"There is nothing on earth more beautiful to me than your smile...no sound sweeter than your laughter...no pleasure greater than holding you in my arms. I realized today that I could never live without you, stubborn little hellion that you are. In this life and the next, you're my only hope of happiness. Tell me, Lillian, dearest love...how can you have reached so far inside my heart?"
― Lisa Kleypas, It Happened One Autumn
Chapter 9-
Grabbing a blanket, Ruby returned to the pair and gently laid down with them. Laying the blanket over her two girls as she laid on top of it. Falling asleep quickly after the long day.
One month later.
It was a Thursday, and Ruby had made plans to meet up with Neo at a little café in the town before they went around the area to shop a little bit.
Immediately upon Neo arriving at the table, Ruby got up and kissed her on the cheek before leading her to the table.
The pair talked happily about their days so far and of places they wanted to look at while in the town. Enjoying their drinks until they got up and left.
"So, Winter's taking a small break over the weekend." Ruby said as the pair were looking at clothes.
"Oh? Where's she going?" Neo asked, looking at a dress that had caught her eye.
"She has this beach house, rather beautiful and the beach is always quiet. And well, she's invited us all to join her this weekend." Ruby said.
"Oh that'll be nice. When are you leaving?" Neo asked, a little upset at not being able to see Ruby and Mia over the weekend, but she understood the need to get away.
Ruby smiled as she shook her head as it was clear that Neo didn't understand her completely when she said, 'us.'
"Um Neo, I said that she invited us." Ruby said, focusing on her wording to see if Neo caught on to what she was saying.
"What do you mean?" Neo asked, confused as she turned around to look at Ruby.
"I mean, that she invited us. Mia, you and I all to join her this weekend." Ruby explained, smiling at Neo as she watched her realise what she had said.
"Wait. Why would she invite me?" Neo asked, stunned but watched as Ruby only smiled at her.
"Because you're with me, she knows how much you mean to me and that she would like you to join all of us. I understand if you can't go, it's rather short notice I know." Ruby quickly said.
"No…no it's fine. I just, I'm surprised is all. I would love to go. What would I need to bring?" Neo asked quickly, excited about the thought of being able to get away from the city for a while.
"Well something to swim in, and lounge around on the beach in. And well, just clothes for Friday through to Monday. We come home Monday morning and leave tomorrow around ten or eleven." Ruby explained.
"What about Mia? She has school doesn't she?" Neo asked, slightly worried about Mia missing school.
"It's alright. I've cleared it with Glynda, plus I'll pick up the work that she'll miss and teach her. I've done it before." Ruby answered.
"Oh I see. Can you teach her then?" Neo asked.
"I can. Alongside Winter and Blake. We could home school her, but we don't exactly have time during the day to do it. But also, we want her to interact with others as well." Ruby explained.
"Oh I see. What do you think of this?" Neo asked, changing the conversation over.
"It's beautiful." Ruby said, smiling as she went about looking at a dress herself.
The two parted ways with a chaste kiss as they spoke about their plans to meet up tomorrow with Neo meeting Ruby at her house with a bag packed.
The next day, it was a slightly lazy morning as they planned to avoid all the traffic by leaving a little later in the day rather than very early.
Walking up to the house, Neo knocked on the door and almost immediately it opened up to see Winter standing there in a light blue bikini.
"Oh, hello Neo. Come on in." Winter said, leading Neo into the house immediately.
It seemed Winter was the only one dressed in a bikini though she was thrown a shirt and shorts as she entered the room.
Neo waved towards everyone and exchanged greetings, even getting a hug from Mia as well which was rather odd but Neo went with it.
As she turned to face Ruby, she got a chaste kiss from the woman who she took a second look at seeing she was wearing some sort of skin tight suit, but was padded in some places.
"What's that?" Neo asked, looking at it and not seeing it all before.
"Do you like it?" Ruby asked, twirling around to show it off. "It's something I'm testing out. A new type of suit for bikers to wear. Not as heavy as biker leathers, nor as hot but just as protective." Ruby stated.
"Are you taking your bike?" Neo asked next.
"Yep. I love driving around the shore line, the roads afford great views of it all. So I like to bring my bike. Winter's got a people carrier for everyone and their stuff. As well as our boards." Ruby explained.
"Boards?" Neo asked.
"Surf boards. We all surf, got our boards from a buddy of mine in the forces. Made them while on deployment, and I got them shipped back." Ruby answered.
"Wow. That's great." Neo exclaimed, surprised at that fact.
"So, how would you like to travel?" Blake asked.
"What do you mean?" Neo asked.
"Well, you can join us in the car. Or you can join Ruby on her bike. The options yours." Blake answered.
"Oh um…" Neo trailed off, thinking for a minute before smiling towards Ruby. "Bike, if you don't mind." Neo said, a little unsure.
"Of course. Come on, follow me." Ruby said excitedly, acting a little like Mia in how excited she was.
Neo was pulled through the house upstairs until they reached Ruby's room, being pulled inside Neo immediately turned Ruby around and kissed her, and not the chaste kisses they'd had the last couple days.
It was almost a full minute before the pair broke away from each other as they smiled at each other. "I've been waiting to do that for the last two days." Neo said breathily.
"So have I." Ruby answered back, giggling a little as she pulled away. "Admittedly that's not why I brought you up here." Ruby said and turned around to pull out a suit similar to her own.
"Here. This is for you, I thought you might have said yes." Ruby said, smiling sheepishly towards Neo as she held out the body suit.
Neo accepted it and while Ruby turned around to give her some privacy to change, enjoying that little act as Ruby, although having seen everything on Neo before. Still acted like a gentleman.
"I'm done." Neo called out, prompting Ruby to turn back around, though with both hands behind her back hiding something. "What are you hiding?" Neo asked.
"You look great." Ruby said, avoiding the question.
"Thank you. But that doesn't answer my question." Neo said, smirking as she saw Ruby's reluctance.
"I hope you don't think I'm weird." Ruby said awkwardly, and it was clear to Neo that she was unsure of herself.
"Of course not. I will never think that." Neo said honestly, taking a step forward.
"Here." Ruby said, taking a motorbike helmet from behind her back and handed it to Neo.
The helmet itself was coloured to match Neo's hair. But down the middle of it was a red stripe between it all. Written on the back with elegant writing, mixing the three colours of her name and hair was Neo.
"Ruby…this is amazing." Neo said softly, gliding her hand over the helmet, almost scared that it would all rub off.
"It's meant to last. Once the paints had dried I put a layer over them all which acts as a sealant. It won't rub off anytime soon." Ruby answered the unspoken question.
"You…you painted this?" Neo asked, shocked.
"Yeah, I did. I wanted to make it personal. I painted my own, but you'll see it in a little bit." Ruby said, smiling softly but a faint blush was on her face.
Neo leaned up and kissed Ruby, pushing her back until Ruby's knees hit the bed and they both fell down onto it.
This didn't stop them though as they carried on kissing, Ruby's arms wrapping around Neo's body while Neo's hands were a little more adventurous as her hands moved to Ruby's covered breasts and softly squeezed.
Ruby moaned into the kiss, pulling Neo closer to her but neither of them heard the door open but they did hear the cry that came afterwards.
"Ahhhh!" They heard a young voice cry out, and immediately. As if lightning struck them both, they shot apart and looked towards the door to see Mia standing there. Hands over her eyes.
"Mia?" Ruby asked softly.
"I don't want to see you doing that…it's just…eww." Mia said, shaking her head before calling out. "Auntie Winter said to come downstairs, that it's about time to head out." Mia stated before leaving, shaking her head as she tried to get the images out of her head.
The two women just laid there on the bed, only breathing softly as they recovered from everything that had happened. Form being stimulated by being with each other to being caught by Mia, their daughter…Ruby's daughter. Neo corrected herself mentally as she thought that.
"Well, that's a first." Ruby stated bluntly, and it caused both women to just smile and laugh at the situation.
As their laughter calmed down, the two smiled as Neo asked. "Winter and Blake won't let me forget it, will they?" Neo asked.
"Nope. Won't let either of us forget it." Ruby stated in reply, calmly getting up off the bed and pulling Neo with her. "Come on, we better get downstairs." Ruby said, groaning slightly as she stood up.
"What's wrong?" Neo asked, confused why Ruby was groaning now.
"You." Ruby moaned.
"What?" Neo asked, stunned and confused at what she had done before it took a minute to click, "Wait. Are you…?" Neo asked, trailing a little.
"Yep." Ruby said, closing her eyes as she attempted to calm herself down.
Neo just smirked at Ruby, kissing her cheek before leaving the room, which didn't help much and Ruby followed shortly afterwards.
"Come on lovebirds. We need to get going." Winter called to them as they came downstairs.
"Where's Mia?" Ruby asked.
"In the car. Trying to forget desperately what she saw." Winter said, smirking at the pair as she looked between the two women. "I must say, I'm surprised it took her this long to catch you two." Winter said.
"We're normally quite good and don't do anything while Mia is around. Plus, I thought we had some time." Ruby answered, "Anyway you might as well leave and we'll catch up easily." Ruby said, prompting Winter just to nod and head outside.
"Come on. It's in the garage and I've got to lock up everything." Ruby said, leading Ruby into the garage while locking up behind her.
Ruby climbed onto her bike first, with Neo climbing on behind her and immediately Neo wrapped her arms around Ruby's stomach, though moving up a little teasingly.
"Don't you dare." Ruby said as she placed her helmet on, which Neo just grunted and put her helmet on as well.
"Right. Let's go." Ruby said, slowly bringing the bike out of the garage before accelerating down her drive and onto the road.
They quickly passed the car containing the others and shot off through the roads and onto the main highway.
They both seemed to just enjoy the ride, especially when Neo just leaned her head on Ruby's back, simply enjoying it all.
Almost an hour into the ride, they had gone up a large hill and moved around it before slowly heading down. "Hey, take a look at the view." Ruby said over the radio in their helmets.
Neo turned her head, still keeping it on Ruby's back as she turned to look down the hill to see the view.
"It's beautiful." Neo stated, the hill quickly falling away in a steep slope but they could all the sea below them and the medium sized beach alongside the house that was on the beach.
Ruby slowed down, pulling over into a small layby made into the road for the purpose of looking at the view.
Turning off the engine, the pair climbed off and removed their helmets, freeing their hair from the confines of the protective headwear.
"This view is amazing." Neo commented again.
"It is. I always love it up here, and would take time to just sit up here and enjoy the peacefulness of it all." Ruby explained, hugging the shorter woman from behind as she placed her head onto Neo's shoulder.
"I can understand that. It's so peaceful around here." Neo commented before turning in Ruby's arms and kissing the woman soundly.
The two just stood there for a while kissing each other and looking out at the view. Switching between the two motions, but simply just enjoying each other's presence there.
Eventually the two had to carry on to the house. And admittedly when they arrived, the others were already there.
"What took you so long?" Winter asked as they entered the house.
"I took Neo up to the cliff view. And well, we spent some time there." Ruby supplied, smiling softly as she easily fell in to helping Winter with cooking dinner while Neo went off to go play with Mia and Blake who were setting up a game console.
Dinner was a quiet affair, a simple meal made up for everyone of pasta and chicken. Once everyone had finished, Neo and Blake cleaned up the dishes before everyone went to the couch and the TV. The game console set up but instead of playing a game they decided to put a movie on.
Winter and Blake cuddled up together in one chair while Ruby, Neo and Mia sandwiched between the pair sat together on the couch, all hugging as they watched Captain America, the first one after hearing that some of them hadn't seen it.
Having seen it before, Ruby played the game with Neo of attempting to distract her during the movie, slight touches and stealing kisses whenever she could. Though making sure not to get caught by Mia when she did it.
It got easier as the night wore on with Mia slowly falling asleep, though attempting to fight it but she just couldn't.
As the film ended, Neo flushed and blushing red after Ruby's touching had got a little more adventurous as the night wore on.
As the movie ended everyone silently said goodnight to each other while Ruby carefully extracted Mia from between the two women.
"I'll put her to bed, I won't be long." Ruby said quietly, everyone already dressed for bed as the watched the movie.
Tucking Mia into her bed, she carefully put her stuffed rabbit into her arms while placing a soft kiss on her forehead before quietly leaving the room.
Entering her own bedroom, she spotted Neo laying on the bed, a book open in her hand as she waited for Ruby to arrive.
Upon the door opening she smiled brightly at Ruby and marked her page and put the book down. "She go down alright?" Neo asked, having spent a couple nights with Ruby and Mia.
"Yeah, she's completely out of it." Ruby said, climbing into bed next to Neo and softly kissing her. "So, we got a little interrupted earlier." Ruby said softly.
"That we did." Neo smirked, returning the kiss eagerly as they slowly got lost in each other.
Waking up suddenly, Ruby did all she could to stop herself from bursting forward as she was just awake.
Taking a deep breath, Ruby looked to the side to see Neo next to her, sleeping soundly with her arms wrapped around Ruby as Ruby simply laid there and watched her sleep.
Broken out of her trance, she heard the door creak open and immediately her eyes took in the small form of Mia at the door, and she could see the faint outlines of Skye at the door as well.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Ruby asked softly, careful not to wake Neo.
Mia walked forward slowly, becoming clearer as she could see that Mia was hugging her bunny tightly to her chest. "I had a nightmare." Mia said in a scared tone.
"Oh sweetie." Ruby said, knowing the pain of nightmares, as she suffers herself from constant fears. "Come here." Ruby said, opening her arms up for Mia to join her. Skye laying down at the foot of the bed on the floor quietly.
Ruby hugged Mia, slowly stroking Mia's hair to calm her down as she slowly felt Mia's breathing level out and eventually so did Ruby's.
The next morning, Ruby woke up and somehow during the night everyone had moved around in the bed so now Mia was sandwiched between both Ruby and Neo.
Even though she was the first up as normal, and that she would go downstairs to make breakfast for everyone. But she on holiday and she could afford the sleep in.
When they all eventually got up that morning, Ruby and Blake cooked breakfast while the others cleaned up before everyone got ready and spent the day on the beach on their doorstep.
As the day wore on, everyone went into the sea at least once and as they slowly went back inside, Blake and Winter with the help on Mia started to work on dinner while Ruby and Neo went out for a walk along the beach.
With no shoes on they let the sand move between their feet happily with the sound of the crashing waves in the background.
"I love it here. It's so peaceful." Neo said.
"It is. It's one of my favourite places to just escape from everything. Plus, the sea has always calmed me." Ruby said, reaching out and taking Neo's hand into her own.
"I can understand why." Neo said softly, happily accepting Ruby's hand.
They were silent for a few minutes as they carried on walking, the moonlight lighting up the area as they were walking.
"You know, there was one thing I always wanted to do." Ruby said, stopping and turning to face Neo.
"What's that?" Neo asked, looking up to meet Ruby's silver eyes.
"I've never kissed anyone under the moon." Ruby said honestly, looking at Neo's eyes.
"Well, neither have I. How about we make another first?" Neo said, smirking up at Ruby as she leaned forward.
Ruby met her halfway quickly capturing her lips with her own as the two enjoyed each other, Ruby's tongue darting into Neo's open mouth.
Eventually as the two broke for air, it seemed Neo didn't need to catch her breath for long as she quickly moved around and jumped onto Ruby's back, laughing.
"What the!" Ruby said, quickly adjusting for Neo being on her back and worriedly grabbing her legs to stop her from falling.
Neo wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck, teasingly letting them hang over Ruby's chest while pressing her own against Ruby's back. Kissing Ruby's cheek Neo spoke playfully, "Piggy back ride!" Neo shouted out.
Ruby couldn't help but just simply laughed in response to Neo's playfulness and so she quickly started to run with Neo on her back, the woman laughing loudly in response, clearly enjoying herself.
The pair ran back into the house, laughing with each other as they burst back inside to the stunned surprise of the others in the house, but quickly Mia was asking for a piggy back ride as well.
'This is what a family is like, and I don't want it to end.' Ruby thought to herself later that night, enjoying the time away with everyone. With her family.
A/N
So, oops. I was meant to post this yesterday but forgot so sorry about that. But hey, extra-long chapter so you can't say anything. :P
There is one more chapter after this, and that will be this story wrapped up by next week. I would like to say, that I'll have a little break for a couple weeks where I'll upload some random stories I've worked on but won't ever finish and stuff in Without a Reason.
Not much more I can think of, hope everyone liked this chapter. That quote seemed just fitting for the chapter, so I hope you like it.
Can't think of much more which is quite annoying as I'm sure I had something to say but well, fuck it. Hope you enjoy and please review.
EDIT: I remember now, I was going to mention that I'm finishing off Legends of the Rose before writing my other story, so there might be a delay in between the next finished story and posting that, so sorry in advance.
Oh and also, about that guy who makes boards while on deployment, there is actually a soldier that did that. Made a board or a couple while on deployment in Afghanistan.