Under the Elms

Communicating

'Hon?' Sofa murmured in Prince's ear. They were both recovering from their typically overwhelming morning lovemaking, their bodies intimately joined while they lay facing each other. Sofia's legs were still wrapped around Prince's waist, his arms still surrounding her torso, keeping her as close as possible and keeping them joined as long as possible.

'Mmm?' Prince wasn't yet capable of speech; none of his muscles were currently working. His mind was still whirling somewhere on the outer edges of the universe. Realizing she had recovered more quickly, Sofia kept her silence a little longer. While she waited for him to return, she felt herself beginning to drift off, completely satiated. As she was about to completely surrender to sleep once again, she felt his arms tighten around her.

'Babe? Did you want something?' He quietly asked, taking a deep breath, memorizing their combined scent once again. God, I love this woman so much. We are such a perfect fit in so many ways.

Sofia stirred carefully on hearing the voice she loved so much, not wanting to break their physical connection. 'Hmmm? Oh, yeah. It's just, you mentioned you felt four hours apart was too long. I wanted to remind you that I'll be gone from about 6:30 in the morning until maybe 5 in the evening tomorrow. You know that I will come home as soon as I can, right?'

Prince chuckled, tracing gently over Sofia's oh, so ticklish ribs. 'I was sort of kidding. Honestly, I crave you, body and soul, sometimes to the point that I'm completely distracted. I know you have to go in tomorrow, and hopefully they'll fire you on the spot so you'll be all mine.' His tender smile was an attempt to take the sting out of using the word fired.

Sofia grimaced on hearing that word. 'Yeah, I'd rather think of this as me resigning; that I am making this choice rather than the choice being made for me. So,' she continued, deciding not to dwell on that aspect of her new life, 'what would you like to do on this final day of our extended snow vacation?'

'Oh, I have some plans, but I'd like to snuggle a little longer; it seems to me you were about to fall asleep, and since you have to get up at what is my normal bedtime tomorrow, I think you should.' He pulled her a little closer, lying back so he could tuck her into his shoulder. Running a soothing hand along her side and grasping the hand curled onto his chest, he crooned, 'Rest, love. We have all day.'  He began humming an unrecognizable, yet soothing melody. Combined with his steady heartbeat, Sofia succumbed to sleep once again.

The room was dark, by Prince's request, since he did so much day sleeping. Even so, there was enough light for Prince to indulge in looking at the outline of her body curved into his. She shifted, and he was able to easily gaze at her partial profile. He marveled once again at her beauty,  the curve of her nose, the spacing of her expressive eyes, the arch of her eyebrows. Her full lips were so tempting, but he held back, knowing he had not given her a single uninterrupted night's sleep since their first night together.

It was always possible for him to wander to other places, times, even dimensions in his imagination. At the moment, he was content to hold this woman, whose presence in his life made him feel uncompromisingly complete. Of course, he was well aware of his 'quirks', the aspects of his lifestyle that were challenging for others to deal with, but Sofia being a musician helped greatly. He'd tried 'studio rehab' before, and it always failed. Then the person he had promised to make a bigger priority began to resent his music, as it pulled him away and made it harder to maintain a relationship. That was definitely a conversation that needed to happen with Sofia. I don't want to make promises I can't keep.

He wandered in his mind from the joy of Sofia and the challenge of his lifestyle to his plans for the wedding. His idea was to begin sharing those plans on Monday when Sofia came home. He knew ending her career as a teacher earlier than she had planned could be a downer. A romantic dinner and wedding planning sounded like the perfect antidote to what might be a difficult day.