Part 2

"Oh for fuck's sake! Who the hell is that?"

Olivia groans not able to believe they got interrupted yet again. The two lovers break away and Natalia covers her mouth with her hand to suppress the laughter she feels rising up from within. It doesn't work – she bursts out laughing in her sweet and addictive laugh while Olivia just glares at her. After taking a deep breath Olivia joins in by smiling and chuckling a little:

"I really don't know if this is funny or just sad. I'll take that and get rid of whoever this is."

"I'll go with funny, though."

"Yeah? I couldn't tell, Sweetheart."

"Oh, by the way…"

"What?"

"Swear jar."

Olivia mumbles something Natalia is not able to hear, probably doesn't even want to hear, and approaches the door with the determined, almost cold facial expression she always puts on in business meetings. Meanwhile, the Latina remains in her spot with a smirk on her face watching the older woman curiously.

Just as Olivia opens the door, a deep, bellowing voice fills the room:

"Auntie O!"

Olivia turns around with a clear mixture of joy and frustration on her face and steps aside to let the young man and his little girl enter the room.

"Well, look who's come to visit… Jonathan and Sarah!"

While Jonathan passes Olivia and walks across the kitchen to face the couple he is carrying Sarah on his arms. After Olivia closes the door she turns around to him:

"Wow, this is kind of a surprise! I thought you wanted to call, big guy."

"Yeah well, you know me, aunt Liv. Always out and about. Sooo… This is the lucky gal, huh?"

Olivia walks over to Natalia and puts her arm around the beautiful, younger woman's waist.

"You bet it is! Right, honey?"

Natalia, however, doesn't pay attention to what is happening around her. Instead, she is focused on Sarah who is obviously nervous and a little afraid. The little girl clutches her father tightly and hides her face on his shoulder, her brown curls falling over her face. Naturally, Natalia's motherly instincts kick in and she takes a few steps in Jonathan's direction while talking calmly to the toddler.

"Aww, sweetheart… You don't have to be afraid. I know this is strange, and new and a little scary because you don't really know us but we have already heard sooo much about you. It is nice to finally meet you. I'm Natalia."

Natalia's friendly and loving voice makes Sarah's head turn to take a peek at the couple. Her beautiful, chocolate eyes look up to her father questioningly to which he replies with a warm smile on his face and tenderness in his voice:

"Well, Natalia's right, Sweetie. I told them a lot about you. You wanna know, why? See, Olivia over there is my absolute favorite aunt and I really love her. Not as much as you of course but a close second. And Natalia, she is aunt Olivia's girlfriend. They are a couple and in love with each other. They are a part of our family, baby."

The reassuring words of her father give the little girl enough confidence to turn towards the women and smile. She whispers something in Jonathan's ear after which her sets her down, smiles broadly and simply answers:

"Yeah sure, go ahead."

The toddler walks up to Olivia with the biggest smile while the older woman instinctively kneels down to face the little girl. Sarah gives her a peck on the cheek and a tight hug. Olivia is obviously puzzled by that and yet, at the same time, deeply touched. Sarah breaks the embrace and takes a step backwards to look in Olivia's eyes. Her whole aura emanating childish joy and unconditional love.

"I love you."

"You do?"

Olivia smiles broadly and her eyes get a little teary. She raises her hand and cups the little girl's cheek who giggles under her great-aunt's touch and announces self-confidently:

"Of course I do! Daddy loves you, so I love you, too."

"Well, that's awesome! You wanna know, why? Because I love you, too. Hey, I have an idea. I know it's really weird for you right now because we are all grown-ups and I can imagine that you'd rather have someone your age around, right?"

Sarah smiles at Olivia and nods sheepishly.

"I have a daughter, too. Her name is Emma and she is a little older than you but I'm sure she'd like to meet you, too. Should I get her?"

"Yeah!"

After Olivia calls down Emma and the girls get introduced to each other, the adults are happy to see that the children hit it off at an instant despite their age difference. Emma is delighted to have a new member in her ever growing family – and it's a girl! Sarah on the other hand loves to have someone to look up to. Almost like an older sister.

"Hey mom, can we go upstairs? I want to show Sarah my room. Pleeease?"

"Uhm, sure. If Jonathan agrees I don't see a problem."

When Jonathan just smiles and nods the two girls run off without hesitation giggling and smiling with pure happiness.

No sooner that the adults can hear the children's stamping on the stairs, Jonathan turns to the women.

"Now that we are to ourselves… How about you offer me something to drink and we sit down?"

"Sure. Natalia, you should sit down anyway. You have been up on your feet the whole day. So, what do you wanna drink?"

"Beer'd be nice."

"That can be arranged, my dear nephew."

Olivia offers her love a seat and turns around to get them all something to drink – Beer for Jonathan, Natalia gets another Iced Tea and for herself a glass of red wine. After she's put down the drinks Olivia sits down next to Natalia, gives her a kiss on the cheek and takes her hand to hold it while not once taking her eyes off of her. Natalia responds by lowering her eyes, smiling and blushing a little.

"You two are so cute! So girls, how's it going?"

"Well, after these tumultuous months I'm pretty happy and I hope Natalia is, too."

"You know I am."

After finishing the first small talk the three adults continue to discuss more personal topics as for example why Jonathan returned, Ava, and the Spauldings. Every now and again they would hear rumbling from upstairs after which Olivia interrupts their conversation by throwing in a worried 'Do you think they are okay?', 'Maybe I should go and take a look.', or 'They've broken down the whole room, I know it!'. Natalia, however, manages to calm Olivia down every time by laughing and gently reminding her love that everything could be fixed if necessary, even bones. Just as Natalia's soothing words helped Sara calm down they seem to have a similar effect on the hotelier.

Jonathan observes the two women closely for the whole time. Not because he is somehow suspicious or has a problem with their relationship but because their love seems to be too radiant not to stand by in awe. He notices that although Olivia interrupted their conversation what seems to be a dozen times, the two women never break contact. They are always physically connected either by holding hands, caressing each other in some way or resting their heads on each other's shoulders. Most of the time subconsciously, he figures. After a while of thinking about them and how happy they are he mutters out loud but nonetheless more to himself:

"Gosh, they so in love it should be illegal…"

"Huh? Did you say something?

Olivia who's been distracted by her own thoughts and the closeness to Natalia realizes that she has been talking to Jonathan the whole time but really been thinking about something completely different.

"Uhm, no. Just a thought. Nothing special, don't worry. Hey Auntie-O, I have an idea for tonight."

Natalia and Olivia both look at each other a little worried that their first night together would be shorter than they hoped for but yet curious as to what Jonathan was about to propose. Olivia turns to Jonathan who's put on the smirk she has known for years – he is up to something. She smiles and figures that she better nips his idea in the bud.

"What idea would that be? You know it's been a long day. Natalia and I are really tired and want to get some rest. She sure deserves it."

"No, no, no! I'm not talking about going out clubbing or something. I just thought that since our girls get along so well together… Well, what do you guys think about me taking Emma back home to my place for the night? The girls could have their first sleep-over and you two have the rest of the night to yourselves."

"No, Jonathan. Natalia and I would appreciate that but Emma has school tomorrow and the two of them just met. I don't think it's a good idea."

Natalia nods and wants to agree with her love but before either of them can say anything else Jonathan is already up and standing in the doorway yelling:

"Hey Emma? Sarah? Come down here. I have a question for you two."

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Don't worry, aunt Liv. I'll drop Emma off for school when I have to get Sarah to playschool. And whether it's a good idea… We'll ask them ourselves."

Olivia and Natalia are a little stumped by Jonathan's brazenness but frankly, deep inside, the both of them really wish to have the night to themselves. Emma and Sarah come running into the kitchen giggly and cheerily. After Jonathan proposes his idea to the girls they jump around happily. Olivia, however, keeps a straight face and warns them not to get to school too late although she is just as happy and giggly inside to finally be able to enjoy her relationship without any interruptions.

Within only a few minutes Emma's things are packed, the good-byes are said and the three of them are out of the door on their way to Jonathan's.

"I'll regret this. I know I will."

Olivia is standing in the door watching her little girl drive away.

"This is a disaster waiting to happen. For sure."

"You worry way too much, Olivia. It's an over-night stay. What's the worst that could

possibly happen? Someone snores too loud?"

"That's not funny! Jonathan is so young and so inexperienced."

Natalia walks up to Olivia from behind and embraces her love while gently stroking her hair that is shimmering in the moonlight.

"Look, he's a father now. Naturally he's more careful. Just remember how being a mom changed you."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I mean he's…"

Olivia can't finish her sentence because a loud, animalistic sound escapes her mouth – she is cut short by a long and deep yawn. After she rubs her eyes, Olivia tries to start over but another yawn prevents her from communicating anything. Natalia giggles and teases the older woman by changing her tone as if she was talking to an infant:

"Oh, is Olivia tired?"

"What makes you think that, Sherlock? Aren't you?"

"To be honest, I'm completely exhausted."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. How about we skip watching a movie on the couch and go

straight to bed?"

"Gosh, yes please!"

Olivia kisses Natalia on the cheek, take her hand and leads their way through kitchen and living room, up the stairs and directly into Natalia's bedroom. As they enter the room, the two women immediately notice a bunch of boxes standing around. With all that fuss during the day they haven't had the chance to unpack. After overlooking the chaos the two women simultaneously shake their heads and Natalia mutters:

"Tomorrow. We'll do that tomorrow."

Olivia agrees to that with a slow nod.

Apart from Olivia's boxes standing around nothing in this room has been changed yet. Although the couple decided to make this room their shared bedroom it is still Natalia's room somehow. The décor is quite simple – a large bed in the middle of the room, a closet, a nightstand and very few decorations except a wooden cross hanging on the wall opposite to the bed. The two women maneuver their way through the room and past Olivia's boxes.

As they are standing in front of the bed they look at each other a little bashfully and smile shyly. Quickly, awkwardness and insecurity fill the room. Olivia, however, takes a deep breath filling her lungs to capacity and gathers every courage that she can find in her body, enough to break the silence.

"Sooo, what's next?"

"This is weird. This is really weird."

"It doesn't have to be, Natalia. We'll just take it slow. One step after another, you know. I don't think I'm ready for it either."

"Right. Let's just do what we always do before going to sleep."

"Sound like a plan! I'll just take a quick shower and you can get ready for bed yourself. And after that… Well, let's not worry about it, okay?"

"Okay, take your time."

Completely relieved Olivia by how easy that was she turns around and leaves towards the bathroom.

After she is out of sight, Natalia walks over to her closet to get her PJ's and change her clothes. While she gets ready she is able to hear how Olivia turns on the water and starts showering. Natalia smiles and takes her rosary out of the nightstand to pray:

"Dear God, thank you for this day and the joy it brought to us. It was perfect. But I need to ask a little favor. Please God, let me find the courage to love this woman the way she deserves it. I know you are love and, therefore, I beg you to let me make it right. I know Olivia is scared to make a step forward because she thinks it could be one step too far, too soon. God, help me keep my nerve when I show her that I'm ready to love her in every way…"

Natalia doesn't know what else to ask for so she stands up again and puts away the rosary. She is anxious and scared what this first night as a couple will turn out to be. On the other hand, she can't wait for Olivia to get out of the bathroom and, eventually, fall asleep in her lover's arms. Olivia's embrace always gives her a feeling of security and profound contentment that not even Gus managed to do. Just by thinking about the feeling of these strong arms holding her close, enwrapping her with the love Olivia has for her, the Latina feels completely at peace.

Full of expectation, Natalia sits down on the bed and listens carefully waiting for Olivia to be finished. Soon, the water stops and she can hear footsteps approaching their bedroom. Olivia enters in a bath robe barefooted and still a little wet whilst drying her curls with a towel.

"I totally forgot that my stuff is still packed up in the boxes and not in my room across the hall. Would you mind help me find my clothes?"

Olivia looks at Natalia waiting for an answer and laughs at her little mishap. Natalia, however, just stares at Olivia.

"Natalia? Are you okay?"

Instead of giving Olivia an answer, Natalia stands up und takes a few steps in her love's direction. Her eyes carefully take in every inch of the mature woman's curvy body.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Olivia… You are beautiful, you know that?"

"Of course I am!"

Olivia giggly drops her towel and throws her hair seductively through the air while pouting and giving Natalia a raunchy look. Then she bursts out laughing, partly because of Natalia's statement and partly because her own act amuses her.

"No, I'm being serious. You are breathtaking."

Natalia takes the remaining steps in Olivia's direction, reaches out to cup the older woman's cheek and tenderly stroke the lower lip with her thumb.

Olivia is completely stunned by that. Men have always desired and sometimes risked everything to get her. But Natalia who, up until now obviously, has never shown too much interest in the physical part of their relationship? Or is she maybe overthinking and Natalia doesn't even want to go in that direction with her actions? Olivia is in a loss for words and anxious to see where this is headed. Her heartbeat fastens.

While Olivia is trying to figure out what the hell is happening and her head is spinning, Natalia examines her love closely completely mesmerized by what she sees. Her lips are soft and full and beautifully formed. A firm, red curve just waiting to be touched. Natalia's curiosity increases and so she slides her fingertips slowly downwards over Olivia's throat. The older woman responds by lifting her chin and not only starting to tremble internally, but also to breathe heavily. As Natalia arrives at her love's collarbone she gently starts tracing its profile. Matching the softness of her lips, her skin feels like silk under her fingertips.

The fast and heavy movement of Olivia's chest causes her robe to undo slightly and, therefore, reveal a part of her scar. Once Natalia notices that, she slides her fingertips innocently even further down to touch Olivia's scar – the last visible reminder of her connection to Gus. It has healed greatly becoming smaller and generally fading. Natalia's gaze curiously wanders downwards and she realizes that the contour of Olivia's breasts presses through the cloth of her robe. Now that she sees the physical proof of her love's arousal she feels more than a little embarrassed and looks up to face Olivia whose head is still tilted backwards and eyes are closed. Are they ready for it yet? Has Natalia gone too far? She quickly withdraws her hand and her face turns crimson

"Oh my God, I am so sorry, Olivia!"

Natalia backs away shocked about her own actions and Olivia has a rude awakening from the last few minutes that seemed like a dream, a very pleasurable dream. She collects herself to say something coherent, hopefully making sense.

"What?! No, Natalia! Don't be sorry. Please don't be sorry."

"But I…"

"No 'but'".

Olivia steps forward, takes Natalia's face in her hands and looks directly into her eyes. The emerald in her eyes shows tenderness and love calming the younger woman down almost immediately.

"Natalia, you shouldn't have to be sorry. I love you! And I love being touched by you and being kissed by you."

"I love that, too. I just… I just don't when it's too far…"

"I know what you mean…"

"Why does everything have to be so complicated, Olivia?"

"Not necessarily."

Olivia puts a very broad smirk on her face. The twinkle in her eyes communicates danger.

"Olivia? What are you up to now?"

The older women clears her throat and tries to put what comes next as comprehensibly and delicately as she actually intents it to be.

"Well, I know that we haven't really talked about our expectations about… that… And we should do that as soon as possible but as we've just now established we are both comfortable with kissing and touching each other. How about we start from there? What do you say to an old fashioned Junior-High-Make-Out?"

"I'd love that and I love you."

Olivia leans forward and places a soft and gentle kiss on Natalia's lips. Natalia, however, smiles and leads their way to the bed where they lay down next to each other. While she carefully brushes a strand of hair out of her love's face, Olivia tenderly strokes Natalia's cheek and lower lip with her fingertips. Both women intently take each other in and try to hold back the desire starting to burn deep in their stomach.

Finally, without any fear or restraint whatsoever they simultaneously lean in to kiss one another. As their lips begin to touch both of them exhale heavily through their nose as if a burden comes off their shoulders and they start moaning almost immediately. Olivia subconsciously takes on the more dominant role in this kiss. She slides her hand to the back of Natalia's head and clenches a fist tenderly pulling her hair whilst parting her lips to deepen the kiss. Their heads start turning and their hands begin to explore each other's bodies, stroking and enjoying every inch they reach. Not long before Natalia is able to taste the tip of Olivia's tongue carefully stroking inside her mouth. She instinctively follows her love's lead and their tongues begin to caress each other. Taste and scent and touch – their senses are running wild until they eventually mash up and enable their instincts to take over completely. Both woman getting lost in each other and the passion of this kiss.

Several moments pass until their breath seems to run out. Olivia ends their kiss panting slightly and trembling from desire for this woman. She knows she has to keep herself under control not to scare Natalia off and overstep. Intertwined in a close embrace they both catch their breath in silence. Olivia smiles, tears starting to gather in her eyes as these emerald orbs look deep into Natalia's before she whispers with an unknown vulnerability:

"This was everything I imagined it would be. I love you so much… I've never loved anyone like this. Sincerely, passionately, madly, completely… I don't want this to ever end."

"It won't. You are everything to me."

– TBC –