Wasn’t that much longer before Travis opened his eyes at the feel of warm hands on his knee. He smiled when he saw his Libby sitting on the bed, completely nude, with her hands on what remained of his right leg. “You don’t have to do that tonight. I know we’re all tired, and I kept you in the shower longer than you anticipated.”
Libby grinned at Travis. “You satisfied me and helped me relax, now I’ll help you relax.”
“You already did. Wasn’t a one way street, you know,” Travis teased.
“Will you stop fighting me and just lie back and let me do what I do,” she said, raising her eyebrows to dare him to tell her no.
“Fine. But, if the nurses want to massage my knee in the future, I’ll have to insist they be completely naked when they do, otherwise it won’t work,” he quipped, before closing his eyes and letting her do what she wanted to.
“Yeah, we’ll see how that works out for you,” Libby answered as she began the process she’d used the night before of light pressure all over the extremity, before going back with a stronger pressure. By the time she was done, Travis was snoring again. She stood beside the bed and covered him. She couldn’t help but smile at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. The strain of having to keep up the pretense that he was just fine wasn’t there. Somehow, she’d managed to know what to do to relieve his pain so that he could sleep, and she vowed to do it every single night for the rest of his life.
Libby walked around the bed and slid between the sheets on her side. She turned to her left and backed up until her back was pressed against Travis. She grinned when he turned toward her and gathered her in his arms, pulling her in tightly to him without ever stopping snoring.
She didn’t mind the soft snores. They told her he rested well, and let her know he was completely at ease with her beside him. That’s all she ever really wanted.
~~~
Early the next morning Libby woke with Travis wrapped around her again. She could tell from the way he rubbed his face into her hair that he wasn’t sleeping. “Morning,” she said sleepily.
“Morning,” Travis answered. “Think they’d mind if we stayed in bed all day?” he asked. “They can just get their trees tomorrow.”
Libby chuckled. “I think they’d mind.”
“Fine,” Travis said, releasing Libby and rolling over onto his back to stretch.
“You sleep good?” Libby asked, pushing the covers back and getting out of bed.
“I did. It’s amazing how much getting enough rest will change your outlook. I’ve slept three nights in a row, and I feel like a new male.”
“Well, you do have reason to have a new outlook. You’ve got a new mate, and I am pretty sexy, you know,” she said, teasing him.
“Yes, I certainly do know,” he said, looking at her as he rubbed the heel of his hand down toward his cock.
Libby giggled and blushed watching him. “We cannot do that right now. We have things to do today!”
“We have things to do every day. Come back here,” Travis said, sitting up and snarling softly at her.
“No! If I do, we’ll never get out of this bed,” Libby said.
“I’ll catch you,” Travis said, suddenly crawling across the comforter toward her.
Libby shrieked, laughing, and ran into the bathroom. “No! Get dressed!”
Travis smiled to himself. “If I get dressed you have to make it up to me later,” he insisted.
“I will! I promise!” Libby answered through the door, before she started laughing again.
Travis grinned to himself. He loved the sound of her laughing. That was the whole point of teasing her this morning. He promised himself in that moment that he’d make her laugh every single day.
~~~
Scotty sat at the table with a huge bowl of Frosted Flakes. He heard Libby and Travis laughing and smiled. This was how it should have been all along.
The bedroom door opened and they walked out, holding hands.
“Mornin’,” Scotty said.
“Morning! How are you today?” Libby asked.
“I’m great. How about the two of you?” he asked, grinning at them as he shoveled more cereal into his mouth.
“Never better,” Travis said.
“So, we setting everything up like last night?” Scotty asked.
“Yes, but, we’re going to move the baskets with the scarves and hats outside, too, today,” Travis said.
“Really?!” Libby asked, looking like a kid at Christmas as she waited for confirmation of what she thought that meant.
“Yes. Weatherman says it’s gonna snow today. So, we’re going to have snowman building contests!”
“Yaaaayyy!” Libby said, dancing in a little circle.
Scotty laughed, while he nodded, and got up from the table to put his now empty bowl into the sink. “That’s awesome. What are we giving out as prizes?”
Libby stopped dancing, and she and Travis looked at each other dumbfounded.
“Forgot about prizes, didn’t you? And if you have two kids competing, both should get something, don’t you think?” Scotty asked.
“Agreed,” Libby said.
“Ya’ll run into town and get some little gifts and prizes. I can set up the tables and plug in all the lights. That’s all that really needs to be done. It’s 7:45 A.M. Stores will be opening before ya’ll even get there. And if you’re running a little late, it’s not a problem, because Roman and Lucas should be here about 8:00 A.M. anyway.”
“When did you get so organized and efficient?” Travis asked.
“Had to. Everybody’s gotta grow up sometime,” Scotty answered.
“Hey, why don’t we see if we can get the heater looked at in town since we’ll be there anyway?” Libby said.
“We can do that. Just for an estimate, though. I think it needs more work than can be done in a couple of hours. We need to be back for 10:30 A.M.,” Travis said.
“Okay,” Libby said. “Let’s go ahead and go. We can grab something to eat while we’re out and about.”
“See ya in a little while,” Libby said, hugging Scotty before she grabbed her coat from the hook by the door and slipped it on.
“Ya’ll be careful,” Scotty said, watching them go out of the front door together.
Travis followed Libby to his truck, and waited while she scooted in across the seat, before getting in beside her. “So, I was thinking,” he said.
“Yeah?” Libby asked.
“With Christmas coming, I’d like to get Scotty something special for Christmas,” Travis said.
“Me, too!” Libby agreed.
“Was thinking I’d like to get him his own truck,” Travis said.
Libby’s eyes went wide. “Yes! That’s perfect! He’s such a good kid. He really deserves it,” she said, hugging Travis as he tried to put the truck in gear and back out of their driveway.
Travis laughed at her exuberance. It’d been a long time since he, or anyone else had seen this side of her. “And,” he said.
“There’s more?” Libby asked.