Episode 132: Serious Talks (Nim)

Somewhere, hopefully in one of the known realms and possibly really close by, an army of at least two people had Caden, Tsura, and Meldrey.

She was going to kill Soren for naming their hairy monkey man Meldrey. Someday. It was excruciatingly fitting..Meldrey Stingray.

Her Meldrey Stingray.

Tonight though, until at least scream o’clock, he was elsewhere with the twins. Being loved and fed and cared for by the amazing Yishti, her husband Hywalln, and probably someone else. Maybe just Yishti. It didn’t matter, because she trusted Yishti. She also trusted her mom’s staff.

She leaned into Soren’s arms, her heart pacing frantically as the invigoration of dancing filled her soul. “I missed this.”

“Being alive?” he held his palm between them and let his skin glow in the dark evening twilight. “I’m still in agony.”

His skins were gorgeous creamy with perfect lines Rhoda once read to him (because that’s a thing). All signs of carrying buckets of water had been erased from existence, as though he had never suffered at all.

Take that, Mr. It’s been a whole week.

She laughed anyway, and he hugged her tight in his arms. She let his forever-corn smell fill her being.

“You’re good at this mom thing,” he said.

She felt like she was excelling at being an exploding firecracker as it flew down a mountainside. Now that she could breathe though, she could kind of make out (in her imagination) the healthy growing bodies of her adorable babies.

They made really cute babies.

“Am I?” she asked. “You’re twice as good then.”

“My palms say differently,” he insisted.

She laughed against his chest. “I’m so happy we’re home.”

More than having the night off, because she didn’t need the night off, she had the people she loved most around her. She loved the Tsinganoi in ways, like that they had saved her son’s life and given her a second son (possibly they had it all lined up so if Caden did die, she would have Meldrey). She loved home like breathing. It kept her alive.

“I’m happy home has babysitters,” he teased. “Maybe we can sleep tonight.”

If Soren wasn’t a phenomenal father and dedicated and everything her dad had been for her, and more, she would have worried he was having trouble adjusting, in a maybe they shouldn’t have done this sort of way. Soren, as it turned out, was basically the best dad in the known realms and he did it all with enough complaints to make Nim not feel like a loser.

“You know what else we haven’t done in awhile?” she teased, because he deserved it, even if it had only been one week. The Tsinganoi had insisted she needed more time, but she had healed. It was a dragon perk, she supposed.

Soren looked up at the sky to slow his mind down. It didn’t work well, so he said, “Had pedicures. Ever. I hear Ach got a new place.”

Nim grinned and took his hand. “Let’s go. Pedicures” She started dragging him through the crowd. The man wanted to give up their night off to joke about pedicures, and she would give him the hottest pedicure ever.

Strip pedicures.

“I want pink,” Nim added.

Soren became the ball to her arm chain and she felt herself fall back into him. He caught her and wrapped her against him. “No way. You’ll have to talk him into one.”

His eyes got the glassy lovey look they often got and he ran his thumb across her cheek. Fire pooled beneath his trailing touch.

“We should sleep,” he said in that dreamy way that was 50% of why she had newborns.

“I want a pedicure,” she insisted. If he was going to joke about tormenting himself with useless activities instead of sex, he would get to enjoy the joke thoroughly.

Soren’s eyes darted across the dance floor, “Ach? Where is he?”

Nim held her smile and looked at him with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she had in her, “I want you.”

It would be so worth it for him.

“Manly men don’t get pedicures,” he insisted. Then his eyes met hers and his shoulders sank and he sighed, “Fine.”

She loved him. So entirely and completely and he wasn’t going to regret the pedicure ever. She led him to the new spa with a new level of excitement. This was for them.

She pushed through the door then turned and locked it. It was the most privacy they’d had in about a week.

The spa was all stone. The floor was beige with a river of grey stone that wove its way to a door. In the first area was a desk and products – nail polishes, bath salts, packages of mud and jars of other colors, tools for things. Through one door there were two reclining chairs with a water basin at the feet of each.

Through another set of doors, there was a bigger room with a large soaking tub.

“Want to try this tub thingy out first? It has weird stuff for it,” She said. Lots of smelly stuff filled the air with tangy and floral fumes.

Nim closed the drain and turned the water on. Then, she looked at the options and found something that smelled like the forest after a rainstorm. She brushed against him as she walked, and his hand grazed her side. He let her go, still, and she added the salts.

Then, she turned to look at him, her palms pressed against the side of the tub. He raised his eyebrows, somewhere between miserable and hopeful.

This was going to be good for her too. Her mind kept drifting but she would focus on him, and here. Maybe his mind was drifting and they were two fools for trying to be anyone but new parents.

“You’re making a mess,” he pointed out. “You know he’s going to kill you right?”

“Yup,” she replied, even though Ach would never kill her; spill his glass water on her pants, maybe. That could be avoided by not sitting next to him at a meal.

Nim shook her head at him then crossed the entire two steps that stood between them. “Naked yourself, Man,” she demanded.

Their bodies were inches apart, and his hands reached for her shirt. She took a step back and shook her head.

He laughed, and then found the hem of his shirt and pulled it off. Then, his pants, and finally she could see him.

She loved his body. When he was dressed, he looked wild like a jungle man or a Tsinganoi, but when he was undressed… all their hiking, dancing, and water hauling the past few months had made his body lean and fit. Not crazy bulging muscles fit, but soft and firm and toned and comfortable all at the same time. Call it a bond, but he was irresistible.

He stood across from her, his body hard and wanting. She reached for her own shirt, but he shook his head. “Not yet.”

He stepped around her and into the bath. He closed his eyes for a moment while the water eased at his back. She moved to the foot of the tub so he could see her better and removed her clothes, piece by piece. He kept his eyes closed until she cleared her throat.

Then, because he was Soren, he opened them and appraised her in the most obvious way: his jaw dropped a little, his eyes got all big, his pupils dilated, he no longer was covered in water, the tip of his longing cold in the air outside the bath. She could imagine the smell the pheromones leaking off his body.

“Try not to drown when you fall asleep,” he joked.

She sighed, her body full of jitters and desire. She laughed then got in the bath. “Will you always look like you’ve never seen a naked girl before, after it’s been a few days off?”

The bath was nice and big so her legs fell to his sides without feeling constricted. He wrapped his arms around her and cupped her behind.

“A few days? Weeks, Nim. Weeks.” He kissed her, and she moved against him. “I’ve never seen a naked girl,” he joked.

She hummed in amusement, kissed him, and pushed his head back toward the soft pillow on the edge of the basin so she could access his neck. Her lips fell in a trail, treasuring each moment as though it were the first time again. Actually, the first time had gone a lot faster than this. Then, she stopped and looked at him.

His whole body sighed in pent up frustration.

This is where egos were born, looking into the eyes of someone who wanted to devour you everyday, forever and ever.

“Has it been weeks?” she teased. She ran her hands down his chest, feeling every part of him from where their bodies met upward.

“More than one, anyway.” He kissed her now, too impatient to wait for her to resume. “It has to be you,” he moaned into her neck. “Not just any naked girl.”

She adjusted herself above him and slid down, slowly to draw it out. He filled her, in every way, and she hummed again. This felt good. Weeks, days… it didn’t matter, it was too long.

“I love you,” Nim said.

He arched his back so his hips could move against hers, so he was even deeper. “I bet I love you more right now. It hurts to breathe.”

He kissed her shoulder and her breasts. She moaned against him, his hands holding her hips to him. With each thrust she felt herself building toward bliss, wanting him, complete.

She took a deep breath and leaned back, despite every ounce of her wanting more. “Want me to give you more space to breath?”

“Hell no,” he replied. He pulled her back toward his lips and she moved her body with his.

She lost herself to him, to the way their bodies were perfect matches and the way he felt. She had missed it too. She was glad she healed faster than the Tsinganoi.

She missed them, just them. Somewhere between all the changes she was glad this place of love and each other still existed, even if she was tired.

When his body slowed and he held her close, her own body responded to his, and together they were held in a moment of perfect togetherness. After, she slipped to his side, held in his arms.

“I missed that, too,” she said.

His arms wrapped around her, so her head could be on his chest just above the water level. “Let’s just sleep here. We can’t drown.” He kissed her head, “I missed it, too.”

There was something about being with him that completed her. Not just for sex, but especially for sex. She just wanted him.

“We can sleep here,” she agreed. “It’s nice. Amazing.” She looked around the room. “Why don’t I get gifts like this.”

It may have been related to her asking for cameras and notebooks and backpacks and tents and basically everything as far from a spa as possible.

“I think your birthday present this year was me not getting killed by your dad,” Soren reminded her.

“Well there’s always next year. So how are you really? Daddy Soren.”

“About as good as Mommy Nim, I think, but I’ve gotten more sleep than you. Meldrey is easier.”

“Yeah, it’s okay. I love them. And Caden could be dead instead. I’d rather get no sleep than have no Caden.”

She’d rather never sleep again than lose him.

Soren agreed with a mumbled mmm. “Let’s stay here forever, with babysitters and sleep. Everything sleep.”

She agreed with that too, because despite wanting her kids more than sleep, she also wanted sleep and had the option.

She wasn’t going to be an idiot.

“As long as we don’t have more we’ll be good in a year.”

“We won’t,” he promised.

His promises were as worthless as his self control five minutes ago.

She turned and faced him, too relaxed from spa stuff to be stressed, yet. “Tea,” she stated.

“You’re breastfeeding,” he replied.

“So? my mom is always breastfeeding.”

“Tea.” He stood, and let his drippy body dry as he got out of the tub. “I bet Ach doesn’t keep any here.”

Nim reached for his hand and tugged a little. “Can we worry about it tomorrow?” The damage was done for the night, and really the odds were low because the babies were so young. Her mom had kids like two years apart, which gave her like a year. She could miss one night of tea.

He studied her face, then let all the wrinkles relax into passive agreement for the sake of staying naked. He’d have to get dressed soon, if she was going to show him their new apartment.

“Okay,” he agreed.

She’d definitely get tea tomorrow.

Nim kissed Soren, because kisses would never be enough to get tired of them. Plus, he had amazing lips for kissing. “I just don’t want you to go. What if the time it took was all the time we had left?” It was dumb, it was reckless, it was a strong intense concern.

He nestled her more against his body, “I’ll clean everything tomorrow.”

“I’ll help,” she insisted. He did so much work. She was feeling good, wanting to help.

Plus the sexnado had invovled a lot of air magic and water and the spa was in need of help.

“We should teach MD that cleaning is a game,” he suggested.

“I’m all for that,” she replied. Just, you know for normal messes, not sexnados. She let her eyes drift closed for a minute. Having twins was a big enough deal, even if it was normal for her family. Having three kids in a moment was huge and stressful. Even if Meldrey was the perfect kid. She should have had more time. She couldn’t turn him down, knowing her mom had an endless staff and knowing Soren was the most patient guy ever, except about sex.

Still, Meldrey would enhance their pictures, which really meant their lives. “I really love him,” she said. “As overwhelming as all this is.”

“Me too. He’s ours forever.”

“You’re mine forever.”

“Only cause you tricked me into drinking something at our wedding,” he teased.

She laughed, “Only cause you tricked me into the wedding.”

“Only cause you tricked me into sleeping with you.”

“Only cause you tricked me into bonding to you.”

He kissed her, and moved her on top of him again, his favorite position. “Only cause you tricked the world into letting you exist.”

She kissed him while she thought of some way to top his line, aside from the literal being on top of him.

She grinned, she would win. “Only cause they knew I needed to love you in person.”

She kissed him, “Only cause you can’t make it more two weeks without me, and maybe I can’t either.”

She kissed him and at some point he started to move her, so she was facing away from him. If all went well, they had plenty of time to cuddle after.

Her body moved and she watched him in the reflection of a mirror on the wall. He closed his eyes part way through, between the pleasure and exhaustion, but he moved harder against her.

She slumped across the foot of the tub, and he slumped beside her. “We should really sleep.”

“In a secret place,” she said. She wanted a bed and comfortable.

She got out of the tub and demanded her body move.

With a loud groan he got out and helped her. Her body started to buzz, the anticipation of what came next, their apartment, building.

She led him out of the spa and down a hall. “I have a surprise for you.”

He pulled on her arm and she moved closer to him, beside him instead of pulling his lumpy sleepiness along.

“You do?” he asked.

Her hand found the knob. “It’s finished.”

It was their old bedroom they had shared, but it had grown into a full apartment. A kitchen, living room, photography area, small library, and spare bedrooms had been added. She led him to the main nursery off of their room, that was powder blue with hot air balloons on the ceiling, furniture the color of the baskets for balloons with balloon canopies, and a rocking chair. There was also a chaise for sleeping or cuddling or whatever.

On the wall between the two cribs it said Fly away with me, to a place where love never ends. It was all homage to their hot air balloon wedding and their travels.

“Wowwww,” he said. He draped his arm around her shoulders. “Good, more rooms to sleep in.”

Nim took his fingers and wound them in hers. She led him through the nursery to their bedroom. She shut the door and then ran to their big bed and jumped on it. She figured, they travelled a ton and slept in a tiny space so when they were home they needed a big bed.

Nell had gone too far when she requested big, but with Meldrey and the tealess twins her dumb probably made that night, plus that dragon egg she had no idea about. It belonged to someone… maybe she was adopting again. Maybe she was insane. whatever the case, they’d need the giant bed.

Sure, the kids had their own rooms, but what was the point of having snuggly babies if you weren’t going to snuggle them. The distance that night was agonizing and refreshing

She flopped onto her back and breathed it in, “This is ours.”

“Our own bed, in our own house,” he replied.

She kissed him, “Home. For when we’re not exploring.”

He kissed her. “Home. For when we need babysitters.”

She kissed him again. “Home. Even though you’re my home…” her lips melted against his.

Guess they weren’t sleeping after all.

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