Wren stirred a little in her sleep when she felt soft, warm lips brushing her face, her cheeks then her lips. She smiled lazily when those familiar lips went to her neck.
"Did I disturb your peaceful sleep?" A sweet voice asked her softly in the ear.
"No. In fact, that feels like I'm still dreaming... and I was awake but too lazy to get up."
Madeline's chuckle made Wren finally open her eyes and look at the joyful spirit beside her. Madeline leaned on her elbows beside Wren and moved one hand to Wren's face, using her fingertips to trace the outline of her lips.
"What did you dream about?"
"... About me and you... and we were doing our thing and it involved a lot of things that I prefer to show you." She smirked at Madeline who understood what the dream was about and she moved from her spot to be on top of Wren, straddling her.
"Did it involve this?"
She smirked down at her, taking her lips and claiming them for a moment and instantly Wren's eyelids dropped down slowly, feeling the softest pair of lips moving slowly against her own.
Madeline pulled away slowly and Wren tried to get up and capture her lips again but Madeline placed a hand on her shoulder pushing her back gently.
"Come back." said Wren whining with a smile, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"No," She chuckled. "I have to get to work and so are you."
"No." She wined, sitting up and burying her face in Madeline's neck. "The dream isn't finished yet. There are still a lot of things that need to be applied in real life."
Madeline shook her head, smiling hard and biting her lower lip. "Still no."
"Please, just one more thing. Please."
"No because if I did, we will both end up spending our entire day in the bed."
Wren sighed dramatically and laid back down, closing her eyes and felt cold when Madeline's body left hers and got out of the bed to get dressed. "You always do this. You turn me on and then leave me the whole day hanging, waiting desperately for you."
Madeline turned her head at her, laughing at Wren's desperate face. She wore back her clothes and ran a hand through her hair. She sat on the side of the bed and grabbed Wren's chin. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."
Wren's smile came back. "You better."
She gave her a soft kiss and then furrowed her eyebrows when she remembered something. "Hey, by the way... Eleanor told me about Emily being your assistant, is that true?"
"Well, yeah. At the time when we weren't together... I... I couldn't find someone to replace you. It was hard because I didn't get over you at that time and no one deserved to be in your place, so Emily understood me and offered to be my assistant till I find someone else."
Madeline smiled genuinely at her. They both didn't get over each other and Madeline completely understood why it was hard for Wren to replace her and the same for Madeline, whenever she turned everyone down it was because her heart was still somehow attached to Wren.
"Poor, Emily." said Madeline chuckling.
"Poor Emily? Poor me! I have to find someone else or she would kick my ass and you should feel sorry for me because I don't get to see you around anymore on that desk."
"Wren," she said calmly with a bright smile. "I'll always be with you because I love you."
"Come here" She grabbed her hand and Madeline pulled Wren for a brief kiss then Wren pulled away just a little to meet her eyes and say those words back.
"I love you, Madeline."
...........................................
Two hours later, Wren was at the office, sitting at her desk and proceeded finishing her work from last night. Waking up next to Madeline made her feel energized and motivated to work efficiently.
She heard the door being knocked and didn't tear her eyes away from her work.
"Come in."
The door opened and her father entered with a wide smile across his face. Wren raised her eyes from the papers and when she saw it was her father, she stood up, grinning and went over to him, giving him a hug.
"Dad." He patted her back and shook her off gently to see her face. "When did you come back in the city?"
"Last night."
"Why didn't you call me so that I come and pick you up from the airport?"
"There was no need, Eleanor came." He grinned at her. "Also she told me about the good news... about you and Madeline getting back together."
"Yeah" She smiled at the thought of her. "I'm very happy. More than happy actually."
"Overjoyed?"
She chuckled. "Correct."
"I like Madeline, you two are the perfect match. You chose wisely this time."
"Well, you are not the only who thinks so too."
He chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what... how about you and Madeline come over to our house and have dinner with us? We'll be very delighted to see her and to see you too. It's been a long time since we gathered together as a family."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll just give her a call."
"Okay. I'm gonna go now but I'll be expecting you both tonight at 8:00. Sharp. Okay, Wren? Sharp."
She chuckled at her father. "You got it and I always come on time."
He leaned over and kissed her forehead before leaving her office. Once he opened the door, Emily stepped in with a pile of folders.
"What the heck are those?" asked Wren massaging her temples.
"Oh, don't worry... those are just the CVs of your meant to be assistants."
"All of them?" she joked.
"One of them. You'll have to choose one eventually."
"Ugh! This is just exhausting. No one is good as Madeline."
Emily gasped and placed a hand on her waist, starring daggers at her boss. "You are saying that I'm useless, aren't you? I'm mad right now."
"I didn't say that." She cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Just pick one."
"And that's the exhausting part of it. I'm so picky. I don't like anyone. This job is tough and I need someone who can grasp it perfectly."
"I know but... anyway, you can choose whenever you want. Whenever you are free and believe it or not I don't mind if I ended up being your assistant after reading those endless CVs."
Wren chuckled softly. "You are too tough, Emily."
"I'm not tough. I'm simply smart."
"Yep and that too."
"Do you need anything before I leave and have my lunch break that I deserve after you humiliated me?"
She shook her head grinning. "No, thank you. Enjoy your meal."
Emily gave her a wink and left the office and Wren sighed heavily and ran her hand through the CVs placed on her disk.
"It will be like reading a story..." she said running her hand through them. "Yeah. A sweet long exhausting story."
.............................................
Madeline was at her office, sketching some designs with Sarah and they went over the lines and some fabrics and materials for the upcoming line of clothes.
"I'll be right back." said Sarah, getting up and heading out of the office.
Madeline's phone rang beside her, she grabbed it smiling on seeing the caller's ID.
"Hi."
"Hey, beautiful. How is your day so far?"
"Better than yours." She teased smiling when she heard Wren chuckle on the other line.
"Ouch. But you are totally right because I've to go through some endless CVs to hire the new assistant." Madeline chuckled softly. "Anyway, babe... my dad came back in the city and we are invited to have dinner with him and Eleanor tonight."
Madeline grinned on hearing Wren calling her 'babe'. That's the first time Wren ever called her that after they broke up and got back together. Her heart raced in her chest from the adrenaline of excitement, flooding her with euphoria.
"Madeline? Are you still with me?"
"Uh, yes. I'm just not used to you calling me 'babe'. It's the first time I heard you say it actually you know... after the..."
"Oh... yeah... yeah, it's been a while." Wren chuckled nervously. "So... dinner? You, me... dad and Eleanor?"
"Sure. When?"
"At 8:00. I can come and pick you up after work and then we go to your place to change your clothes then I'll go to mine and come back, pick you up again since you didn't take your car today."
"Your plan seems exhausting for you but okay."
"Alright. Love you."
"Love you too."
..........................................
Wren and Madeline arrived outside Henry's villa and Madeline was nervous so Wren reached out for her hand, giving it a light squeeze in the car.
"You're so nervous."
"I should be. I know that Eleanor loves me but your father... I don't know about him. He is strict and... tough... maybe scary?" She turned to Wren with a nervous look.
She shook her head, chuckling. "Not really. Not since... the hospital. He changed, alright? He changed to the better because of after what you did. He feels like a dad to me now than a man I wanted to get his approval on anything related to my work and my ambition."
Madeline smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek before they both got out of the car.
They reached for the door and right before Wren rang the doorbell, she hooked an arm around Madeline's waist and pulled her closer, giving her a reassuring kiss on the temple. Eleanor opened the door and gave both of them a bear hug and then ushered them to the living room.
"You've got a lovely house." said Madeline, looking around.
"Thank you. Would you like anything to drink?"
"Umm, no, thanks."
"Where is dad?" asked Wren.
"In the kitchen," Eleanor laughed heartily. "finishing his last touches on the lasagna"
"Oh! That explains the delicious smell." said Madeline. "I can't even picture Mr. Clermont cooking."
"That makes two of us." said Eleanor and they laughed. "He decided to rule the kitchen today just for the two of you."
"Indeed!" He yelled excitedly emerging from the kitchen. His eyes locked with Madeline, giving her a warm smile. "Nice to see you again, Madeline."
"Likewise." She returned his smile.
"Since when do you cook?" asked Wren.
"Since I gave him the recipe" A voice came from behind them. Wren and Madeline turned around and saw Dave with his hands in his coat pockets, beaming at them. "Hello, little sis."
"Dave..." She walked to him and gave him a hug and he pulled away from her, giving Madeline the same hug.
"When did you get back?" asked Wren with a wide smile.
"Uh, today."
"Why neither of you called me?" She looked back and forth between Dave and her father.
"We wanted it to be a surprise. So, surprise?" said Dave joking.
"It is a surprise for both of us... but what was really surprising is that Mr. Clermont cooked us the dinner." said Madeline and they all laughed.
Dave smiled at Wren and placed his palm against her shoulder. "Do me a favor and don't tell Emily that I'm back, alright? I want to make her a surprise."
"Surprise again." said Wren smirking.
"Actually... you guys surprised me when I heard the news that you are together. It's the nicest surprise."
"Can we stop taking about surprises now and eat my surprise lasagna?" said Henry and they all chuckled, heading to the dining room.
...............................................
The dinner went smooth for all of them and Madeline enjoyed her time with Wren's family. She talked comfortably with them about her new job, her family, her friends and her deep love for Wren and Wren the whole time was holding her hand and her smile never left her face.
Wren pulled over in front of Madeline's building and got out with Madeline, walking her to her apartment's door.
"Did you have a good time tonight?" asked Wren holding Madeline's waist.
"Yeah. It was nice, better than I expected. I didn't expect your dad to cook for us or Dave's arrival." She chuckled.
"Same here. My dad was never into kitchen stuff. He is all about business, finance, banks, investments but not pan fries and knives and... lasagna. As a matter of fact, ..." She looked away frowning and thinking. "I can't imagine him dealing with the kitchen stuff and ingredients."
"Well, he turned out to be pretty good." said Madeline hooking her arms around Wren's neck and placing a soft kiss on her lips. She was about to pull away but Wren continued her way by capturing her lips back with smiles across their faces.
"I hate goodbyes." said Wren softly with her forehead leaned against her.
"It's more like goodnight, Madeline. Have sweet dreams about me." she said playfully, caressing the back of her hair.
"Would you dream about me?"
"I'll try, but no promises."
She kissed the tip of her nose and then her lips one last time before wishing Wren good night then entering her apartment.