Anywhere With You
"Hey."
"Hey, yourself."
"Are you up?"
"No." She felt arms brush over her sides before light fingers began to delve into her stomach, hitting her ticklish spots, and she suddenly broke into a fit of giggles.
"Well then wake up, gorgeous." His voice was gravelly, but colored with fresh enthusiasm. He kissed the pile of curls covering the back of her head and squeezed her tighter into him as she pleasantly cringed into his embrace.
"Mmmm... Why so early?" she mumbled sleepily.
"One, it's actually like eight-thirty." She felt him prop himself up on his elbow behind her and before long he was brushing unruly curls away from her closed eyes. "And two," he continued, "I'm taking you somewhere today."
With curiosity triggering her lethargic senses, she turned around to face her husband who was now raking his fingers through her hair gingerly. She mirrored his position and scrunched her forehead at the mysterious grin he wore.
"Where?"
"Have I told you how much I missed your curls?" he asked sincerely, and fingered one that hung by her neck, making her whole arm tingle as his hand grazed her shoulder in the process.
Her cheeks flushed and she tried to stifle the corners of her mouth from sheepishly curling upward. "You've told me," she answered before his delectable kiss stopped her from asking the question that was on her lips.
When he pulled back, brown eyes penetrating hers, she spoke again, "Tony, where are you taking me?"
"It's a surprise, but you'll find out soon enough. We gotta leave in an hour though, so you might wanna get up and get ready. Oh and we'll be taking a road trip so pack an overnight bag, too."
She looked at him incredulously as he threw the white sheets off himself and stumbled out of bed. "Come on, sweetheart. The clock's tickin'."
Where would he be taking her on a whim like this? It had been about ten weeks since they'd moved into their new house and they had began the preliminary processes for starting up their new business. They had really begun getting things off the ground, but the past six months since their reconciliation had been filled with getting back to themselves and the old place of mutual love they used to thrive in. Spending precious time with each other and talking about their plans. Doing stuff they couldn't do when they both worked at CTU... Going on dates without worrying about being called to contain a threat somewhere or getting up early the next day. Vegging out together on the couch in front of the TV more often than once a month. Talking about adding on to their family... They could do all this now, and they were taking advantage of it.
Her husband interrupted her thoughts, "Don't think about it too hard, Michelle."
"I'm just... What should I wear?" she asked as she pulled herself out of bed and met Tony in the bathroom.
"Something comfortable. Jeans and a t-shirt will be fine."
"Are you gonna give me a hint about this mystery trip?" She gazed at him affectionately - half because she was enamored by this man and half because she wanted more information out of him - and he reached for her forearms while planting a kiss on her forehead.
"I already did."
"Tony! Come on!" she squealed, slapping his shoulder playfully while he laughed at what his cagey attitude did to her.
"What? You don't trust me?" he asked facetiously, tucking hair behind her ear as she looked up at him.
"Nooo." She chuckled softly before smiling with affirmation and gripping a chunk of t-shirt that clung to his hip. "I'll go anywhere with you."
After an hour of quickly showering, dressing, and packing, she was somewhere-bound in the car with Tony who was in the driver's seat. About half an hour into the drive he took her hand with his free one and brushed his thumb over her knuckles.
"So are you gonna tell me where you're kidnapping me to now, Tony?" She faced him, and he took his eyes off the road for a moment to meet hers.
"Alright, alright... We are going to San Francisco, and I am taking you to a Cubs game."
At first her mouth just dropped. When it clicked, she let out a breathy chuckle and shook her head. Her husband would do something like this. "A Cubs game, huh? All the way in San Francisco?"
He shrugged innocently. "Well I always wanted to take you to a game, and we were never able to do that before. And they were scheduled to play the Giants tonight, so I bought tickets and thought we'd just get outta town. Make a trip out of it."
Endeared by his little plan, she brought his hand to her lips and pressed an affectionate kiss on the back of it. They had always talked about how it would be nice just to get away for a couple days. Plus, they had never really spent time in San Francisco before. The whole thing was a nice surprise. She was even looking forward to going to a real baseball game with him. "That's so sweet, honey."
"Yeah? That sound ok?"
She leaned over the center console and kissed his cheek, leftover stubble from the past couple days tickling her lips. "It sounds great."
Their hands stayed entwined for a while, and the rest of the drive was filled with conversation and laughter and occasional kisses as they made their way 350 miles north. They talked about everything from Jack Bauer and the death of his they had to fake, to their new security company, to what color they wanted to paint their new living room.
At one point, a kiss of theirs lingered a little too long before Michelle took the responsibility to break it. "Hey, eyes on the road, Almeida," she mock-scolded as his focus snapped back onto the highway.
"You're too distracting, Dessler. I can't help it," he countered, provoking a radiant smirk from her as she slowly shook her head.
"I'm not 'Dessler' anymore, sweetheart."
He turned to face her again then, wearing his own proud grin. Their hands connected for the umpteenth time since they'd been driving, and he lifted hers to his mouth, pressing the ring on her finger to his lips tenderly. "I'm so glad."
"I know," she squeezed his hand tighter, "me too."
