Title - Another Night of Firsts
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Keywords - JMPR
Summary - A night of surprising firsts for our
duo.
Disclaimer - Not my characters. Just borrowing
them for a little bit of fun. No harm intended.
"Well?"
The
door slams and Jarod sits up on the couch, peeking over the back to see his
very beautiful, but very irate wife standing in the doorway, expecting an
answer to a question to which he had no idea how to respond.
"Well
what?" he says with a yawn, casually standing up and taking a much needed
stretch. He lopes over to the door and
attempts to give Miss Parker a kiss.
"You've
got to be kidding me," she growls, causing him to cringe at the
sound. "Don't touch me, you
creep."
"Creep? What happened to husband? Love of my life?" He watches as she pushes past him, limping
her way towards the couch. Instantly
he's worried. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Oh,
I'm fine. Just fine," she hisses
sarcastically. "Although, I would
have sworn two hours ago you were trying to put me in the hospital. Fortunately the only casualty today was my
shoe." She holds up a high heeled
sandal for him to view before tossing it at his head. He ducks just before it hits him.
"Honey,"
he says with a chuckle, understanding finally dawning on him. "You weren't supposed to go inside the
hotel room. It was just a trap I set up
for Lyle and the sweepers . . ."
The
look she shoots him practically freezes his blood and stops him
midsentence. Suddenly he doesn't feel
much like laughing. She really is mad
at him. Really *really* mad, he
notices with some fear.
"Just a trap?" she asks, pulling off her other
shoe. He hides behind a chair just in
case she decides to send that one airborn as well, but breathes a sigh of
relief when he hears it land on the floor next to her. "It was all just a joke, wasn't it,
Jarod? Well, I didn't find it very
funny." One more icy glare and she
rises to go upstairs. He hears her
stomp down the hall and slam the bedroom door closed behind her. Definitely a sure sign for him to give her a
little space.
He
sinks back onto the couch, sighing in frustration. Wondering why she was so upset with him. He used to leave those traps for her all the
time when she used to chase him. Sure
she got upset at some of the more childish pranks. He knows she hated when he gave her the flu. And that strip search couldn't have been
much fun. Being locked up in jail for
the weekend for being caught with the concealed weapon had to have been
annoying. The whole hurricane thing,
although, he got caught in that trap himself, he admits was pretty scary.
But,
she got smarter over the years. She got
a lot better at avoiding his little pranks.
She really is a force to be reckoned with, that wife of his. It's been a while since she, or her
wardrobe, has fallen victim to one of his traps. It's been at least since before they got married. Maybe that's it. Maybe she always got this angry before. But before, he was never here to face her wrath. Today, he is. Today he gets to experience first hand his wife when she's truly
angry with him. Surprisingly enough,
this is the first time in the almost seven months they've been married. Their first fight, he thinks to himself with
a smile. Surely the first of many, but
he couldn't think of any future arguments right now. Right now, he needs to worry about making up with her for this
fight.
Miss
Parker storms across the bedroom, opening drawers and making sure she slams
them shut. She's trying to make as much
noise as possible so that Jarod knows how really angry she is. Apparently with him, the adage 'out of
sight, out of mind' is something to live by.
She can't believe she spent the day following a fake lead only to end up
in that trap with Lyle while Jarod lazed away the day asleep on the couch. He probably didn't even do the laundry, she
thinks to herself rolling her eyes. A
quick peek into the hamper proves that theory correct and also gives her
something else to slam.
After
a half hour of stomping and slamming, she realizes there's not much to do in
the room by herself. She flops down on
the new, big king sized bed that they just recently bought - due to the damage
they inflicted on her old one during their honeymoon - and rolls onto her side,
staring at the vast emptiness beside her.
It's normally her favorite place to be, but the bed just seems too big
and lonely without Jarod.
She
huffs in frustration. This was one of
the worst of his practical jokes ever.
And she just bought those shoes.
She really loved them. They
looked so sexy on her feet and had Jarod down on his knees drooling when she
first wore them. He couldn't keep his hands off of her. Yeah, that was a fun
night. A night that lasted well into
the next day if she's remembering accurately.
A knock at the door breaks into her memories and she angrily stomps over
to it and pulls it open.
"What?"
she asks impatiently, annoyed that he dared interrupt her. Her mouth starts watering when a wonderful
smell reaches her nose. In her attempt
to be mad at him, she'd forgotten that she hadn't eaten since she left the
house that morning. She looks at his
hands and sees her favorite pizza. He
must have had it delivered while she was throwing her tantrum.
"Thought
you might be hungry," he says, giving her a smug grin that makes her even
angrier for some reason.
She
grabs the box from him and takes out two slices, placing them into his still
outstretched hands. While he's
distracted juggling the hot pieces of pizza to avoid being burned, she slams
the door in his face and takes the rest of the pizza to the bed with her.
"Problem
solved," she says to herself with a little smile. Now, she won't have to worry about
starving. This must be his feeble
attempt to apologize she thinks, rolling her eyes. It's a good start, but he's still got a long way to go. She takes one last deep breath of the spicy
pie before digging mercilessly into it.
He
stands at the door in shock for a second before the cheese from the pizza
begins to scald his skin. He runs into
the bathroom down the hall and grabs a few paper towels to set his dinner on. Two slices of pizza. And he thought they would be in the bed
feeding each other by now. Looks like
he's going to have to go to phase two of his plan. He's determined to get her to forgive him before the night is
over.
He
hops up onto the bathroom counter while he eats his meager meal, more into
thinking about what to do next than he is about the food. He glances around the room and his eyes land
on the huge tub they've spent many an evening in. She loves the long, hot baths they take. It could be just the thing to calm her down,
he thinks, a grin coming to his face. He shoves the rest of the pizza into his mouth and moves to turn
the bathroom into her private spa for the evening.
Twenty
minutes later, the room is perfect. The
bath has been run with just the right amount of bubbles added. Candles are lit around the room. And her favorite robe is waiting for her
behind the door. All that's missing is
his wife.
He
knocks on the bedroom door again before peeking his head inside. He doesn't even get a chance to open his
mouth before she comes flying past him.
"I
hope you're done screwing around in there.
I have to pee," she huffs in aggravation. Not exactly the words he's looking for from her, but they'll do. At least she's speaking to him again. He follows her into the bathroom and hears
her surprised gasp when she sees the candles.
"Thought
you'd might enjoy a relaxing bubble bath," he whispers into her ear. Unless he's imagining things, she definitely
trembled when his warm breath danced down her neck. Perhaps this evening will end well after all.
He's
standing so close that she can't help but be affected by his warmth. She shudders as he whispers something into
her ear about a bubble bath. She must
admit, the bath looks very tempting.
Too tempting to pass up, she decides.
"Good
idea. The first one you've had
tonight," she says, trying to keep up her angry facade. But she's starting now to forget all about
why she's even mad in the first place.
Especially with the way his fingers are stroking through her hair,
lifting it into a messy ponytail on the top of her head.
"The
first of many, I hope," he chuckles, nudging her into the bathroom. He proceeds to slowly strip her, drawing her
deeper and deeper into his spell. When
she gets herself seated in the tub, she's shocked to see him still
dressed.
"Not
joining me?" she asks.
"Not
tonight. This is for you. To make up for earlier today. I'm really sorry you got in the middle of
all that. I'm sorry you ruined your
shoes. I loved those shoes," he
smiles.
"I
know you did," she says, returning his smile. "I loved how you reacted to them." Her face flushes in memory. Or maybe it's from the sensation of his
hands gently bathing her body. She sits
back, closes her eyes, and enjoys the treatment.
Too
soon for her own liking, he's pulling her out the tub. Her bottom lip sticks out like a little child
and he can't help but nibble on it.
"Just
moving this to where we'll both be comfortable," he says, carrying her
effortlessly down the hall. She could
definitely get used to this kind of treatment, she decides, laying her head on
his shoulder and letting out a contented sigh.
"I
was comfortable," she purrs, letting her lips dance lightly across
the skin on his neck. She smiles when
she feels his body starting to react to her.
"You
know, I should apologize to you, too," she says, pulling him next to her
when he sets her down on the bed.
"I shouldn't have yelled and screamed at you that way. I was tired and cranky and just not in a
good mood."
"It's
okay," he smiles. "It was our
first fight as a married couple. That
means we get to spend the rest of the night making it up to each other."
"Sounds
good to me," she groans as he attacks her mouth with his own. She gives as good as she gets, pulling him
closer to her body until there's barely a space between them. She breaks the kiss and spends a few moments
tracing her fingers across his face, studying the details and contours that
she's come to know and love.
"Promise
me something," she whispers.
"Anything,"
he pants, putting his mouth to use elsewhere while she uses hers for talking.
"No
more of these pranks. As you can see
from today's events, things can take a very dangerous turn very quickly. I was terrified in there with Lyle,"
she sniffs, unable to hold back a tear.
"I'm
so sorry, Honey," he apologizes again.
"I didn't realize . . . "
"I
know you didn't," she says, shaking her head. "I didn't realize either.
Until it was almost too late. We
can't afford to be careless like that anymore.
Too much is at stake."
"What
do you mean?" He props up on his
elbow and stares quizzically at her.
"This is a night for firsts," she smiles
shyly. "Our first fight. Our first making up from that fight. But if we're not careful, we can miss out on
another important first due to arrive about seven months from now."
He
still looks confused, so she takes his hand and places it gently on her
abdomen. It was still flat, but the
action was enough to put a spark in his eye.
"Parker?"
he gasps, afraid to say the words.
Afraid that they're not thinking of the same thing.
"Another
first, Jarod," she smiles.
"The first addition to our family.
I'm pregnant." She pauses,
looking at his shocked face and wonders if he’s breathing. "We're going to have a baby," she
adds, just in case it wasn't clear before.
"We're
going to have a baby," he repeats.
It takes a few seconds, but a smile spreads across his face, belying the
tears in his eyes. He looks down and,
seeing his hand still on her stomach, begins to rub it. "We're going to have a baby."
"Are
you okay?" she asks him, suddenly worried by the stupor he couldn't seem
to shake himself out of. "Are you
okay with this?"
"You're
having my baby," he says, kissing her lightly on the lips. He has to blink away a few tears before they
fall onto her face. "Nothing could
make this more okay. I love you,
Parker."
"And
I love you," she replies with a smile, pulling him once again into her
embrace where they spend the entire evening celebrating this new night of
firsts.
The
end.
Pretender Stories Home