Kiss Me Tenderly

“Jammies?”
“Check.”
“Toothbrush, toothpaste?”
“Check.”
“Underwear?”
“Packed five pairs.”
“Both buttocks still on?”
“I swear Alex, if you ever quote Harry Potter at me again, I might have to tear your head off.”
Alex laughed, a full bodied laugh, one that shook his shoulders and dimpled his cheeks. I couldn’t help but smile at him and I opened my arms so he could fall into them. Instead of a cute, run into my arms hug, he pounced at me from across the room, knocking me down onto the bed and peppering my face with kisses. Alex nuzzled my cheek and pressed a light kiss there, warm breath fanning across my skin.
“I love you so, so much,” he exhaled, pecking my lips. “Thank you so much for doing this.”
Laughter bubbled up inside me and I softly rubbed our noses together.
“I love you too baby. You know I’d do anything for you.”
Alex’s eyes locked on mine, honey brown eyes swimming with elation and I just admired him, my hands smoothing over the rough denim on his hips. Everything about him was beautiful and I could see beauty, hope, and passion, everything that made up Alex in every little part of him. It was stunning.
We lay there, gently exchanging soft, slow kisses, lazy brushes of tongues, a nip here and there. I could feel Alex pulling away from me, his forehead pressing against mine. The air was warm and still all around us, a peaceful quiet that we rarely got with three kids in the house. The only sound in the room was us breathing in each other’s presence, soaking in the love we were practically exuding. Everything was a soft touch: his fingertips caressing my throat, my own fingers carding through his bangs, the low rumble of a purr resonating off his throat as he leaned his head ever so slightly into my hand.
If we could stay like this for the rest of eternity, I would be fucking thrilled.
But we had to be at a certain Grandma and Grandpa Barakat’s house in a couple of hours.
And that would just kill the whole mood if we were late.
With that in mind, I playfully rolled my boyfriend off me and spent the next hour chasing down three hyperactive five year olds, packing miniature clothes into superhero themed backpacks, and sneaking kisses along the way.
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“Baby, they’ll love you, don’t worry,” I smiled at Alex reassuringly, kissing his knuckles and setting down one of the carseats to ring the door bell. I knew my mom would be waiting by the door so it came as no surprise to me when the door flew open not a second later. Alex took a step back, startled, and it was like someone had opened the floodgates: a whole herd of fat little balls of fur tumbled out the door and onto the porch, tripping over their little stumpy legs and yapping and nipping at one another.
“Jack! It’s been ages! You never bring these little girls up to see me anymore,” my mom scolded me before stooping down and gathering both little girls in her arms. Sassy and Missy squealed and flailed as my mother kissed them and blew raspberries on their cheeks, causing my own grin to spark. To see my mother coo over my children was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.
My dad poked his head out of the kitchen and yelled something intelligible, waving a spoon at me. I waved back, uncertain about what he had said but sure it was something nice because he was smiling.
Which reminds me.
“Oh! Mom, this is Alex and Owen, his son,” I introduced them. Alex’s lips curved up into a nervous smile and he held a shaking hand out to my mother.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Barakat, thank you so much for watching Owen for the next few days.”
She waved away his hand and pulled him into a tight hug. Alex’s wide eyes shot to me like, what do I do??? I laughed at his confusion and started moving the three carseats into the house.
“Please, Alex, call me Joyce,” she said warmly. “Bassam would introduce himself to you but he’s making mac and cheese with hot dogs for the kids.” She lowered her voice conspiritorially and whispered, “He likes to spoil the kids, you know.”
Alex’s laugh wobbled a little bit; I could tell he was still kind of anxious about leaving a good impression on my parents. “Just as long as they come home in one piece, I think we’re just fine, Joyce.”
My mom beamed at him, then me. “Oh, Jack, I like him already. Come in, come in! Bring the kid’s stuff in! Bassam! Come introduce yourself to Alex and Owen!”
Another garbled shout.
She rolled her eyes at us. “You know your father, Jack, if he’s going to spoil the kids with unhealthy food, he’s going to do it right.”
As I struggled with getting the carseats and the little plastic backpacks into the house, my mom had stooped down to Owen’s – who had been surprisingly quiet this entire time – level and held out her admittedly larger hand to him.
“Hello, Owen, you look like a very handsome and intelligent boy. I’m Joyce Barakat but you can call me Joyce, okay?” she gave him her award winning smile and you could almost see the hesitation before Owen put his hand in hers.
“Hi, Mrs. Joyce,” Owen whispered, looking at the ground.
“And so polite too! He’s your spitting image, Alex,” she added, looking up at us, seeing Alex almost glow with pride. My hand found it’s way into his and I squeezed, I told you so.
An hour and a half later found us in the living room, The Lion King playing on the television, the kids being prodded to eat instead of watch tv and the grandparents scolding us to let them watch the movie. Somehow, Alex had ended up with a lap full of puppies and he looked like he was on cloud nine. His back was pressed against my chest and all the puppies were asleep in the hollow he had created by crossing his legs. I checked the time and swore in my head; it was getting late and if we wanted to go anywhere, we should probably get going. I whispered this into Alex’s ear and he nodded his agreement, nudging all of the puppies out of his lap. One, however, refused to go, whining and nuzzling under his thigh, desperate to return to it’s nap. Alex’s giggle resonated through my chest cavity as he picked up the pup and brought it up to his face. The little tan and white dog blinked sleepily at him and quickly licked his nose, prompting more laughter from him.
“Is that the dog you wanted, Alex?” my mom piped up from her spot on the couch, fingers folded over a novel, peering over her reading glasses.
“What was that, Joyce?” Alex was startled for the second time tonight, caught off guard by her question.
“Is that the one you wanted? Jack told me you wanted a dog and since we can’t keep all the puppies, he convinced me that you would take good care of one,” she smiled at him, leaving the book slumped on the side table. Alex’s wide eyes flickered from me to the dog to my mom.
“I can really keep it?” He whispered, staring at me, brown eyes innocently blinking at me.
“What, Jack, didn’t tell you?”
“No, mom, I wanted it to be a surprise,” I groaned, kissing Alex’s eyebrow. “Of course you can keep it, ‘Lex.”
“Yeah, Princess Di is the best one, all she wants to do is sleep in your lap,” my mom chuckled. “When you get back, you can take her home with you, no big deal.”
Alex very carefully put Princess Di the Corgi on the floor and flung his arms around my neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jacky!” he almost yelled in my ear. His voice dropped and he whispered in my ear. “I’ll make sure to pay you back later.”
I shivered. That sounded like a very scary, very enticing promise.
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We had finally said goodbye to my parents, unglued a crying Owen from Alex’s leg, gotten back in the car, and driven about ten miles when I felt a weird tickling sensation crawling up my thigh. I glanced down and my breath hitched when I realized it was Alex’s fingers just barely touching the dark denim. My eyes followed the long forearm, up his shoulder, across the expanse of his throat and up to his deviant eyes.
“About that pay back…”