CHAPTER 36 – Balance Restored
Sully slowly became aware of his surroundings as he began to rouse from the deep sleep afforded him by William's miracle formula. Drawing in a full breath, he silently thanked God that the horrible pain seemed to be gone.
Raising one hand slowly to remove the cloth from his eyes, he carefully opened one to make sure he was really okay. No pain. Good. Opening the other eye, he realized hours must have passed as he could see purples and oranges of the setting sun beyond the truck's windshield and side window.
Suddenly, the most beautiful sight in the world appeared above him - his gorgeous Michaela. She smiled lovingly down at him and reached out a hand to gently touch his face, but just barely over his attack, everything seemed to be moving a tad bit in slow motion.
Michaela had been dozing in the back seat, though her ears had been tuned to any sound or movement her husband might make. Truly, she was content to just be back in Colorado and with him again, able to sit and listen to his steady breathing of blessed sleep. When she heard him draw in a deep breath, she had smiled in relief, knowing he was awakening. Eager to see and talk with him after being gone for nearly a week, she immediately sat forward and peered over the seat to find him looking up at her, his beautiful eyes blessedly free of pain.
"Hello there," she murmured softly, the backs of her fingers gently brushing his cheek.
"Hey," he answered sleepily, unconsciously trying to moisten dry lips.
She noticed, and much like she had done after he woke up from the rattlesnake bite, she asked softly, "Thirsty?"
"Yeah...very," he rasped, wiping a hand over his face as she disappeared from his view, only to reappear a few seconds later.
"Can you sit up?" she asked softly, being careful in case a sudden movement or loud noise might cause a relapse of the pain.
He drew in another deep breath. "I'll try," he whispered, the memory of the uncontrollable nausea still fresh in his mind. Nevertheless, he grasped the back of the seat with one hand and very slowly levered himself into a sitting position, smiling in relief that everything now seemed to be getting back to normal.
Michaela handed him the bottle of water, and he took a sip to test his stomach. Feeling no adverse reaction, he greedily drank down half of it, stopping to sigh in pleasure and wipe his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Ahh, that's good."
She smiled in relief, gazing at him as he reoriented himself to the world again.
He turned his gaze to caress her face with his eyes, smiling softly in the pure pleasure of just having her with him again.
"Welcome home...sorry I didn't make it to the airport ta pick you up..." he murmured with a soft smile.
"That's ok. I'm a big girl...I took a cab," she teased softly, blessing him with his favorite half grin.
He nodded with an answering grin. "That's good."
Giving his arm a soft caress as it lay across the back of the seat in front of her while she watched him down the rest of the water, she murmured, "You want to get out...stretch your legs a bit?"
"Sounds good...I feel like I've been sleepin' for a week," he joked with a smirk. She quickly exited the back door and opened the driver's door for him to scoot forward. Standing, he drew in yet another deep, cleansing breath of fresh air as he stretched his arms above his head and flexed his shoulders and back, once again so grateful to be free of the terrible pain.
Turning, he drew his wife into his arms for their first hug in nearly a week.
"God I missed you!" he whispered against her hair as he squeezed her close.
"I missed you, too," she murmured against his shoulder.
"Thanks for takin' care a me," he murmured softly, breathing in her wonderfully familiar scent.
"My pleasure," she returned, luxuriating in the feel of his arms around her. The thought crossed her mind that she could be content to just stand there in his arms for the rest of her life and not complain.
Finally, though, he drew back a little and touched his forehead to hers. "How long I been sleepin'?"
"About three hours," she answered, pulling back and gazing rapturously up into his face in the waning light.
"Dang. What'd you do all that time?"
"Oh, many things. I made quite a few calls to let people know that I had found you, and that you were going to be all right, although I had to walk around that bend to get a signal," she added wryly, motioning with her head. He nodded in full understanding. "I arranged with Robert E. and Jake to come and get the Escalade so that you and I could ride back together once you woke up. I watched over you to make sure you weren't disturbed...and I spent a long time just watching the man I love sleeping peacefully," she added with a loving grin, leaning up to brush his nose with hers.
He chuckled. "Sounds like fun."
"Oh it is. I adore watching you – no matter what you're doing," she returned with a twinkle.
He shook his head softly, gazing down at her with his heart overflowing with love for this precious woman. How did I get so lucky? What did I do to deserve such a love as this?
He leaned in and softly touched her lips with his, both of them sighing blissfully as each one had achingly missed the other, every hour they had been apart. In truth, their prolonged separation seemed to their emotions as if they had been torn from each other's arms and had caused them sleepless nights, stressed days, and for Sully – even a migraine headache. They weren't just a 'married couple' – each one needed the other for their basic survival.
Within seconds, they melted together, arms wrapping around each other's backs tightly as they truly reconnected after their separation.
When Michaela finally pulled back, she lovingly smiled up into Sully's face.
"I learned one thing..."
"What's that?" he murmured, his eyes caressing her face and hair.
"I'm never going to be apart from you like that again. You'll come with me!" she boldly declared, meaning every word.
He laughed and brought a hand up to caress her smooth face. "Amen to that!"
She turned her face and pressed her lips lovingly to his palm. "Let's go home, shall we?"
"You took the words right outta my mouth," he agreed instantly, leaning in for a quick kiss.
Sliding across the bench seat to make room for him, she watched as he slid behind the wheel and started the motor. She let him maneuver onto the road before she slid closer and drew his right arm around her, craving his nearness.
"So, tell me what happened." At her look, he clarified, "Why you were able to fly home this morning. Did you videotape your testimony...?"
"No – what happened was actually an answer to prayer. Remember I had told you William and Connie and I had gone to the opera?"
"Mmm hmm," he answered as he negotiated the turn onto the main road one-handed.
"Well, when we returned, it was late and we were all very tired. I had called you and then tried to sleep and William and Connie had also gone to bed. Then later, William got up for something and saw a message blinking on their answering machine. It was his attorney! While we were gone he had called to tell William that the man had unexpectedly dropped the suit, although he didn't say why. William is going to let me know when he finds out later."
"That's fantastic!" Sully reacted with a grin.
"Yes! Then William, bless him - knowing how badly I wanted to get home - sat down at his computer right then and booked the earliest flight he could for me. 7:30 this morning," she added with a grin.
"I'm in his debt," Sully murmured, squeezing her to his side. "I don't even want to think about you not gettin' to me as soon as you did," he added, shaking his head at the thought. "By the way...how did you find me...?"
"Ahh, our intrepid up and coming investigator," she joked with a grin. At his raised eyebrows, she went on, "I went right out to look for you, but was having no luck. Then at home, Matthew scanned the room for clues and saw the broken handle on the table and the open phone book. I suppose he must have called places you could have gone to get a replacement. When he narrowed it down, he called me."
He chuckled happily. "Thank God for a smart son!"
"Yes, indeed."
Laying her head against his shoulder, Michaela sighed in relaxation to be home and with her love once again, very glad the long week was truly over.
OOOOOOOOOO
The happy couple walked in the house thirty minutes later, relieved to see that their three youngest were ready for bed. Lounging in the living room watching television, all four of them erupted with joyful exclamations upon seeing both of their parents. Wolf, on the floor where Brian had been administering his customary scratching, jumped up to add a few welcome home barks in the mix.
As Michaela and Sully lowered themselves onto the couch, she shut her eyes for a moment and sighed, breathing in the familiar atmosphere. Home...I'll never take it for granted again!
Hugging and kissing each child, she gazed lovingly at the faces she had missed so while she'd been away. "So, Matthew, tell me about your detective work," she directed at her oldest as the four gathered near, on the couch and perched on the coffee table. He proceeded to tell her about Cloud Dancing's call and then following the 'soot' marks in the phone book. Sully got a good chuckle out of that, as did Michaela.
"Well I must say, I never thought I would be grateful for dirty fingerprints!" she joked and everyone erupted in laughter, each knowing she had a penchant for cleaning fingerprints off the microwave, mirrors, windows, and anywhere else.
"Thank you, son. I was in a bad way out there...I was never so grateful of anything in my life as when your mom found me," Sully admitted quietly, locking eyes with his oldest son for a moment.
"You're welcome," Matthew replied with his customary half grin.
"I'm glad you're home Mama...I missed you," Brian admitted softly, sitting pressed against her side. She squeezed him against her in a fierce hug.
"I missed you, too – all of you! I think it's been one of the longest weeks of my life!" she declared with a tired sigh.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and then spent the next twenty minutes filling her in on things that had been happening in her absence. Brian eventually couldn't hold back anymore and blurted, "And Hannah was mean all week – she called me 'stupid'!"
At this, Hannah lowered her head, somewhat in shame. Michaela caught Sully's eye and he gave a slight puzzled shrug, having never found out the reason. Deciding to make a stab at it, Michaela reached over and lovingly touched her daughter's shoulder.
"Hannah...come with me and let's have a little chat...shall we?"
Hannah nodded and caught her bottom lip between her teeth, a little unsure how much trouble she was in as she stood up with her mother. The others watched as the two donned jackets and stepped out onto the porch into the crisp fall air, a look of silent communication passing between the parents before Michaela shut the door firmly.
"Why don't we sit over there?" Michaela asked softly, indicating a round picnic table in the brightly lit side yard near Hannah's old swing set. Hannah nodded again as they proceeded down the stairs.
The girl walked beside her mother deep in thought as they headed toward the table, in truth embarrassed at what she would have to reveal. She wasn't used to talking one on one with her new mother and consequently, she wasn't sure how Michaela would react.
They reached the table and sat down, leaning jacketed arms on its surface.
Michaela had thought quite a bit about what the problem could be, but treading softly, she asked, "Sweetheart...this isn't like you...will you tell me what has been happening with you this week that has caused you to be...upset?"
Michaela folded her hands as she waited, smiling at her beautiful daughter, who so resembled her beloved husband. The young girl glanced at her mother's face and then down at the table.
Taking a deep breath, she blurted, "I...I'm a freak!"
"Hannah! Why on earth would you say that?" Michaela immediately soothed, reaching over to caress the back of Hannah's hair.
The girl immediately burst into tears, totally taking Michaela by surprise. Moving from her bench to Hannah's, Michaela drew the young girl into her arms as Hannah wrapped her arms around her mother and pressed her face to her chest, sobbing pitifully. Michaela, scrambling for what this could possibly be about, rocked her daughter back and forth, gently smoothing her hair back from her face. She had said some boy hurt her feelings in school...did he insult her? Make her feel she isn't pretty? Is it a boy she's sweet on?
After a few minutes, the girl began to calm, finally leaning away from her mother and wiping at her tears with the back of one hand.
Reaching into a pocket of her jacket, Michaela found a tissue and handed it to the distraught young girl and she wiped her eyes and nose.
"Now...honey...tell me. Tell me why you feel this way," Michaela murmured softly, leaning over to try and see her daughter's face.
Embarrassed, Hannah pressed her lips together and averted her face a little more, finally murmuring barely above a whisper, "I...I started my...monthly thing."
That idea had occurred to Michaela, but she had dismissed it as being unlikely, due to Hannah's age, but now she nodded in total understanding as everything fell neatly into place.
"Ahh. I see," she responded.
"But it's too soon, isn't it? I mean...I thought that wouldn't happen until I was like, twelve or something! Why am I different than the other girls?" she whined emotively, wiping her nose again.
"Oh, sweetheart," Michaela soothed, taking one of Hannah's hands and coaxing her to look at her. "It's a little uncommon, yes, but there are many girls who begin their menstrual cycle at your age – even younger," she added. "Yes, the average age is around twelve, but...when I was your age?" she paused and Hannah nodded for her to go on, "I had several friends who started theirs and the rest of us wondered what was wrong with us that we didn't."
"Really?" the girl asked softly, her mother's words already beginning to make her feel better.
"Mmm hmm," Michaela nodded.
"But...I thought...I thought there was something wrong with me..."
"No honey...whatever age it happens is the right age for you. You've become a woman," she added with an encouraging smile.
Hannah laughed a trifle self-deprecatingly. "But I don't feel like a woman...I still feel like me...just a girl."
"Oh honey, you still are YOU," Michaela assured her lovingly, slipping an arm around the girl's shoulders and leaning over to press a kiss to her brow. "You'll still do all of the things you've always done and you'll soon learn to take these in stride and just get through them. And with advances in feminine hygiene products, it has become even easier to...weather the regular inconveniences," she said, encouraging her sweet daughter.
"No one has to know, by the way. Just keep it quiet if you want to until the other girls catch up with you," she added softly.
Hannah sniffed as a hurtful memory surfaced. "The first day...a boy in school...behind me in line in the lunchroom...he told me I smelled bad," she related softly, reaching up with the tissue to wipe away a fresh tear.
"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart...he just didn't know. But time will pass and that boy will learn not to say things like that to girls, you'll see."
Hannah nodded thoughtfully, and then grinned mischievously. "I told him to shut up."
Michaela chuckled softly. "Did he?"
"Yeah."
The mother nodded thoughtfully and pulled her daughter toward her again for a small hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you this week...when you needed someone to talk to," she began softly.
Hannah pulled back a little and looked into her eyes with the first real smile of the evening...or the week for that matter. "That's okay, Mama...you're here now," and hugged her mother close in a loving embrace.
They spent the next few minutes discussing details and particulars about what to use, cleanliness, and remedies Hannah could take when she was suffering from the pain and misery the first few days. They also discussed the fact that Hannah had discovered she was developing in another area and they made a date to go together on a trip to the mall, just the two of them, for Hannah's first 'bra' purchase.
Then, the world right side up again, the two 'women' got up from their talk and walked back to the house with their arms around each other – Michaela silently thanking God for helping her to comfort her daughter – and Hannah thanking Him for giving her the mama she had always wanted and needed.
OOOOOOOOOO
When the two came in the door, they were a bit relieved to see that everyone else had gone up to bed. Michaela locked the door and turned off the porch light as Hannah leaned in to give her mother one more hug.
"Thanks Mama...I love you," the girl said softly.
"I love you, too, Hannah...and you're very welcome."
As Hannah headed up the stairs, she paused long enough to give her beloved Daddy a hug, which he gladly reciprocated.
"Love you, Daddy," the girl murmured before making her way up the stairs.
"Love you too, sweet girl," he called after her, watching her progress until she turned the corner and ascended the rest of the way up the landing.
Turning his head, he opened his arms for his wife to float into them after she flipped off the last light and plunged the living room into shadows afforded by the moon shining through a window.
Hugging her to his chest, Sully murmured, "So...I take it everything's ok?"
"Mmm hmm. Come on...let's go upstairs," Michaela hedged, hoping he would take the hint that she wanted a private conversation. He did, and smilingly followed her up the steps.
Once in their room, Sully shut the door and tiredly pulled his shirt off over his head, glancing at Michaela as she began undressing, immensely glad she was home with him.
"So, tell me...the suspense is killin' me."
Michaela smiled at the clueless 'male' staring at her as he unlaced his boots. Reaching over to caress his face with her fingertips, she whispered, "Your daughter has become a woman."
His eyes searched hers for several moments, then his widened and his mouth dropped open as realization dawned. Truly, that thought had not even occurred to him - he had fully expected to be told about a boy at school that had broken his daughter's heart.
"You mean...she...she's..."
Michaela nodded. "Mmm hmm. Evidently it happened that first morning. She thought she was too young...that she was a 'freak'," she added as she watched him process the information. Then another realization dawned on him as he pried his boots off.
"I just remembered, Abby told me once that she started when she was ten, too. Well...nearly eleven, like Hannah."
Michaela nodded, tossing her remaining outer clothing on the rocker and quickly shimmying into a gown.
"I'm not surprised. It usually happens that girls follow their mothers..." she paused as Sully's eyes grew big with fear, hurrying to finish, "in that respect. Purely physical... not mental or emotional, Sully," she added reassuringly and he nodded, drawing in a big breath. Then his expressive eyes took on a touch of melancholy as he tossed his jeans across the back of the rocker.
"My baby girl..." he whispered, the words causing both parents' eyes to burn with unshed tears. Michaela nodded.
"I know..." Michaela whispered; blinking back tears at the look on his face. She adored how good he was with the children and could just imagine the feelings bombarding him at this moment. He and Hannah had such a close relationship, but he'd had no clue what was wrong and he hadn't had the time to prepare. In truth, however, he may have figured it out if he had not been so distracted by his wife's absence.
"But you have to face this, Sully. Don't let her know you're sad about it..." she cautioned gently.
He nodded. "Yeah I know. I won't."
They both climbed into bed and snuggled down together. Sully drew his wife into his arms and just held her; so very, very glad their connection wasn't just over wireless airwaves this night.
Totally comfortable in their room, their bed, and each other's arms, they simultaneously emitted a sigh of contentment, followed by an amused chuckle.
"I don't know about you...but I'm looking forward to the first night of good sleep I've had in what seems like months," Michaela joked and he nodded.
"Me too. You feel so good in my arms," he added, stifling a yawn, which immediately triggered one in Michaela. The chuckled together again.
"Good night, sweetheart. I love you," she whispered, her eyes already closing.
"'Night Mé'oo'o. I'm so glad you're home."
"Me, too."
Within scant moments, the lovers were sound asleep, snuggled warm and safe in their bed, Sully's headboard seeming to watch over them like a feathered guardian angel.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The next morning after the kids were safely on the bus for school, Hannah giving Michaela an extra hug, a look of unspoken understanding passing between them, the couple sat together at the kitchen table sipping coffee.
"Man, what a week it was...and what a day yesterday," Sully added, shaking his head softly. "I hope I never, ever get another migraine that bad – and especially if I can't lay my hands on my capsules."
"Did it hit you all of a sudden?"
"Well...I guess lookin' back, it was tryin' to come on me all day, but I pushed through and ignored it – which was stupid. Then when I left the house to get the part and pick you up, it never dawned on me to take the capsules. By then I was already not thinkin' straight, I guess."
"Sweetheart, from now on, I want you to always carry two capsules with you at all times – just like people allergic to bee stings carry epinephrine," Michaela insisted, reaching over to grasp his hand.
Sully nodded, in total agreement. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."
He took another sip of his coffee and thoughtfully met eyes with his wife as she ran a finger around the rim of her cup. "Michaela...why do I get those things?"
She put her cup on the table and again reached over to lovingly squeeze his hand. "Migraines can be caused by many things – certain foods like chocolate...anything with MSG or artificial sweeteners... or skipping meals... stress... dehydration... even changes in the weather – and they can be hereditary," she added thoughtfully. "You told me once that your father had them...?"
"Yeah, but not very often."
"Well, probably like you, it took a combination of triggers to bring on an episode. When he had one, though, were they as intense as yours? Did they make him nauseous?"
"Yeah," Sully nodded, trying to remember details. "I remember my mom tried everything to help him, but nothin' did. He'd just take to his bed, in the dark, and wait it out. We were all glad they didn't happen too often," he added with a half smile.
She nodded with a soft smile, thinking back on what Hannah had said the year before, how she had to be so quiet in the house for several days when her father had one of his headaches.
A thought occurred to her and she picked up her cup for another small sip, but grimaced and put it down.
Noticing the expression on her face, Sully asked, "You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. The coffee just doesn't taste good to me this morning...I must not have put enough sweetener in it," she replied with a smile. "You realize that Sully had migraines, too?" she added, resuming her earlier train of thought.
"He did?" he asked.
"Mmm hmm. Matter of fact, I read some in the journal about it a few weeks ago...he had one that led to him proposing," Michaela teased.
Sully chuckled. "Hey, why don't we read that now...I've really missed readin' the journal with ya."
"All right. I'd like that," she answered and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips as he hopped up from the table and sprinted up the stairs to retrieve the precious book from its place of safety inside his top bureau drawer. Coming back down, he held out a hand for her to join him on the couch and they settled down together comfortably.
Michaela opened the volume, skimming through the pages looking for the correct date range.
"Um, let's see, that would be 1869...around April or May..." she murmured, thinking out loud.
Tracing through the elegant script, she murmured, "Here she's mentioning 'Andrew Strauss'...which, of course, was really..."
"Yeah, don't say it," Sully joked, hating to hear his nemesis' name.
"All right..." Michaela chuckled and shook her head.
"Oh yes, I wanted you to see this, she had a conversation with Cloud Dancing several days before Sully's headache developed and he told her a hawk was going to carry her away from Sully."
"Really? Dang, that's spooky. A 'hawk', huh? Andrew Strauss? I can think of more appropriate names for him than that," he added wryly.
"I'll bet you can," she chuckled, glancing over at him and grinning as he winked back at her.
Scanning on through several pages, mostly about the infamous Mr. Strauss/David and his research, she finally came upon it. "Here..." she murmured, clearing her throat and sitting back comfortably against Sully's side to begin reading.
April 14, 1869
I'm so happy, I can't believe it has happened – what I've hoped for, wished for and dreamed about for so long! Sully finally asked me to marry him!
She paused and glanced again at her husband, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "It sure took him long enough!"
"Sure did. And you thought I drug my feet!" he laughed.
She chuckled with him. "I don't know if I would have waited that long for you," she teased with a mischievous grin.
"Oh really?" he quipped, leaning to press a kiss to her nose. "Keep readin' 'fore I swat ya," he whispered with a playful twinkle. She giggled at their teasing banter, turning her attention back to the open book on their laps.
Two days ago, Andrew Strauss alerted me to the fact that Sully was suffering from a headache he thought might be a megrim. I'm ashamed to say I hadn't noticed he was feeling badly (how could I have missed that?), but I went out to find him and there he was, at one of his lean-tos, lying on the ground in terrible pain! My heart immediately broke for him, especially when he told me he'd had the pain for several days and he hadn't wanted to bother me! Oh my sweet Sully. I've never seen him in such pain; he was nearly incapacitated! I stayed with him all day and night, trying everything I could think of - strychnia and vegetable bitters, willow bark tea, cool rags on his head – to no avail. My poor Sully, he was in such pain he couldn't even sleep, just tossed and turned, moaning and holding his head. I even offered him morphine or laudanum, but he turned them down, although if it had gone on much longer, I would have insisted. At one point, he said the pain felt like a spike boring into his head.
"Couldn't describe it better myself," Sully murmured with a grimace, able, as usual, to totally identify with his namesake.
"Oh sweetheart," Michaela whispered, turning to gaze into her husband's blue eyes, hers filling with tears. "I hate that you suffered for over two hours before I found you," she lamented, softly caressing his face. "...That breaks my heart. I knew you were in pain...and it tore at me that I couldn't find you...that I couldn't see where you were..."
"Hey, it's all right," he quickly assured her, bringing up a hand to gently grasp hers and kiss its palm. "It was my fault...I shoulda took my last two capsules...but I was in a hurry – my mind was totally on you coming home," he added softly.
Michaela smiled softly at the look of sheer love in her husband's eyes and leaned over to press a soft kiss to his lips. Resettling against the curve of his neck, she blinked hard to refocus on the page and continued reading.
We decided that if Cloud Dancing were there, he would say that something was out of balance and recommend a sweat lodge ceremony – so the next morning we rigged a makeshift lodge and I prepared the heated rocks. Then when all was ready, Sully remained inside alone, chanting to the Indian 'spirits', while I stayed outside preparing more willow bark tea. After awhile, Sully became quiet and as I busied myself around the fire, suddenly I heard him frantically yell my name. I hurried inside, my heart in my throat; frightened that he had taken a turn for the worse. He seemed shocked that I had not left him. I assured him I had been right there the whole time.
"I know why – later on, Sully tells her about that. He had a vision of them together, rolling in the grass and kissing, and she was wearing a white skirt and blouse! Remember Sully? Cloud Dancing had a similar dream that he saw the two of us reenact!" she reminded him exuberantly.
"Yeah, he said that's when he knew for sure that you were the woman God sent to me," he agreed, "but I knew that first moment we met," he added, hugging her to his side as she nodded, whispering, "Me too." Leaning in, they shared a soft kiss, their eyes meeting and reaffirming their words. With a sigh of contentment, she continued...
Then he said to me the words I had SO longed to hear. It was so wonderful...it still seems like a dream. He told me he wanted to be with me...that he NEEDED to be with me...that he would love me all of his days...then he took my hands in his and reverently asked, "Will you marry me?" The anxious expression in his eyes took my breath away and all I could do was whisper, "...Yes." And then we kissed...more passionately than I've ever experienced in my life! Sully is such a powerfully sensual man...just thinking about his lips and his hands touching me makes me feel weak in the knees...my mother would think it scandalous...
"Man, what a place to propose," Sully laughed.
"I think it's romantic...and sexy," Michaela retorted, glancing at him with an eyebrow cocked at a sassy angle.
"Sexy, huh?" he murmured with a decided twinkle, turning to press his lips to hers in a long, smooth kiss.
Pulling back, he whispered, "Cause Sully was all sweaty...and wearin' nothin' but his buckskins...?"
"Something like that..." she whispered back, grinning teasingly.
Wiggling his eyebrows at her, Sully took the journal from her hands and leaned over her to lay it on the coffee table, then leaned back and firmly captured her lips in a fiery kiss, one which left them both breathless and lit the fuses of their passion.
"Wanna get sweaty with me, babe?" he murmured teasingly against her cheek as he rubbed against her suggestively.
"I think I could be persuaded," she returned, nibbling his ear softly, her hands caressing the back of his neck and then turning his head to capture his lips for another fiery kiss, all thoughts of reading more of the journal gone with the wind. He tore his lips away breathlessly, squeezing her body against his so he could feel her womanly curves pressing up against his chest.
"God I missed you, woman!" he growled playfully as he pressed his lips to her cheek and neck, rifling his fingers through her hair as she did the same to him. "I been goin' outta my mind with need!" he rasped, nuzzling her neck as he began to undo the buttons on her shirt. "I got used to regular 'meals' and then you go to Boston and cut me off for days..." he groused teasingly.
"You weren't the only one 'cut off'," she teased back, nuzzling his neck as she determinedly tugged the ends of his shirt out of his jeans.
He captured her lips again for a long, slow, deep kiss, leaving them both sighing with anticipation as he veered to that special spot behind her ear, working to slip her shirt off her arms.
"Oh Sully," she sighed, as she fumbled one-handed with the buttons on his shirt, the other wriggling out of her shirtsleeve, his breath in her ear warm and moist and already causing those familiar delicious tingles to fissure within and work their magic.
They made quick work of disposing of the rest of their clothing and then placing his hands gently on her shoulders, Sully guided her backward onto the couch, and lowered his body down onto hers as she opened herself to receive him.
"Mmmm," he moaned as his hands roamed, re-familiarizing himself with her soft curves, his mouth finding and covering hers for another deep thorough kiss.
His lips strayed to her cheek and he complimented, "You sure feel good naked."
"So do you," she returned breathlessly, her hands roaming over his muscular back, moving down to his waist and hips.
Pulling back enough to see her face, Sully gazed into her eyes...those multi-colored pools of love that were gazing up at him, burning with unfulfilled desire, her hair splayed on the couch beneath her.
"You're so beautiful, Michaela," he breathed reverently, pressing kisses to the edges of her lips. "I'm so in love with you..."
"And I with you," she whispered, closing her eyes as he closed the space between them and kissed her reverently. As he pulled back again, she pleaded breathlessly, "Oh Sully...I...I need you...make love to me," her hands grasping him, urging him on until he couldn't wait any longer and he gave her what they both needed.
While the world went on outside the beautiful etched glass door of their homestead, the two lovers more than made up for the lonely nights of their forced separation.
All things were now restored to normal in the Sully universe.