December 24, 2010
~*~ CP ~*~
A rapid knock at the door wakes Carol. She blinks at the clock as Merle rolls to his feet and goes to open the door, pulling on a shirt over his pajama pants as he goes. It's a quarter til five, so she's hoping it's not an emergency, although at least the knock was on the interior door.
Sophia's practically bouncing in place. "Patricia's having her baby!"
Carol makes it to her feet then, but it seems the Greenes have it under control. Beth's waiting patiently at the foot of the spiral staircase with the bag Patricia packed a week ago. She isn't intending on staying at the infirmary much longer than the birth, but everyone agreed they feel safer there rather than a home birth with Patricia's age and first-time pregnancy.
Hershel is helping Patricia down the stairs, and the reason for his caution is evident when a contraction hits before they reach the bottom step. As it passes, he notes the gathering audience. "Her contractions are about five minutes apart now, so we figure we might as well switch venues while we can. Edwards will be on duty in half an hour, and someone should go wake Cricket."
Carol taps Sophia on the shoulder and she dashes off to the back stairway closest to the garage. Merle slips past her into the hallway, fully dressed now.
"It's cold as hell out there and no sense in you walking it," he states. Patricia laughs when she realizes he's offering to literally carry her to the infirmary and surprises everyone by accepting. He swings her up in his arms, lifting her easily, and Beth and Hershel follow.
That just leaves Carol and Isabelle. "Go make sure the boys are awake and let them know she's gone to the infirmary. Tell them they can come check in on her after morning chores and breakfast."
"She'll be okay, right?" The girl looks worried about her foster mother.
"She's healthy and the pregnancy has been an easy one, so everything looks good so far, sweetie. If you're really that worried, wake the boys and then grab a couple of cereal bars and go straight there."
It earns her a grateful smile from the teenager, who trots off to do as bid. Carol hears Sophia's distinct running stride overhead and calls out, "No running in the house!" out of habit before going to get dressed.
Homestead's about to have its first human birth, and the excitement is contagious.
~*~ HG ~*~
When Patricia knocked at his door shortly after midnight to get him to check if her contractions were legitimate ones or another round of Braxton Hicks, Hershel honestly didn't expect it to be the real thing. He's warned her for a while that despite an early January due date, it might be mid-January before she delivers, because none of the medical staff want to go anywhere near inducing without an actual obstetrician.
They've worked together for longer than either of his marriages lasted, honestly, since Patricia hired on as his veterinary assistant straight out of training when she was twenty, the same year Maggie was born. In her own way, Patricia's put up with him through the hard times too, and she supported Josephine staunchly through his drinking years. Her marrying his farm foreman, Otis, a year later after she came to work for him just solidified her ties to the Greene family. She looked after Maggie after Jo died, too. When Annette came along, Patricia became her best friend so quickly you'd think the two women grew up together.
And now, the woman who loved kids so much her reputation as a foster mother kept a steady stream of troubled kids going through her home and coming out the better when she was allowed to keep them long enough, is having a baby of her own.
He misses Annette and Otis both today. His wife would have been overjoyed to see this baby. Otis... the man deserved to see this happen.
So, he's standing in for both of them today.
"Well, we're definitely going to see a baby sooner rather than later," Cricket declares. She's grinning, but nervous. Even with two other fully trained people physicians, she's overseen all the pregnancies in Homestead, and she's 'trained' by attending all the animal births in the meantime. But this is still her first human birth, and she doesn't even have the side experience of seeing it as a parent or doula yet. "Eight centimeters already. Might see the baby before lunch."
He's glad she glad she said might and not should, since he remembers Annette stalling out around eight and taking seven more hours before she delivered Beth.
"Everything's good?" Patricia asks. They've got the monitors hooked up for the moment, allowing Cricket, Carol, and Lilly to take vitals. Patricia's said any of the staff is welcome since they need more folks with experience, but Christopher's delivered a baby even as a nurse, and Felipe says he's seen enough to not need a refresher. Edwards is watching TV in the staff room, so they've covered all the bases for now.
"All vitals are right on target. The baby's showing no signs of distress during contractions, so I'm going to unhook you a while. Walk around if you want to, but stay off your back if you can. Let gravity help a bit. If your water hasn't broken by the time you're at ten centimeters, we'll break it, but the more experienced doctors say to wait for now."
Taking care not to brush against the peripheral IV catheter in her left hand, Hershel helps her angle back to her feet. She's in a nightgown instead of a hospital gown, and the only hospital concession is that she has warm, non-skid socks on instead of regular ones. Glad the infirmary as a whole is a good-sized building, they go on their first of what will probably be several circuits of the building's interior.
~*~ SP ~*~
"Hey, Sophia. We're gonna take Beth and Al's shifts this morning so they can stay up here," Jazz says, jarring Sophia out of her conversation with Isabelle about whether Patricia's baby will be a boy or a girl. Isabelle's foster mother wants it to be a surprise, so even Patricia doesn't know. "And Audrey says she'll take your lunch shift, Isabelle, so you're not busy if you get more news."
"I'm about done. Was just talking." She thinks it's sweet that Jazz thought about the fact that none of Patricia's fosterlings are going to want to go far. Patrick's actually working his breakfast shift, but he's been clumsy enough that Glynnis kindly told him he's on dish duty instead of food. From the looks of it, Maggie's not going out with her team today either, since she's sitting with Jimmy and nursing a cup of coffee and the rest of her team gone already.
She follows him to get geared up for the cold before stepping out into the chill air. "I can't believe it's almost Christmas."
"Excited about the wedding tomorrow?" he asks, well aware it's not the usual Christmas anticipation.
"Duh. Of course I am, just like you are. And about the baby today." Because the baby is sort of a cousin, since she knows her parents have firmly insisted Patricia's home is right there with them for as long as she's willing. She'll get to help take care of it, just like with Lori's baby later.
He just smiles, hauling the barn door open as they reach it. He always takes care of his sheep before breakfast, going down in the dark in the Polaris with whatever helper he has for the day. He was the only boy not in the bunk room for her announcement this morning, since he's been having the new guy, Big Tiny, help him with the morning milking since he arrived. Sophia's kind of glad, because that was her least favorite extra chore, especially after it got cold. She knows Beth's also grateful, because she used to milk the two mini-Jerseys each morning, but the big man's taken over that chore too.
But the horses still need to be turned out, along with the other farm animals sheltered in the big barn, mostly the expectant mothers. The rest stay in the pasture even at night, courtesy of the pole barns built down there to give them shelter. It doesn't take anything more than a can of grain to get the goats and two female donkeys to follow her, along with the one jenny's little foal. She makes sure to scratch the long-legged baby's head when she butts against her. She never knew how funny donkeys were until she got to know the little foal Jazz calls Loonette.
Jazz is beside her, no horses in sight. "We're gonna ride over to the horse farm," he says when she asks. "Titus is saddling them."
Big Tiny must have come up while Sophia was getting her gaggle of critters to follow her. "You gonna get the poultry then?"
"Yep, if you think you can handle the gate with Loonette trying to eat your coat."
She yelps, coaxing the tail of her mid-thigh garment out of the little donkey's mouth by virtue of offering her a few tidbits from the grain can. Jazz is actually laughing as he splits off to fiddle with the gate that keeps the poultry in their confined coop for the night. It doesn't always keep the eggs in the laying boxes, which is why someone used to walk the fields before it got so cold that even the poultry aren't trying to hide little nests in the pasture. The original chicken coop closer to the main house is currently not being used, but it'll end up as a chick brooding pen when spring comes.
The birds are less problematic since once the gate's open, they wander out of shelter on their own down the connecting pasture chute. And most of Sophia's charges are happy to be free in the fields and gambol off to rejoin their friends. Loonette, the little brat, is trying to eat Sophia's coat again.
"At least I have a witness I'm not the one messing it up," she jokes as they finally get the foal to follow her patiently waiting mother.
"Teeth marks are a bit distinctive even without a witness," Jazz replies. "Although I could imply you've been biting your own coat. Think Mama would believe me?"
She smacks him on the shoulder, laughing, as they reach the barn again. Big Tiny's got to be the fastest person she's ever seen in getting horses tacked up, because two horses are outside already, huffing at being tied to the hitching posts instead of on the move.
She goes to Spinda. Of the three horses kept here now, the paint's her favorite, even if she's the most likely to give a rider a toss. She knows her mother would prefer she rode Imbri or Moonshine, and she might, if it were just her and Jazz. But Big Tiny's still learning to ride, and that means Moonshine is the best mount for him, and Spinda looks like a pony if Jazz tries to ride her. Even gaining three inches in her own growth spurt, he's still outdistancing her because of course, he just had to grow again too. He's still exactly a foot taller than she is.
"Gotta stop by the armory on the way out," Jazz reminds her as Big Tiny brings Moonshine out. The third of their trio grimaces. Big Tiny hates firearms as much as Sophia's fascinated by them, but after Honey pointed out that knowing how to shoot is a necessity to keeping animals safe from predators if they got around the fences, the man set to learning with an intensity Sophia envies.
"A'right. Gotta go make sure everything's good. We're gonna get snow sooner or later," Big Tiny says.
Jazz nods, glancing at the sky. "Probably not today, but yeah, soon, I think."
The three riders mount up, since Sophia knows whoever's on armory duty today knows what they take out and will bring everything out to them.
Maybe by the time they get back from the rounds with the other livestock, the baby will have arrived.
~*~ CP ~*~
It's been two hours since the household was roused by Patricia's labor, and the woman's weathering it with an ease Carol envies. They don't have anyone willing to do an epidural here, so right now the options are Demerol or going without. Patricia says Demerol only ever made her feel drunk, so she's pacing as best as a pregnant woman can, alternating between Maggie and Hershel for her support.
Beth's on the ward too, but the teenager is playing cards with Isabelle on one of the empty beds, alert, but staying carefully out of the way. Although invited, all three of Patricia's boys decided they preferred waiting for the baby in the community center after checking in with their foster mother right after breakfast.
"Well, now I know why women say it feels like they peed themselves," Patricia remarks.
Maggie, her current walk partner, giggles. "Let's go clean up a bit."
While they're in the bathroom, Carol and Cricket tidy away the evidence that, at last, the blonde's water broke on its own. Neither of them really wanted to learn that skill if they didn't have to.
After a contraction in the bathroom and another before she can get back across the length of the hospital ward, Cricket has her lie down for a check. She guides Carol through checking as well, once again letting her learn what dilation stages feel like. It's so much different from the chart, but she nods to confirm Cricket's assessment.
"Ten centimeters now."
All the other vitals are still good, but the contractions are rolling hard enough now that Patricia declines to get back up to walk. Between Hershel and Maggie, they get help her change positions in the bed to find what feels best.
"C'mon, baby. Home stretch now," Cricket mutters, making Carol laugh.
~*~ LG ~*~
Lori rubs her back against the never quite gone ache she's been sporting for at least a week now. She gets more back rubs than she ever anticipated, as Daryl's recruited helpers in Scout and Shane. She thought it would be weird, at first, especially with Shane, but the skills the man's picked up from helping Scout's ongoing recovery from her burns serve him well for pregnancy back massage. And damn, if Scout doesn't give the world's best foot rubs, she doesn't know who could top it. She's spoiled rotten and she knows it.
But today, with Patricia in labor, she's nervous. It's why she's working in the laundry instead of at her inventory desk. She just can't sit still, between nerves and backache.
At thirty-two weeks, she's got probably two months to go still. Remembering the stalled labor with Carl when they couldn't get him to turn from breech position, she worries both for herself and for Patricia. Of everyone here, the older woman deserves a healthy baby and an easy labor.
"Hey, Lori, you think mine's ready yet? Dropped it off yesterday."
Lori turns and smiles at Rick. Scout's seven teams are on an off-duty day today, so she'll probably see two-thirds of them at some point, either dropping off or picking up laundry. Rick's one of the ones who likes to drop his laundry bag off the day before he's got down time. She checks the bags on their sturdy hooks, finding his easily since it's one of the few red bags.
He steps around her to snag it, giving her that little huff most of the men do if they see her about to lift any weight. Most, she huffs right back, but with Rick, she lets it slide. The pregnancy's a weird enough subject between them most days.
She remembers she has something to tease him about and takes the chance they've gotten that far in being friends. "Unless you've developed a very interesting new habit, not all that laundry was yours."
He blushes like a school boy. "Think she did that on purpose."
"She has very good taste in lingerie. Might have had my teenage helper yesterday looking envious." Isabelle's at the age where pretty underthings are something she wants, but isn't really brave enough to tackle yet. Hell, Lori's envious herself. It seems like she'll never fit into anything like that again as her pregnancy expands her body further and further.
The blush continues and he seems at a loss for words.
"Oh, hon, I'm teasing. I was actually glad to see someone seems to be staying with you instead of you trailing around on their schedule." While it could be a one-time thing, his reaction makes her think maybe not. She wonders who the lady in question is, but figures it's rude to ask, all things considered.
He shuffles a little, bashful in a way she still finds a little sweet. "Rosita's stayed the last three nights. At what point is a woman moved in with you?"
She thinks it over. "Well, before, I'd say look for her toiletries and if more than half your clothes' space is hers. Not sure how that would apply here. Best way might be to see her place and see how much of her things are there versus yours." Rosita isn't the first guess she would have made for where Rick's attempt at wild oat sowing would end, but at the same time, the Latina is vibrant in a way that balances out Rick's calm nature. Carl hasn't mentioned the woman yet, so he hasn't yet made the connection between Rick and Rosita or doesn't think it's serious.
"I guess I'll have to check and see then."
"Do you want her to be moved in?"
"Yeah." His smile is that pretty one that he passed on to Carl and she can't help but smile in response.
"Then ask her. She might say no, and it might even end if she's not ready, but she might be afraid to ask you where it's going, after Abraham."
"It's not too soon?"
Lori can't help but laugh. "Oh, Rick, I'm really the world's worst judge there."
His glance toward her belly makes him laugh too. "I guess so. World's different now. Don't have to date for months, right?"
She shakes her head. "No. Get it figured out before she decides you aren't really interested and finds someone who is."
He steps easily into the hug she offers and she feels a surge of nostalgia as she gets a whiff of his cologne around his collar. She's happy that something more stable might be coming for him. Rick's meant to be half of a pair.
~*~ HG ~*~
"Why the hell do women do this more than once?"
Hershel is glad that Patricia can't see the grin he exchanges with Maggie over the top of her head. Maggie's got one of her hands as she bears down, her entire body working hard to push the baby into the world.
"Amnesia brought on by the scent of baby skin," Carol says matter-of-factly. She's in position to assist Cricket with the actual birth. Lilly's more on stand-by, since Carol wants to do the baby's care, so the other woman's designated herself as record-keeper for today. Isabelle and Beth are hovering to one side, looking both excited and petrified to be here at the same time.
He sees Edwards out of the corner of his eye where the doctor is staying out of the way, but alert, just as Cricket calls out. "We've got crowning, Patricia. Just a little while longer."
Patricia relaxes back on the birthing stool a bit, leaning into him where he's been put on a chair behind her to act as support. She moved from the bed when the urge to push started, no longer wanting to change positions. It's a new experience for him, since the option of the stool wasn't offered when either of his daughters were born. He's not sure if it's pain tolerance differences or the stool itself, but Patricia certainly seems to be coping better.
She catches her breath only to laugh as Carol's words catch up to her. "Amnesia, huh?"
The grey-haired woman nods, expression deliberately solemn. "Baby scent's addictive. Just wipes out the hours of labor with a few sniffs."
That sets all the women off into giggles and Hershel has to smile too.
It's just a brief respite, because the next contraction rolls in quickly, giving truth to Cricket's statement. In two more contractions, the med student turned obstetrician gives a happy, "Look at all that hair," as the baby starts a loud, healthy protest. She rolls the baby up onto the blanket Carol drops across Patricia's chest. Maggie helps Patricia hold the squalling newborn to her chest, while Carol works around them to clear blood and fluids off the baby.
It's the new mother who makes the announcement that everyone's been curious about. "Oh, a boy. A little boy."
Luckily, Carol's been warned about a certain habit of newborn boys and claps a blanket in place across his lap before he can pee all over his poor mama. There's laughter and crying combined, with Maggie and Patricia openly weeping. Carol isn't bothering to wipe away a few escaped tears either, and Hershel meets Cricket's eyes with medical concern and sees the young woman's emotional as well. But she's also professional, nodding that all's okay so far.
Eventually, the cord's cut courtesy of Patricia herself and she reluctantly lets her new son be spirited away for a quick clean and exam by Lilly and Carol. As Maggie moves to help Cricket with the final parts of labor, Patricia's leaned against him near bonelessly.
"I wasn't supposed to do this without him."
Oh, how he understands the sentiment, so he just holds her as she cries.
~*~ GR ~*~
They're halfway through loading up the backroom of the grocery store in Ellijay when the radio signal comes through.
"Healthy boy. Six pounds, four ounces. Matthew Otis Ingles." Glenn smiles at the happiness that practically drips through the radio as Dale relays the message. He acknowledges the message and since noisy forklifts haven't attracted any uglies, he yells into the sudden quiet and shares Dale's news.
The oompf he lets out when Honey tackle-hugs him is becoming common around his younger sister. She subbed in for Maggie today, and he's glad she's here. It's been weird the last two months when she was restricted to Homestead.
She grins at him mischievously. "Wanna bet me how soon it is before Maggie wants a baby?"
"Nope. Not taking that bet." Because they've already had that discussion, and Maggie's been off birth control for a month now. He's just not going to share that just yet.
"Uh huh. You used to be easier to get sucker bets out of, Glenn. So sad." She gives him a smacking kiss on the cheek and goes off to rejoin Tara in shrink wrapping their goods for transport.
He can't help grinning to himself as he stands guard over the glass doors and windows of the supermarket itself. Baby Matthew's here safe, and he can feel the worry he has about Maggie getting pregnant ease.
~*~ CP ~*~
Patricia's asleep in a fresh nightgown, rolled so that one hand is firmly on the bassinet next to the bed. After a heavily emotional moment just after the baby delivered, she nursed her son and then begged a shower. Carol remembers that feeling well, as well as the one of not wanting to be far from the baby.
Luckily, Maggie had no qualms about standing next to the shower in the small bathroom, letting Patricia keep an eye on the sleeping newborn while she got clean. Carol hovered too, just in case Patricia's energy levels gave out.
It took exactly five minutes back in the bed before Patricia was sleeping as soundly as baby Matthew. It's not surprising since Carol knows her labor started around ten last night.
"Where did Daddy go?" Maggie asks, looking around.
"He said he was going to check in on her boys for her." Honestly, calling any of the four teenagers foster kids is a misnomer. They're all Patricia's as much as the newborn at her side. "Took the girls with him. He says he'll send lunch back for all of us. Cricket went home to shower and Lilly went to help the nursing home staff." Edwards is on duty, back in the staff room, so she's not worried about being today's medical personnel for Patricia.
The younger woman gathers up the cards the girls abandoned and shuffles absently. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure." Carol can't imagine lovely, generous Maggie asking anything she wouldn't be willing to answer.
"Were you on birth control before you had Sophia?"
Carol motions for Maggie to sit on the hospital bed nearest, and she joins her. "Several years, from my teens until we were married about a year."
"How long did it take you to get pregnant after?"
Oh. Now Carol understands. She's not as privy to medical information as Cricket, only when her assistance is needed, but it sounds like Maggie's either tossed hers or thinking about it.
"About three months. I was on the pill then, though, and it doesn't seem to change things as much as the implant." Like the fact that she still hasn't had a period, a month after its removal. It's a frustrating process.
"So, it might take a little while, no matter what."
"Yeah. You're young, so that'll help. Did you do another exam with Cricket?"
Maggie nods. "She gave me those vitamins and wished me luck. Said if it took a while, she'd give me a couple of ovulation kits, but I shouldn't rush it."
That's a little bit of a contrast to Caleb's approach, but the age difference of the potential parents probably motivated him to already issue Carol the kits.
"How long have you been trying?"
"Just a month. I know that's silly to get anxious already, but it's just now that we've decided, I'm impatient."
Carol laughs. She can understand that. "And baby Matthew doesn't help matters."
"Nope." Maggie smiles, looking at the little stripe-capped head poking out above the swaddled blankets. "I bet a baby with Glenn would end up looking like Honey, right?"
"Probably." Of Merle's biological kids, Honey's the only one whose features shows her Asian ancestry. "She's going to be an obsessive aunt, you know." She already is for Christian. For Asskicker, for future baby Rhee, she may be worse for the tiniest humans. She's got a fierce protective streak.
"I won't complain. I didn't have any aunts growing up, except Patricia. Daddy and Mama were both only children, and Annette's only brother never got married. Can you imagine the things Honey's going to teach her nephews and nieces?"
Yeah, that's something Carol can truly imagine. Carol just hopes she gets to direct it at a new sibling too. She wants to see all Merle's kids and Sophia react to that. The few minutes she had hands on Matthew are making her yearn in a way that aches.
~*~ MD ~*~
"You keep coming out here to brood and I'm gonna enclose it so there's heat," Merle jokes, handing Hershel a mug of kinderspunsch that Carol made up for the kids and the three abstainers in the family. Everyone ate supper at the community center, but with Patricia insisting on sleeping in her own bed tonight, everyone even loosely affiliated with the Dixons or the Greenes is at the main house except Daryl and Lori.
Hershel takes a drink of the hot beverage and looks surprised. "What did she come up with for this? Makes me think of mulled wine that Annette liked to make."
"Good. Maggie said it was close when she tried a mug. It's grape juice, orange juice, honey, cinnamon, some other spices I lost track of. Your girls said you don't care for eggnog."
"The only thing that ever made eggnog drinkable for me was a good dose of rum."
"I do agree with you there." Merle leans against the deck rail and studies the man who's become one of his closest friends in the months since they arrived at Homestead. "New baby. Brings a lot of hope back to the world, doesn't it?"
"Yes." Hershel smiles, warming his hands on the mug. "I forgot just how they feel in your arms. Light as a feather and seeming like a breath of air would whisk them away."
Merle nods. He hasn't held the newborn yet, figuring there's time enough to spoil the boy once the women of the families get done. He remembers how different it is, the weight of a new life versus a healthy baby like Christian.
"But I can't help but remember who will never hold him." Hershel sighs and takes another drink. "Otis would have been a wonderful father."
"Guess we'll just have to hope having a dozen or so uncles can make up the lack."
The veterinarian smiles a little. "You're not going to drop broad hints about how perfect it would be for me to step in?"
"I figure if you had that sort of inclination toward Patricia, we'd know it by now. Woman's your sister, just without the years of childhood pissing contests behind it."
That makes Hershel laugh. "The ladies of the family seem to think it the perfect solution to match the widow and widower."
"The ladies have yet to put together that you've been spending time with a certain redheaded farmer."
Merle just arches a brow at Hershel's surprised look. The older man looks a little flustered, but he supposes that the quarter-century age difference does make for an interesting dilemma. "I don't know where that's going," Hershel admits.
"What man does, this soon after a pretty woman sets eyes on him?"
"I suppose you're right."
Merle pushes off the rail. "Everyone's distracted and Maggie and Glenn are staying the night up in Jazz' old room. You should go take a walk. Spend some time with a lady. I'm pretty sure her girls are staying the night with Leo and Amalia tonight. Maybe even stay the night this time instead of slipping back in after midnight like a naughty teenage boy."
Hershel laughs now, although it comes after he chokes on his drink. "We haven't gotten to the point where I should be staying the night yet."
"Well, you've got distracted womenfolk, a lady with an empty apartment, and a night that lends to big changes. Maybe you should go see where the lady's leading you."
He thinks Hershel's going to decline, and it makes him sad. He's seen enough interaction between his long-time neighbor and the veterinarian to know that Lenore's gone on the man, and that's something she swore wasn't happening after her husband walked out on her when she was pregnant with her youngest seven years ago. Other than the age gap, she's a good match for the man in front of him.
But he's proven wrong when Hershel finishes off his drink and hands the mug back. "Well, if they do figure out I've gone missing, I suppose it's one way to start that conversation with my girls."
He wanders off down the deck to the stairs, leaving Merle to laugh in the cold air. Never doubt a man in pursuit of a redhead, he supposes.
~*~ DD ~*~
Lori startles just a little when he steps into the shower with her, but she's smiling as he reaches to steal away her washcloth. He reaches for that body wash she likes so much and washes her back for her before moving around to trace his fingers across the small marks that appeared in the past week on the lower side of her belly. Getting to take a quick peek at tiny Matthew makes him anticipate what's coming more.
She squirms away a little. Her previous pregnancy didn't leave any signs behind other than the c-section scar, but Asskicker's already making her mark on the world permanent. He gets Lori to turn to face him, the shower just big enough for it, and kisses her deeply, sliding one hand across the stretch marks.
"Better meaning than my scars," he says softly, hoping she'll take the comparison to her particular habit of kissing his scars.
It earns him a little smile. She's already washed her hair, so it back and wet makes her eyes so prominent. He's never had a thing for brown eyes before her. He kisses her again. "Help me get clean?"
The little smile widens as he steps back and passes her the washcloth back.
"Turn around."
He's smiling as he turns to face the back wall of the shower, letting her wash his shoulders and back. She can't reach much below the lower curve of his ass, but he's not really worried about that. This is about the thrill of her hands on him, because she always follows that terrycloth scrap with her free hand, letting him feel the smooth movement of her warm palms and the light scratch of her nails. By the time she urges him to turn and starts on his chest, he's reaching that hazy stage that comes for most people after an orgasm.
She delights in the effect, using it to explore and coax under the water with that same pattern of warm touch and tingle of nails. The massage he knew worked for him. The nails, just the slow drag without actually scratching, that's something unique to them.
"Let me get your hair."
He ducks his head toward her, letting her pull the shower wand down to massage suds through his short hair. Then she's shutting the water off and he's glad that Christmas morning anticipation actually led to Abby and Carl wanting to stay with their cousins tonight. He supposes it's more fun to giggle past bedtime with company.
As soon as they are in their room, he reaches for her, but she steps away teasingly. "Not done yet."
edited scene
It takes him a minute to realize what she's says then, and the delay is long enough that she stiffens a little trying to roll away to hide her face.
"Hey, no, darlin', no, don't do that."
He does have to get her to roll so he can hover above her. "Look at me, Lori. Please."
She finally opens her eyes and he sees tears. He's not sure if she's more hurt or embarrassed, but he brushes his lips to hers. "Just didn't think I heard you right. Didn't think you were there yet."
That registers with her and she starts to smile, that slow little mischievous grin he knows he fucking loves. He lets himself respond, grinning back.
"Love you too, woman. Think you would've known that by now."
"Yeah, I guess you do leave a lot of clues," she says softly. "I thought maybe it was something you just didn't like saying. Only heard you say it to Abby."
He supposes his reticence to voicing it aloud would make a woman nervous. It's not that he doesn't love his family. But they know it - and know him - so putting it into words isn't that important, or it's swathed in other things he says, like calling Scout che'lu. His ex-wife didn't care, which was probably one of those red flags he missed.
So, he leans in and murmurs it several times against her lips and cheeks and throat, each repetition followed by a kiss against her soft skin.
He'll just make a new habit for her, so she never has reason to doubt just how intensely he feels for her.
