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Full Circle

Steve felt Catherine grin into their kiss as he ran a hand down her side. He raised his brow when she chuckled lightly, and kissed her again before pulling back enough to say, "Wasn't going for humor, Lieutenant." With a smile.

When she replied, "Hmmm, I know, but …" Catherine leaned down and kissed his jaw before adding, "We both just looked at the time." He couldn't hold back a laugh of his own.

Placing her forehead against his, they full on laughed together. "They've been asleep an hour, we're good," he whispered.

"We're always good," she teased saucily and removed a hand from his cheek to pat the bed. "And we're on our nice, comfy mattress."

"Twice today, even." He murmured against her neck before pulling her flush against him. "And we have all the time…" Her fingers stopped his words.

"Shhhh you'll jinx it," Catherine's eyes glinted.

"Mmm, true." He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers.

Kissing him deeply, she grinned again when Steve moaned. "Full steam ahead, Commander, being in bed early and all…"

His eyes darkened as he shifted them until he was over her and breathed her name as she ran a foot up the back of his calf. "Aye, aye, Lieutenant, who knows where we'll be getting creative tomorrow…"

Catherine stretched sleepily and melted against Steve's side. Running a hand over his chest she smiled against his skin. "Maybe we revisit the tub tomorrow."

"If we get up early…" he kissed the top of her head. "Unless you wanna sleep in and hit the shower?"

She chuckled lightly at their finding creative places . "Our beautiful bathroom deserves equal time after the rendezvous in the downstairs bathroom. And the Marquis." She referenced their 'don't wake the kids' strategies.

She felt Steve's rumble of laughter before she heard it. "I like the Marquis."

"Of course you do." She patted his abs. "And I concede a higher comfort rating than the walk-in closet."

"The closet was … " he started, then shrugged the shoulder she wasn't lying on. "We only had a couple minutes."

She knew he was grinning without moving to see his face. "Excellent minutes."

"Definitely, and we're used to years of improvising, but I'm gonna agree with you on the bed."

Morning

They'd decided on the shower first, then the tub and were settled into a familiar rhythm when Catherine stopped moving. Resting her weight on Steve's thighs, she tilted her head to listen.

"Shhh shh, it's 05:55, please go back to sleep," Catherine whispered and Steve stilled his hands on her hips as the monitor in Angie's room sparked to life.

Seconds later, he was offering a towel as she followed him out of the soaking tub.

"I got her, hopefully she goes back to sleep without waking DJ. You wanna hop in a cold shower?" She kissed him with a smirk as Angie's voice came over the speaker.

"Funny, Lieutenant, just give me a minute." He returned the kiss as she cinched a terry robe. "We're ahead this morning. If she settles, I can always meet you in the Marquis …" he laughed. "Or back in bed."

Glancing over her shoulder with a saucy, "Hold that thought." She headed to Angie's room, where their daughter was chanting, "Duck, duck, goose…"

"Hey, baby girl, it's super early, sleep a little bit more for Mommy?" She said with a soft smile as saw Angie snuggling with her stuffed aardvark and smiling back at her with sleepy eyes.

"Mommy." She reached one hand to take Catherine's as her mother sat on the corner of the bed.

"It's early sweetheart, shhhh go back to sleep." She was happy to see Angie's eyes drooping as she nodded against her pillow.

Five minutes later, Catherine crawled into bed and straddled Steve. "She's back to sleep, it's go time, Commander. I'd say we have at least a whole hour." She linked their fingers and grinned, leaning down to kiss him. "And maybe later, I'll meet you in the closet."

"Still us, being creative." He pulled her even closer and smiled into a kiss.

"Being creative, we've come full circle." She kissed him passionately. Now, let's get moving because speaking of full circle, we're back on measured time."

Locking eyes, Steve and Catherine shared a smile and read each other's thoughts.

They'd come full circle, for the very best reason.

# End. Thanks for reading!

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