Chapter Twenty-Nine – Lauren's Birthday
When they woke in the morning Bo pampered her with kisses from head to toe, eliciting many moans from the blonde. "Good morning my Elvin queen, happy birthday."
"Mmm, it is a happy birthday," Lauren stretched and smiled.
"Sweetie would you mind going downstairs and starting breakfast?" Bo asked.
"Of course not,' Lauren smiled and gave Bo a gentle kiss. She went downstairs and put on the coffee, starting breakfast, suddenly she heart Bo's voice behind her.
"Babe?" Bo asked.
"Yes my love?" Lauren answered without looking up.
"Come give me a kiss," Lauren smiled and set her knife down, turning around she was surprised to not see Bo anywhere. She squinted her eyes in confusion, looking around the living room. Then something caught her eye, something that didn't seem to belong in the Clubhouse, something too shiny and new to fit.
A mechanical pad was on the wall near the entrance and another was on a wall in the kitchen. An intercom. Lauren bit her lip, holding back a smile. She walked to the pad and pressed the button, "I bet you think you're pretty clever huh?"
"Oh come on, tell me you don't love this."
"I love it but I love you more, now get your butt down here and give me some birthday sugar."
Bo appeared in the kitchen almost instantly, a smile on her face. "You like?"
"I love it. You're too cute sometimes, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know." Bo shrugged adorably, "I also installed high-tech security cameras and motion detectors that can be set for when we're all in bed."
"But how- how did you do this? I know they weren't here last night."
"Magic," Bo replied, scrunching her nose up in a smile, placing a lock of hair behind her loves ear. "What can I say you're a pretty sound sleeper after a night of passionate lovemaking."
Lauren bit her lip and shook her head.
"This is very sweet baby."
"Well, I know you can protect yourself and I don't want you to think I'm worried about your safety because I'm not, but this is a 'just in case', plus I need Kenzi to be protected when we're not here."
"It's lovely babe, I love it and I love you."
"Let's pack up breakfast to go for a picnic," Bo said, grazing her lovers face with her fingers adoringly.
"Mmm, that sounds nice. Help me finish breakfast?"
"Of course babe, I'm not going to make you cook on your birthday, just take your coffee and go sit down on the couch."
"No, I'll sit in the kitchen, I like watching you cook."
"You mean you like watching me burn things?"
"Yeah, that's what I said," Lauren shrugged and Bo smirked at her, kissing the end of her nose.
Bo didn't tell Lauren where they were going, they finally arrived at their destination, Tue's forest – or Lauren's forest rather.
"Aw, babyyy," Lauren sang when they pulled up to the forest. Bo smiled, delighted that her love was happy with the surprise. They walked to the clearing together, Bo's arms wrapped around her loves waist, Lauren laying her head on Bo's shoulder.
They set up their picnic in the clearing, lying down on a fleece blanket. The song of the forest spoke to Lauren, making her feel so utterly at peace, to her very core. The sound of the birds and the leaves were like magic, she shut her eyes, bliss overwhelming her.
Bo took in her lover, looking so angelic and at peace. An ethereal glow surrounded her, she'd never looked more beautiful. Bo couldn't help reaching out to stroke her face, rousing her gently from her quiet meditation.
"Are you happy?" Bo asked, her voice quiet and intimate.
"I couldn't possibly be any happier, this was perfect baby and so sweet, you spoil me."
"You deserve it, you spoil me every day just being in my life." The two girls smiled at each other giddily, their hands tangling into each other's hair, kissing each other madly.
They pulled back, their foreheads pressed together, Lauren reached her fingers up to Bo's lips, touching them reverently, "Breathless," she whispered, memories flooded both of their minds at the words they'd whispered to each other before the Garuda attack. They thought they'd loved each other then, but they had no idea how far and how deep that love would eventually go.
They spent hours just talking, laughing and giggling in the sunshine. They even had an intense make out session before they left. When they were out of food, champagne and dizzy from being in the heat, they retreated to the Clubhouse.
When they returned to the Clubhouse, Bo went to the kitchen and grabbed another bottle of champagne. "Babe, go up to the bedroom and make yourself comfortable," Bo told her lover as she got the chilled champagne ready.
"Anything you say my love," Lauren smiled playfully and winked.
Bo smiled mischievously as she poured the champagne and quickly followed her lover up to the bedroom.
"Baby!" She heard Lauren exclaim in surprise as Bo rounded the corner and saw her standing there. Bo glowed, there was nothing she loved more in the world than watching the delight of her soulmate.
"What did you do?" Lauren asked, looking at her with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean?" Bo asked innocently, handing her a glass of champagne.
"I mean, this is too much," Lauren said, referring to the pile of presents on the bed.
"Nothing is too much for my girl." Bo sat on the edge of the bed near the pile of presents. She patted the seat next to her "Come on, open-them-open-them-open-them!" Bo exclaimed with childlike excitement as she bounced ecstatically on the bed.
"Should I even ask how you did this?" Lauren smirked and joined her love on the bed.
Bo shrugged, "Kenzi might've helped me out."
"Wow, I can't tell you how touched I am that you put so much effort into my birthday baby, could you be any sweeter?" Lauren caressed Bo's face and she nuzzled into her hand.
"Come on, open them!" Bo pleaded, her excitement spilling over and Lauren laughed a loud belly laugh at how cute her lover was.
Lauren ran her hands over a large wooden case, the wood was exquisite, old and filled with pleasant memories. Her fingers went to the locks on the case and she flipped them up, she lifted the lid back and the inside of the case was lined with plush emerald velvet.
A long wooden bo staff was laying inside the case, it was absolutely breathtaking, Lauren sucked in a breath, her hand covering her mouth in awe. "Oh my god Bo, this is exquisite," Lauren ran her fingers adoringly over the staff. She felt a surge of energy run through her as soon as her fingers touched the wood. It was marked with engravings that reminded Lauren of cave drawings.
"Bo, what is this? How did you do this?"
Bo smiled, full of joy. "I pulled some strings. The one Tue gave you is amazing and I was even thinking of getting you lab equipment instead but I figured you probably had enough of that – plus I wouldn't know where to begin. Obscure weapons are kind of my thing," Bo shrugged. "I had a leather strap designed so that you can wear it on your back in the field."
"No, Bo. It's perfect, it's so perfect – it couldn't be more perfect. What are these markings?"
"They're depictions of Elvish history, look at the hilt," Bo watched with anticipation.
Lauren picked up the staff, energy surging through her body as she wrapped her fingers around the wood. Lauren looked at the hilt, the initials 'B&L' were wood burned into the hilt much like the rest of the engravings.
"B&L, what does that mean? Bacon and Licorice? Beer and Lasagna? Ooh, ooh! Black and Leather?"
Bo pushed her arm playfully, "I know that you're only teasing but it's Bo & Lo of course."
Lauren bit back a smile. "This is so amazing Bo," her fingers grazed her lovers face. "What kind of wood is this? It feels so powerful," Lauren ran her fingers over the engraving of their initials, falling in love with her all over again.
"It's Scandinavian Rowan."
Lauren took in a breath, "Bo, this must've been so hard to get. That wood is historically filled with magical properties."
"Only the best for you babe, especially if it can help protect you, there is nothing I wouldn't do. Okay now, next one!" Bo bounced giddily on the bed again, Lauren laughed.
She opened the smallest package next, it was a small shillelagh and a dagger, much like Bo's, with a wooden hilt, "Bo, you have to stop spoiling me I'm going to get a complex."
"The shillelagh was my idea of a smaller, more portable bo staff. I mean my katana is always useful but you know that my go to is always my knife. It's a little impractical to carry a bo staff everywhere."
"As always, this is so thoughtful baby, you always have my wellbeing in mind."
"This is true, I just need to know my baby is safe. Okay open the last one, it's my favorite," Bo clapped her hands together excitedly.
Lauren ducked her head and smiled and reached for the last present. She moved the last box closer, it was a large white box, much like one from a department store, with a big emerald bow on it. She opened the top and inside was a stunning, extravagant emerald coat. Lauren blinked back tears, never having felt so utterly adored and spoiled in her life.
She lifted the coat from the box and realized it was more of a cloak than a coat. It had a large hood and a tapered cut, making it longer in the back than the front, it clasped at the collar with a beautiful broach of a rowan tree and the leaves on the tree were small emerald stones.
"Bo I – I can't, this is too much," Lauren blinked back tears.
"You can and you will. All the other gifts are impersonal, this one is special. I saw it in a store and all I could think of was you."
"I've never – I've never been so spoiled in my whole life-"
"Don't think of it as spoiled, think of it as adored. And I know you're not used to it, you're used to taking care of other people but now you have me and I'm here to take care of you, I'm always going to take care of you and there's nothing you can do to stop me," Bo stroked Lauren's face lovingly and the blonde nuzzled into her touch.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Lauren said, her voice choked up. She leaned over and kissed Bo hungrily, Bo's eyes flashed blue.
"Move the presents," Bo growled, ready to show her adoration for her lover.
Lauren woke up from her sex nap to something cold and feather light touching her arm. She opened her eyes and saw Bo staring down at her, eyes full of love.
"Mmm," Lauren purred happily, stretching. "Hello lover."
Bo smiled and winked at her. "I'm sorry to wake you princess but it's 11:45, there's still fifteen minutes left of your birthday and I have one more surprise for you."
"No, no more! I refuse."
"Of course you do, you wouldn't be you if you didn't, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't insist. Plus you haven't even seen it yet," Bo lifted her hand waved a gold necklace in front of her face.
Lauren reached up and stilled her hand, grasping the necklace to look at it. It was two hearts that interlaced, one heart had a purple colored stone inset in it and the other had a navy blue stone inset in it, the interlaced hearts were framed in thin, elegant wings.
"The gems represent our chi's, the hearts are supposed to represent us and how our hearts are forever intertwined. The wings represent that our love is what freed both of us, I don't want you to feel obligated to wear it though, I know you might have an aversion to wearing necklaces after the Ash but-"
Lauren pressed her finger to Bo's lips and shook her head, her eyes full of tears. A single tear fell from her eye and she bit her lip, trying to hold it together. "Bo," she whispered, her voice quivering. She felt her heart swell and she couldn't keep it together anymore, her tears fell, one after the other, streaming from her eyes. She kissed Bo passionately, Bo could taste her lover's salty tears in their kiss and it made her heart hurt. Bo pressed her fingers into Lauren's hair, trying to deepen the kiss, to take her lovers pain away. They both moaned happily and kissed until Lauren pulled away, she stared at her girlfriend in amazement.
"I know it makes you feel uncomfortable when I spoil you, or even when someone tells you how incredible you are – don't think I haven't noticed, but listen to me Lauren, you are amazing and you deserve to be spoiled. One day you're going to have to realize how strong and amazing and deserving you are. And if you want to be stubborn about it – I'll just have to spend every day of my life making you believe it, so strap in because it's going to be a long life," Bo told her seriously, her eyes boring into her, trying to project the honesty in her words.
Lauren sighed and raked a hand through her hair, "How do you always know exactly what to say to me?"
Bo picked up her hand and kissed it reverently, "Because you're part of me."
Lauren sniffed and nodded, her heart feeling so swollen with love and gratitude that she'd found her other half, this incredible creature who wanted to live only to please her and make her feel special.
"Put it on," She asked, her voice soft.
Bo smiled, "Are you sure?"
"I couldn't imagine anything I'd be prouder to wear around my neck, except maybe 'Property of Bo'."
Bo laughed, "Damn and to think at the jewelry store I was on the fence between this and a 'Property of Bo' necklace."
Lauren shrugged, "Well you can't win them all."
Bo crinkled her nose in a smile and kissed Lauren softly. She put the necklace on her love and locked the clasp, the blondes hand went up to admiringly touch the necklace, she grasped the gold pendant in her fingers, her eyes full of love.
"Bo, this is without a doubt the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me and you're right, it is hard for me to accept compliments and think of myself as deserving. But the biggest thing it's hardest for me to admit I'm deserving of is you-" Bo looked hurt for a second but she thought she knew what Lauren was getting it. "Because this – us… I don't know how anyone could deserve this. After all of the carnage and trauma I've witnessed in my life, the fact that I get to be this lucky it just – doesn't make sense to me. You know how I rely on facts and the facts are – this incredible, ethereal, earthshattering thing we have together just doesn't make sense to me."
"That's because it's not something factual – it's fate baby. What we have feels like magic because it is magic. You'll never be able to make sense of us in the way that your scientist mind wants to because it never will. I feel the same way you do about this. You think I think I deserve to be this lucky?" Bo tucked a strand of hair behind Lauren's ear and lifted her chin with her hand so she could look in the hazel eyes she'd fallen so madly in love with. "I'm crazy about you Lauren – and that scares me, you know how I feel about being so vulnerable, but more than all of that – I trust you. It don't know rationally why I trust you, it's just something I feel and I know you feel it too, I know you trust me. And really, that's all I need to know, that I'm deliriously, madly in love with you and I trust you with my life. Above that, I don't need to know anything else about how or why we found each other, I feel like in my heart, there is no other possible outcome, in this universe or any other, where Bo and Lauren aren't meant to be together for all of eternity. I always believed, even when I thought I was human, that the universe was more than we gave it credit for, that it had a mind and desires and plans of its own – something people like to call 'destiny' and maybe this – us, is one of the universe's greatest desires, a love that can't be stopped and will always find a way to survive. An impossible love between a human and a Fae, who found a way to be together for the rest of eternity."
Lauren was crying again, these tears were full of joy. She almost jumped into Bo's arms, crashing into her in a hug so tight that she pushed Bo back into the pillows. The brunette laughed at her and wrapped her arms around her love, Lauren placed her head in the crook of Bo's necks until her tears subsided. Bo stroked her hair the whole time, rubbing her back with her other hand comfortingly.
"It's going to sound really silly, but I love you so much – that saying 'I love you' doesn't seem to do it justice," Lauren sniffled, sounding childlike.
"I know exactly what you mean," Bo said softly, her voice delicate and intimate. She lifted Lauren's chin with her hand again so she could look into her eyes, "But this does."
Bo kissed her gently, tenderly and sent a pulse of love through her lips into her lover. Lauren shivered and smiled into their kiss. The Elf leaned back, her eyes filled with lust, "Take more," she told the Succubus and Bo knew what she wanted.
She grazed her fingers over Lauren's throat to the back of her neck, supporting her head as she fed from her delicately, sipping her chi slowly and softly. Pleasure came over Lauren's features and she sighed, floating on a cloud of euphoria. Bo stopped feeding when she knew they were both feeling full of radiating love.
Lauren curled up tighter under Bo's arm snuggling as closely as she possibly could to her side. She rested her hand on Bo's chest and closed her eyes softly. "I love you," Lauren whispered, voice as quiet as a breath as she felt sleep pulling her under rapidly.
Bo pressed her lips to the top of Lauren's head, "I love you, for eternity." Bo whispered into her hair, her words only for the Elf's ears.
"Best birthday ever," Lauren mumbled as she finally drifted off to sleep. Bo smiled with pride, those were the magic words she'd been hoping to hear. She shut her eyes blissfully and joined her lover in sleep.