Forever In My LIFE (Book 4) 2nd Alternate

Part 44

It's just after dark and I have already started on Ramiel's nightly routine when Prince arrives home from Paisley. Since we haven't made it upstairs yet, Prince joins us in the living room for the last few minutes of belly time, and before I do a little bit of reading aloud.

"May I?" he asks, picking up the storybook. I grin and nod, because Ramiel and I both love it when Daddy does the reading. Prince smiles as he picks up the book I had chosen, "On the Night You Were Born" by Nancy Tillman.

He sits on the floor next to me, resting his back against the sofa like I am, his shoulder against mine, and clears his throat. Prince's voice is soft and smooth as he begins to read from the book. Ramiel quickly stills and watches his father with interest, but the tone of Prince's voice evokes a completely different response from me. I want him, I think.

"On the night you were born, the moon smiled with so much wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, "Life will never be the same." Because there had never been anyone like you...ever in the world."

When I sneak a sideways glance at him, his eyes sparkle with the knowledge of what his voice is doing to me, he smiles and an eyebrow raises when I let my hand on settle onto his thigh. His voice never falters as he finishes reading the little story, but when he falls silent, Ramiel resumes his kicking and happy grunting. I reach for another book I had set aside just for this reason, and when I offer it to Prince, he shakes his head gently, "Your turn, Sugar."

I begin to read and I can feel Prince watching me as I do so, Ramiel again falls quiet and listens. I glance at Ramiel while I read, waiting for his tell tale signs of hunger, knowing that it is usually the next part of our routine, but he shows no indication yet.

Instead of reading a third little book to him, I Velcro a couple colorful rattles onto his wrists and let him shake and mouth them while we sit and watch. "He hasn't eaten yet?" Prince asks.

"Nope, not yet," I tickle his feet as he kicks, even Prince knows the routine by now. With Ramiel staying alert longer, and sleeping longer, we're finding the time between feedings is growing as well.

"Did you two get a nap while I was gone?"

"A very short one," another common question after he returns home, "I woke him, though, I was hoping to avoid messing up our routine."

Our appointment threw everything a little out of whack today, and Ramiel is not ready to go to bed. This isn't really a big deal, since Prince and I have no actual schedules, per say, but all the books I've read stress having a set nighttime routine for baby in order to save a lot of grief later. We watch him play with the rattles, tickle him, interact with other toys, and even do our little peek-a-boo game for awhile, but he shows no sign of stopping. "Okay," I sigh, "Maybe we're stimulating him too much," I shake my head, "I just can't believe he's not hungry yet." I look at Prince, "Did you eat?"

When he nods, he asks, "Did you?"

"I nibbled, but I could go for something now," I pull myself off the floor, and Prince follows suit.

When I start towards the kitchen, Prince looks towards Ramiel who's still watching and shaking his wrist rattles, then follows me. There's a small brown paper bag on the counter, not much bigger than a lunch sack, I frown at it as I head to the refrigerator, but don't examine it. Prince stands in the entrance way looking sheepish, almost as if he's waiting for me to ask about what he's brought home. I grab some hummus and pita chips, then I stand at the counter to eat, listening closely for any sound of distress from Ramiel. After I eat a few chips, Prince joins me in the snacking while we listen to the faint sound of rattles that waft through the house.

Within a few more minutes we hear Ramiel's soft grunts turn more demanding, "Yes," I say excitedly and grin at Prince, he laughs.

"I'll get this, Sugar," he indicates the snack, so I head back into the living room. After removing Ramiel's wrist rattles, I gather everything up neatly, placing it beside the portable bassinet, then pick him up off the floor. I toss the blanket he was laying on over the arm of the sofa, and meet Prince who's already by the elevator door. He's holding the paper bag nonchalantly as he waits for me to enter the elevator first, "After you, my dear," he says sweetly.

We step out of the elevator, and make our way into the bedroom where we each head to our prospective sides of the bed. Prince sets the paper bag down onto his nightstand before joining me on the bed. After Ramiel is latched and feeding, I turn to Prince, "So, what's in the bag?"

"Lube," he says matter of factually.

I nod slowly, of course, I think, then I start to giggle.

Prince makes a puzzled face, "Lube is funny?"

I shake my head and laugh a little harder, "Poor Monica, she probably hates us."

Prince, understanding my humor, starts to laugh, "Actually, I sent Kirk," this is followed by a deeper belly laugh, "I had him by batteries, too."

I laugh harder and shake my head at the visual, "Batteries and lube, sounds like a fun night." I turn to Prince, "You should have had him buy whipped cream and chocolate sauce, too." He throws his head back and laughs, slapping his leg at the comedy of the new visual.

It takes a minute before our laughter resides, I think we both needed the good laugh after the awkwardness and stress of this morning. This time when I look over at Prince, he shifts in the bed, gently cradling my head in his hands and without disturbing Ramiel, he kisses me deeply. "I want to make love to you," he whispers when he pulls away. My eyes flutter closed with the thought. "Would you like that?" he asks breathily before kissing my neck.

"Yes," I breathe out, "but I'm a little busy here." I'm not about to rush a feeding for our carnal desires.

"I know, Sugar, we got all night," he breathes into my ear.

"We actually have about four and a half to five hours, if we're lucky," I correct him jokingly.

Prince contemplates the time frame, nods, and chuckles, "I think we can manage."