Josie shut the office door with a soft click, her lips twitching with barely contained amusement. "Can't we go one day without fighting?"
Hope quickly looked up from her paper work. She had two choices. Either bluster her way through the rest of the conversation, or let her mortification melt her from the inside out like a campfire. "In my defense I was protecting my daughter from a psycho bitch. Obviously"
"Although I'm not condoning your actions, I can't deny I'd probably do the same thing," Josie said, her smile warm as she walked over to Hope and settled into her lap. She wrapped her arms around Hope's neck, snuggling closer and inhaling the scent of her expensive perfume. "Why do you look like you're afraid I'm going to bite you?" Josie teased, laughter dancing in her eyes.
Hope adjusted Josie pulling her leg over her, now straddling Hope. "How am I suppose to look at you?" Hope tilted Josies chin with her fingers, forcing her to meet her bright blue eyes.
"Like you can't wait to get your hands on me. Like every time our eyes meet, you can't help but think of the last time I made you scream so hard you forgot your own name" Josies breath hitched. She leaned closer, mouth brushing against hers. "Like your obsessed with me"
Before Hope could respond, Josie pulled away, denying her the kiss she was expecting. Letting out a heavy sigh, Josie readjusted herself, settling comfortably in her wife's lap. She glanced at the cluttered desk, the stacks of papers and folders, and Hope's neglected laptop. "You know, taking time to relax doesn't change the fact that you're strong, smart, and incredibly hardworking. You should be proud of yourself," Josie said, grabbing a pen from the holder and beginning to jot down notes. She nudged the laptop closer to them, determined to help Hope find some peace amidst the chaos.
"Since we've been here, I wondered why you were such an infuriating person," Hope chuckled softly, her eyes softening as she watched Josie effortlessly dive into the workload. Unable to resist, she pressed a kiss to the temple of her wife's head, lingering for a moment before her lips trailed down to Josie's neck.
"Hey, what I said just now was pretty good, right?" Josie quipped, a playful glint in her eyes as she continued to work.
"Right now, I'm running for all I'm worth, but you're so far ahead of me, and running it easily. Sometimes you turn around, running backwards calling out to me." Hope hugged Josie tightly. "I hate to be beaten so that really infuriated me. But this time, the fact that you're running ahead of me helped me. You're more focused on my well being then Anything else. Even if I'm Hope Mikaelson the multi-billionaire C.E.O you're still beating me. Just watch. Soon I'll over take you, then I'll be the one worrying about you."
Hope lowered her head, the weight of her emotions pressing heavily on her chest. A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to swallow past the knot of fear and uncertainty. Yet, in Josie's arms, she found solace, a glimmer of hope amidst the turmoil of her thoughts.
"What are you talking about? Sometimes while you slave away at work, I'm relaxing, reading, getting pampered like a queen. You know, when I'm not helping you in the office," Josie interjected gently, tossing the folder back onto the desk before moving to sit on the edge, facing Hope.
"I feel a little... a little bit like I failed... I'm stuck here watching everybody move on with their lives while I sit back doing nothing but work. Today proved that to me. Today, I saw my daughter get into a fight without hesitation because they said something about her sister. Haylee didn't flinch when she got called names. Do you know what that's like... trying to hold everything in... being called a monster?" Hope's voice wavered,
"When was the last time you had a serious conversation with Haylee?" Josie asked softly, her expression filled with concern as she reached out to gently touch Hope's hand. "Besides this afternoon... it wasn't much of a talk though... I don't remember," Hope admitted, unable to meet Josie's gaze.
Josie nodded understandingly, her smile never faltering as she squeezed Hope's hand reassuringly.
"Haylee is really smart, you'll be surprised just how much she understands for a 6 year old. Talk to her before we leave back home. You'll be surprised. Come on babe Dinner is ready" Josie stood up from where she was sitting taking a hold of hopes hand. An electric shock passed between them when hopes warm palm touched hers, crackling all the way down Hopes spine. Josie swallowed back the mix of anxiety and anticipation bubbling in her throat and forced herself to meet hopes eyes. The intense way she was looking at Josie made her wonder if Hope felt it too.
"How is it that you still manage to send an electric shock through my body." Hope laughed. She slicked back her hair off her face trying to hide the redness in her cheeks. Josie bit her lip in the way that had been driving Hope crazy since they first met.
Josie moved closer to her, not hesitating to show her intentions. This time her lips met Hopes, her arms wrapped around her neck. A kiss. A kiss so simple, so sweet, so filled with love that it made the wish they never had to part.
Hope pulled Josie in tighter, her hand wandering under her wife's shirt. But before Hope could pull it up, Josie stopped her. "Easier there" she laughed before giving Hope one last kiss, and pulled away. "We have food to eat"
She turned around and closed Hopes Laptop and dragged her down stairs where the rest of the family was playing scrabble.
"And a double letter score is 18,19,20,23 and a triple word score makes a total of 69 points. I win" Rebekah clapped her hands in victory.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute there is no such word as that" Davina stood up and pointed towards Rebekahs word.
"There certainly is" Rebekah crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes.
"Fine, I'll look it up, and if it isn't in the dictionary, I win," Davina declared, sinking back into her chair with determination.
"We don't have a dictionary, I tossed it into the lake so Haylee wouldn't read it anymore. And beat me in this game" Rebekah scoffed.
"You stole a little girl's dictionary?" Freya chuckled incredulously, giving her sister a disapproving look.
"Bex "DisDam" is not a word you made it up." Davina pulled out her phone ready to search it up.
"It's a word" Rebekah protested.
"Fine, use it in a sentence," Davina challenged, her finger hovering over the search button.
"You're not good at this DisDam game," Rebekah replied, throwing her hands up in frustration and storming away from the table. Davina bit her lip, trying to contain her laughter and frustration simultaneously.
"Wow, you give up a quicky for this?" Hope teased, prompting Josie to roll her eyes in amusement.
"Go make me a plate," Josie quipped back, playfully nudging Hope in the direction of the kitchen.
____________________________
Family dinner went as normal as usual. The best thing about eating together as a family was the possibility of laughing more than having an actual conversation. To get together on a moment notice like every day was Christmas an enjoying time together. It was heart warming. Hope was the happiest when her family took her mind off work. Nothing mattered in that moment and her brain knew it and shut off anything work related.
After dinner, Freya and Davina insisted on cleaning up the table while Rebekah and Kol washed the dishes giving Josie and Hope time to tuck their daughters goodnight. Hope entered her room. The soft glow from Josie's tablet illuminated her beautiful face against the dim light of the bedroom. Haylee and Aj on either side of their mom tucked in comfortably. Perks of having a King size bed Hope thought. The beautiful melody of the music coming from hopes vintage record player softly played through the room. Josie looked up at her wife waiting for her to join them, but Hope pointed to the bathroom signaling for a shower.
Hope had her hands up against the marble wall as her rainfall shower washed over her entire body head to toe. Once Jed gets here we will finish the proposal for the new project then after that I will never work on family vacation ever again. I will never work late hours, and I'll spend actual quality time with each of my girls. Hope muttered to herself trying to give herself some reassurance that everything was going to work out at the end. It always had. They had a whole month left of their vacation. A bit of work shouldn't be so bad. When Josie helped Hope with her work they finished it in record time.
But then her mind began to wander, drifting to the unsettling thoughts that had been plaguing her in recent days.
The note.
The doll.
The mysterious figure lurking in the shadows.
Try as she might, Hope couldn't shake the feeling of unease that enveloped her whenever these thoughts surfaced. At first, she had managed to push them to the back of her mind, dismissing them as nothing more than fleeting paranoia. But now, with the night stretching out before her and no distractions to occupy her thoughts, they returned with a vengeance.
"She's not stupid to come back and do something" Hope said to herself. "but what if" hope let out a sigh.
Penelope was getting to her.
And if it wasn't one thing it was another, then another, and so much that it drove Hope insane. For once she just wanted to forget the world. For once she wanted to spend time with her family without having to think about work or a stupid, jealous, bitter person trying to take her wife away.
The more Hope thought about the situation, the angrier she got. The more she wanted to take something, anything and throw it, just to take her anger out. But she couldn't. Not now anyways.
Her wife, and daughters were in the bedroom. Sleeping.
She didn't want to worry Josie.
After getting mad about work, Hope could only assume Josie's reaction about Penelope wouldn't be to good.
So instead she thought about Josie. Her wife. The only person that just by the simple thought can calm every part of her body, relaxing and letting go of everything that was on her mind before.
Hope rinsed the shampoo from her hair and tried not to think about how long it might have been since Josie and Hope actually had alone time just the two of them. Or imagine her sinking to her knees and calling out her name in that sultry voice of hers. She prayed her kids didn't sleep in their bedroom tonight. It was going to be hard enough to keep the blood from rushing through her body the minute she lay down next to Josie in that bed. When Hope was designing this house she specifically requested for her bedroom to be sound proof for obvious reason. Hope turned off the water drying her body with her towel. She threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top on walking out of the bathroom.
Hope saw Josie still reading however her girls were now sound asleep. Hope climbed onto her side of the bed, resting her head on the pillow, and wrapped her arm protectively over Aj who was now in the middle of both mothers.
"I tried to keep them awake for as long as possible so you could say goodnight but they fell asleep while I was reading to them" Josie said kindly putting her iPad onto the nightstand. She clapped her hands twice making the lights in the room turn off. "Aj still thinks I have some magic powers" Josie laughed getting comfortable in her bed. Hope found her way to Josies hand and interlocking the fingers together. "Goodnight babe" Josie whispered.
"Goodnight my love"
_______________
Hope didn't know what time it was when she woke up, but the knee wedged between her legs belonged unmistakably to Josie. She also felt a weight on her face, arms and legs draped over her. Aj literally cuddling hopes head. She removed Ajs limbs from her to get her daughter in a more comfortable position but Josie had completely taken over her spot.
Hope looked up at the ceiling where her skylight was slightly open to reveal the night time starry sky.
It was still night Hope thought. Before Hope can adjust her daughter Josie quickly shot up a little panic.
"Did you hear that?" Josie turned towards Hope who was sitting up on the bed.
"It must of been the wind" Hope said as quietly as she could. Trying to hear whatever it was that scared Josie.
A new fear gripped Hope as she contemplated getting up. What if the intruder returned? What if they were watching them right now? The memory of the chilling note flashed in her mind, sending shivers down her spine.
With a soft sigh, Hope forced herself to stand up. Her legs trembled with each step she took towards the window. Fear wasn't an emotion she easily succumbed to, but something about this situation unnerved her deeply.
The moon cast its eerie light over the landscape, illuminating the edge of the nearby forest. But there was nothing—no movement, no sound, not even a rustle from the nocturnal creatures.
Hope's heart pounded in her chest as she scanned the darkness outside, her senses on high alert. Whatever—or whoever—had caused Josie's alarm seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Hope took a deep breath, grabbing the currents and closing them. The once dim room now turned dark as the only source was right above their bed. The skylight. Hope got back into bed, going into the covers, moving closer to Josie.
"So nothings wrong" Josie whispered.
"Other than the fact your feet are ice cold? No." Hope tried to defuse the tension, but her heart was also racing. When Josie was alarmed and panic it made Hope instinctively go into protective mode. She felt the awareness reach every inch of Josies body. She shifted closer to her wife. Pulling Aj gently to reach Hope. She climbed onto her wife and slowly pushed her to the bed. There was no shyness, just invitation. And it was the sexiest thing she'd ever heard. "The kids"
Josie leaned down, brushing her lips against Hopes and she didn't do one fucking thing to stop her.
"Are you kissing" Haylee yelled out.
"Does that mean it's playtime" Aj also woke up rubbing her eyes.
Josie shot backwards falling into the bed before Hope could respond to the kiss. "What are you two doing awake" the two blue eyed girls sat at the edge of the bed, smiling like creepy little dolls from a horror movie that came to life in the darkness saying come play with us before they kill you. Identical grins split across their faces.
"We wanna watch the sunrise again" genuine or faked, the tremble in the little Mikaelson voice was a stealth weapon designed to pierce the human heart. Josie however being immune to it raised at brow. She was the queen of pouting. Hope however basically worshipped the ground in which her daughters walked on. Giving in to any request no matter what. Hope looked at the time. 3:45 am.
"It's to early love, let's wait a few more hours okay" Josie said moving back to her original spot. The sniffling and tears that burst out of the girls was another punch in the face.
"But...but...but we want to watch the sun raise"
"F-Fine... let's go" Hope stuttered sheepishly. Josie didn't blame her for giving in to her daughters 'demand'. She could tell from the look on hopes face she was incapable of saying no to them. The problem was she was pretty sure her expression right now said the same thing about Hope.
Once the girls were ready they headed outside. Before they could get on the trail Hope stopped them. "Get in the car well drive around until the sunrise" she pointed to the car.
"Babe as much as I love the Jeep, there is no roof and the girls might get sick with the cold wind in their face" Josie said leaning against the car. Hope thought for a moment snapping her fingers before rushing back inside. Not to long after Hope rushed back outside different set of keys in hand.
"We'll take aunt bex Range Rover. We just take the boosters and put them in the car" Hope suggested. Josie nodded and began to remove the small booster seats from the Jeep.
Once they were on the road Hope began to drive. How was it that they got stuck driving late at night with nothing to do. Right, it was because Hope always caved. But Josie didn't mind it. She knew the girls always got sleepy on car rides and this was a perfect plan to get them to fall asleep once more. Soft music played throughout the car as to not distract the girls. Both Josie and Hope looked at one another before quickly turning away.
Why am I getting nervous around my wife like some teen around their crush. Hope thought to herself feeling heat on her cheeks.
Damn I can't bring myself to look Hope in her eyes. Josie took a deep breath trying to regain her composure. Josie looked down at her hand that was resting on her lap. Hopes hand on the gear shift. I think about 10 centimeters? Josie thought.
It's only 10 centimeters, but... I can't close in on those last 10 centimeters. Both Hope and Josie thought in unison. Josie thought it was ridiculous how she couldn't touch her wife's hand. She always felt the sparks when she was around Hope. This felt different. This felt more intense.
"That painting you did this morning. It was really beautiful. I hung it up in my office" Hope broke the silence releasing the tension in the car. "What inspired it... really"
"The night we met. When we snuck out you took me to the bayou Remember. I was so intrigued by the fireflies I began to chase them trying to catch them. I slipped and fell into the water. I couldn't swim, I couldn't breathe. I thought it was the end, when I reached my hand up yours reached down. It was dark but we were trying to find each other's. You dove down and carried me tightly even though you were also struggling to stay above water." Josie smiled at the memory.
"I remember. I heard a splash in the water and I turned towards you but you were gone. I saw you struggling so I tried to grab you but I couldn't. I started getting more and more mad that I finally jumped in to get you. You hung onto me so tightly. That was the second time I never wanted to let you out of my arms." Hope finally took Josie hand into her own caressing the back of her hand with her thumb.
"You know today was the first time in a long time since you picked up a brush and painted. Before we became busy you use to hide in your art room painting when you were stress, now you just drown in more work" Josie opened the car window slightly letting the fresh summer night wind hit her face. It helped cool her off.
"Y-yeah" Hope muttered almost ashamed. "The more Mikaelson industries grows the more work load. But it was fun, painting with the girls I mean. I wanna do it again."
"Hey Hope... you're really good at painting. I was wondering... what color is love" Josie gave a shy smile as she starred out the window. She felt a little squeeze on her hand.
Hope took a quick glance at her wife. Her eyes somehow shining brightly.
Love.
It was a simple thing for people, a mystery for others. But for her, the color of love was an easy thing to pin point. The color of love was, to Hope, brown. Brown eyes, Brown hair. It was Pink. Pink puffy lips that pouted even when happy. The color of love was whatever color Josie was wearing.
Hope Mikaelson, once a lowly girl hardly even worthy of Josies time or attention, sat straight up and smiled.
"The color of love... pink, yellow, red...orange. There probably isn't just one color. When it doesn't go well, it will be like a dark night. But sometimes trivial can create a burst of emotions and all sorts of colors are born, and then the world looks like it's glimmering, just like fireworks."
Fireworks. Like the ones that shot up into the sky on the Fourth of July when Hope finally admit to herself that Josie was just a beautiful and just as color, that caused an explosion in and around her. The fourth of july just a few day from the night they met, that she admitted that she was in love with the girl, and the world that was once black and white now had color.
She gritted her teeth.
A world of color that she would be damn would be filled was black... or red.
Josie sat up turning to Hope. She noticed. The redness in her wife's cheeks and the nervousness of her voice. Josie looked forward to face the road making sure the coast was clear. She gently grabbed hopes face and lifted out of her seat slightly. Hope slowed down the car a little. Josie leaned in and kissed Hope. The two felt electricity once more coursing through their bodies filling Josies arm with goosebumps. She pulled back seconds later so her wife could face the road once more.
Right... love is the color of fireworks. Josie thought as she continued to look lovely at her wife. It was like since they been here, even for a few days. The spark between the two was growing more and more. She didn't know she was still falling even deeper in love with Hope, and Josie knew Hope was falling right beside her.