Chapter 77: Take it Easy

Amanda's POV; the next day

"Good morning baby!" I say with a smirk on my face as I walk into Randy's room to see him already awake and looking at me with a smile on his face in return, as if he was waiting for me to arrive, which he probably was. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Let me show you . . ." Randy tells me as his smile turns into a mischievous smirk. He quickly jumps out of his bed and onto the ground before pulling me into his arms to give me a hug and a good morning kiss, his body no longer showing any evidence of going numb due to his quick movements. "The antidote the doctor made for me from Xavier's blood sample yesterday did the trick baby. I'm numb free!"

"Yeah . . . we don't know about that till the doctor signs off on the discharge papers and says you have a clean bill of health Randy," I say with a smirk as I push him back onto the bed before handing the Viper a paper bag. "Here . . . I picked you up some breakfast from your favorite deli on the way here. I figured you would like a break from the food they serve here in the clinic."

"Baby, you are an angel," he tells me with a thankful look on his face before looking into the bag. "The clinic is nice and all, but they really need to upgrade the food here . . . and you even remembered the hash brown on the side!"

"Nothing but the best for my Viper . . ." I say with a smirk as I sit down in the seat across from him. "Anyway, I called up Sam to ask her about taking Alanna along with us and the twins later in the year to Hawaii . . ."

"And what did she say?" Randy asks me through his mouthful of food. He was already halfway done with his meal and I didn't even notice it until now. "Please tell me what she said was good."

"It was good . . . Sam said that it was okay for us to take Alanna along with us to Hawaii," I say with a grin as he offers me half of his hash brown. I take it with a nod and start nibbling on it as Randy thinks over my answer. "She even says that Alanna can travel around the country with us for the summer as well, just like she did last year."

"That's great! Alanna's been dying to spend some time with her little sisters and she could do just that this summer after she gets out of school," Randy tells me with a smile as he finishes the last of his sandwich. "Uh . . . did you eat breakfast this morning?"

"I had a bite to eat this morning, if you know what I mean . . ." I say with a smirk as I extend my fangs for a moment of emphasis. Randy quickly nods in understanding before going straight to his hash brown as I quickly eat up my own. "After I finished my hunting trip, I paid my parents a quick visit to check on the twins before stopping by the deli and coming here, so yeah . . . I had a pretty busy morning."

"And it's not even 9:30 yet . . ." he tells me with a smirk as he throws the food wrapper and paper bag into the nearby trash bin. "My doctor is coming in to check on me in a few more minutes. If I pass today's checkup without any problems or complications, the doc will sign off on my release papers, today."

"Well, it's a good thing I brought you some clothes then, just in case the doc does do just that today," I say with a chuckle as I touch my satchel, which held a shirt, a pair of shorts, boxers, and sandals just for the Viper. "We wouldn't want you to walk out of the hospital in hospital scrubs, or worse, the hospital dress you're wearing now, now would we?"

"I don't think I could ever live that down if I had to walk out of the building in this gown with my ass sticking out for the whole world to see. I couldn't show my face in public if that actually happened," Randy tells me as he shakes his head in disbelief. "Please tell me you packed some underwear in that bag of yours for me. . ."

"I so did . . ." I say with a smirk. "Don't worry Randy. Your pasty ass is safe from the public on my watch. I could never forgive myself if I let you leave the building in that gown."

"That's reassuring to know . . . Only a small group of people know how pasty my ass, you and my doctor included," Randy tells me as his doctor walks into the room. "And speaking of my doctor . . ."

"Ah Mr. Orton, it's good to see that you're awake this morning . . ." says the man, his scent continuing to remind me of cheese as he walks over to Randy's bedside. "Are you ready for your checkup?"

"Ready as I'll ever be . . ." Randy tells him with a smirk as I watch on in silence.

"Good . . . Mrs. Orton, could you please wait outside while the checkup is going on?" the doctor asks me as he turns to me.

"Sure . . ." I say as I get out of my chair, but it took me until I was half way out the door to realize the doctor made a mistake with my name. I was about to correct the good doctor when Randy's gaze caught my eye. He brought a finger to his smirking lips, as if he wanted to keep this between us.

"Mrs. Orton is going to be your name in a few more months . . ." he tells me telepathically as I stand in the doorway. "You might as well get used to hearing it now."

"Hmm . . . Might as well . . ." I say in agreement before leaving the room. I spend my time waiting through Randy's checkup by going to the clinic's café area for visitors to pick up a little breakfast. After I had my jelly donut and coffee, I make my way back to Randy's room to see my man leaning against the wall by his window, the doctor now long gone. "So, how'd it go? What was the result?"

"Today . . ." Randy starts off as I walk over to him. ". . . I'm now a free man. The doctor is readying the release papers right as I speak. All I need to do now is change out of this stupid gown and have you sign off on my release and then we can go."

"Good to know . . ." I say as I take Randy's stack of clothing out of my bag and hand it to him. "You are going to need these then, but can you do something for me first?"

"What?" he asks me curiously as I take a step back.

"You'll probably do it when you walk into the bathroom," I say with a smirk as I point in the bathroom's direction. "As long as you just walk to the bathroom, I'm fine."

"O . . . kay," he tells me unsurely as I hand him his clothes. He slowly makes his way to the bathroom, still probably pondering my words as he went, until he stops halfway to the door. "You just wanted to watch my pasty ass while I'm walking didn't you?"

"Maybe. . ." I say childishly as I shoot him an innocent walk. "Just go change your clothes already."

"Alright . . ." he tells me as he makes his way to the bathroom, giving me a great view of his cute, toned, but still pasty ass as he went. I didn't have to wait long for Randy to change clothes, and once he was done, we walk over to the nurse's station, which was where the doctor was waiting for us. After I sign off on Randy's release papers and after hearing the doctor's advice about Randy taking it easy for the next couple of days, we take the elevator down to the ground floor and quickly exit the building. . . Hopefully we don't have to come back here for a long time. "Can I drive baby?"

"Uh . . . no; the doctor said that you should take it easy for the next couple of days Ran, and even though you are a strong sexy vampire, I will make you follow the doctor's orders if I have to." I tell him with a glare as we reach my Camaro.

"Fine, I'll at least try to follow the doctor's orders, but only because you called me strong and sexy," he tells me with a smirk as we got into our seats. I roll my eyes at that comment, but I had a smile on my face as I drove us out of the lot. We didn't encounter that much traffic on the road, so it was smooth sailing all the way home. Once we got home, I park the car right next to Randy's Range Rover before cutting the engine. We both get out of the car, and I couldn't help but smirk when I see Randy openly staring at his Harley. "Who drove my bike home?"

"Nate did . . . Who knew he knew how to ride a motorcycle huh?" I say with a smirk as I shake my head. "Anyway, my parents' are dropping off the twins sometime later in the day, so I have no idea how long it will be before they get here."

"So we still have a few more hours to ourselves then . . ." Randy says with that mischievous smirk of his as we make our way to the staircase.

"Babe . . . what are you getting at?" I ask as we quickly climb up the stairs and walk into the loft.

"Well . . . I was thinking we can just stay in today and watch a movie or something . . . Just a cozy day to ourselves," he tells me as he walks into the living room. "How's that for taking it easy hmm?"

"That sounds nice . . . Surprising, but nice," I say with a chuckle as I watch him peruse through the stacks of movies that Monica and I have collected over the years. "Which movie should we watch though? As you can see, there are so many to choose from."

"I'm in the mood for a movie marathon," Randy tells me as he holds up a movie box set in each hand. "Which one of these two do you prefer: the Terminator series or do you want to watch Bond, James Bond?"

"Bond . . . No contest," I tell him with a grin as I take the Terminator box set out of his hand and put it back with the rest of the movies. "It's a bit too early for popcorn though."

"Then we'll save it for later then . . ." Randy tells me with a smirk as he quickly puts the "Dr. No" DVD into the DVD player. He quickly gets the movie ready before pulling me over to the couch, holding me close to his side as we sit side by side on the couch. "Let's just enjoy ourselves now as an engaged couple before the rest of the family gets here."

Normal POV; a few hours later

"I have something to admit to you Amanda . . ."

"Hmm . . . What is it Randy?" Amanda asked him with a curious look on her face as she turned to face her fiancé, her hand already halfway into the bowl of popcorn she made a half hour earlier.

"When we were teenagers, I would watch James Bond movies just to get tips and pointers to pick up girls . . ." the Viper admitted as a slightly embarrassed look came across his face. Amanda instantly lets out a loud laugh, mostly due to the look on Randy's face than at what he actually admitted. "I figured you were going to react that way."

"Oh gosh . . . I always wondered where you would get some of your wittier pickup lines from," said Amanda as she broke into another fit of giggles. "Now that I think about it, didn't you dress like James Bond for Halloween once?"

"Yep . . . I even carried a martini glass filled with water to complete the look, but then the dean sent me straight to the principal office because he thought I was openly carrying alcohol on the school premises," said the Viper as a thoughtful look came across his face. "That was probably one of the weirdest trips to the principal's office I've ever had."

"And you have had plenty of trips to the principal's office throughout high school, if I remember correctly," said Amanda as she put the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table. "Remember the time that you were sent to the principal's office because you decided to play that prank on April Fools' Day in sophomore year? Talk about a birthday gift to yourself Randy."

"In my defense, I wasn't planning to dump flour on the entire girls' basketball team. I was aiming for the science Olympiad team. Besides, I thought I was going to get away with it scot free, especially since it was my birthday . . ." said Randy as he shook his head. "Who the hell ratted me out though?"

"Who knows? One thing's for sure is that I didn't do it . . ." Amanda told him adamantly as she watched the Viper as he took a handful of popcorn out of the bowl and dropped it into his mouth. ". . . But I may have an idea on who did . . ."

"Really . . . Who?" Randy asked her with an eyebrow raised as Amanda continued to watch the Bond film on TV. "Who would rat me out?"

"I don't really remember, to be honest . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "The name escapes me . . . Besides, why would you care now babe? It happened over a decade ago."

"I know that, but there is a chance that the person who ratted me out is someone that I know closely, and if I know them closely, then that means I have a good chance to get my revenge on them," Randy said with a smirk as he pulled Amanda a little closer to his body. "So, tell me who ratted me out please."

"The name still escapes me Ran . . ." Amanda said as she shook her head. "I can't come up with it babe. I'm sorry."

"Hmm . . . the psychic is actually having a memory problem for once huh?" Randy asked in a teasing tone. "Maybe you need something to help you jog your memory."

"Like what hmm?" Amanda asked in a playful tone of voice as she looked him in the eye. "What plan do you have that could be used to help jog my suddenly faulty memory?"

"Give me some time to figure it out first . . . I haven't thought it out yet." was the Viper's answer as the Anaconda got out of her seat.

"Fine then . . . I'm heading for the kitchen to get a drink. Do you want anything?" Amanda asked as she made her way into the kitchen. She spotted the Viper following behind her from the corner of her eye, and turned just in time to receive a kiss to the forehead from him, which she took as a shock. "Huh . . . I did not expect that."

"Expect what?" Randy asked her as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed a soda to his mate. "We're you expecting a kiss to the lips?"

"Uh . . . yeah," said Amanda as she shook her head in disbelief. "When you try to sneak up behind me, you always try to give me a kiss to the lips! That's usually your thing."

"Well, maybe I wanted to change it up on you a bit," said the Viper as he opened his can of beer. "Did you give that idea much thought honey?"

"Don't tease me boy!" said Amanda as she shook her head. "Or else I will shake this can of soda and let it spray all over your face."

"I dare you," said Randy as he shot her a challenging look. Amanda scowled at him before shaking her soda can and opening it in his direction, letting the drink spray all across his face, and Randy took it completely like a champ. " . . Okay, I shouldn't have dared you."

"You shouldn't have . . ." said Amanda as she drank up what was left in the can before putting the can on the counter. She grabbed a rag from out the cupboard and quickly wiped the leftover spillage from the soda dare while Randy quickly cleaned his face and changed shirts in the bathroom. When he returned, he found Amanda mopping the floor with her hair pulled back into a messy bun. When she looked up to stare at him, she just shrugged. "I didn't want to leave the floor all sticky . . . Sue me."

"I won't . . . It's just that. I've never seen you so . . ." Randy trailed off as he fought for the right word. "I don't know the word for it."

"Domesticated?" Amanda suggested as she leaned against the island. "Conservative . . . Homemaker . . . If you were thinking of any of those words, or any word that relates to the three that I just listed, don't say anything else because I will probably hit with you this mop if you speak any of those words."

"I'll shut up now . . ." said Randy as he mimed zipping his lips. He quickly took the mop out of his mate's hands and put it off to the side. He turned back to his mate and quickly plucked the pin out of her hair, freeing her curls so that it could fall past her shoulders and down her back. "I always preferred your hair down anyway . . ."

"Because it's sexy?" Amanda asked him as he placed his hands on the island, his arms now surrounding his mate on either side of her body. Randy smirked at her before closing his eyes and leaning down to kiss her, but before he made contact, he felt a sudden whoosh of air hit his face and kissed nothing but air. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Amanda was no longer in front of him, but by the doorway. "If you want a kiss from me, you must work for it my dear Viper."

"I must work for it, but I just got out of the clinic after being paralyzed for a full week baby," said the Viper as Amanda walked back into the living room. "Cut me some slack."

"Uh . . . no," said Amanda as laid herself out on the couch. Randy let out a loud scoff before walking into the living room. He approached the couch and looked down at his mate, who was busier watching the action scene on TV than the man before her. "I just remembered something . . ."

"What did you remember?" Amanda asked him simply as she continued to look at the TV.

"What happened to Xavier?" Randy asked her bluntly as he crossed his arms. "I haven't heard anything about him since we caught him at the clinic yesterday."

"Well, after the doctor collected a blood sample from him, your dad sent club guards to pick Xavier up. He told me that the guards took Xavier to a undisclosed location, which is where he's cooling his heels right as we speak," said Amanda as she looked up at him. "So you are just going to have to wait a little longer before you can get your chance to have your revenge my dear Viper."

"Dammit . . ." grumbled Randy as he suddenly picked his mate up bridal style. He quickly sat down, letting Amanda rest on his lap instead of the couch. "I really want to pay that bastard back for what he did to me."

"On one hand, you deserve to get your revenge," said Amanda as she rested her head on his shoulder. "On the other hand: I don't want you to be alone with that guy again. He could try to bite you again . . . Wait a minute, why did Xavier bite you in the first place?"

"I'm still unsure about that . . . He could have done it on Rochelle's order. You know, just to mess with me a little," suggested Randy as Amanda grabbed the bowl of popcorn from off the coffee table. "Or he did because he just doesn't like me. I do have a tendency to make people not like me . . ."

"You are telling me . . ." Amanda said with a roll of her eyes as she popped a few pieces of popcorn into her mate's mouth. "If I hadn't grown up with you over the years and like, met you during the early years when you were a bit on the self-destructive side, I probably wouldn't have liked you either."

"Well that's nice to know . . ." Randy said with a pout on his face. He took the popcorn bowl out of Amanda's grip and placed it back on the table before turning his sights on her. "You wouldn't have liked me either?"

"Uh . . . no," Amanda told him bluntly as she slid off his lap. "You were very stubborn, arrogant, impulsive . . . Do you really want me to say more?"

"Hearing your input is enlightening baby . . . However, you don't really mean those words . . ." Randy said with a smirk as he began to slowly inch toward his mate, who was slowly moving backward toward the other end of the couch. "I can hear your heartbeat just as well as you can hear mine . . . You don't mean what you say . . . In fact, I think you could have been attracted to me back then."

"Oh please . . . Back then, I was into mature guys that actually took things seriously and thought with a clear head," Amanda argued as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Not impulsive, brash, stubborn bozos like you were back then."

"You were into total stiffs Amanda and you know it!" Randy challenged as he shot her a dangerous look, one that Amanda had to admit was pretty damn sexy. "C'mon, you had to feel a little attraction to bad boys back during your 'stiff-liking' phase."

"Not in the slightest . . . You helped to fuel my aversion to bad boys back then." Amanda told him with a blunt expression on her face as Randy let his hand rest on her right leg.

"Ouch!" Randy visibly flinched at the comment, but a smirk stayed on his face nonetheless. "However, I guess it's a good thing that I helped fuel your aversion to bad boys."

"And how is it a good thing?" asked Amanda as she raised an eyebrow.

"Simple . . ." said Randy as he suddenly knelt on the ground. He quickly pulled Amanda down to the ground by her ankle quickly straddled her with a grin on her face. "I'm the one that's marrying you after all."

"Hmm . . . It's like you're saying that I was holding out until I finally fell for you huh?" Amanda asked him with a smirk on her face as she sat up to look him in the eye. "Don't act so cocky Mr. As if that scenario ever happened . . ."

"A man can dream . . ." Randy simply said with a shrug. "How could you not fall for me back then?"

"Simple . . ." said Amanda as she pat him on the cheek. "You were dating Sam back then for one."

"Okay, you got me there . . ." said Randy, his face showing his embarrassment at having forgotten that one major detail in his slightly self-destructive path. "Alright then, this route was a fail. Can we just make out now?"

"Oh . . . was that what you were trying to lead us to?" Amanda asked with a smirk on her face as she slipped out from under the Viper and sat back down on the couch. "Like I said before when we were back in the kitchen: if you want to get a kiss from me, you are going to have to work for it!"

"You and this work for it stuff . . ." the Viper groaned as he plopped his butt back onto the couch. "You know what? I'm just going to take it!"

"No you're not!" Amanda exclaimed as she jumped out of the chair before Randy could grab her to kiss her. The Viper's dangerous look reappeared on his face as he watched as his mate teasingly disappeared into their bedroom. He let out a small growl before following after her, and when he walked into the room, he saw that the room was empty.

"Where are you baby?" Randy asked as he quickly checked the bedroom and the closet to see that she wasn't there. He quickly checked the nursery too, but she still wasn't there. "Where the hell could you be at dammit!?"

"I'm closer than you think . . ." was all she said as Randy walked by the bed. All of a sudden, Randy felt something grab his ankle and before he could react, he was face first on the ground with the Anaconda sitting right on his back. "Like I said: Work for it!"

"Work my ass!" Randy exclaimed as he twisted them around so that he was now the one on top. "Now you are mine sweetheart."

Ding-ding-ding

"Oh look . . . Someone's at the door," Amanda said with a chuckle as Randy let out a loud groan in disbelief, as if someone he least expected had punch him really hard in the gut. Amanda slipped out of his grip and quickly ran out the room to check the security camera footage before returning. "It's my parents, and they are here to drop off the girls."

"Great . . ." said the Viper as he let Amanda helped him up on his feet. "Do you seriously know how sexually frustrated you made me?"

"I can imagine . . ." said Amanda as she shot him a knowing grin, and that's when a look of realization came across his face.

"You were playing me like a violin weren't you?" Randy asked her as her grin got bigger. "You were weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged . . . I just wanted to see how frustrated you could get, and you even admitted it yourself," the curly haired woman said victoriously as she walked out the room. "Let's go let my parents' and our twins in okay?"

"Fine . . ." mumbled the Viper as he followed after her with a scowl on his face. "But I will get my revenge on you soon enough Amanda. You better watch out."

Please review!