Family Oriented

As wonderful as our weekend had been, I was a little relieved to get on the plane to head back to Denver on Sunday.  I wanted nothing more that to lay in the tub and relax for awhile, then sleep in our own bed.  "Did you have a good weekend?" Brody asked me, once we were settled into our seats on the plane.  He took my hand and kissed it before settling our now-entwined hands on the arm rest between us.

"I did," I said, smiling and leaning my head back to rest it on the seat.  "I hope it wasn't too crazy for you.  Thank you for pushing for it."

"I had a great time," he insisted.  "You guys really know how to celebrate the 4th."

I ended up sleeping off and on for most of the flight.  Brody shook me gently awake when we began our final descent, and I was wide awake by the time we got off the plane.  I was thankful we didn't have luggage to wait for and within ten minutes of deplaning we were driving out of the parking area.

While we were on our way home from the airport, Brody got a work phone call.  He swore as he hung up, then glanced over at me.  "Where to?" I asked him wryly, having gotten the general gist of the conversation.

"Chicago," he replied.  "Maybe.  I might not have to.  We'll see."  This weekend had been the start of Brody's week to be on call, but Neil had insisted on doing it for the holiday weekend to thank Brody for doing it when he had been tending to his sick mother.  But now we were back, and Brody was back on call and would probably be heading out to Chicago in the morning, apparently.

When we got home, Brody hauled both our carry on suitcases upstairs and then went down to his office.  I immediately filled the bathtub with water and a bath bomb and submerged myself in the hot, scented water up to my chin.

I had been relaxing in the tub for nearly an hour when the bathroom door opened.  Brody stepped into the bathroom, now wearing just a pair of basketball shorts, and held a towel out to me.  "Almost done?" he asked hopefully, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"I can be," I replied, letting my eyes drift down from his face, over his chest, and across his hard stomach.  I sat up and fiddled with the drain until the water started to disappear, then stood.  Brody watched me, his eyes nowhere near my face, and I loved watching him look at me and knowing that I turned him on.

"Good," he said gruffly, stepping over and wrapping the towel around me.  He kissed me hard as he pressed the towel against me, gently wiping away traces of the foam and color from the bath bomb.  He pulled away and held out a hand to me and I took it to steady myself as I got out of the tub.  He immediately pulled me against him and pressed his mouth to my neck, kissing, sucking, and gently biting.  I took a step towards the door, pulling him with me, and we stumbled towards the bedroom, still locked together.  He stopped in the doorway between bathroom and bedroom, pressing me against the doorframe before sinking to his knees in front of me.  His tongue on my inner thigh made me shiver, and I pushed one hand into his hair, while using the other to grab the doorframe above my head to steady myself.

When my legs started to shake, Brody pulled one of them over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around the other, supporting my weight and keeping them steadier.  I tipped my head back against the doorframe and moaned, tugging on his hair as I came.  Once I caught my breath, Brody picked me and carried me to the bed, flipping me over so I was laying on my stomach as soon as he set me down.  His lips trailed down my spine as he slid his shorts off.  He pushed into me and put his lips on the back of my neck, sucking and biting there and on my shoulder.

When he rolled off me, we both laid silently sprawled across the bed, catching our breath.  After about a minute, Brody rolled back over towards me and trailed his fingers over my back, tracing random patterns against my skin.  "Are you going to Chicago?" I asked sleepily, keeping perfectly still so I didn't discourage his touch.

"Yeah, in the morning," he replied.  He slid his fingers across my back for awhile longer, then tugged me over against him.  I laid with my head on his chest, matching my breaths to his and relaxing even further.

"Want me to take you to the airport?"  I had taken Monday off.

"You don't have to," he replied, shaking his head.

I lifted my head and looked at him.  "I want to."

"My flight leaves at 8:20," he warned me.

That was actually almost enough to convince me to abandon my offer, but I shrugged and said, "That's okay."

But when Brody's alarm went off the next morning, I almost regretted insisting on taking him.  Then I realized I was being a brat and dragged myself out of bed.  I decided that I would have a productive day instead of a lazy day and packed my gym bag, then checked out the fridge and made a quick grocery list.

I was throwing together some breakfast sandwiches by the time Brody came downstairs showered, packed, and ready to go.  "Is this real?" he teased me, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing my cheek.  "This isn't actually my non-morning-person girlfriend up and making me breakfast for a change, is it?"

"No, it's not," I retorted.  "It's actually your non-morning-person fiancée up and making you breakfast for change."

He chuckled.  "Touché."  He took the breakfast sandwich and travel mug of coffee that I handed him.  I grabbed my tumbler of iced coffee, double checked to make sure the stove and Keurig were off, and then headed towards the door.

Brody drove, giving me a little more time to wake up.  I actually offered to drive for once, but he was content to do it, so I let him.  When we got to the airport, we both got out so I could get into the driver's seat.  I hugged him and said goodbye, and we parted ways.  I drove back into town and went straight to the gym.  After my workout and a quick shower, I headed for the grocery store.

When I got home, I put the groceries away, threw in a load of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the main level of the house, and cleaned the sliding glass door because it was embarrassingly disgusting.  When I was finished, I flopped on the couch and reached for my phone.  Lauren and Alex weren't coming back from Wisconsin until tomorrow, so we weren't having our usual Monday night dinner.  I called Kinsley, hoping she'd answer.  She did.

"I miss you," I said in response to her greeting.  "Have dinner with me sometime this week?"

She laughed.  "I miss you too," she replied.  "And I'd love to.  For real, I mean.  I know I keep bailing on you guys, and I'm sorry I couldn't make it out to Wisconsin for your party.  What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing at all.  I'd love to have dinner!"

We made plans to meet up around 7, and once I folded the laundry, I figured I'd been productive enough and laid down to take a nap.  I didn't end up actually sleeping, but I enjoyed relaxing with the bed to myself.  I missed Brody when he was gone, and I never slept well the first night, but after that, I remembered how awesome it can be sleeping by yourself in big, comfy bed.

I got up and got ready to meet Kinsley, then drove into town.  She was always late, so I didn't bother to hurry.  I still beat her by 15 minutes.  When she finally came in, I was seated at a table with a drink, scrolling through Facebook on my phone.  "Hi!" she greeted me brightly.  "I'd apologize for being late, but..." she shrugged.

I laughed.  "Don't worry about it," I replied.  I stood and hugged her.  Once we were seated, I leveled a serious look at her.  "Where the hell have you been?"

She looked sheepish.  "I've been...around?"  I cocked an eyebrow.  "I'd been spending a lot of time with Damien.  We were talking about moving in together, but then we got in a really huge fight, and I don't know what's going to happen."

"Oh, Kins," I said sympathetically.  "When?"

"This weekend," she responded, letting her eyes fall down to the tabletop.  Our server came to take our orders, and when he left, she looked back up at me.  She looked like she was fighting tears.  "He's just so family oriented, and I'm...not.  And it's hard for me to constantly be doing things with his family.  I'm not used to it.  And I cannot stand his sister!  She's such a spoiled, entitled little brat, and I can't stand to be around her."

"Is that what you guys fought about?" I asked.

Kinsley nodded miserably.  "I guess I can't even call it a fight.  I mean, it started as a fight.  He wanted to do something with his family, and I suggested we do something else.  He wasn't into it, I threw a fit like a child, and two hours later we were having a very calm 'is this a good fit?' conversation."

"What?!" I yelped, loudly enough that the couple at the table next to us looked at me.  "Sorry," I muttered.  "You can't be serious.  You guys have been inseparable for months.  He's been so good to you.  How can it suddenly not be a good fit?"

"I don't know," she mumbled.  "He was so understanding when I told him about my family.  And I've tried to be willing to do whatever with his, but I just reached my limit.  And he was all, 'If family isn't important to you, I don't know that we make sense together, because family is the most important thing to me.'"

"Damn him," I said angrily.  "That's not fair."

She shrugged.  "It's not, but if that's how he feels, then I don't want to force him to stay with me."  She took a long drink of her cocktail, then said, "Can we talk about something else?  Like about this October wedding you're having?"

I felt weird talking about my upcoming wedding when Kinsley was wondering if she was in the process of breaking up with her boyfriend, but she insisted on talking about it, asking me several questions and sounding excited.  After that, we talked about our jobs and Brody's job for awhile.  It was really great to catch up with her, and I was glad I'd called.  I hugged her extra tightly when we left and demanded that she come to happy hour on Thursday.  She promised she would, and we both headed for home.