I'm Yours
Chapter 1: Long Overdue
"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Lily asked her husband as they sat on the couch in front of the television. It was shortly before dinner, and they had the place to themselves. Ivy, Lily's niece, and the only other person that lived in the house with them (besides Eric, who was at college), was working late, and had said not to wait up for her.
Rufus shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe order a pizza in and watch a movie?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "That's what we did last night."
Rufus looked at her. "Well, what do you suggest we do then?"
Lily smiled, and latched onto Rufus' arm. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could get dressed up and go out to dinner and dancing."
Rufus sighed. "I don't know, Lil. I'm kind of tired today." He stretched and yawned for emphasis. "You know, I worked all day and night with the band yesterday. I just want a day to relax at home."
Again, Lily rolled her eyes. "You've been working with the band a lot lately."
"Yeah, well, their album is coming up, and I need to help them prepare for it," Rufus stated.
"Does it always have to be you?" Lily asked, turning to face him.
Rufus smirked. "Well, I am their manager, Lil. It's kind of what managers do."
Lily pouted. "You're never home anymore. I swear it's like being on house arrest all over."
"You know, you don't have to stay home just because I am. I mean, do we really want to be one of those couples who think they can't go anywhere without the other?" Rufus asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Of course not, but, Rufus, we haven't done something together in days. It's getting to be a bit ridiculous. I mean, I'm all for doing our own separate things sometimes. That's healthy for any relationship. But not seeing each other anymore certainly isn't healthy," Lily stated.
Rufus smirked. "Lil, it's only been three days since we've done something together. It's not like we've gone a month without seeing each other. Besides, we're together now. What difference does it make if we go out to be together or hang here to be together?"
Lily narrowed her eyes at him, and let out a frustrated cry. "Rufus, Humphrey, you're just like any other man—so dense and oblivious to a woman's needs!" With that, she got up off the couch, and stormed toward the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Rufus asked, trying to stifle the amusement in his voice. He didn't mean to laugh, but he couldn't help it. He'd always found Lily so darn adorable when she was angry.
"To take a bath. You can just order your pizza and watch your stupid movie by yourself!" Lily snapped back angrily.
Once he was sure that Lily was in their bedroom and out of earshot, Rufus let out a whistle. "It looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," he muttered. He snickered to himself, then went to call his favorite pizza place. He knew the number by heart.
Lily sat, furious in the bathtub. She hated this. Baths were supposed to be relaxing, but all this one was doing was allowing her to soak up more than just the warm water and bubbles. She was soaking up fury. The more she sat in her bath, the more she thought of Rufus' lack of romance. Had their marriage really come down to spending lazy evenings at home doing nothing but eating pizza and watching movies they've already seen a few times? Heck, Rufus probably thought it was going all out when they ordered a different kind of pizza than usual, or when they watched a movie they hadn't seen yet.
Was it so much to ask for a little romance? Just because she and Rufus were not in their thirties anymore, did it really mean that they had to lose all hope of any kind of romance?
She sighed. She wished they could go back to the days when they had first fallen in love. He was the famous rockstar that all the girls loved, and she was the photo journalist that was the only one who could manage to capture his heart. Now look at them. He was managing another band while she had nothing to do but sit around bored at home or visit her friends. Of course, it seemed that nowadays, her only friend was Eleanor, who could only be dealt with in small doses before she got to be a little overbearing.
"Gosh, what's happened to my life?" Lily wondered out loud. She used to have a lot of friends when she was younger. Then, she got pregnant, split with Rufus, met William, and spent most her time with him and less of her time with her friends. Then, once she had Serena and Eric, she and her friends grew apart completely. They just started living different lives, and drifted apart as things sometimes happen.
She sighed. She never regretted for a second having her children, but she sometimes wondered where she and Rufus would both be today if they had never gone their separate ways. Who knew? Maybe she and Rufus would be living in the suburbs with lots of friends, raising their son together. Maybe they'd even have a daughter together by now. But, things hadn't exactly worked out that way. She had given the baby up for adoption without telling Rufus about him, then went off to be with William.
At least now she had two beautiful children that she wouldn't have had, had she stayed with Rufus from the beginning. And she and Rufus were now in contact with their Scott, their son. Still, Scott was in Boston, living his own life, Eric was in college, living his own life, and Serena was there in New York, but still, living her own life. Lily found it kind of ironic that her kids now had a life and she didn't. Funny how it was the other way around before she had her kids. But, again, she didn't regret having her children for a second. She loved Rufus' two children Dan and Jenny as well. Rufus wouldn't have had them, had she and him had they not broken up all those years ago. But, no big surprise, Dan and Jenny were off living their own life as well. Nowadays, it seemed everyone had their own life but her.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"I'm trying to take a bath, do you mind?" she called out, annoyed.
"I have a peace offering!" Rufus called in.
Lily sighed. "Come in. But shut the door behind you. I don't want all the cold air getting in."
Rufus did as told, then propped himself at the edge of the tub, holding out the open box of pizza.
Lily raised an eyebrow. "That's it? That's your peace offering?"
Rufus looked hurt. "What? You have to eat, don't you? I got Hawaiian, just like you like. And, that's not all." Rufus set the pizza down on the bathroom counter, then disappeared for a moment outside of the bathroom, reentering the bathroom a moment later with two Champaign glasses, and a bottle of Champaign.
Lily smirked, slightly impressed. "Where did you get that? It must have been some pizza place you ordered from if they sell Champaign."
"I found it in the back of the fridge," Rufus answered. "It's left over from the party we had New Year's Eve. It's never been opened. Remember we bought more than we ended up needing?"
"We were going to save it for a special occasion," Lily said, remembering now.
Rufus grinned. "Everyday with you is a special occasion."
He was kissing up, and Lily knew it. Still, it was a nice gesture. "You forgot to close the door when you came back in," she said, trying her best to keep her voice even. She was still a little angry. He was going to have to work harder than an old bottle of Champaign and a cheesy line if he wanted to get back into her good graces.
"Sorry," he said before setting the bottle and glasses down on the tub's edge, then heading to the door, and quickly closing it. He then headed back over to her, grabbing the pizza off the counter along the way. He opened the box again, and held it out to her. "Would you like a slice?"
"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of taking a bath here, Rufus," Lily said, not hiding the annoyance from her voice.
Rufus shrugged. "You still gotta eat!" Then, without warning, he hopped into the tub with Lily, clothes and all.
Lily gasped. "Rufus Humphrey, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm dining with my wife! You wanted to switch things up, so I'm switching things up!"
Lily couldn't help but smirk at this. "Well, I suppose it's better than a different kind of pizza and a movie we've never seen before. That's what I thought you'd think up for a change of pace."
Rufus blushed. "Actually, we don't always get Hawaiian pizza, and I did kind of think we'd rent something we've never seen before tonight."
Lily shook her head, and smiled slightly. "Well, at least you're honest. And it is sweet, getting my favorite pizza tonight. Go ahead and hand me a slice."
Rufus grinned like the Cheshire cat, apparently proud of himself for getting his own way.
Lily took the slice of pizza from him, and bit into it. "Wipe that grin off your face! You're not out of the dog house yet."
Rufus made a puppy dog face, but Lily still wasn't ready to crack just yet. If and when he upped his game, she would think about letting him back in her good graces. But, for now, she was going to stick with satisfying her need for food.
"There's two slices left," Rufus stated.
Lily pat her stomach. "I'm full."
Rufus insisted. "Come one, we'll each take one. We never eat leftovers, and you know how I hate seeing good food go to waste."
"Rufus, really. I'm full. I already had two slices. I'm gonna get fat if I eat anymore," Lily protested.
Rufus shook his head. "You're far from being fat, Lil. It's a small piece besides."
Lily sighed, knowing sometimes there was no saying no to her husband. "Oh, all right."
Rufus held the piece to her mouth. "Here. Take a bite."
Lily smirked, then took a bite. "Mm, this is good pizza though."
"That's why it's my favorite pizza place," Rufus said with a wink.
"Your turn." Lily held Rufus' slice to his mouth, and he took a bite.
"Mm, gooey goodness," he said, his mouth partially still full. He swallowed the rest of the bite, then licked his lips. "Mmm, delicious! Just like you." He fed Lily another bite, then kissed her cheek.
Lily blushed. "Why, Rufus Humphrey, you sure do know how to charm a lady."
"Do you still think I'm dense to a woman's needs?" Rufus asked, an eyebrow raised.
Lily raised an eyebrow of her own. "The verdict's still out." She fed him more of his pizza.
They continued feeding each other—in silence now—until their pizza was finished.
Lily nodded toward the Champaign. "We still didn't crack into that."
Rufus grabbed the bottle. "We're gonna have to change that then, aren't we?" He took off the wrapping, then prepared to pop the cork.
"Make sure it doesn't hit the mirror," Lily warned.
"It won't," Rufus assured her. He popped the cork, and the cork flew straight up...and down into the water.
Lily smirked. "Way to go, Rufus."
"Hey, you said to make sure it didn't hit the mirror. It didn't," Rufus defended himself. "I'll get it."
Before Lily could react, Rufus reached down underneath the water, and felt around for the cork.
"Rufus, the cork is not over here," Lily warned when she felt her husband's hand slowly creeping up her thigh.
He grinned at her. "I just have to make sure to cover all bases, you know. It's hard to see with all the soap bubbles."
"Why do I get the feeling you made the cork go into the water on purpose?" Lily asked, her breathing starting to get a little ragged as his hand moved between her legs.
She was just going to tell him it wasn't going to be that easy, when he removed his hand, and, seconds later, picked up the cork, which appeared to have been off toward the left side of the tub.
He grinned, and held it up for her to see. "Found it!"
He set the cork on the edge of the tub, the poured Lily and himself both a glass of the Champaign.
"Thank you," Lily said as she took her glass from him. She was surprised he had stopped seducing her just like that. She hadn't planned on giving in to him anyway, but still. It made her wonder why he hadn't continued. She worried briefly that he was losing his attraction to her, but quickly shook the thought off as quickly as it had come. She was just being paranoid—that was all.
"A toast. To us. May our love endure forever," Rufus said, holding his glass out to her.
Lily smiled, and held her glass out to him. "May our love endure forever," she agreed.
They clinked glasses, then linked arms to drink. It didn't quite work so easily from their positions, and their glasses both spilled into the tub.
They both burst into giggles.
"I hope that's not a bad sign," Lily stated.
"A bad sign? Are you kidding me? Now we get to bathe in Champaign! How many people can say they've done that?" Rufus asked with a grin.
Lily grinned too. "Not many."
"Here." Rufus poured them each a fresh glass. "We don't need to toast for our love to endure forever anyway." He held his glass out to her.
Lily clanked her glass with Rufus', and they drank—this time without their arms linked.
Lily licked her lips. "Good Champaign too."
"With the price we paid for it, it had better be!" Rufus stated.
They both grinned.
They sipped their Champaign in silence for a moment. Then, Rufus decided to be playful, and rubbed his foot up against Lily's left breast.
Lily smirked at him. "Rufus Humphrey, you stop that!" she snapped sternly.
Rufus put his foot back down, looking a little dejected. "Are you still mad?"
Lily smirked, downed the rest of her Champaign in one swig, then set the glass on the tub's edge before answering. "No, I just think you should be naked before doing any such thing."
Rufus grinned. "I think that can be arranged."
As they made love, Lily straddling Rufus in the tub, they kissed, and Lily's anger toward Rufus completely melted away. She wanted to still be angry with him, but, of course, Rufus just had a way of making her forgive him at the drop of a hat.
"I love you," he murmured in her ear.
"I love you too," she said, kissing down the side of his neck.
She threw her head back then, as Rufus continued to make love to her. She guessed maybe being stuck inside the apartment wasn't such a bad thing after all.
They continued to make love, their kisses never ceasing, until finally they both found their release.
Rufus moaned against the skin of Lily's neck as Lily threw her head back and moaned.
For moments, they stayed right where they were, their only movement being their kissing.
Finally, after a moment, Lily got up, and sat back to her original spot in the tub.
"So, I take it you're not angry with me anymore?" Rufus asked with a raised eyebrow. "All is forgiven?" He grinned.
Lily smirked at him. "I suppose."
"I'm sorry I made you feel like I don't know what your needs are," Rufus apologized.
Lily sighed. "It's all right. Maybe I overreacted a little bit. It's just that, when all you want to do is stay at home and never go out with me anymore, I feel like you're losing interest in me, or that you feel like, now that we've been married for a while, you don't need to keep being romantic anymore. I'm a woman, Rufus. It doesn't matter how long we've been married. I need to have the romance as a constant in my life. I need to feel loved."
Rufus' expression softened. "Come here." He held out his arms.
Lily crawled into them, and let him hold her against his chest.
Rufus kissed the top of her head. "First of all, I will never lose interest in you! You're the love of my life!"
Lily smiled at him, then kissed him.
"Second," Rufus continued, "I'm sorry if I stopped being romantic. I've just been so tired lately. I guess I just got lazy."
"I understand. We don't have to go out every night. I just don't want to stay in every night either," she told him.
He squeezed her tighter. "I promise we can go out as often as you'd like if that is what makes you happy. I'll just start taking naps during the day or something. I could even start working less hours and less days. The band doesn't need me there all the time. It's not like I'm part of the band or anything."
Lily grinned up at him, and gently stroked his cheek. "Thank you. That's all I ask. Well, other than you keeping the romance in our marriage."
"Hows this for a start?" Rufus asked, his eyes lowered as he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.
"I'd say it's a very good start," Lily said, her own eyes lowered, as she went in for another kiss.
After a moment, Lily stood yawned and stretched. "Now I'm the one who's tired! What do you say we relax in bed with that movie you were talking about?"
Rufus grinned. "Sounds good to me! It's the new Adam Sandler one that just came out to rent. I figured a good laugh would be just what we needed to lighten things up a bit."
"Laughter being the best medicine and all," Lily said with a smirk.
Rufus nodded and grinned. "Exactly!"
"All right. Help me up!" Lily said, holding her hand out to her husband.
Rufus stood, then gave Lily his hand, helping her out of the tub.
He gave her a towel to dry off with, then dried off with his own towel.
Then, they headed into the bedroom and got dressed into their night attire before getting under the covers, and buying the movie off On Demand.
They watched the movie with Lily snuggled under Rufus' arm the whole time.
An hour and a half later, when the movie was over, the TV was off, the lights were out, and their goodnight kisses had been given, they lay in bed, waiting for sleep to overtake them.
"Lil?" Rufus asked, after a minute of silence.
"Yes, Rufus?" Lily asked, already just about to sleep.
"How can I be romantic? What can I do?" Rufus asked.
"Rufus, if I tell you, it will take away the romance. You have to come up with something on your own. Goodnight, My Darling."
"Goodnight, My Love." Rufus sighed, then closed his eyes as he tried to wrack his brain for romantic gestures. He'd think of something. After all, he'd be darned if he was going to let his Lily down.
"I've got it!" Rufus said the next day upon arriving home from working with the band.
Lily looked up from her desk, where she was looking over some paperwork. She took off her glasses. "You've got what?" she asked with a smirk.
"The romance you've been looking for!" Rufus said with a grin.
Lily grinned. "Tell me!"
"Come sit on the couch first," Rufus instructed.
"Rufus, what is this all about?" Lily asked. She hated surprises. Though, since not all surprises were bad, especially when it came to her husband, she listened to her husband, and headed over to the couch, where she plopped herself down.
Rufus sat down beside her. "So, do you remember telling me I needed to come up with something on my own that was romantic?"
Lily smirked. "I should hope so, Rufus. It was only last night."
Rufus ignored her sarcasm. "Well, I finished working with the band early today, and went out and got the romance you've been wanting."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be, My Darling?"
"Are you ready for this?" Rufus asked with a grin.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, for Heaven's sake, yes, Rufus! Just show me what you got!"
Rufus, still grinning, went into the inside of his jacket pocket, then pulled out a large envelope. He handed it to her.
Lily raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the envelope. "What's that?"
Rufus was the one to roll his eyes this time. "Oh, for Heaven's sake, Lily, just open it and see!" he said, shooting her own line back at her.
Lily gave him a look, but did as told.
Once she saw what was inside, she grinned up at Rufus. "Rufus, is this what I think it is?"
Rufus grinned and nodded. "If you think it's roundtrip air fair to Hawaii, a list of Hawaiian excursions I've purchased, and a week's stay at the Piña Colada Hotel, then, yes, it is exactly what you think it is!"
Lily covered her mouth. "Rufus..."
"We leave a month from today," Rufus told her, still grinning. "I stopped by the travel agency on the way home, and the agent helped me pick out this package. I figured, it's never too late for a honeymoon, right? We never did get one, after all."
Suddenly, Lily let out a high-pitched squeal, and jumped into his lap. "Rufus Humphrey, I love you, I love you, I love you!" she said, beginning to place kisses all over his neck and face.
Rufus laughed. "You didn't think I had that much romance in me, did you?" he teased. "Do you think I still don't know what a woman needs?"
"Oh, Rufus, I promise never again to accuse you of being unromantic or not knowing what my needs are! You've obviously proved me wrong!" Lily said. She went back to kissing him then.
Rufus moaned, and kissed her in return. "So, I take it you like your gift?" he asked.
Lily's eyes narrowed and darkened. Then, she got up off the couch, and took his hand. "Why don't you come up stairs and let me show you how much I like it?" she asked.
Rufus moaned, then picked her up. "I'll lead the way!" he said with a grin.
Lily grinned widely, then kissed him hard on the lips. "Woo!" she hollered out, a hand in the air. "I'm going to Hawaii!"
"We're going to Hawaii," Rufus corrected her.
Lily looked at him and smiled, her eyes lowered with love. She took his face between her hands. "Yes, Rufus, we're going to Hawaii. Thanks to you." She kissed him, and their kisses didn't stop for quite some time after.
"We're going to Hawaii!" Lily screamed from the bedroom. She was so excited, she thought she'd surely burst.
