Between The Vows

Chapter Nineteen

This chapter is dedicated to VeeVee3000. Thank you for the sweet comments. I hope you enjoy this chapter.❤
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It was about eleven by the time we woke up. We awoke the same position that we had finally fell asleep in. He stroked my hair and kissed the back of my head. Normally, mornings have way more unencumbered passion, but this morning, now felt different. Today was the day that Liam was leaving. I lay there as he stroked my hair and rubbed my shoulder. I couldn't turn around to face him just yet, because I felt a tear rolling down my cheek. This just seemed cruel, like we were somehow at the effects of some bad karma or something. How was I ever going to let Liam drive away today? I wasn't whimpering, but I felt like Liam realized what was going on.

He laid his head on my back and gently caressed my arm. Way lay in this same way for the longest time without speaking a word. All the while, I was trying to have a talk with myself to pull it together. We had just had a night like I thought I would probably never experience again in my life and didn't want the morning to be filled with tears and sorrow. Finally, I mustered up a "good morning," and kissed my back. I secretly wiped away my tears and was able to roll over and face him

He looked as though he had been fighting back tears as well. He stayed hovered over me for a few minutes, gently moving my hair away from my face and tracing my lips with his fingers, while intently looking into my eyes. Finally, I lightened the moment with a kiss. He was happy to respond in kind, but then we found ourselves back in a penetrating gaze. Again, so many unspoken words in this moment.

I gently rubbed his beautiful shoulders and ran my hands over his chest. This seemed to please him, and he couldn't help but kiss me. Of course, we knew we wouldn't be able to start our day until we completely surrendered to one another's desires once again. We held each other for the longest time before we finally decided we had better get up.

I told him that I would run down and out the casserole in and started to get up, but he gently pulled me back to him. "Forget the casserole." He said with a little smile. He kissed me and pushed my hair out of my face and held me close, like he never wanted to let go. Finally, I said that if I didn't get it in the oven soon, we may not have time to bake it. He said, "That sounds good, actually." And gave me another kiss before I got out of bed and slipped into a lightweight, short lilac colored silk robe that I had brought with me. My robe was lined with a delicate lace and I could tell by the way Liam looked at me in it, that he really liked it.

I headed down the stairs and Liam went straight to the bathroom and I heard him turn on the shower. I preheated the oven and once it came up to temperature, I put the breakfast casserole in. It needed at least forty-five minutes to cook thoroughly, so I unloaded the dishwasher while Liam was in the shower and tidied up the kitchen. I saw my gifts all sitting on the counter and I decided to go over and look at them. I read the cards again and reminisced about the fabulous evening. I had come to the decision that I was not going to turn this into a downer of a mourning, well afternoon now, and I tried to stay focused on all the wonders of the night before.

I focused on Liam's words, "everything will work itself out" and "everything will be ok." It would have to be, I thought, otherwise this felt like a cruel joke. Raleigh was not even three hours away, and it could be fun going back and forth to see each other. I continued to reason with myself. Finally, Liam came scurrying down the stairs and was wearing his boxer shorts and a crisp white t-shirt.

"Something smells awfully good." Was the first thing that came out of his mouth. The only thing that was bigger than Liam's appetite for good food, was his appetite for me, and this made me smile. I peaked in the oven and I could tell that it probably had about twenty minutes or so before it would be done. Liam grabbed my waist from behind and peeked over my shoulder. "Looks good," He said. "I can't wait." He kissed the back of my head. I told him I was going to jump in the shower myself and that if the timer went off, to take it out of the oven and set it on the top of the cooktop.