Happy New Year
"Comfortable?"
"Hmmm?" came a muffled voice from beneath his chin. Bending his head slightly, he placed a kiss on the blonde hair that was obscuring her face. Smiling to himself, he repeated, "I said, are you comfortable?"
Her head turned to bury further into his shirt, and with a slight yawn she murmured. "I couldn't be more comfortable."
He laughed again, and she moved her head to look up into his eyes. "What's so funny?"
"You." He smiled down at her. "After the fuss you made about me having to work on our first Christmas, you are going to be asleep before midnight, at this rate."
Shuffling slightly up the couch, she pulled her legs under her and moved so her face was on a level with his. Licking her lips slightly, she moved forward and touched her nose to his. He shivered at the contact. They had been together for months now, but she could still make him feel as giddy as a teenager on his first date. After knocking their noses together a few times, she aimed for the main prize, his lips. Feeling her mouth move slowly against his, he was lost, and pulled her further towards him. They kissed slowly at first, his hands sliding up her back to tangle in her already tousled hair. But as he felt her tongue seeking entrance to his mouth, he couldn't help but groan into her mouth, responding hungrily.
As she felt his hands tighten their grip on his back, she moved herself to a kneeling position on the couch, raising her body above his to allow him better access to her neck. Feeling him find the spot that made her go weak at the knees, she gasped and held his head to her for a few blissful seconds.Then moving her hands, she placed them on his shoulders and pushed him down so his body was now lying on their couch. Reluctantly pulling her lips from his, she looked down at him and smiled. His eyes were still closed as if he were committing every moment to memory. Bending so her chest was pressed close to his, she sought out his lips again, allowing her tongue to trace every part of his mouth. She felt his arms once again wind around her back as he tried to pull her as close as was humanly possible. Moving from his mouth she nipped at his bottom lip, sucking on it gently, then allowed herself to take advantage of being on top of him and kissed a trail of small featherlike kisses along his jaw bone and his neck. Moving her hands from his shoulders, she began to open the buttons of his shirt. She looked down at him again and saw he was smiling. Grinning back she purred, "Well, if you want me to stay up until the new year, we gotta do something. Right?"
Watching her as she moved to the lower buttons of his shirt, he lay back and enjoyed her seduction. When she had undone all of them, she pushed the thin material aside and slid her hands up his bare chest. Lifting his head up slightly, he moved to reclaim her swollen lips. He could almost feel his body trembling in anticipation of what was to come. No. Wait. He wasn't trembling…something was actually vibrating in his pocket. Dammit. His phone. His face only inches away from hers, he stopped. "I'm sorry, honey. Just one minute." Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he glanced over at Martha, who had retreated to the far side of the couch, her bottom lip in a pout. He pulled his phone out of his pants pocket.
"Ignore it, Aaron. It's probably someone wanting to wish us a Happy New Year." She inched forward toward him again, a mischievous look on her face. "Now, where were we?"
Tempted, Aaron began to put the phone on the coffee table, glancing at the screen before he put it down. Dammit. The White House. "I'm sorry, Martha, it's work. I have to take it." Giving her his most apologetic smile, he stood up and flipped open the phone. "This is Pierce."
Martha watched him pace the length of her living room as he spoke on the phone. She was annoyed that her seduction had been interrupted, but she couldn't help a small smile flickering across her face as she thought how cute he looked speaking in agent mode on his phone, but with flushed cheeks and his shirt still flapping open. Shaking herself back to the present, she began to listen to what he was saying.
"Alright. I'll be in in twenty minutes." Closing the phone he turned to face an enraged Martha. "Martha. I'm sorry."
"You have got to be kidding." She pushed her hair back from her face and watched as he began to do up the buttons she had undone only moments before. "It's New Year's Day. Well, at least it will be in..." She looked at her wristwatch. "In four and a half hours."
"There's some problem with one of the new agents. Agent Greene didn't go into detail. But Martha, they wouldn't have called unless it was urgent." He finished doing up his shirt and knelt on the floor beneath her, taking her smaller hands in his. "Look, I know this isn't how we planned on spending the new year, but if I leave now I may be back before midnight."
Martha smiled, "You sound like Cinderella!" She felt like crying, but Aaron's dedication to his job was one of the many things she loved about him.
"Cinderella, huh?" He dropped her hands and reached up to stroke her face. "Well, if I'm not back when the clock strikes midnight, just know I will be thinking of you. Okay?"
Martha reached out and held his face in her hands. "Okay. Just promise me you won't turn into a pumpkin!"
Pulling her face to his, he gently kissed her then held his forehead to hers. "I promise. I love you."
Sighing deeply, Martha pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, too. Now go, before I use your handcuffs for my own benefit!"
Grinning at the thought of Martha getting her hands on his handcuffs, Aaron kissed her one final time and walked to the front door. Glancing back at her one final time, he smiled and left the cozy house.
Martha glanced at the clock once again. 10.30. She had been sitting on the sofa since Aaron had left, and had been watching some old movie on the television. She had no idea what it was, or what it was about, but the background noise had drowned out the sound of her neighbor's party, which appeared to be in full swing now. Pulling the blanket a little tighter around her shoulders, she picked up her glass of red wine from the table and took a large sip. Since Aaron had left, she had managed to work her way through almost half a bottle. Placing the glass on the floor beside her, she snuggled into her comfy sofa and returned her gaze to the television. Realizing she had no concept of the plot of the movie, she flicked it off with the remote, and instead picked up her book from the table. Flicking to her place, she glanced at the clock again, 10.35. Resting her head on an oversized cushion, she felt her eyes begin to close. Maybe she would just take a nap just for an hour. After all, Aaron still had over an hour to get home to her, and she knew he would do his darndest to try to get home before midnight. Yes, she would just rest her eyes for a while, and when she awoke, Aaron would be home and they could celebrate the new year in the way she had initially intended. Dropping the book onto her lap she closed her eyes fully and allowed a smile to creep onto her lips at the thought of him coming home. Slowly, she drifted into a deep sleep.
"BANG!"
Martha's head shot up from the couch and she very nearly fell off the damned thing. She bolted to a sitting position and jumped again as another loud noise fully awoke her. The book that had been on her lap fell to the floor and knocked over the wine glass she had earlier placed there. "Dammit!" she cursed out loud, jumped up from her comfortable position, and looked at her brand new cream rug, which now resembled something out of a slasher movie. She quickly glanced over at the clock and saw she had been asleep for just over an hour. It was now a quarter to twelve. From what she could see it didn't look like Aaron was going to make it home in time. Looking back down at her rug, she noticed the wine had spread.
"BANG!"
She jumped again. Oh for God's sake, she thought, this must be the grand finale of her neighbors' celebrations. Pulling herself off the couch, she wrapped her blanket around her, and glancing at the wine stain again, made her way into the kitchen. This was not how she envisioned seeing in the new year -- on her hands and knees with a wet cloth trying to save her new rug. As she flicked the light on in the kitchen, she tried to remember what her mother had said about red wine stains. Did one just throw a glass of white over it? Or was it salt? Well, seeing as she had not been shopping since before Christmas, the chances of her having either were slim. She opened the cupboard door under her sink and rummaged around until she found something that resembled carpet cleaner.
"BANG! BANG!"
This time as she jumped she managed to bang her head against the top of the cupboard. Dropping the cleaner, she stood up rubbing her sore head and made her way to the French windows leading out onto her garden. To hell with the rug. Maybe if she went outside, she could actually see the fireworks instead of just hearing them. Great, Martha, she thought to herself, now you're crashing someone else's New Year's Eve. Still to hell with it, she would get the remainder of her wine and sit on her little patio and watch the fireworks. Grabbing the bottle and a fresh glass from the side, she unlocked the back door and walked out onto her patio. She settled herself into one of the chairs, poured herself another glass, gazed up at the starry sky, and waited for the next firework to go off.
"Well, I thought you would never come outside!" A voice called from the bottom of her garden, causing her to nearly choke on the wine she had just drunk. Putting the glass on the table, she jumped to her feet.
"Aaron?" she tentatively called out. It was so dark she couldn't see him. But she was sure she had recognized his voice. She peered again through the darkness and could vaguely make out a shape moving towards her.
"It's just me. No Santa suit this time." As he got closer, she could see him through the dim porch light.
"That was you? The fireworks, I mean?"
"Yup! Well, I know how heavily you sleep. I figured it would have to be something loud to get you to come out here." He closed the distance between them and stood in front of her.
"Um..sweetheart, I hate to state the obvious, but why not just use the front door like everyone else?"
"Well, I wanted this to be a surprise. I know how you love fireworks. Did I startle you?" He looked concerned for a minute.
"Let's just say you owe me a new rug and a Band-Aid."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. You're here now; that's the main thing…and it's," she glanced at her watch, "ten minutes until midnight."
"I got you something." He grinned at her and she noticed he had been holding one hand behind his back throughout the conversation.
"Ohhh! Gimme, gimme." Martha squealed.
Aaron pulled his hand out from behind his back and handed her a package wrapped in a red ribbon.
"What is it? Christmas was last week." She pulled at the wrapping and let the ribbon fall to the ground.
"Sparklers!" She laughed and ripped open the packet. "Here." She took out two and offered one to him.
"No, you go for it. I'm not really a sparkly kind of guy. But here." He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit the end of the stick Martha held. It burst into life and Martha giggled like a child as she waved it in front of her. Aaron stood and watched her smiling and once again thought to himself how lucky he was to have this beautiful creature in his life. After a few minutes the sparkler sputtered a few sparks and died. Martha threw it to the ground and turned to Aaron.
"Can I have another?" She grinned "It's nearly midnight."
"You can, but don't you know you should never throw sparklers on the ground? You should put them somewhere safe." He knelt down in front of her and picked up the burnt out stick.
"Alright, alright, Mr. Safety, put it in the sink." She looked down at Aaron, who was still on his knees in front of her and waited. After a few seconds she looked confused as he threw the sparkler back to the ground. He had a very serious expression on his face. "Aaron. What is it?"
"Well, I just thought while I was here. On my knees and all. You might like your other gift." He reached into his pocket and Martha gasped as he drew out a small box. "Y'see, the sparklers were just a warm up. To soften you up. Just in case you decided to say no."
He flipped up the lid of the box, and even in the dim light of the patio, Martha could see a different kind of sparkler, and this one certainly had not come from the local 24/7 store.
"Martha, this last year has been the happiest in my life. You know I'm not great with words, but I want you to know you're the reason for that. I look into my future and I cannot imagine what it would be like without you in it." He stopped and looked her square in the eye. "Martha. Will you marry me?"
She stood there gaping at him. Once again he had managed to do something totally unexpected. But this was definately one up on the Santa suit. Realizing she had not said anything and watching his expression growing into one of panic, she opened her mouth.
"Yes, yes!" She shouted, her voice, a mixture of shock and sheer joy. She laughed out loud as he jumped slightly at her outburst, and she flung her arms around him as he stood up. She placed her cold hand on his warm cheeks and stared intently into his eyes. "Yes, Aaron Pierce, I will marry you." Drawing him in to her, she kissed him deeply. After a few seconds, he pulled away.
"Well, let's make it official," he said and pulled the diamond out of the box and placed it on her trembling hand. He looked back up at her face and saw her beaming back at him. They stood in silence for a few seconds until a loud noise from next door made them both jump. They both looked up at the sky and laughed as it exploded into a multitude of colors as more fireworks lit up the midnight sky. Looking back at each other they smiled as they heard the shouts of "Happy New Year!" coming from next door.
"I guess that means it's midnight." Aaron pulled Martha close to him. "Happy New Year, Martha."
"Happy New Year, Aaron," she smiled back as he pulled her close for another kiss.