Forbidden: Afterglow

Chapter 13

-VALERIE'S P.O.V-

"Don't be so dramatic."
"Oh my fuck. Ninfa. I'm wearing a tux with stretchy pants. I'M FUCKING FAT."
"You're like a month into second trimester. What do you expect?"
"I didn't think I'd be showing."
"You're fine. Now get out so I can get in my dress."
"Noooo. I don't want to leave."
"I need to put on my dress. I love you. But get out."
"Noo."
    She pushes me out the door and closes it."I'm sorry. I love you."
"Thanks. Leave me in a total crisis."
"It's not a crisis, my love. You're pregnant. Nothing wrong with it. Now let me get ready."
   I sigh and walk down the hall. I gotta wait for Joel. And he seems to be helping Finnley and Zack fix their tuxs.
    Emma runs behind me. "Mommy."
"You shouldn't be running, littleEm."
"I used bathroom by self."
    I instantly grow worried. "By yourself?"
"I was there to help. But she didn't need it." Cody turns the corner.
"Ah. Okay. I was about to flip. She really shouldn't be on the potty by herself."
"Oh yeah. I know. I remember the first time my son went by himself. He was literally in the toilet bowl when I came in. And it makes it worse that I just gave him a bath."
"Lovely."
"Kids are fun, aren't they?"
"YES.." Emma yells.
    I laugh lightly. According to Ninfa... no picking up heavy things. Including LittleEm.
"Alright, Em. Tell me what color you want the flower pedals to be?"
"Pink. Purple. Blue."
"Oh, really? So many beautiful colors." I hand her an empty basket. With one hand up in the air, I summon the color pedals she asks for. She quickly catches them in the basket while giggling. I love my girl but pink isn't me.
"Hey. Bride. Come on. Gotta get you up there." Joel says.
    I slip my wedding ring off and hand it to Emma, along with Ninfa's ring. "Be careful with these, okay? You're going to hand them to the Elder after throwing your flower pedals."
"Okay." She keeps good hold on them.
    Joel takes my arm and helps me stand. I want to smack him away but ...well... it's helpful.
"25 years ago. Still let me give you away."
"Who else would? I don't have many family members that would."
"I know. You've come so far, Valerie. I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks."
     The second wedding begins. Ninfa still taking my breath away in her beautiful dress. She's absolutely stunning. I still can't believe she's mine.
"You're so beautiful."
"Not so bad yourself."
"I mean it. I really mean it. You're so fucking beautiful, Ninfa."
"Don't you dare make me cry."
"I'm hormonal. I'll cry first."
    She tries not to laugh. But a small one slips. No one notices but me.
"I love you. I'm sorry I kicked you out of the dressing room."
"It's alright. I got to do a little magic with Emma."
"Little?"
"Small, I promise."
"Okay."
    The second wedding begins. And by the end of it, I actually am in tears. There are so many more people here too, which is embarrassing for me...but hey.. not everyday you celebrate 25 and get renew vows.
"Care to dance, love?"
    She laughs to me. "Yeah. Only cause we skipped this part."
"In my defense.." I take her hand and pull her close to me. "It was a really interesting wedding. I was afraid I was about to get smited for marrying my forbidden lover. And the whole Marcus thing, yeah, that didn't help."
"You're right. But it wasn't just that."
"No, not just that. I wanted my love. I wanted to make love with my wife."
    She hovers to my level as we dance.
"I hate it when.."
    She stops me with a kiss and I give into it. My love. 25 and I still cannot get enough of her. 25 and I want her even more than I did the day I married her.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"So do this again in another 25?"
"No. No. Maybe longer."
"Just as long as we have forever, I don't care."
    She kisses me again. It's lightly and not enough for me to kiss back before she pulls back. Which is another thing I hate.
"I want to go somewhere special tonight. A place we haven't been in a long while."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Take me to our campfire and quarry. We can swim in the ice water like old times. And can cuddle by the fire to warm up."
"I would love nothing more to take you there. But that means pawning off Emma to either our kids, or Joel."
"Joel. I trust Joel. Joel won't have it to where we come home and the walls are rainbow." She pauses... "okay, so he could actually do that if you gave him the time. But I mean that Emma obeys him more than her siblings."
"So pawn off on Joel."
"Yeah."
    I lean in and lightly kiss her. Tease her from the one from before. "I'll be back in a second, beautiful."
   Heading over to Joel, he's drinking a beer with Sam. Surprised Joel is allowing Sam to drink.. But.. He isn't much younger then Finnley. So I understand.
"Hey, Joel."
"Hey yourself."
"Soooo..."
"You need me to babysit?"
"If you would?"
"Why do I know you so well?"
"I don't know. But I love you. Thank you."
"I didn't answer."
    I sigh. "Okay. Never mind then."
"It's a yes. Just messing with you."
    I stop myself from groaning. Or punching him in the dick. Or rolling my eyes. Or punching him in the dick. For being a dick. I want to punch him in the dick for being a dick. Fucking dick.
    I grab Ninfa from behind and teleport us. The loud noise quickly becomes soft sounds of wildlife. It's peaceful again.
"Hey."
"Hey, beautiful."
"You keep calling me that. Is it for flattery?"
"No. Just stating the truth."
    She sighs. "Dance with me?"
"There's no music."
"I know. Just dance with me."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
    I pull her as close as she can get. We dance to the light wildlife sounds. We dance for a little while. The peace is so beautiful but so is she and only adding to how perfect this is.
"Today was amazing."
"Yeah? I think so too. I saw my wife come down the aisle for a second time and she took my breath away like the first."
"I still do that to you?"
"Of course. Every other time I see your eyes, you steal more and more of my heart."
"I thought I already had that."
"You do. Just I'm pretty sure new pieces build and you gain those bits."
"Really odd way to put it but okay."
"I'm not good at romance."
"Yeah you are."
   My feet. My feet are honestly aching. I just.. I don't want to ruin this dance.
"I can feel that, you know?"
"Hm?"
"You hiding pain. I can feel it."
"It's... It's stupid. It's just my feet."
"Why don't we sit? Rest for a little while?"
"Yeah. It sounds nice. Though there are far too many clothing on for me to be comfortable."
"Would you like me to help with that?"
"I wouldn't mind. I do enjoy your gentle touch."
    She slowly removes my tux. Little But by little. Until I am down to my sports bra. She stables me while I undo my pants and let them drop to the ground.
    I feel free like this. Sports bra. Boxers. Light breeze. It feels nice. Very nice. Perfect night to end a perfect day.
   I pull her close to me. As close as possible. Unzipping her dress carefully while getting lost in her eyes. These eyes I've loved for so long.
"You're so damn beautiful."
"You say that so often."
"And never once has it lost an ounce of meaning. You're so beautiful." I kiss her cheek, other, forehead, nose and finally lips.
    She falls into the kiss and pulls me as close to her as she can. The dress slips from her but she doesn't pull from the kiss. To say the kiss is heated would be a lie. It's just raw passion. And I love it.
    She pulls away once the kiss finally steals all air from us. "You're my everything, Valerie."
"And you are mine."
   We lay down. I hold her close to me. It's strange that I really want to be sexual but I just want to cuddle at the same time. Not that our love making is just sex, it's not, I try my hardest to always keep her held while active.
"You're so quiet." She speaks and kisses my neck lightly. It feels so good.
"I'm at war."
"Oh?"
"Heart saying I want to cuddle but want to make love. Body saying I would very much love the pleasure but the warmth of cuddles is beautiful as is. Brain telling me that I have too many options but all center around you."
"Oh. I'm alright with just cuddling."
"I know. I want you though. I do. Pretty badly. It's just moving is difficult. And I'm lazy."
"You're crazy."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"If you want to make love, it doesn't bother me to be the worker."
"Yeah, I know because you're accepting. But. Like. I want to pleasure you and it's difficult to."
"We will find a way. If you want." She bites her lip after her words.
   I cannot tell if it's actually to turn me on. Or just that she's nervous of an answer. I do want her.
"Okay. Love me, baby."
    She rolls her eyes and spreads kisses all the way down my neck. They bring soft gasps and light moans.
"..L..Love me. Love me f..forever."