Topic: Stealing A Moment

Rufus Bennett

Date: 2015-02-09 10:54 EST
((Contains reference to adult situations.))

It had been almost six months since Miranda and Rufus had become grandparents - almost six months and Miranda was still walking on air. And why shouldn't she" She'd been robbed of her own happily ever after for so long, it seemed only the more sweeter for the waiting, and it filled her heart with joy to see her Bethany fulfilling her own dreams. Right at the moment, though she was laughing her fool head off at the sight of Rufus trying to juggle two wiggling babies, both of whom needed changing. "Any time you need rescuing, just say so, my love," she teased, unable to wipe the smirk from her face.

Rufus, despite his inherent tendency to panic when left alone with his grandchildren, seemed determined to at least cope, however. "Yes, yes, thank you, darling," he grumbled, rolling his eyes at his laughing wife. He had Evy on one shoulder, wailing into his ear about her dirty diaper while gumming on his collar, and Brody on the changing mat, halfway through his own change. "There's nothing stopping you from pitching in here, you - Oh, for goodness ..." And the reason for that interruption' Brody had just scored a direct hit on his grandfather's shirt with a perfectly aimed spray of widdle.

Which, of course, only made Miranda break into another hysterical fit of giggles. She wasn't laughing at him exactly, though she couldn't help but find the situation amusing. "Just say when, dear," she remarked, insisting that he ask for help before she rescued him. This was a situation she was confident she'd have no problem tackling, unlike him who had very little experience with little people. She flipped another page of her fashion magazine, while humming a tune to herself, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

The only problem there was that Rufus was just a little bit too stubborn to admit that he needed help. If he could handle supernatural just about anything, then he should be able to handle two small people, in his opinion. With one hand holding the clean diaper over the freely peeing Brody's nether region, he reached for a fresh diaper, only to feel Evy slip, making a grab for her before she hit the floor. Feeling ever so slightly defeated, he sighed reluctantly, re-thinking the situation. "You realize you get to do both feeds for putting me through this, right?" he threatened his wife.

"Hmm, methinks someone's forgotten that I've already done over twenty years of childcare. You have a lot of catching up to do, my darling," she teased back, unflustered by his threat. "Besides, there's no better way to learn than from experience. Isn't that what you tell your students?" Flip. There went another page of the magazine, that she wasn't really paying much attention to anyway.

His eyes narrowed, promising retribution at some point for her putting him through all this. "You, angel, are skating on thin ice," he informed her affectionately, turning his focus onto his immediate problem. Evy ended up propped between his thighs where he knelt on the floor, leaving both hands free to finish up with Brody. With a slightly smug look in his eyes, he aimed the now clean boy in his grandmother's direction and let go, watching the clumsy crawling for a moment or two before finally laying Evy down and starting on her.

"And what exactly are you going to do about it, Rufio' Spank me?" she asked, eyes sparkling with mischief. They both knew that wasn't much of a threat and that there wasn't really much he could threaten her with, except perhaps withholding sex, which was nearly impossible for them both. "Shall I fetch you a clean shirt?" she asked innocently, as she set the magazine aside to catch the crawling boy once he arrived at his destination.

"No, I think I want to smother you in a fond embrace before I change, thank you very much," Rufus told her firmly, bent over the finally quieting Evy as he wiped, swiped, and covered up the wriggling baby girl. "Because your grandmother deserves to be just as covered in boy wee as I do, doesn't she" See, Evy agrees with me."

"Evy doesn't have a clue what you're talking about, darling," she reminded him, sweeping her grandson up off the floor as easily as if he weighed nothing. She wasn't about to get smothered in baby widdle, her husband's final threat finally causing her to take action. "How do you feel about feeding them dinner later?" she inquired mischievously. "I think they're having peas."

Tucking Evy between his knees again, Rufus cleared up the debris left behind after his adventure in diapering as he answered. "I will only feed them if you promise that I am not going to be changing them again. Tit for tat, woman."

"Oh, Rufus, you know I'm only teasing you," she told him at last as she took her charge with her into the bedroom to fetch her husband a clean shirt. You could be sure it would be designer, but something casual and comfortable. "It's not my fault Bethany had twins, you know," she called from the bedroom, though it kind of was since twins ran in the family.

"It runs in your family," he pointed out, finally regaining his feet with a gurgling Evy on his hip. He looked down at his soggy shirt with a sigh. "And I'm sure the lack of inbred manners is from your side, as well," he added in amusement, following his wife into the bedroom. "No child from my side would dream of going to the toilet on their patriarch."

She couldn't help but laugh at his remark, even as she pulled a clean shirt from the closet, Brody nestled easily against one hip. "Yes, I'm sure the poor boy knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to hose you down," she remarked, both of them knowing how ridiculous that was. "I'm sure it never occurred to you that the cool air might have done it."

Once she had the clean shirt in hand, she crossed the room to where he was, swapping the shirt for the other twin, one easily balanced against each hip. The older the twins got, the harder it was going to be keeping up with them, but for now, they were still fairly immobile and manageable. "I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt regarding your remark about their lack of inbred manners," she warned him.

Handing Evy easily over to her, Rufus chuckled, pulling his wet shirt off over his head. Despite what certain members of the family insisted on calling his advancing age, he was still a remarkably fit man, with a musculature that many men half his age would have killed for. The wee soaked shirt went straight into the laundry basket before the clean one was pulled on. "My dastardly plan has worked, I see," he grinned at his wife. "Someone has no hands left."

If she'd had her hands free, it was likely she'd have distracted him for a little while from putting that shirt back on, but with both arms full of twin babies, that just wasn't possible right now. "And what exactly does that mean?" she asked, arching both perfectly-plucked eyebrows at him. She trusted him about as far as she could throw him, which obviously wasn't very far, if at all. "You have that look on your face, Rufus," she said, taking one step backwards.

His grin turned into a smirk as he advanced on her, knowing as well as she did that he wasn't going to do anything that would endanger the babies that were curled against her shoulders. "And what look would that be, my angel?" he asked innocently, pouring on his most charming smile as he looked down at her.

Rufus Bennett

Date: 2015-02-09 10:55 EST
"That look, you know..." she started, taking another step back until she could go back no farther. She knew there was little he could do so long as she held the twins in her arms, but she also knew he'd find a way to pay her back for her mischief somehow, probably when she least expected it. "Anyway, isn't it nap time?" she suggested with a smile.

"In a moment." He chuckled again, reaching his superior arm-span about all three of them to smother his wife in a kiss to make her toes curl, grinning at the sound of the sleepy giggles coming from between them. And, naturally, taking full advantage of the opportunity to goose her while she had her own hands completely full. Stepping back, he winked at her. "I do believe you set up the nursery next to the second bedroom, love."

Even with his lips pressed to hers, she couldn't help but let out a small "Eeep!" as he goosed her. She would have swatted him, but it was impossible with her hands full. "You are incorrigible!" she accused when he finally stepped back, left just a little out of breath from that kiss. While payback was to be expected, she thought it rather unfair of him to take advantage of the fact that her hands were otherwise occupied at the moment.

"Of course I am, love, I'm learning from the very best piece of beautiful mischief in the multiverse," he assured her, gently chucking each infant chin. "I believe you'd volunteered to put them down for their nap. I should go and finish tidying the living room." She'd left him to diaper the terrible twosome; he thought it was only fair that she get to juggle the pair into their crib.

She huffed teasingly, unsure if she wanted to let him off that easily. "You can try to smooth-talk your way out this, but it's not going to work," she warned, unable to hide the hint of mischief from her eyes. Oh, she was going to have retribution in her own time and her own way.

"Darling, if I promise to ravish you on the kitchen counter, will you stop keeping those little horrors awake while you try and think up a suitable plan for revenge?" Rufus asked her in amusement, gently tweaking the end of her nose. "Or perhaps salmon and scrambled eggs might soothe those ruffled feathers?"

"Perhaps tying you up and having my way with you would be a good start. Or perhaps I'd just tie you up and leave you be until you begged for it," she threatened, with a very serious look on her face. She wasn't above doing so and it would be easy enough to do while he was snoring. Er, sleeping. But she didn't bother arguing with him, the thought of him taking her anywhere getting the best of her.

"My darling, if you can ever manage to tie me up without cheating, you can do what you like to me," he promised her with a confident grin. Despite the snoring, he was a light sleeper. "Now shoo." One more swat to her behind to get her moving. "Or no ravishing until the babies go home."

"Is that a challenge?" she asked, brows arching upwards curiously. Anyone who knew Miranda well knew it wasn't a good idea to challenge her or to dare her as she'd almost always rise to that challenge. She couldn't help but giggle at his threat, though. "Please, you couldn't go two days without sex if your life depended on it," she countered, turning to step past him on her way to the nursery.

"I managed twenty-four years without sex, I can manage two days," he countered with a snort of laughter, ushering her out to close the bedroom door behind them. "You forget, I have the only key to the library." Because he knew if he took that challenge, his merry tempered wife would go out of her way to provoke him into losing.

She frowned at little at the reminder of all the years they'd missed, all the wasted time. Twenty-four years was a long time to be apart, but at least, they were together now. She wasn't quite sure what had changed, other than the fact that Bethany had grown up, but she refused to entertain the thought of him ever leaving her behind again. "You can lock yourself in the library all you want, Rufio. I have a vibrator," she countered, practically daring him to do so.

"Not much use without the batteries, love," he laughed, blowing her a kiss. "I'll be in the kitchen. Try not to get dragged under all the blankets and forget the threat to ravish, hmm?" He kissed her forehead affectionately. "You need to eat, after all."

She gave him that look that all women gave their significant others and spouses when they were slightly annoyed, that look that said, "Be careful or you will be sleeping on the couch," though that was hardly likely where Rufus and Miranda were concerned. "I think I can manage it," she told him, not bothering to point out that she'd managed alone for twenty-four years. That would only cause hurt feelings and she knew he felt guilty enough. "I'll be right back," she told him, her voice and expression softening, unable to stay annoyed with him for very long, and off she went to tuck the terrible twosome in for their afternoon nap.

So she was still angry with him for abandoning her with their daughter. Rufus watched her go, a frown furrowing his brows as he turned toward the kitchen. Somehow, they needed to let go of that time spent apart, but he had no idea how to help it to happen. The guilt he felt was a constant pain he tried not to let her see, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided. Spending time with their grandchildren, fun though it was, reminded him of all the years he had missed with Bethany.

It wasn't so much the fact that she'd been left alone to raise their daughter that bothered her. She'd known the reasons he had left and understood them. The past was the past and couldn't be changed, after all, and he'd only been doing what he must to keep them safe. What worried her was whether he'd ever feel the need to do it again, combined with the knowledge of all the time they'd lost and the time he'd lost with their daughter. She slipped away from him to tuck the twins in, vowing to make the most of the quiet while they had it.

It didn't take long for him to make himself busy in the kitchen, knowing that she needed to eat, at the very least. Miranda had a tendency to forget to feed herself when babies were around, he had noticed. With crumpets toasting and eggs scrambling, Rufus had time for his own thoughts, which were not as carefree as he might have wished for. He wanted desperately to ease all Miranda's worries and fears, but if she didn't tell him what those fears were, how could he do that"

She wasn't gone long, the smell of food drawing her back to the kitchen, along with the presence of her hunky husband. She was like a moth to the flame where he was concerned, unable to stay away from him despite the danger. Maybe that was why he'd had to leave in the first place, she realized, refusing to believe he'd ever do that again, no matter how dangerous his life became. Life would have been a lot easier if she'd just fallen in love with someone who didn't have such a dangerous job, but then that wouldn't be Rufus and she wouldn't trade whatever time she had with him for anything. She couldn't help but worry for his safety more than she'd ever admit. For the moment, though, she set aside her own worries, her arms going around him from behind while he fussed in the kitchen, knowing he was cooking mostly for her sake, warm lips finding the back of his neck. "You know I love you, right?" she asked him quietly.

He sighed softly as he felt her come up behind him, lowering the heat on the stove before turning to face her, cupping her face in his hands. "I will never leave you again, angel," he promised her fervently, as though he had not heard her quiet declaration of love, needing her to believe him. "The worst is over and it will never happen again. Darling, you have to believe me. I would die before walking away from you."

Rufus Bennett

Date: 2015-02-09 10:56 EST
Her heart ached to hear him say those words, knowing his need to reassure her had most likely been brought on my something she'd said. "Sweetheart, I know that," she told him gently, touching a kiss to his lips to reassure him of her love. "But that's not really a very good promise to make to someone who loves you. I'd rather you walked away than....than the alternative," she said, refusing to entertain the notion that he might ever die on her.

Rufus sighed once again, recognizing that he had chosen the wrong words to reassure her with, wondering if he would ever get it right at some point. There was only one great threat on the horizon, and yet it wasn't even his fight. He was confident Des would be able to cope, when the time came. Wrapping his arms about Miranda, he drew her in close, wishing there was a way for her to see into his heart and mind, to know for certain that nothing short of death would take him away from her again. "I'm sorry," he apologized quietly. "A poor choice of words."

She relinquished herself to the protective embrace of two strong arms - arms she had desperately missed for so many long years and that she never grew tired of. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or make you feel guilty. What's done is done, and I understand the reasons for it. Bethany's safety was and always will be more important than our happiness, but that didn't make it any easier. I missed you, Rufus, and I worry that someday something or someone will take you away from us again. Something I can't defend against. Something I can do nothing about." She sighed softly before pulling away to look up at him, her fingers tracing the handsome line of his jaw, a smile finding its way to her face, even as her eyes glistened with tears. "I know it has not been easy for you, either. While I found comfort in Beth, you had no one, but all of that is behind us now, and I will not give you up so easily again."

"You will never have to," he promised her faithfully, his fingers stroking though her hair. All he could do was repeat his promise, over and again, until the day when she believed it. Such fears were not overcome in a short span. He kissed her softly, her lips and her forehead, holding her close for a moment longer. "But you will start grumbling if I burn your lunch," he added with a smile, squeezing her one last time before turning to rescue the food from imminent in-edibleness.

"You are too good to me, Rufio," she told him, hugging him back before letting him go so he could finish making her lunch. "Have you seen Taylor lately' It's almost Mardi Gras," she said, effectively changing the subject as she turned to make herself a cup of tea, very sweet.

"You mean have I seen him since he and Kaylee had a minor meltdown over whether they can afford wedding rings?" Rufus asked, amused as all hell by his nephew's concerns over paying for such a thing. After all, Taylor was marrying a Granger who should have known better than to get into that conversation in the first place. "Not since then, no. I do believe you may want to jump on Kaylee before she decides to get married in jeans, though."

"I suppose I'll have to call her," Miranda mused, stirring her tea. Rufus was right - money was really no object when one was connected to a Granger, though she knew Taylor had his pride. "I need to get her into the shop and she's running out of time!" She set her spoon down and took a sip of her tea, finding it sufficiently sweet. It was Rufus who'd encouraged her tea habit, though he'd had nothing to do with her addiction to sweets. "Would you like a cup?" she asked, before sipping at her own.

"Yes, please, love." Asking him if he wanted tea was like asking him if he was breathing some days. He was concentrating for the moment, though - the scrambled egg and salmon had to be piled just right on top of the buttered crumpets. Rufus may have been a good cook, but presentation was everything. "At least they have the licenses and the justice booked ahead of time. It's far more organized than I would have expected of Kaylee. I think she pretends to be an idiot just to annoy me, you know."

"That smells scrumptious," she told him, smiling as she inhaled the smell before turning to make him a fresh cup of tea. He was by far the better cook; she would have never attempted to create such a concoction on her own. "She's been through a lot, Rufus," Miranda reminded him with a small worried frown. "They both have. To be honest, I'm not sure either of them will ever be the same."

"They don't ever need to be the same again," he reminded her gently. "Their progress together over the past few months has been truly humbling to watch. I've never seen Taylor smile so much. I actually heard him laugh a while back, for the first time in eight years. Damaged they might be, but they're finding ways to get by together." He turned to place her lunch on the table for her, complete with napkin and cutlery, and put a couple of crumpets under the grill for himself.

"Do you think so?" she asked, obviously worried. Even if neither Kaylee or Taylor was her child, she worried over them like they were. Everyone knew Kaylee's relationship with her own mother was strained, and Taylor's mother had died years ago. Miranda knew she could never replace either of them, but she could do her best to love them like they were her own. It was the least she could do for Rufus' nephew and one of her own bloodline. She finished making his cup of tea, just the way he liked it, and set it on the table in wait for him as she claimed a seat at the table.

"Eat that while it's hot, angel," he told her as she sat down, knowing her habits too well. "And yes, I do think so. Taylor's been very lost for a very long time, but Kaylee gives him a purpose beyond revenge and beyond simply taking each day as it comes. I didn't know her before, but I would hazard a guess that this young woman she's becoming is far better for her than the wild girl you described to me was."

"She's growing up," Miranda remarked, poking her fork at the sandwich, which looked almost too good to eat. Or more accurately, she had grown up. Kaylee hadn't had much choice but to grow up, given all that she'd been through the last year or so. "They are good for each other, and they do seem happy," she continued. She really believed that, and while others in the family might not understand the rush to be married, she did. Life was too short, and if anyone knew that was true, it was Taylor and Kaylee. "I wonder what Correy will have to say about all this," she mused aloud, though she wasn't sure it mattered. At least, not anymore. What mattered was what made Kaylee happy, and that seemed to be Taylor. "Ironic, isn't it?" she said with a soft smile. "Your nephew and my cousin." Life seemed full of such little ironies. Who would have thought Bethany would have ended up with Jason, or Desmond with Piper"

Rescuing his own crumpets from beneath the grill, Rufus liberally applied butter and moved to sit down with her, taking a huge bite as he did so. "We couldn't have predicted it," he agreed, his own smile warm. He had not met Correy, so he had nothing to contribute to a consideration of how Kaylee's brother would take what was happening with his big sister. "What matters now is that they keep that first promise they made to each other, to be married at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. A promise they made before we ended the nightmare."

"That's easily done," Miranda replied, once she'd chewed and swallowed her first bite of the salmon and scrambled egg sandwich he'd concocted for her. "Oh, that's delicious!" she exclaimed, taking another bite. She had yet to dislike anything Rufus made for her and frankly, preferred his cooking to her own. "They want to keep it small. Just close family," she continued, licking a bit of scrambled egg from her finger. The question was what was considered close" All they really needed was a couple of witnesses, and Rufus and Miranda could easily serve that purpose without going any farther. "How do you feel about a trip to New Orleans, lover?" she asked, just a little bit slyly.

Rufus Bennett

Date: 2015-02-09 10:56 EST
He eyed his wife with a grin that wasn't exactly hidden behind his teacup. "Are you asking me because you think I haven't been asked, dear, or because you want to put me in something god-awfully restrictive for the wedding?" he asked her teasingly, licking butter from his lower lip. "Taylor asked me to stand up with him. I had assumed that Kaylee would have asked you to do the same."

"Never assume, dear. You know what happens when you do," she half teased, half lectured him, with a grin on her face. That should have answered his question, at least in part. "I thought perhaps you'd like to wear flannel to the wedding," she teased him further before taking another bite of her sandwich, eyes dancing with mischief. Though she may have momentarily surrendered to her own worries, it wasn't usually long before she bounced back to her usual optimistic self.

He chuckled, finishing off his crumpets with one last mouthful before licking his fingers clean of butter. "Just a flannel?" he teased her in return. "Well, I daresay I would fit in to the parades, though you may have difficulty convincing Taylor to be seen with me." His eyes sparkled with mischief of his own as he sipped his tea, enjoying the quiet that was going to be in short supply until Beth and Jason returned for their tiny terrors tomorrow.

She might have licked his fingers herself clean if he hadn't beaten her to it, but for now she was content simply to enjoy watching him do it, her thoughts drifting a moment to other forms of licking before getting back on track with the subject at hand. She smiled back at him, happy to see him smiling again. He didn't smile hardly enough, in her opinion, and she had made it her personal goal in life to make him smile more, no matter what it took. "Actually, flannel doesn't really become you. You do look dashing in a suit, though. Tom Ford, maybe. Black or blue. But for Mardi Gras, I think something a little more daring."

"I am never going to allow you to dress me in a ....what was it Vicki called it' A mankini?" Just the thought of that was more than enough to make him shudder with effected disgust. "Explain daring before you go any further, angel."

She laughed. "No, you're not quite the type for a mankini, dear. Speedos, maybe," she teased back, though she didn't really want her hunky husband parading around in nothing but a spandex thong to cover his unmentionables - at least, not outside the bedroom. "Daring?" she echoed, with an innocent look on her face. "Shall I look it up in the dictionary for you, Moondoggie?"

"I said explain, not define," he pointed out, utterly mystified by the new and unusual nickname she had suddenly pegged him with. "You, angel, are just asking to be punished today, aren't you?" Not that punishment with Rufus meant anything more drastic than a light spank.

"Oh, you know just the things to say to a girl, Rufio." She leaned forward to rest her chin on the palm of her hand, as if to give him all her attention. "Are you gonna talk dirty to me?" she asked, batting her lashes coyly. Where the two of them were concerned, punishment was more of a promise than a threat.

"And you say I'm incorrigible?" he laughed, reaching over to tweak the end of her nose with a gentle touch. "I, my darling, am not the one offering herself up without even a second thought while there are two very small, very unpredictable people in the house."

"Two very small people who aren't going anywhere until they wake up from their nap," she dutifully reminded him. "If you want my definition of daring, that's it." Sort of, anyway, but she still had half a sandwich to finish, and she was having too much fun teasing him to explain properly yet.

Rufus cleared his throat, raising his brows as he watched her eat. "Your definition of daring is to have me throw you down in the middle of Bourbon Street and ravish you in front of the entire French Quarter on the day your cousin marries my nephew?" he asked her innocently.

Unfortunately, she had just taken a bite of her sandwich and nearly choked on it when he suggested that. He could play innocent all he wanted, but Miranda knew better. She coughed to clear her throat. "Not..." Cough. "on..." Cough. "Bourbon..." She took a gulp of tea to wash the bit of sandwich down. What she wouldn't give for a little bourbon right now.

He grinned, ridiculously pleased to have thrown her off-balance even for a little while, and reached over to rub her back as she regained her composure. "You really should be more clear about these things, love," he teased her affectionately. "Or one of these days I am simply going to raise your skirt in the street, out of some misguided belief that you want me to."

"Rufus!" she exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at him warningly. "You wouldn't!" She had a feeling he really wouldn't dare such a thing, but there was always this little bit of uncertainty when it came to her husband. She sighed a little. "Oh, who are we fooling" We're too old for this nonsense," she said, secretly hoping he disagreed with her. "We're grandparents now. We have to set a good example and behave with a certain decorum." Yeah, right.

He snorted with laughter. "Never try and tell me you're too old for anything, love," he laughed, shaking his head. "I won't believe you, and it could make me even more determined to prove you wrong. Besides, surely staying fit means you'll have more energy to spend with our grandchildren, doesn't it?" He grinned at her, daring her to disagree.

She frowned a little for some reason, though it wasn't anything he'd said. Her time clock had stopped ticking a long time ago. It was too late for them to have another child, wasn't it' Or was it' "Are you happy here with me, Rufus" I mean, is there anything you would change if you could?"

The frown made his grin falter, uncertain what he had done or said this time. There were still times when Rufus felt he was on thin ice with his wife; he adored her, but they were still in the process of learning the changes each had gone through in their decades apart. "Why would I want anything to change?" he asked her worriedly. "Are you happy, angel?"

"Yes, of course I am!" she reassured him, reaching for his hand. "Sometimes I just wish I could have given you another child. A son, maybe." But then, wasn't Taylor almost like the son he'd never had" And though she knew she could never take the place of his mother, she couldn't imagine loving him more if he was her own flesh and blood.

"I don't." It was an oddly abrupt thing for him to say, but he moved on to explain before she could misunderstand. "Miri, I love you. I've loved you for years, and missed you deeply. I love our daughter, and I'm proud of the life she has built for herself. But I'm a selfish man. I don't want to share you, love. Not even with a child."

Rufus Bennett

Date: 2015-02-09 10:57 EST
"Oh, Rufus," she said, her voice breaking as her eyes filled with tears, the rest of the sandwich forgotten for now. She slipped off her chair to deposit herself in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him close. "I love you so much. There's so much I want to do yet, and I want to do it all with you."

He gathered her into his arms, wrapping her close in his embrace as she found her place on his lap, his splayed hand stroking gently up and down her back. "We have time, Miri," he promised her in a low voice. "We have all the time in the world. Nothing is going to get in the way of what we have and what we want, I promise you that. Not even your incessant volunteering to babysit everything under the age of twenty." He laughed, blowing a raspberry against her neck as he hugged her tight.

She couldn't help but giggle, mostly because that raspberry tickled her neck, the sound of it girlish, just like when she'd first met him back in college. She swatted him playfully and swiped at the tears on her face. "You silly man! I have no interest in babysitting any teenagers!" she pointed out, smiling again. No matter what he thought of himself, he always seemed able to find a way to make her smile. "I am going to take you to New Orleans and we are going to get smashingly drunk," she told him. "Is that a word" Smashingly?" she asked, uncertainly. His very English accent was the first thing that had attracted her to him way back when. Well, that and his cute little ***.

"It is now," he assured her, tucking her closer with a bounce of his knees. "Rip-roaringly, smashingly rat-arsed, I believe you may be aiming for." He laughed once again, his palm stroking against her thigh as he looked at her. She knew perfectly well what his weakness was when it came to her - it was, and always had been, her legs. He'd had a very good view of them over the multiple times she'd dropped her pencil "by accident" before he had summoned the courage to ask her out, after all.

"Rat-arsed. Why do you English always insist on adding letters where they're not needed?" she teased him in return, as she slipped closer. If he'd waited much longer to ask her out, she might have taken matters into her own hands, but fortunately, he'd finally gathered the courage to do it himself. Miranda had few regrets where Rufus was concerned, and though she hated the time that they'd lost, given the chance, she'd have done the same thing all over again. As far as Miranda was concerned, there was no one like Rufus. No one who even came close. She rewarded him just for being himself by kissing him, thoroughly and completely, showing him how much she loved him without saying a word.

"Arse is a far more satisfying sound than ***, darling," he defended his accent with a grin, more than happy to be smothered with her kisses. There had never been anyone else for him but Miranda; no flings, no moments of weakness. Without her, his life had been bleak and lonely, filled with responsibilities and no rewards, and he freely admitted the mistakes he had made which had left his Slayer woefully inadequate when it came to socializing with anyone at all. But that period of his life was over now. He had his Miranda, and their daughter; their son-in-law, and their grandchildren; Taylor, and Kaylee; and the wider arms of the Granger family that had opened up to envelop him the moment he had stepped out of the shadows. He had so much to be thankful for, and it all revolved around the beautiful woman perched prettily on his lap in that moment.

She wished she could have said the same. She'd tried to forget him, tried to extinguish the pain and loneliness with a few flings here and there, but it was like pouring gasoline on a fire. Not one of them could ever compare, every last one had only made her miss him all the more. Was it any wonder she had never told Bethany the truth about her father when every time she'd thought of him it had only broken her heart' But like him, all of that was over now. They had the rest of their lives together, and she intended to make every day count. She hadn't missed the stroke of his fingers against her thigh, knowing she had a certain power over him where desire was concerned, but it wasn't something she held over him, as much as she enjoyed flaunting it now and then. Turning to face him, she cupped his face between her hands and straddled his lap, as naughty as a schoolgirl, as she kissed him again, just as thoroughly as before.

And what was a red-blooded man to do but respond to that unequivocal declaration of intent' Grinning beneath her lips, Rufus let his hands slip about to her rear, cupping her tight against him as he rose easily onto his feet, bearing her weight without so much as a grunt. Training a Slayer day in and day out did have some fringe benefits, after all. He knew their home by now like the back of his hand; for all his threats about having her whenever or wherever he chose, his location of choice was always their bedroom, their bed, the one place where they could be most intimate, most open to one another, even with two little ones in the house. What better way to spend nap time than in bed"

Those long legs he so loved wove easily about his waist, her arms going around his neck as he took her to the privacy of their bedroom. It was likely she'd intended to seduce him all along, her appetite for her lover bordering on ravenous, and why not' They were old enough and married enough to enjoy a good romp in the bedroom without having to worry about any repercussions. She kicked off her shoes as they rounded the corner to the bedroom, one ear perked for the napping babies, hoping they'd give them just a few minutes more.

The barest of coughs froze him in place in their doorway, every muscle tense in the silence that extended long enough to be absolutely sure that it had been just a sleepy cough. "Thank God for that," he grumbled, lengthening his stride to tumble his wife down onto the bed and set his attention to answering her seduction with his own.

However long they spent tangled together beneath the sheets was never enough to make up for the many long years of separation, and yet, each time they made love, it brought them that much closer to healing the wounds of the past and fanning the flames of love and passion that burned so brightly in their hearts and souls. No matter what the future held in store for them, they had already conquered the past. And together, they would conquer the future.