A/N: The honeymoon is almost over and I'm looking for ideas things H/E might deal with during deployment. The chapter dealing with birth control is proving difficult to write, so the next few chapters may take a while longer. Research needs to be done! Thanks for the reviews!
Chapter 44
The week flew by. Days were spent at the McCord house, helping do small projects. They had worked so fast that they got all of the yard work done in only 2 days, leaving them the rest of the week to help out in other ways. They spent one evening opening gifts and deciding what could stay in Henry's parents' attic and what could go home with them. Another, they took Henry's parents out to eat as a thank you. Of course, Patrick spent the entire meal complaining that they could've had three meals at home for what the one cost at a restaurant. Henry was about to lose his cool, but Elizabeth talked him down off the ledge. "He's your father. Are you expecting someone different?" She shrugged.
Thursday evening, they were curled up on the couch, each reading a book for classes the following week. Well, they had books, but neither were actually reading. They were both tossing thoughts around, trying to figure out how to ask the other their question. Henry looked up at Elizabeth and could tell she was in the same position he was. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was chewing her bottom lip. She was definitely worrying about something.
"Hey, what's going on?" He scooted forward enough to pull her ankles, encouraging her to put her feet in his lap. He started massaging the balls of her feet.
She sighed, "Ever have a question you want to ask, but you aren't sure you want the answer?"
He smirked, "I'm sitting on one of those right now actually. Is the question for me? You can always ask me anything."
"I know I can ask it. That's not really the problem. What if I really don't like the answer?" Elizabeth twisted a piece of her hair around her finger.
"Uh, I can't really help with that until I know what it is. How about if you ask me your question and I ask you mine and we just try to figure it out as best we can?"
"I guess." She paused for a moment. "What's with tracing the cross on my forehead every morning?"
"I ask for St. Monica's intercession as I pray for you. The cross is the Sign Of the Cross at the end of the prayer."
"You pray for me?"
"I've always prayed for you, even before I met you. Well, actually that's not completely true. When I was a teen and I didn't know what I was supposed to do with my life, I prayed for my future wife. When I thought I was going to be a priest, I prayed that God would lead me to do His will. Then, when I met you, I started praying for you."
"And St. Monica…"
"She's the patron saint of wives and she's also St. Augustine's mother. Both Augustine and her husband, Patricius, were non believers. She prayed unceasingly for them and eventually they had a change of heart and converted."
"Is that your end game? To convert me?" She pulled her feet off of Henry's lap and sat up straight.
Is there any possible way to answer this question without antagonizing the situation? Henry sighed. Not a chance. You should've stopped with the patron saint of wives. Right! Like she wouldn't have looked up the rest and then been more pissed. God, I would appreciate if you lead my words on this. I don't want to push her away from You because of my inability to give a meaningful answer. In the absence of an answer, Elizabeth stood up and started to walk away. "No, it's not."
She turned around, her eyes boring into him, "Really? I'm not sure I believe that."
"My end game is to love you the way you deserve to be loved. To protect you from every heartbreak because you've already endured so much. To make sure you know how precious you are in my eyes-and God's." Henry stood and took a step toward Elizabeth and she didn't back away, which he considered a good sign. "If at some point along the way, you thought joining the Catholic church was what you wanted to do, I can't say that I wouldn't be ecstatic. That doesn't mean I expect it."
"So what do you expect?" Elizabeth's voice has an edge to it. Henry didn't think she was really looking for a fight, but she certainly was not backing down from one either.
"From you? Probably only that you view us, our love and our marriage, as important enough to always fight for it. I have a hell of a lot more expectations for myself."
She let out the breath she'd been holding. "What do you pray?" she wanted to know.
"It's not the same every time. It kind of goes on what I'm feeling or what's happening." She continued to stare at him. "Ok, it might go something like this. 'Lord, through the intercession of St. Monica , bless Elizabeth today. Keep her safe. Let her feel Your love and know the depth of my love for her. I ask this in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.'"
"And that's all?"
"Well, it changes depending on what's going on. I've asked for calmness in dealing with Maureen and my dad or for you to do well on papers you've struggled with. I've also asked God to help you know my intentions or to communicate better." Henry shrugged. "Stuff like that."
"I find it unsettling." Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably in her spot.
"Why?" he asked. She could tell from his tone that he was genuinely curious and not trying to be argumentative.
"I'm not sure exactly. Maybe it's because my name is attached to something that I'm not sure I'm ready to believe in. It's like you are praying for me because I'm not doing it."
"I'm praying for you because that's one of the things I do. I pray for me. I pray for all the people I love because I want them to have abundant blessings. Here's a question. How is me praying for you different than when you asked me to pray for Brenda? Do you think she wants my prayers? Would she be offended to know that I prayed for her?"
"Probably."
"But does her not wanting them negate her need for them, at least from my standpoint. Or from yours, since you were the one that asked?"
"No," Elizabeth said it defeatedly. She knew where he was going with his argument as soon as he brought up Brenda. And it annoyed her a little that he used logical arguments on feelings. I know that my feelings aren't always logical. That doesn't mean they aren't valid. She closed her eyes.
"Hey," Henry pressed a kiss to her forehead and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "It isn't supposed to be a big thing. I'm not doing it with the purpose of making you uncomfortable or upset. I want you to think about it and let me know what would be acceptable to you. I'm not going to stop, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable either."
"Okay. I can do that." Elizabeth placed her hands on Henry's chest. "You are a good man Henry. Better than I deserve."
"No." Henry said it with a little more force than he intended and Elizabeth dropped her head, embarrassed. "Please, no." He placed both hands on her head and tipped it up. "Look at me Elizabeth. You deserve only the very best. You are smart, loving, kind, generous, compassionate, and beautiful. If anything, it is I who need to live up to you. Please never think of yourself as less. If needed, I can remind you every day," he kissed her. "Every hour," Kiss. "Every moment." Kiss.
Henry pulled back to look at her. "Are we good?"
"We're good. I'll think about it later. I'm thinking about other things now." She pulled him back in.
"Oh really? Did you want to go back to your book?"
"No," her hand played with the tiny hairs on the back of his neck.
"Did you want to go downstairs and get a drink?" Henry smiled at her.
"No. I'd rather stay here."
"And do what?"
"We could christen the shower," she said coyly.
"Think we're proficient enough for that?" he grinned.
"We could find out." She took him by the hand and started toward the bathroom.
"Hopefully no one's ego will be damaged."
"I'm hoping we don't end up breaking something!" They laughed and he followed willingly.
*****RATED M*****
They stepped into the spacious bathroom and Henry reached into the large walk-in shower and turned the water on to heat up. Elizabeth was at his back pulling his t-shirt , up and over his head planting open mouth kisses to his shoulders and back while simultaneously reaching around to unbutton and unzip his jeans. He let them fall and kicked them to the side. Turning around, he looked his wife over. Her eyes were dark with desire, her cheeks, flushed pink, her lips were swollen from kissing his. It was quite the heady sight. "You're entirely too overdressed for this little adventure," he told her.
"You know," Elizabeth said, biting her lip, "you could fix that problem."
"Gladly." Henry reached under the hem of her shirt and grasped it, pulling it over her head. Tossing the shirt, he ran his hands up her sides, pulling her in for a kiss. As his tongue plunged into her mouth, his hands went around unhooking her bra. They both moaned as her breasts fell free, her nipples brushing against Henry's chest. He quickly unbuttoned her jeans and catching the waistband of her panties as well, took them both down her long, lean legs. He pulled them off her ankles and tossed them out of the way.
Sitting back on his heels, he looked up at Elizabeth in awe. She was his everything. He needed her like he needed air. He ran his hands up the back of her calves and started kissing his way up, starting at her knee. He pressed his mouth to her inner thigh, just mere inches from where he wanted to be. She smelled intoxicating and he was literally salivating at the thought of putting his mouth on her. Elizabeth stepped back and offered him her hands. "Let's get in," she said. He wanted to protest, but knew it wasn't the right time. He took her hand and followed her into the shower.
Elizabeth stepped into the stream of water. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, letting the water run down her face as she ran her hands through her hair. Henry stared at her, mesmerized.
"Creepy staring," she laughed. He smiled back and took her into his arms. Lowering his head, he kissed her hard. Elizabeth's hands slipped around to Henry's ass pulling him into her, his erection pushing into her stomach
Putting his hands on her waist, he turned them, so her back was to the shower wall. She threaded her arms around his neck, kissing his chest. "Ready to test out our proficiency level?" Henry said grinning against her forehead.
She nodded, "Oh, I'm ready."
Henry grabbed the back of her thighs and hoisted her up pushing her back against the shower wall. The cold tiles felt like ice on her overheated body causing her to cry out, adding another layer to her already aroused state. "Fuck Henry!" His hardness was pushed against her clit and she thought she might come right there. Locking her legs around his waist, she left just enough room to slip her hand between them to pump him a few times. Henry grunted and pushed in as she relaxed and he filled her completely. She moaned loudly. It was a feeling she didn't think would ever get old, her slick folds wrapped around his dick, stretching her just to the brink of pain, where her pleasure was the greatest.
Henry pinned her to the wall so she couldn't move. He started a slow rhythm, but she was well past that point. "Harder," she cried, and he pulled almost all the way out and slammed into her. She shrieked. He took a nipple in his mouth and swirled his tongue around before lightly biting her and he slammed into her again. He repeated this on her other breast. Elizabeth was writhing beneath him as he hit her spot with every thrust. He was dizzy but focused solely on pleasing her.
He could tell she was close. "Come for me baby," he whispered in her ear. He pressed her hard to the wall so she could barely draw a breath. He let go of her leg so he could rub her clit. She came hard, her muscles squeezing him rhythmically, causing him to peak as well spilling into her. They stayed connected, gasping, pressed against the shower wall, water raining down on them. "Think you can stand?" he asked.
"Give me a minute," she said.
He chuckled, "I've got you." She dropped her legs and let Henry hold her around the waist until she was sure she was steady.
*****END OF M RATED SECTION*****
"How about we shower?" she asked, but he was already grabbing the shampoo. He washed and conditioned her hair and she did the same for him. They lathered each other and rinsed off, never breaking contact. They finished just as the water turned cold.
"Perfect timing," he said, shutting the water off and quickly grabbing a towel to wrap Elizabeth in. He dried her off and she wrapped the towel around herself and headed out of the bathroom. "Don't bother with clothes. You won't need them," he called out to her. Hearing her giggle, he quickly dried off and met her in the bed.
They snuggled down under the covers and held each other. "I think we passed the proficiency test. Mission accomplished with no mishaps or injuries"
Elizabeth laughed, "I guess I wasn't giving you enough credit. Well done!"
"Hey, do I get to ask my question yet?" Henry wanted to know.
"Oh yeah, I kind of got sidetracked," she smirked. "Funny how that happened! What do you want to know?"
"Why do you deflect every time I try to go down on you?"
"Because I don't want you to do that." Elizabeth said flatly.
"Can I ask why?" Elizabeth dropped her eyes and knitted her brow.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Henry was disappointed that he didn't really get an answer, but he had already learned that planting the seed was enough to get Elizabeth to think about something. She'd bring it up later when she was ready to talk. "Okay. Just know that I am available. Well, for either talking about it or doing it. I'm always up for anything that would make you feel good. I just want to make you feel good." He kissed the top of her head and tucked her into his chest.
Henry had drifted off and was just about in a deep sleep, when Elizabeth rolled over to face him. "Henry, are you awake?"
"Yeah, babe. Maybe. What's going on?" he rubbed his eyes.
"The cross thing. Don't do it. I think it's weird. And the mumbling under your breath. Skip that part too."
"Got it babe. No cross, nothing out loud. Can I kiss you when I am done?"
"That, you can always do!" He leaned in and pecked her on the lips.
"Ok Are we good?" Henry's voice still laced with drowsiness.
"Well, there's one other thing."
"What's that?"
"I think I just talked myself into being okay with the other thing."
That got Henry's attention and he was more awake now. "What?" He looked over at the clock on the nightstand. "An hour ago, you were adamantly opposed. Don't do something you don't want to just because I do."
"That's not it Henry. I've just been laying here thinking that I'm letting some stupid asshole's comments from 4 years ago shape my thoughts about myself and who I should or shouldn't be. I need to let that go. I'm giving his opinion way more value than it ever deserved."
"I can't say that I don't agree with that sentiment. But, I hope that that my opinion on it isn't weighing in on your decision."
"If you are saying that I made up my mind because of what you want, then no. I think it does sometimes help, only in that if we have the same opinion, it gives me extra confidence in mine. And I'm not just talking about this particular situation, I'm talking about everything. You always have solid reasons for your beliefs, so that does make me take your opinion into careful consideration."
"I just don't ever want to get in a situation where you just go along because it will make me happy. I want us to be our own people, meaning that sometimes we will disagree and that's ok."
"I won't do that. She ran her hand across his cheek. "But, you are a man with a strong moral compass, so most of the time I will follow your lead because you are on the side of right." She kissed his forehead, eyelids, and cheeks before settling on his mouth humming her pleasure.
"Just when I think it is impossible to love you more, I find that I do. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Elizabeth McCord."
