Passion's Instinct

Sixty One

Hayden

We had finally gotten August to sleep in his own room, and at 11:00, he was asleep and making no noise.

I walked back to our room and laid down in bed, covering myself with the sheets. Natalie had gone to bed earlier because she felt bad and was tired. But when my head hit the pillow and I pulled the sheets over me completely, Natalie tugged my side of the sheets over her, so I when I looked down, I was uncovered, shivering in my athletic shorts and t-shirt.

At first I thought she was just messing around, so I pulled all of the sheets she gathered over to my side, laughing a little.

"Hayden, stop it. Get another blanket if you're cold," she snapped, taking the sheets away from me.

Sort of taken aback by her comment, I sat there for a minute, offended. But I decided not to mess with her, grabbing another blanket from the closet.

I shook the blanket out and covered myself with it, pulling it up to my chin. I was still cold, which was weird because I was usually sweating.

Once I assumed Natalie was asleep, I inched closer to her and snaked my arm around her torso, hugging her to me.

She was still awake. Uh oh, I thought, I'd better get off of her.

I inched back away, but clearly not fast enough. "Hayden," she hissed, sucking her teeth. "Move your leg, it's freezing!"

"Sorry!" I whispered, pulling my left leg back to my side of the bed. "You know I can't feel anything with that leg."

Natalie didn't answer, just turned back over and buried her face in her pillow. It was quiet for a minute, and I was about to turn over the opposite way and go to sleep, but I heard Natalie sniff and inhale sharply, and just then I knew she was crying.

Carefully, I moved closer to her, kissing the back of her head. "I'm sorry, babe. I didn't mean --"

"No," she said, sniffing. "It's not you. It's me." She turned over towards me, looking into my eyes, hers teary. "I'm so sorry, Hayden. I didn't mean to snap at you and be so rude, and I left you with the kids earlier to get them ready for bed by yourself. I just..."

"It's alright, Nat. Trust me, I had it. It was all under control," I said softly, tucking the hair that fell into her face behind her hair.

"But..." She paused, her mouth open, seemingly attempting to find the words she was looking for.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's kind of that time of the month... where I get really moody... and tired..."

I looked at her, nodding. "Okay. Trust me, we've been through 'that time of the month' together about a thousand times, I get it."

Natalie sniffed, smiling a little. "Thank you, Hayden."

"Of course." I kissed her, but when I tried to pull away, I couldn't. She held on, my bottom lip between hers.

She kissed me again, and let go, smiling. "Sorry."

"It's fine," I mumbled, smirking. I looked into her eyes, and she shook her head, laughing softly.

"No."

I laughed as she turned over, covering herself with the sheets again.

"Hey. Are you going to give me those sheets back?"

She shook her head.

I smiled and kissed the back of her head, turning over and closing my eyes.

"Goodnight, Natalie."

"Goodnight, Hayden."

I let out a breath, relaxing. After a couple of minutes, I started to shift. And then, more than shift. I started tossing and turning, uncomfortable. I took my shirt off, tossing it to the end of the bed, and scratched my side absentmindedly, and then --

"Hayden, would you stop moving?" Natalie whispered, laughing.

"Sorry. My tattoo's itching."

"How about you put some ice on it, then?"

I didn't say anything for a few minutes, Natalie lying beside me, breathing quietly.

"Why don't you put ice on it?" I said quietly, and Natalie sat up and looked at me, snickering.

"What?" I asked, laughing with her.

"Just you," she said. She got up out of bed, starting towards the door, but I grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled her back. "Hayden," she said, smiling widely, "I'm going to go get you some ice."

"No, I don't need ice. It's fine." I pulled her down and covered her with one side if the sheets, taking the other side for myself.

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Mine too."

She smiled, rolling her eyes. I pulled her close again, hugging her to me.

"I love you," she mumbled. I could hear the smile in her voice.

"I love you," I replied, burying my face in her shoulder and kissing it. "Night."

"Goodnight."

I shut my eyes, and as soon as I did, I fell asleep smiling. I was pretty sure Natalie did, too.