Chapter 37

Paige and Emily had assembled six of their closest, most capable friends to help on move-in day. In Paige's refrigerator at the condo sat a couple cases of beer, snacks and cookies as rewards throughout the day. This would have to be a team effort in order to accomplish all that needed to be done. They would be working from two fronts: Paige's condo and the storage unit her furniture was stored in. Most of the heavy lifters would be moving the furniture. Everyone else would help move boxes and clothes.

Paige worked with the crew at the storage unit. Rachel stayed at the condo and oversaw the removal of everything there. Emily stayed at her house to facilitate everything coming in. It was chaotic, exciting and overwhelming.

When the first wave of furniture and boxes from the condo and storage unit came to the house Emily knew they had a problem on their hands. It was a complete mess. There was no rhyme or reason to it. They had assembled a group of doers but not many organizers. People started setting stuff everywhere, in every room, leaning against walls, sitting in hallways. Emily couldn't deal. "Everyone just stop what you're doing," she shouted over the people coming and going through the house.

Heads swiveled as they looked Emily's direction. Boxes and furniture were sat where they stood as they waited for Emily to continue. "This is not going to work, people. I need order here!"

She swiftly walked from the room and promptly returned holding pads of different colored post-it notes. She slapped one of each color on the wall then wrote on them: pink had bedroom, green had kitchen, light blue had guest room, yellow had dining room, orange had bathroom, and so on.

"Ok, listen up because I'm only going to explain this once. I'm going to put a post-it note on everything that's coming in this house. You will please put the item you have in the room which corresponds to that post-it. Clear?" Everyone nodded their heads slowly. "Great," she said with that charming Emily Fields smile and big dimples, "thanks so much for your help."

Everyone else went about their tasks as Paige walked up to Emily with cautious steps. "Whoa," she said. "I don't know whether to be scared, impressed or turned on," she continued.

"You've met my mother. I've learned from the best; this is just a reflection of Pam Fields," Emily explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

Paige made a face at the mention of Pam Fields. "Not turned on then. Definitely not turned on. Let's go with impressed."

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The third wave of arrivals brought more difficulties. They had a pretty good organizational system going since Emily put the hammer down with the first wave. But since then several helpers had visited the condo for snacks and drinks…drinks of the beer variety. All but the drivers it seems had so far partaken of the beverages. It was safe to say they probably should have waited until after everything was moved to break out the cold beer and offered water instead. They were moving slower, getting a little slap happy, Emily had seen Jared drop the same box two times in the driveway so far. One guy Emily works with walked up the wrong driveway to the neighbor's door.

You know what they say about hindsight. Emily wasn't too pleased that Paige was one of those with a few beers in them but she got it. Emily wanted this to be a good day, a momentous day, so she kept all of this to herself. Instead she called Rachel and told her to switch to water and bring all of the beer with her to the house when she came later.

After they were all done, the eight person moving crew sat in the back yard enjoying pizza and finally getting to drink the remainder of the cold beer. Paige looked around at their friends and felt so blessed. She and Emily were together. Not just that, they would now be living together. This was happiness. She leaned over and kissed Emily's cheek. Emily smiled at her and Paige knew most likely she was thinking the same thing.

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The way Emily's backyard was positioned couldn't have been more perfect. Sun and shade hit in equal measure. At this time of year, by 5:00 or so in the evening, the back patio was shaded. This allowed for a lot of evenings to be sat enjoying the outdoors; even now in the late summer.

Emily loved sitting out here. She loved to hear the wind rustle the leaves on the trees along back fence line. She loved hearing birds chirp as they flew overhead or fed from the feeder near the corner of the house. Most of their meals took place under the gently flapping fabric of the table umbrella on the back deck.

It's been a little over a month since Paige moved in and it was everything they both hoped it would be. The transition was easy and just felt right.

Emily was brought out of her peaceful trance by the sound of Paige's voice, "Your neighbor to the right came over this morning to say thanks for getting her mail while she was on vacation last week."

"MY neighbor?" Emily emphasized the word "my."

Paige looked at Emily like she was crazy. "Yeah, YOUR neighbor…you know…M-r-s. Whit-a-cre," she said drawing out the name. "She said she had a good time visiting her grandkids and daughter and son-in-law."

Emily furrowed her brows. "I know who you're talking about, Paige. That's not what I meant." She waited a beat to continue, "You did it again."

"Did what?"

"You said it was MY house." Emily pointed at her own chest then reached across the table to hold Paige's hand. "I wish you wouldn't still look at it that way."

Paige poked at the food on her plate with her free hand. She was working on this issue but she did still kind of view this as Emily's house. Perhaps it was insecurity but she didn't fully consider this her house. Not yet anyway. "Well it IS your house, Emily. You bought it."

"That's a technicality; a name on a piece of paper at a bank. That's all it means, Paige." Emily leaned across the table and placed her finger under Paige's chin, tilting her head to cause Paige to look her in the eyes. "This is your home. It is OUR home together. This is our life and we're building it jointly and moving forward."

"Yeah," Paige said nodding her head slowly.

Emily thought for a moment. What Paige really needed was to feel some sort of ownership or connection to the house other than it just being where she and Emily lived together. A spur of the moment thought struck Emily and she decided to roll with it.

"You know I have to go to London next month for a few weeks to work the press junkets before the international pre-season games, right?" As Assistant Director of Communications for the Falcons, Emily would be in charge of the media pre-planning trip. Because of an agreement with the NFL, the Falcons would play a few pre-season games this year as part of the leagues attempt to gain more international fans.

Paige was glad for Emily's sudden change of topic. "I remember. You need to try to build in some down time so you can enjoy the city."

Emily hoped she could but that wasn't the reason she brought it up. "Hopefully," she agreed. "But I was just thinking though…while I'm gone and out of your way maybe you might want to change a few things around here. Only if you want. You can do anything. Anything at all. What am I saying? I mean it's not like I have to tell you this to give you permission." She sighed, now getting frustrated at her own inability to get to a point. "I just want you to feel like this is your home and maybe doing something like that, for you, that you want, will help."

Paige smiled at Emily. She recognized what her girlfriend was trying to do. "I'll think about it."

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Indeed, Paige did think about changing a few things around the house. Probably not along the lines that Emily would assume, but she thought Emily would like the changes. Anytime Em asked if Paige had thought about it, Paige answered noncommittally. She wasn't going to say a word about it. Emily would find out when she got home from London and not a minute before.

Emily barreled in the house one evening like a woman possessed. Paige looked up from her laptop just in time to see Emily throw her purse down on the kitchen counter and run her fingers angrily through her long hair. "Something wrong," she asked.

Emily turned towards her with a scowl set on her features. "I'll tell you what's wrong," Emily began. "The stoplight is out at the Peachtree intersection again. I guess they had to cut power to fix that pole or something, I don't' know. What I DO know is that people cannot drive." Paige gave her a look as if to assume Emily was the one in the wrong…which she most likely was. "Not ME, people…other people, people."

Paige smirked as she said, "So what did 'other people' do wrong?"

"They didn't even stop," Emily said as she threw up her hands. "I have half a mind to call the company tomorrow and complain. It was a Jacobson's Pools van. It looked like they pulled away from somewhere close to us, actually."

Paige shifted in the chair she was sat in. "Oh, yeah. I think they were at the Humphrey house doing some pool maintenance." She wanted to get Emily focused on something else. "You know when that light is down your signal flashes red. Theirs would have flashed yellow so technically they didn't have to stop, you did."

Emily rolled her eyes. She hated when Paige was all rational and stuff. "Ok, maybe you're right," she said in resignation.

Paige loved seeing Emily all worked up like that. It was hot. Now it was time to get her worked up in other ways.

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Emily could tell during her first phone conversation with Paige that the girl was up to something. She couldn't get any answers or hints from Paige at all. It seemed as though Paige was adamant that whatever she was up to would be a surprise. Emily was a curious person by nature. Having to wait until she returned home from London would be an exercise in patience.

A week and a half later, Emily felt extremely jet lagged as she pulled into their garage and shut her SUV's engine down. She noticed as she pulled into the driveway that the house seemed dark. It was only around 10pm. She was surprised Paige was already in bed, especially knowing Emily would be home around now. After two weeks of not seeing Paige while she was in London, Emily missed her very much.

Most of the lights in the house were off when Emily walked in through the utility door in the garage. Paige surprised her as she rounded the corner holding two glasses of wine with what looked like her iPad tucked under an arm. "I thought I heard you pull in," Paige said.

Emily started looking around taking in her surroundings. Nothing looked different that she's seen thus far. Paige smiled knowing what Emily was doing. "I thought you'd gone to bed. It looked like the lights were off when I pulled in."

Paige kissed Emily briefly before acknowledging the statement. "I had the table lamp on in the living room." She gestured at the iPad still in the crook of her arm, "I was reading anxiously waiting for you to get home. I missed you."

Emily took the two glasses of wine and iPad from Paige and sat them on the kitchen counter. She wrapped Paige tightly in a bear hug. "I missed you too. So much. I don't like being away from you for that long."

Once they pulled apart Paige handed Emily one of the glasses of wine and then picked the other up for herself. Lastly, she grabbed the iPad again and pulled Emily along with her towards the French doors off the back deck. "It's a nice night out there, how about we sit outside for a while and enjoy our wine?"

"That sounds great, honey, but I don't think you'll need your iPad," Emily pointed out.

"Oh, I downloaded some new music. It's good chill out kind of stuff. We can listen to it as we relax out there."

As they stepped through the French doors leading out to the back deck Paige discreetly hit a button on her iPad. Two things happened simultaneously: a contemporary instrumental arrangement started playing through newly installed speakers hidden in new landscaping and soft lights came on, illuminating a totally remodeled back yard.

Emily gasped at what she saw. It was so beautiful and such a shock that she couldn't speak. Emily had always thought a pool would be perfect in this backyard but this went beyond her wildest imaginations.

The pool deck was made of natural travertine pavers. The coping was designed with well placed stone; it was almost as if it naturally belonged there. Potted plants were strategically placed along the edges of the pool. More travertine pavers were used to construct a terraced slope that ran along one entire length of the pool. Large boulders and stone platforms created a grotto that took at least half of the wall towards the deep end. A waterfall flowed off of the edge into the pool somewhat secluding the cave-like structure. Along one of the short sides was a tanning ledge that rose about a foot out of the water. Interspersed at equidistance on the ledge were flows of water cascading back down into the pool. Set back, on the opposite short end, more travertine pavers led to an outdoor fireplace and grill with a comfortable seating area. Paige had thought of everything for her reveal. There was even a fire already burning in the fireplace.

"How?" That was all Emily could get out.

"Remember that Jacobson's Pools van you saw near the house a month or so ago? Well, that was my initial consult with them," Paige smile sheepishly. "Once I approved the design and materials they went to work on as much as they could on the front end. I told them they'd only have two weeks to get the pool done once you left town. They really worked their asses off to get it done on time."

Emily turned back to face Paige. "It's beautiful."

Paige walked past Emily, grabbing her hand along the way. "Here, let me show you." She tapped her foot on the pavers as she spoke, "These are natural travertine. I can't tell you how many options there are when it comes to pool decking. This seemed the best fit for the look I was going for though." Then she pulled Emily to the edge of the pool. "Did you know the edge of the pool is called the coping?" Emily shook her head. "Neither did I. Anyway, this is natural stone. It came from the banks of the Chattahoochee River." Then she pointed to the boulders and stones across from her, "Those big boulders and stones that form the grotto are from Lake Lanier."

Paige forgot about the iPad in her free hand. "Oh, and check this out..." As Paige pressed buttons on the touchpad the lights in and around the pool changed colors. She could also control the pumps that ran the water flow on the tanning ledge, grotto waterfall and the sound system.

"I can't believe you were able to pull this off. You did a remarkable job, honey. I didn't even know you wanted a pool." Emily's smile lit up her face as she spoke.

Paige nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm ok with a pool. Mainly though, I knew you'd want one." She waggled her finger at Emily, "I listen to you when you speak," she teased. "I know you miss swimming and would love a pool at home to swim and workout in. I couldn't put an Olympic size pool in, but you can definitely swim some laps in here." Emily could see now what she meant. The pool wasn't one of those pools that had a particular design to it or one that was an odd shape. It was rectangular with rounded edges. Almost as if reading Emily's mind, Paige continued. "I kept the standard pool shape but rounded the edges to give it a little more character."

"I really love it, thank you," Emily said as her eyes swept the scene before her again. "I thought you were going to do something for you though."

"I did," Paige assured her. "Seeing you happy makes me happy. Besides, the point of this was to help me feel like I've contributed something to this house." Paige looked around. "Mission accomplished, fairly substantially, I think."

Emily started stripping her clothes off as she walked towards Paige. "I love you," she said between kisses.

She then relieved Paige of her clothes as Paige just stood there somewhat bewildered. "Em, the neighbors," Paige said as she cautiously looked around the yard. There was a privacy fence but still.

Emily led Paige towards the pool. "It's 11:00 at night. They are asleep. Besides, there is no way our first swim is going to be anything but stark naked." She punctuated that statement by diving into the pool.

Not one to waste the opportunity of Emily Fields naked before her, Paige leapt into the pool. As soon as she hit the water she kicked her feet and stroked her arms through the water furiously. Emily was the swimmer of the two, that much was true, but Paige is fast when Emily is the prize.

As soon as Paige caught up to her, Emily pulled the girl to her. They floated in the water, limbs wrapped around each other and each gently kicking their feet to keep them above water. Their shared kisses were slow and sensual, foreshadowing the pace they would set when the time was right.

Emily swam a few laps to get a feel for the pool. Paige mentioned wanting Emily to show her what she's got. The double meaning was not lost on Emily. After a few turns Emily swam towards the grotto. It was the only spot in the pool she had yet to check out.

It was bigger then she had thought. Emily pushed around on the heavy boulders that braced the large stones above her head. Paige knew what she was doing. She swam up behind Emily, circled her arms around her waist and kissed her bare shoulder. "They're secure, Em." Paige let go of Emily and took the step up into the grotto, ducking under the cascading water from the flow above her. "Come on, check it out."

Emily took the same step inside and followed Paige to sit on a bench that ran the length of the grotto. Two concrete tables stood near the bench spaced about three feet apart, the tops of which skimmed the break of the surface of the water. It was beautiful. The waterfall off the top of the grotto was melodic in a way. It was as if here, away from everything else, they were in their own little world. There were lights set inside illuminating both girls. The looks in their eyes revealed only one thing: lust.

From the moment Paige and Emily entered the grotto they were nearly attached to each other. Page sat on the bench in the water while Emily sat on her lap. Their hands, mouths, teeth and tongues roamed freely over the others body. Paige followed droplets of water down Emily's chest while she held her tightly.

After a few more minutes of the intense connection, Paige felt Emily shiver. Her first thought was one of pride at making Emily quiver in her hands. Then she realized not only was Emily shivering, she had goose bumps all over her. Paige pulled back from Emily's lips, "Em, are you cold?"

"Nu uh," Emily said as she moved back in to capture Paige's soft lips.

"You're shivering, honey. You can tell me if you're cold, we'll get out."

"I don't want to get out. I want to be here, in this beautiful place with you," Emily continued.

Paige lifted Emily then sat her back down on the bench. "Hold on just a sec," Paige said, raising her pointer finger to indicate the one second.

Paige quickly got out of the water, grabbed a plush, cranberry red blanket from a cabinet by house then headed over to the outdoor fireplace. She stoked the fire, added a few more small pieces of wood, and then scooted a chaise lounge closer to the fireplace.

Paige returned to the pool and pulled Emily out, guiding her over to the chaise in front of the fireplace. She gently laid Emily down on pillowy soft cushions, then settled next to her, lying on her side and covering them with the blanket.

Emily looked into Paige's eyes that were so full of love. She knew right here, now, with Paige, was the one true place she belonged. "I love you so much, Paige."

Paige settled herself over Emily then leaned in just enough to give Emily a kiss that made them each breathless. Paige had been waiting for this for two weeks now; she needed Emily more at that moment than any other time in her life.

Paige skimmed her hand up Emily's left leg, then lifted it at the knee and draped her leg over the side of the lounger. Next, she bent Emily's right leg, spread it to open her up a little more, and then hooked Emily's leg around her so that her heel met at the dip in Paige's lower back.

Emily's anticipation grew exponentially. Unable to wait any longer, she crashed her lips into Paige's, letting her want and need reveal itself with force. Paige was just as eager, if not more. Paige dipped her hand through Emily's silky wetness. They both moaned at the gentle touch. Paige wanted to savor this. She knew Emily needed the release, but Paige wanted to take this slowly.

This love was to be a dance; a slow dance. A fast song would come around. They always do, and when that time came Paige would take her quickly and passionately; get carried away in the pace their racing hearts set. But not right now; no, now was the time for the gentle caresses of a slow dance. Two bodies pressed together so tightly that they are now one united in motion. The rolling of their hips that drew out each touch and prolonged the pressure that Emily desired. The way their arms wrapped possessively around each other and you just know, you KNOW, that in your arms is the only person that belongs there. This was about the connection; the love between two people who are destined to be together.

Emily was so worked up. She knew it wouldn't take long for her to come freely at Paige's will. Paige stroked expertly until Emily was all quivering limbs, sighs of contentment, and mumbles of love.

"Oh my God, Paige." Emily was breathing hard; sucking in deep lung full's of oxygen attempting to regain some composure. She kissed Paige sloppily, not really able to control her movements quite yet. "That was amazing."

"Oh Emily, I have two weeks of this stored up. We're nowhere near done," Paige said with a gleam in her eye.