Under The Mistletoe

Part 22

Dry Your Tears

I swallowed hard at his words. I turned in his arms and met his eyes. "I love you too. I don't want to sleep alone. I'm sorry for whatever I did." I snuggled into his chest and buried my head in his shoulder. The tears were still falling.

I just wanted to go to sleep. She didn't do anything wrong. I fought anger and frustration at the assumption. "You didn't do anything wrong. Hush now. Go to sleep." I smoothed her hair and kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to me. "Please. It's okay. Just sleep."

I took a couple of deep breaths and nodded. I settled myself as best I could. I tried to match my breathing to his and I closed my eyes. I drifted off to sleep held tight in his arms.

I woke up early the next morning, still tangled in Lizzie and perfectly right where I wanted to be. I kissed the top of her head. "Hey?"

I woke up still snuggled into Avi and very warm. "What?"

"It's morning, Sleepyhead." I kissed her nose and smiled, "I need to go to the bathroom. Would you like breakfast, beautiful?"

I hugged him tight for a minute. I just needed him close to me. I nodded. "I would love some breakfast. Do I need to get up?" I smiled and giggled. I snuggled back under the covers after he got up and cuddled his pillow.

I squinted at her. "You can help." I kissed her gently. laughed and patted her butt. "I need to go to the bathroom. Meet you in the kitchen, Lazy." I extricated myself from our tangle and slipped away to the bathroom. I waited in the kitchen for her to join me. I would not have been surprised to see pouty and hoped like hell I wouldn't see puffy bloodshot eyes in her beautiful face, just sleepy ones.

I laid in bed a little bit longer before I made myself get up and go to the bathroom. I splashed some water on my face and looked at myself in the mirror. I pulled my hair into a messy bun and pulled on some comfy socks. I made my way into the kitchen to find a very handsome man putting the tea kettle on. "What can I do to help?"

I turned and smiled and opened my arms.

As if drawn by a magnet, I found myself in his arms almost instantly. I wrapped my arm around his waist and I didn't want to let go.

I put my hands, gently on her back. I just held her for what felt like an eternity. It was warm and comforting. I felt safe and happy. "Okay, we better cook. What would you like to eat for breakfast?"

I felt relaxed and safe in his arms. I never wanted to be anywhere else. "I bet you would taste pretty good." I giggled and winked at him. "How about biscuits and gravy and hash browns?

"So naughty." I booped her nose as I pulled away from the hug. "Eggs and you got a deal. Sausage gravy?"

"Mmm. Yes please." I practically purred. "What would you like me to do?" I went into the living room and got my new mug out of my gift bag. I rinsed it out and got his mug out of the cabinet, along with tea bags and the honey.

"Sausage and gravy. I'll prep the eggs and get the hashbrowns started. They take forever to cook."

I got the oven preheating for the biscuits and he brought me the sausage. I got it in its pan and started it cooking. The gravy wouldn't take long, so it could wait a bit. We worked around each other like we had been doing it forever. It was nice. He took a moment to put hot water in each of our mugs and dropped the tea bags in. It wasn't long before we had breakfast completed.

We put our food on the table and sat down to eat. I dug right it, avoiding conversation and feeding my hungry face.

We ate in silence for a while. I pushed my food around a bit more than I was eating it. "Hey, Avi?"