Summary: Stef doesn't quite seem like herself during dinner so Lena does what she can to help her relax
Mature Content
Dinner was louder than usual, despite both of their eldest two sons being out for the evening. Connor was joining them for the night and Jude was always more animated when he was over. The kids were all talking at once, shouting jokes and laughing across the table. Aside from a bit of conversation and the occasional reminder to actually eat their dinner, Lena's participation was minimal. Which didn't bother her at all. What did bother her was that her social, extroverted wife had hardly spoken since they sat down. Stef picked at her food, a telltale crease of unease between her brows, and though she offered a smile to Lena every time she caught her gaze, it never made it to her eyes.
When Stef got up from the table, Lena watched as she scraped her half-eaten plate into the garbage and set it in the sink. Then she stopped behind Lena, squeezing her shoulder as Lena turned to look up at her.
"I'm gonna head upstairs for a bit. I'll come back to help with clean up later."
"Don't worry about it." A tender smile pulled across Lena's mouth. "I'll take care of it."
"Are you sure? You made dinner."
"Yep. It's fine. I'll make them help me." Lena waved her hand in the direction of the kids who were chattering too loudly to hear themselves get volunteered.
"Thanks, hon." Stef's shoulders sagged in relief as she pressed a kiss into Lena's hair.
"Of course." Lena nuzzled Stef's hand between her shoulder and her cheek, then watched her wife walk out of the room, wondering what was wrong.
Lena had already gotten most of the food put away and was ready to start washing the dishes by the time the kids finished eating.
"Do you want help?" Callie asked as she brought over all the plates collected from the others. "It's supposed to be Brandon's night."
Lena smiled at her daughter and held her hands out for the stack of dishes. "Don't worry about it."
Callie stared at her for a moment. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't mind..."
"Yes. Go hang out with everyone. Have fun." The rest had already escaped into the other room without a second thought towards Lena or the cleanup.
Callie smiled with the corners of her mouth pulled down, shrugging one shoulder a little. "Okay. Thanks."
"You're welcome, sweetheart." When she lingered, looking unsure, Lena raised her eyebrows at her, grinning. "Go."
"Yeah, okay." Callie gave a little laugh, crossing her arms over her stomach as she turned and left the room.
Lena sighed to herself as she set down the plates and turned on the hot water. It was hard to believe that after a year, they were still having to convince Callie to just... be a kid. She had such a good heart and Lena didn't mind having at least one kid who could be counted on to clean up after herself but sometimes it still felt like they needed to remind her that they had things under control and didn't need a third parent in the house. It was much better than it used to be, though, so she was at least grateful for that.
She set to work on the dishes and her mind drifted from Callie to the weekend. Saturdays were always their busiest days and on top of the usual running kids around to various activities, they also had to drop Connor off at home and find time to get to the grocery store. Just thinking about it was daunting and she felt a familiar twinge of gratitude that she at least had Stef to help. It would have been impossible alone.
With the last dish in the dishwasher, she set it to run and wiped down the counters while creating a plan. Jude would come with her to take Connor home on the way to drop Mariana off at her dance rehearsal. Stef would take Jesús to his wrestling match across town where Lena and Jude would meet them for the match, then one of them would take Jesús and Jude, pick up Mariana from the school, and bring them home while the other stopped at the store. Callie was set to walk to group and Brandon could come to the match if he wanted. Feeling satisfied, both with her arrangements for everyone and the cleanup, Lena washed her hands before grabbing the dishrag to take upstairs to the laundry.
On her way, she stopped by the living room, standing in the doorway with one hand on her hip. "Everyone okay in here? Need anything?" The kids fell into a hush, Jude's face flushed red, still caught in a fit of muffled giggles as they all turned their attention to her.
"No, we're good." Mariana spoke for the group and Callie's head bobbed in agreement beside her.
"Alright," she said with an easy smile. "Everyone in their rooms at ten, lights out at eleven."
"Yeah, we know, Mama." Mariana rolled her eyes, though she wore a bright smile.
Lena raised her eyebrows but otherwise let the attitude slide. "Alright, fine. Goodnight. Love you." A chorus of I love yous were returned and Lena left the room, shaking her head as she mounted the stairs.
At the top, she was surprised to find her bedroom door closed. Something was up with her wife; she knew that. But a closed door this early in the evening usually meant "I'm sleeping" or "I'm mad." Hoping to find Stef napping but with just a touch of trepidation, she padded down the hallway and cracked open the door.
Their bed was empty. Stef was curled up on the window seat, her body language disguised behind the newspaper she was reading. Lena slipped into the room, locking the door behind her, just in case. She didn't want the kids walking into a fight.
"Hey," she said from her spot in front of the door.
"Hey." Her wife poked her head around a corner of the paper, regarding her over the top of her reading glasses. She still looked tired but otherwise her usual self. Letting her guard down, Lena took the dishrag and threw it in the laundry hamper before crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed in front of her.
"You okay?" She reached out, rubbing the outside of Stef's calf, just below her knee.
"Of course." Stef gave her a weary smile. She folded the newspaper, setting it on the seat beside her, then slipped off her reading glasses and placed them on top of the paper.
"Are you sure? You were quiet at dinner and then you disappeared up here right away…" Lena's hand continued its steady caress on Stef's leg and her head tilted in concern. Stef rubbed the bridge of her nose where her glasses had been before sitting up and leaning forward.
"I'm fine, love. Promise," Stef reassured her, her smile brightening with a bit of effort. She took Lena's hand from her leg and brought it to her lips, kissing the tops of her long dark fingers. "I'm just tired. And stressed. They're really running us hard at work and I needed some time to just decompress before our busy weekend. That's hard to do with our noisy brood." With a deep sigh, Stef let go of Lena's hand and leaned back against the window.
"Well," Lena gave Stef's knee a pat, "I worked out a plan for tomorrow so that's one thing you can take off your plate."
"Yeah?" Stef picked her head up to look at her and Lena confirmed with a nod. "You're amazing," she sighed and rested her head back again. Lena smiled down into her lap. "And thanks for taking care of the dinner cleanup," Stef added after a quiet moment, closing her eyes. "I owe you one."
"It's fine." She offered her reassurance with a gentle squeeze to Stef's thighs. "You don't owe me anything. We all need a break sometimes."
Everything about Stef's body language told her she really did need that break. Despite reclining, she was stiff with an uneasy tension, her shoulders and neck rigid. When Lena started to knead her fingers into the muscles of her thighs, she thought she might as well be massaging a marble statue, they were so tight.
"Have I told you recently that I love you?" Stef's eyebrows rose in question but her eyes remained closed. "Because I really, really do." The declaration was accompanied by a lilt of appreciation as Lena's hands worked out a bit of the tension from her legs. She settled down lower, scooting her hips out to the edge of the seat.
Lena continued the massage, working her way up Stef's thighs, watching her face grow more and more relaxed. It was a stunning sight. Her blonde hair fell around her face in uniform waves from being unbraided. The light makeup that was standard for her workdays darkened her eyelashes just enough to be alluring. A pleasant smile turned the corners of her mouth upwards, beckoning Lena in.
She crept across the space between them until she was straddling Stef's lap, then swept her blonde hair behind her shoulders.
"Hi…" Stef invited an explanation as she peered up at Lena from beneath her lashes but Lena didn't offer one.
"Hi," was all she breathed back.
Stef had a gentle grip on Lena's thighs, securing her a bit more firmly in her lap. "What, uh... What're you doing?"
Holding Stef's gaze, she ran her fingers over her shoulders and up into the hair at the nape of her neck. The corners of her mouth lifted just so. "Helping you decompress."
Stef's eyebrows rose again and she tipped her chin up. "Uh huh..." she smirked. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"
Lena hummed a quiet laugh, pursing her lips. "Presumptuous."
She began rubbing gentle circles into her scalp. Stef tipped her head back, eyes already closing. Though she hadn't thought it possible, the muscles at the base of her skull were even tighter than the muscles in her legs so, anchoring her thumbs behind her ears to give herself leverage, she added more pressure. While she didn't have the strength Stef had, this wasn't going to be something she could muscle through, anyway. Endurance was more important and, well, she had plenty of that. She worked until the muscles started to give a little beneath her fingers, then began seeking out individual knots. As she massaged out each one, a little more tension seeped from her wife's body until her back and shoulders sagged against the window and her head grew heavy in Lena's hands. When Lena pressed her fingers at the nape of her neck and pulled them down to her shoulders, then pressed her thumbs back up as if she were a sculptor working clay, a low moan rumbled deep in Stef's chest.
After a few more passes, confident in her work, Lena's hands grew still. With her head tipped back, Stef's neck was exposed all the way to her chest and down to the cleavage that dipped below her shirt. If that hadn't been enticing enough, the absolute serenity on her face certainly was. It was unguarded and vulnerable in a way that Stef rarely allowed and Lena couldn't help but be pulled into it.
Leaning down, she brushed the lightest kiss against Stef's lips, making her inhale in surprise. She kissed her again, then the corner of her mouth, her jawline, below her ear—each one more open-mouthed than the last. When she let her breath rush against her ear, Stef shuddered and her grip on Lena's thighs tightened. She ran her tongue along the edge of her ear, drawing out another moan, this one much more desperate than the last. Grinning, she rewarded her with a gentle nip to her earlobe.
She was getting ready to move on when she felt Stef's hands slide back around to her backside, pulling her in against her. At the same time, her lips landed beneath her jaw. This was not part of her plan but Lena didn't make any effort to stop her. Instead, as Stef kissed her way down the length of her neck, she closed her eyes and leaned in. Which one of them she was indulging, she didn't really know. She also didn't care. Her fingernails scraped against Stef's scalp, gripping the hair at the nape of her neck as her skin tingled beneath Stef's lips. She couldn't stop her hips from grinding down against her lap but when Stef reached the peak of her collarbone, the sting of a gentle suck cut through the haze settling over her and got her back on task, albeit a little begrudgingly.
Urging her back up, she kissed Stef's lips one more time before climbing off of her lap. Sliding her hands up the insides of her wife's thighs, she pressed her legs apart as she knelt down between them. Stef's eyes were on her as she pushed her sweater up to expose the taut muscles beneath. She kissed her way across them, her tongue traipsing along behind her featherlight fingertips as they twitched beneath her touch. When she reached the waistband of her jeans, she unbuttoned them and slowly dragged open the zipper, pulling them open so she could kiss her way even lower.
"Lena."
She raised her head to find her wife with her lips parted and her eyes dark. She didn't need to say anymore. While Stef lifted her hips, Lena wriggled her jeans down, pulling them off along with her underwear, and tossed them aside.
Back tracking just a little, Lena started just below her bellybutton and kissed her way down again, dipping the tip of her tongue down between her folds as she reached them. Using her thumbs to open her, she found her wet and fully primed. With no need for more foreplay, Lena settled in, forgoing any desire to tease that she would have indulged under other circumstances. The goal was to relax and offer a release of pent up stress, not to make Stef work for it. So she went for her tricks usually reserved for quickies but at a slower, easier pace—things she knew would drive Stef to the edge without any effort. Focusing almost entirely on her clit, she used broad, steady strokes, slowly adding pressure, as Stef's breathing grew faster and more shallow in tandem. When she let out a soft moan, Lena let her fingers take over for a moment so she could better gauge her pace. Stef's head was tilted back against the window, eyes closed in concentration. She was close. Lena recaptured her with her mouth, sucking gently before resuming her rhythm with her tongue. A hand pushed into her hair, pulling her closer as Stef's legs began to shake. Her wife arched into her so she quickened her pace, adding even more pressure until she shuddered, her breath catching as she silently reached her release.
A deep exhale and the hand in her hair going limp signaled to Lena that Stef was fully satisfied so she left her with one last kiss. Sitting back on her haunches, she wiped the wetness from her mouth and chin, gazing at her wife who looked very content reclined against the window, her thighs and neck and cheeks splattered with a bright pink flush. Careful not to disturb her, Lena crept onto the seat and wrapped her arm around her waist, curling up beside her with her head on her shoulder. After a minute or two, Stef let out a pleased little hum and pressed a kiss to the top of Lena's head.
"So, what's the verdict?" Lena asked, tilting her face up to look at Stef whose eyes barely opened more than slits beneath her eyelashes.
"Hmm?"
"Did it work? Are you feeling more relaxed?"
"Mhmm." The sound dragged out from Stef's chest. "I am completely stress free. Not a care in the world." A drowsy smile played across her lips. "All thanks to you."
"Anything for you, babe," Lena teased before planting a kiss on the corner of her wife's mouth. "I'm gonna go clean up a bit." Lena pushed herself up, grabbing Stef's jeans from the floor and tossing them to her. "You might want to put these back on."
"Hold on a minute," Stef said, catching Lena's hand and pushing her jeans back onto the floor. "Who said we were done here?" She pulled Lena down onto her lap and captured her lips.
"I thought you said you were stress free…" she murmured against Stef's mouth.
"Oh, I am." Stef's hand crept beneath the bottom of Lena's blouse, cool against her skin and making her shiver as it nestled into the small of her back. She could feel her pulse starting to quicken as Stef urged her closer, dusting kisses along the length of her neck. She moaned as she tipped her chin up, eyes closed, her black curls tumbling back behind her shoulders. "But it's only fair that I return the favor." She slid her hand up and around to the front of her, teasing her through the fabric of her bra. Lena shivered again. "Especially since I owe you one."
"You don't owe me anything," Lena reminded her while pulling her closer.
"Oh, but I do, my love," Stef purred, removing her lips from Lena's neck so she could tug off her shirt. "In fact," she kissed Lena's pouting lips then pulled back to flash her a roguish smile, "I think I owe you double."
