Page 45 of Soaring and Saucy

And he did - Lance could kiss!

He opened his mouth against hers, angling slightly, as he kissed her deeply, tasting her like a man tasting water in the middle of the desert. He drank deeply, his tongue sliding against hers as he held her close. She knew why, too – he was trying to make sure he left a mark before disappearing from her life. They both knew it could be a few weeks or a few months before they saw each other again, and the separation could be really difficult to handle.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he whispered huskily against her lips. “Take care of yourself and our baby.”

“I promise,” she breathed tearfully, touching his lip with the pad of her thumb, needing to memorize the softness and feeling of them. “Don’t be a stranger this time around – call, email, or text me.”

“I swear I will, princess. Trust me to be the man you need…”

“I will miss you already,” she admitted, knowing she was opening herself up to him, trusting him to be just as deeply and emotionally involved in whatever this was. He told her it wasn’t love, but there was obviously a bond between them, brought together by the life they’d created by mistake during a single night of passion.

“I’m gonna miss the both of you,” he replied gruffly, nodding and looking away from her… only to lean back slightly and yank up her shirt without warning. She immediately balked, pushing it back down in shock.

“Lance!”

“What?” he said, glancing at her – and she froze seeing the tears in his eyes. “I’m kissing my baby goodbye.”

And did.

He’d untucked her shirt from her hands where she was clenching the material, exposing her midriff, and latched his hands under her arms like she weighed nothing, lifting her a few inches off his lap before dropping a kiss just above her belly button. It was strangely awkward. She had her head angled against the headliner in the car, and was about to burst out laughing at his crazy antics, only to hear his broken voice.

“You be good in there for Daddy, okay? Make sure Mama feeds you and grow really strong for us. When I get back, I’m gonna give you another kiss, Peanut, and rub that belly to say ‘hello,’” and he kissed Stephanie’s tummy again as he whispered a soft ‘I love you’ against her skin.

That single moment, that unexpected treasure, was something she would never forget – and she kissed him again as he lowered her, pouring all of those unidentified emotions within her into that single kiss. They were both clinging to each other, sniffing back tears, and knew time was slipping away when Lance pulled back and grabbed a used Sonic napkin from the pocket of the door to wipe his eyes as he smiled and looked at her.

“When you meet my buddies again, this never happened,” he said gruffly.

“You mean blubbering emotionally and unsure what this is but loving every second of it?” she wept, reaching for a napkin in the center console to wipe her own eyes – and heard his soft laugh.

“Exactly.”

“Want a fresh napkin?”

“Nah I’m good. So long as I don’t get picante in my eye or something – I’ll live. Hey, maybe I can blame the tears on that?”

“Oh, absolutely. Picante or pepper is a very good excuse,” she retorted thickly as they shared a tearful smile before leaning toward each other again for a soft, tender kiss… one that actually meant goodbye.

“Be safe going home,” he whispered, touching her cheek. “Take care of yourself and our peanut.”

“I will,” she promised, her hand mirroring his as she touched his face. “Be safe and text me when you get back to the ship.”

“I promise. I’m gonna go straight to a computer and start spamming you with apartments in the area.”

“I never said ‘yes,’ but I’ll look and will be waiting for those emails.”

“Go ahead and head home. Text me when you get there so I don’t worry.” Lance pressed his forehead against hers, drew in a deep breath, and then nodded, brushing a light kiss onto the tip of her nose – before yanking open his car door. He grabbed his backpack and stood up, met her gaze, and nodded tightly.

Neither spoke.

She saw his throat work as he raised a hand silently – and she saw the napkin in his hand. She smiled tearfully and saw his smirk as he shrugged before shoving the napkin in his jeans pocket. He turned and walked away, crossing and disappearing into the airport.

Sitting there, she just stared at the space where he once was, almost in shock and slightly horrified that he was gone.

Just gone, like nothing had ever happened, yet she knew better.

She gasped as she felt the first faint flutter gently in her lower belly and broke. Hot tears ran down her cheeks, unchecked in awareness and grief. She felt the baby move – and he wasn’t here to share this with her. Their sweet peanut was aware that something was wrong and making its presence known. She let out a painful wail in the silence of the car where no one could hear her, pressing her hand on her lower abdomen, waiting and hoping it would happen again.

“Story of my life,” she wept, talking to the baby. “Scared to put myself out there and take a chance… and now it’s too late. Well, not anymore, Peanut. You and me, we’re going to change a few things and grab at happiness with both hands from here on out.”

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