The big day has finally arrived, and Jessica is officially moving in with Aubrey. Everything's coming up roses, right? Read on to find out.
There are some spicy bits in this chapter...it may not be suitable for reading at work.
The story about the boxes is based on something that happened to one of the authors. We'll let you decide if the rest of the story is based on facts...
If you have time to review, LaChelle would appreciate it.
Jessica and Aubrey were sound asleep on the bed, naked and entwined around each other with Skinner laying at the end of the bed when the alarm went off at 7:30 Saturday morning.
"Jess...turn that fucking thing off…", Aubrey muttered. "I'm so tired…"
Jessica groaned as she slapped at the alarm on her nightstand. "Oh, my God...I'm exhausted." She turned to poke the man laying next to her. "It's all your fault, you know…"
"My fault?" Propping himself up on his elbow, Aubrey perked up as he smiled at his girlfriend. "You're the one who wouldn't let me get any sleep…" He laughed at her prim expression before continuing in a singsong voice. "'I love you so much, James...make love to me again'..."
"Seriously? You're going to blame me for all this…". Jessica pretended to be shocked.
"Yep." He smirked at her, caressing her gently. "I couldn't resist. I had to comply with your wishes. After all, as Booth says…'happy wife'..."
He stopped in mid sentence, turning scarlet with embarrassment. "...ahem...happy girlfriend, happy life." He quickly turned and crawled out of bed. Pulling on his jeans and tee shirt, he picked up a sweatshirt as he moved toward the bedroom door. "I'm gonna go feed Skinner and then make some us some breakfast…"
"Okay. I'll be down in a minute." Jessica smiled to herself as she found some yoga pants and a long sleeved tee shirt in her dresser drawer. Maybe someday, I'll be a happy wife… She grimaced as she shook off that crazy thought. First we have to get used to living together...but that shouldn't be too hard. I've been here already for two months...only difference is I don't have my apartment to go back to...but still...easy peasy.
She hurried downstairs, enjoying the pleasant aroma that was wafting from the kitchen. "Blueberry pancakes? Yum…"
Aubrey nodded, yawning as he flipped the hotcakes. "Yep. Since we kept some of your big mixing bowls, I decided to try one of them out, and they're awesome." He handed her a plate as she sat down at the counter and then turned back to the stove. "Here we go...pancakes, syrup, butter, and bacon. A light breakfast to start a busy day."
"A light breakfast?" Jessica chuckled as she cut into her short stack. "I'll need to be careful or I'll gain 20 pounds in the first two or three months of our official 'cohabitation'." Hearing Aubrey's annoyed sigh, she quickly explained. "That's what Dr. B calls it. It's just a fancy term for living together…"
Aubrey dipped his bacon in the syrup before taking a bite. "I know, but why do we need a term for everything? Even before we began dating, everyone had an opinion on what we were doing and what we were supposed to do. It was really annoying at times, remember? I mean, why can't we just be…"
"Domestic partners? Two crazy kids shacking up?" Jessica grinned at her boyfriend's irritation. "Or participants in a common law marriage? Or just two horny people who can't keep their hands off each other?"
"Or maybe some combination of all of the above." Aubrey cut a chunk from his pancakes and dragged it through a puddle of syrup. "The point is that all we have to be is two happy people in love, okay? We don't have to give it a name. We can just be us...together. If people don't like that, well...they can kiss my butt."
Jessica chuckled before reaching over to give his hand a squeeze. "You know, that may be the most romantic thing you've ever said to me…"
"Really?" Aubrey was taken aback by her statement. "I guess I'm just a regular Casanova, huh?"
"Of course you are, especially when you use your very fertile imagination in the bedroom…you are such a dirty boy..." She paused, giggling as he gave her an 'I'm so the man' grin. "...but the idea that we can just be us...no matter what anyone says or thinks...it makes me realize just how much we mean to each other, and I'm so...overjoyed to be a part of this life with you." She stared at her plate for a few seconds before tentatively looking back at her boyfriend. "I guess that sounds really dumb…"
Aubrey was speechless for a few seconds, trying to find the words to express the depth of his feelings for her. He sighed softly as he looked into the green eyes he loved so much. "Nah…it's not dumb. It's a beautiful thought...and I love you, too."
Oooooooooo
As soon as breakfast was over, Aubrey grabbed his keys, phone, and jacket. "I've got to hurry if I'm going to be at the apartment by 9:00. Wendell has stuff to do this afternoon, and I don't want to keep him any longer than necessary."
"Okay...so he's going to bring over the furniture in the truck and you guys are gonna unload it?" Jessica stood in the middle of the living room, trying to visualize where everything would go. "And Arastoo and his boys are going to take care of the donations, right?"
Aubrey nodded as he slipped into his jacket. "Yeah, the mosque he attends runs a charity shop for the neighborhood, and since we had to find some place to send everything, that seemed to be a good choice, especially since he volunteered to take care of it for us. I hope you don't mind…"
Jessica giggled as she gave her boyfriend a kiss. "Are you kidding? I'm so glad I don't have to deal with it, and if someone else can use it, that's even better. Do you think you can clear everything out of the apartment in one trip?"
"There may be some little odds and ends to bring home when we go over to do the last bit of cleaning, but yeah, I think between the truck and the SUV, one trip should do it." He narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the downstairs guest room. "Remember, go easy with the lifting, okay? Your job is to unpack stuff and put it away. I don't want you to mess up your ribs. You're still healing."
"Okay...okay." She rolled her eyes at her overprotective boyfriend. "But you need to be careful, too. I'm sure you don't want to deal with a hernia…"
Stifling a yawn, he nodded. "I will, but I also want to get this job done as soon as possible, because I have a feeling I'm gonna need a nap this afternoon. Perhaps you can join me for some pre-nap activities if you're not too busy…"
She arched an eyebrow at him with a mischievous smile. "We'll see." Checking her phone, she grimaced in surprise. "You'd better get going...it's 8:40."
"Alright. See you later." He gave her a quick peck before heading out the front door.
Standing on the front step, Jessica waved as he pulled the SUV out of the driveway. "It's really happening…", she said quietly to herself. "I'm not just staying here for a few months...I'm really moving in…"
Shutting the front door, she returned to the kitchen's island to enjoy her cup of tea, thinking over her agenda for the day. She needed to unpack some boxes and put things away, but there were a few more pressing matters, like the pile of dirty laundry in their closet. She smiled to herself as she rinsed out her cup and put it in the dishwasher along with the rest of the breakfast dishes, wondering if Aubrey had any idea how much a full laundry basket weighed.
"But I can't put it off any longer.", she said to Skinner as he wound around her legs, begging to be fed. "I'm out of clean panties and your daddy is almost out of boxer shorts. I don't think the FBI would appreciate him going to work commando...although I definitely wouldn't mind...Daddy does have a nice butt."
The cat blinked at her as if to say he didn't care, making her laugh as she opened the pantry door. "Okay, maybe you can have a snack. Daddy said to be careful with you and the treats, but we can't have you starve either. I hope you and I don't get too fat with the way Daddy feeds us."
Pausing as she peered inside the cabinet, she shook her head. "Maybe after I unpack I can rearrange this stuff. Aubrey's system never has made sense to me." She poured a small helping of dry food into the cat's bowl and smiled as he dove in. "I guess you were hungry...not that I'm really surprised, mind you…"
Swishing his tail in agreement, the cat licked up the last kibble before strolling off to find his favorite nap spot. "Well, I'm glad we've averted that crisis.", Jessica chuckled as she headed upstairs. "I'd hate to think you were dying of starvation while I was unpacking."
Ooooooooooo
As she stood in the laundry room sorting the clothes, Jessica once again savored how wonderful it was to have a washer and dryer at her disposal to use whenever she wanted. Hauling her laundry hamper down three flights of stairs to visit the laundromat was something she was thrilled to consign to the past.
Filling the washer with a load of frilly undergarments, she set the machine to hand wash and started it up. "That's done...now, no more procrastination. Time to unpack those boxes."
Unfortunately, her well laid plans went astray as she opened the broom closet to pull out their drying rack. "Hmm...I bet I can put my boxes in here...and we can find somewhere else for some of this stuff...a little rearranging and it'll work...maybe we can get rid of some junk, too. I'm not sure Aubrey got rid of anything when he moved…"
Hearing her phone chime, she checked her messages and found a picture of Aubrey, Wendell, Arastoo and his sons, and a couple of other men she didn't recognize, all giving her a thumbs up as they got ready to empty her old apartment. "Yikes! I guess I'd better get busy…"
Oooooooooo
It was only ten o'clock in the morning, but Aubrey was already exhausted. "Of course, it didn't help that I was up all night.", he mumbled to himself with a happy sigh. Craning his neck from side to side, he struggled to work out the kinks. "It's not like I'm some old guy, right? I shouldn't be this sore…"
However, it was perhaps understandable, considering the sexual gymnastics he'd participated in with Jessica as they made up for lost time the night before. He knew he was grinning from ear to ear as he remembered their fun, but he couldn't help it. He really pitied any man whose lover hadn't studied kinesthetics. The things his girlfriend could do with her lithe body were incredible…between her flexibility and his stamina, he still didn't know how their bed had survived as long as it had...
"Hey, Aubrey…" Wendell stood staring at his friend, who seemed lost in thought. "What do you think?"
"Hmm? Oh...yeah...that'll work." Clearing his throat, Aubrey tried to look decisive as he spoke to his friends. "So the furniture will go in the truck…"
Suspecting why Aubrey was distracted, Wendell decided to tease him a little bit. "Yeah...you already said that...about five minutes ago. I think your mind is definitely somewhere else this morning...like maybe on a certain redhead..."
Glancing at Arastoo's sons as they asked their father for money to buy coffee and sweet rolls from Mr. Cho's store, Aubrey shook his head furiously at Wendell. "Don't even go there."
"Dude, my girlfriend is a nurse with an excellent knowledge of human anatomy. We've all been there...and it's all good.", Wendell said, chuckling at Aubrey's blush. "You're a lucky man…"
Puffing out a sigh, Aubrey turned to Arastoo. "Thanks for bringing the reinforcements." He smiled as he shook hands with the two burly young men who had met Dr. Vasiri and his sons in the grocery store's parking lot. "I'll be glad to have the help, and I'll pay them for their trouble."
"Tyler suggested it, actually." Arastoo said, nodding in agreement. "I thought we might need the help, and they need some service points for a club at the high school, although I'm sure none of them would turn down some cash." He chuckled as the teenagers gossiped with each other. "They're both defensive ends on the football team, so I'm pretty sure they'll be able to help us carry the mattress downstairs."
Aubrey grimaced as he scratched the back of his neck. That was going to be the hard part of the move. He still wasn't sure how Jessica's brothers had managed to get that mattress upstairs, but evidently it hadn't been too much of an engineering marvel. After inspecting the small bedroom window, he'd soon realized they hadn't hoisted it up three floors. The only way to get it down was via the stairs.
"Okay...no more procrastinating, fellas." Taking a deep breath, Aubrey marshalled his troops for the morning's activities. "Let's go."
Oooooooooo
Arastoo's sons had already made several trips down to their father's van with the many boxes marked for donation, and they were enjoying some Shirakiku soda and Cosomi sesame cookies from Mr. Cho's store as the men discussed the plan for bringing the mattress and box springs downstairs while Aubrey was on the phone.
"The problem is the turns on the landings.", Wendell lamented. "I'm not sure how they managed to get it up there to begin with."
Aubrey held up a finger as he ended the call. "Okay, Stephan said it wasn't as hard as it looks since it's a full size mattress. He, Jack, and Greg had slid it up the stairs on its side, stood it on its end, and then flipped it to the opposite side to go up the next flight."
"Well, I guess we'll try that.", Arastoo shrugged. "It seems like a good idea."
"Might as well.", Aubrey said cautiously as he looked the staircase. It's the last thing in the apartment, right? We've got the rocker and all the boxes down here…"
"Yep." Wendell joined Aubrey in the stairwell. "Okay, then. Let's get this over with."
Oooooooooo
After unpacking for a few hours, Jessica was pleased with her progress, so she decided to take a much needed break. After indulging in another cup of catnip tea, she went into the laundry room to check on her lingerie. Everything seemed to be drying nicely...even the tights, which had been in the second load of clothes, were almost dry.
Out of room on the drying rack, she chuckled as she hung some of her bras from the cabinet knobs and the rest from the downstairs shower curtain rod. Usually the rack held everything with plenty of room to spare, but now it was overflowing with her underwear since she hadn't been able to do laundry over the last three weeks.
"Oh well, it's only for today. We didn't need that massive drying rack Aubrey wanted. Bigger is not always better."
After rearranging things slightly on the rack one more time, she started a load with Aubrey's boxers and his other clothes before she returned to the former man cave, now her new office and yoga space. It was a large room with plenty of space for her desk and bookcases as well as enough floor space for her yoga mat. All it needed was to have a few pictures on the wall, and she'd be good to go.
She soon emptied the rest of her boxes, distributing their contents in various rooms of the large house. It had been decided that she'd bring some more of her pots and pans than they had originally planned on, and they'd been stashed in the kitchen's upper cabinets, along with her Ninja juicer. It had meant that the dishes had to be moved around a bit, but Jessica figured that Aubrey wouldn't mind, especially when she made him one of her signature kale smoothies.
Finally satisfied that her work was completed, Jessica very carefully disassembled and folded each box before carrying them out to the garage. I'd better ask Aubrey where he wants these. He might prefer the basement to the broom closet.
There was nothing to do now but wait for her furniture to arrive. Sighing softly, she stretched out on the couch to take a quick nap before Aubrey came home.
Oooooooooo
It was early afternoon when Wendell and Aubrey arrived with the furniture, followed by the two young men that Arastoo had enlisted. Hopping out of his SUV, Aubrey strode into the house to check on his girlfriend.
"Jessica? We finally made it. Are the boxes out of the way in the guest room?"
Slightly groggy from her nap, she nodded. "Yeah...I got almost all of my things put away…" Lazily waving her hand, she turned away from him. "I wanna sleep a few minutes more…"
"Fine." Unsure of how she could sleep through all the commotion, Aubrey was somewhat annoyed with Jessica's lackadaisical attitude, but he knew he was feeling that way because he was tired. Turning to his helpers, he pointed to the truck. "Let's bring the stuff in."
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
After enjoying a quick second lunch, Aubrey took the trash out to the garage. Spying a pile of old boxes, he glanced at his watch and nodded to himself. If he hurried, he'd have time to get them ready for the recycling pick up that normally occurred on Saturday afternoon. "It'll be nice to have these things cleared out of the way…", he said to himself. "One less thing to deal with…"
He quickly bundled the cardboard up and tied it with some twine, taking it out to the curb just as the truck pulled up.
"Hey, Mr. Aubrey." Henry, the truck's driver, jumped down down from the cab and trotted over to the stack of recycling. "You've got a lot more stuff today than usual…"
"Moving day." Aubrey grinned at the man's surprise. "Relax. I'm not going anywhere. Jessica moved the rest of her stuff in here today."
"That's good news, ain't it? Congratulations." Henry threw the bundles into the bed of the truck. "Have a good day."
"Thanks." Sighing in contentment, Aubrey walked back to his house. "It's a great day."
Trotting up the driveway, the agent found Jessica waiting for him as he entered the front door. "Hey, Superman." She gave him a kiss as he embraced her. "I'm sorry I wasn't much help when you got here."
"It's no big deal. Anyway, that furniture is heavy and I wouldn't want you lifting it." Hearing Skinner's plaintive meow, Aubrey checked his watch. "I guess it's time for his weekend mid afternoon snack…"
"But I just fed him a little while ago...he can't be hungry already.", Jessica complained. "You've really spoiled that cat, haven't you?"
"He knows he usually gets one about this time on Saturdays and Sundays. And no, he's not spoiled." Opening his pantry, Aubrey frowned as he moved things aside. "Wait...where are Skinner's special weekend treats? Jess?"
"Oh, I rearranged things in there so it'd make more sense. See? I put all the cat food on an upper shelf where Skinner can't reach it easily. All the cereal is together here, and all the canned goods are down here. It makes it easier when we cook, right? We won't have to dig around looking for stuff…"
Aubrey made an effort to hide his annoyance. "I suppose so, but I kinda liked the system I had…"
"What...bring it home and throw it in there, hoping it lands on the right shelf? That's not very efficient…"
"It was efficient enough for you the last two months.", Aubrey grumbled. Seeing Jessica roll her eyes, he sighed. "Okay...no big deal. We can use the new system if you want."
After giving Skinner a treat, Aubrey reached into one of the upper cabinets for his favorite coffee mug. "What the Hell? Where's my Darth Vader mug...and where are the rest of the mugs?"
"I moved them over there by the coffee maker." Jessica pointed to another cabinet. "My juicer fits better in this cabinet with the coffee bean grinder, and it just makes sense to have the mugs within reach of the coffee…"
Inhaling sharply, Aubrey bit his lip to avoid making a big deal about the way things had been moved around in his kitchen. "I guess you're right…" Opening a drawer, he looked for his special coffee measuring cup. "So did you move my coffee making equipment as well? Where's my scoop for the coffee beans?"
"Oh, that...no, I dropped it on the floor, so I put it in the dishwasher. Here...use this spoon instead." Unsure as to why Aubrey seemed so tense, Jessica took his hand as the coffee started to brew. "Come see what I did to the laundry room…"
"Oh, boy...I can't wait." He clenched his jaw, trying to be brave in the face of whatever changes she had made. "You've certainly been busy today, haven't you…" His voice trailed off as he saw all of the lingerie hanging up to dry all around the room. Taking a lacy green bra from a cabinet knob, he held it up for her to see. "I thought we had a drying rack for this sort of thing…"
"We do, but because I was hurt, it's been a long time since I'd done a load of underwear...I guess a lot longer than I had realized. I had so much stuff that I had to hang most of my bras over the shower curtain rod in the bathroom down the hall."
"I told you I have a delicate cycle on my dryer…", Aubrey grumbled.
"...and I told you that my delicates can't go in the dryer. Anyway, it's just temporary." Jessica took a breath to hold back the retort that came to mind. Taking the bra from him, she laid it on top of the washer and opened the broom closet with a flourish, pointing to some empty spaces on the shelves. "Look at all the room in here! Did you know that you had 3 open bottles of fabric softener, 2 cans of black shoe polish, and 4 partial bottles of stain remover?"
'Where's all my shit? What the hell...' Aubrey nearly choked on his panic. "Not really…"
"I combined bottles of stuff and got rid of some other things, too." Jessica smiled as she pointed to a large space in the lower part of the cabinet. "We can store my moving boxes in here…when they're folded they can be stacked easily, so they'll fit."
"Your moving boxes?" An uncomfortable sensation began to form in the pit of Aubrey's stomach. "Why would you need to keep your moving boxes? I thought you said this arrangement was going to be permanent for you…"
"It is, but I might need them for other things...like when I move into my office at my first job." Smiling, she fondly recalled how she had obtained them. "I've had most of them for several years...I got them from a liquor store on Grand River Avenue by the MSU campus after I had begged the owner to let me have them. They're really sturdy because big bottles of whiskey came in them. I love using them to move my stuff because they have those built in handles, you know? And I know exactly how much I can put in them where I can still lift them, and I know exactly how to pack them in my Jeep…"
"Yeah, but they're still just cardboard boxes, right? I mean, they can be replaced…", Aubrey stammered. 'Oh fuck…'
"I suppose, but it's hard to find heavy duty boxes like that without having to actually buy them." Jessica paused as she saw the worried expression on her boyfriend's face. "Okay...out with it. What happened?"
"What do you mean, what happened?" Seeing her glare, he realized he was in a lot of trouble. "Well, you see...I didn't realize your boxes had sentimental value…" He laughed nervously. "After all, who gets attached to a cardboard box, right?"
"Aubrey? What happened to my boxes?"
He took a deep breath before admitting the truth to her. "I flattened them out and recycled them. They were picked up about twenty minutes ago. They're gone, Jess. I'm sorry...I didn't know you wanted to keep them."
Tears begin to flow as Jessica realized what he meant. "You...got rid...of my boxes? Aubrey, you didn't…"
"How was I to know that you loved them so much?", he demanded, hoping that she'd see the logic in the situation. "Besides, you've spent the day getting rid of extra stuff…why would you want to keep some old boxes anyway?"
Inhaling slowly, Jessica tried to be calm, but her quivering lip gave her away. "Those 'old boxes' went with me all around Michigan State's campus and East Lansing when I moved out of the dorms to live off campus...they've moved me from different parts of the country and back home, to the big house of the coop and into my apartment…"
"Jess, they're cardboard, not gold bullion…", Aubrey said in a exasperated done, still not understanding what the issue was.
Sniffling softly, she wiped tears from her eyes. "...but maybe the bigger issue is that you didn't ask me what I wanted to do with them. They were my things and you just threw them away…"
Exasperation and exhaustion bubbled up in Aubrey as he listened to what he considered to be a childish complaint from his girlfriend. "It's not like it was a stack of expensive books or all of your summer clothes, right? It was a goddamn pile of empty boxes...and there was no way for me to know what you wanted, so I did what I thought was the best thing to do...I recycled them. I'm sorry, but I don't see the big deal…"
"That's the problem! Right there...you nailed it! You got rid of my things without asking, and you don't see the problem!" Jessica clenched her fists as she yelled at him, frustration and exhaustion catching up with her as well. "I knew this 'living together' thing was a bad idea! I should've known you wouldn't respect my personal boundaries…"
"Now wait just a goddamn minute!" Aubrey was furious at her. "If we want to talk about not respecting personal boundaries, how about rearranging the stuff in my kitchen and my laundry room just because you don't like the way I did it? What gives you the right?"
Jessica's fists clenched as her face turned red with anger. "Your kitchen? Your laundry room? My name is now on the lease, Jackass! As of Thursday afternoon, it's officially my kitchen and my laundry room now, too, and I should have a say in what goes where! You may like things all willy-nilly without any system, but I need order…"
"You need order?!", Aubrey scoffed. "Just look around this room, Jess! You've got panties and bras hanging up everywhere like some damn frat party! I knew we should've bought that bigger drying rack at Target, but no...this one would be perfect, right? So now I can't even walk into my own laundry room without having every stitch of underwear you own flaunted in my face…God only knows what I'll be greeted with down the hall if I need to use the bathroom later!"
"Shut up, Aubrey…", Jessica said quietly. "Stop talking...now…"
Still angry, Aubrey picked up a pair of tights from the rack and shook his head as he wore a sarcastic smirk. "I bet you could put these in the dryer...you were just too cheap to use the dryer at the laundromat…but I'll let you use mine...on the DELICATE cycle..."
"OH MY GOD!" Having reached her limit of Aubrey's snarky attitude, Jessica picked up the bra from the washer and threw it at him. "Fuck you, Aubrey! You're the one who's in love with my lingerie! You're the one with the lingerie and panty ripping fetish! I could wear regular cotton panties and plain bras if I wasn't trying to please you! What was I thinking? All of this work because you get horny when you see lace...you're like a teenage boy sometimes!"
"You sure don't bitch about me ripping your panties off when we're doing it!" Annoyed at being hit in the face with a bra, Aubrey tossed the damp tights at Jessica, hitting her square in the chest. "As for those...tights...panty hose...whatever the hell you call them, why do you have to have ten sets of those stupid things? I feel like I'm being held hostage in a ballet studio instead of living in my own house, you know?"
Jessica was livid. "Our house! It's supposed to be OUR house! But maybe I'll go call Booth now and tell him I've changed my mind! Maybe I don't want to live in the same house as you after all!" Scowling angrily, she pointed to the washer as she stormed away from him. "You're welcome for me washing your damn underwear, by the way. When they're done, you can put your own damn clothes in the dryer, asshole..."
"Hey, wait a minute! I'm not done talking to you! Come back here!"
In his haste to follow his girlfriend, Aubrey knocked over the drying rack and got tangled in Jessica's undergarments for a few seconds before hearing a door slam somewhere in the house. Finally getting free, he charged out of the room to look for her. "Calling me an asshole...that's rich…"
She wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Since he didn't hear her stomp up the stairs or the front door slam, she was somewhere in the house. "Probably pouting in her 'office'…"
Sitting on the corner of the sofa, Aubrey eventually calmed down and common sense took over. "Moving boxes...panties...why the hell were we arguing over something so stupid?", he mumbled to himself.
Yawning widely, he sighed as he leaned against the back of the couch. "Because we're both tired, cranky, and we both hate change. The fact that we've been living with constant drama for the last few weeks sure as hell didn't help…"
Closing his eyes, he was just about asleep when he heard the door to the man cave open. "I guess it's the Jess Cave now...at least I hope it is…I hope she wants to stay...man, I was an asshole earlier..."
"Aubrey?", Jessica asked in a soft voice. "Can I talk to you a minute?"
"Of course." He saw her red eyes and held out a hand to her. "Care to join me?"
"Okay." She smiled tentatively as she sat down next to him. "Listen...um...I'm sorry I blew up at you like that. I know I overreacted about what happened."
"But, I really was an asshole earlier…"
"Yeah, you were, Aubrey, but I wasn't much better when I flipped out on you. It isn't really fair of me to expect you to know that I'd want to keep those boxes when I hadn't told you. It's silly to be unhappy about something like that...and I realize you like to keep the garage clutter free. I don't want to fight about it anymore...so..."
"Maybe I do like a neat garage, but you were right, Jess. I should've asked you what you wanted to do with the boxes instead of making assumptions."
"Like maybe I should've asked you before I moved things around in the kitchen and laundry room?" Nestling close to him, she giggled softly. "You really did have a funny look on your face when you couldn't find Skinner's treats, though…"
"Right. Anyway, I think we're both tired and cranky after a week of moving you over here, and it got the better of us." Aubrey held her closer. "We've been under the same roof for two months but this...living together permanently thing...is new for both of us…"
"Yeah...it's a big change. I don't think either one of us fully realized how much of a change it is. I talk a big game but I don't always do well with change either, Aubrey." Jessica sighed softly. "We'll figure it out, though."
"We will, and the first lesson will be how to compromise on where to put stuff since, as you rightfully pointed out to me during our lingerie fight…" Aubrey caressed Jessica as she chuckled. "...this is your house, too, and you have an equal say in where we put things. After all, it's not like I have any system for organizing my stuff. When I moved in here last October, I was more anxious to get things put away, and I really didn't really have a plan. I haven't lived in a place this big since I was a kid and, well, since I was in a hurry it was more 'out of sight, out of mind', I guess."
"I get that. Finding the right place for everything after you move can be a pain in the ass.", Jessica said, pleased to see that they had come to an agreement. "Still...I should have asked you before doing all that rearranging…"
He chuckled as he kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, but sometimes if I can't find something right away, I go get a replacement, which is why I have so many partial packages of stuff laying around. Maybe you can help me keep track of things better."
"Maybe so…I'm good at that…", she said, patting his knee as she grinned at his silly smile. "So no more arguing, right?"
"I hope not. I don't like having you mad at me. You've got a scary temper." He gave her a wink as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll tell you what, though...I'm going back to Target to get that bigger drying rack."
"Aubrey…"
Smirking as she pretended to glare at him, he feigned innocence. "What? I bet we could use it. That panty party in the laundry room only proves my point. I'm afraid of what I'll see when I go into the bathroom later and encounter the bra parade."
"Oh, whatever, James Robert." Jessica narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to get up. "I have things to do…", she said primly. "If you'll excuse me…"
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?", he asked as he held her hand tightly.
"To put your boxers in the dryer. I'm sure you haven't gotten around to it, have you?"
"They can wait." He grinned as he tugged on her hand. "We've got more pressing matters to take care of."
Sighing dramatically, she rolled her eyes as she sat back down. "Oh, really? Like what?"
"C'mere." Aubrey pulled her closer. "We just had a doozy of a fight, right? So I think we need to spend considerable time making up…"
"Really…" Jessica smiled demurely as she felt his hand go under her shirt. "How do you propose to do that?"
Aubrey groaned as he enjoyed the satiny smoothness of her skin. "God, you feel so good…" He paused suddenly as something occurred to him. "You're not wearing a bra…"
"Nope...I had to wash them all today today." She shrugged as she moved onto his lap and put her arms around his neck. When he moved his hand down her back and on towards her posterior, Jessica saw his eyes widen in surprise. "Yeah, I'm out of panties, too. Totally commando…" She laughed at his dazed expression. "What? I told you I needed to do laundry..."
"I see." Untying the drawstring on her yoga pants, he slipped his hand inside the waistband, gently running his fingers across her lower abdomen, gradually working his way lower as he caressed her. "Well, that's certainly an interesting development."
Jessica squirmed with pleasure as he got closer to his intended target. "What are you waiting for, Superman? You know what you're looking for, don't you?"
"I'm not in a hurry...I want my apology to last a long time." Grabbing the hem of her tee shirt, he pulled it up over her head. "That's better. Here...lay back on the couch…" Cradling her, he helped her recline before tenderly nibbling at her rosy nipples. "I want you to enjoy this…as much as I do..."
Her fingers moved deftly under his sweatshirt, working over the smooth surfaces as he continued to feast on her breasts. "You have too many clothes on, Aubrey…"
He quickly threw aside his shirt and jeans before returning to the couch. "Yeah, this is much better…" Removing her yoga pants, he trailed kisses down her abdomen before giving her a silly grin. "So...do you forgive me?"
"What?", Jessica gasped, panting heavily. "Seriously?"
He brushed his fingertips across her inner thigh before following with feather light kisses, enjoying her shudder. "Say it...please…" Stroking her gently, he smiled as she began to buck against his hand. "Say you forgive me...say you love me…"
His talented fingers were relentless as they found their mark. Jessica could hardly breathe as he applied just the right amount of pressure in just the right spot. He knew her so well...he knew just what she liked...
"Yes…", she moaned. "Oh, yes...I forgive you…" Feeling giddy as her ecstasy peaked, she arched her back, thrusting against his hand. "God, I love you, James…"
Satisfied that he'd been forgiven, he took her into his arms and kissed her deeply. "I love you, too." He chuckled at her dreamy smile. "What are you thinking about now? Are you ready to rearrange more dishes in the kitchen cabinets? Keep this up, and we'll be humping like rabbits all night..."
Propping herself up on her elbows, Jessica shook her head. "Nope." She tilted her head as she gazed into his deep blue eyes. "I was just thinking that it would be a shame if we had to wait to have an argument in order to justify having such great sex…and other fun."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll have more arguments. We're both strong willed people...and I'm sure we'll have more great sex...and lots of other fun, too." Hearing his phone chime, he checked his messages, and then showed Jessica what it said. It was a picture of Arastoo and his sons standing in front of the mosque's thrift store with piles of boxes.
The imam's wife says to tell you both thank you and she wishes you both many blessings. You'll help many people with your donation. I'll bring you a tax form on Monday.
"That's great!", Jessica said. "I'm glad you had that idea."
"Yeah, it did work out great." Aubrey grimaced slightly as he saw the time on his phone. "Hey, it's almost five. Maybe we should think about getting dinner."
"Somehow I'm not surprised that you're hungry." Jessica wrinkled her nose slightly as she thought about his suggestion. "I don't really feel like going anywhere, do you? Maybe we could spend a quiet evening in…"
"I can have some Thai or Chinese delivered, or I can run over to Winkleman's…", Aubrey offered as he pulled up his jeans.
"Or we could just go through the pantry and eat some of the stuff that's close to its expiration date...I think you have five cans of SpaghettiOs in there that are on the verge of being antiques…"
Stifling a chuckle, Aubrey pretended to glare at her. "Don't start, Jess…"
"Oh, alright. Winkleman's is fine. Why don't you go get it, and I'll take care of the laundry." Getting up from the sofa, she stepped into her pants and pulled on her shirt. Noticing that her boyfriend was watching her with interest, she shrugged. "It'll save time when we're ready for dessert."
"I can't wait! I'll be back as soon as I can." He gave her a kiss and after grabbing his keys from the bowl on foyer table, jogged out the door.
Smiling to herself, Jessica went into the laundry room to finish her chore. It had been an interesting day...probably the first of many, and she couldn't wait to see what was in store for them next...especially since they were having chili dogs later...and maybe a side of SpaghettiOs for a midnight snack if they felt so inclined…
"Yeah, I think I'm going to like this living together thing."
Oooooooooo
After two nights of sexy play, it was an easy decision to spend most of Sunday morning in bed. Aubrey sighed as he lay on his back staring at the ceiling. Hearing the toilet flush, he rolled over toward his girlfriend and smiled. "C'mere…"
She crawled in bed next to him, putting her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Superman…"
"Really? Even after I made a mess with the SpaghettiOs on the kitchen floor?", he chuckled.
She gave him a naughty wink. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but who knew how hard it would be for us to lick them off of each other? They turned out to be smaller than I remembered..."
"Maybe it was all the beer we drank before we played that game." Aubrey ran his fingers through her dark red hair. "I like the ice cream game better...although the cheesecake game was fun, too...and then there was my birthday cake..."
"That's because you have such a sweet tooth…"
"I guess it's a good thing you're so sweet, then." He nibbled one of her earlobes. "I think you're good enough to eat…and I'm very, very hungry..."
She giggled as he rolled over on top of her, working his kisses down her chest and abdomen before slipping under the covers. Jessica groaned as Aubrey's lips found his favorite target. "Help yourself, James...oh wow...help yourself…"
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
It was almost one o'clock before Aubrey was finally able to pull himself away from Jessica's arms. "I'm sorry, Babe...but I'm hungry…" Picking up his pajama pants, he paused as he saw her smirk. "I mean for food, okay? I'm gonna go fix me an omelet. Do you want one?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." Jessica picked up Aubrey's sweatshirt, putting it on as she followed him downstairs.
She sat down at the counter, enjoying the view as her shirtless boyfriend busied himself with the eggs. He was long and lean with nice definition in his abdominals, and the way his muscles moved as he cooked fascinated her. After spending so much time with him, she had almost every inch of him memorized…
Aubrey was pretending to concentrate on the omelets, but it was a challenge considering that Jessica was sitting there at the counter wearing his sweatshirt and nothing else. The thought of her beautiful body being so near was distracting, but his hunger was also urgent...he needed to eat to keep up his strength in order to keep her sexually satisfied. What a great problem to have…
He brought the plates and the flatware to the counter and sat down next to Jessica. "Here you go...one Aubrey special. Eggs, three kinds of cheese, and leftover spinach."
Jessica was already savoring a bite. "It's wonderful…"
Aubrey smirked. 'It's going to be even more wonderful when I lay you out on the counter after we're done eating.'
The couple laughed and joked as they ate, blissfully unaware of the group of people gathering stealthily on their front lawn.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Outside, the ringleader of the mob was certain that everyone was there. She waved her arms to get the crowd's attention. "Are we ready?"
Seeing the members of the group nod, she walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. 'This is going to be so much fun.'
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
As Jessica was finishing her omelet, the doorbell rang, surprising the couple. Stunned, Aubrey glanced at his girlfriend. "Are you expecting company, Jess?"
"No…" She quickly shook her head as the doorbell rang again. "Shit…" Whipping off her sweatshirt, she tossed it at Aubrey. "Here, put this on. I've got some clothes in the laundry room I can wear."
Jessica ran naked into the laundry room as the doorbell continued to ring incessantly. When Aubrey saw she was out of view, he got up to answer it, annoyed his plans were interrupted. Stopping to check the video feed, Aubrey sighed in disgust as he opened the door.
"Good morning...or afternoon, Aubrey!", Angela shouted. "Where's Jessica?"
'What the fuck is going on here...' Looking out at the lawn, he saw all their friends from the lab and FBI. "She's...er...I mean…"
"Never mind. I know she's around here somewhere...probably naked, right?" Turning to the crowd behind her, the artist laughed loudly before turning back to her shocked friend. "Surprise! We've come to give you a housewarming party!"