A/N: For those of you who know about my alternative chapters. There is one for this here and you know where to find it. You have the choice.
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Oh Happy Day
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Thursday came and the two detectives were a bit too late for work. Shortly after midnight Barbara had surprised him with a glass of champagne and the night had been slightly exhausting afterwards.
It was dark night when Barbara got up. They had gone to bed rather early because that stupid case still was unsolved and even Thomas had been summoned to the office on his anniversary the other day.
"Where're you goin'?" he mumbled into his pillow. " 't's still not morning..."
"I'll be right back, Tom." Barbara whispered and went to the toilet. But she did not return immediately. She tiptoed downstairs and when she returned to the bedroom she balanced two glasses of champagne and a small cake bar with a tiny candle. It was a few minutes after midnight.
"Happy birthday to you..." she quietly sang after she had placed the champagne on the bedside cabinet. "Happy birthday to you..."
"Oh, Sweetie..." Thomas sleepily sat up. The duvet fell to his hips and laid his chest bare. He smiled chuffed.
"Happy birthday, dear Tommy..." Barbara knelt onto the bed. "Happy birthday to you."
Then she held out the cake to him and smiled. "Make a wish."
Oh, yes, he made a wish. With the most seductive expression Thomas placed a hand over hers, looked Barbara deep into the eyes and blew out the candle. Then he took the cake from her hands and put it away. Gently he pulled her close to him and whispered. "I love you, Barbara." before they kissed.
The champagne on the bedside cabinet became stale.
When their kiss deepened and their tongues languidly explored the meanwhile well known insides of each other's mouths Thomas pulled at Barbara's shirt until she wriggled out of it. He felt like it was time for more, no matter what time it would be they had to get up for work tomorrow morning. And he felt she wanted the same. His flat hands stroked her back and it finally made Barbara stretch it like a cat, her closed eyes facing the ceiling.
"Mmmh..." she hummed into the air.
"You still surprise me, Barbara." he sighed.
"I'm just making sure you're perfectly happy on your special day." Barbara purred returning her face down on him. "From the first second on."
"I do appreciate-"
Softly pressing her lips on his Barbara signalised that she would not want to talk more. With a gentle nudge she forced him to lie down on the mattress completely and from then on everything had their own special pace.
For a few seconds in between they paused and looked into each other's eyes. The room was barely lit by one single lamp next to the bed but the universal connection between them clearly could be read in their stare. Deep love and a sizzling tension built a strong bond between their souls.
"I love you, Tom." Barbara whispered.
"I love you too, Barbara." Thomas smiled but then his eyes closed again.
It was wickedly wonderful.
"Oh, good gracious..." he moaned defeated.
After a deliciously overwhelming expedition into shared happiness Barbara finally collapsed onto Tommy. His arms held her tight and both revelled in the wonderful feeling of the ebbing aftermath. They were satisfied beyond words.
"Mmmmh!" she hummed her contentment into his chest. "I hope your wish is fulfilled."
He chuckled lightly. "I hope so, too." he whispered into her ear.
Barbara still was too exhausted to wonder about his choice of words.
Later Barbara laid herself back onto his chest again. They had sipped a bit of the almost unbubbly champagne after a few minutes of rest but they were still too exhausted to finish their glasses so they soon fell asleep in that position.
In the early morning when the alarm bell woke them up they still were tired. Barbara had made tea and had returned to bed to keep on cuddling with him for a bit longer. She had brought an envelope with her and then she gave him the voucher for the chosen scooter weekend for two.
Over their steamy mugs of tea and with growing excitement Thomas started to describe to which Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Seclusion (he emphasised the latter) he would bring her and what he would do with her there. Involuntarily it turned into a lascivious tale of making love under stars or in the shade of trees or with the roaring sound of waves crushing against the beach. More and more his lips turned his words into kisses and they stayed in bed another bit longer than planned.
"After a nice ride with your leather clad chest pressing into my back, your arms looped around my waist..." he fantasised grinning and placed his mug on the bedside table.
"Oh, god, I can imagine that." she whispered. The porcellain clinked when her half-empty mug met his.
"I'd happily peel you off your tight leather shell and lay you amongst wavy green seas of wheat..."
"Tom..." Barbara sighed warning. They had to go to work and not lose themselves in bed once more.
"...under the bright light of the sun, birds singing somewhere in the distant skies, and I..." His gentle hands had pushed her down onto the bed transversely.
"Oh, Tom!" she sighed again.
His words and his caresses were the reason why they were a bit too late for work but nobody seemed to care since they all were engrossed in work. Nobody seemed to take notice when their boss entered the office together with the Sergeant. Except Winston of course who could not help but shoot the juiciest of grins at Barbara continuously.
In the evening they officially celebrated his birthday with having dinner in a nice little restaurant with the family. It was simple and Barbara wondered if he had chosen it to please her. It definitely was not a restaurant that one of his lot would have picked but it looked nice. Thomas had invited his mother, Judith and Peter, who came with Emily. Deborah and Simon unfortunately were on a holiday but it should have been an intimate round anyway with only the closest people in his life so there were no other friends.
When Judith arrived and Barbara still was occupied by a happily effusive Daze she hugged her brother in front of the restaurant.
"Happy birthday, Tommy." she laughed. "You look extraordinarily good today. Is there anything else we have to celebrate?"
"What do you mean?" He frowned at his sister's wriggling eyebrows.
"Have you asked her to marry you, for example..."
"Of course not." He still remembered how and when he had sort of asked Barbara and the memory of that moment still hurt. It actually was like a sting in his mind that would not move away. A sting that reminded him constantly that he should try it again if he only dared to be made disappointed again.
"Why not, you stupid brother?"
At first Tommy was a bit surprised but the pain inside made him angry. "Weren't you the one telling me not to rush things?"
"Yes, I've said that. But everybody can see that you two belong together." Judith answered. Then she snickered. "I really don't think it's rushing anymore."
"It's still a bit early, isn't it? You know for how long we're a couple, don't you?"
"Yes, Tommy, I know. But you have to add all those years before. And that's a very long time."
Tommy shook his head and shot a quick glance to where his mother was chatting with Barbara before he admitted to his sister that he had been thinking about it but he was in a way afraid of Barbara's answer. He concealed the unlucky first attempt but he told Judith that he was expecting her to say no, he actually feared a no, or else, that she might back off from him immediately if he would ask.
"Oh, I don't believe that." Judith said convincing. The sad expression on Tommy's face though made her stop poking but she did not stop watching the couple during the enjoyable dinner.
In her opinion these two clearly were made for each other.
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