Infinite

"Atticus, just let him sleep on the couch tonight," Ronnie whispered as he stood by the door, holding it open while I carried Arch in from the car. The singer closed the door behind me and locked it before slipping off his shoes. "He'll be fine and we can have some time to ourselves. He's not going to wake up. Charlie will keep guard," he promised, referring to the dog who'd just stopped barking and who now sat staring at us from the floor in front of the coffee table.

I stood awkwardly between the door and the couch, trying to decide if leaving Arch to sleep alone in the living room was such a good idea, despite Ronnie's insistent reassurance. "I want to, Ron," I said softly as he passed by me to go to the bedroom, "but if he wakes up, there's no way we'll know."

Ronnie turned around and looked at me from the mouth of the hallway. "We'll lock the door," he said, "He won't be able to walk in on us and we'll be really quiet. It's not a big deal. We've done it on the bus before, I think we can do it in an apartment."

I rolled my eyes at Ronnie's smirk and gently laid Arch down on the couch. He'd dressed comfortable enough to sleep at the bar, so I covered him with the blanket from the back of the couch and told Ronnie to get the nightlight out of our room.

"Thank fucking God," Ronnie muttered. He quickly turned around and fetched the moon nightlight from the wall in our bedroom. He plugged it in beside the TV and turned it on. He walked back into the bedroom without me. Charlie followed him to the doorway and then turned and tromped back over to the couch.

I spared one last glance at the little boy and walked slightly down the hall, turning left into the first room. Ronnie was pulling his shirt over his head and already in a pair of sweats, rather than the pants he'd worn out. I smiled at the sight of his bare back and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, causing him to lower his arms and drop his shirt to the ground.

"I've missed having you sleep next to me," I admitted, pressing a kiss into his spine, "Arch takes up less room, but I still prefer you being next to me." I stood a little taller and kissed the back of his neck.

"I'm glad to get off that fucking couch," he muttered, although he had a smile on his face when he turned around.

I lightly scoffed and stepped away from him. "Wow, Ronnie, thanks for such sweet words," I retorted, stepping around him to get to my usual side of the bed. I kicked my shoes under the bed and unbuttoned my jacket. I ignored Ronnie as he walked over and stood next to me, his fingers starting at the bottom button and working their way up.

"I'm just kidding," he said, "I've missed being with you too." He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled me to him. "If having kids means never getting to sleep with my girlfriend, then we can wait awhile."

"Amen to that," I mumbled, taking my jacket off and tossing it onto the dresser. I wrapped my arms around Ronnie's neck and kissed him. He kissed me back with his hands on my sides and I could tell that he'd missed us being together just as much as I had.

Ronnie moved back and climbed over the bed. "I'll get the door," he said as he slid off the other side, "You can take care of your clothes."

I laughed slightly sarcastically, but started dropping them to the floor anyway. Ronnie turned around and stopped when his eyes landed on me. Ronnie watched with his arms crossed over his chest and he leaned back against the locked door as I pulled my shirt off and pushed my pants off my hips.

When I was just in a bra and underwear, Ronnie stepped onto the bed and kneeled in front of me. He moved his mouth to my neck, whispering words that I could barely catch, his finger tips pressing into my hip bones.

Sex with Ronnie wasn't always like he made it seem in his songs. Usually it wasn't, as a matter of fact. He was the best man I'd ever been with, but it was mostly due to the tender moments that we had, not the crazy ones.

While Ronnie wrote about sex, he kept our nights to himself, deciding not to divulge the extent of just how sweet and caring he really was.

I pushed his hair back, out of his face and kissed him, climbing onto the bed so that we were chest to chest. More than anything, I loved the feel of his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me in to him, holding me there.

I moved under the covers and Ronnie followed, the last of our clothes finally moving to the carpet. I didn't forget about the kid who slept on our couch, but my senses were pre-occupied with Ronnie in every way.

It was the heat from his body that kept me warm, the sound of his voice that I listened for, the touch of his fingers against my skin, and the feel of his body that overwhelmed me.

I curled up against his side, unintentionally drawn to the heat that was radiating off of him. I smiled and kissed his side as he pulled the blanket over my shoulders and tiredly draped his arms over me.

"Kids are definitely not worth giving up sex over," he stated after a few quiet moments.

I laughed and shook my head. "This is exactly why people keep having kids," I replied.

"Yeah, but the reason people stop is because their fucking kids are tearing their marriage apart," he muttered cynically, causing me to lightly tap my fingers against his stomach as if I was reprimanding him for his attitude.

"I'm going to miss you so much," I said. I rolled over so that I could see his eyes as I spoke. This would be the longest we'd been apart since we'd met and I didn't know how easy it would really be. Until this moment, I'd kept from thinking about it, but with just days to go, the thought of watching Ronnie drive away from me was almost becoming too much.

Ronnie smiled but it was one of those were it was really the only option. Unlike usual, words were escaping him now. He leaned up a bit and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. He swallowed. "Yeah." He nodded. "I'll miss you too, but you'll come visit all the time."

"Six and a half months is a long time," I spoke, finally counting the months until we'd be reunited again. "I'll have another sibling before you get home, and Nico will be four, and I'll be twenty-six and everything will be so different."

Ronnie moved out from under me and shook his head quickly. "No, it won't," he said, "We'll all be older and Gena will have a baby, but we'll be the same, Atticus. We'll always be the same. Six months won't change anything between us."

I couldn't help but be sad for the time we were losing. I blinked away some tears and nodded, trying to smile at his sweet words. He laid back down at my side and kissed me in a way that was meant to reassure me.

I brushed my thumb over his cheek and pulled back, dropping my head to the pillow. "You need to take Charlie out," I said, "He's going to wake Arch up if you don't."

Ronnie wasn't pleased with my change in subject, but he got out of bed and pulled his sweats on. He grabbed a hoodie and his shoes and pulled open the door. "Charlie," he quietly called into the hallway, rousing the dog, "Charlie, get your leash."

The Pitt-bull came running into the room, creating noise simply by his paws hitting the carpeted floor and his collar clinking together.

"Get your leash," Ronnie said again as he pushed his feet into his shoes, "Go on."

The dog raced out of the room to get the black leather leash we'd bought him. It was one of the only tricks Ronnie had been able to teach him thus far, but it was a helpful and cute one.

Ronnie leaned over the bed and kissed me. "Be right back," he said, and headed out of the room. I heard him call for Charlie and then the front door unlocked and opened, then all was quiet again.

I pulled the blankets over my shoulders and laid down, deciding to sleep instead of worry. Six months would be a long time, but we'd already made it almost nineteen together.