Summer Days

Chapter 13

I woke up Saturday morning, wrapped up firmly in a pair of arms.

I hadn't dreamed, I was slightly embarrassed that I'd fallen asleep before he had joined me in his room. I the curve of my ear. "Good morning my love."

"Good morning darling. You slept well?" he asked, I smiled, knowing he full well knew the answer as I was pretty sure I'd slept in his arms all night long.

"Yes." I said as his hand relaxed and flattened against my stomach. "You have a very comfortable bed."

He chuckled in my ear. "Well, you are sleeping on my side of it."

"Sorry."

"You're not sorry." He said in my ear, kissing it again. "It's fine. I didn't have any issues falling asleep."

I patted his arm, getting him to loosen his grip on me so that I could roll over, shifting my hair back so that it didn't whip into his face as I settled in, and looking at him. "Good." I said, reaching over and resting my palm on his cheek. "It's high time you get caught up on your rest as well." I said.

He shifted his head, kissing the palm of my hand. "It'll be nice to finally settle in to what is our usual normal." He said. "This year wouldn't have been so exhausting if we had been able to have the same type of school week a normal group of students did. Weekends off and all. That was the worst part of all, always having to deal with a tail on weekends." He admitted.

I nodded slightly. "And a few other unanticipated distractions." I murmured, my eyes searching his, realizing I rarely saw him without his glasses.

He smiled. "True but to be honest, none of us would have wanted it any other way, darling." He said before kissing me lightly.

"As long as you don't regret it."

His eyes softened. "I don't. Do you?" he asked softly.

"Not at all." I murmured. "You all saved me from more than one horrible fate this year. We certainly wouldn't be having this conversation if you hadn't." I said frankly, knowing full well that without them, if I didn't die after Friday Fall or after Jade attacked me in the showers, I absolutely, firmly, believed that my step-mother would have killed me without a shred of remorse and Marie gleefully would have kept the secret of what happened to me.

He nodded slightly. "Knowing that, makes it all worth it. We have you." I smiled as he pulled me in even closer and kissed my forehead.

"Whatever are we going to do today?" I asked, resting my head on his chest.

"Well, we should probably fit in some grocery shopping for tomorrow's brunch." He said, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"Oh yes, I'd like to make an apple pie for Sean for brunch. He's been working too hard again and I think the pie will help me enforce to him that he needs to take some time for himself this summer." I said.

He chuckled. "Did you already have a meal plan in mind?" He asked, recalling that it had been her suggestion to have brunch and a family meeting.

"Maybe." I giggled softly.

"Then I will be happy to push the cart, pay for the food and carry the bags."

"Okay." I smiled, tilting my head up to look at him. "Then what?"

He suggested a few things, letting me know of the plan to go out to dinner and then to attend the opera. He smiled at my breathed 'oh my'. "But perhaps we should start with getting out of bed and going for some breakfast before the grocery shopping." He said, having heard the sound of my stomach rumbling its usual morning greeting to let me know I was hungry.

"Sounds like a good plan." I nodded eagerly.

He shifted as I pushed away from him and got out of the bed. "I must say as well, you look very good in my shirt." He said, reaching over for his glasses on the nightstand.

"Sorry. I just sort of helped myself to your closet." I blushed softly. He shrugged. "I do tend to do it to the others as well."

He smiled. "It's not a big deal, darling. I want you to be comfortable here and if that means stealing my shirt every once in a while, it's a good thing."

"Okay." I said, stretching for a moment, missing the way his eyes swept my body. "Just curious, how well do you see without your glasses?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "Pretty well... better than Kota sees without his." I said.

I nodded. "Just wondering." I said again before going to his closet to pull my clothes out of the bag and find my make-up bag. "I can go to the other bathroom if you want me too." I said.

"No, go ahead. I'm going to go turn the coffee pot on and grab the paper so it's okay for you to go ahead and get ready first." He smiled and got out of bed, coming over to kiss me lightly. "We'll leave in about 45 minutes. I do need to check in with the family on a few things this morning before we go out."

"All right." I clutched my things to my chest and grinned stupidly up at him before he chuckled and nudged me towards the bathroom before heading downstairs. I waited to hear his footsteps on the stairs before a soft giggle escaped me and I practically skipped the rest of the way into the bathroom to get ready for today.