Getting to Me

When Mandy and Zacky woke up the next morning, she was pressed as tightly against his chest as she possibly could be, and his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. She could feel his hot, even breath on her ear, and it was definitely a comforting experience to wake up feeling that secure in someone’s arms just knowing how much they loved you. She giggled when she felt his fingertips tickling the exposed skin of her midriff underneath of the blankets, and turned around in his arms so that she was facing him before she reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes.

“Good morning to you too, baby,” she muttered, kissing his shoulder softly with her lips before closing her eyes when he leaned in to brush his lips across her forehead. She loved it when he did little things like that, and she couldn’t believe how lucky she’d been in finding someone like him to fall in love with.

“I don’t know about you baby, but I’m really hungry,” he murmured into her neck, sitting up with her and pulling her tightly against him again as he hugged her. She smiled as she returned the hug, opening her brown eyes to look up at him.

“Why don’t you go feed Sheba and Saul, and I’ll get some pancakes going?” She suggested softly as she moved out of the blankets to pull a fleece sweater over her head, shivering at the freezing temperature in the bedroom. She grinned when she saw the goosebumps popping up on her boyfriend’s pale flesh as he stood up, and then gave him a dubious look when she noticed that he’d chosen to sleep in just boxers.

“What?” He asked defensively when he saw the strange way she was looking at him. “I have you to keep me warm at night, don’t I? And besides, everyone knows a guy looks sexy in boxers.”

“No offense, Zacky, but when it’s this cold outside, practicality outweighs sexiness,” she giggled as she tossed him a pair of jeans and a fleece before slipping a pair of fuzzy slippers onto her feet as she walked out into the kitchen. She heard him stumbling around in the bedroom for a few more minutes before he emerged, a goofy grin on his face and a pair of ski goggles on his head.

“Baby, what are you doing?” She asked him, putting one of her hands on her hip as she stood to grab the box of Bisquick from the cupboard. He rolled his eyes, and then started speaking in the same mocking tone she’d used on him a few moments before.

“No offense, Mandy, but when the outside of our house is covered in six foot drifts of snow, practicality outweighs style,” he grinned at her before crossing the floor to press his lips against her forehead. “I looked outside, and there’s no way I’m gonna be able to get out through the front door. I’m gonna have to go through the window or something.”

She giggled, and then walked over to the kitchen window, her eyes widening when she saw just how much snow had piled up outside overnight. She’d been expecting him to be exaggerating, but he wasn’t. The snow was high enough around the house to where they could consider themselves snowed in.

“Why don’t you find Cheyenne and bring her into the house, too? It’s too cold for her to be outside when there’s that much snow,” she murmured, giving him a small smile. He nodded to her, and then moved over to the window before turning to look at her before pulling the goggles over his eyes, that same goofy grin on his face.

“Wish me luck, baby. I never tried snow swimming before,” he snickered before he slid the window open. He put a chair in front of it so he could climb outside, and then slid the window shut again so that no more cold air would get inside. Mandy giggled as she watched Zacky moving through the snow, and she couldn’t deny that it did look somewhat like swimming. His red hat was barely above the snow, and she could tell he was having a difficult time moving through the white substance to make his way to the barn. She made a mental note to make some hot cocoa and plug in an electric blanket for him so that he’d be able to get warm quickly once he was done feeding the horses and adding fresh straw to their stall, and after the pancakes were finished cooking, she set about preparing the entryway for Cheyenne. She was too high energy of a dog to be set loose in the entire house, but the entry way would be warm enough for her and large enough so that she’d have room to move around. She poured some fresh, lukewarm water for the dog and then prepared some food for her before setting up a warm bed and covering the entryway door, the basement door, and the small window with blankets to block drafts from entering the house and chilling the air even more than it was already.

Zacky returned a little over a half hour later, with Cheyenne in his arms and a very red face. He was quite obviously colder than he was used to, and she helped him climb back through the window before shutting it behind him as he took the dog to the entryway.

“Here,” she told him as she pointed towards the blanket she’d plugged in for him. “Sit down and cover up with that after you strip, and I’ll get some cocoa going for you. I’ll make some more pancakes too, so that they’re warm.”

“You had me at ‘strip,’ baby,” he teased her lightly as he pulled the goggles over his head, followed by his red hat, the winter jacket, the work overalls, and the rest of his clothes. When he was finished, he was wearing just his boxers, and even those were soaked through with snow.

She rolled her eyes playfully at him, and then watched as he disappeared into their bedroom to get changed again. Once he emerged, she had his food prepared for him, and set up a TV tray in front of the couch for him. He sat down and she tucked the blanket around him before sitting next to him, having already eaten her own breakfast.

“So how were Sheba and Saul?” She asked him. He gave her a grin, and then finished his bite of food before he spoke.

“I put some blankets on them because it was cold even with all the straw I put in there. I put two on Saul, since he’s so little, and then I gave Sheba some oats. That’s what your dad said to do when it got cold like this, since it’s full of protein.”

Mandy grinned at him and then leaned her head onto his shoulder. His words meant more to her than she could possibly tell him. He had come from the city, where no one had anything more than a cat or a dog to take care of. In the past few months, he had learned not only how to saddle and bridle a horse, but he’d also learned how to start taking care of them and feeding them. It made her realize how serious he was about their relationship and how much he truly loved her.

“Thank you for doing that for me, baby,” she murmured, kissing his neck. He just smiled softly at her and nodded, and then finished eating his food and drinking his cocoa before he turned to look at her, a knowing smirk on his face as he pulled her onto his lap after she’d moved the TV tray away from them.

“You know, Mandy, it’s awfully cold out there. I think I may have gotten a little frostbite,” he told her, lowering his lips against her neck before scraping his teeth along the sensitive skin lightly.

“Is that so?” She asked him, her voice a little more breathy than it had been before. She knew where he was going with this, and she was surprised that she found that she didn’t want to stop him. She knew that she loved Zacky, and she knew that she wanted to be with him and consummate their relationship in all ways possible. Looking into his green eyes, she could tell that he wanted her too, and not just in a lustful way. And that was all she needed to know for her to decide that it was time. “Then maybe you should take me to the bedroom so I can warm you up,” she breathed against his ear, sliding her hands down his stomach. Zacky didn’t need any more encouragement, and he smirked as he stood up before carrying her towards their bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.