Dinner Disasters: Sebastian and Layana

Chapter 18 (Layana): This Is So Perfect

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

"I think this is it," I said after we finished our tour of the house. Probably the fifteenth house we'd seen in the last few weeks, but this one was new, built in the last six months. The original homeowners had to move because two months after they closed, the wife had been promoted to a position that required her to be at company headquarters in another state.

We'd been house hunting for a while following the sale of our old home, and I'd been insisting that I was fine now after all this time to be out and about. Sebastian still disagreed, saying the horrible stress he'd put me under at the beginning of my pregnancy meant I should still be staying in bed and taking it easy for the next three or so years. He'd tried to wait on me hand and foot and make me stay in bed or on the couch, handling whatever needed to be done, but I didn't put up with that for long. 

Since he argued with me about being up and around, I got my OB-GYN on my side at my next prenatal check up. I'd explained that Sebastian was hovering around me the minute he got home from work, and we both ganged up on my husband and said enough.

"Exercise in moderation is good for a pregnant woman, and everything with your wife looks great. Her vitals are excellent and she has no symptoms to indicate anything is wrong," my doctor told him. "So, be vigilant but it's perfectly fine for Layana to be living a normal life."

We'd begun looking at homes with great excitement on my part and great trepidation on Sebastian's. He didn't want this to become stressful for me, and by extension, the baby.

"Stop," I said to him when I saw the look on his face. "Or this week's report card is going to have some bad marks."

I always rolled my eyes about it, but he'd instituted the report card discussion at the end of every week, his way of checking in to see how I was feeling about him, about us. It was his way of avoiding the mistakes he'd made during the Renee era. It was my way of keeping his mother hen tendencies in check.

Sebastian had been making a concerted effort to  be more focused on me and not on the business to the extent he had been. What we'd gone through with Renee had been awful, completely terrifying and confusing, and we'd both been struggling with the fallout from that entire debacle. So, Sebastian being Sebastian and determined to do better, had listed out areas that he thought he'd failed me in so we could talk through them each week.

"I need to never make those mistakes again, Layana."

Given that I thought the odds were greatly against him having another completely insane woman from his past start stalking him and trying to set him up so she could destroy our marriage, I wasn't sure of the need for it, but he was insistent. My husband still woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, gasping my name. His nightmares of that day Renee showed up in our house haunted his dreams for quite a while.

"You could have been hurt," he'd say in a low voice as he gathered me to him.

In Sebastian's mind, so much big had happened, he felt he needed to reassure me in many and various ways, both big and small, to prove that his  eyes had been opened, and he wouldn't get so caught up in business again, so focused on the deal, that he'd miss warning signs. 

So, much like my grandfather had wooed my grandmother after he'd almost lost her, Sebastian began wooing me. Sometimes I'd get a sweet love letter in the mail; sometimes he'd bring home a carton of my favorite ice cream and some hot fudge and make us sundaes; and sometimes he'd lift my shirt and put his lips on my stomach and tell Baby Varon why she -- we knew the baby was a she now -- had the most wonderful mother in the world. 

Still other times, we just took a walk, holding hands while we talked, or he'd drive us to a nearby park and sit beside me on a blanket while I lay on my back and stared at the sky. Then, with a grin, he'd bring out a book and wave the iconic red-and-white cover in front of me.

"Guess what I found at a second-hand bookstore today for you?"

He knew I loved those older romances so lately he'd begun scouring booksellers for them so I could add to my collection.

"This is -- surprise! -- about a Greek gazillionaire."

Then, before I could respond, he'd open up the slim book and begin reading to me. I lived for those moments when we got to some of the risque-for-the-time phrases and allusions to sex and he had to stop reading for a minute (which was a bummer because he did the characters' voices so well) to clarify that he was understanding the romance correctly.

"Did he just really say she was acting like a spoiled brat, but he couldn't keep away from her because she made his groin hot?"

"Yeah. It's like dirty talk for the times."

"And even though she's furious with him for treating her like shit in front of his family and letting his family tell her she was basically trash, she still wants to have sex with him?"

"Of course. He's really good looking. No woman can resist a hot man and his hot groin."

"So, he treats her like a second-class citizen for about ninety-eight percent of the book, even has a girlfriend he takes to high-profile events --"

"Do you have a point?"

"-- then, right at the end, he basically says OK, I decided I love you, even though you're a pain in my ass --"

"Mmmhmm."

 "And she's good with that?"

"Well, sometimes they say sorry, too, or give her jewelry because jewelry always makes up for anything."

He'd given me a long look then resumed reading.

Two days later, he came home and handed me a tiny gift bag.

"What's this?"

"You said jewelry makes up for anything."

Reaching into a bag, I pulled out what was clearly a homemade, two-strand bracelet. Sebastian's face was earnest and boyish as he took it from me and held it up as he pointed out its features.

"So I went to a craft store and found some glass seed beads, this little silver heart charm, and a thing called a toggle clasp. I wanted to make it for you, knowing it's not perfect, but hoping you'd wear it anyway to remind you that even though your husband isn't perfect, his heart is wholly and completely yours."

The wooing continued after we closed on our new home. The weekend after we moved in, he asked me to go see my parents and grandparents for a few hours. My grandparents had recently moved in with my parents from their retirement home, so I was always happy to go over there to see everyone.

"I have a a surprise, but I don't want you at home while I get it ready."

"What's the surprise?" I asked.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Text me before you come home."

When I'd come home after being fawned over by my family, Sebastian met me at the door, smiling, looking a little sweaty and a lot dirt-streaked.

"I just finished, but it's ready. You want to see?"

"Absolutely," I said, caught up in his excitement.

Taking my hand, he led me to the backyard and out onto the deck. Looking around, I swear those damn hormones from the baby made me choke up.

"I planted lilac bushes and peonies all around the deck in honor of your grandparents," Sebastian explained, but I'd already guessed that. "They're on the littler side, but I planted them far enough away from the deck and from each other so they have room to grow."

The deck was huge -- sometimes we joked that the deck was bigger than our home, which was on the smaller side -- so this was no small feat.

"Thank you," I finally managed. "This is...this is so perfect."

As I moved to hug him, he stepped back. "I'm filthy, Layana; I don't want to get your pretty pink dress dirty."

Grinning at him, I backed up into the house and when I was far enough inside, away from any possible non-husband prying eyes, I took off my dress.

"Well, now it's not a problem, is it?"

He stalked toward me, his smile wide. "Layana."

"Yes?"

"You make my groin hot."