Chapter 23
It was getting late when Elliot declared he better get home. Connie walked out to the front door with him while Grace was curled up on the sofa with Charlie. Jacob had moved to the kitchen and began to clean up from dinner.
"Thank you for coming around today, and for helping arrange Grace being here-" "It was no trouble, I barely did anything." Connie stopped beside Elliot as he looked across at her blankly. He was her oldest friend, true friend and she had no idea where she'd be without him around. Elliot pulled her closer to him and hugged her as she placed her arms around him, returning the hug.
"Let yourself be happy, please." She smiled into his shoulder as she thought about everything, the reality of things beginning to settle in. "Don't worry about me… and you're always welcome around here Elliot." She pulled away from him as he reached for the door handle. The cold breeze blew across her as he stepped out into the night.
"Elliot!" He turned around at the bottom of the steps and watched as she ran down them to face him again. "Promise me something…" Elliot faced her properly as she seemed uncomfortable. He nodded as she crossed her arms against her front. "Remember that you'll always be the most important man in my life. I'm always going to need you to remind me to be human and have some emotion." She tried laughing and playing it off but Elliot saw through it. "Oh… Connie you don't need to worry about me… Jacob's going to-" "I mean it. Promise me Elliot."
He smiled nodding suddenly feeling overcome with her words. "I promise you Connie." This time she pulled him in for a hug as a stray tear fell down her cheek. When she pulled back she sniffed before rubbing a hand across her face removing any trace of tears. "Now, get your shambolic bumbling arse out of here and get home." He laughed as a small smile cracked across her face. "Goodnight Connie." "Night Elliot."
She watched as he drove away before turning and walking up the steps and back inside. Closing the door she leant against it before looking into the living room to see Grace still sat laughing with Charlie. Turning away she walked into the kitchen before enveloping Jacob in a hug from behind. He stood in front of the sink before turning the tap off and turning around to face her. "Alright sweet cheeks?" "Mmm, thank you for today-" "You deserved everything." He bent down to kiss her before breaking away and tapping his hand against her nose with the bubbles from the washing up remaining on her face.
Connie scrunched up her nose before pushing him backwards slightly and grabbing a handful of the soapy water herself before chasing Jacob around the kitchen. Charlie and Grace looked up from the living room towards the racket that they were making. Grace laughed before jumping up and joining in with them both.
Jacob caught up to her when she slowed wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning around. When her feet touched the floor again she leant forward as he kept hold of her smiling. "I love you so much…" Standing back up she looked up at him the smile slowly fading to be replaced with a serious expression.
Jacob moved in to kiss her as Grace started making noises. "You two need to get a room-" "I think it's about time you went to bed don't you Grace?" Connie smiled across at her daughter as she rolled her eyes and skipped back towards Charlie. "Let her stay up Connie, it's Christmas-" "Okay. But you're losing out on your Christmas present then." Connie threw Jacob a dirty smile as he pulled her closer again leaning past her. "Grace, get ready to head upstairs soon…" Connie laughed as he looked back to her again.
Another hour or so passed before Charlie said his goodbyes. "Thanks for having me around here today. You made an old man happy." Connie laughed walking out with him as she rest a hand on his arm. "Thank you Charlie." Jacob appeared behind Connie and snaked an arm around her waist smiling. "I'll leave you guys to it, see you in a few days Connie. Thank you for lunch Jacob." "No problem Saint Fairhead." He winked laughing as Connie pulled a face at them both "Long story." Charlie departed leaving the three of them together in the living room.
Grace got up off the sofa and took herself upstairs with Jacob saying he'd come up. Before leaving he turned to Connie with a sly smile on his face. "So, this Christmas present…" "Mmm-" "Would it need unwrapping?" Connie smiled as he neared her face. "That depends-" "On what?" "On what you want to do with it-" "I think we both know what I want to do with it, don't you?" He closed the space between them moving his hand to the back of her hair pushing her backwards on the couch.
He pressed her back to the sofa as he lay across her, his hands beginning to roam her body. Connie ran her tongue across his lip before deepening the kiss. She had a hand at the bottom of his neck pulling him into her while the other rested against his chest. Jacob dropped a hand to her thigh holding her leg against his side as he moaned into the kiss. She pulled back looking up at him. "I think you should go and say goodnight to Grace, I'll turn off down here and go to our room." She had that same smile on her face that drove him insane as he sat up and held her hand pulling her up with him.