Another Life (emison)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Extra long chapter. Longest yet.

Alison stretched widely as her body awoke. She couldn't help but smile as her movement caused Emily's arms to tighten around her and pull her closer. Alison took a moment to allow her girlfriend to snuggle into her, breathing in the heavenly scent that only Emily could ever possess.

It had been a month since they'd gotten back together, and Alison didn't think that it could have been any more perfect. They were stronger than ever and living with Emily had been so natural. She'd slipped straight into all of Alison and Estella's routines without a problem and Estella loved having Emily around all the time. Alison had lost count of how many times she'd simply watched her two girls dance or tell each other stories or braid each other's hair or discuss the underlying meanings in Disney movies.

Life actually could not be more perfect for Alison at that particular point.

That particular Friday was a very special Friday. A certain little blonde was celebrating her seventh birthday and Alison had a huge surprise for her. Not even Emily knew about it, but she was pretty sure that her girlfriend would be just as excited.

Alison lifted her head slightly and blinked her eyes open. It was six, but she needed to get up and start preparing for Estella's super special day. Her birthday was all about her – she got her favorite breakfast and a present in bed (being Estella, one present was never enough, but Alison loved spoiling her daughter). She and Alison would then rummage through her closet to pick her outfit for the day and Estella would pick the music for the morning (ok, so that one wasn't restricted to her birthday) and they would sing loudly as they got ready for the day.

The blonde lifted a hand from its resting place on her girlfriend's hip and softly brushed strands out of her sleeping face. She smiled and settled back on her pillow to look at her beautiful Emily. Even though they'd known each other for so long and she'd been in love with her for most of that time, she could never get over how stunning she was. It astounded her everyday that she got to wake up to this goddess every morning. It certainly made all the heartache she'd gone through worth it. The sense of peace she felt when she did things like this outweighed anything bad that they'd dealt with before.

"It's creepy when you stare like that," Emily mumbled, her eyes still closed.

Alison grinned and snuggled closer to her girlfriend's warm body.

"Can you blame me?" she replied in a whisper, nuzzling her cheek. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world because I get to wake up to the most beautiful woman in the world every morning."

Alison didn't need to pull away or open her eyes to know that Emily was blushing.

"Besides," she added, "I'm allowed to stare at you."

"Oh, yeah?" Emily replied, slowly opening her eyes and smiling at Alison.

"Yeah. I laid claim to that gorgeous face years ago. I'm the only one allowed to stare so unabashedly."

"So my body's fair game?" Emily teased.

Alison pulled her girlfriend's naked body flush with her own. "Hell no," she growled softly. "You're all mine." She leaned in to kiss the brunette's exposed shoulder. "Every single millimetre of your body is all mine."

Emily shivered and Alison smiled against her skin.

"Think you could live with me owning you?" she murmured.

"Yes," Emily breathed.

Alison pulled her lips away and settled her head back on the pillow so that she could look into the dark eyes that had so captivated her heart.