And I had the best day, today...
(Another scene from late September)
“Mummy,” Tess began, rolling over to look up at the person in question, batting her eyelashes just the way J had taught her, “can we go swimming again today? Maybe later, after ‘taking it easy’ time?”
Her mummy looked happy, she thought, though reading that much-loved face was a little more difficult given that her position, draped halfway across Gwen’s legs, her own feet in Regan’s lap, meant that she was seeing it mostly upside-down. “And have the funny ice-cream, too? Down by the water?”
She was pretty sure that jelly-toe ice cream was her favorite thing about Italy, so far, even if it did have a strange and hard-to-say name.
Smirking, Regan laid her chin on Gwen’s shoulder, chiming in, “And a pony, and half a tonne of chocolate, and perhaps a broomstick ride to the moon?” She arched an eyebrow at Tess, tickling the girl’s feet and making her squirm as she queried, “Did we miss anything, then? Shall we see if J can find us a pet unicorn after all?”
It was good that Tess generally asked for sensible things, as they all loved spoiling her so much. J was the worst, to be fair, which seemed appropriate to Regan, since he’d apparently never had anyone or anything upon which to lavish affection before Gwen, and now Tess. She found it oddly endearing, and for all that she’d once hated the man, found that she didn’t mind when his ‘fathering’ overlapped to include herself.
“He might actually try to find her one if she asked him at the right time.” Which was really any time when it came to Tess. Her daughter and Jonathan were thick as thieves; Tess had him wrapped around her tiny little finger.
“But to answer your question, yes, we can go down to the water and also get gelato when you’re done swimming,” Gwen said, fingers sifting lightly through Tess’ hair. “We’ll pick something up at the market to make for supper as well.”
“‘Kay!” Tess chirped, wriggling her feet away from her siss and crawling until she could flop between two of her favorite people, cuddling into her mummy’s side. She hummed happily to herself for a moment, then tipped her head up, brow furrowed in question. “Why is being here ‘take it easy’? The beach isn’t easy, too? Or the pool? Or... I guess riding the horses is kind of hard, but it’s fun, too. That doesn’t count?”
Regan snickered, offering, “I think it involves activities where you can snuggle at the same time, but I could be wrong. Maybe your Mummy has a better definition?”
“It’s accurate enough,” Gwen said, lips twitching. She directed her attention down to the questioning eyes searching her face. “Mummy likes to be still sometimes. I fly all the time at work, and move a lot because I must. It feels good to be still.” A smile curled her mouth again. “And I find it relaxing to play with your hair. I believe you do, too, hmm?”
Taking the hint, for now, Tess laid her cheek against the warm cotton of Gwen’s dress, burrowing for a moment before she stilled. “Uh huh,” she agreed in a murmur, quite content with petting if that was what mummy wanted.
Amusement tinted Gwen’s features, but she didn’t say anything more. They rocked gently on the swinging bench and she continued to sift her fingers through her daughter’s hair; it was soothing to both of them, and it was sure to guarantee at least another quarter hour of quiet before they were urged back to the beach and beyond. Jonathan might even make it back from his meeting in London before they meandered down to the water.
Dark eyes shifted to Regan. “I haven’t been on holiday like this in over a decade. We should have done this long ago.” Long, sunny days with no obligations but their own indulgences, and warm nights of dancing, and more, with Jonathan. “I’m of a mind to make this a yearly occurrence.”
"We did have Greece," Regan reminded gently, shifting enough to tuck her feet beneath her in the swing. It was one of the shining, golden memories of that time for her; unblemished joy in her brother's happiness with this woman who had stolen both their hearts. The recollection ached faintly still, as she supposed it always would despite her present contentedness with her situation in life, and Gwen's, but she felt markedly less haunted by what might have been, and sighed quietly as she cuddled closer to both her 'sisters'.
“We did,” Gwen echoed softly. She’d forgotten; at one time it’d been an intentional thing she’d done -- forget that golden time with Tristan and Regan before Tristan’s mind had failed him. At the time forgetting as much as possible had been the only way to deal with it. Time had lessened the pain, and fate had brought her Jonathan -- and then Regan, Tess and Teddy. It’d become habit though, to block it out. There was no use for such a coping mechanism anymore, though.
"I agree, though," Regan murmured, "we should travel together more. Only with some sort of charm so they can't go whisking Jonathan away all the time. He promised to help build castles again... possibly a sand-man, if we could work out how to make the sand stick properly."
“Jonathan always keeps his promises,” Gwen reminded. “Though in this case, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided we should all take a midnight jaunt to the seashore so he might keep this particular one.” She glanced down at the girl half-dozing in her lap. “Tess would probably think it grand.”
Stirring at the sound of her name, Tess tipped her head back to see how serious her mummy had been about midnight. “I think it grand,” she agreed with a smile, “but how will we see to make castles in the dark, huh? We should bring lights?”
Another thought occurred to her then, prompted by the image of working to make sand-castles by torchlight, “J gonna be gone until dark today? He’s supposed to be here, not working. That’s what vacation means.”
“He should be back anytime.” He should have been back an hour prior, in fact. “And you’re quite right about vacations, little one. There ought not be any school or work, but unfortunately Jonathan’s job doesn’t let out for summer like mine, or your school. He can’t be away from home for as long as we can. He’s around much more than usual though, for many days in a row. It’s something of a vacation for him, even if it isn’t as long, or uninterrupted, as ours.”
A smile touched Gwen’s lips, a regular occurrence the past few years. “And yes, if we were to go to the beach in the middle of the night, we would need some kind of light by which to build sand castles. It is not so hard to provide such with magic.”
Nodding thoughtfully, aware that her mummy, Regan, and J did lots of things by magic, Tess wondered aloud, “When you think I’ll get the magic too, huh?” Other kids at her school seemed to be certain already that they had the magic, or would get it soon, but they never had a good explanation of how they knew, so Tess was still clueless.
Regan bit her lip and looked to Gwen, not sure how, or even whether, to explain to Tess that she might yet turn out to not be magical at all. The idea was worrisome, mostly as she didn’t know how Tess would handle the possibility.
“I don’t know when you’ll get your magic,” Gwen admitted honestly. “Everyone’s different. I came into my magic before I can remember, but Joscelin didn’t get his until he was your age. Most people in our family were rather early though. Since we don’t know much about the other wizards and witches in your family, it’s hard to say what’s expected for you.”
Gwen lightly traced the curve of Tess’ cheek. “You might not even come into any magic at all, and that would be okay. You’re a very happy little girl right now, and it just means that nothing would change. You would still be well loved and spoiled completely rotten.”
“I was late, too,” Regan offered. “Quite a bit older than you are now, actually, and it took me five or six wands to be able to do anything on purpose.” She blushed at the memory, having been completely mortified at the wandmaker’s despite Tristan’s best efforts to counteract their mother’s lamentations.
Cuddling into her mummy’s hand, Tess considered what had been said, and shrugged. “‘Kay,” she murmured. “I think I hope to get magic, though, ‘cause I don’t think I can work for J without it, huh?”
“Work for me without what?” Jonathan asked, strolling through the open doorway and onto the porch. Though the views from their villa were fantastic, a panorama of rolling Italian hills with dark vegetation and the lapping of the waves against their private beach, his eyes were instantly drawn to his girls. The bench they were crowded on swayed slightly in the breeze and the calmness radiating from the three of them brought a smile to his face.
The Ministry was busy and getting permission for a few weeks of reduced availability had been difficult. The asking had been enjoyable, however, as Potter hadn’t been able to say no. Not after the information Jonathan had been funneling to him had netted the MLE a large number of arrests for smuggling and other illegal offenses.
Though he still needed to check in from time to time, this was by far the longest ‘vacation’ - if one didn’t count being injured and off the active Auror roster - Jonathan had been on since he’d entered the Auror program as a trainee so many years prior.
“J!” came the delighted yell, followed by a small ‘thud’ and the noise of Tess’ feet on the deck. She scrambled expertly up the ivy trellis and along the porch railing to where he’d paused, leaping gleefully at his person. Mummy found this undignified, but J was a good catch, and Tess wound her arms around his neck to inform him, “We miss you today. Mummy said you’d help us with castles even at midnight, ‘cause you promised, but we’d have to have lights, so you and her and Regan could make magic lights, but not me ‘cause I got no magic yet... and I have to get magic to work for you, huh? So I hope I get it.”
Giggling, Regan pressed a kiss to her sister’s cheek and rose from the swing, going to greet Jonathan, albeit more sedately than was Tess’ wont. She poked her wild little ‘siss’ lightly in the ribs, muttering ‘heathen’, as she leaned into J’s side for a hug. “We did miss you,” she acknowledged, lips curling into a smile, “and Gwen made us sit still... it was terrible.”
He wrapped an arm around Regan’s shoulder as he steadied Tess against him with an arm under her rump, and cast a scandalized look in Gwen’s direction. “That sounds utterly terrible. She’s a monster. A monster!” He punctuated this by pressing his lips to Tess’ neck (one of her most ticklish spots) and wiggling his chin back and forth. Her peal of laughter was his reward when he looked back to his lover with a large smile on his face.
“It appears the little one wants to take after me instead of her mum,” he remarked, unable to hide a bit of pride in his voice. If he were to think on it too long - Tess being an Auror and being in the line of fire - he was sure he’d have a much different reaction, but as young as she was, there was no telling what she’d actually become when she was grown.
“Traitors, the both of you,” Gwen informed Regan and Tess dryly, single brow arching at the unrepentant pair -- trio, really. Once upon a time Regan, at least, had always been on her side, but those days were long past; the three of them could be absolutely intolerable at times, but she wouldn’t really have it any other way.
“I suppose I shall have to persevere alone,” she added, tone wistful as she reclined further, legs crossing so that one sandal hung precariously to her foot as the swing continued to sway.
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Jonathan asked, his dark gaze lingering on Gwen and the picture that she painted before turning back to Regan and Tess. “Besides, we need her to help with the moats for the castles, yeah? Your mum makes great moats.”
Tugging on J’s shirt, Tess insisted, “Mummy makes good everything. You have to help us bring her, so she not here all’lone.” Her nose crinkled, and she turned to look at Gwen, and then to her siss. “Better, you get her... we get the castle-making stuff, ‘kay? You’re the biggest.”
With that, she wriggled free and tucked her hand into Regan’s, pulling her big siss toward the villa, pointing out in not-quite-a-whisper, “Maybe they can do the kissing now, and not so much while we make castles.”
Unable to suppress a snort, Regan let herself be dragged along, returning, “Nice idea, love, but I doubt it.”
Her daughter’s words and earnest expression pointed up at Regan made Gwen smile. She nearly laughed, even, and was thankful for perhaps the thousandth time that she had both girls in her life.
She was thankful, too, for the man whom Tess had mentioned she should kiss before they head to the beach, and Gwen’s eyes shifted to him. “Shall we do the kissing now, then, and endeavor to behave ourselves thereafter?” she asked, eyes crinkling with her smile; she could still hear Tess trying to explain to Regan that if they got it done now, they might make it until after the sand castle building for more.
He crossed the distance between them, finding a spot on the bench before pulling her against him. The movement sent them swinging, and his smile widened at the small look of surprise on her face. “You’ve never been able to behave yourself,” Jonathan answered with a smirk, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “In fact, I believe you’ve been called a troublemaker in some circles.”
“That’s very bold of you to say,” she said as she shifted into his side, free hand coming up to tug at his tie, loosening the material. “As I recall you being the black sheep of society for near twenty years. I may be headstrong, but you, love, are the hellraiser in this household.” A kiss was pressed to his jaw and she pulled his tie free, nimble fingers making work of the top buttons next.
“I would argue that Tess is the hellraiser in this household, or have you forgotten the path of destruction that she tends to create?” he answered, eyes closing as her breath fanned against his neck. The way his body reacted to her, immediate and powerfully, pulled at something visceral in him.
It would have to wait, however. There were sand castles to construct and the sooner they had dinner, and gelato, and swimming, the sooner he would be able to spend the time he wanted with his lover.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she murmured before nipping at the spot she’d kissed only moments prior. Gwen nuzzled him then, and his hair tickled her nose as she breathed him in; the spice of his aftershave from early that morning mixed with the scent of his skin. The smell both calmed her and made her pulse pound.
It’d been years and Jonathan still did these things to her, still made her feel on edge. Gwen had learned to love it.
She smiled against his skin. “How could I forget? I’m the one usually coming behind to clean up after our little hellion.”
“That’s because you’re an amazing mother,” Jonathan responded, thinking about the woman he’d met years prior and the woman he was in love with today. While he could still see so much of the dark-haired beauty he’d come upon in the halls of the ministry, she had changed in monumental ways since that day.
Though, he had changed in remarkable ways as well. Time, and the shifts life brought in that time, was bound to have a lasting effect on how you viewed the world. And how he viewed the world included her, and their family, by his side. Always.
Gwen could hear Tess’ feet pattering as the girls headed their way and she pulled away from her long-time lover. Their time would come later. Such was the way of things when one became a parent. “She’ll want to go swimming first. Best lose the tie before we go, hmm.”
“I’m never against you taking an article of clothing from my person, love. You know this.” He gave Gwen a smirk. “I agree. If we are to go swimming, best get rid of the last vestiges of the work day.”
Jonathan stood, holding a hand out to her. “Shall we?”
“More so, we must,” she said, a tiny smile curling the edge of her lips as she slid her hand into his.
SUMMARY: The Savage-Jones-Bole household enjoys their summer holiday in Italy.
“Mummy,” Tess began, rolling over to look up at the person in question, batting her eyelashes just the way J had taught her, “can we go swimming again today? Maybe later, after ‘taking it easy’ time?”
Her mummy looked happy, she thought, though reading that much-loved face was a little more difficult given that her position, draped halfway across Gwen’s legs, her own feet in Regan’s lap, meant that she was seeing it mostly upside-down. “And have the funny ice-cream, too? Down by the water?”
She was pretty sure that jelly-toe ice cream was her favorite thing about Italy, so far, even if it did have a strange and hard-to-say name.
Smirking, Regan laid her chin on Gwen’s shoulder, chiming in, “And a pony, and half a tonne of chocolate, and perhaps a broomstick ride to the moon?” She arched an eyebrow at Tess, tickling the girl’s feet and making her squirm as she queried, “Did we miss anything, then? Shall we see if J can find us a pet unicorn after all?”
It was good that Tess generally asked for sensible things, as they all loved spoiling her so much. J was the worst, to be fair, which seemed appropriate to Regan, since he’d apparently never had anyone or anything upon which to lavish affection before Gwen, and now Tess. She found it oddly endearing, and for all that she’d once hated the man, found that she didn’t mind when his ‘fathering’ overlapped to include herself.
“He might actually try to find her one if she asked him at the right time.” Which was really any time when it came to Tess. Her daughter and Jonathan were thick as thieves; Tess had him wrapped around her tiny little finger.
“But to answer your question, yes, we can go down to the water and also get gelato when you’re done swimming,” Gwen said, fingers sifting lightly through Tess’ hair. “We’ll pick something up at the market to make for supper as well.”
“‘Kay!” Tess chirped, wriggling her feet away from her siss and crawling until she could flop between two of her favorite people, cuddling into her mummy’s side. She hummed happily to herself for a moment, then tipped her head up, brow furrowed in question. “Why is being here ‘take it easy’? The beach isn’t easy, too? Or the pool? Or... I guess riding the horses is kind of hard, but it’s fun, too. That doesn’t count?”
Regan snickered, offering, “I think it involves activities where you can snuggle at the same time, but I could be wrong. Maybe your Mummy has a better definition?”
“It’s accurate enough,” Gwen said, lips twitching. She directed her attention down to the questioning eyes searching her face. “Mummy likes to be still sometimes. I fly all the time at work, and move a lot because I must. It feels good to be still.” A smile curled her mouth again. “And I find it relaxing to play with your hair. I believe you do, too, hmm?”
Taking the hint, for now, Tess laid her cheek against the warm cotton of Gwen’s dress, burrowing for a moment before she stilled. “Uh huh,” she agreed in a murmur, quite content with petting if that was what mummy wanted.
Amusement tinted Gwen’s features, but she didn’t say anything more. They rocked gently on the swinging bench and she continued to sift her fingers through her daughter’s hair; it was soothing to both of them, and it was sure to guarantee at least another quarter hour of quiet before they were urged back to the beach and beyond. Jonathan might even make it back from his meeting in London before they meandered down to the water.
Dark eyes shifted to Regan. “I haven’t been on holiday like this in over a decade. We should have done this long ago.” Long, sunny days with no obligations but their own indulgences, and warm nights of dancing, and more, with Jonathan. “I’m of a mind to make this a yearly occurrence.”
"We did have Greece," Regan reminded gently, shifting enough to tuck her feet beneath her in the swing. It was one of the shining, golden memories of that time for her; unblemished joy in her brother's happiness with this woman who had stolen both their hearts. The recollection ached faintly still, as she supposed it always would despite her present contentedness with her situation in life, and Gwen's, but she felt markedly less haunted by what might have been, and sighed quietly as she cuddled closer to both her 'sisters'.
“We did,” Gwen echoed softly. She’d forgotten; at one time it’d been an intentional thing she’d done -- forget that golden time with Tristan and Regan before Tristan’s mind had failed him. At the time forgetting as much as possible had been the only way to deal with it. Time had lessened the pain, and fate had brought her Jonathan -- and then Regan, Tess and Teddy. It’d become habit though, to block it out. There was no use for such a coping mechanism anymore, though.
"I agree, though," Regan murmured, "we should travel together more. Only with some sort of charm so they can't go whisking Jonathan away all the time. He promised to help build castles again... possibly a sand-man, if we could work out how to make the sand stick properly."
“Jonathan always keeps his promises,” Gwen reminded. “Though in this case, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided we should all take a midnight jaunt to the seashore so he might keep this particular one.” She glanced down at the girl half-dozing in her lap. “Tess would probably think it grand.”
Stirring at the sound of her name, Tess tipped her head back to see how serious her mummy had been about midnight. “I think it grand,” she agreed with a smile, “but how will we see to make castles in the dark, huh? We should bring lights?”
Another thought occurred to her then, prompted by the image of working to make sand-castles by torchlight, “J gonna be gone until dark today? He’s supposed to be here, not working. That’s what vacation means.”
“He should be back anytime.” He should have been back an hour prior, in fact. “And you’re quite right about vacations, little one. There ought not be any school or work, but unfortunately Jonathan’s job doesn’t let out for summer like mine, or your school. He can’t be away from home for as long as we can. He’s around much more than usual though, for many days in a row. It’s something of a vacation for him, even if it isn’t as long, or uninterrupted, as ours.”
A smile touched Gwen’s lips, a regular occurrence the past few years. “And yes, if we were to go to the beach in the middle of the night, we would need some kind of light by which to build sand castles. It is not so hard to provide such with magic.”
Nodding thoughtfully, aware that her mummy, Regan, and J did lots of things by magic, Tess wondered aloud, “When you think I’ll get the magic too, huh?” Other kids at her school seemed to be certain already that they had the magic, or would get it soon, but they never had a good explanation of how they knew, so Tess was still clueless.
Regan bit her lip and looked to Gwen, not sure how, or even whether, to explain to Tess that she might yet turn out to not be magical at all. The idea was worrisome, mostly as she didn’t know how Tess would handle the possibility.
“I don’t know when you’ll get your magic,” Gwen admitted honestly. “Everyone’s different. I came into my magic before I can remember, but Joscelin didn’t get his until he was your age. Most people in our family were rather early though. Since we don’t know much about the other wizards and witches in your family, it’s hard to say what’s expected for you.”
Gwen lightly traced the curve of Tess’ cheek. “You might not even come into any magic at all, and that would be okay. You’re a very happy little girl right now, and it just means that nothing would change. You would still be well loved and spoiled completely rotten.”
“I was late, too,” Regan offered. “Quite a bit older than you are now, actually, and it took me five or six wands to be able to do anything on purpose.” She blushed at the memory, having been completely mortified at the wandmaker’s despite Tristan’s best efforts to counteract their mother’s lamentations.
Cuddling into her mummy’s hand, Tess considered what had been said, and shrugged. “‘Kay,” she murmured. “I think I hope to get magic, though, ‘cause I don’t think I can work for J without it, huh?”
“Work for me without what?” Jonathan asked, strolling through the open doorway and onto the porch. Though the views from their villa were fantastic, a panorama of rolling Italian hills with dark vegetation and the lapping of the waves against their private beach, his eyes were instantly drawn to his girls. The bench they were crowded on swayed slightly in the breeze and the calmness radiating from the three of them brought a smile to his face.
The Ministry was busy and getting permission for a few weeks of reduced availability had been difficult. The asking had been enjoyable, however, as Potter hadn’t been able to say no. Not after the information Jonathan had been funneling to him had netted the MLE a large number of arrests for smuggling and other illegal offenses.
Though he still needed to check in from time to time, this was by far the longest ‘vacation’ - if one didn’t count being injured and off the active Auror roster - Jonathan had been on since he’d entered the Auror program as a trainee so many years prior.
“J!” came the delighted yell, followed by a small ‘thud’ and the noise of Tess’ feet on the deck. She scrambled expertly up the ivy trellis and along the porch railing to where he’d paused, leaping gleefully at his person. Mummy found this undignified, but J was a good catch, and Tess wound her arms around his neck to inform him, “We miss you today. Mummy said you’d help us with castles even at midnight, ‘cause you promised, but we’d have to have lights, so you and her and Regan could make magic lights, but not me ‘cause I got no magic yet... and I have to get magic to work for you, huh? So I hope I get it.”
Giggling, Regan pressed a kiss to her sister’s cheek and rose from the swing, going to greet Jonathan, albeit more sedately than was Tess’ wont. She poked her wild little ‘siss’ lightly in the ribs, muttering ‘heathen’, as she leaned into J’s side for a hug. “We did miss you,” she acknowledged, lips curling into a smile, “and Gwen made us sit still... it was terrible.”
He wrapped an arm around Regan’s shoulder as he steadied Tess against him with an arm under her rump, and cast a scandalized look in Gwen’s direction. “That sounds utterly terrible. She’s a monster. A monster!” He punctuated this by pressing his lips to Tess’ neck (one of her most ticklish spots) and wiggling his chin back and forth. Her peal of laughter was his reward when he looked back to his lover with a large smile on his face.
“It appears the little one wants to take after me instead of her mum,” he remarked, unable to hide a bit of pride in his voice. If he were to think on it too long - Tess being an Auror and being in the line of fire - he was sure he’d have a much different reaction, but as young as she was, there was no telling what she’d actually become when she was grown.
“Traitors, the both of you,” Gwen informed Regan and Tess dryly, single brow arching at the unrepentant pair -- trio, really. Once upon a time Regan, at least, had always been on her side, but those days were long past; the three of them could be absolutely intolerable at times, but she wouldn’t really have it any other way.
“I suppose I shall have to persevere alone,” she added, tone wistful as she reclined further, legs crossing so that one sandal hung precariously to her foot as the swing continued to sway.
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Jonathan asked, his dark gaze lingering on Gwen and the picture that she painted before turning back to Regan and Tess. “Besides, we need her to help with the moats for the castles, yeah? Your mum makes great moats.”
Tugging on J’s shirt, Tess insisted, “Mummy makes good everything. You have to help us bring her, so she not here all’lone.” Her nose crinkled, and she turned to look at Gwen, and then to her siss. “Better, you get her... we get the castle-making stuff, ‘kay? You’re the biggest.”
With that, she wriggled free and tucked her hand into Regan’s, pulling her big siss toward the villa, pointing out in not-quite-a-whisper, “Maybe they can do the kissing now, and not so much while we make castles.”
Unable to suppress a snort, Regan let herself be dragged along, returning, “Nice idea, love, but I doubt it.”
Her daughter’s words and earnest expression pointed up at Regan made Gwen smile. She nearly laughed, even, and was thankful for perhaps the thousandth time that she had both girls in her life.
She was thankful, too, for the man whom Tess had mentioned she should kiss before they head to the beach, and Gwen’s eyes shifted to him. “Shall we do the kissing now, then, and endeavor to behave ourselves thereafter?” she asked, eyes crinkling with her smile; she could still hear Tess trying to explain to Regan that if they got it done now, they might make it until after the sand castle building for more.
He crossed the distance between them, finding a spot on the bench before pulling her against him. The movement sent them swinging, and his smile widened at the small look of surprise on her face. “You’ve never been able to behave yourself,” Jonathan answered with a smirk, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “In fact, I believe you’ve been called a troublemaker in some circles.”
“That’s very bold of you to say,” she said as she shifted into his side, free hand coming up to tug at his tie, loosening the material. “As I recall you being the black sheep of society for near twenty years. I may be headstrong, but you, love, are the hellraiser in this household.” A kiss was pressed to his jaw and she pulled his tie free, nimble fingers making work of the top buttons next.
“I would argue that Tess is the hellraiser in this household, or have you forgotten the path of destruction that she tends to create?” he answered, eyes closing as her breath fanned against his neck. The way his body reacted to her, immediate and powerfully, pulled at something visceral in him.
It would have to wait, however. There were sand castles to construct and the sooner they had dinner, and gelato, and swimming, the sooner he would be able to spend the time he wanted with his lover.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she murmured before nipping at the spot she’d kissed only moments prior. Gwen nuzzled him then, and his hair tickled her nose as she breathed him in; the spice of his aftershave from early that morning mixed with the scent of his skin. The smell both calmed her and made her pulse pound.
It’d been years and Jonathan still did these things to her, still made her feel on edge. Gwen had learned to love it.
She smiled against his skin. “How could I forget? I’m the one usually coming behind to clean up after our little hellion.”
“That’s because you’re an amazing mother,” Jonathan responded, thinking about the woman he’d met years prior and the woman he was in love with today. While he could still see so much of the dark-haired beauty he’d come upon in the halls of the ministry, she had changed in monumental ways since that day.
Though, he had changed in remarkable ways as well. Time, and the shifts life brought in that time, was bound to have a lasting effect on how you viewed the world. And how he viewed the world included her, and their family, by his side. Always.
Gwen could hear Tess’ feet pattering as the girls headed their way and she pulled away from her long-time lover. Their time would come later. Such was the way of things when one became a parent. “She’ll want to go swimming first. Best lose the tie before we go, hmm.”
“I’m never against you taking an article of clothing from my person, love. You know this.” He gave Gwen a smirk. “I agree. If we are to go swimming, best get rid of the last vestiges of the work day.”
Jonathan stood, holding a hand out to her. “Shall we?”
“More so, we must,” she said, a tiny smile curling the edge of her lips as she slid her hand into his.
SUMMARY: The Savage-Jones-Bole household enjoys their summer holiday in Italy.