AN: Here we are, another piece to this one!
I hope you enjoy! If you do, please consider leaving a review or comment to let me know!
111
The hole-in-the-wall diner truly hadn't been half bad, and Seth imagined that they would probably enjoy more than one meal there before they left. Their walk back to their cabin was equally uneventful, and when they got there, Seth had carried more wood inside in than they would possibly need for the evening—refusing to let Jessica help carry any of it, even though she followed behind him and argued with him about it the entire time.
"I am fully aware that you're capable of carrying wood, Woman," Seth had argued back. "However, I'm also aware that it's unnecessary and inadvisable. Remember, Jessica, I am your husband, but I am also your doctor."
She knew very well that carrying a few cut pieces of wood wouldn't hurt her. Seth knew that, too. However, he also knew that there were things that he simply felt better doing, himself, and knowing that she wasn't doing. She knew that, too, and so she hadn't put up too much of a genuine fight.
As something of a peace offering—or, more than that, simply as something that Seth wanted to do, since Jessica wasn't truly cross with him at all—he'd told her to shower while he ran to the store to pick up a treat for them. It would be a surprise, he'd insisted, as he'd kissed her cheek and left her to do what she needed to do.
When he came back, carrying a bag with the few items he'd picked up from the store, he was immediately greeted by a blend of fragrances that were warm and welcoming—the scent of woodsmoke from the fire that Jessica had gotten started in his absence, and the smell of her soaps and whatnots from the shower she'd clearly taken in the little bathroom of the cabin.
"I'll put that away," Jessica said, as soon as Seth closed the door behind him.
"Not much to put away, Jess," Seth said.
"Still," she said.
He nodded at her, understanding that, just as he needed to do things, she did, too. He could deny her certain activities, and she would allow it, but that meant that he had to let her feel busy and useful when and where she could. He put the bag with a few items in it on the small square of counterspace in the little kitchenette.
"You look beautiful, Jess," he said, sincerely, moving toward Jessica.
She smiled at him, softly, and tipped her head to the side.
"Beautiful? Seth…really. I do appreciate your attempts to be flattering, and I would have brought something nice, if I thought you might have…wanted that, but this…?"
She grasped the sides of the light green nightgown she was wearing. The gowns were new. She'd bought three or four of them, and had shown them to Seth when she'd purchased them—they'd come with something of a disclaimer. Seth didn't remember the details of her little speech, exactly, only that they'd been relatively cheap, and she'd bought them because they seemed comfortable, but she was sorry that they weren't much to look at.
They were simple cotton nightgowns. Given some of the getups that he knew existed out there, they weren't much to look at, perhaps, but Seth found that he had a certain fondness for them. It may have even been their simplicity that made them appealing to him.
They were soft. They were simple. They were cut low enough to tease him with the promise of cleavage, but not to really deliver on it in any great way. They were cut high enough to give him a good view of Jessica's legs—and her legs were, in Seth's opinion, absolutely incredible. They were soft, and when he held her, wearing them, he liked the feeling of the fabric under his fingertips. When he ran a cheek against her shoulder, he liked the softness of the cotton his cheek. They held her scent in a particular way that Seth appreciated, too.
And, beyond all of that, they hugged her belly in such a way that the mere sight of her felt like it could just about stop Seth's heart in its tracks.
"First thing, Jessica," Seth said, reaching her and taking her into his arms, "I'm always interested in anything you want to show me, or tell me, or give me." She smiled at him and leaned toward him. He met her for a kiss—so sweet that he could have easily counted it for dessert—and he flexed his fingers, feeling the softness of the gown and, beyond that, the softness of her flesh beneath the fabric. "Second thing, Jess," he said, when the kiss broke, "is that I like these a great deal more than you seem to think I have a right to."
"They're not very fashionable, Seth," Jessica said.
"Then, to hell with fashion, Woman," Seth said with a laugh of frustration. "I don't give a damn about fashion, Jessica."
She laughed at him. He lowered his hands, gently resting one on each side of her belly.
"Is she awake?" He asked.
"Not that I can tell," Jessica said.
"That walk, a good meal, and a shower," Seth said, laughing to himself. "You can't blame her, trying to get a little shut-eye."
Jessica hummed. Even the hum seemed saturated, somehow, with love and affection. Seth practically shivered when it was all directed at him.
She put her hand over his, a silent request that he not stop touching her for at least a moment. He was happy to indulge her.
"I never would have imagined that I would be so happy for my clothing to be so tight," Jessica teased.
Seth hummed at her in response.
"Never thought that…you could look any more beautiful than you always have," Seth offered, "but, I have to admit, Jess…this makes you even more beautiful."
She kissed him. Seth tasted her hunger in the kiss. She stole his breath, but he didn't mind. He'd gladly suffocate for Jessica. When she did break the kiss, Seth was embarrassed to note that certain parts of his anatomy offered him some opinions on what they might do with the rest of their evening. If she noticed, Jessica didn't mention it.
"Go and take your shower, Seth?"
He nodded.
"I know you're about to go rummaging through that bag," Seth said.
"Only to put things away," Jessica said.
"Just remember—what I got is something for all of us to enjoy together. Don't start anything until I get back."
She smiled at him.
"I wouldn't dream of it. We'll be right here, waiting on you, when you're done with your shower. And, then, we'll all spend the evening together. Relaxing."
"Sounds wonderful to me," Seth said, stealing one more quick kiss from her. She made it count, for as short as he intended it to be.
Somewhat reluctantly, Seth let go of Jessica so that he could go and take his shower.
111
Seth came out of the bathroom with his pajamas sticking to his body in places. The cabin was warm to him, but Jessica had wanted the fire, and he was going to let her have it. He justified things to himself, from time to time, with the argument that she was carrying their daughter. He had already seen what she'd had to go to just to become pregnant with the baby and, now, she had to experience everything else related to bringing that life into the world. Surely, he knew, she enjoyed the experience for what it was—and for how much she had longed for it—but he also knew that there was unpleasantness involved.
And Jessica hardly ever complained, really, about anything.
Seth could be warm so that she could enjoy the fantasy—as he supposed it must be, to motivate her to want the fire—of snuggling by a fire with him in the little cabin.
"Are you—still cold, Jess?" He asked, trying to frame the question in a way that would get him an answer without making her feel like requesting the fire was wrong. She was sitting in the little sitting area, on the loveseat, already waiting for him.
"I'm not cold at all," she said.
"I'm going to just—let a little air in and…uh…help with the ventilation of the…" Seth said. He realized, pretty quickly, that she wasn't too concerned with what he was saying or doing. She accepted whatever he wanted to do, so he left off trying to come up with an explanation and simply opened the windows in the cabin. He stood by one of the windows, for just a moment, and let the cool air wrap around him and help to dry up a bit of the dampness from his shower.
Seth smiled to himself, when he felt Jessica's hands come to his shoulders and begin to knead the muscles there.
"Seth—I'm sorry," she said. "It's too hot for you. I shouldn't have asked for the fire. We won't feed it anymore, and it'll die down soon, I'm sure."
Seth laughed to himself. He reached a hand up and patted hers.
"Woman, it's hot to me any time you're in the room," Seth teased.
"Seth…" she said, pretending to scold him. He laughed at the performance of it and turned around to face her.
"Have your fire," Seth said. He touched her face, and she leaned her cheek into his hand. Right then and there, he only felt even more confident that he'd let her have anything she wanted. He ran his fingers up and into her hair. She smiled at him, holding his eyes with hers. "We're secluded enough out here that it's nice to have the windows open, too. Besides—fire or not, I'm going to feel warm just sitting with you on that loveseat, Jess…and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."
"We don't have to, you know," Jessica offered. "We could just—go to bed."
"Oh—I have all ideas we'll do that, too," Seth said. "No…we can have it all, so we might as well. Besides—did you tell our daughter what her daddy got her?"
Jessica smiled sincerely.
"I haven't had a s'more in…I don't know how long," she said.
"What does she think of the idea?" Seth asked.
"She loves it," Jessica assured him. "She wanted to start without you, you know, but I told her that we had to wait for her daddy."
Seth felt a different kind of warmth run through his body—the kind of warmth that made everything else worthwhile. It was just teasing—of course, it was. They both knew that, but it was fun for both of them. It was important to both of them.
And it made the baby girl that much realer for both of them.
"Well—let's not keep her waiting too long," Seth said. "We don't want her to get fussy." He walked over to the little kitchenette area where Jessica had left out everything that he'd bought to make the s'mores. She'd also found the metal skewers they'd packed, anticipating at least one incidence where they might want to make hot dogs, or something of the like, over an open flame. "Now—do you want to do the marshmallows, Jess, or the assembly?"
"I'll assemble," she said. "You're the master chef when it comes to marshmallows."
Seth laughed.
"You still like yours medium?" He asked.
"Will you judge me terribly if I asked for well done?" She asked.
"Baby girl has a taste for something charred?" Seth asked, amused.
"A little, maybe," Jessica ceded.
"One well done s'more coming up," Seth said. "Entirely free of judgement."
For a moment, they focused on cooking the marshmallows, assembling their desserts, and settling down together on the loveseat in front of the fire. Seth liked the dessert, but more than anything, he liked being with Jessica. She enjoyed her s'more, and she indulged him a little, he was sure, by letting him wipe chocolate from the corner of her mouth with his finger and, with a bit of sauciness, insisting on sucking his finger clean for him.
He didn't say it with words, but body and soul, he belonged to this woman. The way she smiled at him, too, after her little show, as she finished chewing through what was left of her treat, made it clear that she knew it—even if she didn't say so with words, either.
"You know…s'mores are such a simple thing," Jessica said, taking both of their plates and putting them on the floor, out of the way, to be cleaned later, "but they're also so…perfect for the occasion. Thank you, Seth, for thinking of them."
"Well…it's not every day that we take our daughter on her first camping trip," Seth said, dropping his arm around her as she snuggled in next to him. "Or that she and her mother get such a good report that…we find out that she's…" Seth paused a moment. The impact and the importance of it all settled in around him in a way that it hadn't quite done so before. He reached a hand and rested it on Jessica's belly. She made the soft, happy humming sound that she often made when he touched her this way. Just the sound of it made parts of his body begin to wake up, again, wondering if it might be their time for some attention.
Jessica moved his hand and pressed hers against it. Beneath his fingers, he felt the gentle nudge and then a clear little thump. He might have missed it, admittedly, but he knew exactly what to expect, and so he didn't miss it at all.
His throat tightened, and he swallowed against it.
"It isn't every day that we get the news that…she's strong enough that…she has a chance," Seth said. "A real chance."
Jessica leaned her face against the side of his face. He didn't move. He gave her a moment, sure that things were really only slowly settling into reality for her, too. They stayed just as they were a few moments. The baby stopped moving, but Seth didn't move his hand, and neither did Jessica. He sat, eyes closed, and simply listened to Jessica breathing—one of the most beautiful sounds in the world, as far as Seth was concerned.
He had almost fallen asleep, lulled by the perfection of an evening, when Jessica pressed a gentle kiss to his temple and held it for a long moment.
"Seth…" She whispered in his ear, her breath blowing on his ear and make him shiver. "Let's go to bed."
Seth could have brought up things they needed to do—but those things would wait. Instead, he chose not to say anything at all. There was nothing to say that hadn't been said. There was nothing to say that they both didn't already know. Seth stood and offered a hand to Jessica. When she took it and stood, he gently tugged her hand and led her to bed—right where they both wanted to go.
It was warm in the little cabin, but Seth was wholly prepared to be entirely consumed by this heat.