Mary and Halley (sequel to When Mary Met Halley)

five

We got a few more hours of sleep before starting the day, and managed to get the kids into bed early that night so we could start decorating the several dozen sugar cookies that Shiloh and Jasper were taking to school the next day for their Halloween parties. 

By nine the three of us sat around the kitchen drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream, Leif watching us finish the last of the cookies. His efforts were remedial at best and looked like a kindergartner had done them. The cat and crow were off somewhere, though it had been dark for hours and crows usually perched somewhere to chill at night.

"Why does this frosting look hella weird?" Leif asked critically as he ate a seventh cookie and reached for an eighth. 

Halley slapped his hand. "It's made with natural food coloring instead of toxic chemicals, that's why."

He grabbed a spider with his other hand. "Of course it is," he came back, shoving it into his mouth. "Luckily it tastes okay." 

"Oh please. Like that would stop you. And at least eat the ones we messed up," she admonished, of which there were only a few.

He surveyed our handiwork. "Tug's are better than yours."

I kicked him under the table. "What the hell, they are not."

He looked at me skeptically. "They are, look. See the little details? It's okay for you to excel at something, Mary Mary quite contrary," he told me confidently. "Isn't it, Halley. Tell her."

She grinned a little. "They are better, and he is right," she told me almost apologetically, sliding the one she'd just finished across to me. It was Frankenstein's monster, holding a dripping heart in each hand. "For you."

"Romantic," I said, biting his head off as Leif tiptoed his fingers toward another one. "Did you even have any dinner?" I asked him, admiring Halley as she began decorating a gravestone. The icing I'd made was the perfect consistency for details and was fun to work with, producing professional results. I'd always liked to decorate cakes and desserts.

"I had a sandwich. Made from organic peanut butter, naturally," he teased. "And probably cage-free peanuts, right, Hal?" His makeup was magazine-worthy.

"Shut it, you," she told him, adding a little grass to the corner of the gravestone. 

I pulled the plate farther away from him. "Wow, look at your perfect eyeliner, ooh la la. And did you contour?" I asked mockingly.

He preened. "I did, why, want me to teach you how? Just don't expect the same stunning results." His phone lit up. "Aha," he said, thumbing through his texts. "Booty call."

I wiped the table off and took our empty mugs to the sink. "Do we get to meet this guy or?"

He stood and felt through his pockets for his beanie. "Who, Reuben? Highly unlikely. He's still in the closet, so we're forced to sneak around, which is fun. Super strict Catholic family." He found the hat and pulled it down over his hair. "He even thinks he's going to hell for his sins, and kind of hates himself for giving in to his homosexual urges, which gives the whole thing an extra . . . " He gestured flamboyantly and raised an eyebrow. "Kink."

He was, as always, the king of oversharing. "That sounds like a healthy relationship," I said facetiously. "No, really."

"Don't hassle me, Tug. It's just for fun, I'm done with serious shit," he said adamantly. "Y'all can have your Happily Ever After label, it's not for me." 

"Yeah, well, you can have fun without it leaving marks," I muttered. 

"Yeah, yeah." He read another text. "Oh damn, don't wanna be late. He does not like to wait! Bye!" He snatched one more cookie and disappeared. 

She reached out and touched my nose with a frosting-covered finger as I capped the sprinkles. "Don't worry about the cookies; I made an extra dozen for him to steal," she confided.

I wiped it off. "I love an intellectual." I stood behind her so I could pull out her rubber band and comb through her hair with my fingers. It was thicker than ever and needed to be brushed, giving me a reason to tug gently through the tangles. 

She closed her eyes and made a contented sound, letting her head fall forward. "Got a call for a new case today, gonna be hard. The mom apparently got drunk last year and her three year old went after a ball in the street and got hit. So he was in the hospital for awhile, and hasn't even seen her in almost a year."

I got the chills because that could have so easily been one of Hazel's kids. That kind of job wasn't for me, and I didn't know how she did it. It was good that she was able to, because she helped a lot of kids and made them feel safe, but it was emotionally wrecking. "That's awful."

"Right?" She turned her head to the other side, her eyes closed, and I brushed the hair away from her face to gather it and let it fall. I was mildly obsessed still and totally fine with that fact. She could have been bald and I would have felt the same about her, but I did love her hair a lot.

And her face. And her body. And her mind and heart and soul--

"You worried about Leif?"

I considered, reaching to smooth her eyebrow before resuming my finger-combing. "Maybe a little? What do you think?"

"I think you should never stop doing that." She yawned. "Yeah, I mean, like you said; it doesn't sound all that healthy. Knowing him, he's going to do what he wants, though."

That was the truth.

We heard PK meowing before he pushed through the cat flap, closely followed by his crow comrade. "Where've you guys been?" I asked them. The cat went straight to his food and began gulping it down as if his jaw was unhinged. Poe flew up to the top of the fridge and looked at me expectantly. "Can I feed you, highness?" I left Halley long enough to get him some rotini pasta, then buried my hands in her hair again, eliciting a moan from her that lit a fire in my lower belly. 

"Getting up at five is too early," she lamented. Jasper had been awake that early, Hank shortly after, and she'd somehow managed to keep them quiet so the rest of us would sleep.

"It is," I agreed, moving her hair to the side so I could kiss under her ear in the spot that made her shiver. "Thank you again."

"Hey, I didn't have to go get my drunk brother in the middle of the night," she pointed out. Joey was sulking in his room. We'd all heard Char yelling at him before she left for work at two, and she wasn't home yet. "That sucked more than getting up at five, I'm sure."

I wasn't really mad. I got it, even if he thought I didn't. I also saw Charlotte's side, considering our families and the harm alcohol had caused. "Mmm-hmm," I agreed, trailing kisses down her neck now. I still felt like I could never get enough of her. Luckily she didn't seem to mind.

"Girl, we still have like a dozen cookies left . . . " She inhaled sharply as my lips continued moving down. "Of course, some kids won't want icing," she amended a little faintly, turning to give me better access as I pushed the strap of her tank top off her shoulder.

"Shhh," I said as we both rose to face each other. She kissed me, sucking in my bottom lip and biting down hard enough to send a thrill through me. She tasted like sugar and hot cocoa and my future, and I let her lead me to bed.