The Christmas tree twinkled in the living room as Bo breezed past it with a pair of wine glasses in her hands. The lights were low and the music was too, the crooners of a forgotten age reminding them what Christmas was really about. She rounded the couch and dropped onto the cushion next to Lauren, a happy sigh escaped her.
"We survived another holiday," Bo said softly.
Lauren nodded and looked into her wine glass before taking a sip. "Do you ever think about your human family?"
Bo bit her lip and considered the question. "Yeah, you know, sometimes I do. I think about how my mom would make a pie every Sunday during the summer or the quilt she'd sew during the winter…"
"What about the holidays?"
"We had our traditions," she nodded. "But I have new ones now."
Lauren sipped the garnet colored liquid from her glass. "I miss them," she admitted.
"Your parents?" Bo scooted up to the edge of the sofa and turned toward Lauren.
She nodded. "It's hard to grieve the living."
"Maybe grieving isn't what you should be doing. Celebrate their memories, don't mourn."
Lauren smiled and titled her chin towards Bo. "When did you get so smart?"
"When you weren't looking." Bo reached out for her wine glass and set them aside. "C'mere." Bo leaned back, Lauren fitting into her side like a missing piece. The relief of the holiday passing without incident blanketed them like the snow falling outside. There was something to be said about the lull in the universe after the energy from the holiday had faded. A quiet sense of satisfaction had overtaken Bo, but Lauren was still stuck in her melancholy.
"I always thought I'd share being a mother with my mom."
"And you will on some level."
"You're kind of playing it fast and loose with the metaphysical."
Bo smirked. "I am a succubus…"
"Stop." Lauren swatted Bo's thigh playfully.
Inhaling sharply, a dazzling smile lit up Bo's features. "We're really gonna do this."
Her smile was infectious and Lauren found herself grinning back at her. "Yes, we are." Lauren clasped Bo's hand in hers
"I've got the urge to celebrate," she said with an impish grin.
"You're incorrigible."
"Really? I've always felt very corrigible." Bo trailed a finger along the seam of Lauren's top.
She smiled, grabbing hold of Bo's hand and bringing it to her lips. "You are a fast learner," Lauren hummed against her skin.
"The fastest." Bo smiled, tipping Lauren's chin up to hers. The softest kiss was followed by the sweetest sigh and Bo felt her love profoundly. Lauren reached for her, kissing her more insistently. There was no hesitation, no holding back, Bo pulled Lauren onto her lap and embraced her fully, Bo's mouth playing at the skin of Lauren's neck. Leaning back, Lauren straddled Bo's lap, both hands coming to rest on either side of Bo's face and lifting her head.
This fire, the fire they felt for each other had not diminished from that first touch, instead it grew brighter, more intense and beneath this crippling heat was the stability of a love like no other. Lauren pulled her top over her head and tossed it away. Bo's hands were on her sides almost immediately and Lauren kissed her again. Bo's hands moved to the button of Lauren's pants as her own hips bucked against her. Bo's leg kicked the coffee table and decorations went clattering to the hardwood floor, and upstairs the baby began to cry.
"Shit." Lauren reached for her top and covered herself with it.
"What in holy Hanukah is going on out here?" Kenzi stood on the landing, baby in tow bouncing off her hip. She took one look at Lauren and shook her head. "Same ol' Hotpants."
Bo looked from Lauren to Kenzi. "Kenzi is everything okay?"
"Well, I feel bitchy admitting this but I am not a fan of the down pillows."
"With the baby, Kenzi."
Kenzi smoothed a hand through Dagny's fine hair. "She's just fine."
"Then can we finish this in the morning?"
"You're the one that woke her up." Kenzi raised a finger. "Succubus interruptus. Get used to it." She nodded like Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie.
Bo sighed. "Can you take care of it, please?" Bo whispered desperately.
"Oooh, sure." Kenzi nodded enthusiastically. "Just like old times."
"Excuse me," Lauren walked past, still covering herself with her top.
"Night Doc, Merry Christmas," Kenzi called after her as she crept past her and up the stairs. "So…" Kenzi looked around. "Never thought it'd feel so good to be back."
"You know I love you and I'm happy you're home, but I gotta go, Merry Christmas." Bo kissed her on the cheek and dashed up the stairs.
"Some things never change." Kenzi smirked to herself as she moved down the stairs and kissed the baby's head. She plopped onto the couch and, checking the clock, she grabbed the remote. "Let's get our Laverne and Shirley on."
A click and the television buzzed to life. She punched in the numbers she knew by heart and sat back with the happy baby. She was nanny to the Dark Lord's forbidden child, that was a heady responsibility. Kenzi was an intrinsic piece of their Fae family and her place was a little hard to accept at first, but she had grown into her role as Dagny's protector. She knew she was strong enough and she was stronger still knowing Bo trusted her with the enormous responsibility.
The baby drew deep breaths as she drifted into slumber and Kenzi giggled as Squiggy made another outrageous entrance. The Christmas tree twinkled and in the cover of darkness, Kenzi let her guard down. They were safe. Even with Bo canoodling Lauren upstairs, Kenzi felt safer than she had in the past eight months.
She sighed and looked at the high ceiling and its snow-covered skylights. It sure wasn't a crack shack, but Bo and Lauren's place had the same homey feel about it, minus the drafty walls and broken windows. They had a working furnace, allergen reducing air filters, drapes and windows without boards or bars on them. It was quite the achievement. Kenzi wondered when it would happen for her, or if it was even meant to happen for her. She was patient, though. She knew it would be her turn soon enough. With Nate, Kenzi knew she'd never fit into the human world again. She thought with Hale she had a real shot at happiness until Massimo took that away from her, too. Now, she was a nanny. Kenzi thought she was through babysitting in high school but apparently those were skills a girl never forgets. The rules were, of course, different when you throw in the Lord of the Underworld. For instance, she never had weapons stashed throughout her house when she was a sophomore but now things were different. Her katana was as much a constant companion as the baby was.
There were noises emanating from the succubus' lair now, Kenzi tapped the volume button for camouflage and leaned back into the cushions. As fates go, things could be a helluva lot worse and Kenzi was grateful to be loved by people and Fae with no other obligation to her than friendship. Their little family would be getting bigger soon, but Kenzi knew she'd always have a place within it, even if she did have to babysit. She giggled at Laverne telling another outlandish story.
Life was good. In the shadow of a holiday, so many things pale in comparison. But a family's love, their togetherness, is never so real as it is at Christmas. Home is not a nebulous concept at Christmas, either. It is an essential component and no matter where Kenzi went, hidden or in plain sight, she missed her family, she missed her home. Despite how right it felt to be home again, she knew she could not stay for long. For now, though, she would enjoy the immaculate townhouse with it's large back yard and two-car garage. She even liked the room they made up for her, but she suspected soon it would become a nursery. Bo was all grown up and it was hard not to feel left behind to some extent, but Kenzi knew that she had been entrusted with the most precious cargo of them all. She pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered herself and Dagny with it. Someday they would return and it would be Dagny's time to shine. Until then Kenzi would be her tireless champion, her mentor and bestie but she would always long for the days of being Bo's sidekick.
End part 5