Guava 16, Cola 22: Candlelight
Title: Candlelight
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Guava 16 (if you're happy and you know it), cola 22 (you’re soaking in it), My Treat (best date ever: bubble bath, candles, champagne), malt (ichthusfish's easter egg: You're the bravest of hearts / You're the strongest of souls / You're my light in the dark / You're the place I call home - "If That's What It Takes", Celine Dion), rainbow sprinkles, cherry (sexytiems).
Word Count: 1700
Rating: R for mostly non-explicit sexytiems.
Summary: Nathan wins Husband of the Year.
Notes: Pointless fluff is the best kind of fluff.
Late-stage pregnancy had never done much for Gail's temper, and it was much worse this time around. It was the heat, she'd decided. June in New York was nothing to kid around with in the usual way. When you were toting around a fetus just over a month from birth and some asshole flat refused to give up his previous subway seat so your feet could maybe stop hurting for five seconds, and some other asshole decided being pregnant meant that your body was fair game, and yet another asshole thought a loud comment on your circumference was funny, well. Homicide began to look like a viable option.
That was her excuse. Usually, if she'd come home to find the table set, candles lit, the children nowhere in evidence and her husband in a black suit jacket that he knew turned her on, she'd be amused and definitely interested.
This time, she narrowed her eyes and said, "You are not getting laid tonight. I just want to make that clear."
Nathan raised his eyebrows, and got up to take her bag away from her. "Believe it or not, that was not on my agenda for this evening."
"I don't believe it," she said, "but all right, benefit of the doubt. What was on the agenda?"
He leaned in and brushed a kiss over her lips. "I thought we could have a date."
It was Gail's turn to raise her eyebrows. "A date."
"Mmhmm." Nathan set her bag to the side of the table. "Aaron's at his mother's and Ivy has some kind of sleepover tonight-- she did tell you about that?"
"Kiki's birthday," Gail said. "Yes, she did."
He nodded. "Right. Well, it occurred to me that we haven't had an evening to ourselves in some time, and in about a month--" his eyes rested fondly on her stomach for a moment-- "we'll lose whatever semblence of private time we might have had, so... a date." He gestured at the table. "I thought you might not want to go out."
"You were right," she said, but went to him and kissed him in apology. "Thank you. That actually does sound lovely."
He smiled at her. "Rough commute?"
"Horrible," she said, promptly. "New York City is populated by assholes. Hold that thought, I'm going to change."
"Going to shower?" Nathan asked, far too casually.
Gail narrowed her eyes at him again. "No," she said. "It'll take too long. But I intend to after dinner, because I'm sweaty and gross."
He looked innocently back at her. "Sweaty, perhaps, but gross, never. Go on, I'll keep this warm."
Nathan was definitely up to something, Gail decided, as she got rid of her suit and replaced it with a loose, floating dress more suited to the heat. Probably nothing bad, though, and really, she had absolutely nothing to lose.
Besides, she hadn't had a husband the last time she was this pregnant. She might as well let him pamper her for a while before she ferreted out what was really going on.
He looked up at her when she walked back into the kitchen, and his smile had quite a bit of honest appreciation about it. "You look beautiful."
She had a quip on the tip of her tongue, but decided at the last minute that it wasn't worth it. "Thank you," she said, instead. "You're looking pretty good yourself."
"Ah, yes," he said, "but I had to work at it. Sit down. I made stir-fry."
Nathan was something of a one-trick pony when it came to meals beyond the very simple, but the one trick he could do he did very well. She grinned at him, and dug in.
Apparently, part of her short temper had been hunger, because Gail finished two plates of stir-fry and ate the rest of Nathan's to boot. She moved into his lap to do so, because he more or less invited her to, and anyway, he was comfortable, his arms gentle around her waist. He set his chin thoughtfully on her shoulder as she finished.
"Comfortable?" she inquired.
"Very, thank you." He kissed the side of her neck absentmindedly. "Did you skip lunch again?"
She shook her head. "No, but I didn't get very much of it. Jeff Berquist called me away from it to be his human shield at some meeting with his boss."
Nathan made a contemplative sound. "I'm not sure whether to think he's a coward for hiding behind a pregnant woman or very intelligent for hiding behind you."
"Ha," she said, and set her fork down. "Very funny."
"I wasn't kidding," he said. "You're pretty terrifying when you're defending someone."
She considered that, and decided it was a compliment. "That would presume that I had any interest in defending Jeff." Though, in fairness, Jeff hadn't deserved the lecture he'd gotten.
"Mmhmm," Nathan repeated, sounding unconvinced. "Well, up you get. I'm not finished."
She got up, but eyed him carefully. "Not finished with what?"
"You'll see," he said, took her hand and tugged her gently after him, into the bathroom. There were more candles in here, on the rim of the bathtub and edging the sink and reflecting in the water. It smelled nice, too, like roses and clean air, a haven after the hot, stinking city.
Gail turned and gave her husband a deeply suspicious look.
Nathan laughed, apparently just at the expression on her face. "Will you relax? I promise I don't intend to get laid tonight."
"Um," she said, and turned around. "Get my zipper for me? You're trying awfully hard for someone who doesn't want to seduce me."
He brushed her hair off her neck and over her shoulder, then unzipped the back of her dress and ran his hand gently down the strip of skin exposed. "First of all, I always want to seduce you. Second, who said I wasn't trying?"
"Well," she said, sliding her dress off her shoulders and reaching for her bra, "you did say you weren't getting laid tonight."
"True enough," he said, unfastening her bra for her. "No one said anything about you."
Gail turned around and smirked at him. "Oh, really."
"Yes, really." He leered benignly at her, then tipped her chin up just a bit and kissed her, deep and gentle and warm.
He let her go after a moment, and Gail steadied herself on his shoulder, dizzily. He'd gotten her underpants off sometime in the last couple of minutes. Not that she minded. "Okay," she said. "All right. I'm okay with this."
"Thought so," he said, and then, when she moved to get in the bathtub, stopped her. "Hold on just a moment?"
She arched an eyebrow, and folded her arms under her breasts. "I thought you said something about seducing me?"
Nathan smiled at her, then bent and ran his hands gently over her belly, lingering on a stretch mark by her navel and the faint dark line that split her stomach. "I know. I just want to look at you for a moment."
"You do have a son," Gail said, as dryly as she could manage while feeling so touched. "This can't be entirely new."
"Well, it is." He knelt and traced a careful spiral around her belly. "I was away for most of Mel's pregnancy. Missed all of this bit."
Gail looked down at herself, at her belly and her stretch marks and her sore, swollen breasts, and said, "You didn't miss much."
"Says you," he said, pressing a careful palm at the peak of her stomach.
"I don't know about Melanie," Gail said, "but I'm bitchy and enormous."
"Once again," Nathan said, and got up off his knees, "says you."
She didn't think the enormous could really be argued, since she couldn't bend over anymore and needed Nathan to help her into the bath (surprisingly and pleasantly warm). Bitchiness was probably in the eye of the beholder. Still... then Nathan took his jacket off and she stopped thinking about that entirely.
"Going to join me?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow at her and started on his shirt. "How can I seduce you from out here? Scoot forward."
She did so, and settled back against him after he climbed in behind her. "Ah," she said, nearly soundlessly, and laid her head against his. "This feels good."
"Not too hot?" he asked, rearranging himself a little behind her. "I was a little worried about that."
Gail shook her head, and didn't bother to answer out loud. The heat of the water wound its way into overtight muscles and forced them into relaxation, and Nathan made a nice change from the hard porcelain of the tub. He was running his hands over her belly again, dragging his fingertips very lightly across her skin, pressing gentle kisses to the skin of her jaw and neck.
"Feels good," she murmured, and cuddled back against him. "S'nice."
"Good," he said, his voice softer and deeper than before. "Relax, love. Just relax. Let me do the work."
His hands had crept lower by that point, stroking gently between her legs, so all she could do was shift against him and say, "Mmkay," in a half-drugged voice.
It was probably the most relaxed orgasm she'd ever had, lying there in the warm water with her husband's arms around her. One of the better ones, too.
When she opened her eyes again, he'd gone back to stroking her belly with a sort of gentle, absentminded tenderness. She could feel his erection against her back, but he didn't seem too interested in doing anything about it. "Feeling better?" he asked.
"Mmhmm," she said. She wanted to kiss him, but felt too lazy to pick her head up to do it. "S'good."
"Incoherency," Nathan said, with so much self-satisfaction in his voice it made her laugh. "Good."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, and turned her head enough to kiss his neck. "You win."
He grinned. "Yes, I do. Husband of the year, I should think."
"Best one I've ever had, anyway," she deadpanned, and he laughed, the vibrations rumbling pleasantly through her back. After a moment, she added, "I love you, you know."
"I know," he said, and kissed her.
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Guava 16 (if you're happy and you know it), cola 22 (you’re soaking in it), My Treat (best date ever: bubble bath, candles, champagne), malt (ichthusfish's easter egg: You're the bravest of hearts / You're the strongest of souls / You're my light in the dark / You're the place I call home - "If That's What It Takes", Celine Dion), rainbow sprinkles, cherry (sexytiems).
Word Count: 1700
Rating: R for mostly non-explicit sexytiems.
Summary: Nathan wins Husband of the Year.
Notes: Pointless fluff is the best kind of fluff.
Late-stage pregnancy had never done much for Gail's temper, and it was much worse this time around. It was the heat, she'd decided. June in New York was nothing to kid around with in the usual way. When you were toting around a fetus just over a month from birth and some asshole flat refused to give up his previous subway seat so your feet could maybe stop hurting for five seconds, and some other asshole decided being pregnant meant that your body was fair game, and yet another asshole thought a loud comment on your circumference was funny, well. Homicide began to look like a viable option.
That was her excuse. Usually, if she'd come home to find the table set, candles lit, the children nowhere in evidence and her husband in a black suit jacket that he knew turned her on, she'd be amused and definitely interested.
This time, she narrowed her eyes and said, "You are not getting laid tonight. I just want to make that clear."
Nathan raised his eyebrows, and got up to take her bag away from her. "Believe it or not, that was not on my agenda for this evening."
"I don't believe it," she said, "but all right, benefit of the doubt. What was on the agenda?"
He leaned in and brushed a kiss over her lips. "I thought we could have a date."
It was Gail's turn to raise her eyebrows. "A date."
"Mmhmm." Nathan set her bag to the side of the table. "Aaron's at his mother's and Ivy has some kind of sleepover tonight-- she did tell you about that?"
"Kiki's birthday," Gail said. "Yes, she did."
He nodded. "Right. Well, it occurred to me that we haven't had an evening to ourselves in some time, and in about a month--" his eyes rested fondly on her stomach for a moment-- "we'll lose whatever semblence of private time we might have had, so... a date." He gestured at the table. "I thought you might not want to go out."
"You were right," she said, but went to him and kissed him in apology. "Thank you. That actually does sound lovely."
He smiled at her. "Rough commute?"
"Horrible," she said, promptly. "New York City is populated by assholes. Hold that thought, I'm going to change."
"Going to shower?" Nathan asked, far too casually.
Gail narrowed her eyes at him again. "No," she said. "It'll take too long. But I intend to after dinner, because I'm sweaty and gross."
He looked innocently back at her. "Sweaty, perhaps, but gross, never. Go on, I'll keep this warm."
Nathan was definitely up to something, Gail decided, as she got rid of her suit and replaced it with a loose, floating dress more suited to the heat. Probably nothing bad, though, and really, she had absolutely nothing to lose.
Besides, she hadn't had a husband the last time she was this pregnant. She might as well let him pamper her for a while before she ferreted out what was really going on.
He looked up at her when she walked back into the kitchen, and his smile had quite a bit of honest appreciation about it. "You look beautiful."
She had a quip on the tip of her tongue, but decided at the last minute that it wasn't worth it. "Thank you," she said, instead. "You're looking pretty good yourself."
"Ah, yes," he said, "but I had to work at it. Sit down. I made stir-fry."
Nathan was something of a one-trick pony when it came to meals beyond the very simple, but the one trick he could do he did very well. She grinned at him, and dug in.
Apparently, part of her short temper had been hunger, because Gail finished two plates of stir-fry and ate the rest of Nathan's to boot. She moved into his lap to do so, because he more or less invited her to, and anyway, he was comfortable, his arms gentle around her waist. He set his chin thoughtfully on her shoulder as she finished.
"Comfortable?" she inquired.
"Very, thank you." He kissed the side of her neck absentmindedly. "Did you skip lunch again?"
She shook her head. "No, but I didn't get very much of it. Jeff Berquist called me away from it to be his human shield at some meeting with his boss."
Nathan made a contemplative sound. "I'm not sure whether to think he's a coward for hiding behind a pregnant woman or very intelligent for hiding behind you."
"Ha," she said, and set her fork down. "Very funny."
"I wasn't kidding," he said. "You're pretty terrifying when you're defending someone."
She considered that, and decided it was a compliment. "That would presume that I had any interest in defending Jeff." Though, in fairness, Jeff hadn't deserved the lecture he'd gotten.
"Mmhmm," Nathan repeated, sounding unconvinced. "Well, up you get. I'm not finished."
She got up, but eyed him carefully. "Not finished with what?"
"You'll see," he said, took her hand and tugged her gently after him, into the bathroom. There were more candles in here, on the rim of the bathtub and edging the sink and reflecting in the water. It smelled nice, too, like roses and clean air, a haven after the hot, stinking city.
Gail turned and gave her husband a deeply suspicious look.
Nathan laughed, apparently just at the expression on her face. "Will you relax? I promise I don't intend to get laid tonight."
"Um," she said, and turned around. "Get my zipper for me? You're trying awfully hard for someone who doesn't want to seduce me."
He brushed her hair off her neck and over her shoulder, then unzipped the back of her dress and ran his hand gently down the strip of skin exposed. "First of all, I always want to seduce you. Second, who said I wasn't trying?"
"Well," she said, sliding her dress off her shoulders and reaching for her bra, "you did say you weren't getting laid tonight."
"True enough," he said, unfastening her bra for her. "No one said anything about you."
Gail turned around and smirked at him. "Oh, really."
"Yes, really." He leered benignly at her, then tipped her chin up just a bit and kissed her, deep and gentle and warm.
He let her go after a moment, and Gail steadied herself on his shoulder, dizzily. He'd gotten her underpants off sometime in the last couple of minutes. Not that she minded. "Okay," she said. "All right. I'm okay with this."
"Thought so," he said, and then, when she moved to get in the bathtub, stopped her. "Hold on just a moment?"
She arched an eyebrow, and folded her arms under her breasts. "I thought you said something about seducing me?"
Nathan smiled at her, then bent and ran his hands gently over her belly, lingering on a stretch mark by her navel and the faint dark line that split her stomach. "I know. I just want to look at you for a moment."
"You do have a son," Gail said, as dryly as she could manage while feeling so touched. "This can't be entirely new."
"Well, it is." He knelt and traced a careful spiral around her belly. "I was away for most of Mel's pregnancy. Missed all of this bit."
Gail looked down at herself, at her belly and her stretch marks and her sore, swollen breasts, and said, "You didn't miss much."
"Says you," he said, pressing a careful palm at the peak of her stomach.
"I don't know about Melanie," Gail said, "but I'm bitchy and enormous."
"Once again," Nathan said, and got up off his knees, "says you."
She didn't think the enormous could really be argued, since she couldn't bend over anymore and needed Nathan to help her into the bath (surprisingly and pleasantly warm). Bitchiness was probably in the eye of the beholder. Still... then Nathan took his jacket off and she stopped thinking about that entirely.
"Going to join me?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow at her and started on his shirt. "How can I seduce you from out here? Scoot forward."
She did so, and settled back against him after he climbed in behind her. "Ah," she said, nearly soundlessly, and laid her head against his. "This feels good."
"Not too hot?" he asked, rearranging himself a little behind her. "I was a little worried about that."
Gail shook her head, and didn't bother to answer out loud. The heat of the water wound its way into overtight muscles and forced them into relaxation, and Nathan made a nice change from the hard porcelain of the tub. He was running his hands over her belly again, dragging his fingertips very lightly across her skin, pressing gentle kisses to the skin of her jaw and neck.
"Feels good," she murmured, and cuddled back against him. "S'nice."
"Good," he said, his voice softer and deeper than before. "Relax, love. Just relax. Let me do the work."
His hands had crept lower by that point, stroking gently between her legs, so all she could do was shift against him and say, "Mmkay," in a half-drugged voice.
It was probably the most relaxed orgasm she'd ever had, lying there in the warm water with her husband's arms around her. One of the better ones, too.
When she opened her eyes again, he'd gone back to stroking her belly with a sort of gentle, absentminded tenderness. She could feel his erection against her back, but he didn't seem too interested in doing anything about it. "Feeling better?" he asked.
"Mmhmm," she said. She wanted to kiss him, but felt too lazy to pick her head up to do it. "S'good."
"Incoherency," Nathan said, with so much self-satisfaction in his voice it made her laugh. "Good."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, and turned her head enough to kiss his neck. "You win."
He grinned. "Yes, I do. Husband of the year, I should think."
"Best one I've ever had, anyway," she deadpanned, and he laughed, the vibrations rumbling pleasantly through her back. After a moment, she added, "I love you, you know."
"I know," he said, and kissed her.