The Importance of Sex and Pancakes, Chapter 2
Title: The Importance of Sex and Pancakes
Rating: NC-17
A/N: Pepa's got a plan. But is La Pelirroja in the mood to play along?
Read Chapter 1 here
Chapter 2
Pepa had rushed home and tidied the house as best she could. Maya’s toys went into her room, counter tops got wiped down, dishes got washed, and she spread a fresh table cloth over the kitchen table. She changed the sheets on their bed to the dark blue ones that were her favorite, and scrubbed the tub and shower in their bathroom. She then went on a hunt to find some candles, adding a couple to the kitchen table, and the rest to the bedroom and bath.
She then just had time to call the local Thai place Silvia loved so much and ordered the redhead’s favorites before running to pick up Maya at daycare and dropping her off at Rita’s along with the overnight bag she’d packed. Kissing Rita on the cheek, she thanked her profusely before running back home. She checked the time. Six o’clock. She jumped in the shower, blow dried her hair, and changed.
And now she was pacing.
She checked the time again. Seven twenty-five. Damn it. Where was she? She was about to call her wife when she heard the key in the door. She waited, nervous energy running through her. What if this didn’t work?
Silvia came through the door, and Pepa was there to greet her.
“Hi.”
Silvia looked up after putting down her things. “Hi,” she said, walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek. “Where’s Maya?”
Pepa took a deep breath. Here goes. “She’s not here. She’s with Rita.”
Silvia pressed her lips together. “Come on, Pepa, it’s been a long day. Where is she?”
Pepa looked at Silvia squarely. “She’s not here,” she repeated. “Rita has her for the night. I told her we’d pick her up at ten tomorrow morning.”
Silvia stared at her. “Why would you do that? Why would you send our daughter somewhere without asking me?” Silvia seemed to take in Pepa’s appearance for the first time. “And why are you dressed up?”
Pepa took another deep breath. Calm, she reminded herself. Stay calm.
“Silvia,” she started slowly, “I asked Rita to watch Maya because we need some time to ourselves. We need to be together, alone, and we haven’t gotten that in a really long time.”
“What are you talking about?” Silvia countered. “We’re together all the time. Every night. On the weekends.”
“No,” Pepa shook her head. “I mean, yes, we’re together, but we’re not taking any time for each other. Doing things as a couple.”
“Pepa, come on, don’t be ridiculous. Of course we-”
“When’s the last time we had sex, Silvia?”
Silvia stopped short, frowned. Pepa could see her scientific mind processing the question.
“Well, okay, it’s been a while, but-”
“Since Maya was born.”
“What? No, it hasn’t been that long.”
“Yes, it has.”
“What about that time in the car or…last night?”
Pepa cocked her head. “I think you remember how our car adventure ended, and last night? You fell asleep.”
Silvia frowned again. “Well, I’m sorry,” her tone taking a defensive edge. “But there’s just so much going on right now and so much to do and-”
“Exactly. Which is why Rita has Maya for the night. We have the entire night just to ourselves. We can do anything we want. Silvia, I don’t want to fight with you tonight. I just want to spend some time with you.”
“Yes, but-”
“Don’t you miss it?” Pepa interjected, before Silvia could give a list of reasons of why they should get in the car immediately and go get their daughter. “Don’t you miss us? Because I do, Pelirroja. I’ve really missed us. I need to know that you have too, because sometimes I have no idea what’s going on in your head. Please, tell me what you’re feeling.”
“Pepa, of course I sometimes miss how it was when it was just the two of us. I would love to spend more time alone with you. But things change, we’ve changed. We have Maya now, and we’ve got to adapt to that.”
“Silvia, I-”
“You can’t just make all that go away. Where is all this coming from, anyway? Because we haven’t had sex in a while?”
“In a while?!” Pepa asked incredulously, her voice rising despite her promise to say calm. “A while? Aren’t you going crazy? I know I am. And I think you are too, Silvia. I think there’s a reason why you’re in the lab all the time, making sure every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ on your reports is crossed. Because you have to do something to deal with the frustration. Am I right? Or do you normally reorganize the lab twice a week?”
Silvia stared at her, processing the question. It sometimes amazed Pepa that someone so smart failed to connect things about human nature right in front of her. “Well, yeah, maybe,” Silvia hedged at last, looking down at the floor, “It’s possible…I don’t know….”
Pepa took another deep breath, brought the volume of her voice back down. She knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere by yelling here.
“I understand what you’re saying, Silvia. I do. I don’t expect things to be exactly as they were before Maya. But I do expect to find some time for each other. I do expect for us to do things together once in a while. And, yes, I would love if I got the chance to make love with my wife sometimes. We can’t ignore each other just because we’re parents now.”
Silvia looked up and started to protest again, but Pepa held up her hand.
“Look. I meant what I said, I don’t want to fight. So here’s the deal. You’ve got to eat, right?” She continued when Silvia nodded in agreement. “I’ve got dinner coming in half an hour. From the Thai place down the street. That’s enough time for you to take a bath, relax, and get changed. I put your bubble bath out, and there are some candles you can light if you’d like. Then we’ll eat. If after that, you decide you want to get Maya, we’ll go pick her up. But at least we’ll get to eat a meal without toys and bottles on the table or a squirming child in our arms. Deal?”
Silvia considered her words, still looking slightly irritated, and then nodded. “Deal.”
“Okay, then, the next half an hour is totally yours.”
Pepa breathed a sigh of relief when Silvia turned and walked down the hall.
“Hey, Princess, dinner’s going to be here any minute! Are you coming?”
“Be there in a minute!”
Pepa turned back to the salad she was making. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she could throw together some greens and a light vinaigrette to go along with the take-out she’d ordered.
She heard footsteps behind her, and then Silvia’s voice. “What are you making?”
“Just a small salad to go with our dinner, which is now officially late in arriving and…oh my God….” Pepa had been turning as she was talking, and her eyes landed on her wife as she did so.
Silvia looked, quite simply, stunning. Her hair was falling in loose curls around her face, and a black halter top dress clung to every possible curve, ending just above her knees. Pepa glanced down further where strappy red heels completed the outfit. Pepa swallowed.
“I thought you were mad at me,” she ventured.
“I was, a little,” Silvia acknowledged, smiling at Pepa’s reaction. “Sometimes your spontaneity unsettles me. My mind…doesn’t work like that. But then I got more than five whole minutes all to myself. It’s amazing what that does. While I was soaking in all those bubbles, I began to think that maybe you aren’t so wrong. Maybe we can use this time together.” Silvia glanced down at herself, smoothed her hands over the black material of her dress.
“Recognize this?” she asked. Pepa, still processing the fact that Silvia wasn’t going to pull her gun on her after all, started to shake her head. But then it hit her. It was the dress Silvia wore to the strip club that night they went undercover. She didn’t recognize it at first because what Pepa actually remembered about the dress was it coming off in the dressing room before the show when they were changing into their outfits. And Pepa had had to turn away for fear of losing control and throwing the redhead up against the door right then and there.
Pepa grinned and set down the salad bowls. “Uh, doesn’t that technically belong to the precinct?”
Silvia grinned back. “Technically. But I liked it so much Sandra slipped it back into my bag when I tried to return it. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
“Oh, really? Well, maybe I’ve got your special occasion right here,” Pepa said, walking toward Silvia with an exaggerated swagger.
“Oh, no,” Silvia said, backing away. “You promised me dinner. I’m hungry.”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Pepa’s shoulders dropped in mock disappointment, and Silvia smiled. “I think you should answer that,” she said sweetly.
Pepa narrowed her eyes at her wife. “Watch it, Pelirroja. I have a limited amount of patience tonight.”
Silvia’s smile grew. “I’ll keep that in mind.”