Here With Me

It was Valentine's day and Hudson and I had plans to go out after work, he wanted to take me to this new restaurant on the Upper West Side, so I was looking forward for the work day to come to an end, which actually wasn't too far away; it was 5:30pm. While Christian and I were fooling around playing pinball on the computer, my office phone's intercom came on.

Jen, the receptionist's voice came on over the small speaker. "Avery, you have a call on line three. A guy, he says his name is Charles."

I furrowed my brow and could feel my stomach going into knots. I swallowed hard. Christian smirked at me and started to laugh, "What's wrong?"

"That's my father-in-law." I bit my lip, not wanting to pick up the phone, seeing line three blinking.

"And?" He made a face.

"I just had a bad visit with him and his wife and their daughter...and Hudson hates them...and I saw another side of him last time we saw them..."

"At the wedding or?"

"No, Hudson forbade them from coming to the wedding." I closed my eyes.

"Well, maybe he's apologizing. Pick up the phone or else I will." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Here, you answer it, tell him I just stepped out, make up an excuse." I pointed at the phone while the light still blinked.

"Why don't you want to talk to him?" He shook his head.

"I told you already, now talk!" I hissed, lifting the phone and pressing it to his ear.

"Hello?" He made a face. "Yup, she's right here." He smirked as he held out the phone.

I glared at him and sighed inwardly before reluctantly taking it and clearing my throat. "Avery Hudson speaking."

"Hello Avery, it's Charles here." He spoke in his deep British accent.

"Oh, hello Charles, to what do I owe this surprise phone call?" I asked, punching Christian in the leg.

"Avery, it's been far too long and this apology has been far too delayed. The way my wife and daughter acted that evening you came to share the good news with us, was beyond disrespectful. And I myself should have stood up for my son and especially you, my daughter-in-law."

I closed my eyes and sighed, "It has been too far delayed...Charles, I've seen another side of of my husband, a side I knew existed but never knew the entirety of. He has such animosity toward you and your wife and daughter...I accept your apology, but you need to talk to Hudson, he's the one that deserves the apology."

I waited for him to say something but he paused for a long time, I could here his breathing on the other end, so I continued.

"He never had you when he was young and I don't want him to still not have you when we're all older. I care about him more than anyone else, I just don't want this hate in his heart to eat away at him and take away the man I married. Please Charles, for his sake, and yours, talk to him."

"I know, I know. And I hate that we've never been close. This is my biggest regret, not being a father to him. Not being there for him when he needed me. I'm gonna talk to him, I will. Avery, you have such a big heart and you care so much about everyone. I couldn't have asked for anyone better for my son to marry. I know you make him happy. You give him the same happiness Claire used to, I can see it in his eyes. Thank you Avery."

I smiled. "Charles, I have to go, but take what I said to heart. Keep in touch."

"I will, goodbye."

I hung up and thought for a moment and then remembered what Christian had done. I glared at him, "Jerk."

He started to laugh and held up his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry but you do those things to me all the time."

"Never mind, let's play pinball." I smirked, rolling my eyes.

"So what are you doing tonight? For V-day." He chuckled.

"Well, Hudson is taking me out to a new restaurant, and I'm not sure about afterwards, probably just come home and watch a cheesy romance movie." I smiled, getting into the game. "What about you lover boy?"

He gave a laugh. "I don't know, probably nothing."

"What? Christian Reid the wolf isn't doing anything on Valentine's Day? I'm in shock." I grinned, glancing over at him.

"I'm a wolf? I don't have anyone in particular to spend tonight with." He shook his head and leaned back in his chair as he watched me play pinball.

"What about a pretty girl you'll meet at a club tonight?" I asked.

"I'm not going to club tonight."

"You should."

"Why?" He rolled his eyes.

"So you can make some girl's dreams come true. They get to spend a night with a bodacious fella like yourself." I smirked.

He burst out laughing. "I'll pass."

"It's their loss." I chuckled.

There was a short pause as I continued quickly tapping at the keyboard and gave a frustrated sigh when I lost the pinball. I leaned back in my chair and laughed as I turned to face Christian; he was staring at me.

I furrowed my brow, "What?" I laughed.

"I'm still getting used to seeing you like this." He softly smiled.

"A sore loser?" I gave a laugh.

He shook his head, "No. Blonde hair, skirts, heels, nice tops...before you used to come to the office wearing jeans and a t-shirt...you're dressing more like a-"

"Woman?" I grinned.

He laughed and nodded, "Yeah. It's different from when I first came to work here, you dressed differently, kind of acted differently. Since you came back from Italy, you seem different."

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "You know, before I met Hudson, I still felt like such a kid. But then he came into my life and I felt like it was a new chapter starting up for me. And now that I'm married, I feel more like a woman now. An adult. And I wanna dress better for him too. I wanna be the best that I can be for him."

He softly smiled at me and was about to say something, but then Hudson came in.

"Your knight in shining armour is here." He grinned, carrying a bouquet of roses. I was surprised that he came in but more so ecstatic. I sprung out my chair and ran to hug him. "Hudson!"

"Hello darling, these are for you." He smiled, kissing me.

"Oh they're beautiful. Thank you." I smiled back.

"Christian, long time no see, how are you?" Hudson politely greeted him, extending his hand.

Christian stood up and smiled, shaking his hand. "It has been awhile. I'm good, you?"

"I'm great. I'll be better once I can steal my girl away from the office, Avery are you free to go?" He smiled.

"Five minutes to six, I'd say it's close enough. Let's go." I grinned, kissing his chin. I turned to grab my coat and purse. "Bye Christian, have fun tonight." I winked at him before leaving arm in arm with Hudson.

Christian just laughed and rolled his eyes.

After a lovely meal at the restaurant, Hudson drove us to Central Park. When he parked the car, he looked at me with that childish smile of his. "This is where we went for first date. There was a lot less snow at the time, but I thought we could go for a walk."

I smiled back. "I'd love to, but I'm wearing heels."

He grinned, "I thought ahead." He then reached in the backseat and brought my old pair of winter boots in front. I laughed and took them, "You really are a romantic Holbrook."

"As always." He smiled.

So we got out of the car and walked hand-in-hand through the snow. I cuddled closer to him as we walked.

"Do you realize we've only known and been together for about seven and a half months? It hasn't even been a year." I smiled.

"Wow...that is a short time. I never thought about that." He chuckled.

"It doesn't matter. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." I rested my head on his shoulder.

He stopped and turned to face me, holding me close to him. He whispered in my ear, "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. I wanted to tell him about his dad calling me, but I didn't want to ruin this moment. We continued walking through the park, leaving a trail of our footprints in the light snow.

"The restaurant has been doing really well, better than well...Avery, we've been asked if we'd consider opening another restaurant." He grinned.

I looked at him and smiled, "Really? You'd have a second restaurant! Hudson that's great, are you gonna do it?"

"I don't know yet...Jules and I are still talking about it, but we'd like to, but right now we just need a lot of time to think it over."

"Oh but Hudson, this would be so great for you. You're already so successful with La Maison, imagine two of them. Where would the second restaurant be?" I asked.

"We were thinking London. And I'd like to be the head chef for it's location." He smiled.

"London...so then we'd move to England then?" I furrowed my brow.

"It's just a thought, nothing is set in stone." He smiled.

I smirked and then stopped us, standing in front of him and holding the lapel of his coat in my hands. "Well Mr. Hudson, let's not talk about work."

"Then what do you propose we talk about?" He smiled, licking his lower lip.

"Well, I don't think it has much to do about talking, it's more about doing. I had about a hundred left on the gift card Amelia gave me, you know, to Victoria's Secret? And I bought a little something for this occasion." I smirked.

"Just when I thought I'd seen it all during our honeymoon, you bought something new. I'm intrigued to see it." He pulled me closer to him.

"Well let's go home, you pour us each a glass of red wine, I'll light the candles, maybe we can turn on some music to set the mood, and I'll give you a private showing of my new lingerie."

"And after?" He raised an eyebrow.

"We'll just have to wait and see." I smiled, taking his hand and leading him back till we got to the car. Hudson drove us home faster than he's ever driven before. In the elevator I distanced us, torturing him as he stared at me with carnal desire. In the apartment just as we shut the door, he pushed me against the door and cupped my face, kissing me hard.

"Screw the wine and candles and music. I want you now." He murmured into our kiss. As I fumbled to unbutton my coat, he took off his and then reached for the lock on the door, turning and securing it. He reached up my dress and held me by my hips, pulling me into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, biting his lip.

He walked us to the kitchen counter and turned us around so again he was pushing me against the counter. He eagerly kissed my neck and up along my jawline. He reached behind me and pulled the zipper down on my dress, pulling it off and letting it pool around my feet. Just as I was about to take off my shoes, he stopped me and pressed his forehead against mine. "Leave the heels on."

My heart rate skyrocketed as I kissed him again, undoing the buttons on his shirt until he grabbed it and ripped it open. The sound of the buttons hitting the floor made me giggle but quickly I became serious once he lifted me onto the countertop. He walked to the cupboard, taking something out and reaching into the drawer before coming back with a smirk. He set down a jar of chocolate sauce and a spoon.

My breath hitched with anticipation as I looked from the jar up to his expression which was as serious as ever. A slow smirk formed on his lips as he undid the tie that still hung around his neck. He then placed it over my eyes and tied it off behind my head. His hands then reached behind my back, unhooking the lace bra and slowly taking it off.

"Lay down." He whispered in my ear, his lips brushing against my skin. So I did as I was told and rested back against the cool marble countertop, eagerly anticipating what would happen next. I could hear him take the lid off the jar, stirring the chocolate with the spoon. I gasped when I began feeling him drizzle the chocolate from my belly button up till it stopped between my breasts.

I smiled and bit my lip as I felt his mouth against my skin, sucking the sweet chocolate off my skin. When he finished between my breasts, he moved to my ear again and whispered. "Taste." He put the spoon against my lips until they parted and I sucked the sweetness until there was no more. He put the spoon back in the jar.

I was already panting. I could hear him unzip his pants and kick off his shoes. He then hook his fingers in the sides of my underwear, ripping it off and sending a surge of excitement throughout my body.

"Oh Avery, the fun is just beginning." He said softly. I heard the jar and spoon moving again and I smiled, bracing myself for what was next.