September 27, 2010
Shane wakes to the sound of rain on the cabin roof. The thunderstorms that blew in yesterday evening meant most retreated to their own little homes quickly after supper. He'd been a little surprised that Jimmy didn't spend part of the evening down with the other teenagers still all living with Quinn, but the teen just smiled and said he liked being home on a night like that.
With Maggie joining them, Shane took advantage of the games cabinet that was stocked from the cabin's prior life. He and Jimmy got themselves soundly trounced at both Life and Uno by Maggie. Having seen the games shelf back at the Greene Farm, he expects that she has a lot more practice at the games than he and Jimmy do.
Checking his watch, since the rain could be keeping the sky artificially dark, he's not surprised to see it is barely past six. He's always had a well tuned internal clock, and normally he would be getting up to get his work day underway. Instead, he sets the watch down and spoons himself behind Maggie. They may be still just sharing a bed, but he's loved having her with him the last four nights.
She makes a grumbling sound. Unlike him, Maggie isn't fond of early mornings, which amuses him coming from a farm girl studying to be a veterinarian. Pressing kisses to the nape of her neck, he listens to the grumble change to interest.
Maggie rolls enough to see him in the dim light. "Still not sure about this morning person thing of yours."
"Could show you how getting up a bit early is a reward," he offers, keeping his voice low, watching her expression shift from drowsy to alert.
Since the day he paid up on losing the bet and Maggie first kissed him, they've been on a slow exploration of each other. A lot of kissing and making out that seems far more high schoolish than either of them admit to doing in years, but it's actually been part of the allure, not crossing that line yet. Shane hasn't spent this much time not getting to third base since he was sixteen.
When Maggie smiles and relaxes, he starts with a kiss, waiting until she's pliant and pressing against him, carefully keeping his weight beside and not over her. He leaves her the shirt she stole from his drawer, exploring beneath it while she wriggles. It's an area he has to take care still, since the attack left her with a dislike of having her breasts touched.
When he reaches the tiny boy shorts she's wearing, he doesn't go straight for the cloth. Looking up, he checks and sees only desire, no hesitation, no fear. To tease just a little, he angles kisses along her inner thighs until she reaches the end of her patience.
Maggie's demanding tone makes "dammit, Shane, now!" an order he is more than happy to follow, stripping off the panties to lay her bare to him. When her strong hands grip his curls to direct him rather than halt him, he's smiling even as he complies.
Hearing her fall apart for the first time? Worth every minute of waiting. She's mumbling his name in a soft pattering of words, interspersed with mild profanity and some variations of Jesus that wouldn't fit in any church service.
Shane knows the self-satisfied grin on his face as he crawls up the bed to lay against her on his side would get him razzed any other time. This one, it just gets him a strong leg across his hip. Maggie nuzzles close for a kiss, and he's letting her lead despite being so tantalizingly close right now he can feel the heat of her through the boxer briefs he wore to bed. Sex hadn't been his intent, anyway, even if his body is aching for some sort of relief. He can take care of it himself in a minute.
First, he just wants to enjoy the feel of her against him. Sliding his hand across her thigh and hip, he returns the kiss before trailing kisses down the silky skin of her throat. Her hands slide across his chest before trailing down to his waistband… and tugs. Raising his head, he meets her eyes, seeing only trust and arousal as he helps her greedy hands free him from his boxer briefs.
Shane's already wound up almost too far, so being free to finally feel her around him means he only lasts long enough to bring her back to orgasm because of the side lying position requiring a slow and steady movement. He keeps up a steady stream of words, telling her how she's making him feel, how fucking beautiful she is, and goddamn, how he never wants to stop touching her. Maggie's leg hooked over him, keeping him close, and her eyes meeting his… the intense closeness gives his release an enhanced rush he's not used to, eyes falling closed as his body shudders.
When he opens his eyes, she's smiling at him, fingers dragging along the length of his spine. "That was worth the wait," she mutters softly. She's a little hoarse, and he's damned grateful these cabins aren't the flimsy sort when it comes to the walls. Facing poor Jimmy would be an interesting experience if he had to overhear them.
He presses a kiss against her sweat damp skin, just over the once broken collarbone barely exposed by the shirt she's still wearing. "You will get nothing but agreement from me."
They lay entangled for a while, bodies relaxed together, before her breathing evens out as she falls back asleep. Shane marvels at the fact she's so much at ease with him to sleep so easily while mostly nude against him. Eventually, he tugs the blanket over her and eases away to find a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to slip on to visit the bathroom.
By the time he emerges from the bathroom, Jimmy's door is open, and the boy is yawning against the door frame, waiting his turn. His blond hair looks like he's electrified himself. "Think it's gonna rain all day?"
Shane shrugs as he clears the way. "Possible. Enough rain already to declare a day off. I imagine Quinn and Jacqui will get some activities together at the dining hall if you're bored."
"Nah. Gonna get a pop tart and go back to bed. Got halfway through my book before I fell asleep last night." Learning that Jimmy has a love for reading was a surprise even to the Greenes. Everyone tries to encourage the habit by adding to the boy's growing library.
As the teen disappears into the bathroom, Shane rustles through the cabinet that serves as a mini pantry, since full scale meals are still a community effort, but no one wants to trek over just for a snack. As soon as he clued in to Jimmy's particular love of pop tarts, he makes sure they've always got a few boxes on hand. Prior to living with Hershel, the kid's never had free run of a kitchen and foods set aside specifically for him. Might as well spoil him while the stuff's available.
Sliding a packet of the hot fudge sundae favored breakfast food onto the table, he starts the small coffee pot. That's another luxury they have more of here than back at the quarry, to Shane's delight. By the time Jimmy shuffles out of the bathroom, there's a mug ready for both of them, and Shane's got a bowl of cereal thanks to a packet of powdered milk.
Jimmy doesn't wander off with the coffee and pop tart, instead hooking a foot around a chair leg and pulling it out to sit. He fiddles with the pop tart packet for a minute, darting short looks at Shane.
"Something bothering you?" Shane finally asks, puzzled by the behavior. Jimmy had been hesitant the first week after they moved into the cabin, but something about being turned loose to paint the place settled him down. Everyone here referring to Shane for anything related to Jimmy seems to also have helped.
"Is Maggie going to move in with us?" His normally confident voice sounds hesitant, almost like a lost child.
Ah. Considering she's slept here most of this week, it's a legitimate question. They haven't actually discussed it yet, but they probably need to. "Is that a problem?"
Despite the intensity of this morning, he's made a commitment to the teenager, too, and if things between him and Maggie are making him uncomfortable, it's a problem they need to work out. When it takes Jimmy a while to answer, Shane sets his spoon in his bowl. "Jimmy?"
The teen finally looks up and sighs. "She's going to want kids of her own. World being different now won't make that go away."
Shane files away that idea, which seems as intimidating now as it ever did, becoming a father. Taking guardianship of Jimmy is different. Relating to a mostly grown teenager is easy. Babies? Not so much. "Then you get to be a brother, right?"
"I don't think Maggie likes me that much. Might be best if I go back to Quinn." The kid sounds so damned defeated, already resigned to being shuffled around like a piece of furniture.
"Jesus, kid. If Maggie can't handle that you were here first, then it's her that won't be living here." As deeply as he cares for Maggie, that feeling he doesn't quite want to admit a name for yet, her rejecting his foster son would nullify everything he likes about her. Quinn's concern that he not back out of committing to Jimmy was something they spent hours discussing, her own years in foster care glittering behind those intense green eyes.
"Really?" The kid sounds younger than barely seventeen, and Shane pushes his chair back to go drag him into a hug. He realizes when it's returned that it's the first time he's hugged the kid in the month he's lived with him. Other than the other kids, he doesn't think anyone has shown the boy outright affection.
"Really, kiddo. We're a package deal, I promise."
Giving him a wavering smile as Shane lets him go, Jimmy finally picks up the coffee mug and pop tart. "Gonna go read."
"Alright. I'll let you know when it's time for lunch."
Watching the teen retreat to his room, Shane doesn't notice he's being watched until Maggie calls his name. She's smiling, clad in a borrowed set of his shorts to add to the t-shirt. He wonders how much of that conversation she overhead.
When she crosses the room to claim a kiss, he enjoys it before she pulls away and goes to steal his cereal. After a bite, she looks toward Jimmy's door. "That was the sweetest damned thing I've seen you do so far."
"You're okay with what I said?" Facing her, her hair ruffled from their earlier intimacy, Shane thinks it will be harder to hold that resolve, but it isn't. It's a promise he will keep. If Maggie can't handle it, that's something about her character he needs to know now.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," she says, smiling and stealing his coffee next. "Even if I had other issues with Jimmy, you're his family now. That comes first."
Pouring himself a new cup of coffee, Shane stirs in sugar and feels a surge of relief. "What issue did you have with him?"
"Him and Beth dating when they didn't seem to actually like each other all that much. Even before the outbreak, I think he was more fascinated with the concept of a family like ours than Beth herself. And Beth? She was too kind hearted to break things off when she made that connection herself."
"So as long as he's not dating your sister for the wrong reasons, you're good?"
Maggie nods, finishing off the cereal and taking the bowl to the sink. "Come back to bed. I'm not planning on any babies until Jimmy's probably old enough to be on his own, but I wouldn't mind another demonstration of how they're made."
Snagging her purloined coffee cup, she slinks into the bedroom, her long bare legs distracting him for a minute. He thinks on that idea again, the idea of a child. In general, it doesn't have the lure for him he thinks it does for a man like Rick, but it's the general part of the idea that he needs to let go of.
The mental image of Maggie's slim waist rounding out with their child shoots a surge of want through him strong enough to make him choke on the drink of coffee he just took. Taking a deep breath to settle himself, he thinks on it again, imagining her with an infant as well. There's no sense of unease there, just a complete sense of rightness. Finishing off the coffee in a long swallow, he sets the cup in the sink, heading for the bedroom like she suggested.
The very real sight of Maggie fully nude for the first time, leaning against the pillows and crooking a finger at him? That one's enough to make him growl softly, shedding clothes even as he remembers to keep some of that sudden need to claim leashed and controlled. Practice sounds damned perfect.
A/N: Apparently, the muse has decide it is smutapalooza week. 😳
One more chapter for this, a sort of belated meet the family Hershel and Shane ending... We'll shift to the hinted at Glenn and Beth next story.