Page 24 of Holiday Hitch

With that, William and Dorothy relented. Robin put her arm around Zoey’s waist and helped her down the hill as swiftly as possible, trying to remember this quickest route to the hospital.

12

Leah

Daryl walked backinto the room, drawing Leah’s gaze up from her gingerbread house.

“Well?” Leah asked, concern on her face.

Letting out a deep breath, Daryl said, “Robin’s being vague, but it sounds like whatever was wrong is under control. They’re waiting on test results to see what happened, so they’re probably going to miss dinner tonight.”

Leah nodded, watching Daryl resume her spot on the carpet.

“Where were we?” Daryl said as she picked up another gingerbread wall.

“We were talking about whether the gumdrops are convincing shrubs for the gardens on our houses,” Leah said with a giggle.

Daryl nodded and blushed as she looked at her girlfriend, “Right, of course.”

They worked on their houses together in silence.

“Weird that there might be a baby around here sometimes,” Leah blurted out after a few minutes of thoughtful construction.

Daryl laughed and raised an eyebrow, “I guess?”

Shrugging, Leah continued, “I just mean that none of my friends have kids, only my brother. It feels bizarre to think there will be one so close, so involved in your life.”

“Yeah, I see that,” Daryl said. “I guess it feels normal to me. Most of my friends had kids long before you were around.” Daryl thought for a moment before asking, “Do you want kids?”

Somehow after all this time, they still hadn’t talked about it. A part of Leah was nervous to hear what Daryl thought about the subject.

She shrugged, “I’ve never felt particularly drawn to it, honestly. I like being an aunt more than I think I’d like being a parent. What about you?”

“I always liked the idea of fostering.” Daryl said as she put up another wall on her house, “Just to be a stable presence for a kid and not feel the need to project my own shit onto them. Ya know?”

Leah blushed; it was a sweet idea. She forgot sometimes how thoughtful Daryl could be. “I think that would be nice, especially for an older kid.”

Daryl nodded as she looked at Leah. Without a word, she leaned across the table and planted a kiss on her girlfriend’s lips, at first soft and delicate. But when Leah placed her hand on the nape of her neck, Daryl went in for a stronger kiss, letting her tongue play at Leah’s lips.

Leah moved toward Daryl, her knees dragging along the rough carpet as Daryl held her close. Breaking the kiss, Daryl stood up and held her hand out to help Leah get up, “Let’s go to bed.”

“What about the dogs?” Leah asked, seeing out of the corner of her eye that the three pups were keen on snagging some gingerbread from the table.

“To the counter,” Daryl said as she carefully grabbed her house and an armful of supplies. Leah followed suit, bringing her stuff to the kitchen counter.

Daryl threw a few of their frosting-covered tools into the sink while Leah settled the houses on the counter beside it. Coming up behind her, Leah wrapped her arms around Daryl’s waist. She dipped her finger into the white, buttercream frosting and brought it to Daryl’s mouth.

Giggling, Daryl opened her mouth for Leah’s finger. She closed her soft lips around it and sucked off the frosting.

“Oh,” Leah moaned, surprised by how excited the gesture made her.

Daryl turned around in Leah’s arms and raised her eyebrow at her girlfriend's enthusiasm, “Really?”

Shrugging, Leah kissed Daryl and tasted the frosting on her breath.Why wait for the bedroom?She pulled her blouse over her head, revealing her bare chest for Daryl. Following her lead, Daryl pulled off her own t-shirt and unbuttoned her jeans.

Leah wiggled out of her skirt. Daryl stopped her from taking off her tights, instead grabbing them herself and peeling them delicately off of her legs.

“Get on the counter,” Daryl whispered. Doing as she was told, Leah’s ass met the cold stone countertop with a smack.