Chapter Thirteen: Salve

Desmond was a beautiful city at night.

It reminded me a little of Glacier City back on Puget - minus the freezing temperatures, and all the rebs and reb sympathizers wanting to do you in, of course. At least out here, I didn't need to travel in full gear with two guns, grenades, and a combat knife strapped to my person just to feel marginally safe.

But tonight I'd promised myself not to dwell on all that - not the past, or what was to come. Tonight was about fun and celebration. Two things we'd had very little of in the past year.

"Cooper," Willis said to me then, and I turned to face him, startled out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Watch your step."

I glanced down at the ground as I held onto his hand with my own. I'd been very close to face-planting into a dark puddle as we crossed the street.

That would've been embarrassing.

Once we were safely on the other side, Willis stopped to take hold of my shoulders and look at me.

"Natalie? You okay?"

I shook my head to clear it, then brought a hand to my temple. "Yeah. Just a little...preoccupied with things. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I get it. There's been a whole hell of a lot going on lately."

"Yeah."

He put a hand under my chin to tilt it up slightly and smiled. "Can't expect the world to drop off and disappear just because it's date night, huh?"

I chuckled. "Nope."

My husband leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back.

"Come on," he said when he pulled away again. "I think you'll really like this place I found."

We continued down the block, walking hand-in-hand, and it almost felt surreal to me after the last several months apart. It felt more like a memory of our former selves rather than something happening right now. But I reminded myself that it was real - and that made me feel happier and more secure than I'd been in a very long time.

It turned out Willis was right about his venue of choice for tonight. Excitement got the better of me when I realized where we were going. I turned to face him with a slight smirk.

"Sushi?"

"Yup. I came here a couple weeks ago with Heat to throw back some saké after work. They do a mean sashimi plate."

I was practically salivating already. "I'm in."

Just before we passed the entrance, Willis stopped again and pulled me closer. "It also turns into a club after hours," he whispered in my ear. "I've been waiting to dance with you."

The way he said it, husky and low, sent definite shivers down my spine. Too bad that would have to wait for later, too.

"I look forward to it," I replied, just as low.

Inside, the restaurant was pretty crowded for a weeknight. We were seated in a few minutes and led to a small table in the corner. I didn't mind being a little out of the way. After the court-martial, I'd felt more exposed than I'd ever been in my life. Being inconspicuous was good.

We sat across from each other and opened our menus, taking some time to decide what we wanted, and I ended up going with some of Willis's recommendations since he'd been here before. After that a waiter came to take our order, and we were left alone again.

My husband smiled at me from across the table and reached out for my hand. I took his in mine and felt the warmth go through me. I'd missed this.

"So...not to get into anything too heavy here, but I just wanted you to know I fully expect us to take things slow for now," he said to me then. "I know you're still working through what happened on your own. I'm not proposing you move back in right away or anything. Just...I'd like to see you more. Spend some time alone together when we can, and work on things."

I nodded. "Okay. That sounds great."

"I know there's still a lot that needs to be done here before we get back to...where we'd like to be. But I'm glad we're getting the chance to start."

I smiled back at him and gave his hand a squeeze. "Me, too."

"And we can check in with each other from time to time, too, and see if we want to move faster or slower with things. But I'm fine with whatever makes you comfortable."

"All right."

The waiter returned with our drinks. As soon as he set them on the table, I took a sip of mine. Willis downed his in two gulps.

He gestured to my saké. "Well? How is it?"

"Very good."

His expression brightened. "Right? Just wait till the food gets here. You'll love it."

An hour and a half later I was stuffed full of fish and rice, with two sakés down the hatch. Willis had had two as well. It made for a pleasant in-between of almost buzzed, but neither sober nor drunk. A perfect mix for dancing.

My husband checked his watch. "Kitchen should be closing now. After that, it's just the bar and they'll get the lights down and the tables and chairs put away. So we've got about a half-hour to kill."

"How about a walk?"

"Sure."

We put on our jackets and went outside again, in the pleasantly chilly evening. One thing I'd always loved about our home planet was it never got too hot, even in the summertime. Nor did it get too cold, although the average global temperatures were lower than Earth's. After spending time on numerous planets with extremes in climate - humanity's homeworld included - it felt especially good to be home.

I let out a contented sigh as we walked. "I never want to leave here."

"Same. Although we won't have much choice next time orders come in."

At that I bit my lip. "That might actually be happening sooner rather than later."

Willis quirked an eyebrow at me. "What do you know?"

"I've been hearing more rumors swirling about Sanghelios. I'm waiting for Cal to get back from Sydney tomorrow to ask him what's going on." I frowned. "But just the fact that he was summoned to HighCom in the first place can't be good."

"No. Could it be for something else, though?"

"Possibly. Not even Dani knew what he was there for. But with something this big, I doubt it."

"And you think they'd send us back out right away?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, Will. I guess we'll just have to see." My voice went low in dejection. "What I do know is I'm not in any way prepared to leave the kids again right now. It's too soon."

"I know. That would be...difficult."

Before we could dwell on it any further, though, Willis checked his watch again, and promptly turned us around.

I decided to try my best to push everything else from my mind and stay in the moment.

"Dance time?" I asked him with a smirk.

"Dance time," Willis affirmed, and we both walked a little faster.

It felt different being on the patron side of a club for once - not part of a task force to capture a rebel leader inside, or to meet with one as part of negotiations. This time, I was here only to enjoy myself, and I took full advantage of that.

And the bar.

I didn't want to get too carried away, but we did order two more sakés - one for each of us - just to get back in the swing of things after the brief waiting period. Soon after that we were buzzed enough to go make fools of ourselves alongside other gyrating strangers. It also helped that the music was good and loud.

Above all, though, it was nice to let go.

We danced to several upbeat songs, then a slower one, then one with an amped up beat again. It was then that things got a little heady, between the Japanese wine and our night out and getting back together - and dancing so close all night. It started off with a kiss that very quickly went full make-out session right on the dance floor, and then we realized we should probably get out of the crowd.

In minutes Willis had me pinned against the wall towards the back, out of the way of most of the other patrons either twisting on the floor or drinking near the bar. We were kissing fervently and he was pressed against me, his tongue exploring my mouth as we listened to the music and the crowd in the background, and it finally got to be too much.

Other than that night at my apartment almost two weeks ago, it'd been months since we'd been alone together. I wanted him, and I wanted him now.

"Will," I said between kisses, grabbing hold of his shirt.

"Mm?" he responded.

"Take me home."

Our house was closer than my apartment, so we went straight there. It was late so the kids were already asleep, and Chief had curled up on the floor by the couch, also down for the night. We thanked the babysitter for watching everyone, paid her, and all but shoved her out the door before making our way up to our bedroom.

It was good to be home again, and in my own bed, but I had many other things on my mind right now that I wanted to get to that were even better. We stumbled through the door, more out of eagerness than because of the wine, whose effects were all but gone now, and finally resumed kissing as we worked hastily to shed our clothes.

Everything after that was some of the best moments of my life.

Finally, we were together again.

In the morning I woke up sore, but with a very wide grin on my face. I was lying naked next to Willis, snuggled up against his side with my head on his bare chest, an arm draped lazily around his middle. We hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep, but it'd been a very good night.

My husband wasn't awake yet, so I got to watch him peacefully for a moment as he breathed deep in his sleep. Propping myself up on an elbow, I ran a hand through his short, golden brown hair, then kissed him softly on the lips. That's when he finally opened his eyes.

He smiled drowsily when he saw me. "Morning, Coop."

"Morning."

He pulled me down to kiss me, even though he still wasn't fully awake.

"Last night was - "

"I know."

I kissed him back, taking my time and deepening the kiss. I felt him stir and he started to shift underneath me, moving me closer, but that's as far as things got.

"Dad!"

We broke apart and covered up just in time, as a second later, both our twins popped their heads through the door. The one we'd inadvertently forgotten to lock the night before in our haste.

"Mom?" Olivia cocked her head to the side when she saw me, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh..."

This was not a good time for my brain to stop working.

"Did you have a sleepover?" Liam asked, and I'd never been more thankful for my shy middle son speaking up.

"Yup," Willis answered. "Your mom decided to stay over with us last night."

Olivia knotted her brows again. "Does that mean you're getting back together?"

Finally my brain supplied me with words again.

"We'll talk to you guys about that in a minute, okay? Why don't you go into the living room for now and we'll be right out."

Liam and Olivia hesitated for just a second before turning to each other with grins. "Okay!" they said in unison.

Our daughter shut the door behind her, and then I heard her yell down the hall, "Gabe, wake up! Mom's here!"

"What?" our oldest called back.

"Mom! She's - "

At that the sound of her voice became muffled, maybe by another door if she'd gone into her older brother's room, and Willis and I were finally left to sigh in relief.

I dropped back against my pillow and said, "That was close."

"Yeah," my husband returned.

"So what should we tell them? About us, I mean?"

Willis put an arm behind his head as he lay beside me. "Well, we can tell them the truth. That we're giving this a try again."

I frowned. "But what if...I don't want to get their hopes up if things don't...you know."

He leaned over and gave me another kiss. "They will, Cooper. I can feel it."

With that he rolled to the other side, got up out of bed, and started getting dressed. I did the same.

Willis smiled at me. "Come on. Since it looks like everybody else is already awake, we'll go get Logan up too and make breakfast."

"What about Chief?"

"You can take him out now to do his business, and then we'll all go for a walk after we eat. Sound good?"

I walked over to him, still only half-dressed, and kissed him. Hard.

"Sounds perfect."