Kyoya woke up, conscious of a delicious warmth at his back. Smiling, he rolled over and curled around his wife, burying his face in her hair. "Morning," he mumbled, still half asleep.
Laney turned over, burrowing into his chest. "Just a few more minutes," she murmured sleepily.
"It's Sunday, love. You don't have to get up," Kyoya reminded her, one hand idly stroking along the curve of her hip.
"You're making it hard to go back to sleep." Laney's voice was rough with exhaustion.
Kyoya stilled his hands. "Want me to stop?"
"Never," Laney threw one leg over her husband. She raised her head, brushing her lips against Kyoya's before gently biting his ear. "I always sleep better afterwards, anyway."
Chuckling, Kyoya rolled, hovering over his wife. "Glad you're back," he whispered before kissing her hungrily.
Some time later, Laney wandered into the kitchen. "Coffee?" she asked blurrily.
Kyoya got up from the table, where he had been reading, and crossed to the counter, kissing his wife's forehead in passing. He poured her a fresh cup, then topped off his own mug as well. "What time did you get in last night?" he asked as she gratefully accepted the mug he passed her.
Laney took a sip before answering, closing her eyes in bliss. "This morning, you mean. About 3:30. I thought about just crashing at the lab again, but I wanted to come home. I missed you." She took another sip, smiling at Kyoya. "Besides, you sleep like the dead. I knew there was no way I was going to disturb you when I snuck in."
"I wouldn't have minded even if you had. You know how to pacify me."
Laney grinned. "By the way, you need to give Ajima a substantial raise. I don't think anyone at the lab would have eaten over the last couple days if it hadn't been for him and his sandwiches."
"That's his job, Laney," Kyoya pointed out cooly. "But I'll be sure to let him know how much I appreciate him looking out for my best girl."
"I'd better be your only girl."
"My one and only," Kyoya smiled at her. "I set up that meeting with my father and brothers you asked for. Wednesday morning work for you?"
"I think so. I'll check with Toshi and Dr. Inouye to be sure. And tell your father he's going to want to bring this to the board immediately, so he needs to keep a space clear for that."
Kyoya's eyes widened. "That big?"
"On a scale of 1-10?" Laney asked. "This has the potential to be about a 20."
"You have my complete attention," he said, setting down his mug.
"I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We're not even close to starting clinical trials. But between the models we ran and the early results from lab tests? I'm excited, Kyoya. I have a really good feeling about this."
Kyoya nodded, thinking. "I'll recommend that the board fully funds your research. Do you need an assistant? The more people we have in that lab on the Ootori books, the better."
Laney shook her head. "I disagree. Ootori Group is already funding Toshi's post-doc fellowship, not to mention the generous research grant you pushed through. Any more, and I'm worried questions are going to start to get raised about the validity of our research. Too much money from a pharmaceutical corporation could turn this whole thing sour."
"We're not just involved in pharmaceuticals," Kyoya reminded her tartly. "It's hardly unusual for hospital administration to seek out new and innovative treatment protocols for its patients."
"Maybe not, but no one likes a researcher who sleeps with big money." Kyoya laughed at that, and Laney blushed. "I meant in the metaphorical sense."
"Well, in the literal sense, I have a particular partiality to researchers who sleep with big money. In fact, I much prefer that scenario to researchers who sleep in their labs, leaving big money cold and lonely in the middle of the night, with no one to talk to but their cat."
"Please. Like Big Banking and Hospitality wasn't calling Big Pharma first thing on Saturday morning, wanting to track down the perfect cradle for the baby," Laney rolled her eyes. "You big money types are never lonely."
Kyoya shook his head. "It is going to be a miracle if I don't snap and kill him before that child is born."
"Speaking of which, I still need to get a present for Haruhi's baby shower," Laney said. "And I should pick something up to send to Amanda, too, while I'm at it. Want to go shopping with me next weekend?"
"I can think of very few things I'd enjoy less," Kyoya replied.
"Oh come on," she cajoled. "I'd owe you one."
"As tempting as that prospect is, you'd have to owe me a lot more than 'one' to entice me to go shopping for baby clothes," Kyoya countered. "Make one of the twins go with you." Laney stuck her tongue out for an answer. "Speaking of the twins, I don't suppose you remember meeting Kaoru's schoolteacher friend?"
"I remember meeting her, but I don't think I exchanged more than a couple words with her before I—" Laney clapped her hands over her mouth as realization dawned on her. "Before I ran out without even excusing myself or saying goodbye."
"Plus I think she thought you were calling her stupid," Kyoya added helpfully.
"Kyoya!" Laney admonished, looking stricken. "Please tell me you explained the situation to her."
"Of course I did. I never forget my manners."
Laney ignored that, grabbing Kyoya's phone.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm asking Kaoru for her number so I can apologize. Lord have mercy, Grandma would have skinned me alive for something like this."
"Calm down," Kyoya took the phone out of Laney's hands. "I have her contact information. Let's get some lunch, and you can call her after you've eaten."
"I'm really not comfortable putting this off," Laney said.
"Laney, you're an Ootori," Kyoya pointed out. "She can't afford not to forgive you."
"Seriously, Kyoya?"
Kyoya sighed and handed back the phone. "Call her up, but please keep in mind our family's dignity, and don't grovel."
Laney shot him a dirty look. "A sincere apology bears no resemblance to groveling, a lesson I believe you've had cause to learn once or twice over the past four years."
Kyoya raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "A lesson I have no intention of repeating today. Make your call, and then let's go get something to eat."
Author's Note: Thank you so much to mutemuia and Rilawa for the reviews. This story is going to continue to be largely told from Kaoru and Megumi's viewpoints, but there will be occasional chapters like this showing Laney and Kyoya. I'll try to keep it to a minimum, as I don't want to distract too much from the main plot. But if you'd like to see more of those two, just let me know and I'll work in a few more than I'd originally planned. :)
