Finding Light in the Shadow (Solangelo)

Chapter 21

Will

I'm not sure what time it is when I opened my eyes. The sun was barely shining through the thick curtains. I looked down at my baby sleeping with his head still laying on my chest. I don't know how he slept like that all the time. I guess with him being shorter, it was easier for him to do. When I curl up to him I usually sleep with my head on his shoulder. He was sleeping so peacefully, he looked like a little angel. Today was Sunday, so we had no place to be at least until later this afternoon. I've been taking every other Sunday off from the infirmary so I could spend the whole day with Nico. Since I woke him up during the middle of the night, I decided to let him sleep as long as he wanted. Gods I hated when I had those nightmares. I started having them when we got back from the Underworld. They were different every time, but always about the same thing, losing my precious Nico. I fought back the tears again, just the thought of losing him was too much. I moved my one arm up his backside and started stroking his hair, still holding him tight with the other.

It must have been another hour or two before he began to stir. The arm that he had wrapped around my stomach gave me a squeeze. He looked up into my eyes and smiled at me.

"Morning sunshine."

"Morning or afternoon, darkness."

"Why did you let me sleep so long?"

"I felt bad for waking you up in the middle of the night. Besides, you looked too beautiful to wake up."

He smiled and said, "So, you didn't feel like dealing with my 'woke up too early' wrath?"

"Yea that too." I pulled my lover's face to me and kissed him. "Thank you for last night. I can't wait to hear you sing for me again."

Nico grabbed my side and squeezed. "OK, that was an emergency situation. Don't expect me to sing for you all the time."

I gave him another kiss before stretching. The smell from my arm pits was enough to knock out the dead. "Damn I stink, I think it's time to shower."

"Sounds good to me babe."

We both got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. I turned the shower water on and adjusted the temperature. When it was ready I got in with Nico following me. My baby has really starting to come out of his shell over the past month. He was somewhat more comfortable being with me naked, mainly just showering. Nico was still kind of shy when it came to physical romance, however he did allow us to take care of each other's needs a few times. Even if was just only by hand, it was still amazing. One thing I was eternally grateful for, Nico and I started to wash each other's backs. Nico would wash my back first, paying special attention to make sure my buttocks was good and clean. Then I would scrub his backside. Nico didn't really have much of an ass, but it was still cute, so I scrubbed it anyway.

When we were done, we both got out and dried off. Both of us brushed our teeth, then got dressed for the day. Nico put on a pair of cargo shorts and a camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He had been wearing shorts a lot more often. I wasn't complaining, they showed off his skinny, hairy legs. I decided on cargo shorts and a tank top, my normal summer attire. When I put on my watch I realized that it was almost time for lunch.

"Shit babe, it's almost time for lunch."

"No wonder my stomach is starting to growl. Yea, I'm ready to get something to eat."

Both of us put on flip flops, yes I had Nico wearing flip flops once in a while. Then we left the Hades cabin and made our way to the dining pavilion. We made our normal sacrifice to the Gods, then enjoyed our ham and eggs. The nice thing about Sundays was they served a nice brunch until one. Probably since most of the campers slept through breakfast.

After we ate, we headed to the beach. This was becoming our new summer hang out. We had some time to kill until our meeting with Piper at three. Making our way to the dock, we walked to the end and sat down with our feet dangling in the water. I decided to take my tank top off to get some sun. It took a little doing, but I managed to talk Nico into taking his shirt off as well. I took the little bottle of sunscreen, which I kept in my cargo shorts, and made sure that my baby's skin was thoroughly coated. Nico hated sunscreen, but he never complained when I rubbed it all over him. We sat there with our arms wrapped around each other's' backs, just enjoying the afternoon. Nico wasn't fond of swimming so this was as close to water as I could get with him. I started to wish I had brought a towel so I could go for a dip, I'll have to remember next time. Instead, we sat there just enjoying each other's company until it was almost three.

"Honey, we need to get to the Aphrodite cabin soon to meet with Piper."

"OK, I'm ready when you are."

We both got up, putting our shirts and flip flops back on, and started to make our way back to camp. The meeting that was coming up was to plan our wedding. Piper offered to help plan it for us. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I would be soon finding out.