A/N Thank you so much for the favorites and reviews. It makes my day when I see them :) It is the only way I know people are liking a story. Eager for your thoughts on this chapter too. More intimacy and sweetness!
I had only planned for this to be 4 to 5 chapters but debating on possibly more and really loving this version of Roman and his world so we will see if maybe there will be more depending on interest.
Watch for more updates for Fighting to Live. Almost done another chapter there and getting Seth on their side will not be as easy as they think.
Beauty Within the Darkness too we have Roman running from the bad guys and more flashbacks from his time in prison coming up.
Christmas is coming too so I have a sweet plus intense 5-chapter story coming up to watch for too.
Real life is tough right now in so many ways, so writing is so much the escape I need and love.
"What can I do?" she asked him, and she had started draining the tub some to get ready to help him out, but it was still more than 3/4 full when he shook his head and stopped it from draining and sealed it back closed.
Roman lifted his head again, his hair flipped back soaking wet behind his shoulders and his dark eyes seared deep into her own. "Hold me, please..."
Caroline felt her legs weak under her and she sat down on the edge of the tub, but he was refusing to let her leave, his palms still widespread over her legs. "What here? In here? " She looked around nervously.
"Please, just for a minute..." he begged, and his dark eyes were full on puppy dog pleading as he looked up at her.
Oh God how could she resist those precious innocent eyes looking at her like that?
There wasn't even another moments thought of staying back or getting out.
Roman needed her now and he was still reaching weakly for her in front of him.
She dropped to her knees into the water and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm here Roman. I'm right here baby."
Caroline totally surprised herself in her affectionate name for him too, but it slipped out without a thought as she could hear him literally whimper her name against her neck. Cradling his head in her hands she rocked him and could feel the shivering. She held him tighter and rubbed his bare back and tried to calm the shaking from his body.
Roman clung to her, both his arms wrapped so tight around her and his hands running up and down her back on top of her soaking wet tank top. He held her like that so close, his head buried against her throat and his whole body molded to hers. Neither of them barely moved and his arms just stayed wrapped so tight around her as she could feel his breath heavy by her face.
The water swished around them, just rising and falling below her chest and with every slight shift of either of their bodies. It dipped herself deeper as she heard him groan and wondered if she was hurting him with how she was sitting.
She was careful not to put too much pressure on Roman even kneeling in the water and didn't want to hurt him in any way at all, but he kept pulling her in closer and further onto his lap, till she had fully wrapped her legs around his waist under the water.
Lifting her head after maybe a full 5 or so minutes of silence between them she found his eyes and his head moved closer, nuzzling her cheek with his lips. He stroked her hair on both sides of her face. "Thank you. Really. You didn't have to do that. I feel bad that I was literally begging you."
She closed her eyes and felt his lips so close on her skin too. "I know Roman, I wanted to. You needed me and wanted to be here for you however I could. " She did. She knew she did.
Caroline heard him sigh deeply and sound like he swallowed a lump in his throat as she opened hers again.
"You feel like medicine just by being you and I want to kiss you, really kiss you Care. But I know that isn't any kind of a good idea right now."
Roman's eyes fell closed next and she watched his mouth open so, so close to her lips and she ached too for that kiss they very obviously both wanted to share. His eyes opened so slowly and looked deeply at her.
She let out the smallest whimper, her own hands clutching at his bare arms. She opened her mouth to him too, caught in the depth of his eyes and the longing so clear in the heaviness of his gaze.
They both pulled back at about the same time and realized what was happening. "Roman, we can't," she breathed out and he nodded back at her.
"I know, I can't risk you getting sick too. How selfish would I be after you just sacrificed so much for Maddie and I and we got you sick?"
He sat them up more and spun her to the side of him, his head falling more to her shoulder as he shook his head in agreement. They couldn't. It was the worst thing right then. She was here to help and take care of them not get sick too.
Caroline felt him nuzzle his body lower as he was still breathing heavily. Roman lifted his head and looked like he was embarrassed he had even mentioned it.
"I'm sorry Care, really," he said quietly, his brown eyes blinking more water out of them.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. You don't need to feel sorry for anything. Everything feels so good, please believe me. I feel safe and warm in your arms Roman, and I promise I will tell you if I feel anything doesn't feel right."
She smiled and he looked happy to hear that. "I can hold you a bit longer if you want too unless you are ready to get out?"
Roman sighed and nodded. "Maybe just a couple more minutes?" He looked like he loved the suggestion, so she gently pulled his head back down and moved to lay lower.
Shifting slightly behind him so he could lay on her now, he just rested his head on her chest above the water. She was still somewhat on his lap but now she was the one laying against the back of the tub with him in her arms, his head against her body.
Caroline sunk down deeper in the water but was careful not to get his head wet as she could just barely see his eyes were closed again. She tangled her fingers in his silky-smooth hair feeling his cheek and beard tickle against the skin on her chest, even through the thin wet tank top.
She felt his hands underneath her as his head still lay on her chest and they were running up and down her sides under the water. At first on top of her shirt and then she felt him slip his palms just a bit under to caress her skin and she nearly gasped.
Her hand clenched in his hair, and she was sure he heard her reaction because those hands slid higher up her bare back, just slowly up and down her sides and her head sunk to the back of the tub.
"See? Medicine..." Roman mumbled and moved his head just slightly higher and kissed the hollow of her throat. "I don't feel any pain, fever or chills right now Care. Just you." He bent to press his lips to her neck again. "Like something just numbs the pain even for such a short time when you are so close."
Caroline could not hold in the whimper of pure pleasure she was feeling, and her fingers pulled harder at his dark hair. "Oh Roman..."
He lifted his head and grinned, his eyes shining. "Feel good, Baby girl?"
She nodded rapidly and ached to pull his lips to hers. "Yes, so good. Where have you been all my life?" Caroline gasped out feeling the butterflies just spinning so fast and her whole body hungry for more of him. Everything felt so intense, and this was not at all what she was trying to do here in just helping him get better and taking care of him.
Roman laughed and sat up more in the water across from her. "I've been just across the hall for years. And if I'm being honest here, probably pinning for you since the day you moved in. Just way too busy getting my cousins and my business going or with taking care of Mads or too chicken to say anything or went on other blind dates and didn't just see that you were right here all along."
Caroline just stared at him after that deeper confession and he reached out and caressed her cheek with his one hand, looking so sweetly down in her eyes.
But he started shivering more from sitting up maybe or just from the water being too cold by now, so it was high time to get out and dry off.
"Damn it the chills are still right there sneaking up on me the second I'm not under the water too. I feel so shaky, and I can feel my stomach feeling flippy again." He growled out loud and looked so frustrated and she wished she could just take everything away. He had been suffering with this for almost a week already and she couldn't imagine how much she would hate it too.
Caroline smoothed the hair by his face and smiled. "I'm so sorry. Let's just focus on getting you better, okay? I will get out first and dry off and then help you out and back in bed."
He nodded and looked so reluctant to let her go but she again kissed his head, which this time, just didn't feel like enough. "I promise we can talk about this and us more later," Caroline smiled and he smiled back at her and helped her up to step out of the tub.
Holding her steady by her hips as she stepped up over the edge she held onto his shoulder and his other hand too till she was on the tiled floor on the other side and grabbed a towel and started drying off.
She stepped into the bedroom for more privacy and peeled off the tank top, bra, shorts and underwear. Then she dried herself the rest of the way and wrapped the towel back around her.
Roman was already calling for her and she could hear the pain in his voice again. God, she hoped the fever wasn't back too. Damn it.
Cursing under her breath she hadn't thought to pack clothes for herself in her bag. She brought any and all kinds of emergency supplies but not clothes. She slipped back in the bathroom with just the towel around her and was prepared to tell him she would be right back and just to run to her apartment for a couple minutes to get changed.
But opening the door back up she heard a loud thumping and immediately saw he had pulled himself out of the tub by himself and was gagging at the toilet again. Oh shit.
Caroline dropped to her knees in front of him, holding the towel with one hand and pulled his hair back from his face with the other hand. "Oh Roman, I'm so sorry..." she whispered." And he looked up at her so sadly too and leaned his head back on the toilet too.
"Me too, I didn't want to throw up in the tub and I was calling for you, but I just got out quick and it came up so fast." And he leaned over and threw up more. Just water it looked like or ginger ale but that was it.
She looked around for another hair tie and pulled open a bunch of the drawers till she found one and hurried back to him to pull his freshly washed hair back. After a couple minutes he sat back up, gasping and leaned against the wall.
"I think that's it. Stomach feels better now." He was still soaked and now the floor was too, and Caroline draped a towel over him and padded his chest dry at least while he sat there. She got up and got him some more meds ready and water to rinse his mouth too.
"Are you okay here for a bit so I can go run home and get changed?" she said once he had taken the pills and a few sips of ginger ale. He had curled up against the side of the tub and now turned toward her, tilted his head.
"You need to go?" he gasped weakly. "Please don't go..."
Caroline shook her head but was still holding the towel closed over her naked body. "Kind of need to get dressed after you wanted me to hold you in the tub before and all my clothes are now soaked sweetie," she reminded him.
"Wear mine," he said simply and dropped his head back down to the edge of the tub and closed his eyes again.
She hadn't thought of that and decided she would at least try it. So, she smiled and nodded to him and moved into the bedroom and grabbed a white under shirt and a pair of his boxers from his top drawer and slipped them on quickly and came right back to him within a half a minute. That would work.
"Okay let get you warmed up and dry. The sheets are changed and fresh and maybe you can get some sleep and try and eat a little something yet too. Even if it's just some soup or crackers or something."
She helped him up and dried him off the best she could, and they moved back to the bedroom carefully and slowly till he sunk back down on the bed. She had left a towel down to have him sit on to not get the bed all wet yet too and now needed to figure out how to get him changed too.
"K Roman if I pass you your clean clothes, can you get changed for me?" she asked him and tilted his head up to hers. She tossed the blanket more over his lap and waited for his reply.
He nodded at her. "Um yeah I can try. Maybe just try to hold me upright so I don't fall over, and I should be able to. He shifted around a bit, and she saw him lift his hips and then move more to pull the gray shorts down his legs and kick them off and onto the floor. He was breathing a little heavier but not too bad.
Roman shifted around more and lifted up and groaned and moved more and pulled and then was sliding the soaking wet boxers off next. By then he was panting and dropped his head to her chest as she stayed standing between his legs bracing his shoulders to keep him from falling.
"Sorry, just need a minute," he gasped out and was sucking in air deeper and Caroline could feel him shivering more. She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling the softness of the strands again now as it was still wet but so much silkier and smelled so good.
She could feel his palms cradle her waist, slipping under the thin tank top of his she was wearing as he laid against her and his shivering slowly subsided. Knowing he was totally naked under the blanket made Caroline's heart race in her chest.
Every way she had been with him, every touch or look between them had felt so intense when all she had done was come here to take care of him and his daughter.
Reaching for the boxers she had laid back on the bed she passed them to him and saw that this part he would most definitely need help with a saw him nodding without a word to her. No, he could not reach that far down to pull them on. So, she found the leg holes and helped slide them up to his thighs and paused there and felt his hands find hers under the blanket and he was shifting his hips again and pulling them the rest of the way on himself. Caroline helped him into another pair of gym shorts too.
It took a while, but he was finally clean and in clean clothes and even in a clean bed.
"Thank you," he breathed out and she was already untangling the hair tie and drying his hair with the towel more, rubbing it in at his scalp and slowly making her way all the way down till she had wrung out most of the water and it was much dryer and so, so soft again. "You have no idea how good everything feels after I had been too weak to hardly move for days. Any energy I had I used to take care of anything Maddie needed first."
His blonde hero was already looking around for the shirt she set aside for him and pulled on another muscle tank and helped his arms into the zip up hoodie and helped him put on warm fuzzy socks too. Anything to stop him from shivering so much. "There you go. Nice and warm and dry. Now I need to see about getting you some food if you think you are up for it."
"That sounds amazing. My stomach isn't spinning as much right now either so I think I will just close my eyes here till you get back then. Just don't be long k? What if I need you again?" Roman looked up at her, with an almost whining tone to his voice as she helped him lay down and tucked him in.
Her heart melted at that. It felt incredible to be needed and she stroked his face, pulling the blankets up nice and tight to his chin. She made sure the pail was close by on the bed too in case and reached over to pick up the washcloth and spread it back over his forehead.
His brown eyes found hers and he grinned up at her from under all the blankets. "Oh, and you in my clothes baby..." Caroline raised her eyebrows at him already eager to hear this and feeling her throat dry as she saw him lick his lips.
Roman was smiling so wide and she could see he was still fighting more shivers and Caroline rubbed his back as he lay on his side toward her. "So fucking sexy," he said in that deep voice she loved, and she felt another blush race across her face.
Caroline brushed her palm over his face and tried to hold back her smile. "Thank you, but you need to focus on getting better and not on me sweetie."
Roman chuckled and bent to cough and fought to catch his breath. "I know but everything about YOU helps me not think about the pain. I feel like I'm being bad and using you."
She shook her head, still stroking his face and he nuzzled into her hand. "No Roman you aren't. I am happy to help distract you however I can from the pain. Just rest and relax now and I will get you some food." He nodded and smiled and closed his eyes.
Checking his temperature first she found it wasn't nearly as high as before or maybe the bath was messing with the levels, that could be too but either way, he felt much cooler than before too.
Caroline offered him a big sip of water from a bottle by the bed and then headed off into the kitchen to make some chicken soup. Hopefully in the house with 2 sick people they had chicken soup. She did not think she had any at her place right now and that was not helpful.
Digging around in the cupboards it took a few minutes and she found some of what looked like older Cup-a-Soup, but it was quick and easy, and the broth would help too. She could already hear Roman groaning softy when she went back to the door to listen if he was sleeping. She was going to run over to her place to grab clothes but with him groaning and already almost whimpering she figured it could wait.
Damn it she guessed that was wishful thinking that he would be able to get more rest that easily.
Hurrying to pour a mug full of the soup broth and noodles and she was back at his side and crawling back in the bed right away, leaving it to cool on the nightstand. She brought her weighted blanket too and gently rubbed his back and got him to turn his head.
"Hey Roman, come here," she called out and he turned his body with more grunts and groans to her outstretched arms to him and in an instant, he buried himself in her open arms. He lay like that so still, his head on her chest and she didn't move and just rubbed his back up and down over top of the hoodie and thick blanket.
"I missed you already," he breathed against her chest and his arms were so tight around her. Caroline smiled in the darkness at his deep voice rumbling against her and how more butterflies were spinning in her belly from his words. She stroked his long silky hair all the way down from the top of his head to the tips of it at his mid back over and over and he nuzzled his head more against her.
God everything felt so good.
But within minutes he pulled his head up and was shivering again and yet shaking his head. "No, too hot. Too hot. Get it off please," and he was fighting to pull the hoodie down his arms and out from behind him and tossed it to the floor. His legs were moving like he could not get comfortable and settle down and she held him closer, but he shook his head more. "Too hot."
Roman flung the blankets off and was panting and laid on his back in the middle of the bed. Caroline grabbed the washcloth and went back to the bathroom and soaked it cold again and made it as cold as she could. But she thought of even more cold and got some ice cubes from his freezer and wrapped them in the cloth before coming to lay back down beside him.
He had gotten his muscle shirt halfway off by the time she got back and was whimpering that it wasn't cooperating to come off. Lifting his head gently she helped him get it the rest of the way off and he lay there breathing heavily and tossing and turning in the sheets.
Caroline picked up the cloth and felt the ice inside nearly freeze her fingers as she held it, debating if this would be too much of a shock but something needed to give him some relief. She laid it first on his forehead and he gasped out loud, grabbing for her wrist, his body jolting up from the bed.
The ice dripped in little trails down his face almost instantly and he sunk back down into the mattress and moaned.
Moaned, like an actual pleasure sound.
"Mmm, God Care..." he moaned again, his voice even deeper. "More please..."
That could not have sounded more sexual to her and yet all she wanted was for his pain to stop.
Slowly she moved the ice down his head to his cheek and back up and down the other cheek, letting the coldness melt into the skin all over his face. She saw him swallow thickly and the hand trying to hold onto her wrist dropped down to the mattress and his fist clenched in the blankets.
She let the ice drip down through the cloth and onto his neck and throat, and he moved his head up, as if giving her more room, more skin to cool down. Caroline was still just half sitting up beside him in the bed and now running the cloth over his shoulders and slowly down his chest, letting the ice-cold water drip all over as the ice cubes melted.
Roman's legs had stopped moving, his shivering if any was from the coolness on his skin not from the fever at least for now. He wasn't shaking, he looked to almost be sinking into the relaxation the ice was giving him, the numbness and not the pain trying to fight to the surface.
Moving closer on the bed to him, she leaned over to run the cloth along his arm, all the way down to his hand and then up again and down his side to his abs and across his stomach and back up and down the other arm.
She decided to try something else too and spread the washcloth all the way over his stomach and then picked up a piece of the ice and brought it up to his head and ran it up across his forehead back and forth.
"Mmm Baby that feels amazing on my pounding head too," he moaned again, and his eyes fluttered closed. She moved the ice to the back of his neck too the rubbed the cold into the bottom of his skull there too just under his hair line and Roman moaned more. "Yeah, right there. It's not so much by my eyes or as much by my neck. I wish I could freeze the inside of my brain. That's where it feels like its hurts so much since I threw up again before."
Caroline shifted to more or less having his head laying in her lap and grabbed another piece of ice and rubbed it in more on the back of his neck, careful not to hold it too long in one place but still letting the coldness soak in. It dripped back down into her hand, and she massaged his head and underside of his hair as he lay on his back.
"Here you can try this too," she called to him and picked up another piece and ran it across his lips and gently nudged them open. "Maybe sucking on the ice will help."
Oh wow, that sounded sexual too, she thought to herself but saw him nodding and she slipped the smaller ice piece between his lips and watched his lashes fall closed again.
She was looking down at him, watching the relaxation on his face as she continued to rub his head and was mesmerized watching him suck on the ice. All sorts of thoughts raced through her head of what those lips could do, and she felt more than any time that night an awareness of how long it really had been since she had been with any man in any way at all. Years?
Looking down now she saw his eyes find hers and catch her staring. Choking on nothing but the air in her lungs she couldn't seem to open her mouth and speak at all. And just the word "What?' squeaked out.
Roman grinned up at her and looked like he could tell he got her all tongue tied. "Anyone who let you go was a damn fool Caroline," he stated seriously. He seemed less flushed, and in less pain finally again.
"Well, there hasn't been anyone worth hanging onto." She surprised herself by even replying to something that vulnerable that quickly. "No one worth staying long term with or even over night with really, in so long."
Roman was looking up at her upside down and reached his one arm up past his head to her crossed legs under him. He squeezed her thigh gently and smiled. "Well, I don't want to even let you out of my bed. That is how much I want to hang onto you. And I know that sounds fucking crazy, but Care please stay here with me tonight? I know you could easily go back to your place to sleep and check on us as much as you need or sleep on the couch. But stay here, with me. Let me hold you all night. Only if you want to. It's totally your choice."
Caroline smiled and stroked his face in awe of his words. "I'm not going anywhere. I told I would stay, and I will stay right here if you need me, and I trust you Roman I do. You have no idea how much it means to just know you respect my feelings and choices."
"Everything you are doing just being here, taking care of us means the world to me to Care," he breathed out and was looking intensely back at her. "Believe that."
She smiled down at him and stroked his face. "I do. I am so glad what I am doing is helping. You finally look so much more relaxed again too." He nodded and smiled back at her, his head just sinking deeper into her lap.
Picking up another piece of ice she ran it around the edges of his lips and watched him open his mouth, his tongue darting out, ready to suck on it too. God why did everything become so damn intense with them? She slipped the ice between his lips and could not take her eyes off his mouth and unconsciously ran her finger around his lips even after she had put the ice in his mouth.
Roman moaned again and she saw him looking up at her as she was caressing his mouth with her finger, his eyes so dark and locked to hers in a heated stare.
Caroline broke the stare first and saw the last of the ice cubes were starting to drip down his sides from on his stomach and going to get the bed all wet. She lifted his head and moved to go to the bathroom quickly to wring out the cloth and bring a towel back to the bed and help wipe up where it was starting to get wet.
Roman wiped off the water on his stomach too and then sat up when she motioned to him to try to have some of the soup. He managed to drink at least half the mug full before laying back down and having more water too and curled up on his side facing her.
Caroline lay back down and smoothed some hair back from his face. "Do you think you might be able to sleep now? Or try?"
Roman nodded and yawned. "Well depending how late it is. I'm expecting my late-night visitor anytime. We can't go a night without her finding her way in here. Just depends on how late. But until then can we snuggle, nothing more?"
Caroline nodded to him and Roman opened his arms to her and smiled as she moved in closer and laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms all the way around her, pulling her in to his chest. "Well, she was really tired. Your little unicorn princess, so here is hoping she might sleep the night in her room or at least awhile."
Roman pressed a kiss to Caroline's forehead and it sent a shiver all the way to her bare toes, and she nuzzled deeper in his embrace, feeling the softness of his hair by her head.
"How can something like this, laying with you feel so natural so normal when I barely know you Roman?" she mumbled quietly.
"Mmm I think it's a sign that it's meant to feel natural. I finally don't feel any pain and feel like I don't want to move and risk something hurting again either. This right here, feels fucking perfect."
And another shiver raced up Caroline's spine as she felt his other hand rub up and down along the side of her not turned in against him, his fingers finding bare skin under his undershirt.
Roman's palm settled on her waist and cradled the curve of her body and pulled her in closer. "Going to try to sleep, while I can and pray nothing is worse when I wake up. I'm so freaking ready to be done being sick."
She mumbled "I'll be right here to make it better if you still are Roman," And she kissed his chest, her lips tasting the bare skin and she heard him moan once more before sleep took her under.
She didn't even hear him whisper into the darkness. "You already have made everything so much better. So much more than you know..."
The door creaked open, spilling more light in from the hallway and the night light that was always on there and Caroline was still wrapped in Roman's arms in his bed. She saw him lift his head to the sound as she blinked, and he dropped his eyes to see her awake and she smiled at him. He smiled back before kissing her softly on the forehead.
"Daddy?" came Maddie's voice from the doorway and Caroline could see the silhouette of the little girl clutching her blankie and seeming hesitant to come in the room.
"Right here Princess," Roman called out to her and sat up slightly.
Caroline saw the 6-year-old take a couple steps into the room and was shaking her head. "I'm sorry Daddy. I really tried."
Roman was sitting up all the way now and looking like he was going to try to go to her. "What are you talking about Sweet Girl. Come here. You don't have anything to be sorry for." His arms were open wide, and he was reaching for her. Maddie ran the rest of the way toward the bed and crawled onto his lap.
He pulled himself to lean against the headboard and Caroline sat up more too and helped put pillows behind him to lean against. Maddie curled up in a ball on her Dad's lap and pulled her blanket up to her chin.
"I know I have my own room and I thought if I was so sleepy and since you were up throwing up so much the last few nights I might actually stay sleeping all night finally. But I still had nightmares and still woke up scared."
Roman rocked her in his arms and kissed her head. "Hey, it is fine Sweetie. You helped me so much and you were My Superhero taking care of me and your nightmares are not your fault. At all.
Maddie looked up at him "You are always My Superhero Daddy in how you take care of me. It just got too hard when you got sick for so long and were not getting better." She moved her little hand up and over Roman's face and forehead. "You don't feel as hot and yucky as before Daddy. Is Auntie Care helping you?"
Roman looked back across the bed at her with what she might even say was love in his gaze and smiled with those beautiful eyes before he turned back to his daughter. "Yes, Princess she's taking amazing care of me. And you my Sweet Girl did the right thing going to get us help. So, thank you."
Maddie yawned and hugged Roman tight and nodded up at him. "I'm ready to sleep more if that's okay Daddy. Still so tired." He nodded and shifted them so Maddie was laying in the middle of the bed, and she curled her little body up first in her blankie but also up on Roman's chest and Caroline helped pull the blankets up over them and laid back down facing them both.
Roman laid with his head nearly touching hers on the pillows above Maddie's head and they heard the little girl sigh. "Oh Daddy, your hair is softer than my blankie again," she whispered.
Caroline was grinning at how cute he and his daughter were and saw him smiling back equally wide at her. It was so clear how proud he was. How much he loved that little girl and how amazing of a dad he was.
She saw Maddie nuzzle in closer, her nose right buried in against his hair, and laying on it like a pillow. He cupped her head and kissed her forehead. "Night Princess. " Roman whispered and her little arm wound around his neck, and she just mumbled and sounded like she was already asleep.
Roman lifted his head enough to see her watching them and smiled shyly back at her. "Told you we would have a late-night visitor," he whispered. "But I do feel so much better already. Not as hot or as dizzy or even my throat or my head doesn't hurt as much. Maybe sleep will actually work tonight for a while without pain."
Caroline smiled at him and stroked his face with her one arm up over their heads on the pillows. She pulled the blankets up more over her too and stayed laying on her side toward them. Her other arm she moved to drape all the way over to rest on Roman's side, just above his gym shorts and lightly caressed the bare skin there. His arm mirrored hers and slid to her waist under the blankets, feeling his large hand spread over her hip.
Then with Maddie snoring lightly between them, she heard his deep voice once more. "Thank you for staying, for everything."
Caroline felt his hand squeeze her hip that was just clothed in his boxers she slipped on after the bath. God, more butterflies from his touch..."Anytime Roman. Now, just try to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."
He smiled and closed his eyes, and she watched him for a few minutes, just seeing the dark eyelashes so full and thick, seeing his eyes flutter, seeing his head down and his nose right by his daughter's hair.
She closed her eyes and heard him breathing deeper too.
She had done everything she could to help this little family tonight and hadn't realized how much it had tired her out too and felt herself falling asleep quickly. She wasn't even in her own bed or in her own clothes, but she felt safe and warm and nuzzled her head against Roman's and breathed him in as she felt herself drift off to sleep.
