The dinner they cooked together was actually eaten in the dining room and there was no crazy dining room table sex this time. They ate the pasta and seafood dinner (no shrimp) with white wine in relative quiet, at ease with the feeling that they were spending the rest of the day with the person they would spend the rest of their days with. After dinner, a check-in with Xander and a round of goodnights with their daughters. Then they watched the news cuddled together on their sofa—again, no kinky sofa sex, then the on-demand episode of Grey's Anatomy Willow had missed while on her trip earlier that week before the day caught up to both of them and Tara gently nudged her partner upstairs after the third time a big yawn interrupted Willow's comment on the inevitable contrived fuck-over of the happy lesbian couple "to advance their individual character development." Willow had barely spent ten minutes looking at emails before she climbed back into bed next to Tara reading her novel. They kissed lightly before Willow rolled onto her side and was soon unconscious. Tara was not far behind, barely managing to turn down the light before sleep took over.

Tara climbed gingerly back into bed from the toilet visit.

Her intention was to shut off the light and cuddle with Willow, but her careful movements had already woken her partner. Lean arms wrapped around her waist then slender but strong hands massaged down to stroke her inner thighs. "Will…"

"Kids'll be back tomorrow. We still have a few hours," Willow said to her back, not letting up for a moment.

"Honey, we can make love after they come back. This isn't a marathon."

Willow's hands paused, then receded. "Oh. Were you not…?"

Tara sighed, exasperated. "That's not what I meant, Will." She turned and looked at her lover, who appeared forlorn. This was the hard part about loving Willow. Even after all the years they'd already had, old insecurities unexpectedly came up and were sometimes hard to shake. She grasped her lover's hands, pulling her back to close to kiss her on the lips. They kissed slowly, Tara using the contact to convey what she did mean. She wanted slow, this time. They had all the time in the world. They had the rest of their lives.

"Oh," Willow sighed when the gentle kissing paused. "Okay."

Tara settled down besides Willow, into their regular cuddling position with Tara's head on Willow's shoulder. Tara traced lazy patterns with the tips of her fingers on Willow's breastbone, enjoying the steady beat of her lover's heart in her ear and against her cheek.

"I guess I've been Miss Grabby-hands since I got home, huh?"

"A little," Tara confirmed. "But I like it, too. I like how you make me feel so wanted."

"Well I do. Want you. Every day. I missed you the whole time I was away."

Tara closed her eyes to stop the tears from releasing. There was so much to read in Willow's words beyond the simple meaning of being away for a few days on a conference on the other side of the country. She squeezed closer into Willow but said nothing.

Willow chuckled, realizing the mood had turned unexpectedly somber but not wanting to go there. This was a happy time. Sure, they still had a very healthy sex life with three kids in the house, but real alone time, when the parents in them could be disengaged and she could devote every bit of her attention to loving Tara, was precious and not to be missed by something as mundane, if necessary, as sleep. "Of course, I still want you even when I'm not away. Like now. I know we'll always make time to be with each other, but it just seems… I don't know… a waste to just use the time sleeping when I could be trying to think up new ways to make you come."

"Well, I'm really not opposed to that plan, but isn't it a lot of work? You've been doing all the heavy lifting since you came home." Tara sat up. "I think this time, I should take a turn."

Willow raised an eyebrow at the dildo on the bedside table they had discarded since yesterday afternoon.

"No, no. I mean, it was fun, but not really my thing. Besides, I'm still a little sore from the last time."

Willow frowned. "Sore? Did I hurt you? Tara, why didn't you say something!"

"I think I did," Tara noted wryly. "As I recall, I said, 'harder, Will, fuck me harder.'"

Now it was Willow's turn to roll her eyes.

"And you did. So I know you can follow instructions," Tara tone suddenly became a bit… domineering. Sometimes taking charge like this was the only way to shake Willow from her natural tendency to assume so much responsibility, over plan and worry. "So what do you say? You think you can just sit back and let me have my way, again?"

Willow, eyes wide, silently nodded.

"Don't move, Will," Tara mumbled around the pert nipple between her teeth. "And no talking, either. It'll feel better when you do come. Later."

Oh God, asking a babbler not to babble especially when you're doing that to her was so not fair.

Tara used her tongue to soothe the areola and nub that she had been nipping seconds ago. Her hand, in the meanwhile, was between Willow's legs, her fingers deftly parted the prone woman's swollen lips. After several moments teasing, Tara looked up from Willow's chest, then let the nipple go with a small pop. She quickly, gently replaced her hand with her knee. Willow gushed. Tara dragged her leg from knee to toe between Willow's legs, pressed firmly against her lover's pussy. She was rewarded by pulling out a satisfyingly low, lovely whimper from the back of Willow's throat to complement the streak of warm wetness on her shin. Her partner's eyes and lips were shut tightly, which was the only thing that could be better. "Let me see your beautiful eyes, love."

Willow's big, bright green eyes were a marvelous emerald as she gave Tara the requested look. Her lower lip disappeared behind her teeth as she bit her lip as Tara's big toe lingered then finally left her. She had held herself as still as possible despite her pounding heart as Tara pleasured her with her foot but as soon as the blonde's toe emerged from her folds she growled and pounced on the other woman. Tara squealed, a peal of laughter at her lover's antics as Willow quickly rolled the blonde onto her back and straddled Tara at the widest part of her hips, effectively spreading herself open to settle herself on Tara's mound. "Not… bad," Tara gasped as the rolling of Willow's hips sent a shock of lust through her own body. She spared a glance at the bedside clock. "Thirteen minutes before you caved this time…"

Willow just grunted in acknowledgment. The delicious friction of Tara's wiry hairs against her lips and clit offset by her freely flowing honey made Willow dizzy with lust, Tara's reaction to her grinding, pushing up to feel the soft, wet warmth so close to her own needy cunt, compounding the feeling even more so. "Gods… love you so much," Willow gasped, her eyes closing at the rushing in her heart matching the rushing between her legs.

Tara's own heart filled and she almost came but held on. She no longer needed to hear the words, but whenever Willow said them it felt so good, anyway. Maybe more so because of that. "You love me?"

"I do," Willow replied, opening her eyes, her voice urgent, the words held back so long now threatening to overtake her. "I love you. So much. You're everything I need, all I want. Every minute, every second… I love you, Tara."

"I love you too, Will," Tara said simply.

It was enough to send Willow crashing over, shuddering and shaking and gasping for breath. She kept her weight off her lover with trembling arms even as the feeling of her orgasm pounding in waves through her triggered Tara's own beneath her. Tara was still shaking as Willow managed to dismount her, push her legs open, and settle herself against Tara's quivering flesh to feel the rest of Tara's orgasm against her own tender cunt. Gradually Tara came down and coaxed Willow down on top of her. Their wet and tired bodies melted into each other and they drifted off into another deep sleep.