APRIL 2004

Hermanas,

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.  Not sure about all of you, but the idea of new life and rebirth seems particularly poignant to me this year.  Can't really put it any better than that.  Not even going to try.   

Abrazos,
Dino

 

DECEMBER 2003

Looking back, I can't believe how much we fit into such a short amount of time.  I had my first doctor's appointment.  We got to see our little baby.  Hear the heartbeat.  Lachlan was fascinated, both by the little person we made and by the technology that made saying hello possible.  He was adorable.  Not only did he stop and get a frame for the ultrasound photo on the way home from the doctor's office- but he had them print out a second one just for himself that he tucked into his wallet with a bashful look and a great big smile.  It didn't look like much more than a fuzzy gray and black circle, but to us, it was the most beautiful thing we'd ever seen.   

We'd spent a quiet Thanksgiving together.  Lach's first with all the trimmings, turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie with whip cream.  Typical man- he said he could get behind any holiday where tradition involved lots of food, sports on TV and whip cream brought up to bed after we'd settled in for the night. 

The first thing he did was squirt a smiley face on my belly.  I told him he was corrupting our child.  He giggled and countered that he was simply instructing his boy.  So what if it's a girl, I asked him.  He just got this little smile and said he was teaching her an appreciation for sweet things.  Man, does he have a smart answer for everything, or what?  I don't know about our little baby, but this girl most definitely appreciated both Lach's tutoring and his sweet little lessons.

We stole those quiet little moments where we could.  Talked often with Terry and Uma.  It was a difficult time for them both in the wake of what they'd both revealed about their pasts and it was an emotional time for all of us.  It was a happy time, too.  We were looking forward to Terry's birthday party, getting to see each other for the first time since we'd come back through our portals with little passengers.  I was looking forward to seeing the family, too.  All of us, we'd talked a lot about maybe this being the right time to tell everyone.  Most of the family would be there.  We'd be able to make an announcement together. 

I think we were all still a little apprehensive, too.  Unsure how our news would be met.  All of us knew this little pond of ours was too small for one couple's ripples not to touch the others.  We made plans.  We made backup plans.  I asked Bud if he'd meet me for lunch somewhere in London and invited Maximus to visit after Christmas.  I know Lachlan made similar plans of his own, though he was a little tetchy with me when I asked him about it.  Still, we both had people we wanted to tell even if we didn't wind up making a formal announcement. 

I was still tired all the time but the nausea was getting better.  I still hadn't gained any weight but by the time we were packing for Terry's party, I actually had a little bump.  Easy enough to disguise by dressing carefully, but my pants were getting tight.  First time for me I was ever actually excited by that.  Lachlan was absolutely over the moon.  He couldn't keep his hands off it or me.  I was actually pretty happy about that.  I worried that maybe he'd think I was too clingy.  I wanted to be held a lot.  To feel his arms around me as often as I could.  It was like we were slowly finding this different, softer rhythm with each other. 

I was nervous about seeing Terry again, but I did enjoy the flight over.  I love seeing the family and it was so much fun getting to see the Brothers and Sisters and having time to just sit and chat and flirt.  Dino was shameless, naturally.  Not only does he love razzing his Brothers, he's a terrible flirt.  God, he makes me laugh. 

I sat next to him the majority of the flight.  Teased him a little about the fantasy he'd shared with me.  He called me out of the blue one night a few weeks before the party to see how I was.  We don't talk often but when I hear his voice it's like the world slows, time slows and we're just able to set everything aside and just enjoy what we are to each other without jokes or games or smooth talk.  Occasionally those little calls we shared from time to time would take an erotic turn.  I can't really explain why Dino and I were so comfortable with intimacy and the baby.  I don't really understand it.  But we were.  And I enjoyed all our conversations, from the soft sweet ones to the ones that made me sweat.

He made me sweat that night.  Shared with me this little fantasy he had about having it off in the plane's lav.  No talking.  Just touching, fucking, and one very naughty pinch.  God, I love his quirky humor.  I also love knowing that there are some nights when he's far away where he thinks of me.  Where his bed isn't cold and lonely because I'm there in his erotic dreamscape, keeping him safe and warm. 

It amused us both that we'd shared that little fantasy, crawled into each other's heads and shared a secret or two... and yet I think we were probably the only ones on the entire flight (besides the pilots!)  who didn't get down and dirty in the lav.  The two of us, we were quite shameless.  Making bets on which ones were going to disappear with each other and how long it would be before they came back and hit the seats, sweaty and flushed. 

It was like the grownup version of Clue.... Professor Skin in the lav with the candlestick...?  I nearly wet myself when Dino snickered and said, "Candlestick?  Get real, honey.  Lead pipe, all the way, baby...."  I got him back, though, when Jeff and Paul disappeared.  Not just one lead pipe, but two!  He groaned.  I giggled and made him pay up.  And by far, the best entertainment on the entire flight was listening to the comments as they made their way back to their seats.

Bud to Hando:  Quit lookin' at my woman, shitbird. 

Bud to Carol:  Hey, doll?  Got any good scotch back there?

Hando to Bud:  Get fucked, mate.

Bud (under his breath):  Already did.  Ooooffffff!  (as he got elbowed in the ribs)

Later

Tina to herself:  Where's my damn Chapstick?

Hando to Carol:  Oi!  Get me a beer and then piss off, love.

Later still

Paul to Jeff:  God, I hope nobody noticed us, mate. 

Carol to Jeff:  Can I get you something?

Jeff to Carol:  Oxygen.

That one cost me.  Dino's such a shark.  Even later, just when you thought it was safe to get in the water...

Hando to Dino (on the sly as he made his way back to his seat after tossing a fifty into Dino's lap):  That's for the next one, mate.  I'm not done yet.

We really did have so much fun, Dino and I.  He let me sleep on his shoulder for a while.  Held my hand, too.  Something I never would have done in front of Lach if we'd actually made that fantasy of Dino's a reality.  We did take our turn in the lav as well... but not for the reason you all might think.  He whispered in my ear that he couldn't wait the whole eleven hours to give me a hello kiss and feel my new little bump.  You know, sometimes he isn't smooth; he's just honest.  It was sweet and a little silly.  He gave me a hug and pulled me down in his knee.  We shared a few private words and you know?  He managed to get his naughty little pinch in after all, the sneak.  But then again... so did I.  Heh.

My silly mood had evaporated by the time we got to Terry and Uma's.  I was weepy and emotional; overwhelmed by the events surrounding the revelations about Terry's past.... Lach and I were both worried about Uma.  She rarely opens up about her past- and this time there had been no smoke, no red herrings, no mirrors... and surprisingly, not many ripples in the pond afterwards.  Lach was dying to clap Terry on the back and to grab up his Betty and swing her round.  You all know what a difficult time I had that night, facing Terry for the first time since he spoke about his past.  To say it was an emotional night for all of us would be putting it mildly. 

The days we spent in London were both better and worse than I'd expected.  I enjoyed watching everyone socialize.  Enjoyed my trip to Dino's apartment and my late night gabfests with Tina while our men were off doing God knows what.  There were some interesting tensions between a few of the Brothers and Sisters that I hadn't noticed before but no one thing that I could really put my finger on. 

Several people acknowledged Terry's revelations but nobody mentioned Uma's directly, which I thought strange.  I suppose it could have been because they were afraid of making her uneasy but it still seemed odd.  But as usual when the family gathers, concerns seemed to slip away as we all talked and laughed and kicked up our heels together.      

Before I knew it, it was Terry's birthday and I still hadn't managed to get a single minute alone, out of earshot of the others, to talk with him- much less give him his present.  I felt a little odd about approaching him.  Not just because of the things he'd revealed about his past or because of the baby, but because I'd noticed a few stray disapproving glances watching closely whenever I went near Terry.  This family of ours is so astute.  They noticed the shift in our relationship, and to be fair, with Lach and Uma, too... but it wasn't for the reason they probably imagined it was. 

Part of me wanted to stand up and shout that I wasn't moving in on another woman's man.  It was simply that besides Lach, he was the only other Brother I felt completely safe with.  Hando would always have that unpredictable streak and Dino was.... well, he'd always been dangerous.... and the rest of them didn't even know about the baby yet.  And I realize, in hindsight, a lot of the things I alluded to but never explained only added to the confusion. 

So, for the sake of the truth and with as much grace as I can muster, let me share with you one of those moments.  I wrote this about that moment in Uma's winter garden when I finally spied Terry alone and managed to steal a few precious minutes with him: 

 

        

It wasn't secrets or forbidden love we were sharing that afternoon in the garden.  He put his hands in my coat to feel the soft little swell of my belly for the very first time and told me I looked beautiful before giving me a soft kiss and asking after the both of us.  I asked after them too.  I'd felt guilty for abandoning Uma to brave the evils of her kitchen and I also wanted to just make sure she was OK.  I knew having the family descend on her on the heels of her announcing she used to work in the sex trade couldn't have been easy for her.  Him either. 

I shouldn't have worried.  Terry would never let anything bad happen to her.  Not while he's still got breath in his body.  I gave him my gift.  We talked a little after.  He was a strange blend of happy and melancholy.  Emotional over the cards and letters he'd received from home.  Excited about the party.  Watchful as ever over Uma and I.  Concerned about how the family might receive our news. 

I asked him about it.  He shook his head and looked away.  Admitted he still hadn't been able to tell the one person he knew he needed to tell before it was announced to the family.  I understood.  The night was young, though.  There's always hope, right?

By the time the montage of pictures from Terry's childhood and youth was revealed, I was no longer feeling quite so hopeful that tonight would be our night.  The vibe changed a little after that, from happy and funny and light to these moments of thoughtful contemplation as what we were all seeing really sunk in.  It stirred up so much.  Images of what our own men might have looked like at that age.  Notions of family and love.  For me, they were especially poignant.  They might as well have been of Lach.  I looked closely at them, wondering if the little life I carried inside me would look anything like the baby in the pictures.

There was concern, too.  Contact with Terry's family.  You could see it in their faces.  What would this mean for me?  What about my man?  What about his family?  What repercussions might this one unilateral action have?  But the drinks flowed.  The music thumped.  We ate cake and danced and suddenly everything seemed to be looking up again.  I wondered if maybe my crazy pregnancy hormones hadn't manufactured the entire thing.  I could break into tears over adds for programs on the History Channel.  My judgment was hardly sound.  I wondered if maybe this wasn't going to be our night after all....

And then Max arrived.  

I can only imagine what kind of tailspin that threw Uma into.  Then Max and Dino had words.  Then Dino and Terry had words.  A while later I heard that Terry'd had words with someone in the wine cellar.  My, how gossip travels fast in this family.  The evening had so many high points for me.  Dancing with the people I loved.  Getting to see Terry basking in the love of his family.  Getting to be a part of it.  And yet, it had some rough moments, too. 

For me, the worst was finding Lach smoking outside.  He was angry and hurt.  I didn't know why at the time.  I just knew he was upset and I wanted nothing more than to wrap him up and take him back to the peace and quiet of our room. 

The night was a rousing success, but I felt sad when it was over.  Another chance to tell them all about our greatest joy had slipped away. 

 

~ * ~

 

The next morning, I felt better.  Funny how a good sleep and an even better morning root from your man can make everything seem so much brighter.  So, we'd missed our chance... but we had our plans and our back up plans... and there was always the party at the Temple on New Years.  Just a few weeks away.  We'd be a little over the three month mark by then.  Isn't that usually when people start making the news public?  And what better time than the start of the new year to share our joy about the new lives who would be joining our family. 

Suddenly, everything didn't seem quite as bleak as it had last night.  Lach and I took a long shower together.  No sex, just washing each other and talking.  Stealing kisses and I will admit to a bit of fondling.  What is it about soapy male genitalia that just makes a girl want to touch and squeeze?  Lach reckoned he'd never been so squeaky clean in his life.  We laughed and touched.  Teasing each other while we got ready for our dates.  He was meeting a Sister for lunch.  Hoped to share the news with her.  I was meeting Bud for lunch across town.

I couldn't help but tease Lach.  He shaved so carefully.  Fussed with his hair.  Fussed with his tie.  He was dressed so smartly.  He teased me too.  Tutted as I primped and perfumed and took forever with my makeup.  He was shameless.  Told me it didn't matter.  That he liked me better without makeup... and then when I went all soft he grinned cheekily and said that I'd probably just ruin it all by honking up my guts at the wrong moment anyway. 

I threw my hairbrush at him.  He caught it without even looking, swung me around, pushed his hand up under my top and fondled my belly as he gave me a kiss.  "I love you to bits, you know?"  God, he is the sweetest man alive, or what?

I sighed and hugged him tight.  "Ever and always, Lach."

"Ever and always, Blue."  He kissed the tip of my nose.  "You going to be OK, love?  Lunch?"  

I nodded.  I was nervous but excited too.  "I'll be fine."

He gave me a squeeze.  "You sure you don't need me to-"    

I stole back my hairbrush, smacked his butt with the flat of it and pushed him out the door.  "Go!  Flirt!  Paint yourself purple and do cartwheels on the front lawn, I don't care!  Just get out of my hair before I put this brush where the sun don't shine, flyboy."

He smirked.  "Tease me like that and I might never leave, gorgeous."  He waggled his eyebrows.  I slammed the door in his face and smiled as I heard his rich warm laughter all the way down the hall.

 

~ * ~

 

That night, as we lay in bed together, I burrowed under his arm and rested my head on his chest, teasing my fingertips softly over his warm skin.  "So, how'd today go, Lach?  You tell her?" 

I felt him nod.  "Yeah.  It's apples, love.  How about you?  Am I going to have a crazed cop beating down my door?" 

We both laughed.  Both of us know Bud wouldn't ever do that.  He already has a propensity to put women on pedestals.  When I told him about the baby he just went all soft.  But Bud is Bud.  I am just beginning to get to know him.  We've been lovers.  And I think, maybe, we might be starting to be friends, too.

Lach wasn't done playing, however.  He affected his best Bud accent.  "LAPD, shitbird... come out with your hands up!"

I giggled and in a rush of covers and a tangle of arms and legs, I pushed him to his back and sat on his chest.  He let me pin his hands.  I gave him a pointed look.  "It wasn't your hands that got you into this mess, flyboy."  I felt his chest rumble with laugher under my backside.  I affected my best Bud accent, which sadly wasn't anywhere near as good as Lach's.  "LAPD, shitbird... come out with your dick up!"

He snickered and wiggled under me.  "You know... somehow... I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"Shhhh!"  I left little kisses up his neck.  "Keep your voice down!  The last thing we need is Hando interrupting our little playtime by pounding on our door and shouting: 'Jesus!  Arrest each other or fuck already!  M'tryin' to sleep here!'"

Lach groaned.  I giggled.  His eyebrows lifted and his cheeky smile got bigger.  "So, officer... you going to go easy on me... with it being my first offense and all...?"

I laughed and blew a raspberry in his armpit.  "I don't think so, paisano.... gonna work you over good...."  We were being silly but the soft way we touched belied our teasing words.  "Gonna take you downtown."  He slipped inside me so gently, and suddenly, I didn't have the heart for more games.  I just kissed him and then pulled back to whisper against his lips, "Just love me, Lach."

"Ever and always."  And just like that, the game faded away, leaving just a man and his woman making love with their little baby cradled between them.

 

~ * ~

 

Terry and I did have our afternoon together a few days later.  Lach was flying the first group of family home.  I was downtown in a hotel with Terry.  What a long way we'd come since Manila.  This time there were no pearls, no interruptions, no misunderstandings and no sex.  We talked as intimately as we ever do- about our lives, about the babies... about sex, too. 

He shared a fantasy with me.  I didn't realize until after that it had been a birth fantasy.  Fitting for that moment, wouldn't you say?  He was healthy and happy and very much in love.  His joy leaked from him.  Colored everything he did and said.  It wasn't the stuff of heavy breathing or rough groping hands.  He was reclined on the couch.  I sat in his lap.  He rubbed my belly and we shared a bowl of sliced apples while we talked.  I was hungry and it was the only thing on the hotel menu that hadn't turned me green. 

We talked easily, both about lovemaking in fantasy and in reality, too.  Not because I ever expected it to happen.  Mostly, I was just curious.  He was too, I think.  Not enough to risk exploring it physically, but words were safe enough.  I was curious what intimacies he might allow between us.  I wondered if Lach would allow Uma those same intimacies. 

Lach would have been furious if I'd allowed anyone sexual intimacy with my body while our child grew inside me.  Terry told me he felt the same way about Uma.  And yet, we could sit and have a conversation about sexual intimacy with each other.  What did that mean?  Was I a whore for thinking it?  For wondering?  No other man, not even Dino, had touched me in that way since I'd become pregnant.  I had shared intimacy but not sexual intimacy.  You know, cuddling, bathing, sleeping- but not sex. 

Did it make me less virtuous of a woman than Uma?  Was I the only one entertaining these thoughts?  Terry entertained them with me.  Why was it OK for me but not for his own woman?  And why didn't it feel wrong?  The thought of Terry touching me made me feel loved and cherished not dirty. 

Had what we'd done by making these little babies disturbed the delicate threads too much in this strange World of ours?  The pattern was intricate enough already.  I'm not even really sure how love and sex and affection with multiple partners worked the way that it did without everything imploding.  I couldn't help but wonder what the babies would do to the fabric of this World. 

All of us, no matter how glib, had already felt the strain.  Lachlan and I had fought about it.  How dare he dictate to me what was acceptable with my body?  I didn't tell him where he could and couldn't put his.  Didn't he understand I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt what we'd made together?  Not just our baby, but our relationship as well? 

What did it mean for the future?  Lachlan's a man.  He might be a part of this Game but he loved that he didn't have to share his woman anymore.  He didn't even hide his satisfaction in that little detail.  I couldn't help but wonder how we'd ever go back after this.  Would I want to?  Feeling Terry's heart beating so strong and steady under mine, I knew the answer to that. 

It made me cry.

He held me.  Rocked me.  He is helpless in the face of women's tears.  I cried myself out on his shoulder.  Should Lach even have a place in what I felt for Terry?  Conversely, was there anything in my life he didn't have a place in?  Especially now?  Was I a bad person for feeling what I felt? 

Terry said something that afternoon that resonated with me deeply and has played through my mind many times since then. 

"There is no right or proper between us, lassie."                  

He'd put a face on that feeling inside me that felt so right and yet terrified me so very much.  What is love?  Is it finite?  Infinite?  Does real love have limits?  Or maybe it's only real love that has them.

Terry and I discussed lovemaking- but what would he say if he knew deep down in my most secret fantasies that once in a blue moon, I imagined the baby I carried was his?  What would Lach say?  Did he ever wish the little baby inside Uma was his?  How did that make me feel?  It wasn't jealousy, but then again, I'm not a man.  It all just felt like love to me.

When did life get to be so confusing?

Terry just hushed me and let me cry.  We showered together afterwards.  He was curious about the changes in my body and I wanted to share them with him.  It wasn't sexual.  He didn't even get hard.  He put me to bed afterwards and let me sleep off my cry.  I fell asleep with my head on his shoulder and his big hand softly stroking my belly.

I dreamed of Lachlan and wonder, now, if the laughter I heard in my dream was Dea.  

 

~ * ~

 

Christmas!  I love Christmas.  It was just a week away.  Lachlan and I had gotten our tree up a few days after we returned from Terry's.  The whole house smelled like fresh pine.  He's not really a fussy, decorate the tree sort of person but he enjoyed that evening in his own way.  I had my favorite Scottish Christmas music playing.  He'd done his duty, carrying in all my boxes of decorations from the garage and was sitting on floor with a glass of bourbon, putting our little baby's cradle together and watching me with a quiet smile as I dug through the various boxes of ornaments and assorted other Christmas decorations. 

He helped me string the lights because my balance is off and I'm too short to reach the top of the tree but then he sat back to watch me decorate it, commenting on an ornament every now and then but mostly just happy to watch me make our house a home, filled with happy Christmas cheer. 

As per tradition, Lachlan topped the tree with the gold star but what he most enjoyed was setting up the nativity on the mantle.  It was particularly poignant for us both this year. 

He might not have wanted to help trim the tree, but he did participate in his own way.  The music played.  He sang to me, soft and low, while we both worked.  

Do You Hear What I Hear:

 

 

His soft smoky voice was so very lovely. 

Let it Snow!:

 

 

He stopped fussing with the cradle to finger the little golden snowflake charm on my bracelet and kiss my softly rounded belly between verses.

Silent Night:

 

  

He held me close and reached out to push our empty cradle.  We watched it rock and finally still.  He turned off the music and sang 'Away in a Manger' to me without accompaniment of any kind.  Next to our little baby's heartbeat, it was the most lovely sound I'd ever heard.

 

~ * ~

 

Sunday, December 21.... funny how life works.  I sat down at my computer for a bit of mindless surfing and right there on Yahoo's front page in the world news was the headline:

 

 

I was surprised at first... and then I laughed.  Charlie had been on our list of names- for a girl.  Charlene.  And then, strangely, I started crying.  Lach seems to keep one ear always attuned to it these days and was at my side before I'd even reached for a tissue.  He asked me what was wrong.  I pointed at the screen.  He said, "Bugger ME!"

I laughed through my tears.  It made no sense really.  I was so happy for them.  Imagine, getting to hold their little baby at Christmas.  What a precious gift, a happy healthy baby.  I was sad too, aching to hold our own little baby, already tired of waiting to get to meet the little person growing under my heart.   

 

~ * ~

 

A few days later, Dino called me.  I could tell there was something wrong before he'd spoken two full sentences.  Lach looked up from his book but said nothing as I slipped silently away.  We have a small sitting room off the main living area downstairs.  It's close enough to the fire to be nice and warm but far enough away to be private.  We'd never spoken of it directly with each other, but whenever one of us disappeared in that warm, cozy nook and slid the screen shut, the other knew not to intrude.  Not that we had secrets from each other in that sense, but we were sensitive to each other's desire to keep certain parts of our life private.

Somewhere far away, someone I cared about very much needed comfort and I gave it to him without hesitation or reservation of any kind.  To my mind, that's what real love is.  It isn't about being on your back or on your knees or even standing at someone's side.  It's about being there to support them when they can't stand alone. 

And that night, after I hung up with Dino, I went to Lach and let him support me.  

 

~ * ~

 

You will never believe it!  Santa came to the Curry household.... by way of one oversized Aussie elf, I'm thinking.  And he never even let on!!  What a rotten, dirty, wonderful sneak! 

We went to bed on Christmas Eve like we did every other night when he's home.  We go to bed a little earlier these days than we used to.  I get tired so easily, but he never even let on that he had anything up his sleeve.  He made me a cup of warm milk and rubbed my feet while I drank it.  Then I rubbed something else.... and before I knew it, I was sweaty and sex-soaked and sleepy.  I didn't even have a clue!

When I woke up that morning, Lach was laying next to me in the bed.  He'd pushed the covers back and scooted down next to my belly.  He was whispering the sweetest things to our little baby.  Private things.  I simply lay there with my eyes closed and listen to him pour out his heart to our baby.  Let him make this precious golden moment with his child.  And when he was done, he whispered a quiet prayer against my belly and I felt him kiss me so tenderly it brought tears to my eyes.

I smiled.  He looked up and said, "Mornin', Blue."

I brushed his rucked-up hair back from his forehead and sighed happily.  "I must have been a good girl this year, Lach.  Santa brought me a Selkie."  He flushed a little like he always does when I call him that, but there was pride somewhere in his smile, too.

He crawled up over me, taking care not to rest his weight on me and leaned in for a morning kiss.  His ring, suspended on its dark cord, fell forward and brushed across my chest.  The burnished gold was warm from resting against his body.  It was like getting two kisses.  One from his mouth, the other from this simple symbol of our love. 

I reached for him.  Held his beautiful thick penis in my hands and asked him to love me.  He took my hands in his and gently helped me from the bed.  "Not here," was all he said.  He led me to the door.  I reached for one of his shirts to throw on over my nakedness but he stopped me.  "You won't need that, love."

He took it from my hands and opened the bedroom door.  Just outside of it, hanging on a thread suspended from the ceiling was a paper snowflake.  The kind little children make in school by folding a piece of paper in half and then in half again and then again and cutting into it with a pair of scissors before opening it up to reveal a lacy paper snowflake.  I touched it with one finger and then blew gently on it, watching it twirl and flutter. 

"Oh, Lach... it's beautiful."

"Merry Christmas," he said with a shy little smile.  He put his lips to my ear.  "Close your eyes."  I did and he scooped me up and carried me downstairs.  It was warm.  I could hear the crackle of a fire.  So, he'd slipped down here and started a fire for us?  How sweet.  He put me down, wrapped his arms around me from behind.  I could feel the tip of his erection tickle my backside and when I shivered, he put his lips to my ear and whispered, "Open your eyes, love."

I did and was glad his arms were around me to hold me up.  I'd have fallen over if they hadn't been.  There were dozens, hundreds of paper snowflakes... white and blue and silver, all various sizes and suspended from the ceiling at various heights.  They must have taken him hours and hours to make... and forever to put up.  "It's beautiful, Lach... just beautiful."  My eyes misted over when I saw he'd put the blanket we'd made our little baby on in the center of the floor underneath the snowflakes.  Lachlan Curry might have a smart mouth... but he's got the most romantic soul on Earth. 

We knelt on the blanket.  He grinned at me.  "Now this is the kind of snow for me...."  He twined our fingers together.  "And I've got to tell you, Blue... it's going to last a damn sight longer than 85 seconds this time round..."

I was just stunned by it all.  Felt the tears welling up.  "I didn't do anything as grand as this... I couldn't even think of anything like this...."

He stroked my belly lightly, serious now where he'd been lighthearted before.  "Do you really think I need anything more than this?"

We made love right there.  It was surreal.  And sweet.  And fun.  The snowflakes whirled overhead, driven by the rising heat of our bodies, our soft pants and the motions of our hands and arms as they flailed in passion.  We lay there, on our backs afterwards, looking up at the slowly spinning snowflakes, sweaty and glowing while his warm semen trickled from me.  I felt so good.  Warm and loved.  He cleaned me up.  Brought me some tea to sip and some crackers to nibble on (I still didn't like eating in the morning) and gave me one of his shirts to wear.  All he asked was that I didn't button it.  He wanted to see my breasts and my round little tummy. 

Typical male, he didn't wear anything.  He just stalked around naked as a jay, sending the snowflakes swirling as he went by.  As I came back to myself, I slowly started noticing the rest of what he'd done.  In addition to our stockings, there was a pink one and a blue one hanging from the mantle as well, bulging with gifts.  A toy truck poked out of the blue one; a sweet cherub-faced little doll from the pink.

So like him... he's excited, buying things for the baby already... but what were we going to do with all the leftover stuff?  We didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl.  He must have read the question on my face because he smiled, squeezed my hand and said, "Maybe we'll do this again someday, Blue." 

Another baby?  Somehow, though the thought should have struck terror in my heart...  I found that, strangely, it didn't. 

We had a fun morning.  Unwrapped the goodies in our stockings.  Exchanged gifts.  Well, I gave him his- and, no, you may not know what it was.  He made me hunt for mine.  I am hopeless... finally, he resorted to the 'hot' and 'cold' game.  "You're getting warmer, Blue... Warmer..... Warmer...."  I spun in a circle but still didn't see it.  He chuckled.  "Look up."

I did and gasped.  Suspended between the snowflakes was a black velvet box.  Inside it was a stunning pair of diamond drop earrings.  Simple.  Classy.  Elegant.  He put them on for me and stood back to admire the view.  "Yup, my shirt and those earrings... that's just how I imagined this moment, love."

I couldn't even speak.  I just wrapped my arms around him and kissed him.  Sometimes, there just aren't any words, you know?  He gave me a squeeze and a laughed.  "Now, for your REAL present...."

I nearly died.  Surely, he hadn't bought any more diamonds.  He made good money working for Thorne and O'Leary but not that kind of money.  He was getting that bashful look again... which told me whatever it was, it was even more personal than jewelry.

He gave me a simply wrapped gift.  It was heavy.  And rattled when I moved it.  It sounded like coins.  I was right.  It was coins.  What a strange gift.  It was an old jar made from blue glass and filled with pennies.  It had this year's date crudely scratched into the top of it.  

He smiled at me, blushed a little and handed me a penny.  "For this morning," he said.  At my confused look, his blush deepened but he curled my fingers over the penny he'd given me and smiled a little wider.  "I kept track.... didn't even realize it at first, really... just one of those silly things I do..."  I was starting to get it... but surely he hadn't- "Every time we made love, I put a penny in the jar.  The one in your hand is for this morning."

Oh my God.  All those times....  

That was just the kind of sweet, romantic thing he'd do.  

And you know... I loved the diamonds... but it was that silly jar of pennies that was the real treasure.                       

      

To Part Five

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