Kiss Me Tenderly

The first thing I did the next morning was smile. I didn’t open my eyes or anything, I just smiled into Alex’s hair. We were both naked, tangled in the sheets after having fallen into bed for some very sweet love making which was what we did to while the long hours of the night away. Everything was perfect.
When I finally opened my eyes, the entire room was darker than it had been the last few mornings and I blinked the sleep out of my eyes. The sliver of sky that peeked through the curtains was overcast, the sound of rain gently tapping the pavement outside rather comforting. Alex’s head was still laid heavy on my chest, fingers tangled in mine as he slept. My lips curled up in a smile as I watched the man I loved slumber, gently turning his hand slightly from side to side, the twisting diamonds on his engagement ring catching the light.
“Jack, move my hand anymore and I’m going to get up and punch you in the face.” Alex’s muffled declaration made me laugh, the soft shocks shaking Alex a little more awake. His chin dug into my chest as he blew hair out of his face.
“It’s raining,” he said simply, squeezing my fingertips. I nod. “It’s Sunday. You know what the best part about Sunday is?”
“No, what is it?” My hand brushes through his nappy morning hair, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Alex scrunched up his face and attempted, in the most horrid British accent he could muster, to say, “No post on Sundays!”
I practically choked on my own spit.
“Goddamnit, Alex, you’re going to be the death of me,” I wheezed, feeling Alex laugh into my chest.
“Don’t swear, there are children in the house,” he chastised. My cheeks hurt from grinning but that didn’t stop me from pulling my fiance up to meet my lips, our kissing slow and steady.
We broke apart, Alex’s cheeks pink and I couldn’t help but smooth one last kiss on his lips.
“’Love you,” I whispered, the joy of being able to say that to the man who would one day be my husband spreading through my chest. Alex’s eyes crinkled up at the corners.
“I love you too, Jacky.”
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“You’re so whipped, baby,” Alex breathed into my ear, arms sliding around my waist as we stand in the kitchen.
“I know..” I muttered, flipping the French Toast the kids had demanded for Sunday breakfast, the nutty smell of wheat bread soaked in eggs and milk filling the air. Alex just laughed and continued to hold me as he watched me cook over my shoulder. The yellow squares were deftly tossed onto a plate, cut into triangles, sprinkled with a few thawed frozen strawberries and sprinkled sugar as I clicked the stove off.
Alex looked at me strangely. “I can’t eat all that,” he blurted out.
“Then we’ll share, silly boy.” I dotted a kiss to his nose, a gentle smile, before moving to put dishes in the sink.
Once I had returned to the table, the kids had already turned themselves into sticky messes, grinning and shouting their thanks (when prompted by Alex) for making breakfast. Alex crawled into my lap, cut off a corner of the French Toast, swirling it in the syrup, and demanded that I eat. My heart ached with happiness at his adorable antics, taking the bite of French Toast off the fork and chewing, content with just holding Alex in my lap.
We finished the delicious sugary treats without too much of a mess, just a syrup spill here, a strawberry on the ground there. What? They were five year olds, they weren’t perfect. Speaking of five year olds, Owen’s birthday was coming up. Hm. Maybe we should throw a party for him?
“Hey, Owen, when’s your birthday, buddy?” I asked him, my fingers still locked together around Alex’s waist.
The blonde boy peered at me owlishly over the rim of his blue cup before setting it down carefully.
“June eighteenth, right Dad?” he looked to Alex for approval.
“Silly, it’s your birthday,” he teased and Owen flushed slightly. “But yes, you’re right, O.”
“What do you want to do for it? Do you want a birthday party?”
His eyes lightened. “Yeah! Can it be about dinosaurs?” He and the eavesdropping twins wriggled in their chair with excitement, like we had already planned the entire party.
Alex chuckled. “Sure, whatever you want, kiddo. It’s your birthday.”
“Now go get changed, since we can’t go the park and the library like we wanted to today, we’re going to the aquarium instead. ‘Kay?” The kids scrambled out of their seats, yelling with excitement.
“Are we really going to the aquarium?” Alex whispered, kissing me deeply, his tongue tasting of sugary sweet. I kissed back, making it short and sweet before answering. “Yeah, why, don’t you want to go?”
“Oh, Jacky,” Alex’s laugh was low and husky, unintentionally seductive but it made my throat and my sweats tighten anyways. “I’m always ready to go where you go.”
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Alex’s thumb rubbed over my knuckles as we drove home. The kids were knocked out in the back, oblivious to the soft sound of swishing rain, the low hum of the radio. After a long day at the aquarium, touching everything there was to touch, pressing little noses against the tanks of pythons with their little ‘puppy mouths’, as the twins so generously christened them, we had all trooped to the nearest family oriented restaurant, a little small town Italian restaurant, tucked behind a big name pizza company and an office building. The entire car smelt of basil and tomatoes and with Alex by my side, I couldn’t be happier.
His smile lit up the entire front seat of the car and for the millionth time since I met him, my heart melted in my chest.
Yeah, I could definitely get used to this.
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“Tea?”
I grinned and accepted the mug Alex offered to me. He settled himself onto the porch swing and I tugged the woolen blanket over his lap too, snuggling close. The rain fell steadily all around us, dripping from the eaves, the woody, earthy smell rising up from the ground. It was a comfortable night, the rain light, the air almost warm and Alex sighed, steam swirling up out of his mug.
“It’s raining,” he stated.
I nudged him teasingly. “I can see that for myself, Lexy.”
“But it’s June,” he whined. “It’s supposed to be warm and sunny, not rainy!”
“Alex,” I began.
“What?”
“Just shut up and enjoy the rain.”
It was silent for a few seconds before he spoke up again.
“So, like, what are we going to do about the wedding?”
My head cocked to the side and I looked over at him, curiously. “What do you mean?”
“Like, what are we going to do? Are we going to do a traditional church thing? What color are our tuxes going to be? What color flowers? Cake, what about cake? Who are we going to invite? Who’s going to sit next to who? How many bottles of Skyy vodka are going to be at each table? What if-“ Alex’s tirade was stopped by my lips sealing over his.
I kissed him reassuringly, sweetly, trying to calm him down. When we pulled apart, he looked kind of dazed. And scared. And this endeared him to me greatly.
“Hey, hey, no worries,” my voice was quiet, my hand making it up to his cheek, caressing it and he leaned into the touch, smiling. “Don’t worry about it, okay?” I took his left hand, raising it to my lips, kissing his knuckles.
“We’ve got all the time in the world.”