Passion's Instinct

Forty Six

Hayden

A few days later after the Benjamin incident, we were notified he had been found and we were all three called for trial. Once that was over with, we got home and went up to our room, ready to get our fancy lawyer-suits off and comfortable clothes on.

But Natalie was too exhausted to even do that. She slipped her heels off and collapsed in bed, sighing. "Goodnight," she joked.

I smiled as I unbuttoned my blazer. "Yeah. We still have a long day ahead of us. We have to pick up the kids from Scarlett's, go --"

"Yeah, yeah," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I don't want to talk about that right now."

I laughed and took my shirt off, tossing it in the laundry pile. "It has to be done at some point."

"I know. But for now, you can come lay down and take a rest with me for an hour."

"An hour, Natalie? I have things to do!"

She sat up, open-mouthed. "Things to do? What about your wife? What other things do you have to do? Go outback and play tennis by yourself?"

I laughed again, just because our playful arguments were humorous. "Fine," I groaned sarcastically, pulling on some athletic shorts and jumping onto the bed beside her, grinning. "You're going to take a rest in a skirt?"

It was Natalie's turn to groan as she dragged herself off of the bed and changed into leggings and a flannel. She climbed back into bed, sitting up. "Am I forgetting anything?" she asked me.

"Don't think so." I looked down at her socks, which were thick and had a winter pattern on them. "What are those? I've never seen them before."

"These?" she asked pointing to her feet. "Cabin socks."

"Cabin socks?" I asked, rolling my eyes. She smacked my arm and said, "Hey! It's an actual thing, you know! I didn't just make it up!"

"Okay, okay. It just seems like too much of a sophisticated name for them. Cabin socks or no cabin socks, it's all just feet cloth to me."

"Feet cloth?" Natalie threw her head back laughing. "You're inexplicably adorable, Hayden. Did you know that?"

"Only because you've told me five thousand times."

"I was being nice!"

"So you don't actually think that, you're just saying that to make me feel better."

"No, no, I do think that. Of course I think that." She snickered at this, more I thought laughing at herself, but then again, I didn't know. She was Natalie. My Natalie. My crazy, amazing, imperfect and beautiful Natalie.

"Hey, how many times do you think we've kissed?" I asked, looking at her and smiling.

"How many times have we kissed? Oh, that's a hard one. Let me just take out my internal calculator..."

"Hey, you probably do have an internal calculator since you're so smart. It's in your brain."

"I am not that smart..."

"Look at me, I'm Natalie, and I passed Harvard with all honors classes. I'm beautiful and smart... oh, and don't forget -- beautiful and smart!"

"Shut up," Natalie told me, laughing. "You're just as smart."

"Take that back right now, Nat, because you know that's a complete lie."

"Okay, well... who cares about how smart you are anyway? We're actors."

"I don't know. It's just... Natalie, I know you're not perfect, but how can you be so... perfect?"

"I'm not. You've see the worst of me and you still think that, though?"

"I mean..."

"Hayden, you're really over thinking it. Just lay down next to me and take a rest, okay?"

I grinned and pulled her down on me, kissing her. "I love you," I mumbled beside her mouth.

"I love you more."

"I loved you first," I said as she laid back beside me.

"True," she admitted, turning to lay on her stomach and meeting eyes with me. "But you'll never know how much I actually love you."

I smiled as she turned over, and I reached over to rub her back. We fell asleep just like that, with my hand on her back and her cabin socks on. Or her feet cloth. Or whatever the heck it was. I didn't even care anymore.