Sebastian blinked, coming to slowly. Everything around him was very white. Mariah was seated in a chair next to the bed he was in, looking a bit worse for wear. Taking in his surroundings he realized he was in the clinic. Mariah wasn't looking at him, but her hand was in his on the edge of the bed. He gave it a slight squeeze drawing her attention.
"Seb?" Mariah sounded hesitant.
"Yeah?" his voice sounded more like a croak.
"Oh thank Yoba," Mariah visibly relaxed, "I was really scared there for a while."
"What happened?" he asked, his voice still rough, but sounding a bit more like him.
"We went up to the spa after lunch. I don't know exactly what happened but you were hunched over, grabbing at your head howling in pain. It wasn't my finest moment, but I freaked out. We immediately turned back around and came to the clinic. You blacked out. Carver hadn't gone back inside of Pierre's yet when we got down here and came to help me and Harvey get you into the clinic. Harvey checked your vitals and injected you with some kind of pain killer. He wants to do so more tests but wasn't able to do much because you were totally out."
Sebastian cursed under his breath, "What'd you tell him? And where is he now?"
"I told him about some of your symptoms since Monday, minus the memory stuff. The headaches, couple of dizzy spells, and not great sleep. I wouldn't have said as much as I did expect Carver was there as said some shit," Mariah explained, "Harvey's in the other room, I should actually get him."
"How long was I out for?" Sebastian asked, "And what should I do about Harvey?"
"Not that long. Twenty minutes maybe? I'm not entirely sure. And I have no idea what to do about Harvey. Everyone is kind of freaking out, so you're going to have to do something. Talk about your stress or something. It's honestly a miracle that Sam was able to help me convince them to stay up there and not follow us here. I'm actually going to have to call Robin when you're meeting with Harvey."
"No stay," Sebastian said, "Don't leave me to talk to Harvey alone. Please. I don't want to do it alone."
Mariah looked hesitant, but agreed, "Okay. Let me just go get him and I'll text Robin instead."
Mariah got up and less than a minute later, Harvey came strolling in. Mariah trailed after him, looking at her phone, presumably sending the text to Robin.
Harvey, who Sebastian admittedly didn't know all that well, looked concerned as he spoke to Sebastian, "Sebastian I'm glad you're awake. I'd like to ask you a few questions, but would it be okay if I took your vitals first?"
Sebastian nodded his head in agreement and let Harvey do his thing. Mariah sat back down on the chair she'd been in previously.
"Everything looks normal," Harvey said, looping his stethoscope back around his neck, "How are you feeling?"
"Significantly better than I was before," Sebastian answered honestly.
"Good, good," Harvey nodded as he jotted down some notes, "Now Mariah says you've been having some issues on and off since Monday?"
"Yes," Sebastian confirmed, "Mostly headaches. None as bad as what just happened."
"Hmmm," Harvey said, "What else?"
"Well I've had a couple of panic attacks as well. Which I haven't had in a very long time," Sebastian added, Mariah nodded in collaboration and encouragement, "Sensitivity to light with some of the headaches. Not the greatest sleep."
"Tell me more about Monday, if you can," Harvey requested.
"Monday was the worst. I felt more sick, and just out of it. I was a bit dizzy early in the day, but that went away. Everything sort of got better as the day went on. Nothing's lasted as long as it did that day and expect for just now, nothing was as bad as it was then."
"Mmm," Harvey wrote more notes, "Any changes to your diet or medications or anything unusual going on in your life?"
"Well I had a couple of beers on New Year's," Sebastian said, "But other than that no. My stress has been on the higher end."
"How come?" Harvey asked, looking up from his notepad.
"Well all of the work that goes into the new season," Sebastian began, "As well as the wedding and whatnot. All sort of compounded with the pregnancy. Both trying to make sure we're fully prepared for a newborn again, now with Morgan around, but I think mostly the stress of the possibility of the baby coming early again and what could happen with that."
Harvey nodded, "That makes sense. Unless I'm mistaken you don't have a history of severe headaches like the one you experienced today, correct?"
"That's right."
"The stress and alcohol make sense for how you were feeling on Monday, though I do wish you'd come to see me then. I'm a bit concerned about the ongoing headaches, though would be less so if it weren't for today. The panic attacks and poor sleep do make sense. Everything seems to be feeding into each other. Have you been taking good care of yourself otherwise? Making sure you're staying hydrated and all of those types of things?"
Sebastian looked over at Mariah, "Errrr."
"Probably not as well as he should be," Mariah filled in.
Harvey looked between them before addressing Sebastian, "Would you agree with that?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "Nothing crazy, but I could definitely be doing a better job."
"If you're willing, I'd like to do some blood work, just to check and make sure your levels are normal," Harvey requested.
"Uh, sure," Sebastian agreed, though he didn't much like getting blood drawn.
Harvey grabbed a few things from a drawer, coming back over to him. He kept talking as he worked on drawing his blood, "If you're feeling okay, I'm willing to let you go back home to rest for the afternoon. But you have to actually rest. No exerting yourself for anything. If you start to feel worse, let me know immediately. And if you're okay with it, I'd like to double check your vitals again tonight before the rehearsal."
"I guess that's fine," Sebastian said, glancing at Mariah.
"Excellent," Harvey said, glancing at Mariah, "You need to rest too by the way. Keep your baby sitters busy for now. And Sebastian I'm going to put in a referral for you to check in with a neurologist. You likely won't get an appointment for a few weeks, but if this continues or your symptoms get worse we can get that expedited. I also strongly encourage you to check in with you therapist to address the degree of stress you're experiencing. Normal given the circumstances, but not helpful to any of you. You both need to be able to relax a bit."
"That's for sure," Mariah grumbled.
"I know you're not the patient at the moment, but you're doing just fine with your pregnancy," Harvey said, "I got the notes from your last appointment, and as I'm sure they already told you, everything is right on track. You and the baby are both healthy and even if you do end up going into labor early again your risk level is entirely normal. Both of your anxiety about the situation is understandable, but please don't let it get the best of you. Everything should be just fine."
"Thank you Harvey," Mariah said.
"And I'd like to see you back here early next week so I can just check in," Harvey said to Sebastian, who agreed.
They were quiet on the brief ride back to the farm. Mariah kept not so subtly peeking at Sebastian out of the corner of her eye as she drove, "I'm okay," he finally said, hoping to deter her behavior.
"I was scared," Mariah spoke lowly, "Really scared. Not that this is about me. I just…I didn't know what was happening. You were just in so much pain. I've never seen you like that before. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid something much worse was going to happen."
"It was scary for me too," Sebastian admitted. The words were true, he just hadn't cognitively thought about it.
"I really hope something changes soon," Mariah wiped a tear from her eye, "It's not fair that you have to be going through all of this. I can't stand it. At this point I don't even understand how you even keep getting out of bed in the morning. I'm the lucky one, watching this happen instead of experiencing it and I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to deal with it."
A small woman with a heart shaped face and strawberry blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, whom Sebastian now knew was Sam's fiancé, approached them as they got out of truck. Her facial expression was stuck somewhere in the middle of worried and relieved. She wrapped Mariah up in a hug.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked, keeping her hands on Mariah's shoulders but pulling away from their hug so that she could look between Mariah and Sebastian.
"Yeah," Mariah sniffed, "Thanks Liz. Can you and Abby keep an eye on the girls still? We're going to go lie down."
"Of course," Liz nodded, "Anything you guys need. Abby went to save Carver from Pierre but she'll be back. The girls are down, so I can manage no problem. You sure you're okay Seb?"
"Mostly," he said, "I think Harvey is skipping the spa too to do my bloodwork, but my vitals are staying fine. He just wants me to rest."
"That sounds like a good idea for both of you," Liz agreed, walking with them back towards the house, "We'll keep the girls quiet and clean when they get up from their nap."
"Uh, you are the best," Mariah sighed.
"I know," Liz squeezed Mariah's hand, "You got a romance novel I can borrow? The trashier the better."
Mariah chuckled, "Of course."
Sebastian excused himself to use the bathroom, and when he came out, Liz was holding a paperback while Mariah provided a brief summary of the plot. Sebastian made his way into the bedroom, his wife trailing just behind him.
"Um," he said looking at her after the door shut behind them, rubbing the back of his neck, "Would you lie down with me?"
"Yeah," Mariah agreed, "If that's what you want."
They slid between the sheets, lying on their sides so they were facing each other, but not quite touching. Sebastian looked at Mariah's face, taking in how exhausted she appeared. Even without the first-hand experience of seeing it happen, it was evident that she'd been crying recently. Right now she wasn't trying to hide from him or anyone else. He'd seen glimpses, but in this moment he could tell she had let her walls down. It dawned on him how much she'd been putting on brave face. He wasn't completely oblivious and knew how much of an effort she was putting in, especially in front of other people. Sebastian found him caught off guard by how vulnerable she looked.
"I don't think it's the house," Mariah began, speaking lowly. Her face once again morphing to the more serious presentation he'd come to know each time she talked about the curse.
"Stop," Sebastian interrupted, gingerly reaching out to touch Mariah's arm, "Don't get me wrong, I want to hear what you have to say, I just think maybe we should listen to Harvey and actually rest. Today's been a lot and there's still more to come. You keep trying to get me to relax, but you're not letting yourself relax either."
Mariah let out a sniffle followed by a choked sob, covering her face with her hands as she began to cry. Sebastian rubbed her arm, saying what he hoped would be soothing things to her. His head still hurt and he was drained, but Sebastian was determined to give Mariah some of the same compassion and care she'd been giving to him since this whole thing started. As her tears slowed and her body twitched with the lingering hiccups of her regaining her composure, Mariah wiped the snot away and muttered a 'Thank you' to Sebastian. He don't responded verbally, but instead embraced her fully. At first she stiffened against him before allowing herself to relax into the comfort. I can't believe I'm cuddling with someone I've known less than a week. I can't believe how much I like it. Before long, the pair drifted off to sleep.
When Sebastian regained consciousness, Mariah was already awake, still in bed next to him. She hadn't noticed that he'd woken up yet, and he took a second to study her. She was staring off into space, lost in thought. She was propped up, but not fully sitting up. Her softer facial features were still there, just currently overcome with the harsher lines of stress. She purposefully blinked her emerald eyes, shaking away the stupor that her own cognition had put her in. He yawned and stretched a bit theatrically as a display of his alertness so that she wouldn't think he'd been spying on her.
Mariah turned her attention to him and spoke softly, "Hey," she paused, giving him an opportunity to orient himself, which unbeknownst to her was unnecessary, "How's your head?"
Sebastian gave himself a moment to check in on his functioning, "Not perfect, but a hell of a lot better."
"Good," she nodded. She hesitated, and Sebastian could see the internal conflict before she finally spoke again, "I don't think I know how to properly say what I actually am feeling, but thank you, again. I'm so absorbed in trying to fix things that I'm not really making the best choices in terms of caring for myself. As much as I hate that I put that, for lack of a better term, breakdown on you, especially while you weren't doing great yourself, you were right. I needed the rest."
"You're welcome. And you don't need to apologize," Sebastian assured her, "I know this hasn't been easy for you, and it wasn't until this afternoon that it clicked for me how much of a front you've actually been putting up. You've been orchestrating so much to try and make things easier for me and haven't really had a break."
Mariah looked at him in a stunned silence.
"You don't have to say anything," he said, "I wasn't trying to put you on the spot or anything. I think I was just trying to say thank you."
"I was terrified," that had not been any of the things that Sebastian was expecting Mariah to say, "You were in so much pain. It was horrible. So horrible. I'm pretty sure I punched Carver while I was having a panic attack. I was worried something much worse that was going to happen, that you'd end up dead or something. It felt like all of my fault. I should have insisted that you do less or not gone back up there or something. I dunno. I should have done more to try and stop you from pushing through it. I don't know that it would have made a difference in the long run but…." She trailed off and sighed, "It's not worth it. Remembering me is not worth it. I'm not letting you practically kill yourself again because of this stupid curse. It's not right. I'll go along with whatever you want so long as you don't intentionally put yourself in pain like that again. No more trying to work through it and hoping you seem normal."
"Mariah," Sebastian began.
"No," she interrupted, "I'm serious Sebastian. I won't stand for it. I swear to Yoba I will tell everyone what is going on before I stand back and watch you suffer like that again."
"Mariah," Sebastian began again, "I wasn't going to argue with you. I was just going to ask you what you were going to tell me before. You were saying you don't think it's the house?"
"Oh," Mariah blushed, "Um, yeah. I don't think it's the house. The witch lives up beyond the railroad. Yesterday you felt a bit better when we went down in the mine- further away from her house. Today you felt even worse when you got that much closer to her place. And it's not like the spa is all that far from your mom's house, but it got that bad. I don't know why exactly that's happening, but I think you should avoid going up the mountain at all costs."
"You actually do care about me, don't you?" Sebastian studied her, "It's not just because you want your husband back. You actually care about me as me."
"Of course I do," Mariah's tone shifted from caring to annoyed, "I told you that."
"And you're surprised that I didn't believe you?" Mariah rolled her eyes at his response, "And I won't go up the mountain unless I absolutely have to for some reason. We can come up with some kind of excuse if someone asks me to do something."
"Thank you," he could see Mariah physically relax, before she winced.
"Alright that's enough from you," she spoke to her stomach.
"Is everything okay?" Sebastian asked, suddenly concerned that all of the stress may have trigger early labor or something.
"Yeah," Mariah said, getting herself up slowly, "Just getting kicked in the bladder."
"Oh, sorry," he said apologetically.
"S'fine," Mariah shrugged, heading for the door of the bedroom, "Just part of being pregnant."
Sebastian sat up himself, checking the time on his phone. It was later than he thought, they didn't have much time before they'd have to go to the rehearsal. What am I wearing to this thing anyway? I'm assuming I have to dress up since Morgan was so excited about her party dress. He planned on asking Mariah when she came back into the bedroom, but she never did. He ventured out into the living room, where he saw Mariah talking to Abby, Morgan, and Carver in the kitchen.
"Hey Seb," Carver said when he noticed him, "How are you feeling? Scared us there for a minute."
"Not my best, but better than I was," Sebastian answered.
"Daddy we go to party!" Morgan cheered.
"Almost," Mariah added, "As silly as it feels to do it, we're gonna take the truck just in case. So we're not in too much of a rush, but it's about time to start getting ready."
Abby grinned, "I'm going to be Morgan's own personal stylist."
Morgan giggled as Mariah looked at Carver, "Would you mind making sure all the animals are in and then close up the barn and coop for the night?"
"Yeah of course," he nodded.
"Thanks," Mariah said, before giving Morgan and Abby instructions. They disappeared upstairs and Mariah looked at Sebastian with some hesitancy.
"I, uh," he stuttered, "I don't know what I'm supposed to wear."
"I'll help you," Mariah assured him, "But I'm also going to need your help. Both now and later. Although I guess if it's awkward Abby can help me now and I'll just have to figure out something else for later."
"Oh, um, what do you need?" Sebastian found himself blushing though he wasn't clear as to why.
"I'll need someone to zip up my dress….and then unzip it later," Mariah explained, moving towards the bedroom.
Sebastian swallowed. For a simple task, it felt very intimate, "Y-yeah. I'll help."
Once their bedroom door was firmly closed again, Mariah went to the wardrobe. She passed Sebastian a pair of gray dress pants and matching blazer. She rifled around grumbling to herself about how poorly she'd stored things before passing him an off white button-up that had a nearly pink quality to it. Sebastian stared at it as if it were coated in slime.
Mariah was getting her dress out speaking to him without looking, "That's it for tonight. No tie or anything. Well and the dress shoes." She finally looked at him once the wardrobe door was closed, taking in his expression, "Listen you picked that out, so you only have yourself to blame if you don't like it. Well I suppose you could also blame Morgan. You got it to compliment her dress, which she picked out herself. And it was her idea for you two to match."
"Her dress is this color?" he asked, eyebrow arched.
"It's a more significant pink than that," Mariah shrugged, "You guys look cute together."
"I'm that parent?" he asked with a sigh, staring at the shirt once more.
"She's got you wrapped around her little finger," Mariah confirmed, "But it's part of being a parent. You do just about anything to make your kid happy. Is it okay if I change in here instead of the bathroom?"
"Yeah, I can go in there," Sebastian nodded.
"You don't have to you know," Mariah offered quietly, "We could both just stay in here. It can feel a bit cramped in there. I won't look or anything. We can each have our own space."
It's nothing she hasn't seen before. He reasoned. And I trust her to give me my space. Plus I saw her naked day one. Not to mention that dream the other day. He shook his head at the memory, now was certainly not the time to be getting aroused.
"Okay," he agreed, "I'll just go over here," he gestured to his home office, for lack of a better term. He peeked over his shoulder before he began to undress, seeing Mariah's back to him in the corner by her side of the bed. She was already beginning to pull her shirt over her head, so he hastily turned back to get changed himself. He was tucking his shirt in when Mariah cleared her throat.
"Whenever you're ready my zipper is all yours," she said.
"Be right there," he said, turning towards her.
Mariah's back was bare beneath the sleeveless maroon dress. Was she not wearing a bra? Why was he sweaty all of a sudden? He stepped closer to her, fingers grazing her skin as he pulled the zipper up with care. She turned around, looking up at him with a grateful smile, "Thank you." She spoke just above a whisper.
"You look beautiful," he said, taking a more complete look at her. It was her turn to blush, giving him another thank you.
"You look good too," she complimented back.
"I'm so uncomfortable. I have like one set of 'just in case' dress clothes my mom made me get in case of a job interview or something that I never wear."
"I've seen it," Mariah said, her flush deepening.
"Why?" he asked, confused, "I thought I worked for myself. Do I still have it or something and need to wear it?"
"Er no," she shook her head, "You don't have it anymore. It kind of got ruined. At least the shirt did anyway. I can't say I remember what happened to the pants."
"Did I spill something on it or something?" he asked, feeling more and more puzzled.
"It's not important," she brushed him off, avoiding eye contact, which only served to pique his curiosity.
"It's embarrassing isn't it?" he grimaced, "Oh Yoba. I did something stupid didn't I?"
"No, no," she shook her head, "Nothing like that. But really don't worry about it. It's not a big deal."
"I don't really know what you're keeping from me, but it's kind of freaking me out," he said, "Please just tell me."
Mariah sighed, "You used them as part of a Spirit's Eve costume. You were a vampire."
"So what, I got fake blood on it?" he asked.
"No, well yes, eventually but…" Mariah hesitated, "It wasn't even that night. It was….," she trailed off and Sebastian was about to press her for more information again but then she blurted it out, "Wewereroleplayingandtheshirtgotripped. Badly actually. Although considering what you did to one of my dress shirts I don't feel bad about it."
It took Sebastian a minute to process what she'd said but once it hit him, he blushed as well, "Oh."
"I told you it wasn't a big deal," Mariah said.
"I, um," Sebastian said. He had questions.
"Not that I don't like how you look dressed up," Mariah said, changing the subject, "But I'm just as happy as you are that you don't wear dress clothes regularly. Which I realize probably doesn't mean too much to you, but I meant it as a compliment."
"Thank you?" Sebastian said, which despite the way it came out was a genuine response. Do you have to be so fucking awkward? And is she flirting with you? I can't tell if she's being awkward because she doesn't know what to say and is trying to change the subject or if she's just really bad at flirting. Not that you're good at flirting at all.
As Sebastian got lost in his thoughts, Mariah made her way back to living room. Once he noticed he was just standing there himself he followed. Morgan was excited to see both of them, and they exchanged compliments, before thanking Abby and Carver. Harvey made quick work of rechecking his vitals, which remained fine. The rehearsal itself went by quickly, and Sebastian was grateful for both the guidance and the distraction. The rehearsal dinner though, that was another story. His anxiety was fairly high about the speech.
During dinner, everyone was distracted by a story Robin was telling about a recent job she did, Mariah leaned in and whispered to him, "Don't worry. You'll be fine. You've got it all written out. We've practiced. All you need to do is read it. You've got this."
Sebastian let out a slow breath and nodded, glancing over at her. He gave her a small smile.
"You can do it," she assured him again, reflecting his smile, "Trust me."
"Trust me Bash. You know I wouldn't lie to you," she assured him.
"I know that, but you're bias," Sebastian said, "Your love for me is clouding your judgement."
Mariah snorted, "You're ridiculous. It's a good game. You put a lot of work into it. At the end of the day even if no one ends up downloading it, I'm still proud of you. But I'm telling you, people are going to love it and you have nothing to be worried about."
Sebastian was soothed by her words, beaming internally. Mariah always supported him and his work, so it made him beyond happy each and every time she said she was proud of him. He took a deep breath and clicked his mouse. Mariah clapped enthusiastically next to him, kissing his cheek. Sebastian rolled his eyes at her excitement, though he secretly enjoyed it. He leaned down, catching her lips in a proper kiss.
"I love you Riah. Thank you for believing in me," Sebastian said, caressing her cheek, "And you're right. I'm proud of myself too. I always wanted to make my own game and I did. Even if you and I are the only ones who ever play it, it's still a huge accomplishment."
"Damn straight," Mariah grinned, "Talented and sexy, how did I get so lucky?"
"You always believe in me huh?" he said, smiling more at the memory than at what was happening currently.
"Always," Mariah agreed, "From the very first time I met you I could see what was inside of you, and I've never been so happy to be proven right before."
Sebastian blushed. Mariah let out a little 'Oh' looking down at her stomach. Sebastian followed suit, watching a hand or foot swipe across the front of her stomach. That's your baby. Just right there. Moving around. Sebastian started to reach his hand out instinctively, before pausing, "Is it okay if I…?"
"Of course," Mariah said, pushing back in her chair a bit to provide him better access, "The baby believes in you too, see?"
Sebastian was in awe, feeling the movements just underneath his hand. Their baby was strong. He could imagine how Mariah dealt with being beat up from the inside this way.
"Is everything okay?" Penny asked, "Is the baby coming early?"
"No," Mariah chuckled, "Everything is fine. Just getting beat up."
"Oh," Penny giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, "I'm glad. You two are so cute by the way."
Both Mariah and Sebastian blushed, and mumbled a thanks. After dinner was finished, but before dessert, Robin announced it was time for the speeches. Pam went first, her speech was short. It was all about how Penny deserved the world and how happy she was that Maru was going to help give her it. Robin and Demetrius had a joint speech next. While they were talking, Sebastian noticed Mariah was rubbing her arms next to him. He slid off his blazer and wrapped it around her, draping it over her shoulders. Her attention shifted, looking at him with confusion when the fabric first touched her.
"You don't like being cold," Sebastian shrugged with his explanation, though he wasn't sure where it came from. He just knew.
She smiled and blushed, looking down at her lap, "Thank you."
Sebastian was up next. Mariah pulled the print out of his speech out of the pocket of his blazer, passing it to him, giving his hand a squeeze in the process, mouthing 'You've got this' to him.
He unfolded the paper, smoothing it out as he took a deep breath before he began to read, "For those who know me, it's a blatant fact that I can be completely oblivious at times. It's also not a secret that Maru and I did not have the best relationship until the last few years," he paused looking over at Mariah, improvising, "You can probably thank this one for helping to get my head out of my ass."
There were chuckles and Mariah's face betrayed her surprise. Sam let out a not so subtle snort, "You can say that one again."
"Anyway," Sebastian continued with the speech, "Going back to my utter non-shocking revelations, it should come as no surprise that I was completely unaware of what was going on right underneath my nose when Maru and Penny first got together. I've learned a lot of things over the last few years, about myself, about my sister, and about life as a whole. I've come to learn how to let people in and accept happiness into my life. Maru has always been much braver than I in that department so it only follows that she would fall in love before I did. As I've gotten to know Penny, her relationship with Maru simply makes sense. I couldn't imagine a more kind, caring, and overall good person for my sister to be sharing her life with. The way that the happiness radiates off of both of them when their together is absolutely admirable. When we were kids imagining the future, Maru always would talk about the universe, and that is precisely what is reflected in her eyes when she looks at Penny."
Sebastian paused to take a sip of water before continuing, "Just six short years ago if you told me that this is what my life would be like now, I would have never believed you. It would not have seemed possible. Thankfully my sister is also much better at forgiveness than I am. I am honored to be standing here today, as Maru's man of honor, to celebrate her happiness of the eve of her wedding. Penny has been part of our family for quite some time, but tomorrow I'm pleased for it to become official. Thank you both for sharing your love with us."
Sebastian raised his glass, "May your union bring you much happiness. To Maru and Penny!"
There was a chorus of 'To Maru and Penny!' before they sipped from their drinks. Sebastian sat back down, Mariah pat him on the knee, "You did great," she smiled at him.
After Sam's speech and dessert, they started playing some music and some people began to dance. Morgan insisted that Sebastian pick her up so that they could dance with Mariah and the baby together. They both said no more after one song, and Mariah encouraged Morgan to keep having fun, while reminding her that they couldn't stay too late. They sat back down, and Maru came over to them.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pecked his cheek, "Your speech was lovely. Thank you. How are you feeling?"
"Not 100% but much better than earlier," he assured her, patting her arm and trying to not come across as taken back at her behavior.
"Good. I'm glad you actually listened to Harvey," she looked between them, "Both of you. I felt so bad that you guys missed out on the spa and that we were relaxing while you were going through that. I know you insisted Mariah, but still. I'll make it up to you guys somehow."
"No worries really," Mariah placed her hand up, "You'll more than make up for it with babysitting I'm sure."
Maru chuckled, "You say that as if I don't love doing it."
Someone called her name from across the room, drawing her attention. She pat them both on the shoulder before leaving.
"I guess I should thank you for all your help with the speech. And maybe apologize for my adlibbing," Sebastian said to Mariah.
"Heh, no worries," she shook her head, "I was more surprised than anything. You were more confident than I was expecting you to be. You did great, just like I said."
"Thank you," Sebastian gave her a smile.
Sam was the next to approach them, "You guys good?" he asked, glancing around to make sure that no one else was in hearing range, "Did anything else happen? Any more memories?"
"Yeah we're good," Sebastian replied, "Nothing else happened. At least not that I know of. Mariah thinks that it's not the house that's triggering things, but getting closer to the witch's house. So we've decided I'm going to avoid going up the mountain at all costs until this is sorted."
"And your memories?" Sam asked.
"Some," Sebastian nodded, "Hard to say really."
"I'm seeing more of the version of him I know," Mariah added, "Even if they're not full memories, little instincts are coming back. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you're getting more comfortable with me right?"
"Right," Sebastian blushed, "I mean I thought it was obvious. We did sleep together earlier."
"You guys had sex?" Sam whisper yelled with wide eyes.
"What!? No!" Sebastian shook his head, "Like we napped in bed together. Intentionally."
"Yoba Sam," Mariah shook her head, "What kind of person do you think I am that I would take advantage of him like that?"
"Did you not see my shock?" Sam asked, shaking his head, "But I'm glad that things are good between you two."
"Dada!" Sophie called, rushing over to them. Sam happily scooped her up into his arms, "Momma say we go."
"It is late," Sam nodded, "Gotta get to bed."
"We should probably get going ourselves," Mariah said.
They got Morgan's attention, said their goodbyes, and headed back home. Morgan was bouncy on the ride home, but had several big yawns. They skipped her bath and got straight into bedtime, Mariah assuring her that she would get a bath in the morning before the wedding.
When they got back downstairs, Mariah went into the kitchen, "Before I get changed, I'm going to put on the kettle for some tea. Do you want some?"
"That sounds great actually," Sebastian nodded. He watched her at work in the kitchen while he waited to help once again with her zipper. When she turned back towards the bedroom and saw him standing there she smiled shyly.
"Would you help with my zipper again?"
"Of course."
He picked up his blazer that Mariah had left on the couch when they'd come inside, following her into the bedroom. She pulled some pajamas out of the dresser, placing them on the bed. Sebastian did the same, only leaving his on the couch in his space. Mariah was shifting her weight from one side to the other, waiting for him at the end of the bed. As he approached she turned around so he could access the zipper.
"Thank you," she whispered, letting out a small shiver as his fingertips grazed her back following the trail of the zipper.
"No problem," he replied, before taking steps away to give her space and get changed himself. Sebastian made the mistake of glancing over his shoulder when he got to the other side. He caught a glimpse of side boob and a clear view of her backside as she bent over as she stepped out of the dress. He swallowed hard, whipping his head around, blushing furiously and cursing himself for looking over in the first place. What had he been expecting? He rushed to get changed himself, forcing himself to think of anything other than the view he'd just had. Thankfully the kettle began to whistle, successfully giving him a moment to gather himself while Mariah went to go take it off the burner before it disturbed Morgan.
When Sebastian got to the kitchen, Mariah was humming to herself while she made their tea. He got close, but continued to observe. She looked over at him in acknowledgement and continued to go about her business. The pair didn't speak, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. Her movements were methodical, but she seemed relaxed. Sebastian found the moment to be soothing. When she was done, she passed him a mug, taking a sip of her own tea once he took it. She let out a satisfied hum. After taking a sip of tea himself, he put his mug down on the counter. He took a deep breath, Mariah watching him intently. You can do this. Sebastian reached out and cupped one side of her face with his hand. She closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying the contact. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this. When she opened them again a moment later, he slowly leaned in towards her, providing ample opportunity for her to disengage. When she didn't he placed a chaste kiss to her lips.
Sebastian felt like a teenager having his first kiss again, only this was so much better. He felt like he was exploding like a firework. When he pulled away, Mariah seemed surprised, but not even remotely displeased.
"I don't think I properly thanked you for today," he said, "Truth be told, this afternoon and evening I actually was able to relax somewhat."
"Me too," Mariah seemed shy again. The fact that he had this effect on her was sweet in a way.
The singular kiss didn't led to anything further. They ended up spending the rest of their night in companionable silence, sharing the couch as they each read. This was something Sebastian had always wanted in a relationship. The enjoyment of being with someone, engaging in a parallel activity with no pressure to be entertaining each other was downright perfect. He even found the little noises Mariah would make, reacting to the story she was reading, endearing. It was evident that she was oblivious to her behavior, but adorable none the less. Every once in a while one of them would shift and they would graze a leg or foot, neither feeling the need to apologize for the intrusion. The smile on Mariah's face when he asked her if it would be okay if he joined her in the bed again, made the mild anxiety he'd been experiencing about the situation worth it. If he never got his memory back, maybe this wouldn't be such a bad life to live after all.
