I worked in an office that was mostly women.  Chug that.  Don’t sip.”  She does and gags slightly.  “I know it tastes weird and bad.” 

“What is it?”

“Baking soda and water.”

“That’s it?”

“Uh huh.  Give it a minute.  But be aware, that sometimes it might make you throw up more.”  I give her a lopsided smile.  “Is there anything that you can keep down?”

“Mostly just bread.”  She smiles gently, “And the cookies are ok.”

“I’ll make sure that there’s bread on the table for you.”  Suddenly she lets out a very large belch.  “You are your father’s daughter.”  She laughs.  “Feel better?”

“Yeah.  Thanks.”  She rubs her belly. 

I take the glass, “I’ll leave the box here.  A good sized spoonful and cold water.”

“Do you think Dad will be mad?”

“Why would he be mad?”

“We’re not married.”

“Ah.”  I look at her, “I don’t think so.  You are going to make him a Grandpa.”

Huffing a laugh, “Yeah.  The Mighty Papa Het will become The Mighty Grandpa Het!”  We both giggle.  “I have this”  she pulls out a sonogram photo from her purse, “I didn’t have the time to get a frame for it.”

Taking her hand, “Come with me.”

From the kitchen table, “Where are you two going?” came James’ voice.

Cali winces.  “Gift stuff” I say back.

“Hurry up!  We want to watch the show!” as he finishes munching the cookies in his hand.

“This will just take a minute Dad.”

I take her to the room that I’d claimed as my office.  Picking up the silver frame off my desk with two doodled post it notes, I pull them out and hand Cali the frame.

“This is from Tiffany’s.”  Her eyes wide.

“uh huh.”

“What did you take out?” her curiosity genuine.

I pick up the post it notes, “We got stuck in that September snowstorm.  We’d had a fight.  As an apology your Dad invited to me to dinner in the formal dining room by leaving these on the floor.”

“What are they?”

Holding out one, “Rose petals.”  Showing her the last one he’d given me where he’d drawn a full rose.

“That’s so romantic!”  She smiled.   “Are you sure it was Dad?”

“Yes, it was your Dad.”

“Why didn’t he just get a real rose?”

“Well, the 21 to 24 inches of snow on the ground and zero visibility might have had something to do with that.”  Cali just nods with a smile.  I open the closet and pull out the wrapping box, “Here’s a bag and some tissue.”  In a short time, the frame is wrapped in tissue and tucked into the bag.  Cali adds the gift tag and we were headed back up the stairs.  “Drop that under the tree” I whisper to her.  The kitchen table has been cleaned up.  The floor has even been swept.  I kinda like having a lot of hands to help out.  Going to James, I grab his hand, “C’mon.  You said that you wanted to watch the show” as I tug him towards the media room.  Within minutes, the eight of us are in the media room tucked under blankets and James starts Stranger Things, episode 1.

We only get three episodes watched when everyone is either yawning or lightly snoozing.  James powers off the system.  “Ok you dorks.  Bed time.”

There isn’t any push back from the kids.  As I walk past the kitchen, I start the dishwasher.  Looking out the window, James wraps an arm around me, his lips right by my ear, “Your Christmas wish.”  It’s snowing.  Hard.  I just smile up at him.  James takes my hand, and we go to our bedroom.  He pulls me to him and kisses me deeply.  “I told you that they’d like you.”  I caress his face and smile.  “I’m sorry about how it started with Marcella.  I should have ask…”

I press my fingers to his lips, “It’s ok.  So, there was a bump at the beginning.  At least it got taken care of.”  I pull his head to mine and kiss him.  “They are good kids.”  I kiss the end of his nose, “They are good young adults.”

He rolls his eyes.  “I know.  I can’t believe that they are all in their twenties.”

I squeeze a little tighter, “They will always be your kids.”

“And speaking of kids” James lets go of me and disappears into the closet.  He comes back with a shopping bag, “I need to stuff the stockings.”

“Hang on a second.”  I go into the closet and pull out the bag of stuffers I’d bought.  Going back to James, “I’ll help!”

He snakes an arm around me, kisses me, “Let’s do this!” he whispers conspiratorially.  As we make our way to the living room, James is softly humming the Mission Impossible theme.  I’m trying to not burst out laughing.  Once the items in our bags are distributed into the stockings we almost run back to our bedroom. 

He literally tosses me onto the bed before launching himself at me.  I grimace slightly and close my eyes.  He lands to my side but immediately grabs me and pulls me to him kissing me deeply.  We tug the clothes off the other, our lips not leaving each other’s except to pull off sweaters.  His hands are roaming my body when he suddenly stops.  His head pops up.  Then I hear it.  The unmistakable sounds of sex.  And not from us.  James drops his head to my neck.  “oooohh!”  I wrap my arms around his head trying to not giggle too hard.

“That’s not right” he mumbles into my neck.  “Them’s my kids.”  I stroke his hair.  His lips kiss my neck.  Leaning up on his elbow, “This is weird.”

“What?” my fingers gently caressing the nape of his neck.

“I mean I know it’s natural and all” there’s the loud noise of climax “but my kids.”  He whines and his eyebrows are knotted up.

“Here, let me help.  Computer, play classic Christmas music.”  The robotic voice answers, “Playing Christmas music from Kira’s Amazon Music.”  Mannheim Steamroller starts.  The sounds from outside our room are blurred out.  James rests his forehead against mine.  “Better?”  He nods.  I tug the covers behind me down and roll us that direction. 

He grabs the covers from under his hips and tugs them out then up over us as he lays down.  I rotate in his arms, curling around his right arm as my pillow, his left arm snugging me closer to his body.  His nose is buried in the back of my neck.  “Kira, Merry Christmas” as he gently kisses my neck.

I kiss his bicep, my fingers cupping his elbow, “Merry Christmas James” I whisper back.  His left arm tightens for a bit, then loosens as he drifts off to sleep.  I am not long behind him.

Rockies Christmas - Day 3

Warnings: Fluff and Shameless Product Placement

I wake up with a grunt.  Everything hurts.  I can’t lower my left arm.  James is face first into my side, his arm wrapped around my ribs.  Our legs tangled up together.  I can just reach his silvered locks with my right hand, playing with them softly.  Damn, but the short haircut looks good on him.  I would have loved to have known him in our 20’s when his hair was probably as long then as mine is now.  But the short silver hair works on him.  He grunts into my side, rubbing his face into me.  His mustache gently rubbing me.  His lips press against my ribs.  “Morning my woodsman” I whisper at him.

He groans, “I forget every year what a workout that is.”  He slowly pushes himself up on his elbow, gently caressing my stomach with his left hand.  “But it’ll be worth it!”

I smile at him, “I know it will be.”  He leans down and gently sucks on my nipple.  His stomach rumbles.  We both giggle.  “We didn’t have anything after the sandwiches.  I bet you are starving.”  He nods, my nipple still between his lips.  “Burrito morning?”  His eyes light up.  “Ya gotta let go of my boob.”  He pouts slightly, gives my nipple a hard suck as it pops out of his lips.  I grab my boobs, “They are still not fully recovered from the other day.”  He’d pinned me in bed in my NYC apartment and spent who knows how long sucking, pinching, nibbling and lovingly torturing my nipples.

He kisses my knuckles giving me a wicked grin, “And you enjoyed every moment of it!”

I cup his face, “I did.  My nipples haven’t yet decided” as I kiss him. 

He kisses me firmly.  Then breaking the kiss, “I should go squirt the creepy crawlies out of the tree again.”  He again tickles the side of my neck with his fingers.

“Stop that!” I giggle, squirming.  He plants a kiss on my forehead, flips the covers off us and climbs out of bed.  I watch as he stretches his back.  “You ok?”

“ayup.  Just super sore.”  He helps me straighten the bed up.  I smile as I watch his naked frame walk into the bathroom.  This, the megarocksuperstargod helping tidy up the bed.  The sunlight catches my ring.  The megarocksuperstargod who is mine.  I make my way to the closet and pull on a pair of stretchy pants, a tank top and a thin sweater. 

Heading to the kitchen, I hear his phone ring in the bedroom.  From the ring tone, it’s his son, Castor.  I pull out the ingredients to make burritos.  I’m browning onions in the cast iron skillet when James comes into the kitchen.  “Castor is going to arrive about the same time as the girls” he grins.

“I thought that he had some press to do before getting here.”

“It was decided that the press can wait until after the New Year.  So, it will be a full house in a few days!”

“Then you better get that tree debugged.” 

“On it” he grins cheerily, heading to the front door.

“Breakfast will be ready when you get back” I call after him.  I can hear the hose running out front.  Just as I hear it shut off, I put the final roll on the burritos.

“MMM!  Those smell good!”  He looks out the patio door, “I didn’t get the firepit started.”

“That’s ok.”  I hand him his plate, “Sour cream?”  He nods, I plop a large spoonful on top of his breakfast.  Putting some on mine, I join him at the kitchen table.  Between my own bites, I watch him happily munch his breakfast.  He pats his stomach as he sits back in his chair.  “So, what’s next?” I grin at him.

He heaves a sigh, “Pull out all the decoration boxes.”

Collecting our plates, “Where are they?”

“Some in the garage.  Some downstairs.”

I add our plates to the dishwasher and I rinse the sink, “I’ll get the ones from downstairs if you’ll get the ones from the garage.”

He’s grinning, “You trust me to pull them off the shelf so close to your Shelby?”

I cock a smile at him, “You trust me and my short little arms” I flap my forearms holding my elbows to my sides  “to reach them in front of your truck?”

He stands, “I’ll get the ones in the garage.”  He pulls me into a kiss.

I press against his chest, “Show me where the others are, please.” 

Another deep kiss, “You are beautiful.”

I caress his head down to his neck, “You are my handsome woodsman.”

He leans into my neck, kissing me.  Still holding me, “Let me show you where those bins are.”  He takes my hand, “The tree will go in that window corner.”  I nod.  He leads me downstairs to a storage area by the media room.  “You’ll want to check, but I think all the red bins are Christmas decorations.”  There were a lot.  “Here, I’ll pull down the top row.”  He lets go of me and starts unloading the bins.

“Thank you.”

He grabs my shoulders and rests his forehead against mine, “Do not over do.  This doesn’t have to be completed today.”

I grab his neck, “Same thing for you.”

He nods, “Agreed.”

I smile, “Agreed.”  We seal that pact with a deep kiss.

The next hour or so is spent shifting the bins to the living room near where the tree will stand.  I find that some bins hold other holiday decorations in them and put those back on the shelves downstairs.  I find a sharpie and label those bins accordingly. 

I come upstairs to find him sitting on the floor with light strings between his long legs, testing them.  As he finishes a set, I put the working strings on the big living room sofa.  The non-working strings are set aside.  A couple bins have the light strings with the big bulbs for outside.  These also get tested.  In the bottom of a bin is a small box with the spare bulbs in it.  I hand that to James and soon all the lights are ready to go up.

“Hey, wanna take a break and get lunch?” I ask as James stands up off the floor.

“Yeeaahh” he answers as he stretches his back.

I gently rub his back, “You ok?”

“Just a little sore.”

“Well, maybe sitting on the floor wasn’t the best idea” I smile gently at him.

“Yeah, maybe I should have sat on the sofa.”  He wraps an arm around my shoulders as we head into the kitchen.

Grabbing some ground meat, James puts together burgers for us.  I pull out some macaroni and toss together a quick pasta salad as a side.  He lights the firepit and we sit on the patio eating lunch.  The wind is picking up and the last of the leaves are dancing around.  “We’ll need to get the tree in before this wind knocks it over” he says watching the leaves.

Grabbing his empty plate, “I’m ready when you are.”

“My little steam engine” he grins at me.  He kisses me as he stands.  Turning off the firepit, we head back inside.  I put the dishes in the dishwasher and start it.  I follow James out the front door.  He hands me another pair of the blue gloves just before he puts on his work gloves.  Going to the tree, James steps behind it, leaning side to side.  “It’s going to fit!”  Then reaching into the branches and grabbing the trunk, he picks it up and lets it drop on the driveway a couple of times.  The last of the water drops splash off.  “Think you can handle the top of the tree?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, it’s going in stand first.  I’ll go slowly so I don’t pull you over.”

“That’s appreciated!” I smile at him.

He pushes the tree over and I catch it a couple of feet below the very top.  He hoists the trunk end with the stand and we maneuver the conifer in through the front door.  Shifting it around the sofa took a moment as I was still in the entry hallway with the top.  But we managed that swing and got it into the corner.  We were both breathing a little hard.  “A real tree is heavy” I pant out.

“Yeah, they can be” he smiles at me.  “But they are pretty.”

I stand beside him looking at the tree.  It’s bluish green branches glinting with the stubborn water drops in the midday sunlight.  “That is pretty.”  I inhale deeply, “It smells good too!”

The wind slams the front door against the house making me jump, “Oops!”  James is quickly down the hallway.  He checks the door and the outside of the house.  “No damage done” he says closing and locking the door behind him.  “But that wind is kicking up.”  I shiver a little.  “Is that cold or nerves?” he asks pulling me to him.

“Both?”  I lean into his chest.  “I mean, I’ve been through snowstorms in NY.  But this wind is different.”

Wrapping his arms a little tighter around me, “I got you.”  He lifts my chin and gently kisses me.  I sigh into him enjoying his body close to mine.  “Here” he gently separates us.  Moving to the fireplace, he starts it.  The glowing flames spread their warmth to the room and that glow is friendly.  Again, wrapping me into his arms, “Better?”  I just sigh into him.  “Yeah, that’s better” I can hear the smile in his voice.

I lean back gently, “These lights aren’t going to put themselves on the tree.”

“No” he smiles at me, “they are not.”  He kisses the top of my head, “And I suppose my height is an advantage to putting them on?” he gives me a wonky grin.

“Do you trust me on a ladder?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Absolutely not!” he chuckles and squeezes me a little tighter.  Then he looks at me.

“What?”

“You’re beautiful when you smile.”

I pull his head to me and kiss him gently yet deeply.  “You are my handsome woodsman.”  He leans in and we kiss again.

“Lights” he whispers into our kiss.  I start giggling.  He follows with outright laughter.  “I’ll go get the ladder.  Will you please plug this extension cord in behind the tree?”

“Happy to.”  As he walks away, “I suppose water needs to get put into the tree stand?” as I look into the empty basin through the branches.

“Shit!” I hear from the storage room.  “Hang on, I’ll show you that.”  He comes up with a short step ladder and pops it open leaving it in the living room.  He digs into a bin and pulls out a rather large pitcher, “Here, let me show you.”  He takes my hand and leads me into the kitchen.  Starting the hot water in the sink, he pulls down a bottle of karo syrup from a top shelf.  “There’s a line on the bottom here for this” as he pours the syrup into the pitcher, leaving the bottle on the counter.  “Then it fills with the hot water.”  He lets some fill the pitcher, swirls it to mix the syrup, then tops off the pitcher.  “Now, this gets poured into the stand.”  He grabs a kitchen towel and I follow him to the tree.

“I guess my shortness is best for this task?” smiling up at him.  He smiles sheepishly at me.  I slip under the tree, “Extension cord before the water, please.”  He hands me the plug end and I find the socket.  “Ok, pitcher please.”  He hands me the towel, then the pitcher.  It was a little tricky dodging the boughs, but I was able to get the stand filled with only a little spillage.  I had to basically do the worm to extract myself from under the tree.  James grabs my waist and helps me stand.  “Ta dah!  I just watered my first real Christmas tree!”  He laughs with me and pulls some needles from my hair.

“Ok.  Lights.”  He pulls out the other end of the extension cord and plugs in a string of lights.  And they don’t turn on.  “Oops!”  He crosses the living room and turns on a switch.  The string of lights flares to life.  “Ta dah!”

“Almost like magic” I grin at him.

We spend the next couple of hours lighting the tree.  I fed the strings to James as he wraps them into the branches.  The sun is setting when he finally climbs down off the step ladder, “There.  I think that’s got it.”  He moves around the living room looking at the tree.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure that there are no light holes.”  He goes to the tree, “Like here.”  He shifts the light strings a bit, then steps back.  “There.”  He pulls me into the sofa with him, “That’s going to be pretty when the ornaments get put on it.”

I lean into him, “I am looking forward to seeing your ornaments.”

He grabs my boobs, “I love yours” as he gently squeezes them.  I squeal in laughter and twist to get my boobs out of his reach.  He simply yanks me back, “Nope!”  His lips find my neck.  That special spot.  I wilt into his arms.  “Works every time” he breathes into my neck.  His stomach rumbles.  He starts to giggle, which sets me off and we both end up laughing.  He gently releases his hold on me, “Pizza?”

I caress the back of his head, “Yes, please.”

He pulls me up with him and we walk into the kitchen.  “I suppose you want your rooty-tooty-fruity pizza?”

“Yes please?” I give him my puppy eyes blinking at him quickly. 

He pulls me into him, “There’s a price to pay for that in this house” his hands grope my ass.

I arch my butt into his hands, “Gladly” I purr at him.

He plants a passionate kiss on me, “Thought you’d agree!”  He makes sure that I can stand before grabbing the house phone.  He places the order – 1 meaty pie, 1 fruity pie, 1 large salad, 1 pan brownies – and winks at me.  “Dinner will be here in about 30 minutes.”  The wind flips a cushion off a chair outside.  “Or maybe a little longer.” 

We both quickly move to the patio doors.  James pulls the cushions off the chairs and I stack them inside the door.  He checks the other items on the patio before coming back inside.  “Damn, that wind is cold.”  I press my hands to his bright pink cheeks.  “Your little hands feel so good!” as his big cold hands cover mine.  His blue eyes capture mine.  I pull him to me and tenderly kiss him.  “Your lips feel good too” he smiles at me.  I take his hand and move him to the living room.  I turn his back to the fireplace and just wrap my arms around him.  “Ahhhhh.”  He takes up what I call his stage power stance to hold me while kissing me.  Then, he picks me up and moves away from the fireplace.  “Bit warm on the butt there.”  I reach back to his ass, rubbing it while smiling up at him.  The doorbell rings.  “Dinner!”  He carries me toward the front door, setting me down to open the door.

The poor delivery guy looks frozen.  James hands the kid a tip and collects our dinner.  I close the door and make sure it’s locked.  I rub my arms as I walk into the kitchen, “That wind is cold.”

“Yeah.  It’s going to knock down the last of the fall leaves.”  His eyes look to me, “Glad we got the tree yesterday.”  I just look at him.  “Pizza’s getting cold” he smiles softly at me.  He turns and pulls out a couple of plates.  I hug him from behind and kiss his back.  He pulls me around in front of him, putting me between him and the counter and starts loading salad on his plate.  Then several slices of his meaty pie. 

I pile up salad on my plate and grab a couple of slices of my Hawaiian pie.  Slipping away from his body, I open the fridge, “What do you want to drink?”

“Severed please!”  He turns on the TV.  The local news is on.

I grab a couple of the Severed Lime cans, close the fridge and grab my plate.  I join him at the table.  The repeating story is the wind.  Some trees down across the freeway, a couple of houses clobbered by trees, some power lines down.  No one hurt.

James heaves a sigh, “Great way to start the holiday.  With a wind event.”  He looks at me.  “You look scared.”  I nod smally.  He pulls my chair - they are wheeled - to him, “Hey.  This house can – and has – gone a week without power.  There’s a generator on the backside of the garage.”

“I’m not afraid of not having power.  It’s the tall trees.”

“Ahh.”  He rubs my back, “I had all the trees that could potentially do damage to the house cut before I moved in.”  He smiles encouragingly at me.  “I got you.”  I just blush and smile.  He rests his left hand on my right arm and returns to eating his pizza.  I ate what I could with my left hand.

As we clean up from dinner, I can tell he’s still super sore.  I gently take his hand, “Come with me.”  I make him sit on the sofa as I stand behind.  I dig into his shoulders with my fingers.  His shirt gets in the way, so I tug it off him.  Then I return to digging into his shoulders.  His upper arms.  His neck I’m a little more careful around with the herniated disc.  I watch as his eyes slowly close.  I gently stop digging into his muscles and start just rubbing, touching him.  I look around the room.  Although the living room is still filled with storage bins, it feels festive.  The lights on the tree twinkle warmly.  The fire sheds a warm glow to the room.  The fresh smell of pine fills the house.  James snores loudly.  I just smile at him.  I turn off the fireplace and figure out which switch is the tree.  “Hey sleepy head, c’mon” I pull his hand.  He sniffs awake, stands and follows me to our bedroom.

He disappears into the bathroom as I tug down the covers and drop my clothes to the floor.  He pads to the bed naked and slides into it, pulling me close to his body as I pull the covers over us.  His lips caress my neck, “I’m sorry that this has worn me out so.”

“I blame the altitude.”

“Colorado’s or mine?” there’s a smile in his voice.

“Both.”  I wrap my arms around his.  I feel his breath on the back of my neck, his nose buried in my hair.  My eyes close as his breathing evens out.

I don’t hear the winds at all.

Rockies Christmas - Day 15

Warnings:  Snow Day, Wind event,

Guide: CBF = Cali’s Boyfriend / CGF = Castor’s Girlfriend / MBF = Marcella’s Boyfriend {I didn’t want to give them names}

I slowly rotate in bed.  My legs a little achy from being pinned by James earlier this morning makes me smile.  I can hear that the winds have picked up outside.  Reaching out I find his side of the bed empty.  The smell of onions being grilled floats into the room.  Sitting up, stretching, I make my way into the bathroom.  When done and cleaned up, I dig out a pair of stretchy pants.  I’m down to the bottom of the stack which means that I need to do laundry.  Pulling open the drawer that should have my tank tops in it, it’s empty.  Yup.  Need to get the laundry done.  I find a bra and taking one of James’ t-shirts – Bastardane – I finish getting dressed and head into the kitchen finding James at the stove with a huge skillet grilling onions.  I hug him from behind, “Morning.”

Twisting slightly and wrapping an arm around me, he kisses me, “Morning.”  He smiles at me and wiggles his eyebrows, “Feeling ok?”

I stand on tiptoe and kiss him, “I feel beautiful.”

Gently patting my ass, “Good.”  Then, “Hey, that’s my shirt.”

“Well, if the kiddos weren’t here, I’d be starkers” as I flash him my lacy bra.  I get a grin in response.

“Need to do laundry?” he smiles turning back to the skillet.

“Should probably change our sheets too” I purr at him as I head towards the coffee maker running my hand over his ass.

He nods in agreement, “Yeah, that’s probably a really good idea!”

Almost as if by magic, all the kids turn into the kitchen together.  “Damn, Dad.  You use a lot of onions” Cali declares sitting at the bar.

Looking at his oldest, “You have a problem with that?” he grins.

CGF sits next to Cali, “I don’t, except that they give Castor gas.”

“Tell us something we don’t already know” Marcella snarks at her brother.  He gives her a snarky smile back.

Marcella pulls out her phone as it buzzes.  James looks at her.  “Reminder that we need to check in to our flights.”

All the kids pull out their phones and check into their flights.  “Hey Marcella” Castor says putting his phone away, “Thanks for the reminder.”

“You’re welcome” she grins at her brother.

“Hey Kira!  Nice choice in shirts!” Castor grins.  I give him a pair of horns.

James finishes the onions and starts the eggs.  I see that he’s already put out the stuff to make burritos.  “Kira, will you please start the microwave?  I already have the roast beef in there.”

He’s even set the time needed.  I push the start button smiling at him.  Then grab our mugs and make our coffees.  A few minutes later, we are all sitting at the kitchen table enjoying our breakfast burritos. 

I watch as Cali and CBF keep giggling with their hands interlaced over Cali’s belly.

James smiles at them, “Moving more in the morning or evening?”

“A little in the morning.  More in the evening.” Cali smiles.

Nodding, “I’ll bet on an evening birth” James grins.

“Morning” Marcella speaks up.

“Midday” is CGF addition.

“Someone write these down!” Marcella giggles.

CGF finds a notepad and pen.  We all make our guesses.

“What does the winner get?” Castor asks.

“To change the first diaper” CBF suggests and there’s laughter all around.

A strong gust of wind hits the house.  “Picking up out there” James says looking out the window.  The wind picks up the loose snow and is blowing it all around.  The clouds in the sky are being torn apart and then put back together.  I shiver some as another gust lifts more snow from the patio.  “How many episodes to we have to finish Stranger Things?” James looks at Castor.

Thinking, “There’s all of season 4 – which is 9 shows, and I think we have 3 left on season 3.”

“Shall we do the long haul and finish this?” James looks around the table.  Another gust of wind hits the house.

“Sure.”  “Not going out in this.”  “Might as well.”  “Yes!” are the mixed responses.

Everyone helps get the kitchen and dishes sorted.  Carrying my coffee mug as I’d not yet finished it, we all make our way to the media room.  Marcella and Castor pull out some extra blankets as the room is little chilled today.  Sinking into our positions on the sofa structure, Castor fires up the system and starts the next episode. 

Between every other episode, there’s a bathroom break.  Someone gets something from the kitchen.  Someone takes all the dirty dishes from the previous kitchen run to the dishwasher.  As the second episode of the fourth season starts, there’s a very harsh gust of wind.  I wince and lean into James.  The power flickers.  “Hold on Castor.  Let’s see if the genny is going to kick in.”  The lights flicker again - then go out.  About 45 seconds later, they all come back on.  There’s a dull roar from outside.  “Ok.  The genny is on.  Go ahead.”

Restarting the TV, Castor starts the next episode.  James pulls me into a tight hug, “I got you” he whispers to me.  Smiling, breathing a little fast, I lean into his chest. 

Pausing before the fifth episode, it’s the usual bathroom and kitchen runs.  I lean back and look up at James, “How long will the generator run?”

Frowning slightly, “36 to 48 hours.  Depending on how many devices we have running.  The furnace is gas, but the fan is electric.  The biggest draw will be the TV, chest freezer and the fridge.”  He kisses my forehead, “I doubt the power will be out that long.”

Before the sixth episode, it’s a unanimous decision to have more Jambalaya.  CBF pulls the leftovers out and in short order, we are all seated at the kitchen table.  A couple more heavy gusts hit the house.  One of them followed by a loud thud.  I jump.  James kisses my hair, “I should check on that.” 

MBF stands, “I’ll go with you.” 

The rest of us clean up the lunch dishes.

James comes back in the house after being outside for a time, “Hey Castor, where are the keys for the rental van?”

“Uhm, by the front door.”  Castor follows his Dad and I follow Castor.  “Everything ok Dad?”

Nodding, “The van is fine, but that old oak dropped a branch.  I’m going to move the van just to be on the safe side.”

“Is that side drive slick?” Castor asks.

“A little.”

“Let me grab my coat.  It might need a shove.”

James back tracks into the kitchen, stopping to give me a reassuring kiss.  He smells of fuel.  Then he, MBF and Castor go out the side door by the kitchen.  I see the two younger men walking beside the van, hands on it, with James in the driver’s seat.  He slowly moves it up into the small, protected area in front of the side door.  The three stomp the snow off their boots before coming in the door.

“Thought we couldn’t park there, Dad” Cali teases.

“Hey, my house, my credit card on the rental van” James grins at his daughter.

Holding her hands up, “I concede the point!” she laughs.

The two boys put their coats on the coat rack by that door.  James takes his into the garage.  I stand at the end of the hallway waiting for him.  “I topped off the fuel in the genny” he smiles at me.  “Diesel fuel stinks” he grins at me before kissing me gently.  He stops in the kitchen to wash his hands.  Several times.  He just grins at me.  Another powerful gust hits the house.  I shiver.  James pulls me into a hug, one arm around my waist, the other tenderly cupping my head.  I wrap both my arms around his waist.  Gently easing his hold on me, “You ok?”  I heave a sigh and smile at him, nodding.  We all make our way back to the media room. 

Castor stands and stretches before the last episode.  “Who’s up for some snacks?” he grins.  Again, we all head into the kitchen.  Some popcorn is made.  James, MBF and I make sandwiches from the last of the roast beef.  Cali heats up some rice and tops it with butter and salt.  Grabbing a couple bags of chips and everyone grabs a Liquid Death can from the fridge, there’s a parade back to the Media Room.  Castor is the last one to enter the media room, carrying one of James’ guitars.  Grinning, “Here Dad, in case you want to play along!”

Laughing with his son, “Thanks, but that’s not my line.  That’s Kirk.”

“No, it’s yours.”

“I do a short solo in the middle.  The lead is all Kirk” James smiles at his boy, taking a bite from his sandwich.

“I thought this was all you.”

“Sorry Castor” James smiles.  “They even cut my solo from the show.  This rendition is all Kirk.”  Seeing the look on his boy’s face, “But I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

Castor, setting the guitar on the counter, “I honestly thought this was all you” he grins at his Dad.

“It’s me in Jungle Cruise” James offers.

“We should watch that next” MBF offers.

“How about we finish this show.  Next time we’ll do a movie marathon” James counters.

“Deal!”

Castor starts the last episode.  Everyone sits up to headbang when Eddie starts playing.  When the lines comes, we all shout “Most Metal ever!” laughing.  I smile at James.  He pulls me into a kiss.  When the episodes ends, Castor flops back on the sofa, arms raised, “We did it!”  There’s general laughter.

“You guys should pack up tonight” I offer.

James nods in agreement, “Excellent idea.  With the winds, you’ll want to leave a little early in case there’s trees on the freeway.”

Looking up at his Dad, “That corner there at Wolcott can be tricky.”  James just nods.

“Ok dorks” Marcella turns to her counterparts, “Let’s bag up.”

Castor powers down the system.  The kids all depart to their rooms.  I gather up the blankets.  James helps me, grabbing his guitar before turning off the lights in the room.  Leaning his guitar against the wall, the blankets get dumped on the floor in front of the washer.  “I’ll get to these when the power’s back” I tell him as he pulls me into a hug, my hands rest on his chest.

He kisses my forehead.  “What about the wind here has you jittery?” his eyes search my face.

“The winds here just sound … savage.”  I pat his chest, “The winds in the city just don’t sound like the winds here.”

Cupping my head into his chest, “I can understand that” as he pulls me in tighter.  I lean my head back looking into his face.  “From the sounds, I think the worst is over” he looks at me a gentle smile on his lips.  Leaving the laundry room and taking my hand, James reaches for his guitar and is almost bowled over by Castor.

“Yikes!”  Castor grabs his Dad.  “You ok?”

“I have enough bruises, thanks son” James teases Castor.

“I was just coming back.  I forgot to put your guitar away.”

James hands the axe to his boy, “Here ya go” he smiles.

Smiling, “Thanks.  I’ll put it back.”  Castor heads up the hallway, “Night Dad.”

“Night Castor” he watches the young man retreating up the hallway.

I rest my hand on his forearm and let it slide into his hand, smiling gently at the megarocksuperstargod dad at my side.   Sighing, he gently squeezes my hand.  Then turning to me with a gentle smile, we walk into the living room.  I see that there are some things the kids have left in the room and start collecting them.  James stops me, makes me set the things down and smiles, “Hey dorks!  Y’all left things in the living room!”  I raise my eyebrows at him.  “What?” he grins.

“So you started the dorks thing?”

“No.  That was actually Lars” he smiles.

Soon all six young people are in the living room collecting their items.  CGF and Marcella do a thorough search of the room as well as the kitchen.  With a “Good night!” they return to their rooms.

James turns off the lights in the living room.  With a sigh, he turns off the tree lights.  The room is very dark indeed.  Draping an arm over my shoulders to my other hip, he leads us to our bedroom – making sure to close the door behind us.  After climbing into bed, he’s fidgety.  I roll over, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like sleeping with the genny running.”  Reaching to my bed side table, I hand him the TV remote.  With concern etched on his face, “Are you sure?”

“Positive” I caress his face.

He sits up against the headboard and turns on the TV.  I completely roll over, putting my head into his lap.  His fingers play with my hair.  I drift to sleep. 

I feel him shift me gently off his lap.  That’s when I realize that the faded roar of the generator is silenced.  James is cold when he curls up against my back.  “All good?” I whisper.

“Yes, other than I’m cold” he snugs up closer.  I pull his arms tighter around me.

Sleep grabs us both.

Tricks or Sweets

I am having so much fun writing these!  Here is the October offering.

The one for November is in the wings!

Link to the September post:

Warnings: The end is NSFW. Strip Joints mentioned.

Damn this man can be frustrating.  I suppose any man can be frustrating.  I’ve had relationships before.  But none of them worked out.  The last serious one that I’d had ended a couple of years ago and it broke my heart.  Ok.  Shredded it.  This one came damned close to doing it again.  Although the last month, we have both been working on it.  Together.  We’ve had some heated discussions.  No yelling.  Some discussions have ended with the agreement to disagree.  Some he’s changed my mind.  Some I’ve changed his.  But here it is, close to Halloween and I’m sick.  I have kept him at a distance because I don’t want him getting sick.  Hell, Lars would skin me alive if I get the mighty James Hetfield sick when they are working on new songs.  James and I had closed up his Colorado house to stay in his NorCal place so he could go into HQ with the rest of the band.

James is a little hurt that I’m pushing him away.  Even after explaining to him that I don’t want him to get sick.  He still curls up with me in bed.  He’s been keeping his kisses to any part of my body except my mouth.  I’m not going to complain.  He’s excellent at kissing body parts.  I also think he’s hoping that I’ll get better in time to go to Kirk’s big shindig on Halloween.

“James, I really don’t like to be scared.” I mumble, then cough.  It feels like I’m hacking up a lung. 

Patting my back, “But Kirk’s parties are really good.”  He’s almost whining.  “Will you at least consider going?”

I know that this party is a big deal, “I will consider.”  More coughing, “If I get over this.”  I blow my nose, which is sore and red.  I untwist the Hawaiian print dress I’m wearing.

He pulls me into his side, cupping my head, “I’m sorry you don’ feel good.”  His fingers feel cool on my forehead.  He grabs the digital thermometer and presses it to my forehead.  It double beeps.  “100.2.  Do you want more tea?”

I can only nod as I cough some more.  I watch from the sofa as he sets the kettle to boil.  I had moved to the living room sofa – for a change of scenery from our bedroom.  I slowly sink back into the sofa.  My eyes flutter open as I feel his fingers on my forehead.  My mug is sitting on the table.  I sit up and he hands it to me.  It’s the perfect temperature, which means that I’ve been asleep.  I chug most of it.  It feels good on my throat.  It hits my stomach like a ton of bricks.  It’s the only thing I have consumed all day.  I curl into a ball against him as he takes my mug.  He gently urges my head into his lap, tucking the blanket in around me.  I close my eyes as he plays with my hair. 

It's dark when I wake up.  Still on the sofa.  I cough hard.  Grabbing some tissues I spit out what I’ve hacked up.  At least it’s beginning to break up.  I hope.  I sit up slowly.  I can hear James in his studio.  He’s putting lyrics to a new tune.  I just sit and listen.  Damn!  It’s going to be a hit!  Standing up slowly, I make it to the bathroom.  Washing up after, I splash some water on my face.  It feels so good that I lean on the counter.  I feel his hand on my lower back.  “You good?”

“Yeah.”  I slowly stand up and lean into him.  “Just had to pee.” 

He presses his hand to my forehead.  Before I can protest, he’s scooped me up and carries me back to our bedroom.  Grabbing the thermometer, he presses it to my forehead.  “101.3.  If this gets any higher, I’m taking you in.”

I can’t argue.  I sink back into the pillows.  I feel him get off the bed.  My eyes close.  Then I feel the mattress sink as he sits on it.  A cool cloth is pressed to my forehead.  Another he presses to the back of my neck.  I whimper softly.  “Shhh.  Just sleep.”  I drift away again.

I hear voices.  Speaking softly.  I feel James’ hand cupping my head. 

“Doc, she’s been down for at least a whole day.”

“Temp?”

“101 to 102 consistently.”  I can hear the concern in his voice.

“Is she drinking or eating anything?”

“It’s been awhile.  I got some tea in her yesterday afternoon.”

I hear a deep sigh.  “She needs some electrolytes.  Let me set up an IV for her.”

I try to squirm.  “Shhh.”  His fingers cup my face.  “I got you.”  I manage to pull his fingers to my neck, leaning into the coolness.  The bed sinks on my left side.  I wince as the band is tightened around my arm.  “Hang on Kira.  It’s only for a moment.”  Then there’s a stinging in my left arm.  I manage to kick out with a leg.  “Almost done.”  His lips press cooly to my forehead, his fingers play with my hair.  The sting eases and there’s a cool sensation running up my arm.  The band is removed.

“Ok.  I have this one wide open.  Keep an eye on this arm.  It’ll need to stay pretty straight for this bag to get in her.”

“Got it, Doc.”

“I’ll leave a couple of bags in your fridge.  Pull the next bag back to about half.”

“Doc, thanks a million.”  The bed shakes gently.  I can only guess that they are shaking hands.  I whimper and try to curl around him.  “Shhh.  You’ll feel better soon.”  His hand caresses my hair.

“Call me if anything looks wonky.  I’m only doing this cause I know you can handle the IV port.  You’ve had enough in your life.”

“Thanks again.”

“I’ll see myself out, James.”  I hear footsteps.  “I’ll check in with you later.”

“Thanks.”  James rolls me to his side, draping my left arm over his chest.  His fingers make gentle lazy patterns on my arm and shoulder.  The darkness reaches up and pulls me under.

It’s pitch black outside when I float awake.  I’m flat on my back.  James is on my right side, his arm and leg keeping me pinned.  I struggle a little to move.  “Hey.  What’s wrong?”

“Gotta pee” I cough out.

I have never seen him move this fast, he’s standing on my side of the bed, one hand holding my left hand, the other under my right arm pulling me gently to my feet.  “Hang on a sec.”  He reaches behind me.  The IV bag hits my back.

“That’s cold” I flinch slightly.

“Sorry.  It’s still attached to you” he gives me a small smile. 

I wobble to the bathroom.  He stands holding the IV bag while I use the toilet.  He did have to help me stand after I cleaned up.  He squirts some hand sanitizer on my right hand and works it in.  “Faster than washing just the one hand.”  I snorfel a smile.  He almost carries me back to bed.  Tucking me back into the sheets, he rehangs the IV bag.  I look up.  He’s jerry rigged a mic stand to hold the bag.  I laugh softly.  “What?”

Pointing with my right hand, “Very creative.”

“I didn’t want to put a hole in the wall” he smiles at me.  I wiggle to get comfy.  He checks the bag.  “I’ll be right back” he kisses my forehead.  “Don’t go anywhere.”  He pats my stomach as he leaves.  I blink and he’s back, a new IV bag in his hands.  “Let’s go ahead and change this one out.”  Like a trained nurse, he quickly gets the bags changed.  He adjusts the flow on the line.  I just look at him.  “You don’t want to know how many IV ports I’ve yanked out of my own arms.”  My fingers gently rub his arm as he sits.  “A night nurse in Montreal took pity on me and showed me what to do.”

“That had to be horrid.” 

“Honestly, I was terrified.”  He gently stretches out next to me.  “I still double check the setlist and where I am on stage.”  I can see the memories in his eyes.

“You were very lucky that those flames didn’t sear your lungs.”

Nodding, “That would have ended me.”  I gently caress his cheek.  “The year it took to be able to pick up a guitar again was torture.”

“I’m sure it was.”  My fingers linger on his face, “I heard what you were creating earlier.  It sounds great!”

He smiles at me, “That was two days ago.  But thanks!”  He kisses my forehead.

“Two days?”

“Yeah, you’ve been a little out of it” his fingers caress my face.  He grabs the digital thermometer.  “Look at that!  99.8!”

I smile softly.  “I do feel better.”  A coughing fit hits me.  He just rubs my back. 

“Actually, you did cough in your sleep.”  He brushes stray hairs from my forehead.

“Have you slept at all?”

“Some.  But I’m good.  Let’s get you out of the weeds first.”  He pulls me to him, making sure that the IV tube isn’t being crushed, and curls an arm around my head.  “I’m not going anywhere.  Sleep.”  I wrap my right arm around his and let sleep pull me back under.

My eyes squint open to a room filled with bright sunlight.  The IV port is still in my arm, but the tubing has been removed.  I sit up and cough hard.  I hear the toilet flush, then water in the bathroom.

“It lives!” James smiles at me.  He’s wearing just a pair of boxers.  And damn he looks good.  Another coughing fit hits me.  James slides onto the bed, patting my back.  “Doc stopped by this morning.  He gave you a shot of B12.  That should give you the boost you need to get over the cough.”

“That explains why my ass hurts.”

Nodding, “Yeah, that’s one of those shots that can’t go thru an IV.”  He kisses my shoulder, “I want to leave the port in for a bit.  I can take them out, but can’t put them in.”

“I understand that.”  I squirm to the side of the bed, “I gotta pee again.”

He helps me from the bed to the toilet and then the sink.  “Let’s shift you to the family room.”  He snakes an arm around me, “Change of scenery.”

“A change of sheets please?”

He snickers a laugh, “You read my mind.”  He helps me sit back into the sofa in the family room and covers me with a big fuzzy blanket.  “Need anything?” as he hands me the TV remote.

“A Severed Lime please?”

He kisses my forehead.  “Be right back.”

I power up the TV and start looking through the guide.  His hand comes over my shoulder, “Here.  Careful it’s open.”  His voice soft.

“Thank you.”  I look into his blue eyes, “For taking care of me.”  Another coughing fit.  This one hurts my chest.  His hands gently hold my shoulders and rub my back.  I pull his hand from my shoulder to my chest, “It hurts here.”  He rubs my chest gently.  His hand warm on my skin.  And deeper.  I cough again.  James uses the heel of his other hand to pound on my back.  I grab some tissues and spit out the phlegm.  It’s green.

“That’s not good.”

“Better out than in” I manage, spitting out more.

“I’ll call Doc again.  Get his opinion.”  He kisses my hair, “In the mean time, I’ll go change the sheets.”

“Please spray the pillows and mattress with Lysol.”

He kisses my hair again, “Good idea.”  He takes my left hand, “I think we’re done with this.”  He deftly pulls out the IV port from my arm.  Then he holds the spot for a minute waiting for my blood to congeal.  “There.  All better.”  I cough hard.  “Well, getting there” he chuffs at me. 

I find a movie and start it as another fit hits me.  More phlegm comes up.  I drop the messy tissues to the floor with the other ones.  I curl into the corner of the sofa, tugging the blanket tighter.  I blink awake as the movie is ending.  Music floats from James’ studio.  I cough again, bringing up more phlegm.  I chug some of the Severed Lime.  The bubbles actually feel good on my sore throat.  I start another movie and I recurl into the blanket.  It’s dark when I sit up, coughing again.

“Hey,” his hands on my shoulders again.  He reaches out and grabs the Severed Lime can, “Here, sip.”  I take a couple of sips.  “Doc stopped by while you were sleeping.  He looked at what you’ve coughed up.  He didn’t want to give you an antibiotic shot without knowing if you have any medical allergies.”

Shaking my head, “None that I know of.”  I cough again.  I take another drink.

“He left the shot, if you’ll let me.”  I look into his big blue eyes.  He’s concerned.  Very concerned.  And torn.  Being brought up Christian Scientist, medicines were frowned on.  But modern medicine saved him when he was so badly burned.  I nod at him, holding tissues to my mouth as another cough hits me.  Once he knows I’m ok, he goes to the fridge and pulls out the syringe.  He picks up the alcohol wipe packet from the counter as he returns.  “Doc said the best place for me to jab you is in the ass.”  He sits on the sofa.  I slowly roll to him, draping myself over his lap.  “If you felt better, this would be interesting!”  He opens the wipe packet, pulls up the Hawaiian dress I’m wearing and rubs my ass with the wipe, then his fingers grab that cheek and the other stabs.  I wince.  He pulls the dress back down and rubs the spot, “All done.”  I just hang there.  “You better shift off my lap, or I might just let my evil thoughts take over” he growls gently into my ear. 

“Maybe later” I grin up at him as I push myself back into the corner, another cough hits me.

“My poor little Kira.”  He tucks me in, kissing my forehead.  He goes into the kitchen.  I hear him puttering around in it.  I’m still a little too far gone to pay attention.  He comes back carrying a bowl, “Here, sip this.”  It’s miso.

“That tastes so good.”  I drink more.  “Thank you.”

He returns to the kitchen and comes back with his own bowl.  A much bigger bowl.  He puts my feet into his lap and I start another movie.

I don’t remember falling asleep.  My feet are still in his lap.  Our soup bowls on the coffee table.  He’s curled up on his side, several pillows under his head.  I gently extract my feet.  “You ok?”

“I gotta pee.”

He stands up and helps me stand, “Well you do have about three IV bags of fluids in you.”

As we move toward the bathroom, “I do feel better.”  I cough again.

“Yeah.  Uh huh.”  He gives me a look.

“I do” I protest while using the toilet.  He stands behind me while I wash up.  I take a good look at my reflection.  I grimace.

"What?"

“I need a shower.”

“Not at 2am.  C'mon.  Back to the sofa with you.”

He sinks into the sofa with me.  “You go to bed.”  I cough again.  “I’ll be fine.”

Pulling my feet back into his lap, “Yes, you will be fine.”  He reaches up and tucks the blanket back around me.  He takes the remote and starts another movie.  He gently rubs my ankles and calves.  I slide back into sleep.

The morning sun shines in on my face.  I struggle to shift.  My feet are still trapped in James’ lap and hands.  His warmth feels good on my feet.  I watch him sleep.  His eyelashes curl against his cheeks hiding his bluer than blue eyes.  His lips slightly open under his graying mustache.  Oh, the joys that mouth has given me.  His fingers curled around my ankles that make such magic on his guitar.  The magic they work on me.  Inside me.  I whimper slightly.  And cough.  Hard.  His hands tighten around my ankles.  “I’m ok.”  I drop the tissue.  “Not as green.”

His eyebrows rise, “That’s good.”  I cough again.  “Better out than in.”  He grins at me, shifting my feet out of his lap.  “How about some breakfast?”

“Yes, please.”  I look up into his eyes as he stands.  “I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain.”

“I’m glad I was able to take care of you.”  He kisses the top of my head.  “Then maybe a shower.”

“That bad?”

“I have smelled better after a show.”

“Yikes.”  I kick out of the blanket.  I change the channel to local news.  The weather is on.  Nothing new.  Clouds, fog, spotty rain.

“Ahh.  San Fran in late fall” James sighs as he hands me a plate.  He sinks into the sofa next to me.

His scrambled eggs are smothered in cheese.  There’s sliced tomato and avocado on my plate.  “mmmm.”

“Good?”

“Yeth” I say around a mouthful.

He takes the remote and finds the NFL Network.  We finish eating while getting the latest updates on the teams.  Well, he finishes our breakfast.  I could only eat about half of what he’d put on my plate.  Once the updates are done, James collects the plates and dumps them in the sink.  He comes back, turns off the tv, pulls me to my feet, pulls the blanket off the sofa and unloads about half a can of Lysol where I’ve been sleeping.  Then he leads me to our bathroom.  Pulling off my dress and dropping his boxers, he pulls me into the shower.  I lean against the back wall as he washes my hair, my back, my body - being very tender between my legs.  I know he’s horny as hell, but I’m so not horny.  It pinches my heart that I can’t be sexy for him right now.  The steam from the hot water puts me into a serious coughing fit.  James wraps an arm around my waist and holds my head with his other hand.  I hack out the biggest chunk of phlegm ever.  It’s yellow, green and brown all at once.  Using a spray wand, James washes it down the drain.  I slowly stand up.  “Well, there’s that” I whisper.

“Maybe that’s the core and you’ll get better now” James cups my head and pulls me into his body.  He releases me gently, rinses us both off and after turning off the water, wraps me up in a towel.  I waddle to the bed and sit.  That last hack hurt.  James sits behind me and using a towel, dries my hair.  I almost fall asleep sitting there.  He tugs the clean sheets and blankets down, “In you go.”  He pulls the towel from my body and tucks me into bed.  I’m asleep before the covers are tucked around me.

The next couple of days, I slowly recover.  Still hacking a cough, but not as bad.  I start putzing around the house taking care of little things.  I still crash out almost every time I sit down.

Knowing that I’m out of the weeds – as he put it - he’s been working a lot lately at HQ.  He didn’t get home until about 11pm a few days ago.  It’s 10:12pm.  I cough again.  I had tried his phone but it went directly to voice mail.  I figure that he’s doing vocal work.  I decided to call the HQ main line.  I almost hung up. 

“Hello.”

“Hi, this is Kira.”

“Hey!  It’s Avi.  How you feeling?  James told us that you were super sick.”

My eyebrows are in my hairline, “I’m doing ok, thanks for asking.  Uhmmm, this is kinda embarrassing, but would you please give James a note to pick up some cough drops?”

“Uhm, sure.  But he and Jacob left for the club.  I probably won’t see him before you do.”

The club?  THE club.  “Oh.  Ok.  Thanks.”

“Do you want me to run some up to you?”

“That’s very kind Avi, but I think I have enough to get through tonight.”

“Well, feel better!”

“Thanks!”  I end the call. 

Curling up tighter in bed as I cough, a million thoughts are going through my head.  There’s only one place that men refer to as The Club.  He went to a strip joint.  I’m surprisingly not mad at him that he went to a club.  I’m more upset that he didn’t let me know.  My eyes close.

His warm body is spooned up behind me.  My clock shows 3am.  Just that he’s back safely is all I care about.  I press up against his warmth and drift back to sleep.

“Hey sleepy head.”  His voice rumbles in my ear.  His big warm hand is slowly rubbing between my shoulder blades.

“That feels really good” I murmur into the pillow.

His lips press against the back of my neck.  “You feeling any better?”

“Let me wake up first, then I’ll let you know” I smirk at him.  I turn my head looking up at him, “How was the club?”  All the color drains from his face.  His hands freeze on my body.  I pull myself up and sit cross legged in bed.  “James, why wouldn’t you tell me?”  I’m not shouting.  I’m not accusing.  It’s more statement than question.

He rolls to his back, his left arm rests on his forehead, his right hand resting against my calf.  “I thought you’d get mad.”

I cock a smile at him, “Let me surprise you.”  He looks at me.  “I really don’t care if you go to strip clubs.”  He blinks.  “I really don’t.  Some of those women are gorgeous.”  He blinks again.  “Hell, I’d fuk some of those women.”  That got his attention.  “All I ask is that you let me know.  And bring this” I run my hand over his boxers where his erection is growing, “home to me.  I’ll be more than happy to take care of it.  I just want to know when to expect you home.”  I can tell he’s gobsmacked.  “What?” I smile at him.  “Have I rendered the great wordsmith silent?”

“Kinda.”  He sits up, holding my hand with his on his crotch.  “You’re serious.”

“Very.”  I feel him get harder.  “James, there’s nothing wrong with watching them dance.  For some, that’s how they are putting themselves through school.  Or taking care of sick kids or parents.  But this” I gently squeeze him, “comes home to me.”  He bowls into me laying me out flat on the bed, his lips kissing my face and neck.  I try to push him back, “If I get you sick, Lars is going to kill me!”

With both hands planted on either side of me, he rises up, “Lars is sick.  Probably got it when he went to Jessica’s shoot on the beach last week.”  He almost drops on to me, planting a toe curling kiss on me.  I wrap my arms around his neck.  Parting the kiss, “I’ve missed this.”  His blue eyes sparkling at me.  “I am sorry that I didn’t tell you.  It won’t happen again.”

“What won’t happen again?” I ask cheekily.

“I will tell you from now on where I’m going.  You’re right.  You should know when to expect me home.”

I caress his head from forehead to the nape of his neck, “Thank you.”  I twist my head into the nearest pillow and cough.

“Well, that is sounding better.”  He grabs the thermometer and presses it to my forehead.  It beeps.  “Hey look at that!  Normal.”

“yay!”  I play with his hair, “I could really use a shower.”  I sniff his chest, “So could you.”

“What?”

“You smell like cigarettes.”  We both sit up, “I don’t mind your cigars, but cigarettes just stink.”

“Noted.  I will shower after coming home.”

I grab his boxers, “Maybe I can help you” as I slid off the bed pulling him with me.

I was still a little anxious over the next couple of days about going to Kirk’s Halloween party.  I really do hate spooky stuff.  Spiders top of the list.  Halloween and being scared next.  I’m standing in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher when my phone rings.  By the ring tone, it’s James.  “Hi!”

“Hey.  I’ll be home a little early tonight.”

“What’s going on?”

I can hear him snicker, “Kirk is sick.”

“Well damn.”

“Yeah, he’s bummed that he’s gotta cancel the party.  Sooo, I’ll be home early tonight.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

I hear him chuckle as he ends the call.  Well, this is a curve ball.  A wicked idea comes to me.  I set up the stereo and put the remote on the landing.  I dash upstairs and dig through my things in the closet.  There.  The little plaid skirt.  Don’t know why I’ve kept it.  Don’t know why I packed it, but here it is.  I find a pair of scissors and cut about 6 inches off the hem.  It now barely hides my pussy and my ass cheeks peek out beneath it.  I almost run into the bathroom.  Fifteen minutes later, I’m hairless.  And wet.  I pull on a pair of black knee high socks.  My clunky white sneakers will have to do.  Then the skirt.  My heavy duty pushup bra is next.  My tits are almost hitting my chin.  I take a white t-shirt of his and sacrifice it.  I cut the neckline super low.  Then I twist the hem up and knot it right below my bra showing off my stomach.  Running back into the bathroom, I pull my hair up into a super messy bun.  I’m putting on bright red lipgloss when I hear the garage door open.  My heart is pounding and I’m a sopping wet mess between my legs.  I grab a towel and give a wipe as I hear him come in the house.

“I’m home.”

“Hi!  Sit on the sofa.  I’ll be down in a moment.”  I watch him from behind a corner.  I grin happily as he sits in the middle of the sofa.  I get to the landing and hit play on the stereo remote.  His own song – Devil’s Dance - blares to life.  He spins and sees me.  I chew on my lower lip as I try to move down the stairs in a sultry manner.  Hard to do in bulky sneakers.  But the look on his face is worth it.  He’s almost drooling at the sight of me.  When his song gets to the line “I’ve got what you need,” I squat, and quickly spread my knees flashing him with my cleaned and sopping wet core, then snap my knees together.  He actually grunts.  I slink around the living room trying to dance like a stripper – which I’ve never done before in my life.  I finally crawl across the wooden coffee table.  I can feel the strip of fabric I called a skirt slide up my rump – which I wiggle slowly as I crawl.  Putting my hands on his thighs – which are shaking – I get a couple of inches from his face and in the dirtiest voice I could, sing his own words to him, “Let’s dance.”

He doesn’t just grab me.  He tackles me.  His mouth crashing into mine.  His arms wrap around me as we crash to the floor between the sofa and the coffee table.  He shoves the table aside.  He’s grabbing at the shirt I’ve tied up and my bra.  I’m undoing and tugging off his belt.  His hands grab his jeans and about pops off the metal buttons on his 501’s.  I help him yank down both his jeans and boxers.  He grabs my hips and lifts while I point his dripping cock at my sopping cunt.  With one thrust he roars into me balls deep.  I cry out.  Not in pain.  I was so wet the Titanic could have slid into me.  The pleasure of his girth filling me made me cry out.  He grabs my left wrist and pins it to the ground by my shoulder as he starts thrusting.  Hard.  The look in his eyes, on his face.  Hunger.  Wild.  Feral.  I moan loudly.  My legs wrap around his waist, the heels of my sneakers dig into his hips forcing him deeper still into me.  Again, my voice cries out in sheer pleasure.  He lets go of my wrist to grab my hip again.  He’s slamming into me.  My hands grabbing his arms pulling him closer to me.  His balls slapping my taint.  His fingers dig deep into my hips keeping me from moving away.  We are both reduced to primal grunts and growls.  I feel his strokes getting sloppy.  His thumb finds my clit.  We both scream in release.  Not your normal orgasm vocalization.   It was an If the neighbors were any closer, the cops would have been called scream.  We are both panting, he slowly lowers his weight onto my body, his hands cupping my head.  I kiss his arms, neck, chin, chest. 

Then I cough.  Hard.  We both start laughing.  He gently withdraws from me.  I reach around to find the ruined t-shirt and shove it between my legs, which makes him give me a look.  “I’m leaking on the carpet!” I manage to squeak out.  Still laughing, he tucks the fabric under me.  He rests his head between my well lifted boobs as he never did get the bra off.

“I’ll never be able to play that song live again!” he pants out.  My laughter just redoubles.  “I’ll never be able to explain to Lars why not!” he laughs into my chest.  My fingers just play in his hair.

We lay there a tangle of arms, legs and clothes for a bit recovering.  I push the hair from his sweat covered brow, “Now tell me, wasn’t this better than a spooky Halloween party?”

His face still buried in my boobs, “It’s pretty close!”

Everybody Loves a Parade - Part 5

Warnings: Part NSFW, Smut, Mostly Fluff

Rolling over, I pat his side of the bed.  It’s empty.  I sit up.  It’s still dark out.  There’s music coming from the living room.  Smiling, I lay back down.  Grabbing his pillow, I curl up around it.  Listening to him creating.  In my living room.  My eyes close.

His arms wrapping around wake me.  “Pillow hog!” he whispers into my ear as he tugs the pillow from my arms.

“It smells like you” I whimper happily.

He gently rolls me over and buries my nose in his pit, “I’m right here” he grins.

I inhale deeply, “Actually, not bad this morning.”  He chuckles and pulls me to his chest.  I bury my nose into his chest hairs, “This does smell better” I say with a laugh.

Rolling me to one side quickly he smacks my ass softly, then kisses me  “So.  What do you do the Friday after the parade.”

Pushing myself up some, I look out the window.  It’s still snowing, but the flakes are bigger.  “Usually go see the windows on 5th Ave.”  I curl back into his chest.  “Although, with the snow it’ll be cold.  But fewer people.”  I look up into his blue eyes.  “Thoughts?”

He gently plays with my hair.  I can see he’s considering.  His stomach rumbles.  We both snicker.  “I think better on a full tum” he chuckles.

We detangle ourselves from the sheets and each other.  I grab a dress with a Hawaiian print on it and slip into it.  He pulls on a pair of shorts and a tank top.  As we head into the kitchen he grabs the fabric of my dress.  “Have you been to the Islands?”

“Once.”  I start making the coffee, “I treated myself when I graduated college.”

James pulls out the eggs, bread, cheese and avocados, “Which Island?”

“Maui.  I stayed in Lahaina.”  I turn to him, “It’s sad that it’s gone now.”

Gently resting a hand on my waist, “It is.  I’m hoping that they get the rebuild right.  It was a cool town.”

“You’ve been there?”

Nodding, “I still have property there.  North Shore side.”

“Really?”

“It’s a nice way to warm up in January” he grins as he kisses me.

“I bet!”

We pull together a simple breakfast of avocado toast – I added tomato to mine – with coffee.  Sitting in the living room, we catch up on the local news.  Again, the parade is the lead story, but the snow is the follow up.  Breakfast clean up is quickly done.

He wraps his hands around my waist pulling me into his body.  “So, are these windows really worth getting cold feet over?”

I gently rub my hands over his chest, “Yes.”

His hands reach down to my ass patting it, “Well, I’d like a shower first.”

“ok” I reach up and kiss his chin.  “And a shave please?”

He rubs his fingers over his chin, “I was thinking of letting the beard fill in” as his eyes twinkle.  “You don’t like that idea.”

“I don’t mind, but …. Uhm …” I grind my hips against his thigh “it can be uncomfortable” I grin up at him.

“Not liking rug burn” his hands grip me tighter to him.

“Not really” I look up at him with sultry eyes.

He kisses me, “Then a shower and a shave it will be!”  He pulls me toward the bathroom. 

With no timetable today, we take our time.  Our hands gently caressing each other.  Fingers washing hair.  Mouths gently kissing lips, arms, necks, backs.  Bodies writhing together in the warm water.  Moans gently fill the air in the bathroom.

James wraps a towel around his waist, then one around me.  “You ok?” he gently huffs a laugh.

Leaning into his arm, “Little wibbly” I grin up at him.  We kiss deeply.

“I never get tired of watching you climax” his eyes a glorious blue as a smile softens his lips.  I blush slightly.  He kisses me again.  “If we’re going out, we need to get dressed” he purrs into my ear.

Straightening up out of his arms gently, “Clothes.”  Pointing to the bedroom, “That way.”  He smacks my towel covered butt as I leave the bathroom.  I just giggle.

I find a pair of black heavy jeans, a tank top, a t-shirt and a sweater.  I’m in the process of layering when James comes in. 

He rubs his freshly shaven cheek against my still bare shoulders, “Better?”

“mmmhmmm” I purr looking over my shoulder at him guiding his hand between my legs.

An hour – and a very rumpled bed later – I am getting dressed.  Again.  James is pulling on a sweater.  As he passes me, I smack his ass.

“Hey hey!” 

I just grin at him.

He’s looking all over the floor.

“What are you missing?”

“Boots.”

“Entryway closet.”  He looks at me.  “By the front door.”

“ah”

Taking his hand and tugging down my sweater, I lead him to the closet in question.  Tucked inside are our boots and big jackets from the day before.  He pulls his boots out.  “They’re warm” his eyes in bright surprise.

“mmhmm” I point to the vent in the back of the closet and pull on mine.

“That’s clever” James inspects it.

“Grandmother’s idea.  She hated having wet boots.”

Kissing my forehead, “I do too.”

“Give me your phone, please” I ask.

“Why?”

“I need to put a Metro Pass on it.”

“oh.  Ok.”  He unlocks it and hands it over. 

I download the app and tie it to my account, authorizing it when my phone pings.  Handing it back, “There ya go.”

Collecting our wallets – he hands over my driver’s license - and the front door key, we head out into the snow.  I pull him around the corner to the subway station.  I show him how to use the app on his phone to pay the fare.  I lead him to the correct platform.

“How do you navigate this?” his eyes slightly bewildered.

“Experience.”  I pull him closer to me.  “This is how I got to school, work, sometimes shopping.”  I lean into his chest, “The parade.”  He just hugs me.  A train arrives.  “This is us” I pull him in the car.  He backs me into his chest, tucking his hands into my coat pockets.  The ride isn’t that long.  I pull him off the train and we exit up into the street.

With the snow falling it is actually a pretty walk up 5th Ave.  And not that many people around.  Bergdorf’s windows are a fantasy land.  His face lights up when we get to the angels in front of Saks.  I completely enjoy watching his eyes.

He turns to me, “Isn’t there a skating rink around here?”

Taking his hand, “This way.”

The look on his face when the Tree comes into view…  Even without the lights on, it’s an impressive sight.

We take a spin on the ice.  Actually, he takes the spins.  I take a couple of good spills while he laughs.  He picks me up after the last tumble, “I think we’re done here!” he laughs.

Rubbing my ass, “Yes, please!”  We turn in our skates.  “Anything else you want to see while we’re here?” I look up into his face, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

Shaking his head, “I don’t think so.”

“Then let’s head back.  There’s another tradition I want to share with you.”

“This doesn’t involve another Big Guy, does it?” he laughs.

“No!” I answer cheekily.

Taking the subway back home, I pull us off a stop early.  A couple of blocks over, I pull him into a Chinese restaurant.  The little bell over the door jingles merrily.  I reach up and violently shake the bell.  There is only one other customer in the place.

“It can’t be!  Is that Kira!” comes a voice from down by the kitchen.  A tall skinny woman with very long black hair – pulled back in a ponytail – comes almost running up to me, “Nǎinai said that was you on Page 6!!” as she bear hugs me.

“uhf!”  I hug back.  Extracting myself from the hug, “Dang girl!  You’ve gotten stronger!!”

“Someone has to heft the rice bags!” she laughs.  “And whom have you drug in here, huh?” she gives me a look.

“Fannie, this is James.  James, this is Fannie.  We went to college together.”

James pulls off his glove and holds out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Fannie.”

Fannie shakes his hand, “Nǎinai is not going to believe me!  Can I please?” she whips out her phone.

James huffs out a laugh, pulls me closer and says “Sure!” 

Fannie grabs my other shoulder and she snaps a selfie.  I watch as she sends it to Nǎinai.  “Now, the usual?” she rubs her hands together.

I hand James a menu “I know I want the Moo Shu.  James, do you need a minute?”

“hmmm, Can I please get the Sizzling Beef?”

“Sure.”  Fannie starts inputting our order into their system.  “Rangoons?”

“Duh.”

“1?”

“3.”

“Rice?”

“Yes please.”

“Ma Lai Gao?”

“Yes please!”

“2?”

“4.”

Fannie gives me a look.

“I’m hungry.”

She laughs at me, “Windows?”

“And skating” I grin.

“You?” Fannie gives me a look.

“She actually spent more time sitting on the ice than standing” James wraps his arms around me chuckling.

Fannie laughs even harder.  “I’ll go help Jie get this put together.”  She points to a table behind the counter, “Have a seat.”

James and I pull out chairs at the offered table.  He holds out his ungloved hand.  I pull my left glove off and take his hand.  He fiddles with my ring and smiles.  “Ya did good today” I assure him.  He scrunches up his nose and eyes, smiling.

“Hey Kira!  Nǎinai wants to say hi!” Fannie yells holding her phone out the pass-through window.

“Her Grandmother” I smile at James and go collect the phone.  “Hi Nǎinai!”  I walk back to the table and sit with James.  “Yes, it was really beautiful! … We did.      No, it’s James’ first time seeing it live.   Of course!”  James takes my gloved hand in his.   “The windows are a fantasy this year.    They were really weird that year.”  I smile at James.  He smiles back.   “Yes Nǎinai, I was in Colorado.   That’s where James lives.    Yes, it snows in Colorado too.”   We both squeeze hands.   “Thank you Nǎinai!  And Shèngdàn kuàilè to you too!”  I end the call.

“I didn’t know you speak Chinese.”  James cocks his head at me.

Scrunching up my nose, “That’s all I know.”

“And she still mispronounces it” Fannie laughing arrives with a box in her hands.  “Dinner’s ready!” she grins.

“Woah” James says as he pulls his glove back on.

“Watch the bottom of the box.  Oh, and I need that plate back” Fannie passes the box to James.  He gives me a look at the weight.

I hand Fannie her phone back, “Total?”

She grabs me in a hug, “Paid.”

“Thanks Fannie!”  I go to open the door for James.  “Merry Christmas!”

Fannie waves as she heads back to the kitchen.  I quickly pull out a large bill and drop it by the register and follow James out the door.  We get just around the corner, “Thanks Kira!” Fannie yells.  It echoes around the block. 

It’s a quick walk back to my building.  Carl opens the lobby door and quickly hits the elevator call button, “Have a good time?”

“Yes, thanks Carl.”

“Do I smell Moo Shu?” he grins.  I nod as the elevator door opens.  “I’ll have to stop by on the way home!”

I take the box from James as he digs out the key and pushes the door open.  I quickly enter and set the box on the dining room table.  We shrug off our coats and dive into the box with our dinner in it.  In the very bottom of the box wrapped up in a couple of towels is a cast iron plate.  It’s hot.  “That’s why it was heavy.” James quips.

I grab some mitts, “Let me reheat that.”

James watches me start the gas stove and set the plate directly on the burner, “Why?”

“Can’t have sizzling unless the plate is hot.”  I turn off the burner and put the plate on top of a mitt on the butcher block.  I collect the container marked SB.  I open it and upend its contents on the cast iron plate.  It begins sizzling delightfully.  “See?”  Using chopsticks I make sure that everything is sizzling hot.

James comes over and kisses my neck.  “That smells really great!”

I pull out a couple of plates and we fill them.  I carry my plate to the living room and turn on the TV.  The weather again forecasts snow.  James joins me.  I let the news finish and Jeopardy starts.  We both try to get the answers right between bites.  When done, I collect the plates and take them to the kitchen.

“You ready for Ma Lai Gao?” I ask James.

“What is that?”

“Yum is what it is!” I say carrying the container to the living room.

James takes a slice.  I watch his eyes widen as he takes the first bite.  “Dats werawy gowod!”

I pull out a slice for me.  “Fannie doesn’t offer it to just everyone.”  I smile around my first bite.

“What’s that smile for?” James licks his lips pulling out another slice.

“It can be the holidays now” my voice a little wistful as I pick at the cake slice in my hand.  James wraps an arm around my neck and kisses my temple.  I lean my head on his bicep as he finishes the last slice.

“I like that it’s not super sweet” he says standing up, collecting the carry out container.

“It is satisfying” I agree.  A shiver runs up me.

Jame sees it, “You cold?”

“A bit chilly.  Dinner helped.”

“naw” he comes up to me, “let’s warm up.”  He stops a moment looking around.  “Uhm…”

“Office bath” I grin up at him.  “But we need the towels from the big bathroom.”

“You go start the water, I’ll grab the towels.”  I watch as he pulls off his sweater walking towards the bedroom.

I move towards my office shedding my clothes in front of the washer closet on the way.  I’m standing naked beside the tub checking the temp when James comes up behind me.  I can feel that he’s naked too.  I step into the tub holding a hand towel.  The warm water actually stings my toes a little.  I sit and slide forward as James slips in behind me, pulling me back into his body.  Completely soaking the hand towel in the water, I drape it over my chest.  I turn my face towards James’ neck and heave a sigh.

“You good?” his voice rumbles gently.

My left hand gently caresses his cheek, “Very good.”

His left-hand cups mine holding it close to his face.  His lips kiss my fingertips.  His right-hand curls softly around my neck.  I can feel his erection rising into the small of my back.  I wiggle my hips.  He sucks the tip of my left pointer finger.  His right hand slowly, gently, drifts down between my legs.  I move my left leg up over his granting him full access to my pussy.  He starts with gentle caresses to my whole crotch.  His large hand cupping me, holding me firmly.  Gently, his large fingers start exploring my folds.  Pulling my lower lips apart tenderly.  His fingers start running circles around my bud.  I suck in a sharp breath.  His lips warm my temple and work down to my ear.  His left hand moves to my breasts, playing with them.  The circles on my clit become slow strokes reaching down to my opening.  I can only relax into his body as his arms keep me from reaching back to grab his stiffening cock.  “uh huh” his lips right by my ear.  “I want to watch you” a kiss to my ear, “feel you,” a kiss to my neck, “convulse in climax.”  His lips find the magic spot between my neck and shoulder.  I shudder and moan.  His left hand gently holds a nipple, his right-hand slides two digits into my tight hole.  I groan, my body both arching and tightening.  "Fuk, you have a tight pussy” his voice rumbles happily in my ear.  My head rocks back on his shoulder as I start panting softly.  His left knee holds and lifts me as his right hand pushes another digit into me.  I groan and whimper at the same time.  His right thumb finds my clit.  My hips buck up.  His left arm holds me securely.  “don stawhp … don stawhp” escapes my lips, my head rocking back and forth on his shoulder.  “I have no intentions of stopping” more kisses to my neck “until you cum for me.”  I groan louder, my hips buck up again.  His left hand reaches up and cups my chin – a couple fingers wrapping around my throat.  His right fingers curl and uncurl inside me while that thumb speeds up on my clit.  I crash over into orgasm, my hips thrusting completely out of the water, sloshing some out, his left hand turns my chin and his mouth covers mine as I cry out in pure pleasure.  “There’s my good girl” he purrs into my ear as my hips slowly sink back into the water, his fingers gently slid out of me then again cup the juncture between my legs gently yet firmly.  He holds me, his fingers gently making lazy patterns on my body, as I recover laying on his body, his lips randomly kissing my face, ear, neck, hair.  My breathing evens out. 

I rotate over so that I am now floating face to face with him.  I pull my knees up the outside of his legs, my hands on his shoulders.  His blue eyes pierce into mine.  I kiss him deeply.  Then sitting as best I can over his knees - making sure to not hyperextend them – I move his arms to rest on the edge of the tub.  I let my hands drift over his chest, one fingernail gently tracing his tattoos.  He closes his eyes, shifting in the tub some to rock his hips up.  My right hand slowly runs teasing circles down his chest, sides, belly, finding his happy trail.  His eyes slit open.  “I like watching you too” as I chew on my lower lip.  He rumbles at me and closes his eyes again.  My right fingers tenderly wrap around his hard on.  He groans and his cock thickens.  “mmmmm” I purr and land a kiss on his Adams’ apple.  He sucks in a sharp breath.  I tighten my grip on him as he moans again.  I release my grip – his eyes open - and reaching between my own legs gather the slick he’d done to me and quickly wrap that hand back around his cock.  “That’s wicked” he mumbles.  I raise my eyebrows at him, “That’s payback” slowly beginning to pump him.  He actually growls at me.  My actions on him cause the surface of the water to slosh some.  His head rocks back and rests on the edge of the tub, his breathing quickening.  I plant my left hand over his clavicle divit.  His eyes fly open.  I speed up my right hand, “That’s my good boy.”  He groans and his shaft gets even thicker.  He's trying to keep his hips from bucking up.  I suck my lower lip, “Such a good boy.”  My left fingers grab a little tighter, my right hand moves faster, his eyes close and his groans fill the bathroom.  “close …. so damned …. Close .. close”  My left fingers slid up his throat gently.  I can feel him ready to explode in my right hand.  I lean into his neck, “Now.”  I cover his mouth as his release slams into him.  His arms strain as his hands grab the edge of the tub.  I’m sure his toes curl but I can’t see them.  I slow the motion on his cock but keep a tight grip.  His left hand joins my right around his shaft pulling it slowly up milking the last out of him.  His right arm flops around my shoulders and gently tugs me to him.  His lips still locked with mine.  His left hand pulls my right hand slowly from his deflating cock and puts it on his chest.  He presses his lips to my forehead, “I needed that” he mumbles.  I put both my hands on the tub on either side of his neck, rising and kissing his face.  His eyes drift open.  “hi” I sing softly.  A smile spreads from his lips to his eyes “hi” he sighs.  I lay several quick kisses to his cheeks, nose and lips.  I let my hands drift across his shoulders and down his chest.  “Your knees can’t be comfy” he mumbles shifting me to my left, urging my legs to straighten.  A thread of his cum floats across his tummy.  “uhm, we may need to rinse off in the shower” I grin.

“Ya think” he sighs out.

I push myself up to my feet.  I look to floor, “And some more towels.”

“Puddle?”

“Lake.”

“Yikes.”

I step out and pull a towel from the counter.  I shrug my shoulders and drop my bathsheet into the water on the floor.  James stands up and pulls the plug in the tub.  I hand him his towel, “I’ll be right back.”  I quickly streak across my apartment and grab some more towels, one for me, the rest for the floor.  Returning to the bathroom, I find James on his hands and knees reaching under the tub with his towel.  “That’s not exactly what I was expecting to see.”

He wiggles his hips, “Good view?” he chuckles.

“Very” as my voice cracks.

James laughs as he stands and starts collecting the wet towels, “Washer?”  I show him that just outside the office door is the laundry closet.  My clothes from the day are dumped in front of it.  I open the washer door and he shoves the wet towels in.  I hand him a dry one.  He wraps an arm around me, kissing me.  “I’m hungry again” he says as I start the washer.

“There’s turkey leftovers.”

He pats my ass, “Let’s rinse off first” wrapping an arm around me and pulls me toward my bathroom. 

A quick rinse off and some clean jams, we converge on the fridge.  I make myself a turkey sandwich with some warmed sweet potatoes on the side.  James makes a pile of the turkey and finishes off the stuffing.  “Do you mind?” he asks pointing to the stuffing pile on his plate.  I shake my head smiling at him.  He puts his plate into the microwave.

I take another scoop of the sweet potatoes and head to the living room.  The snow is still falling, pretty heavily.  The path lights in the park are just pools of lighter snow in the dark.

“Wow.  It’s really coming down.”  James is standing behind me holding his plate.

“Yeah it is.”  I take a seat on the sofa.

James rounds the table and sits next to me.  He lifts my left hand, kissing my ring “Reminds me of another night.”

I look him in the eye, “Me too.”  I flip our hands over and kiss his palm.  We smile at each other warmly.  He squeezes my hand, gently letting it go and we dig into our plates.  Afterward, we jointly empty the dishwasher and reload it with the dirties.  I move the potatoes into a smaller container and restore them to the fridge with the last of the turkey.

We return to the living room and sink into the sofa.  James pulls me into his body.  “Hey.”  He gently rubs my shoulder, "You're a million miles away.”

Sighing, “I have to come clean on something.”

“You’re pregnant.”  He totally deadpans that answer.

I smile, “You know I can’t get preggers!”

“Please tell me.”  Both his eyes and voice smiling kindly.

“I told you that my parents died when I was three.”  He nods.  “They were in a plane crash that killed everyone onboard."

"Holy shit.”  His hand squeezes my shoulder.

I grimace a smile.  “I guess Grandmother sued the airline.  They settled out of court.”  I look up into his eyes, “I have a trust fund.”  He just looks at me.  “I don’t use it often.”

“That’s up to you.”  Just a statement from him.

I smile softly.  “That how I bought the Shelby.”  Again, he just nods.  “I used it to pay for my education.  And the remodel.  The trip to Hawaii.”

“That’s it?” his face a little shocked.

I think, “Oh!  I spent last summer in Seattle.”  I look into his eyes, “New York summers suck.”

He smiles and pulls me to him, kissing me.  “Your Grandmother would be proud of you.”  He again rubs my shoulder, “Feel better?”  I nod.  “Any more secrets?”

“At the moment no.”  I look sideways at him as he gives me a look.  “I haven’t started Christmas shopping yet.” 

“Fair enough!” he laughs and kisses me again. 

The washer beeps.  I go forward the load into the dryer.  James meets me by the kitchen.  “C’mon.  You can barely keep your eyes open.” 

I let him guide me to bed.  I drop my robe and slip under the covers that James holds up and curl up next to him. His left hand gently stroking my hair.  I don’t remember the sandman taking me away.

Rockies Christmas - Day 6

Warnings:  Shameless product placement plugs, NSFW, Sex

James is shaking me awake.  “C’mon.  I hate to wake you, but it’s snowing hard.  We gotta go.”

I sit up in bed.  James has opened the drapes.  It’s very dark.  And it’s snowing.  Hard.  Tossing the blanket aside, I grab some clothes and get dressed on the toilet.  James stops and looks at me.  “You said hurry and I have to go.”

Nodding at me, “While that is killing two birds with one stone.”

Within a few minutes, we’re dressed, packed, shopping bags in hand and headed down to the lobby.  James checks us out while I go get the Shelby from the valet.  The valet parks it close to the door under the portico.  James gets the soft top up while I put everything into the trunk.  I get into the passenger seat, James climbs into the driver’s seat and heads towards the freeway.  At a stoplight, there’s a McDonald’s on the other side of the intersection.  He looks at me.  “We can eat at home” I say gently.

As the light changes, James looks ahead but runs his right hand up my thigh to my crotch, “Deal.”  I squeeze my thighs around his hand for a moment, then release it so he can drive as the roads are sloppy.

There are pockets of clear weather on the drive back.  James keeps to the posted speed limit under the messy conditions.  Even in the worst parts of low visibility, I am not nervous with his driving.  I’d been more nervous on the back of the ATV.  But then I’d never been on one before.  The weather clears more as we approach Vail.  I can sense James relaxing some.  But he still keeps to the posted speed limits.  Once we get onto our road, he sighs.  I just rest my hand on his bicep.  Pulling into the garage, James turns off the engine and hands me the keys.  “Thank you.”

Smiling at him, “Did you have fun?”

Leaning over the gearshift, he kisses me.  “Yes!”

“I’m glad.” 

He pats my thigh.  “You said we’d eat at home.”  He gives me a look.  “We’re home.”  His hand travels up my leg.

I shove it between my legs, “ok.”

Like civilized adults, we get out of the car, collect the items from the trunk, James closes the garage door.  Once inside, dumping all the bags just inside the door, we are like a pair of teenagers running into our bedroom.  Clothes flying in every direction.  Arms snaking around each other.  Lips kissing whatever they connect with.  Ending up on the bed – almost – he’s pushing my legs apart to get at my cunt.  His tongue works its devilish magic on me.  Before I can completely recover, he’s flipping me over and pulling my hips up his thighs.  He’s not rough, but not exactly tender either, in seeking his release.  We collapse into a heap just as the sunrise peeps into the windows.  The clouds quickly cover it up.  Sleep quickly covers us both.

I stretch in his arms.  It’s 10 am.  Wrapping my arms around his head – which is buried between my tits – I kiss his forehead.  He stretches, squeezing me in the process.  “Morning.”  I kiss his hair.

Stretching again, “Mawhrning” he mumbles into my boobs.

Kissing his hair again, “What do you want for breakfast?”  He humps his hips into my leg.  I just giggle.  His stomach rumbles.  “I heard that.”  I can feel him smile into my breasts.  He looks up from my chest giving me his big blue puppy eyes.  “Breakfast sandwich.”  His eyes get sad, and I can feel his lips pout.  “Burritos?”  His eyes brighten and he wiggles his butt.  I laugh as he kisses my tits.  “Well, if you want burritos, I need to get out of bed.”

“Fawine” he mumbles from my boobs.  Then his lips are covering mine with tender kisses.

Climbing out of the very messy bed, I collect the clothes on my side.  He actually tidies up the covers.  Gathering the rest of the clothes tossed all over our room, I dump them into the dirties hamper.  Pulling out a pair of jeans and a sweater, I head into the bathroom.  Again, I get dressed sitting on the toilet.

“How did I not know you do that?”

“Do what?” I ask while wiping.

“Get dressed on the toilet.

“Saves time.  I realized in college that I could sleep in another five minutes by getting dressed on the toilet.”  I wash my hands.

His face scrunches up a minute.  “Ok.”  Then he looks at me, “As long as you clean up after.”

“Always.”  I kiss his chin.

Making my way into the kitchen, James follows me.  He turns on the tree lights and opens all the drapes.  Then he turns on the Christmas music.  As I’m scrambling the eggs, he checks the water in the tree.  What happens next is like a ballet in the kitchen.  I hand him the syrup as he puts the tree pitcher in the sink.  I pull out the shredded cheese as he grabs a towel.  I reach for the saltshaker, and he smacks my ass before grabbing the pitcher and heading to the tree.  He turns on the fireplace after watering the tree.  I finish the burritos as he’s putting the pitcher away.  Handing him his plate, he grabs my neck and plants a kiss on me.  I follow him with my plate into the living room.  It’s snowing lightly out the windows.

“I hope this holds off until the kids get here tomorrow” James says quietly looking out at the snow lightly falling.

“Which airport are they coming into?”

“Eagle county.”

“At least that’s a shorter drive.”

“Yeah.  I rented them a van.”

“You’re worried.”

He looks at me with a soft smile.  “I trust them.”  He looks out the window, “I don’t trust the world with them.”  I lean over and kiss his cheek.  Collecting his plate, I take them to the kitchen.  It takes a little bit to unload the dishwasher and reload it.  In returning to the living room, James is working on the outside light strings.  Between the two of us, we get them out the patio door and hung on the balcony railing.  After brushing off the snow coming in the patio door, I take more of the empty bins back to the storage area.  I had to start stacking some that probably came in from the garage.  Pulling from another bin, I find a wreath.  James finds the door hanger and puts it up on the front door.  I find some holiday soap dispensers.  Filling them from the bottle under the kitchen sink, I distribute them to the bathrooms around the house.  James is standing in the middle of the living room staring at the fireplace.

“You ok?”

“Yeah.  I just can’t remember where the wreath is that hangs there” he points to the chimney. 

I pause a moment.  “There’s a large flat red bin over your workbench.”

He spins to me, “That’s it!”  He plants a kiss on me and almost skips to the door.

Digging through the last few bins, I find some candle holders.  There’s actually quite a few.  I put a pair on the kitchen table.  I’m holding the others when James returns with a huge wreath made of poinsettias that look real.  “Will you please help with this?”

“Sure.”  I set the candle holders on the table.  “What do you need?”

“Will you please move the step ladder in front of the fireplace?”

As I position the ladder, “Should I turn it off?”

Shaking his head, “I won’t be up here that long.”  He reaches up and finds the hanger in the stone.  The wreath is gorgeous.  Climbing back down, he folds up the step ladder, he puts it by the door leading to the storage room.  His eyebrows knit together again, “Tree skirt and stockings.”

Shifting the bins left in the living room, “Some of these haven’t been opened yet.”

We both dive in.  I find the stocking holders.  James finds the tree skirt and stockings.  He’s looking a little concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“You don’t have one” as he fondles the stockings in his hands.

“Hang on a sec.”  I go to the shopping bags left by the garage door.  I find the one I want and return to the living room, “Here.”  I hand him a stocking.  It’s covered in books, pens, pine boughs, and gold stars.

His eyes soften, “That’s perfect for you!”  He puts the hangers on the mantle and hangs the stockings.  “There.”  Turning, he collects the candle holders, “These go here.”  Following him to the dining table, he spreads them around the table.  “There.”  He wraps an arm around my shoulders, “What’s next?”

“Need to get the last of the bins downstairs and wrap up what we bought yesterday.”

“I’ll get the bins if you’ll wrap.”  He looks at me, “Please.”

I squeeze him, “Of course.”

I go to the shopping bags.  James’ hand pops around me, “I’ll do this one” he kisses my shoulder grinning.  I pat his ass as he leaves.  Taking all the shopping bags to the room that I’d made into my office, I set them on the floor.  Returning to the storage room, I dig out the long bin that holds the wrapping paper.  I also manhandle the smaller bin filled with bows at the same time.  It takes me a couple of hours to get things wrapped up.  I put tags on my gifts.  On the bottom of the gifts from James, I stick post its of its contents along with a gift tag.  It takes me a couple of trips between my office and the tree to get everything under the tree.  I set James’ gifts on the table.  The bins have all been removed from the living room, but James is nowhere to be seen.  His guitar comes screaming from his studio.  I just smile and head into the kitchen.  I spend the next couple of hours baking up some of my favorite sugar cookies.  Digging into the pantry I find storage tubs for what I’ve made.  I also dig out some serving platters, give them a wash and set them on the dining room table.  Grabbing my phone from my purse, I look up a frosting recipe.  The only thing I need is food coloring.  Pulling out the step stool from the pantry, I start digging through all the kitchen cabinets and shelves in the pantry.

“What are you doing?”  I jump slightly.  He puts his hands on my hips as I climb down the step stool, “Sorry.”

“I was looking for food coloring.”

“If there’s any here, it’s going to be really old.”  He folds up the stool and leans it up against shelves in the pantry.  “What do you want it for?”

“Decorating those” I point to all the sugar cookies sitting on the kitchen table.

“My little steam engine!  You have been busy!”

“It’s fun!”

“But I don’t have cookie cutters.”

“I bought some yesterday.  Nothing fancy.”

He wraps me into his arms, kissing me.  “My talented little steam engine!”  Another deep kiss.  “We still have to pick up the roast tomorrow.  We can grab food coloring then.”

I squeeze him, “That will work.”

“What do you want for luner?”

My eyebrows meet my hairline, “What?”

“Lunch.  Dinner.  Luner.”  A smile replaces the question, “What do you want?”

His hands rest on my hips, “Well, I’m thinking about doing pulled pork for tomorrow.  There’s the roast on Christmas.  How about brats?”

“Only if you grill onions with them.”

“That’s a federal offense to NOT grill onions with brats” he deadpans.  Then a huge smile spreads across his face.

“Is there anything I can do to help with luner?”

Easing his grip on me, “Don’t think so.”

“Then I’ll get the last of the bins downstairs.”

He pulls me back, kissing me.  “Thank you.”

I caress his cheek, “You’re welcome.”  He again releases his hold on my hips.  As I pass the table, “Oh.  These are your gifts to the kids.  There’s name tags on them and post its on the bottom of each with the contents.”

“Perfect.  I’ll finish those up.”  He pulls out a couple of onions and starts slicing.

There were only a couple of bins left that I shift to the big storage room.  By the time I get back to the kitchen, James has the brats going in a cast iron skillet.  I stand and watch him.  His eyes bright as he’s cooking.  He looks at me smiling, his eyes deepen in color.  In a short time, he’s got our luner plated and handing me one.  The cheddar brats are smothered in grilled onions and kidney beans on the side.  Again, we sat in the living room to eat.  I couldn’t finish and set my plate on the coffee table.  I lean into his shoulder.

“Hey.  C’mon sleepy head” he’s laughing gently at me.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Well, it’s been a long day.  We did leave Denver at 5:30 this morning.”

Yawning, “Wah timawh is it now?”

“Bedtime.”  He pulls me off the sofa then collects his plate.  I gather up mine.  James closes all the drapes while I finish loading the dishwasher.  He sets his on the counter before turning off the Christmas tree lights.  I put his dishes into the dishwasher, toss in the soap pod and start it.  Holding out a hand to me, James gently guides me to our bedroom.

The covers are barely draped over both of us before we are asleep.

Everybody Loves a Parade - Part 3

Warnings: Fluff, Sex teased, Shameless Product Placement

Wednesday

I roll over to find the bed empty.  It is barely dawn.  I hear a guitar being played.  I smile.  James was somewhere in my place doodling.  I crawl out of bed, still very sore from yesterday morning, but it makes me smile.  Pulling a robe on over what I’d worn the day before, I pad out to the living room.  James is sitting on the sofa, guitar on his knee, notepad on the coffee table, completely lost in writing.  Not wanting to crunch in on his vibe, I return to bed.  Laying there listening to him create.

His lips are pressed against my temple, “Hey sleepy head.”  His hand rubs my back, “You gonna wake up today?”

I scrunch up my eyebrows, “What time is it?

“About 8.”

I stretch and groan at the same time.  “Did you finish your song?”

“Did I wake you with it?”  his eyes showing concern.

“It sounded really good.”  I smile, and get lost in those fucking blue eyes.

He kisses my neck, “I still need to work on some things, but yeah.  It’s gonna be better on electric.” 

I caress his arms, “I’m looking forward to hearing it.”  I stretch again and yawn, rebounding into a ball.

He pats my hip.  “My turn to make breakfast.  C’mon.”

He helps me climb out of bed.  Walking into the kitchen, he’d already started the coffee maker.  For being the megarockgodsuperstar, he could actually cook.  Sorta.  His grilling skills are far better, but he still knows his way around in the kitchen.  He put together a breakfast for us of scrambled eggs with cheese, sourdough toast, sliced avocados and coffee.  His eggs are fluffy.  The toast is well buttered.  The coffee hot.  He clears away the plates when we are done.  We curl up on the sofa under a blanket.  “What do you want to see today?” I ask him.

“You.”  He kisses me, “Naked.”  His eyes twinkling.

“I can barely move after yesterday morning!”

“Didn’t say I was going to fuk you, just that I want to see you naked.”

“MMmk.”  I stand up, tossing the blanket aside and take his hand.  Leading him back toward my office and into that bathroom.  The only one with a tub in it.  I had replaced the stupid shallow apartment tub with an old-fashioned claw footed cast iron monster tub.  Turning on the taps to start filling it, I pull off my clothes.  Then I start pulling off James’.  I dump some bath salts into the waters, then I step into the tub and sit.  James slides in behind me.  Using my toes, I turn off the water when the tub is full.  James lets water fill his hands to pour it slowly over my shoulders.  I gently message his arms.  Reaching under the water, I message his thighs and calves.  James gently rolls me to the side and rubs my back, making me sigh in contentment.  He still flinches at the sight of my bruised arms.  I move his hand between my legs, “I can still feel you” I purr into his ear.  His other hand grabs my head and kisses me deeply.

“I love you” he whispers.

“I love you” I whisper back.  My insides fluttering.  My heart soaring.  My brain screaming ‘Hang on a second here.’  I pushed that last thought to the side.

We lay there in the tub, wrapped in each other’s arms until the water begins to chill.  Since it is a cast iron tub, that takes some time.  We finally climb out and wrap up in towels and cross my apartment to pull on some clothes. 

“What time is the gala thingy?” James asked.

“We have to be there no later than 5pm.”  I look at the clock, it was just coming up on 1pm.  “Do you want some lunch?  There’s paella left.”

“mmm!  That sounds great!” as he kisses the back of my neck.

Pulling on clean Yoga pants and a t-shirt – trying to keep the bruises from showing - I quickly get into the kitchen and pull out the paella.  James comes up behind me as I put the dish into the oven.  He wraps his arms around me as I set the temp and a timer.  His hands grab my boobs pulling me into his chest, his face buried in my neck.  “What are you doing?” I giggle.

“Hugging you.”

“Groping my boobs!”  He gently squeezes them.  I reach back with both hands and grab any part of him I can – his head and a hip.  His mouth starts working on my neck.  I pull away slightly, “No hickies today.”  The suction becomes pressure, but I can feel him smile.  I pull his head a little closer, “Tonight” I whisper.  I can feel his question, “I’m wearing a sweater and scarf tomorrow.”  His kisses are little harder.  I sigh out a laugh.  Pulling his hands from my boobs, I turn in his arms.  He rests his hands on my ass.  I caress his face with both hands.  “You are so handsome.”  I can see the doubt in those big blue eyes.  “You are.”  I pull his face to mine and kiss his lips wrapping an arm around his head.  His arms wrap around my waist.  We are still kissing when the timer goes off.  I pull away gently, “I don’t want to burn lunch” my hands holding his head.

He smiles at me, “Please don’t burn the paella.  It should be really good today since it’s marinated.”

I smile at him, “I can’t reach into the oven.”

“Hmmm.”  He looks at me, the oven and back to me.  “I suppose…” as he gently releases me.

Our hands slowly drift off the other.  I turn off the timer and check in the oven.  It’s bubbling nicely.  Grabbing a couple hot pad holders I pull out the dish.  James has already pulled out the two bowls from the dishwasher.  I grab the leftover rice from the fridge and pop it into the microwave.  James pulls out two spoons and napkins and has the table set by the time the microwave is done. 

Opening the fridge, “Drink?”

Pulling the rice from the microwave, I start portioning out our lunch, “Uhmmm, Obituary today, thanks!”  He kisses the top of my head as he passes me.  Picking up the bowls, I follow him to the table.

He takes a bite, “This is even better today!”

Nodding, “It usually is better a day or so later.”

We’re about done when the doorbell rings.  I answer the door, “Carl.”

“Your bird, Miss Mooreland” he smiles.

“Actually, it’s his, but ok!” I open the door wider.

Carl carries the bag from the store to the kitchen and James joins us.  He opens the bag and unwraps the butcher paper from the bird.  Since it was a fresh one, it wasn’t covered in plastic wrapping.  Nodding, “Looks fine” James smiles.

“Excellent!” Carl says as he heads back to the front door.

I follow, “Carl, we’re going to need a car service for this evening.”

“Going to the Gala?”

“Yes, but the catch is, the gown I’ll be wearing I can’t bend over.”  I am ever so slightly embarrassed. 

Carls’ eyebrows knit together, “This one is a challenge, but I’ll see what I can do for you.”  He steps out into the hallway, “Pick up about 4pm?”

“Yes please.”

Nodding, “I’ll ring you!” and he’s off down the hallway with his cart full of turkey deliveries.

I close the door and go back to the kitchen.  James has put the clean dishes away and is working on putting the dirties in it.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”  He cocks a goofy grin, “I had an ulterior motive.”

Looking askance at him, “And that was….”

“I need a pan for the bird.”

“Ahh.”  Going to another high cupboard, I manage to swing the door open, “There are a couple in here.” 

James comes up behind me and easily pulls them both down.  “I think one of these will do.”  He returns to the bird and puts it into one of the pans.

“Do you want foil to cover it?”

“Foil or a towel will work.”  He repositions the bird, “Or both.” I dig out an old kitchen towel and pull the foil from the drawer.  James soaks the towel, squeezes it lightly and places it over the bird then covers the whole thing with the foil.  I give him a look.  “The soaked towel will keep it from drying out in the fridge.  The foil keeps the moisture in the pan.”

“Huh.”  I screw up my eyebrows, “I think Grandmother said something like that.”

James puts the panned bird in the fridge, then washes his hands.  “It’s probably time we think about getting ready for this evening.”

Looking at the clock on the stove, “You’re probably right.  I should wash my hair.”

He grabs my hand, “I’ll help” he smiles at me.

Letting him lead me to the bathroom, “You just love playing with my hair!”

Nodding, “That too!”

A good scrubbing later, we both emerge from the shower stall.  James stops at the sink and checks his cheeks.  Grabbing a second towel, I leave the bathroom while he shaves.  Sitting on the bed, I towel my hair dry.  I hear the blow dryer in the bathroom.  Three minutes later, James comes into the bedroom.  Naked.  I heave a sigh.

“What?” he looks at me.

“You look wonderful.”  He rubs his belly.  “Trust me, you look wonderful.”  I take his hand and put it between my legs where I’m getting wetter by the moment.

Grinning wickedly, “We don’t have time right now.”

“Sadly” I whine.

He reclaims his hand from my body and licks me from it, groaning.

Reaching up I cup his face, “Later” I whisper.  Then I smack his ass.  He grabs me and kisses me, smiling.

“Where is my suit?”

“Hanging out with my gown” I nod towards the closet.  James relinquishes his hold on me and opens the door.  He pulls out his suit pants and lays them on the bed.  He reaches into his suitcase and pulls out a pair of briefs and socks.  I return to the bathroom to attend my hair and makeup.  Starting with a quick double bump to the pits.  Once my makeup is done, I work on pulling up my hair.  I manage to get a couple of long curls left out to hang down my back.  Digging out my curling iron, I add a little more curl to them.  Taking another look at me in the mirror, I like what I’ve come up with.  Deciding to not take any chances, I take a damp cloth and give my sex a quick wipe down.  Then pull out a tampon and put it in place.  I wasn’t going to take the chance that I’d leak my arousal all over my gown since I have to go completely commando under it.  I hear James becoming frustrated in the bedroom.  “What’s wrong?” I ask as I reenter the room.

“I can’t get these cuff links…” he’s struggling with the little gold devices.

Holding out my hands, “Here, let me.”  It took a moment, but I got them in place.  Patting his wrists, “There.”  I help him with his jacket.  I make sure that his shirt collar in the back is standing up.  He turns.  “Damn!” I breath.

“What?” he starts checking his clothes.

“You look hot!!”  The tampon was great idea.

“So do you!” he grabs me and kisses my cheek. 

“I need to get dressed!”

Patting my ass, “Mmmk” he pouts slightly as he releases me. 

I dig out my shoes first.  After putting them on I pull out my gown.  It’s deep green velvet with rhinestone trim is actually pretty heavy.  Its plunging back makes it easy to step into.  I pull it up and James helps make sure that it sits correctly on my shoulders.  His fingers gently tug up the plunging back to make sure that my ass is covered.  Barely.  His fingers linger a moment before he gently runs them up my back to fluff my curls.  He plants a soft kiss between my shoulder blades.

Then he stands back, “Wow.”  His eyes are radiant.  “I do love this gown on you.”

I gently rub the front of his pants, “You love this gown off me” as I walk out of the bedroom.

He groans, “That too!”

Going to my office, I pull out my ID from my clutch wallet.  Returning to the dining table I check my phone.  No call from Carl yet.

“I’ll put that with mine” James says putting my ID in his wallet with his.

“Thank you.”

His fingers make lazy patterns on my exposed back.  “What jacket are you going to wear?  It’s cold out there.”

“Oh.”  I think a moment, “You’ll need an over coat too.”  I take his hand, “Come with me.”  I led him to the storage bedroom.  This had been Grandmother’s room.  She’d had her closet lined in cedar.  I open that door and pull out an overcoat, “I think this will fit you.”  James turns and I pull the overcoat up his arms.  It fits him perfectly as I smooth my hands over his shoulders.  He turns slowly, his fingers running over the material.  He just looks at me.  “It was my Grandfathers.  I never met him, but Grandmother said that someday I’d need it.”  I look into his blue eyes.  “I guess that is today.”

“It’s beautiful.”  James kisses me tenderly.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”  I turn back to the closet and pull out Grandmother’s dress coat – as she called it.  “I never saw her wear this.  But like Grandfather’s, she insisted that I keep it.”  The coat is curly black wool, with a broad fur collar. 

James takes it from my hands and holds it for me.  I slip my hands into the sleeves and James pulls it up my arms, gently lifting my curls so that they don’t get smashed.  He fingers the fur collar, “This is real fur.”

“I think Grandmother said it was fox.”

James rests his hands on my waist, “Does that bother you?” 

“Not really.  I think Grandfather hunted it.”  I run my fingers over the pelt.  “They would not have been trophy hunters.  In the 30’s they would have needed the meat.”  Knowing his feelings on hunting, I smile at him.

James presses a kiss to my forehead.  He fluffs the collar, “It looks beautiful on you.” 

I hear a phone buzz.  “I think our ride is here.”

James takes my hand and pulls me from the bedroom back to the dining room table.  “yup.  That’s Carl.”  He pats his pockets, “Phone, wallet.”  He reaches into his front pants pocket, “key!”  He grins like a cheshire cat.  “Ready?”

“Yup!” as I head to the front door.  This gown makes me walk a little taller, straighter back.  Namely because if I slouch, the gown will slide off my naked body.

James locks the apartment door and offers me his elbow as we walk to the elevator.  “You look amazing” he breathes into my ear.  A few moments later, we are in the lobby.  Carl is opening the front door for Mrs. Friedman and Floofy to come in.

Looking up, Mrs. Friedman stops.  “Kira.  You look gorgeous.  Is that your Grandmother’s overcoat?”

“Thank you, Mrs. Friedman.  Yes it is.”

Leaning in a little closer, “May I see your gown?”

Smiling, James helps me pull off the coat.  He takes my hand and spins me slowly.  I hear a gasp from Mrs. Friedman.  James pulls the coat back up my arms.

“Gorgeous and scandalous!”  Mrs. Friedman actually smiles, “Just like your Grandmother.”

“Thank you” I reply quietly.

“Miss Mooreland, James, your car is here” Carl says holding the door open.

James again offers me his arm and we walk to the car.  I hear Mrs. Friedman say to Carl, “They make a good-looking couple.”

We both snorfell laughs.

I have to reach inside the coat to pull up the back of my gown before sitting.  “You ok?” James asks.

“Just making sure that I don’t stretch out the back” as I sit in the bucket seat.

James holds his hand out to me.  I lay my hand in the warmth of his.  He slow blinks me.  I smile back at him.  All too soon, the van pulls up to the front of Radio City Music Hall.  It’s a full-on red-carpet event.  I look at James, “We don’t have to…”

He lifts my hand and kisses it.  “I want to.”

The door by James is opened by a valet.  He steps out.  It takes a moment, then the photographers go nuts.  The big megasuperstarrockgod at the Rockettes Gala.  Gracefully turning, James holds his hand out for me.  I gingerly step out of the vehicle, grabbing his hand.  Once he knows that me – and my gown – are safely out of the car, he tucks my hand into his elbow.  The cameras are non-stop.  As we approach the doors, I can see the confusion on the staffs’ faces.  James’ name is not on the list.  I stop at one staff member holding a tablet, “Mooreland.”  Looking at the list, he finds my name and smiles at me.  He opens the door to the Hall.  James steps back slightly to let me enter first.  Once inside, an usher points the way to coat check.  James sheds his first, then turns me so that I’m facing into the foyer and slides my coat off.  He collects the check ticket.  Stepping up behind me, he gently takes my left wrist in his left hand.  From over my right shoulder, his right hand appears – holding a pink rose.  I burst out laughing looking up into his sparkling blue eyes just before he kisses me gently.  I can hear the cameras outside going bonkers.  I take the rose from his hand and he gently lets his right arm drift down my bare back to rest just above the scoop of the gown barely covering my ass as we walk into the foyer.  Again, I hear the cameras clicking away like crazy.

Mrs. Corbett approaches me, “Kira!  I am so glad to see you!”  She gives me a quick peck on each cheek.

“Good to see you Mrs. Corbett!”  Pulling James a little closer, “May I introduce you to James Hetfield.”

Mrs. Corbett’s eyes grow large, but she maintains her cool, “Welcome to Radio City Music Hall!”

Nodding slightly, “Thank you.  It’s really pretty.”  I can feel him wince.

“Yes it is an amazing building.  Have you seen the Spectacular before?”

“No, this is my first time” James says happily now that the subject is changed, his fingers gently playing on my lower back.

“This is the first time James has done the holiday in person.”

Looking at me, “Then you will be using your Grandmother’s seats tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“I will personally make sure that you have seats front and center!”

Raising a hand gently, “I’d prefer the front and center seats go to the kids.”  I can see Mrs. Corbett thinking.  “However, I would love to have an appointment with the – uhm – Big Guy.”

Her face lights up, “Done!”  She looks across the foyer, “Excuse me please” and she hurries away.

“The Big Guy?” James just looks cockeyed at me.

“Yup.”  I smile back mischievously at him.  “The Big Guy.”  James’ fingers gently lift my chin and he kisses me tenderly.  More camera nuttery.

I wrap my right arm around his arm as an usher approaches.  “Miss Mooreland, your box is ready.”  She indicates the stairs, “This way please.”  I shift the rose from my left hand to my right, grabbing a fist full of skirt as we start to climb the stairs.  Again, I hear the cameras clicking away.  Once at the top I drop the fabric.  James looks at me concerned.  I just smile back at him.  Entering the box, I slide one chair closer to the rail and – holding up the back of my gown – sit.  I pull the other chair closer to me and pat the seat.  James just snickers at me and sits, his hand resting on my thigh.  I look at him, “You ok?”

Shifting his hand from my leg to wrap around my shoulders, his fingers gently pulling me closer, “You never said it was box seating.”

“oops.”

He kisses my temple smiling.

The lights go down.

Two hours later, we participate in the standing ovation.  The smile spread across his face lifts my heart.  He sinks back down in his seat.  “That was amazing.”

I smile at him, “TV doesn’t do it justice.”

His eyebrows are almost in his hairline, “NO.  It does not!”  He stands again and plants a kiss on me, “Thank you.”

Grabbing the backs of his arms, “You are very welcome.”

The Hall slowly is emptying out.  James holds his hand out to me and we leave the box.  Looking up and down the hallway, he pins me to the wall, kissing me deeply.  His mouth by my ear, “I can’t wait to get you home.” 

I whimper.  “Let’s go.”

He again takes my hand and we walk down the hallway to the main stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs, James leaves me with my pink rose standing in the middle of the foyer facing the doors – I think deliberately – to go collect our coats.  I see him pull out his phone.  Probably calling our car.  He shrugs on his overcoat and collects mine.  Coming up behind me, he gently turns me and then - with a smug look in his eyes – gently lifts my coat up my arms, one at time to accommodate the rose.  He deftly pulls out my curls and drapes them over the fur collar.  I just look knowingly up at him.  He’s showing me off.  Somehow, I’m fine with that.  He takes my hand and completes the spin, tucking my hand into his elbow just as his phone buzzes.  “Ready?”  I merely nod and let him lead me out into the cold to the car.  Again, the cameras are going wild.  He hands me into the car and then climbs in himself.  “Home?”

“Yes, please.”

James nods to the driver as he pulls me into his side.  I bury my nose into the pink rose.  “I still have the postit petals.”

“You do?” his blue eyes sparkling.

“Of course I do.”  I play with the real rose in my hands.  “That was very creative and romantic.”  He just smiles at me leaning in to kiss me.

We get back to the building and step out of the car.  The night doorman, Morty, opens the door.  “Miss Mooreland!  Very good to see you again!  How was the Gala?”

“Thank you Morty.  Good to see you too!  Wonderful as always!”

“It was marvelous!” James chimes in.

“Uhm, Morty.  Would you please keep a keen eye out for paparazzi?”

“Of course, Miss Mooreland.”  Morty pushes the elevator call button.  He winks at James, “When you’re out with the most eligible single woman in New York City, everyone is going to want your picture!”

“Already?” I say.

“Probably page six tomorrow morning” Morty grins.

The elevator door opens.  We step in.  “Page six?” a look of total confusion on James’ face.

“The gossip page” I lean into James.

“Most eligible single woman, huh?”

“Not any more” I lean a little harder into his body.

Kissing my hair, “Good!”

The doors open.  After opening the front door I dip into the first bathroom using it and pulling out the tampon – that is completely soaked.  My rose gets dropped into a water glass.  Two minutes later, we are both naked in bed exploring each other’s bodies.  Our clothes, jackets, and shoes are strewn in a path from the front door to the bedroom. 

Tracing a happy trail there Lars? Can I be next??!!??

Requested by a lot of people.

Rockies Christmas - Day 13

Warnings: Fluff, Gifting First Responders, Shameless Product Placement

Guide: CBF = Cali’s Boyfriend / CGF = Castor’s Girlfriend / MBF = Marcella’s Boyfriend {I didn’t want to give them names}

I blink awake.  Stretching and yawning, I roll to my side.  James is still sound asleep.  I slip from bed, grab yoga pants, a baggy sweatshirt and go use the toilet while getting dressed.  I wince as I flush the toilet.  I don’t want to wake James.  Checking on him, he shifts, snorfels softly, then sighs and sags back to sleep.  I quickly leave our room. 

Getting into the kitchen, there stands Cali staring into the open fridge.  “You ok?”

“Now I’m starving.”  She lets the door shut.  “I couldn’t eat anything a few days ago.  Now I can’t get enough.”

Moving her to a barstool, “What are you craving?”

“Everything.”

Smiling gently at her, “I mean, are you craving sweets?  Proteins?  Carbs?”

She stops and thinks moment.  “Proteins.”

Nodding, “Ok.  Breakfast burrito it is.”  I pull out what I need from the fridge.  As I start the onions grilling in the skillet, “Would you please start the coffee maker?”

“Sure.  Why?”

“I give it five minutes and your Dad will be down here” I grin at Cali.  It only takes a short time for the onions to grill.  I move them off the burner and start a second skillet heating.  This one I dump the beaten eggs into, scrambling them with a wooden spatula.  Looking at the clock, “Three.  Two.  One.”

“I smell onions” comes James’ voice yawning.

“Morning Dad” Cali smiles.

James gives her a hug, “You look better.  You have some color in your cheeks.”

“I can eat without barfing every ten minutes.”

“That’s good news” James smiles.  “Means that you’ll be starving from this point on.”  He moves to the coffee pot and makes our mugs.

“Was Mom that way?”

“Morning sick?” James asks.  Cali nods.  “A little with each of you.  But not too bad.”  James sets our mugs on the kitchen table.

I can see the concern in Calis’ eyes, “Cali, everyone is different.  I worked with a pair of twins.  Sasha couldn’t keep anything down for about two months.  Nadine never got morning sick at all.”  Cali’s eyebrows knit together.  “Even twins have certain wiring that’s different.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  It’s just how we are.” 

I pull the pan of eggs off the heat and shred some of the roast beef.  I pull out and zap for a few seconds three large tortillas.  Putting them each on their own plate, I quickly get one burrito made, handing it to James.  His eyes light up.  “What do you want on yours?”  Cali’s burrito ends up being very close to her Dad’s.  Just no hot sauce.  I put mine together.  The three of us sit at the kitchen table happily eating our breakfast when the others stumble in.

“Oh wow!  Breakfast burritos!” Castor grins.

“Well, the cook has sat” James puts a hand on my shoulder keeping me in my seat.  “The kitchen is now self-serve.”

Nodding, “Fair enough” Castor grins.

Quickly, all eight of us are seated around the table with our burritos in various stages of consumption. 

CBF speaks up, “James, what New Year traditions do you have?”

James leans back in his chair, “I usually take gift cards to the first responders.  Why?”

“What about meal?”

“Whatever is leftover in the fridge.”  James gives CBF a look, “Why?”

“I’d like to make Jambalaya.”

James looks at me.  I motion, “There’s the kitchen.”

Cali grins.  “We will need to make a trip to the store.”

“We can use the van” CGF offers.

James looks out the window.  It’s snowing lightly.  “Naw.  We’ll take the truck.  Let’s make a trip to the store.”

Castor looks out the window, “Truck it is!”

The kids clean up the breakfast dishes.  Within the hour, we are all dressed and piled into the truck.  I decide to let James drive.  It wouldn’t be cool for the megarockgodsuperstar to climb out of the passenger side of his own truck.  Even if he still looks like he got slapped in the face with his own seven hundred pound snowmobile.  The first stop is a SB.  James pulls on a pair of sunglasses.  The bruising can still be seen, but the worst of it is hidden.  We all pile out. 

Walking in the store, the manager turns.  “Hey James!”

“Hi Chris.”

“Brought the whole fam damily this time, huh?”

James smiles, “We’re making a day of it.”

“The usual?” as Chris goes to a register and signs in.

“Yes, please.”

“Ok, that’s one tall Pike Place roast and 50 cards at ten dollars each.”

“Do you already have those loaded?”  Chris nods.  “Would you be mad if I have a few more loaded?”

“Not at all.”

James turns to us, “Each of you pick out five cards.”

The kids go to the card racks.  There are giggles and chatter among them as they make their selections.

James leans into me, “You too” and he kisses my temple.  I find a cute card at the bottom of the rack and pull out five.

The cards all get placed on the counter.  “This will take a minute, James.”

“No worries.”  Looking to us, “You all good on coffee?”

“A grande blond vanilla latte, add two pumps caramel, please” I ask.  I get a look from James.  “What?”

“You always manage to surprise me with something” as he pulls me into a loose hug, his hands clasped behind my back.  I rest my hands on his chest.

The kids each place a drink order and Chris rings up the total.  James releases me gently, pulling out his wallet.  “The math isn’t adding up, Chris.”

“The coffees are on the house today” Chris grins.

“Thanks, that’s very kind.”

“Hey, I know where these cards are going.  I wish I could just give these to you, but then they wouldn’t work” as he hands the new cards to James.  “Do you want the envelopes?”

“Yes, please” as James ponies up his credit card.  He hands me the new gift cards.

Chris finishes with the register – handing James a rather long receipt which just gets passed to me – and he disappears into the back.  He comes back holding a small box.  “Here they are.”

“Thanks again Chris” James shakes hands.

“My pleasure!”

We collect our coffees and James sits at a table – which takes me off guard.  From an inside pocket of his coat, James pulls out a sharpie.  The next 45 minutes are spent with James putting his JH mark – he stopped signing his full name years ago – on each card with the year.  The rest of us blow on the cards to dry the ink and put the card into an envelope.  There’s chatter among us about how we’ve celebrated New Years’ Eve in years past.

“Kira, have you ever seen the ball drop?” CGF wants to know.

“On TV.”

Castor looks at me, “You’ve never been there in person?”

I look at Castor, “I’m 5 foot 2.  I would be crushed.”  He grins.  “There’s easily a million people crammed into the Square.” 

Castor’s eyes squint.  “Think Moscow.  I know you’ve seen the footage” James says.

There’s a quiet “woah” from the kids.

“And since 9/11, they have tightened up security to the point where there are no in/out’s allowed.”

Marcella’s eyebrows knit together, “In/outs?”

“You can’t leave to go get food or use the bathroom and come back.”

“Nope.  Not going now” CGF says.

Hiking a thumb at James, “Get your Dad to play it.  That’s the only way I’ll go in person” I grin at him.

“Nope.  Not playing there or Superbowl.”

Castor leans across the table his hands outstretched towards James, “C’mon Dad!  You guys would kill a Superbowl halftime!”  James just shakes his head, taking a drink from his coffee.  “But you did the Raiders” Castor whines slightly.

“We played the parking lot.  Before a Playoff game.  On a flatbed trailer” James looks at his son.  “We didn’t play the game” he grins.  “And I know why you want us to play Superbowl.  You don’t want to buy those tickets!” James gives Castor a wink and grin.

Castor puts his head on the table between his outstretched arms, “They are soooo expensive!” this time he did whine.

Patting his sons’ hands, “Perhaps one day, you will play half time and I will be the one asking you for tickets” James deadpans.  Castor raises his head and bursts out laughing, which causes the rest of us to laugh.

The gift cards are all collected and put into the box.  Which James hands to me.  Castor collects the sharpie.  We climb into the truck.  The cards are taken to the firehouses, the Hospital Emergency Room and Police station, where James shakes the hands of everyone on duty that shift, leaving cards for those not on duty today.  He begs off on selfies – this year.  “Let me recover from being smacked upside the head” he nods in my direction grinning.  I just shrug my shoulders and chuckle. 

One paramedic took it seriously.  “I can’t swing much less pick up a snowmobile” I snark.

“Yeah, I took a tumble with my machine” he pulls his glasses down a little.

“Ouch!” is the general response.

“You should have seen him a week ago” MBF adds.

As we pile back into the truck, “James, there’s twelve cards left.”

“I know.  Those are going to the airport” he just gently grabs my thigh.

We pull up to the chopper hanger and all tumble out.  “Hey Jacobs!” James calls out, pulling off the sunglasses.

“Well look what the cat dragged in!  You’re looking good James!”

“And I have you to thank for that.”  James gives the chopper pilot a hug.

“Hey, just doing what I do” Jacobs says matter of factly.

“Well, these are for you and your team.  It’s not much.  But they are signed.”  James hands over the cards.  “And you and your team will be on the list for any show you want.”

Jacobs shakes James’ hand, “That is above and beyond, but greatly appreciated!”

“Once this snow melts, I’ll need to hire you to get my machine out of that field.”

“And straight to the junk yard” Jacobs chuckles.

James’ eyebrows knit together, “You’re the second one to say that.  Is it really that bad?”

“James” Jacobs puts a hand on James’ shoulder, “I have seen what you have done with cars.”  Shaking his head, “But this is beyond even your skills in the garage.”  James just heaves a sigh.  “The cowling is completely smashed up, the frame is probably bent – if not cracked, the handlebars are through the engine cover, probably skewered the engine and the track is in about three pieces.”  He looks James in the eye, “You shouldn’t have survived.”  I can see that James is shaken by this information and I gently rest a hand on his lower back. 

“I shouldn’t have survived the fire.  I shouldn’t have survived the skidoo.  Now this.”

“Hey Dad, I know you are a Leo.  But will you leave the last few lives alone?” Cali smiles at James, rubbing her belly.

Grinning, James pats the growing bump, “I’ll try” he smiles at his oldest child.  Jacobs gives James a look.  Smiling like a fool, “Cali is making me a Grandpa!”

“Well Congratulations!  Old man!” Jacobs slaps James’ shoulder.  The phone in the office rings and is answered.  “I should probably see what that’s about.”  He shakes James’ hand again, “We’ll get your machine when the snows melt.  I’ve already told BML about it, so they know it’s there.  Happy New Year you lucky bastard!”

“Happy New Year to you, you freaking sky jockey!”

Pointing at James as he heads into the office, “You can do better!”

Waving, “I will next time!” James smiles.

Again, we stuff ourselves into the truck.  As we go to enter the freeway, something makes me grab James’ arm. Hard.  He stops and looks at me.  I shiver.  He gives me a concerned look just as a motorcycle comes screaming between us and the truck in the next lane over, using the gore point to pass.  The biker almost lost it in the slush there but managed to stay upright and punched it even harder.

“That guy had to be doing 80” Castor says quietly from the back seat.

“Closer to 100” James states.  He pats my hand, then checking traffic again, pulls us on to the freeway.  We are silent for a time.  “So, we need the grocery store, yes?” James asks the backset.

“The one with the really good andouille sausages, please Dad” Cali says from her boyfriend’s lap.

I can see James thinking, “Ok.  I remember where that one is.”

It takes a few minutes to get there.  With the size of his truck, James parks it towards the back of the lot.  I swear we look like a clown car as we tumble out.  CGF does almost sits down in the slush, but Castor and MBF make the grab for the save.  It’s a smaller store with a good specialty meat counter.  CBF’s eyes light up.  I grab a cart and wander the store with the others.  CBF catches up to us with his parcel from the meat department.  He dashes around collecting the other things that he needs, smiling. 

Pulling his daughter to his side, “Does he always shop like this?”

Cali grins, “He’s a lot like you.  He likes to cook” she side hugs her Dad.

“Why Jambalaya?”

“He’s from New Orleans.”

Nodding, “So we’ll get the good Jambalaya then” James wiggles his eyebrows.

As CBF drops a bag of rice into the cart, he kisses his fingers like a French chef, “The best!”

The store has a selection of cookware, CBF stops.  “What is the biggest pan you have?”

James pats CBF on the shoulder “Pick out whatever you need.  That way it will be here when you come back.”  CBF eyes open wide.  Cali motions for him to pick out what he needs, rubbing her belly.

I backtrack to a previous aisle, find what I’m looking for and catch up to the little hoard around the cart.

At check out, I beat James to pulling out a credit card.  Giving him a goofy grin, he wraps his arms around me, putting his lips next to my ear, “Gonna be like that, huh?” kissing my ear.  I just nod leaning into his embrace.

As things are bagged up, I collect the lotion I’d selected.  I hand it to Cali, “You are going to rub your belly raw.  Use this.”  She just laughs but takes the bottle.

The purchases are piled into the bed of the truck and the kids strategically pile into the back seat.  James steps in after making sure that I have clambered into the passenger seat.  “Anyone need anything else?” James asks.

“Nope.”  “All good.”  “Can’t think of anything.”  Comes from the back seat.

James looks at me.  I smile at him.  I can tell that he’s tired.  He smiles at me and – checking the surroundings – backs the truck out of the spot.  Once we get home, he stops outside the garage to let the back seat out, before putting the truck into the garage.

Marcella pats her Dad’s back, “We got this Dad.”  She gives me a smile.  I can tell that she too sees that he’s tired.

I hold my hand out to him.  James tosses the key fob to her, takes my hand letting me guide him to our room.  I pull his clothes from his body creating a small pile of our clothes at the foot of the bed.  James makes a trip to the bathroom.  Pulling the covers back, I pull off my clothes and climb in.  When James returns, I hold my arms out to him.  He slides into the sheets, wrapping me in his arms, resting his head on my shoulder, his leg draping up over my hips.  I flip the covers over us.  I caress his hair gently with my fingers.  I feel his body sag into slumber.  I lay awake for a time just watching him sleep.  His eyelashes and eyebrows still showing hints of the blonde he used to be.  His cheeks bearing the slight scarring from the acne he’d had as a kid.  He shifts some in his sleep, rubbing his nose and mustache into my boob.  I kiss his hairline.  Resting my hand on his tattoo laced arm, my cheek on the top of his head.  I don’t remember my eyes closing.

I wake as James stretches.  He looks up at me.  The bruising on his face going into the yellow-green stage.  I kiss him between the eyebrows.  “Sleep good?” I almost whisper.

“Yeah.  Didn’t realize how tired I was.”

My hand rubs his arm, “Well, gee.  It’s not like you haven’t been through a lot in the last ten days or so” rolling my eyes overdramatically at him.

He grabs my ribs and plants a solid mouth fart between my boobs.  I squeal in laughter.  He blows another making me laugh even harder.  He rests his chin between my boobs.  “I love to hear you laugh.”

Caressing his head, “I love to see you smile.”

He’s closing in on kissing me when “Dad!  Kira!”  His head sinks to my chest.  “Dinner!”

“Did we just get called to dinner by the kids … like we’re the kids?” I ask the top of his head.  His head pops up, his blue eyes twinkling.  He bursts into laughter as he hugs me tightly which makes me laugh.

“C’mon you two!  It’s getting cold!”

“Give us a second!  Geez!” James yells back.  I can hear the laughter from downstairs.  He looks at me, “That was their standard answer back in the day!”

Kicking out of the covers, we climb out of bed.  James helps me tidy the covers.  Grabbing a pair of leggings and a tank top I head into the toilet.  I hear James laughing softly.  After washing, he smacks my ass as he heads to the toilet.  I go back to the closet and pull on a baggy knit sweater.  Wearing a pair of sweatpants and a Motorhead t-shirt, James wraps his arms around me – almost carrying me – down the stairs to the kitchen.

“Took you long enough!” Cali says, hands on her hips.  She’s trying to keep a straight face, but loses that battle when James starts laughing again.

Pulling away gently from James, “Standard answer?”  He can only nod at me.

We are presented with open face roast beef sandwiches and the last of all the vegetables from Christmas dinner.  The surprise is the grilled onions on the sandwiches.  James nods, “Nice touch!”

I insist on helping with the cleanup as the kids had done the cooking.  Once the dishwasher is started, Castor says, “Stranger Things time!”

“We really going to binge the whole show?” James looks at his boy.

“Yes, Dad” Castor nods, “This should become the new tradition!  Besides, there’s a new season being worked on!”

In short order, we’re again piled onto the huge sofa structure in the media room, covered in blankets as another episode is started.  James pulls me a little tighter into his side, kissing my temple.  I rest my head on his chest.

Two episodes later, “I gotta pee” I announce.

“Good idea” MBF says.

The bathrooms are all soon put to use.

As I come back through the kitchen, I grab the tub with the cookies.  James is pulling out some Squeezed to Death cans from the fridge.  “Need to restock these” he grins.  Castor starts the next episode once everyone is again tucked into their blankets.

Three episodes and one bin of cookies later, we call it a night.

As we climb back into bed, James pulls my naked body to his.  I curl around his arm sighing.  His breath warm on the back of my neck.

“I have a question for you.” 

“mmhmm”

“What happened today with the motorcycle.”  I nod slightly.  “Does that happen often?”

I pause a moment, then rotate towards his face.  “Grandmother told me that I could answer questions before they were asked.”  I look into his eyes, seeing nothing but compassion there.  “What happened today.  It’s never happened to me before.”  Goosebumps rise on my arms.

Rubbing my arms and kissing me, “I’m glad it did.  At that speed, he’d’ve come right through the back window.”  That makes me shiver.  James pulls me closer and just holds me, my head tucked under his chin.  My eyes close.  I feel myself sag into his arms as sleep grabs me.