A/N: Hey, guys! I've been meaning to write this fic since finishing With All My Soul a month ago, and have finally just gotten round to it. So that's a positive start. :)
More chapters are to come - feel free to send me some prompts :D Enjoy!
Hazel eyes stare up at me, the colours twisting in stubborn streaks of brown and green.
"But I wanna see Uncle Toddy now!" screams Isabella. She thrashes violently, her jet black hair falling wildly around her tiny frame.
Wow, I think as she glares up at me with those familiar eyes of hers. For a three-year old she sure can yell.
I take hold of the girl's wrists and kneel down to her level. She's calmed a bit, either by tiring herself out or by realizing that throwing a tantrum will do no good.
"Izzy," I say carefully, not wanting her to detonate again, "Please try to behave. Uncle Tod will be here soon, okay?"
She eyes me with suspicion. "Promise?"
"Promise." I take her in for a hug, and her rigid posture soon relaxes. Tiny arms wrap around my torso. Izzy might act like a brat sometimes, but she really is a sweetheart.
The girl pulls back and shoots me her biggest smile. "I'm sorry for yelling, Aunt Kaylee," she says, her face scrunching up in concentration. Apologies are a big thing for Izzy, which, considering her mom, isn't that big of a surprise. I laugh. Sabine Campbell, a mom. Who would have guessed?
"That's okay, Izzy," I say with a smile. The door bell begins to ring; my head still throbs after Izzy's mini tantrum, and the shrill sound is not at all welcome. The reaper on the other side, however, is.
"Tod," I say, not bothering to hide the relief in my voice. I reach up to hug him, my arms curling around his shoulders, and I can practically feel him grin as he pulls me closer.
"You missed me," he whispers into my hair. I smile.
"I always miss you."
I tilt my head back to kiss him, when a voice interrupts me.
"Ewww!" Izzy stands in the doorway grimacing. She makes a sort of gagging sound, then looks past me to Tod. Her face immediately lights up at the sight of my blonde boyfriend, and she rushes past me to attack his legs.
"Uncle Toddy!" she cries, as he does his best to detach himself from her death grip.
"Hey Izzy," he says, finally able to move his knees. He picks her up, and she bursts into a fit of giggles. "Put me down! Put me down!"
"Never!" says the reaper with a grin. Izzy's laughter is contagious, and eventually I can't stop giggling either. Tod looks over at me with bright blue eyes and I'm breathless, though whether that's from laughing too much or from the heat in Tod's gaze, I have no idea. Izzy smiles as she snuggles into the safety of Tod's arms, and he holds her carefully against him.
I wish I had a camera, I think, as I watch the two of them together. Despite the fact that we're both only around seventeen physically, I can't help but wish Tod and I were able to have a kid of our own - his striking blue eyes set into the face of a dark-haired boy; beautiful blonde curls crowning a girl with my very own eyes – it wouldn't matter, so long as they were ours.
Tod notices my sudden shift in mood. He puts Izzy down and she races away, no doubt to catch what's left of Dora the Explorer on TV. The reaper then walks over to where I'm standing and wraps his arms swiftly around my waist.
"Don't think I forgot about you," he smiles coyly, before lifting me up into his arms.
"Tod!" I squeal, "Put me down now!"
His laughter is all I am rewarded with as he lowers me onto the couch. I squirm in his hold before finally relenting. "If this is all part of some master plan to lure me away from my duties as godmother to Nash and Sabine's love-child, I'm not buying it," I say, as he settles himself beside me. I have no idea what Nash's job is exactly, but it left more than enough money for a big sofa. "There's a reason they trust me more than you, Tod."
"I can be trusted with Izzy," he says with mock hurt. "It's being with you they're worried about."
I suddenly notice how close we are, our bodies pressed together, face to face.
"And right they are," I say so quietly, it's barely a whisper.
Tod smiles, and my heart flutters. Damn it, Kaylee, I scold myself. You're not eleven.
His mouth is inches away from mine, and I can almost feel the intensity of his gaze as it lowers to my lips. I follow his eyes as they travel back up to mine, the blues twisting madly in too many different shades to count. The emotions in them are vivid; the love, the lust, the longing.
Then, we're kissing, and my hands slide silently up into his mass of blonde curls. He grins against my lips, and flips me beneath him, his arms resting on either side of me as support. His hair is soft against my neck as he trails delicious kisses down my collarbone, lower and lower, towards the v-neck of my sweater. "Tod..." I warn, embarrassed by how close to a moan it is.
"Hmm?" he murmurs against my skin, his lips warm and soft. My sweater rides up as his hands travel across my hips, up to just above my waist, and then higher still.
"Tod," I gasp, willing myself to move away from his touch. "Izzy's in the other room."
He pulls back with a smirk, and I'm simultaneously relieved and disappointed by the sudden lack of touch. "Don't worry, Kay. I'll go check on her," he says, before hopping off the couch and disappearing into the other room.
I sigh. We would make very bad parents... but then again, we do have a bunch of hormones going crazy in our bodies, making it hard to think rationally and whatnot... don't we? I'm not really sure how everything works exactly, despite the fact that we've both been dead for almost a decade now. All I really know is that my dreams of having a family with Tod are never going to happen, and that sucks.
I barely notice Tod coming back into the room. He sits down next to me and nuzzles my shoulder, gently kissing the skin there. "I put Izzy to bed," he says, his lips moving up towards my jaw.
I turn to look at him, eyebrows raised. "It's four in the afternoon."
He shrugs. "She was tired."
I laugh, but it's a sad sort of laugh, and Tod looks at me with concerned eyes. He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and then moves closer. "What's wrong, Kaylee?" he asks.
A defeated sigh escapes my lips. "I don't know. It's just... you're really good with Izzy," I say, avoiding his gaze.
His frown deepens. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No, of course not. Izzy absolutely adores you," I say, trying to find the right words. "It's just gotten me thinking - Have you ever wondered what things might've been like if we weren't... y'know. Dead?"
Tod looks me over for a moment before chuckling softly. "Kaylee, that's all I ever used to think about. But then I realized most dead guys don't have a hot, strong brunette by their side for eternity, so I've gotten off pretty easy. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," I say, still looking away from him. My hands lie still in my lap, and I begin to play with them as means of distraction. "I've just always wanted a family, and I wondered if you felt the same way."
Tod's comforting hands envelop my own, and he tilts my chin up to look at him. "Kaylee," he says, his voice wrapping around my name like velvet. "You're my family now. If we were able to have kids, that would be… well. That'd be pretty awesome. But for the record, I am completely happy with just you and our little family of two. The way I see it, we're pretty damn lucky just having each other, let alone our parents and all our friends on top of that. Hell, before I met you all I ever had was my mom and Nash, both of which weren't too thrilled with the idea of me sticking around. So yeah, Kay; I'd love to build a family with you. But as far as I'm concerned, we already have one."
I take in a shaky breath, my eyes brimming with fresh tears. Blinking them back furiously, I fall forward to lean my head against Tod's chest. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me in, and I'm thankful for the closeness.
When I've calmed a bit, I pull back and smile. "Thanks, Tod," I say, leaning in until our lips are almost touching. His breathing hitches. I kiss him lightly, the ghost of a touch, before skimming over to his ear. "For what it's worth, you would have made a great dad."
His laugh is a little shaky as I trail kisses down his jaw, making my way to his lips. "And you, an excellent mother."
Ten minutes later, and we're sprawled on the couch once more, him on his back and me leaning up against him. Our make-out session had been a little more heated than usual, but I sure wasn't complaining.
"So I've been thinking," says Tod, his voice rumbling through his chest. "About what you said earlier. About having kids. And I figured... well. It wouldn't hurt to try would it?"
I flip round to see his expression, and the innocence conveyed in his voice is a little hard to believe considering his mischievous gaze. I roll my eyes.
"Am I supposed to believe that your intentions are solely pure?" I ask with a smirk.
He feigns a look of surprise. "Well, of course," he says, his voice shocked. "Do you honestly believe I'd trick you into extra sex, with the excuse of wanting to conceive a child?"
I raise my eyebrows at him. He chuckles. "Okay. You caught me. But seriously – extra sex. You can hardly blame a guy for trying."
My legs are at either side of his, and I sit up, straddling him. He grins. Both hands pressed against his chest, I lean down until I'm right by his ear. "Well, we better start trying then," I whisper, grinning back at him.
