The Last Night of Winter Break
I opened my eyes, and it was still dark outside. Not even the glow from the streetlights put much light in the apartment. Twilight had her arm over my waist, her skin warm against mine.
Shifting slightly, it let me take in the view next to me. Twilight lay there, one arm tucked up next to her face, the other stretched out and touching me. I followed the smooth curve of her neck, from where her braid was coming untucked and down along her shoulder. I reached out and traced a finger across her collarbone, and then up her neck and across her cheek. In her sleep, she smiled and shifted a little, causing the blanket to slide down, showing some of her upper body.
I felt the smile grow on my face as I thought back over the last few years. We had faced quite a few things that I had never thought we would. But the biggest test was just getting started.
I looked at my wife’s bare body, every sight familiar and yet still enticing. I ran my hand down along her side, coming to rest against her hip and just sighing in contentment. Just as my hand came to rest, she moved hers down and laced her fingers through mine.
“Enjoying the view?” she whispered.
“Always,” I said, leaning in and kissing her. She laid down on her back and smiled, despite her heavy lids.
“You’re just saying that,” she said, dropping one hand to her stomach. “I don’t feel very pretty right now.”
“You are gorgeous, Twilight,” I said. “And you’ll always be my Sunshine.”
She flushed. “Shut up,” she said with a shy smile.
I sat up, the blanket falling from me. “Do you find me any less attractive than you did when we started dating?” The cool air of the apartment raised some gooseflesh across my bare body, but I endured it. I watched her eyes rove over my body, taking in all, every stretch mark, every imperfection in an instant.
“No, of course not,” she said, with almost no hesitation. Her face twitched for a second.
“Another one?” I asked, placing my hand on her stomach.
“Yeah,” she said with a giggle. She moved my hand a little to the left, and I felt a small bit of motion inside as our child kicked.
“I still have some trouble believing this, you know,” she said, hand rubbing her swollen abdomen. “Who thought we’d be parents?”
“Well, I do seem to recall you being excited by it, Twi,” I said, laying down and snuggling into her, my red and gold hair mingling with her indigo tresses. “You practically volunteered to carry our first.”
“Only because you hesitated when the doctor asked which of us would carry,” she said, sliding her hand under my neck to embrace me.
“I yawned!” I protested, giving her a small swat on the shoulder.
“Sure you did,” she said, giggling and pulling the blanket back up over us. “But maybe you just wanted to take turns. Hmm?”
She sat up, positioning herself over me, sliding up a little to kiss me, her hair falling over to curtain us from the light. I felt her hand sliding down my body, passing my navel. I moaned into the kiss…
And woke up, laying in my bed with the blanket twisted about me. Sunlight trickled in through the windows and birdsong was in the air. I sat up, running my hand through my hair.
“Bad dreams?” called a voice. I looked up to see Twilight peeking in from the kitchen, a bowl in her hands.
“Quite the opposite, actually,” I said, sliding out from under the blanket. I felt like I could still feel the lingering kiss and touch of her hand. I pulled my robe on over the shorts and tee I had worn to bed, padding over to the kitchen. She slid a steaming mug of tea over to me.
“Try that one,” she said with a hint of challenge in her voice.
I took a sip and sighed. “This is perfect, Twi,” I said. “Just the right amount of tea in the blend.”
“Good," she said, taking a sip of her tea. “Breakfast should be ready soon,” she said, turning to the beat up waffle iron I had recently purchased on the counter.
“You don’t have to cook when you’re over, you know.” I rubbed her shoulders. “I’m not that bad a cook myself.”
“I like it,” she said, removing the waffle from the iron and set it on a plate and poured some more batter on. “It’s something I enjoy. Besides, today is the last day we may get to do this before school starts.”
I leaned into her. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” I said. “Spring break is just a short five weeks away, and we've got tickets to a cruise down to the Grand Caymanes, stopping through…stopping though,” I reached over and started going through the stack of papers looking for the pamphlet.
“The Caymanes, Maretinique, and the Bahaymas,” she said, holding out a plate with some buttered waffles on it. “And you are to pack a bathing suit.”
I took the plate. “I had planned on it,” I said with a frown of confusion. "The same one I wore last summer."
“But that would deny Rarity the chance to take you shopping for one,” she said with a mischievous wink as she sat her plate on the table and reached into the fridge to pull out a jar of strawberry jam.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” I started, setting my plate down on the table. “They're not really going to have a lot of selection this far away from the season. Maybe we could…”
She slid up to me, hands running up my arms before circling my neck. “I have already agreed to join her and Fluttershy, and I’m not going to go through that without getting to see the look on your face when you see what I pick out.” She adjusted my robe before poking my nose. “Now eat, Rarity is expecting us to meet her at the mall at ten.” She sat and put a spoonful of jam onto her waffle and started eating.
“I just hope you can handle what I pick out,” I said, timing the remark to when she was taking a drink.
I had to clean up the results, but it was worth it.
