Part 2 (1/2)
”You have to swim?” Emma asked. Vicki looked at Emma and nodded. ”Sweetheart, you're not even awake yet.”
”S'am, Mommy.”
Addison snickered. ”I can see that.”
”We gets a bishy,” Vicki chirped, beginning to wake up.
Addison tipped her head curiously. ”A fishy?” she asked Vicki.
”I fwim wit da bishy!”
Emma laughed. ”I am sure one day that will be true,” she said. ”The fishy won't be here for a while, Sprout,” she said. Addison finally caught on and mouthed the words ”she knows” to Emma. Emma shrugged. ”Not exactly,” Emma mouthed back. ”One day, you will get to teach this other little fishy how to swim,” Emma promised Vicki.
Now wide awake, Vicki squirmed in Addison's arms. Addison put her down and watched her toddle as fast as she could back toward her room. ”Fishy, huh?” she asked Emma. Emma shrugged. ”You might want to consider monkeys,” Addison laughed. ”I have no idea how she made it out of that bed.”
”Either way, they are yours,” Emma quipped.
”Mommy!” Vicki stumbled back into the room.
Emma covered her face and shook her head. ”Yours.”
Addison shrugged. ”I think I've seen you in something similar,” she whispered to Emma.
Emma smacked Addison lightly and made her way to their daughter. Vicki was standing with her bathing suit in a twist around her shoulders and a swimmer's diaper loosely clinging to her hips. ”Monkeys and fis.h.i.+es,” Emma chuckled. ”And, she thinks I need acting for interest,” she muttered. ”Come on, fishy. I'll help you while Momma gets changed.”
”What about me?” Addison called over.
Emma scooted Vicki back toward her room and turned to face Addison. She raised her brow and held up a finger. Addison was completely caught off guard by the diaper that hit her in the face. ”There you go, babe. Remember the pee is silent in pool.”
Addison rolled her eyes. She chuckled as she headed to the bedroom to change. She stopped just shy of the room and looked back at where Emma had disappeared a moment ago with their daughter. Sometimes, in the chaos of everyday life, Addison forgot for a second how much she loved Emma. Today had served as a tangible reminder. She knew that Emma would never fully grasp what Addison had been telling her. Emma was the breath of inspiration in Addison's work. More than that, she was the breath of possibility in Addison's life. Addison had always felt as if she were floundering. Emma had changed that in an instant. Addison took a deep breath and headed off to change. ”I hope you're right, Em,” she mused as she finished her task. ”I hope you're right.”
Chapter Two.
Addison walked into the bedroom, toweling off her hair from a shower. Emma was curled up in the bed with her eyes closed. Addison smiled as she watched silently. She had noted the exhaustion in Emma's eyes after dinner. Addison understood Emma's fatigue. A couple of hours of chasing after Vicki had left Addison tired. Emma had been at it all day. She took a deep breath and slid into the bed behind Emma.
Emma shuddered. ”Addy! You're freezing!” Addison chuckled. ”And, you're naked.”
”And, you are awake,” Addison replied.
Emma turned in Addison's embrace. ”I am now,” she raised an eyebrow. Addison leaned in and kissed Emma's lips tentatively. ”Addy?”
”I'm sorry, Em,” Addison said.
Emma smiled. ”I thought we were past this?”
Addison nodded and kissed Emma's forehead. ”We are.”
”Okay? What's wrong?'
Addison shook her head. ”I love you, Emma.”
Emma was beginning to wonder what was going through Addison's mind. ”You okay?”
Addison's reply came in the form of a tender kiss that quickly heightened into a pa.s.sionate exploration. Emma held on to Addison tightly as she was quickly swept away. It amazed her. No matter how many times she and Addison made love, Emma always found herself washed away by the tenderness of Addison's touch. Addison's gentle attentiveness had never faltered-not once. Emma willingly fell into the woman she loved, sensing that Addison needed to communicate something.
Emma found it ironic. Addison was perhaps the most prolific writer Emma had ever known. It wasn't so much because Addison sought to use eloquent phases or clever metaphors in her work. Addison's writing, whether it came in the form of a note or a screenplay, reflected deep honesty and vulnerability. With Emma, she often struggled to articulate what she needed-what she was feeling. In those moments, Addison tended to turn inward. When she was finally ready to confide in Emma, she often spoke through lingering touches and reverent kisses. Emma had grown to understand Addison's needs. She let her fingertips comb through Addison's wet hair as Addison's lips descended over her throat sensually.
”Addy...” Emma sighed and closed her eyes amid an intoxicating mixture of contentment and arousal.
Addison glanced up and bit her lip at the sight of Emma. Emma could steal the breath from her body in an instant. She lifted her hand and brushed across Emma's lips with her fingertips. ”So soft,” she whispered.
Emma opened her eyes and met Addison's. Addison's eyes had darkened measurably. She could feel the pounding of Addison's heart against her. She took hold of Addison's hand and gently sucked on Addison's fingertips. Addison's eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted in response. Emma moved to take the lead in their familiar dance. She understood that what Addison needed most at this moment was rea.s.surance. Not rea.s.surance that Emma loved her. Addison knew that. Not rea.s.surance that Emma desired Addison. The physical attraction and connection that they shared had never wavered. What Addison needed was a reminder that she was the foundation of everything that mattered most to Emma. Emma possessed a natural confidence, a command of herself that most people did not. That did not mean that Emma was immune to insecurity or fear. Addison sometimes forgot that.
Emma didn't need words to understand Addison's inner conflict. It was written in the subtle ways Addison moved. She had meant everything that she had told Addison about her fears. Perhaps fear had not been the right word to describe what Emma felt. But, Emma would miss Addison when Addison returned to working in earnest. She would never seek to hold Addison back. In fact, she would encourage-even press Addison to move forward. A part of her wanted to ask Addison to let it all go. Emma loved their life together as it was. She loved spending time with Addison, but she also could feel Addison's restlessness. Now, it was time for Emma to convey to the woman looking at her that she understood, that she would hold Addison through whatever was to come and that she would always need Addison to do the same.
Slowly, Emma guided Addison upward until Addison's face rested just above hers. Tears instantly rolled over Addison's cheeks. Emma smiled and wiped them away with her thumbs. She tenderly guided Addison's lips to her own and coaxed Addison's lips to part. She heard Addison sigh into the kiss as it gradually deepened. Emma reached for Addison, allowing her hands to roam over Addison's back lovingly. Emma moved to lift her s.h.i.+rt over her head, and Addison sat back ever so slightly to take in the view.
Emma smirked. ”What are you thinking?” she asked Addison.
Addison answered without hesitation. ”No one could imagine how beautiful you are, Em.”
Emma reached out and ran her hand down Addison's throat to the top of her breast. ”Have you looked in the mirror recently?” she asked.
Addison shook her head. ”You're in love.”
Emma's face transformed immediately. Their brief moment of playfulness eclipsed by the emotional tide that had been rising between them all evening. She lifted her hand to Addison's cheek and watched as Addison leaned into her touch. ”I love you more than anything in this world, Addy.”
Addison moved her lips to Emma's, stopping just before they would meet. ”Do you remember the first time we made love?”
Emma gently allowed her forehead to collapse against Addison's. ”I do.”
”You know what I remember?” Addison asked.
”Tell me,” Emma whispered.
”I remember the way you looked at me when we walked into my apartment before we had even kissed. I knew when you looked at me that day when I found you sitting against my door, waiting for me-I knew that if you walked through that door with me, I would never let you go,” Addison said. She'd never shared that truth with Emma before, although Addison recalled that day frequently even after the years they had been together.
”Addy...”
”I had the same feeling the day you walked into that bedroom at your folks' house with that box of diapers wrapped up. When I realized what you were telling me... Em, I felt that same emotion. That night? I never wanted to let you go.”
”Addy, I'm right here.”
”I know. Today, I... I'm sorry that...”
”Stop,” Emma demanded gently. ”Stop,” she repeated the request and kissed Addison lovingly. When Addison pulled back from their kiss, Emma kept her eyes closed as she spoke. ”I remember flying home that day from Kansas. You weren't home. I waited for you. That entire time all I could think about was how much I wanted to love you. How much I needed you to love me. I had never felt that before-not with anyone. When you made love to me that afternoon... Addison... Everything in my life s.h.i.+fted that day. I'm not sure I knew it then...”