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To Those Who Wait
Chapter 29
The heavy aroma of coffee filled his senses, bringing him out of a restful slumber. Pulling his head from beneath the pillow he found the other side of the bed empty; reaching over he grabbed Molly's pillow, clutched it to his chest, and breathed in her scent. Smiling to himself he curled around it, and burrowed back under the blankets with every intention of going back to sleep. He had just begun to drift off to sleep when he felt the bed dip and felt a draft as the blankets were lifted, "Hey, you're letting all the toasty goodness out."
"Well excuse me Mr. Lazybones, you need to get your tail in gear cause we've got shopping to do today." Molly chided as she moved in closer and snuggled against him.
Chris yelped and jerked away, "Woman, your hands and feet are like ice. What have you been doing?" Pushing the blankets down as he glared at her.
Gave him an innocent look, "I ran down to the mailbox to grab the newspapers; it didn't seem that cold when I started down there."
"You ran down to the mailbox? We could have gotten the papers on the way out, now I guess I'm going to have to warm you up." He pulled her closer again, and reached down to unfasten her jeans.
Molly grabbed his hand and tried to wiggle away, "Oh, no you don't. We've got things to do this morning. Besides, I thought you'd be tuckered out from all the exercise you got last night."
Chris gave her a cheeky grin, "You kidding, I've gotten my second wind. Besides, I wanted to hear you make those high-pitched little hiccup noises again."
"I do not! That, that was your imagination." She cried out with a scandalous look, covering her scarlet colored face with her hands. When he just laughed she flipped the blankets off and gave him a swat on his bare flank, "Go, get a shower, and get dressed. If you're good I'll make you an omelet for breakfast."
Grabbing at his wounded pride he hopped from the bed, "I thought you liked my assets, why'd you want to go and damage them?" he sulked as he pulled her off of the bed.
"I'll kiss it and make it better later. Oh, and by the way, the chill in the room's not doing you any favors." As Chris made a grab for her she squeaked and ran from the room.
~o~
Thirty-five minutes later Chris meandered out of the bedroom, his growling stomach and the delicious smells of breakfast luring him toward the kitchen. There he found Molly at the stove and Vin sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee and the newspaper. "That my paper you're reading?"
Without glancing up Vin mumbled, "Yup, it's your coffee I'm drinking and your breakfast I'm eating."
"My breakfast?" he asked looking over toward Molly who just shook her head. Glancing back at Vin, Chris saw that the man was suppressing a smirk, "What time did you get here Vin?" Chris asked as he pulled down a mug and made himself a cup of coffee.
"About an hour and a half ago; went ahead and took care of the chores." Vin dug a dollop of jelly out of the jar sitting on the table and smeared it over his toast.
Dropping down into his seat at the kitchen table Chris pulled the jelly in front of him and peered inside, scowling at the sharpshooter, he got up, grabbed a spoon and scraped at the jelly in the jar. Handing Vin the spoon covered in jelly and toast, "You got crumbs in my jelly, I don't like crumbs in my jelly."
Sucking the crumbs and jelly off the spoon Vin smirked, "They're just crumbs, geeze you'd think I committed a crime."
Molly set Chris's breakfast down in front of him before grabbing her plate. "I've got the list made out for the dinner tonight. We need to stop by my apartment so I can get some clothes, then we need to stop by the diner so I can get my paycheck, then the party store." Looking down at her list, Molly glanced at Chris who was just staring at her, "What? You said you'd take me everywhere that I needed to go."
"Yeah, but I didn't know we'd be driving all over Colorado. Besides, I thought you already had plenty of clothes here?" Leaning back in chair he rubbed at his full stomach, "Thanks for breakfast, delicious as always."
Molly gave him a long suffering look, "Chris, I'd like to wear something different once in a while, I've been here for three weeks. I wanted to wear something nice tonight, I mean it is Christmas Eve dinner after all, and you've invited everybody."
Vin looked at Molly with a puzzled frown, "Aren't you working at the diner?"
"Things have been kind of slow there, and my uncle had to make some tough decisions. I still have some savings left so I decided to take a break; there were some girls that needed it a lot more than I did. It worked out though; this one needed someone to keep an eye on him until the cast came off." Molly explained as she ruffled Chris's hair then gathered up the breakfast dishes.
Chris stuck his tongue out at her as he tried to tame the mess she'd just made. "I get no respect, not at work or at home, what's a man to do?"
As she went to walk past him again, Chris took her hand in his and pulled her down onto his lap, "You gonna be ready to leave in about fifteen minutes?"
Kissing him on the forehead and clucking him under the chin, she smiled, "I was ready more than an hour ago, Mr. Slugabed." Before Chris could retaliate against the comment, she slid from his lap and grabbed up her list, her purse, and coat, "Shake a tail feather Larabee, daylight's burning and I got baking and cooking to do!" She called as he exited the house through the mud room.
"She's a slave driver." Chris chuckled as he slid his coat on, "We'll be back in a few hours. You'll hold down the fort?"
"Yup, I'll start getting the dining room set up, I'm sure she'll be cracking the whip this afternoon." Vin grinned as he replayed exchange between the two in his head, Chris had really relaxed since Molly had dropped into his life and Vin was hopeful that it would become the norm. Any woman who could flow along with Chris's mood swings was okay in his book.
~o~
Laughter and good conversation filled the house as dinner slowly came to an end. Ezra sipped at his wine and admired the centerpieces that adorned the tables running the length of the dining room. He was pleasantly full, having stopped before he had made a glutton of himself, unlike Vin and Buck. Those two were currently leaning back in their chairs, moaning and groaning as they rubbed their distended stomachs. Ezra tried to bite his lip but found the opportunity to remark on their discomfort too good to pass up, "I have no sympathy for either of you, Ms. O'Connor warned you not to make pigs of yourselves."
Vin peeled open one eye and glared at the undercover agent, "The food was just too good, I couldn't help myself." He could hear the muted clattering of dishes and laughter coming from the kitchen where Molly, Raine, Casey and Ms. Nettie were packing away the leftover food for the homeless center.
Buck let loose a gut rumbling belch, "Sorry, it had to come out or I would have exploded." Patting his stomach he sighed, "Molly made enough food to feed a battalion; Vin and I were simply showing our appreciation of all her hard work."
Chris sauntered back into the dining room and dropped back down into his seat, "Is it safe to come in here?"
"Well I'm hoping Mr. Wilmington is through showing his 'appreciation' for dinner." Ezra remarked as he looked pointedly at the ladies man. Buck and Vin just groaned.
"Well you two better do some quick recovering, because as soon as the tables are clear, and Nate, J.D., and Josiah have the living room set up, we're doing the gift exchange." Chris finished off his wine and started gathering up the dishes from around his end of the table.
Sighing deeply Vin leaned forward and started stacking plates, Buck grabbed up the utensils and piled them on one of the cloth napkins; for easier transport he claimed. Within minutes the table had been cleared and dirty dishes moved into the kitchen. Once the dishwasher had been loaded with the first round of dishes J.D. hustled everyone into the living room.
After everyone had settled in and the gifts had been distributed, J.D. turned down the lights and Josiah spun them a Christmas tale told by the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and the fire crackling merrily away in the fireplace.
All too soon it was time for everyone to start packing up to head home. The boys assisted in loading Josiah's Suburban with the food for the homeless shelter, while the women put away the clean dishes and refilled the dishwasher with the remaining dirty dishes. Chris and Molly stood on the front porch as one by one the vehicles headed down the drive.
Molly shivered as a cold breeze blew by and Chris wrapped her in his arms, her pulling her close. The clock on the mantle could be heard tolling twelve, Christmas say had arrived. Wrapping her arms around him she smiled against his chest, "Merry Christmas, Chris."
Chris rested his cheek against her hair and looked out across the yard, "Merry Christmas, Molly." They stood that way for a few moments just reveling in the comfort of each other until the night breeze picked up and chased them inside.
Chris locked the house up and set the alarm as Molly went around turning out lights. As they started down the hallway toward the bedroom, Chris swept her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the bed.
As he let her down she smiled up at him, "What was that for?"
Smiling down at her he pulled the clip from her hair, watching intently as it cascaded down past her shoulders, "Well, I was always told that good things come to those who wait. Well, I've been waiting; so woman, it's time to bring on the good stuff."
Reaching up to unbutton his shirt she smiled, "You are incorrigible. I think it may take years to figure you out completely."
"I'm thinking more like decades." He whispered in her ear and laid her out across the bed.
"You sure you're up for it?" She asked breathlessly and pushed him up for a kiss.
Grinning wickedly he huffed out, "I'm certainly willing to try."
Molly shook her head, "Like I said; incorrigible."
He just smiled and turned out the light.
The End.
