February passed, then March and April came and went without much problem, only the occasional excitement of a bump in the routine, April arrived at a time when it should have been green and flowering, children laughing and playing outdoors, couples strolling hand in hand, all of this should have been but instead it was gray and ash.
Tonight wasn't any better, what should have been a night of full moon was a night of thunderstorms. It was thundering and the lightning was lighting up the room at random moments, the rumbling thunder lulled to sleep and the cracking lighting awoke. Ali was almost asleep when a soft knocking came from the door, Creedy grunted softly in displeasure as he went to open it. Ben and May looked up at him with the most pitiful eyes of scared little children cowering in the doorway.
"It scares us." was all Ben said, both of them jumped, each of them clinging to Creedy when lighting cracked nearby.
"Come on then." They released him and ran inside to stand in the middle of the floor. They huddled together and watched Creedy as he made his way back to his bed. "Are you going to leave them there?" He shook his head as he crawled over Ali to lay down and then looked at the little ones.
"Well are you going to join us or stand there all night?" They hussled over and clambered into bed, elbowing and kneeing took place as they got situated on the tiny bed not designed for four. Creedy was shoved up against the wall with Ben between him and May, while May was curled up against Ali who was teetering on the edge of the bed. 'Lord don't let me fall off' was her last thought as she drifted off to sleep.
In the morning Ali woke up to a gigantic puddle of drool on her shoulder, she didn't mind after seeing two angels look at up her bleary eyed and groggy tumbling out of bed, after all who can resist the power of children? In fact over the next two months Ben and May became increasingly attached to the adults and would follow them everywhere. If they cried or scrape their knee they ran to Ali for comfort, if they got scared they ran to Creedy, knowing he would chase away any and all bad things. They were good kids, quiet and well behaved so they weren't much of a problem. They caught on quickly to things, already they had mastered the art of sneaking out of bed, it became routine every night for the little ones to go snuggle up in bed between Creedy and Ali. It would no doubt be that way until either Creedy or Ali told them no, or they got to big. And considering the way Ben and May had the adultswrapped around their chubby little fingers it would be when they got to big. Tonight was different, tonight neither Ben nor May showed up for some unknown reason.
"They're not coming." She whispered, it was 11:15 they should have arrived a while back.
"You don't sound disappointed."
"I like the idea of being able to move without being afraid of falling off the bed, don't get me wrong I love the little guys but one night to ourselves isn't that selfish is it?" He shook his head no and smiled in a suggestive manner.
"Well we can either sleep or make the most of it."
"Hmm what do you mean by make the most of it?" The look she gave him told him she knew exactly what he was talking about as he leaned close and whispered into her ear.
"Creedy you horn dog- you really think we could do that all in one night"
"We could try." He kissed her.
"But if your tired we can sleep." He turned away and made to go to sleep, she pulled him back.
"Oh no, you finish what you start." He grinned. "I will." He kissed her again.
Creedy traced invisible circles onto Ali's shoulder, with her head on his chest she could hear the steady rhythm of his heart beating so strongly beneath her ear.
"Have you finished what you started yet"
"We aren't even halfway through the list yet." He began to kiss her neck, he'd be damned if he didn't get through that list.
Morning was foggy and damp, lovely sleeping weather.
"Why does it seem like we always gather around the coffee pot in the morning?" Ali said after the round of good mornings. It was true though. Isa, Mattie, Creedy, Quinn and herself always somehow managed to gather at the coffee pot at the same time in the morning.
"Probably because we do."
"Last night was the best sleep I've had in a while." Quinn said, he missed the smirk Creedy had plastered on his face, poor Quinnnever got any.
"Where are Ben and May? I haven't seen them all morning, they're usually here by now."
"Funny you should say that, I was up late last night and I found them sneaking out of bed, heard them going by the kitchen and had to put them back to bed. Not 10 minutes later I heard them again, they seemed hell bent to get wherever they wanted to go. I finally had to threaten them, but it did the trick. I reckon they're around here somewhere, probably don't want to show their faces to me." Creedy picked up 3 pieces of toast, one in each hand and put the third in his mouth. He used hand signals, or in this case toast signals, to excuse himself.
"I think I'm going to go outside for a minute or two if you can spare me." The sunlgith shining through a window had been calling Ali's name, she was powerless to resist.
"Have fun." Ali put down the clean plates and made sure the coffee was plenty before she walked outside. There was a nice breeze as the sun hit her full blast, she had to squint as her eyes adjusted to the light. There were a few little ones running around here and there, playing tag. She sat down on the steps, it was a nice view of the surrounding landscape despite the lack of greenery.
"I'm going to get you!" She turned around at the excited squeel of rage to see Ben come hurtling out of the door followed closely by May. May caught up with her brother and they tumbled, coming dangerously close to rolling down the stairs. May pinned him down and began to torture him in childish ways. 'Why me?' Ali thought, she had come for a bit of peace, now she had to tend to those two lovable heathens. She pulled May off of Ben and gave her a stern look.
"What do you think your doing beating up on him like that?"May sniffed.
"He put a cockroach down my shirt." Ali shivered, she hated cockroaches. 'Well he deserved that then.' If only she could have said that outloud rather than just think it, but she had to set an example.
"Don't hurt your brother alright? He's the only one you got, keep him in one piece." She turned her attention to Ben who was looking at his scraped knee.
"Ben dont put cockroaches anywhere near her from now on alright? Both of you could've gotten hurt running around like that, you almost rolled down the steps, that wouldn't of been good. You both apologize to the other and go on." The siblings said their apologies. "Ali make my knee better." She gave him a smile and bent over giving it a light kiss and blowing lightly onit.
"A kiss always makes things better." Ali was surprised it actually seemed to work. 'Heh. I thought that only worked from moms to their kids.' Ben stood up, gave Ali a smile and then he and May bounced off to locations unknown.
She didn't know Creedy had watched the entire ongoings from the shadows of the doorway behind her. He stood there and watched her handle the situation, swear to God he nearly sighed outloud when she kissed Ben's knee. Here was a soulfully beautiful woman caring for the two kids he adored the most, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He loved her, truly and deeply loved her and if he ever had kids of his own,only she would be the mother.
"Does a kiss really make things better?" Creedy stood there in the doorway with a smile on his face, his eyes bright glinting from a mix of laughter and the sun.
"Maybe." He sat down beside her and stole a kiss.
"I believe they do." Creedy looked over at her, she smiled at him and he smiled back.
"I love you, Ali." She couldn't think, couldn't move, she was frozen in place with her heart going 90 miles per hour. Somehow the words formed themselves when she did managed to speak. "I love you too Creedy." He kissed her again and she leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying a few minutes of peace.
Ben and May managed to make it up to bed without being caught that night. "Good night mommy, goodnight daddy." Neither of the two adults noticed when Ben and May told them goodnight, after all it only felt natural when they were beginning to think of them as their own.
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