((Contains adult situations.))

Two days after the horror of that encounter in the house that had haunted them both. One day after being released from the hospital, and visiting the site of that house, or what was left of it. Today was the day normality was supposed to start for Taylor and Kaylee, and Kaylee was determined to start it right. Somehow she'd managed to ease herself out of bed without waking him, tucking him warm beneath the blankets before padding into the kitchen. After all, cooking was something she did well, and breakfast done properly was always worth the effort. It had better be worth the chilly toes, as well.

It had taken seeing the charred remains of that building for Taylor to realize once and for all that it was really over. He knew it would take time for the nightmares to fade. It would take time before either of them was ready to sleep without a light on or not be at least a little wary of shadows, especially in the night, but this morning was the first normal start to a morning that either of them had had in months. Years, as far as Taylor was concerned. He had smiled a little in his sleep to feel her tuck the blankets around him as she slipped out of bed, for the first time in seven years feeling peaceful and content and, yes, even happy.

It wasn't long before the enticing smell of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, and fresh coffee mingled to waft down the hall and call to him in their own alluring way, the sounds of sizzling from the kitchen quietly overlaid with a quiet feminine voice singing softly to herself. For the first time in months, Kaylee was singing, secure enough finally to let a little of her natural talent begin to show once more.

It was the smell of breakfast cooking that eventually roused him, but the sound of a feminine voice singing that enticed him, like the song of a siren to a sailor lost at sea. It took him a minute to realize it was Kaylee's voice he was hearing, soft and sweet and happy. He couldn't tell if she was singing a song of her own or one she'd heard on the radio, nor did it matter. Just to hear her and know that she was feeling happy and secure enough to embrace that part of her life she had so loved made his heart soar with joy. He smiled to himself as he climbed out of bed and grabbed a t-shirt, frowning to find it was black. He tossed it aside and went to the dresser to find something else - anything else. No more black. Black was the color of mourning. He was never going to wear black again.

It was one of her own tunes, something she had written years before and never shared with anyone, a gentle ballad that quietly shared the hope she'd held then of falling in love, truly, with someone who loved her. She hadn't returned to it since it had been written, but this morning, it came to her without needing prompting, words and tune easily brought to the fore as she cooked, swaying to the rhythm on her bare toes.

He found a shirt in a shade of blue and pulled it over his head, all the while listening to Kaylee sing her song, feeling excited about life again for the first time in as long as he could remember. They had the whole day free to do whatever they wanted without worrying about training or nightmares or an impending hunt hanging over their heads. He found himself suddenly laughing at the very thought of it. Whatever they decided to spend the day doing, it was going to be in celebration of living.

The song faltered for a moment, his laughter bringing a smile to her lips. It was good to hear him laugh, to know that it wasn't because he felt he had to laugh, or because something awful had happened to something foul. He was laughing because he was happy, and that made her very happy indeed. "Tay?" she called out to him, knowing now he was at least awake. "You want breakfast?"

He heard her calling him and wandered into the kitchen at her bidding, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He pushed her hair away from her neck and greeted her with a kiss, his lips brushing softly against the side of her neck. "I would love breakfast," he replied, leaning over to rest his chin against her shoulder. "I heard you singing."

Despite their closeness over the past months, Kaylee thought this might be the first time it had ever felt so relaxed. She smiled, leaning back into his embrace as his lips touched her neck, her temple resting against his. "It's almost done," she murmured affectionately, a gentle flush of rose touching her skin at the news that he had heard her. "I don't know why, but I just felt like singing. It's been so long since I have."

"I think it's called feeling happy," he teased with a smile on his lips. He knew he was going to have to let go of her at some point, but he was in no real hurry. "You have a lovely voice," he told added. Though he was probably biased, he thought not even an angel would sound as lovely as her.

Her smile gentled, touched by the compliment, biased or not. "Thank you," she said softly, turning her head to kiss the corner of his mouth lovingly. "Maybe I'll finally get around to writing something for you one of these days." Not that she had been writing anything. But they had time and leisure now, and the one thing she knew she could do was write and play. It would be good to express herself once again.

"Maybe you should think about recording some songs or playing in public. You have a cousin who plays in a club, don't you? Maybe she could help get you a gig," he suggested. He had a feeling much of today would be spent discussing plans for the future and where they wanted to go from here.

"Maybe," she mused thoughtfully. "We'll see what happens. I don't need to be the center of attention anymore; I don't think I want to be. But I can sell songs and make a good living from it, maybe teach music. I'd rather have my evenings for you, than have to perform for strangers."

"We'll figure it out," he promised, reaching around to kiss her cheek before pulling away to pour himself his first morning cup of coffee. "What's the plan for today, baby?" he asked as he took down a mug and poured. "We should do something to celebrate."

Turning her attention to the various pans on the stove, she smiled once more as he kissed her cheek, stirring and flipping and generally making sure nothing was burnt. "I hadn't really thought about any plans for the day," she admittedly mildly. "I'm making it up as I go along." Which explained breakfast, in a way. Usually breakfast was a brief affair, providing only what they needed to get going. Today, it was anything but.

He turned to take a lean against the cupboards and sip his coffee while she finished up cooking breakfast. "Okay, well....If you could do anything you wanted to do today, what would it be?" he asked curiously, besides the obvious hours spent languishing in bed wrapped in each other's arms. He had a thought, but he wanted to see what she thought first.

She wasn't saying anything and yet, she didn't really have to. He could almost tell from just the giggle and the look on her face that everything between them had changed, but rather than driving them farther apart, the events of the last few days only seemed to have drawn them closer together. And suddenly, as his gaze wandered over her, he didn't care so much about breakfast anymore. Hell, they had the rest of their lives to eat breakfast. He finished chewing a mouthful of sausage before pushing to his feet and reaching for her hand to pull her to her feet. He didn't bother to ask permission before pulling her against him and capturing her lips in a searing kiss that left them both breathless.

His sudden rise bemused her, her toast dropped to her plate as he pulled her up onto her feet, her half-formed query lost in a kiss that made her toes curl. Small against him, she pressed close, her arms wrapping about her Taylor as he kissed her. With a soft gasp as the kiss came to an end, she blinked up at him, her hand gentle against his neck. "So ..." she murmured, just the hint of a teasing grin on her lips, "....shampoo and set, or just a quick blow?"

"Hmm, tough decision," he replied once he'd let her come up for air. "The real question is before or after breakfast." Because it was a given that it was going to happen, sooner or later, and now that he was holding her in his arms, it seemed more than likely it would be sooner.

She seemed to consider this question for a moment or two, teasing him with her thoughtful expression as her fingertips played in and out of his hair. Finally she shrugged, offering him an innocent - ish - grin. "We could always pack a big picnic."

"Leftovers," he decided abruptly, sweeping her up off her feet and into his arms to carry her back into the bedroom for a little morning distraction. Apparently, he'd decided that breakfast could indeed wait, or be packed up for later. He had more immediate concerns at the moment, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Her giggles echoed through the little apartment as he hoisted her up off her feet, long legs wrapping about his waist, offering no objection at all to their return to the bedroom. As her laughing lips touched his neck, she realized what was different - everything was lighter today. No heavy weight of expectation, no anticipation of terrible somethings, no sense of being watched whether awake or asleep. The burden they'd shared had been lifted, and it had taken all that weight with it.

She weighed practically nothing at all, and he carried her easily back to the bedroom to lay her back upon the bed and have his way with her. Not how she might expect it, however, and not like he'd ever had her before. He'd felt the change in them, too. After all those years of that heavy burden weighing on his shoulders, he felt as light as a feather, like he could do anything.

Laid back, Kaylee smiled up at him, the worries about his reaction to her scars long gone by now. They would fade over time, grow to match his as small, silvery lines against her skin. Rising to sit up, she reached for his waistband, one finger tucking inside to tug him closer. "Are we going to get dirty before we have that shower, boo?"

"Why not' We're living by our own rules now. No one can tell us what to do, and we've got the rest of our lives ahead of us," he replied, covering her mouth with his to taste her again, as he reached beneath her nightgown. Finding no panties, he smoothed his hands against her hips, desire rising inside him now that he'd made the first move.

Always before, their coming together had been peppered with soft requests for permission to touch or to kiss. This new assertiveness was a pleasant surprise, a sweet change Kaylee couldn't help but welcome as she answered his kiss with her own, her hands sliding beneath his t-shirt. Somehow they both seemed to have realized that neither one was going to break if touched without the utmost care. It boded well for the "interesting relationship" Taylor had predicted they would now have.

He kissed her quite thoroughly, wasting no time in gathering the fabric of her nightgown in his hands to tug it up over her body, revealing the soft loveliness of her body, scars and all, so accustomed to seeing them, he hardly noticed. He let his hands wander over her, as his mouth tasted hers, exploring, enticing, enjoying. He found the places he knew so well and those he didn't, learning new things about her with each touch, each taste, each caress as his mouth joined in the exploration, traveling ever southward until he reached the desired destination. Breakfast, indeed. He'd give her a much better start to the morning than breakfast.

Everything he gave, she returned, sharing in those exploring, enticing caresses with hands and lips until he gave her little choice but to give in. And this, too, was changed - no longer quiet loving in the darkness that brought fear to them both, but given full voice in the light of day. Even when he was done, and she lay in the glow of his tender affection, there was no restraint in the hands that reached out to touch him, drawing his t-shirt over his head as her lips sought out his, readily willing and more than able to return what had been given.

There had been a time when he might have pulled away, too afraid to open himself to her, to let her into his heart and his soul, to let her see the scars that he bore that matched hers, but that time had passed. He had long ago surrendered to the longing in his heart, the desire to not be alone anymore, just as he surrendered himself to her now, trusting himself to her, knowing she would never willingly hurt him. He surrendered to her touch, her caresses, her kisses, no longer shy or afraid in her presence, wanting to share everything with her, even this.

Just as he had touched her, she touched him, caresses that were only the merest tip of the warmth they shared between them. Gentle and tender, she took his surrender and made it a triumph with clever fingers and warm lips, kisses trailing downward much as his had done to the familiar territory that seemed somehow new in the dawning light. There was truly nothing she would not do for him, or with him, and once again that was proved with loving heat as the last barrier between them fell silent to the floor.

It was strange making love in the morning under the bright light of day, or maybe it was just the newness of life without burdens - or at least, without the burdens they'd both carried for too long. He countered her ministrations with some of his own, until they were both wrapped up in each other's arms again, breathless and sweating and laughing with happiness just to be alive. "Gods, I love you," he told her, holding her close, glad to feel the warmth of her body close to his and the beating of her heart.

Nose to nose, glorying in the beat of his heart against hers and the warm wrap of his arms about her, Kaylee giggled, sharing her laughter with him in soft kisses. "I love you back," she whispered, the words still intimate, still theirs, even with the sunlight warming their skin as they lay together. Her fingers gently stroked through his hair, unwilling to untangle herself from him just yet. "Tay ....I've been thinking ..."

She squealed happily as he swept her up off her feet, that new, happy giggle making itself known as she returned to the ground, tucking herself close against his back to match his steps as he led the way to the shower. Her lips brushed his back affectionately. "Don't you like being spanked?"

"Depends on who's doing the spanking, I guess," he replied, glancing over his shoulder at her a second before continuing into the bathroom. "What about you? You don't strike me as the submissive kind." He set out a couple of towels before pulling back the shower curtain and setting inside.

Releasing him to close the door behind them, Kaylee smiled to herself at his question. "I can be," she told him, almost shy in confessing this. "Sometimes I prefer to be. But not always." She lingered outside the curtain for a moment, admiring his view. "Are you sure you want to be under the water when it starts?"

"So long as it's not ice cold!" he told her with a chuckle, for obvious reasons. He turned to reach for her hand and pull her to him. "I just want to be with you. I want to learn everything about you. All your likes and dislikes, dreams and aspirations. I want to know what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. Everything there is to know about Kaylee Granger, I want to know it." He smoothed her hair back from her face, cupping her face in his hands as he gazed into her eyes, feeling himself falling ever deeper in love with her by the minute.

She was laughing as he drew her into the shower with him, one hand tugging the curtain to enclose them in that small space together. His ambition to know her, inside and out, brought a gleam of tears to her eyes; no one had ever wanted to know her like that. Her hands smoothed against his sides as she looked into his eyes. "You will," she promised him softly. "And you'll teach me all about Taylor Bennett, every last whim and wish. It could take decades, but I'm determined to do it."

"We'll learn each other together, little by little. We have the rest of our lives to do it. And what we don't know, we'll find out together. New Orleans is just a start. We'll travel the world and discover things together." They were high hopes, but if any day was a day to be full of hopes and dreams, it was today.

"I don't care what we do, so long as we do it together." She beamed up at him, caught up in those hopes and dreams. Even if they never became more than hopes and dreams, they belonged to them, in this wonderful morning that was just the beginning of the life that stretched out ahead of them.

"We will, Kaylee," he replied with a smile as bright as all outdoors. "Gods, it's good to be alive, isn't it' I want to shout from the highest mountain. I want to laugh for the sheer joy of laughing. I want to make love to you over and over, until I can't stand up." His voice softened as he continued. "I want to marry you and raise a family with you and....build a house and grow a garden and have children. Lots of children! And grandchildren! I want to grow old with you. And when our lives are finally over, it'll be okay because we spent it together, and we enjoyed each and every minute of it. Oh, Gods..." he laughed, more at himself than anything else, wiping at an errant tear in his eyes. "I must sound ridiculous."

She giggled with him, curling her hands to his cheeks to draw him down into a gentle kiss. "I think you sound wonderful," she promised him, her voice soft, loving, in the quiet that surrounded them. "I hope every word you're speaking is a prophecy and it all comes true. Because it sounds like the perfect life to share with you."

"We will, Kaylee. I promise," he told her quietly, kissing her in return. There was more he wanted to say, but he realized it might not be the right time, standing there naked in the middle of the shower without the water turned on. There would be plenty of time to talk later, to share their dreams and their plans for their new life together. He leaned over to turn the shower on, laughing as the water beat on his head, and he shook his hair out like a dog, splashing her with the excess.

"Taylor!" Laughing with him once again, she flinched back from the spray he splashed from his sodden hair, poking at his side playfully in retaliation. "You big silly," she told him fondly, turning to grab the soap.

"I haven't laughed so much in years!" he declared, and she'd know it to be true. He had been far more somber these past months since she'd met him, and though he was still the Taylor she had come to know and love, there was something different about him - something lighter, happier, more full of life than ever before, and it was only day one.

It promised to be a new experience for them both, not just this one day, but all the days to come. Perhaps Miranda and Rufus didn't need to worry about them so much anymore. With the weight lifted, the darkness had faded, too. "I'll keep you laughing," Kaylee promised him affectionately, lathering the soap over his skin. "I'm still as clumsy as ever - it gets better when you know it's coming."

"What makes you say that' I don't think you're clumsy," he remarked at her self-recrimination. He felt a little silly letting her soap him up as she was, but he was just going to have to get used to silliness if he was going to be with her. He fully intended to return the favor as soon as she was done. She had not yet reached the more sensitive parts, and he felt a slight flush in his face at the thought of it, as shy and silly as a schoolboy.

"Oh, I am," she laughed, hardly poking at herself. "When I'm not worried and always looking over my shoulder, I don't pay much attention to my surroundings. I've been known to trip over the space where something was before it was moved out of my way!" Giggling, she lowered her gaze to her hands, taking her time as she reached those sensitive parts that were causing his blushes.

He was about to protest and tell her how she was nothing of the sort, and that the way she'd handled herself at the old house proved it, but as soon as she touched the most sensitive part of his body, he hissed a breath and said no more. He reached out to steady himself against the side of the shower with the palm of a hand while she did whatever it was she was going to do, literally putting himself in her hands.

This time, she watched his face as her hands moved tenderly over him, memorizing every nuance of expression, every soft sound he made, learning what he liked, what he didn't like, where he wanted her hands to go purely by watching him. She had said she wanted to learn all about him; why not start now"

Caught up against him, she squealed in surprise, bursting out laughing as he joined in, though the song, the musical, and even the gender of the famous singer was completely wrong. Arms wrapped about his neck, she silenced his warbling with a kiss. "You all right there, Maria?"

"Would you rather I sing Edelweiss?" he replied with a grin. With that comment said, it became obvious that he knew at least a little bit about musicals, though it was unlikely anyone at the Shanachie would come begging for him to join the theater. It wasn't that he had a bad singing voice exactly, but performing on stage just wasn't his cup of tea. No one at the Shanachie had to worry about him replacing them.

Smiling, she stroked her fingers through his damp hair once again, sharing something she'd never shared, even with her family. "Edelweiss is for New Year's," she said softly, an almost shy cast to her smile as she spoke. "I've never gone a New Year without singing it." Well, never gone a New Year she was aware of. Last year was being swept away as they spoke.

"We'll sing it together this year," he promised, his voice softening as he gazed into her eyes. Or maybe he'd just listen to her sing it. New Year's wasn't too far away, and for the first time in seven years, he actually felt like celebrating it.

Touched by the way he accepted her odd little personal ritual and promised to make it theirs, she bit her lip, rising up onto her toes once again to brush the tip of her nose to his. "You gonna put some pants on before then, boo?"

"I might draw the wrong kind of attention if I don't," he replied back, smiling as she kissed his nose. "If we still want to do this picnic, I suppose we should get dressed," he said. As tempting as the thought was to spend the day in bed with her, they both wanted and needed to get outside in the sun, if only for a little while.

"Not from me," she snickered softly, but did make the effort to disentangle herself from him as she giggled. "Shoo. Clothes, sunshine, picnic," she reminded him merrily, turning away to resume dressing herself.

"Yes, dear," he said, chuckling along with her, before slipping away to get dressed. He rarely did much with his hair, other than finger comb it out, and he had a habit of going a few days without shaving. As easy-going as he was, it never seemed to hurt his looks much.

Miranda would have been proud of Kaylee today. Without the need for prompting, or any necessity to make an effort with her looks, she'd chosen a dress, even if it was twinned with leather jacket and boots. Buttoning up, she brushed her hair out until it shone, shaking it back from her face, and glanced into the mirror, surprised to see how grown up she looked. She couldn't see the haunted skeleton that had been looking back out of her face for so many months today.

It didn't take long before he was dressed and ready, wearing a simple t-shirt, jeans, jacket, and boots. He wasn't sure if they were going to go for a ride or just enjoy the afternoon sunshine in the garden, and it didn't really matter, so long as they were together. He found his way to the kitchen to clean up from breakfast and start packing a lunch, making good use of the bacon for sandwiches.

She joined him not long after, washing the dishes while he packed them a picnic lunch to share, stealing glances at him all the while with a sweet smile on her lips. Just three days ago, they had been living in darkness, anxiously awaiting the call to tell them that it was time to act, and now look at them. Did it get any more normal than this"

It seemed no words needed to be spoken, each of them stealing glances from the other, unable to stop grinning like a couple of silly kids. However they decided to spend the day, it was certainly going to be interesting.

((Lookit them, all happy and stuff! Amazing what a timely intervention will do, innit?))