Powerful Impact [a Roman Reigns story]

9 Slowly

Larissa POV

"All right, my little miss. What would you like to wear today? Hmm... you got so many lovely new clothes for Christmas, it's hard to choose... I think this set with koala bears is the right one for today.

And remember to be a good girl for Grandma, okay? After all, it's the first time I won't be with you all day and I'm pretty nervous. But we'll cuddle extra long tonight. Not that there's anything you can do about it." I babbled to Clementine as I dressed her.

Then I took her in my arms and packed everything she would need for today in the diaper bag. In my head, I went over whether I had really thought of everything. And so far I couldn't think of anything else. It was a strange feeling to leave her with mom for the whole day for the first time ever, but it was certainly a good idea for my little one. And it gave me the opportunity to get some things done a little quicker than usual today.

Together we drove to my parents' house where Mom was already waiting for us. We had barely entered the house before she was almost pushing me out again.

"Enjoy the freedom, Larissa. We'll be fine, won't we, my darling? Say goodbye to Mommy!" she said, waving Clem's little hand at me.

"I'll be gone in a minute. Call me if you need help. I love you, Clem. See you later." I replied before giving my daughter a kiss on the forehead.

It was weird driving to Roman's house all alone. I kept looking in the rearview mirror to check on Clementine only to realize she wasn't there. I didn't feel complete without her.

When I entered the house it was pretty quiet. Where was he? According to the schedule, he was supposed to be home. Was it possible that he was still asleep?

If that was the case, I wanted to be as quiet as possible. I went into the kitchen and made some coffee first of all. Then I made my way to the office to check for emails. Surprisingly, quite a lot had come in over the holidays. It took me a while to sort out what was important and what wasn't.

"Good morning, Larissa," I suddenly heard someone say behind me.

"Oh good morning, Roman. Have you slept until now?" I wanted to know, because he was rubbing his eyes tiredly and his hair still looked pretty frizzy.

"Yes... I got to bed pretty late this morning. I was out with some buddies. How are you? Where's Mini Miss?" he replied with a yawn.

"She's spending the day with her grandma today. I've got a lot I want to get done. What do you think? Do you want breakfast?" I asked.

"Breakfast sounds good. I'm heading to the bathroom for a bit. Is there anything important coming up?" Roman wanted to know.

"There's an interview scheduled for tomorrow before you have a flight on Wednesday. You're free as a bird today," I replied.

"Good, then we get to spend time alone together today. What do you say we have lunch together?" he asked.

"I would really like that," I said, feeling the heat shooting through my face again.

"I'll be right back," he said before leaving the office.

And I did the same. I made my way downstairs. First I poured myself a nice cup of coffee before I set about making Roman something to eat. It wasn't actually part of my responsibilities, but it was just a nice thing to do for him. While the bacon sizzled, I packed up the first bits of Christmas decorations. There wasn't a whole lot in the kitchen, so it went pretty quickly.

"I could smell the bacon in the shower," Roman said as he came into the kitchen with his hair still wet.

"There's nothing better to wake you up than that smell. Well, besides coffee... I hope bacon and scrambled eggs is okay... Do you want toast? Coffee coming right up." I replied.

"Sounds good. I see you're already having coffee, but from the wrong cup..." he said unexpectedly.

"Um yeah... Sorry... I didn't know that some cups are off limits. I can change it." I replied, confused.

"Relax, Larissa... I just mean that you obviously missed your Christmas present." he chuckled deeply and pointed to a small package that I could have sworn wasn't there five minutes ago.

"You... you got me a present?" I asked, touched.

"Obviously." he laughed.

"Well... now I feel bad... I don't have anything for you." I replied.

"Not true! Look around you! You've already given me the best gift. You're a real blessing. This is nothing compared to that." he said.

I unwrapped the present and immediately had to smile broadly. There was my little Clementine. On my very own new mug.

"Aww oh my god! Roman! That's so adorable! Thank you!" I gushed before going to hug him.

As I put my arms around him he pulled me tighter against him. And there it was again. The feeling of electricity in the air.

I pulled back a little so that I could look him in the eye. But then my gaze wandered to his lips. To his warm, plump lips. At that moment, I could no longer resist. Even if it probably wasn't a good idea.

Slowly... very slowly, I leaned forward. Our lips met. Very lightly at first, almost like a whisper. But the little kiss quickly turned into a deeper... a more intense kiss.