Chapter 14: A Good Match
MID JULY - DRIVEWAY - FRIDAY– 4:00 AM
EMMA’S POV
It’s 4:00am by the time I get home. I’ve been at the hospital for a week straight, living on nasty cheeseburgers and 3 hours of sleep a day. I’m done with nights now and this last week of doubles just earned me some much needed time off, and can I say thank the freaking Gods? I got another resident to cover my last few hours cause I’m seriously fried. In the beginning it felt good to throw myself into work and not worry about all those other minor details in my life. You know, like Richard lurking around, the end of the world, and of course, Sophia.
Gods, it’s been two months since I drove her to the airport. Just a short, yet lingering hug, then she was gone. We’ve both been inundated at work but have managed to make a couple of quick calls. It’s hard because she works days and I’ve been working nights. It seems every time I get a moment to myself, it’s some ungodly hour, like now. So we’ve been emailing a lot.
Taking a deep breath, I stand at the front gate and close my eyes. Concentrating on ‘seeing’ inside the house, I disarm the perimeter alarms. Once inside, I rearm it all and pad into the kitchen. Finding absolutely nothing of interest in the fridge, I grab a bottled water and head upstairs.
Changing for bed, I think how weird this is with her: it’s like we’ve known each other for years, but we’re getting to know a different side of each other now, little by little through our daily notes. I think it's because the written word lends itself to making you be more 'real' about who you are. You don't get caught up in the cadence of a voice, body language, clothing, that kinda thing. The words are all you have to express yourself so you choose them more carefully.
I can’t help but think about her all the time. It’s kinda weird “feeling” her so strongly but not physically seeing her. Faith said that’s how it is with her and Buffy. She said it was hard to deal with in the beginning, when the PtB first changed her. Cause while Buffy lost her connection to Faith, Faith’s actually increased because of being part Empath. Gods, feeling her so much freaks me out, but Faith said it gets easier with time.
Sighing, I crawl into bed and realize that in a way it helps that she’s in Chicago and I’m here. It kinda ensures that we’ll take it slow cause it doesn’t really give us a whole lot of chances to fuck it up. But, damn I miss her… I miss her a lot. Lately I’ve been feeling… I can’t say wrong, maybe ‘not right’ is better. Just been kinda sad and sorta empty for a while, I’ve really been gong through the motions since she left. This ‘feelings’ business is all new to me and not seeing her is getting me down. Grabbing my other pillow I hug it close to me then close my eyes. I fall asleep thinking: maybe baby steps are a good thing in the long run, but right now it really sucks.
*****
I’m walking through the vineyards on a clear day. The air is dry and warm, it’s a gorgeous day. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, it’s a different smell, it is so soothing, almost medicinal. A breeze blows through the air then I realize: eucalyptus, I don’t know how I know, I’ve never been around those types of trees, but I just do.
The sun feels warm on my face as I leisurely stroll through the rows of grapes just waiting to become some lovely wine. I kick the dirt and notice it’s bone dry, which is ideal because the grape loves to be mistreated. ‘And as Mother Nature abuses the vine, man is sure to perfect the wine.’ I laugh at the little rhyme my father used to say as I happen upon a trail leading upwards into the low rolling hills.
I start to think about my parents as I follow it to the top then turn back to see where I came from: the vineyards go on for miles, over the hills and through the valleys. I bow my head, it’s been so long since I thought of them, I can barely remember their faces, things we did together, it’s all just pieces now. But now no matter how long it’s been, when I think of ‘home’ it will always be in South Africa with them. I love Buffy, Faith and Nicky; and I know they love me very much, but sometimes I just long for my lost family, my lost life with them, my home.
Sighing in my new-found melancholy, I look up and am shocked to see her standing there, staring out over the mission below. She hears as I approach and turns to me.
“What are you doing here?” There’s a mixture of confusion and happiness on her face.
I take in the sight of her and shake my head, “I don’t know; I was just walking in the vineyard. It reminded me of home.”
Her eyes wash over me “I miss you,” she states plainly.
Smiling slowly, “I miss you too.” Stepping forward, I engulf her in a hug. Oh, the tingly feeling thing works here too, sweet. “Where are we?” I pull back and point to the mission and small city below.
Feeling her hand drop to my waist, Sophia guides me to the edge of the hill, “This is Soledad, California. It’s a little town between San Francisco and Los Angeles, about 150 miles north of Sunnydale. When we first came from Spain, we got lost and asked where ‘The evil ones live.’ The migrant workers in the fields sent us here, thinking we meant the state prison, we were such fools then.” She shakes her head and laughs.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” once again I look out over the town and surrounding vineyards, the sadness now gone as I stand by her side.
She nods, “It reminds me of Laguardía near Barcelona. You said you have something similar in South Africa?”
“Yes, Paarl, it’s just outside of Cape Town, all you need are the…” I pause because I can’t believe what I’m seeing, “peacocks…” I say slowly as I watch a flock walk among the rows. Wow, I had no idea they did that here in the states too.
Turning to me she tilts her head to the side, “So what brings you into my dream, Emma. I try to find peace when I dream of this place, and now… I find you.”
“I didn’t mean to bust in,” I look down a little self-conscious, “but I’m kinda glad I did.” Now I look back up and smile, “It’s really good to see you.” Slipping my hand in hers, I intertwine our fingers. “I guess I’m here because I was thinking about you before I fell asleep.”
She lightly rubs her thumb over the back of my hand, “Good thoughts I hope?”
“Yeah,” I gently squeeze, “good thoughts.”
“How you have grown, my child. I’m so very proud of you.” Holy shit, that voice, it can’t be. A chill runs through me as I look around only to see the hills and vineyards slowly melt away. We are now standing in a desert near a monolith. The sudden heat is oppressive. Through the distance I see a three-sided pyramid with stone benches surrounding it, wow, just like Nicky said. Sophia’s grip on my hand tightens as Ereshkigal begins to materialize in front of us.
“Um, hi, yeah, it’s been a while,” ok, that was intelligent. The three of us just stand there in silence until I notice the Goddess’s eyes travel from me, to Sophia, then our clasped hands, well this isn’t at all awkward, “This is Dr. Sophia Artiñano,” I take a shallow breath, “Sophia, this is my Grandmother... um, the Goddess Ereshkigal.”
Sophia nods at her then her vise-like grip loosens somewhat. Her eyes never leaving the Goddess, she asks evenly, “Where are we, Em?”
“You are on the plains of Nibiru, Slayer.” The Goddess walks towards us, openly inspecting Sophia then turns to me. Lightly running her hands over my hair then cupping my face, she smiles at me, “You have chosen well, my child,” again she looks to Sophia, narrowing her eyes contemplatively, “A Slayer as well as a healer, yes,” she nods, “yes, it is a good match.”
I’m having a mini-freak-out cause she’s never touched me before and it feels like, like my Dad, but also kinda like... well, death... but not in a bad way? Gods, does that even make sense? I’m wondering if Sophia can feel it too as our hands are still joined, then I realize what the Goddess just said. I swallow, loudly, as I raise my eyebrows, more than a little embarrassed, “A good match?” I squeak out. Holy crap!
“There is no time now, listen to me well: The gathering is near, use the tools of your time to break the ancient vow.” As her hands fall to my shoulders, she lightly caresses the new scar on my neck from the vampire’s bite. I can’t help but flinch. “Everything is connected Emma, your past, your future, all that has and will happen, has been foretold.” Looking at Sophia then me, she smiles, kisses my forehead then backs away from us, “The child will show the way.” Then she’s gone.
Sophia turns to face me, “What is that supposed to -”
*****
“It’s 6:31 this beautiful July morning in the greater Cleveland area. Now it’s time for traffic and weather on the one’s…”
I pick up my alarm clock and smash it on the floor where it immediately becomes a mess of plastic and metal bits. “Mother fucker!” I must have set the alarm for am not pm like an idiot. I sit up panting, trying to calm down after being ripped out of the dream in conjunction with a dimension jump? Shit, I don’t even know what it was. My cell phone rings. Scrambling to my jacket, I fish it out of my pocket and look at the screen: ‘Sophia – Mobile’ then flip it open.
“That really happened, right?” She asks, a little out of breath herself.
I laugh, a bit nervous, “Yeah.”
“Wow, Emma that was... no, I have no words.”
A jump can be overwhelming, especially when you’ve never done it before, “I know. You ok?”
“It was,” she sighs; I can almost see her searching for the words, “just a little freaky.”
I laugh again, “Yeah.” Uh huh, first I bust into your dream, then my grandmother the Goddess makes a special guest star appearance, whisks us through time and space to chat about us being a ‘good match’ and the end of the world. Sure it was ‘just a little freaky’; I shake my head, “Talk about understatements.” She really does sound ok though so that’s a relief. “I should go and wake up the troops. You know, let them know what’s happened. It sounds like we don’t have a ton of time left to figure this out.”
“Right, are you going to be home tonight so you can give me the scoop later?”
I nod, then realize the silence, ok freak, you’re on the phone, she can’t see you, “Oh, yeah, I’ll be here, I have 3 full days off after my 7 days on.”
“Good, I’ll call you tonight when I get home,” she pauses, “Em?”
“Yeah?” I’m actually a little scared. What’s she gonna ask? Is she freaked by the ‘good match’ comment? I mean, cause I am…
She laughs, no doubt hearing the trepidation in my voice, “That’s one really fucked up way to get the family blessing.”
Feeling like my face is going to break from my smile, I completely relax. “I’m sorry; she really has that whole omnipotent-Goddess-of-the-Underworld thing going on doesn’t she?”
“Hell, yeah,” she chuckles again, “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, bye.”
I hang up and take a deep breath, man, that was intense. Going straight to my desk, I write down everything the Goddess said then read it over. Yeah, ok, time to wake up Buffy and Faith.
KITCHEN – 8:05 AM
DAWN’S POV
Ok, I feel bad for Emma, she just had this intense Slayer dream with Sophia and here we are tearing it to pieces looking for clues. She’s sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands hovering over a cup of coffee while Andrew and Willow pour over her account of what happened. I put my hand over hers. “You ok?”
“Yeah, just really tired,” she smiles then looks up at Andrew and Will, “Would you guys mind if I go back to sleep, the two hours plus dimension jump really isn’t cutting it.”
Everyone stops talking and turns to her. Faith puts her hand on Em’s shoulder, “Go ahead, if we have any other questions we’ll wait until you get up.”
Once she left, we all go into my office and try once again to break down every single word the Goddess spoke. We try to stay away from the personal stuff. It’s gotta be hard enough for both of them to deal with their feelings right now. They really don’t need us pouring over things the Goddess said to Em, no doubt, that was on a completely personal note.
She is a trooper though, she wrote down ever word the Goddess said. She knows how important each word can be to help us figure out what Ereshkigal’s clues might mean. I’m just really hoping nothing she said about them has anything to do with the prophecy.
We knew the quiet wouldn’t last. I’m sure everyone is thinking it. Ever since Emma and Willow did the spell, we’ve been pretty much dealing with the small pockets of fallout from the kids losing their powers. Nothing very dramatic, since all their parents were all alerted it was going to happen. With over 5,000 kids being effected only about 10 were an issue that we had to spend the extra time on. For the most part it was behavioral, so Buffy and Kristen spent the last two months making trips out to see the girls who needed some extra attention in the transition. Hell, even Richard was keeping a low profile.
Shaking my head to myself, I can’t help but feel that this is it; the Goddess said it herself, “the gathering is near” Hmmm, the gathering is near... I get an idea then jump up to check out Minister Macgregor’s diaries.
EMMA’S ROOM – 11:18 AM
NICKY’S POV
So I’m walking past Emma’s room on the way to mine when I hear her call out. Running in, I see she’s sleeping and having a bad dream; it’s the dream when she got bitten. I go over to the bed and push my fingers through her hair, telling her it’s alright. She stills after a while then falls back to sleep. Not wanting to leave her alone, I slide in next to her and give her a big hug.
After a half hour or so, she starts mumbling. I’m thinking she’s gonna have another bad dream so I smooth her hair and tell her everything’s gonna be alright again.
She softy calls out, “Sophia?” then opens her eyes.
“No, it’s me, you were having bad dreams so I was giving you hugs,” I tell her, very proud I soothed her back to sleep.
She smiles then raises her head up on one hand, “Did you now?”
“Yes, you were tossing and turning and saying ‘please don’t’ so I brushed my hands through your hair and told you everything was going to be alright and then you went back to sleep.” I scoot up, rest against the headboard then fold my arms, very proud of myself.
Emma laughs now, “Goddess Nicky, did you even take a breath? I think you’re hanging out with Willow too much.” She flops back into the pillow and rests her arm over her eyes. I think now is a really good time to ask…
“Is Sophia your girlfriend now?”
She takes her arm from her eyes and looks at me as she rises, resting on her elbows, “Why do you think she’s my girlfriend?”
“Well, you just called out her name in your sleep and I remember Faith did that once, calling out Buffy’s name the same way. Then when you got hurt she never left your side, not even once, until she knew you were ok. And when you guys did the spell, she felt your power and called to make you were alright, so you guys have a mystic connection like Faith and Buffy. Then just before I heard the others talking about how the Goddess said you two were a ‘good match’.” I stop and think for a second while I catch my breath, “Those are all my reasons.”
She shakes her head and laughs again, “Nothing gets by you does it?”
“Faith says I have big ears,” I shrug, “Well, is she?”
She lays back down putting her hands behind her head, “I don’t know, we haven’t really talked about it.”
“Well, do you want her to be your girlfriend?” I ask not wanting to leave without an answer.
Em peers over to me, “Are you sure you’re 11?”
I nod then raise my eyebrows looking for a response. Wow, I can’t believe it, I think she’s really gonna tell me.
“Yeah,” she finally says after a while. Then she stares at the ceiling and nods, “I want her to be my girlfriend.”
I jump out of bed and start for the door, “Well, then you should tell her.” God, I think to myself, grown ups are so stupid sometimes.
DOWNTOWN CHICAGO – SOPHIA’S APARTMENT – 10:05 PM
SOPHIA’S POV
I’m exhausted, I couldn’t get back to sleep after that dream or whatever the hell it was, then the hospital was a nightmare today, then Emma was all weird on the phone earlier. I don’t understand it; Richard sent a note to Nicky? How the hell is he so involved in their lives? I’ve been going over all the Slayer updates from Dawn’s posts on SC-Global Bulletin Board, but it doesn’t go into a lot of detail:
- Richard Welch – Once again extremely dangerous – do not attempt to confront him without backup. He’s been in Cleveland area for at least 2 months now. His latest MO is sending pictures/notes from the past and giving them to Slayers. More head games to keep everyone off balance. I can’t stress enough – do not approach if you are on your own. Notify me immediately if you see him.
- Goddess Ereshkigal – Appeared in a Slayer dream, brought 2 Slayers to Nibiru. She left them with the task “use the tools of your time to break the ancient vow.” We are accepting any interpretations. Contact Andrew or me with any insights.
Yeah, like I said not a lot of detail. I sigh then hear the knock at the door. Now, it’s after 10 so I know this can’t be a good thing. Putting my laptop down I go to answer it. As I get nearer to the door I start to feel a lightness in my chest. No way, it couldn’t be... Opening the door I see her, leaning against the door jam. I’m speechless.
“Hey,” she breathes out slowly as she pushes off the jam. She looks like she hasn’t slept in a week.
Not really believing she’s here, I step back and watch her walk in. Turning to her, I finally find words, “Em, what are you - ” That’s all I get out as she strides forward taking me into her arms. Wow, and I thought this morning was intense. I close my eyes and breathe in: her shampoo, soap, deodorant, perfume, mixing with her body, all those things that make a person’s scent unique. Holding her close to me I feel her heart pounding against mine, tingles explode all over and then there are these little shocks on my back where her hands are pushing me into her.
“Goddess, I missed you so much, I - I just needed to see you, I - ” she lifts her head, eyes searching mine, then she’s kissing me. I’m expecting to be devoured by her intensity, but instead I’m awed by her gentleness. Her lips leisurely, almost lazily traverse over mine. My heart jumps as I feel her open her mouth; her tongue slowly tracing the outline of my lips, so very slowly feeling, tasting, exploring. Her hands slide up to my hair as I open my mouth to her, caressing her tongue with mine. I feel… no, I can’t even begin to describe what I feel. Hell, I don’t even realize she’s walking me backwards until I’m up against the door. As she continues to press her body into mine it slams shut.
Breaking away, panting, I lean my head back against the door; her head falls to my shoulder, “God Emma.” My eyes still closed; I’m lost in the feeling of her entire body against mine, her lips resting against my neck, her gasping breath so hot and wet on my skin, I can’t help but shudder.
“I know,” she kisses my neck then faces me as she shakes her head. She grudgingly takes a step back and looks down, “I didn’t mean to attack you as soon as you opened the door.”
Smiling, I lift her chin with my forefinger, “So the attacking was going to be for later then?”
“Maybe if you’re lucky,” she laughs a little then looks up at me, “I really just needed to see you.” She shakes her head again and sighs, “This morning was kinda freaky as you said. Then the day just got worse…”
“Come on, sit down,” I take her hand and lead her into the living room. After depositing her on the couch I ask, “Wine, beer, something stronger?”
“Wine’s good,” she puts her face in her hands and rubs her eyes, “I really hope you don’t mind me parachuting in on you. I just needed to talk to you, to see you; the phone wasn’t going to cut it this time.” She sits back as I open the bottle then pour two very healthy glasses of wine.
Grabbing the glasses with one hand and the bottle with the other, I place everything on the coffee table then face her. “Of course I don’t mind,” I squeeze her knee as I sit down next to her, “I missed you too, just like I told you this morning.” I laugh, “I just didn’t expect you to turn up at my door at 10pm on a Friday night.”
“I don’t want you to think I came here to… I mean there’s a hotel a few blocks away if you don’t want me to stay here...” Turning to me, she furrows her brow then takes a huge breath, “I’d never push you or try to force anything. That particular shot is yours to call,” she runs her hand down my back. “I just wanted; I needed to be close to you.”
Putting my fingers to her mouth, I finally stop her, “Shhh. Of course you can stay here and I wasn’t thinking that.” As I look at her, I realize she’s probably never given anyone that much power before. “We’ll see about everything else in its own time, ok?”
She nods, kisses my fingers then takes my hand from her lips. Intertwining it with hers, she looks up at me and smiles, “Feels better in the flesh, no”
“Yeah,” I smile then hand her a glass as I take the other, “Tell me what happened today. Dawn’s posts are skimpy and you were just plain weird on the phone before.”
She drains half the glass, “Maybe I should have asked for something stronger.”
“I can get - ” I make a move to stand.
Emma pulls me into her, “No, it’s fine; I kinda want my wits about me.” She leans her head back on the couch then begins: “It actually started out as a pretty cool day; I shared your dream, which was very nice,” she smiles, “Even seeing Ereshkigal wasn’t awful, she is my grandmother after all. And, hey, she did give us her ‘blessing’,” she laughs. “Then the Scooby’s got together and I told them everything that happened,” she lowers her head, “Soph, I told them everything she said, I had to, it might be important.”
“It’s ok, Em, I understand,” I squeeze her hand, “go on.” There is no reason for us to be this comfortable together, considering we haven’t seen each other in months, but I’m thanking the Gods we are.
She finishes her wine and with a grin refills both of our glasses. “So then I went back to sleep cause I think I got 10 hours this entire week. The next thing I know I wake up lying next to Nicky who’s smoothing my hair telling me everything gonna be alright. That kid, God, I love that kid.” She shakes her head then continues, “So we’re talking and you know what she said?” She doesn’t even wait for me to guess. “Yeah, you’ll never guess what she said; she asked if you were my girlfriend.”
“What?” Ok I’m totally shocked; an 11 year old picked up on us? The rest of the crew seeing it I get, but Nicky? Then I think for a second, intrigued, “What did you say?”
She smiles, “I said we haven’t talked about it yet. But then she asked if I wanted you to be my girlfriend.”
“And you said…” Jesus Christ, do I really want to know the answer to that? Yeah, there are feelings here and we’re sharing some amazing Slayer connection thingie but she said it herself, she just doesn’t do relationships, and I really don’t think I can be casual about this so…
Emma puts her glass down and fully turns to me, “I said yes.” I sit there; stunned as she runs her fingers over my hands and smiles. “Then she said I needed to tell you.” She takes my glass and puts it on the table. Looking directly into my eyes she says evenly, “I want you to be my girl, Sophia,” she takes a huge breath as she moves closer and once again, I fall into her orbit, leaning in to meet her. “I want you to always be my girl,” she whispers just before we share another heart stopping kiss. Then, slowly pulling away, she traces down the side of my face with the back of her hand, “I know this is all very new and overwhelming, so I don’t want you to say anything yet, just promise me you’ll think about, ok?”
I open my mouth to speak, but she quickly covers it with a kiss. Pulling back again, she gives me an intense stare; it’s as if the brown of her eyes has melted into the black of her pupils. I am so consumed by her smoldering look, I just nod.
She smiles then continues, “So Nicky had her dramatic moment then left me alone to fester about everything she said. The rest of the day was pretty slow, I hung with Dawn and Andrew combing over everything the Goddess said. Then right before dinner, Nicky came running in from the backyard saying a strange man gave her a picture of her and her parents in Sanal. Of course he was gone when we went to check it out. Andrew was pissed cause he had no idea how someone could get past his sensors.” She sighs and turns to me, “It was actually a really good picture of them. They were sitting in their camp just hanging out, laughing. His writing was on the back of it saying:
My Dear Nicky,
Your parents died to protect you. Do you think Buffy & Faith will as well?
Until we meet again,
Richard
Nicky was all kinds of freaked out. She wouldn’t leave Buffy and Faith’s side at all. I’ll bet you anything she sleeping with them tonight. The poor thing was really fucked up. I tried to be there for her, you know, like she was for me, but she needed them. She needed parents not a sister.” She bows her head and takes a deep breath, “Then I found this on the back porch,” She reaches into her back pocket and hands me a picture of a couple with a small child on the beach.
Holy shit, it must be Emma and her parents. Turning it over, I see the sprawling 15th Century handwriting:
My Darling Emma,
The smell of your blood haunts me still. Soon I will be the one to taste you.
Until we meet again,
Richard
Pretty much blown away, I hand it back to her, “Jesus Christ, Em.”
She stares at the photo for a while, “You know it’s kind of bittersweet,” she shakes her head, “I never had a picture of my parents, everything was destroyed when the Coven…” she trails off, in her own world for a moment, then she looks up at me, “In the dream, this morning, before I saw you, I was thinking about them and how I was beginning to forget what they looked like.” Looking down again, she traces their outlines.
Watching her, I see she’s barely keeping it together, “Hey,” I rub her back until she turns to me. “Look, I have to go to the hospital tomorrow morning, but I get out early in the afternoon, then I’m off all Sunday and Monday. When do you have to be back?”
“Monday, I go back to days on Tuesday morning,” Gods, I’ve never seen her so… beaten, not even after that vamp bit her.
Taking her hand, I formulate a plan, “Stay until Monday, that way you can have the whole weekend away from everything. I’ll show you my town. What do you say?”
“You sure?” She looks up at me, “I mean I don’t want to be a pain in your ass. I figured we’d just talk then I’d leave in the morning.” She looks down at our joined hands.
Tilting my head, all kinds of confused now, I furrow my brow, “Do you want to leave tomorrow morning?”
“No,” she’s still staring at our hands.
I gently squeeze and she looks up at me, “Then stay.”
“Ok,” she says slowly then nods. “I um, kinda need to call the house though, I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here.” Taking in my widening eyes, she continues quickly, “It wasn’t like I planned it or anything. I hung up with you then threw some stuff in a bag, got in my car and drove to the airport. I even forgot my cell.” She laughs, “I just ran to catch the last flight here. I never thought I was actually going to make it.”
Dropping her hand, I get up and grab my phone, “Have you lost you mind? They’re probably crazy worried about you!” I shake my head as I hand her the phone, “It’s speed dial 2.” She sheepishly makes the call. While she’s talking to Faith, I clean up our glasses and my long forgotten late dinner.
By the time I’m finished, she’s already hung up with Faith. She’s resting her head on the back of the couch, eyes closed. I take a deep breath then pick up her backpack and bring it into my bedroom. Coming back into the living room I see she still hasn’t moved a muscle. “Hey.” I whisper as I run my hand through her hair.
She leans into my hand as she groans, “Mmmm.”
“Come on sleepy,” I gently take her hand, “time to get changed and go to bed.”
Slowly her eyes open and a small smile comes to her lips, “K,” she lets me pull her up and we walk to my room. Grabbing her backpack she wanders into the washroom, “I’ll be out in a sec.”
When she comes back in, I look up and realize again just how incredibly tired she looks. I shake my head and get up, “Go get comfortable, I’ll be back in a minute.” When I do, she’s in the middle of the bed straining to stay awake.
“I didn’t know what side you sleep on,” she murmurs groggily, her exhaustion complete.
Moving to the left side, near the alarm, I slide into bed as she makes room for me. Total and complete awkwardness descends on us for a moment, then with a deep breath, I shake it off, “Just come here,” and I open my arms. She smiles as she scoots over, laying her head on my shoulder and wrapping an arm around my waist.
“This is nice,” she murmurs into my neck with a contented sigh.
I close my eyes as that hum travels between us, “Yeah, it is,” kissing the top of her head, “Get some sleep.”
“K, goodnight,” she hugs me tightly then I feel her entire body relax against mine.
Reaching over, I turn out the light then lean back against the pillow. I gently rub her back until I feel her breathing slow to shallow, even, breaths, “Sleep well, Em,” I whisper. She mumbles incoherently then snuggles in closer to me. Sighing, I wonder, God is this really happening? Has it ever felt this good? Has anything ever felt this indescribably right? Has anyone ever made me just feel like she makes me feel? As I rub my chin along the top of her head, I lose myself in the pure sensation of just holding her in my arms. Knowing the answers to my silent questions, I whisper again, “Nothing would make me happier than to be your girl, Emma.” Kissing her forehead again, I close my eyes and join her in some much needed sleep.
