Milli-Verse: Vacation Part 2

[sbpd_papabear]

Waking up wrapped in Karen's arms is perhaps the best thing Henry could possibly imagine - nuzzling into her sleep-matted hair and inhaling the sweet scent of day-old shampoo and her right there against him. For a long moment, he's afraid to move - afraid to break the moment and move on to a new one. It should scare him that he's so comfortable already, that he's throwing around words like 'love' so haphazardly... but that's what he's become with her. He doesn't just want her, he flat out needs her in his life now - and if that's not love, damn it... nothing is. Soon, though, it will be over - they'll have to go home and Lord knows if he'll ever get to be this close again.

Gently, he presses a kiss against the back of her neck and another to her bare shoulder, squeezing tight around her waist.

And then he feels her shift back against him and murmur something that may be his name and reflexively whispers; "Good morning, beautiful."

Comments

[sbpd_papabear]

"I don't know about you, but I can be excellent..." He nips playfully at her fingers and then adds; "but I can't promise it'll be very clean."

Who needs certainty when he's got her?

[chief_mom]

She can't help giggling again. "Well, no one would know but me."

Rolling close, she kisses his nose, just because she can, and gives him a little shove. "Okay, let's go or we won't. We'll lie here all day and talk about getting up."

Maybe that's just her.

[sbpd_papabear]

Grunting against the easy shove, he returns the kiss with a playful smooch on the cheek.

"Tell you what, why don't I take a quick rinse while you rest up and then while you're getting ready I can go make sure the bar didn't screw up our order?"

[chief_mom]

"I think that's a kind way of saying that I take longer in the shower," which is entirely true, to be fair. "But I can go with it."

She takes a moment just to look at him, adoring him. Her planning, thoughtful, gentle lover.

"I'll be here."

[sbpd_papabear]

Resigning himself to only one more kiss, Henry forces himself up on his feet with a low groan - stretching fully before looking back at her with a sheepish grin, hell... she's seen it. She knows his body's not exactly what it was twenty years ago..

"It's a kind way of saying I want you to resting in bed for as long as you can like the amazing Goddess that you are."

He smiles a little more broadly and takes one more stretch before padding toward the bathroom.

[chief_mom]

"Goddess," she scoffs, but she knows it's worthwhile to enjoy being in the 'he thinks I'm a goddess' stage while it lasts.

She props herself up on an elbow to watch him, not relaxing until well after the door closes and she hears the sound of the shower. The last time she was on a romantic picnic was in college. Remembering that, there's a couple of long moments where she has a quiet worry about how to handle all of this courting.

Then she remembers who she's with, who it is that's taking such care of her. And that's how she handles it; she works with what she knows of him. What she loves of him, too.

She slips from the bed, getting her clothes together, but pauses when she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Not bad, Kare," she tells her reflection. "Not bad at all."

[sbpd_papabear]

He's not even sure what he's doing in the big picture, which both frightens and exhilarates him. It hasn't clicked for him so hard since... well, since Madeline and he married her. Of course, that didn't go so well - but he's feeling optimistic. He's a different man than he was thirty years ago, hell - it's a different world than it was then.

Leaning his head against cool tile of the enclosed shower, he lets the warm water pour over him for a long moment - washing away the petty insecurities with the soft foamy soap bubbles before returning to the room with a damp towel wrapped around his waist.

"Just as perfect as when I left you."

[chief_mom]

"Except for a need for a shower and a visit with some toothpaste," she cups his cheek gently, brushing a kiss to his damp shoulder. "In case I forget later, when I end up back in your arms and talking falls by the wayside, thank you. For everything."

[sbpd_papabear]

"Hey..." he tucks his hand under her chin and lifts her mouth up to his for a proper, half-minty kiss. "Thank you, for trusting me."

It means a lot to him that she trusts him enough to believe him when he says that everything's going to work out.

"And, uh... since I get a bit flustered in the moment I want you to know - I mean it. I love you, Karen. And we're gonna be all right."

[chief_mom]

"I know," she nods, looking into his eyes and seeing the weight of his words, the depth of his feelings, right there looking back at her.

"We'll find our way. Because a very smart man, who I love, once reminded me that I have a right to be happy, and then showed me how much he wanted to help me be happy, and I'm going to hang onto that when the going gets rough."

She strokes his cheek and brushes another little kiss against his warm mouth, then heads toward her own shower. She blows him another kiss before she closes the door, just because she can.

[sbpd_papabear]

An irrepressible smile claims his face and he looks down with pink creeping up behind his ears until he feels the gentle brush of her fingers on his cheek, catching his attention. He can't help it - it's not that she said that she loves him, though that warms him and makes his gut do things it hasn't done in thirty years, it's that she's finally starting to believe that she deserves this.

He lets her go quietly, sheepishly grinning until she closes the door - and honestly a while after as he fumbles his way into another comfortable green palm leaf print shirt and a pair of jeans. Part of him still wants to crawl back into that bed and try to reclaim that lost moment of absolute certainty as they laid together - holding each other like if they let go the other might leave.

Reluctantly, he grabs his wallet and heads downstairs to pick up their basket and catch a beer at the table closest to the stairs - waiting for her to make her appearance.

[chief_mom]

She doesn't dawdle, but she doesn't hurry, either, taking a little care with her hair, and a little bit of makeup.

She likes looking good for him. She'll own that.

When she swishes down the stairs in a blue sundress, she sees him right away, and she can't hold back her smile, waiting for him to see her.

[sbpd_papabear]

Ever watchful, for anything really and here there's a hell of a lot to watch - most of it making very little sense to his very strong real-world sensibilities, he catches her legs first. Feet tucked into comfortable but cute sandals, legs bare to the hem of a soft blue dress that looks comfortable and sexy in that way he doesn't get how some women can pull off while others just look awkward.

He follows the dress up to her sweet face as she reaches the middle of the stairs, offering a wide and welcoming grin as he finishes the rest of his beer.

"Yup, I was right -" he says without hesitation, standing up to meet her.

[chief_mom]

"You are most of the time," she's immediately by his side, because his grin is like a Karen Magnet.

"What, in particular, are you right about this time?"

[sbpd_papabear]

Of course he is, that;s his job - being right and occasionally making food and keeping Shawn from getting fired and arrested. Again.

"Oh, I was just thinking that I bet I'm here with the most beautiful girl in the room... and..." he sweeps his head around, catching women that are no doubt younger, pretty and not even close to what he wants; "sure enough, I just happen to be right."

He takes her by the arm, letting his hand linger on her elbow before sliding down to take her hand; "Want a drink or shall we head out to sample our you-slept-all-morning lunch?"

[chief_mom]

She can't stop herself from giggling. "Most beautiful girl, maybe twenty years ago, with three more beers in you."

She deflects, but being his most beautiful girl? That feels pretty damn amazing. Enough that she's more than happy to be the focus of his attention.

"I think slept-all-morning lunch sounds like a good plan." She squeezes his hand. "What can I carry?"

[sbpd_papabear]

He's got a few choice things to say about twenty years ago, and the fact that he doesn't need even a whiff of alcohol to be sure of it - but he knows she'll just fire right back. Instead, he squeezes her hand in return and picks up the mostly ornamental traditional wicker picnic basket while he takes the larger cooler for himself.

"I'll let you take the basket, besides - what kind of guy would I be if I was going within a hundred yards of a lake without a cooler?"

[chief_mom]

"Not the sort of guy I know," and really, it is kind of unimaginable that any guy she'd know would go to a lake without a cooler of beer and all sorts of things. She runs with a cooler-toting sort of crowd.

As they push through to the outdoors, she's wondering if it's always beautiful weather at the edge of the universe. The day is perfect to sit by the water and daydream with the best guy around.

And look at that, he's holding her hand.

"There'd better be something in this basket that I can feed you."

[sbpd_papabear]

She's really just lucky it isn't his large, battered old Coleman that he refuses to replace as long as it still functions despite the lack of plastic parts that hold the lid on and several battle scars. He's not just cooler-people, he's one of those guys. And she still seems to adore him, so it's not a bad thing.

Grinning, he can't help but stare up at the endless blue sky leading into stuff he can't begin to explain in his lifetime. It's warmer than Santa Barbra this time of year, but not by nice. Perfect for a comfortable afternoon lounging on a blanket with nothing else to do. One more night - one more perfect morning - and he knows they'll have to go back. Their life isn't here, it's back home with the kids and the SBPD and... things. But he takes comfort in knowing they've still got a little more time before they have to force themselves back to that place after their respite.

"Karen... I'd let you feed me anything that qualifies as edible." He murmurs, leaning close as they walk down the path toward the far side where they would most likely be utterly alone; "Unless they packed us broken glass and sewage I think we're okay in that department."

[chief_mom]

"Well good, because I have this platonic ideal of a sunny lakeside picnic in my head, and it involves, amongst other things, feeding each other."

So she's a romantic who is terribly inspired by cheesy movies. Sue her.

"You know what just hit me? When we get home, we'll still have a whole weekend. Which is good. I need to go grocery shopping. And take the guinea pig to the vet."

Okay, that's not so romantic. But it's real.

[sbpd_papabear]

His ideas aren't exactly platonic, but he's quite happy to indulge her in something sweet and romantic.

Leaning over again briefly, he brushes a kiss against her cheek. "You have a weekend. I'm still finishing paperwork on the penny heist."

[chief_mom]

"Oh, Henry, you don't," she stops, frowning. "I know you're not slacking, so..." The paperwork load on something that crosses Henry's desk is automatically complicated, with internal and external documentation, but suddenly she resents what's expected of him.

"What a pain in the ass that whole thing was."

[sbpd_papabear]

Henry's grip on her hand tugs playfully and he offers her a smile; "Just for a little bit. You know how it is when the boys get involved."

He brushes a kiss across her cheek and starts their leisurely pace around the lake again before adding; "Besides, I'm salary so it's not like you have to pay out the overtime it takes to keep it above board."

[chief_mom]

"I know, I just... I don't know. I wonder if we're working you too hard. If I am." She can see the complications of their professional roles looming ahead. She'd going to have to do her best to nip those right in the bud.

"Well, nothing to think about while we're here, right?" She squeezes his hand and sighs happily thinking about his arms around her again.

[sbpd_papabear]

For Henry, it still hasn't clicked that it'll even be an issue. Part of him naively thinks that as long as they're keeping it under wraps for other reasons (namely her husband, but also the fact that it falls in that gray area about interdepartmental dating - technically she is his boss) it won't have any impact on their work. He life is already so intertwined with the SBPD anyway, between his history and now Shawn, it almost makes sense that he'd fall in love there.

"Don't worry about it, Karen... you know I wouldn't let that happen." He lets his hand slip away from hers and wraps it around her waist, pulling her close as they way. "The only thing I want you to think about right now is a hearty lunch and the ravishing you're going to get before we go home."