Tealeaves and Thorns

And only after he received her answer did his lips return to her neck, asking how many kids they'd have in the future. Which she reminded him of how they'd already discussed this that morning in her kitchen and he growled against her skin at the memory. That had certainly been a morning to remember. He could barely walk into her kitchen now without thinking about that. "Eight." He echoed with a grin, pulling back to look at her again, wetting his lips with his tongue. "Mm, would take a lot of practice, but I'm definitely not complaining about that." He chuckled, what with them being very active. They were insatiable, really. They couldn't get enough of each other. "Let's see... four girls and four boys?" He started to glide his hand up and down her stomach underneath the blanket, his touch featherlight. "Or... six girls and 2 boys?" He paused. "That would be a lot of girls."

"I don't think get to choose what you have." Maria chuckled. "As long as they were happy and healthy I wouldn't care if it was all boys." Maria told him. "Although I would love just one little girl, who would hopefully be into girly things for at very least some of her life." Maria sighed, and when his fingers ghosted over her stomach, she sucked in a breath.

"Okay, if we could choose..... maybe 5 girls, three boys." Maria told him. "I don't know why, I just like the sound of it. What about you? What would you have?"

When he said there wouldn't be enough room for books Maria huffed.

"You do need her-" Maria agreed with him. She didn't tell him about how Eve would text her when he was having a particularly bad day, letting her know that chocolate and tea might be needed. Gareth didn't need to know about that, and he definitely didn't need to know about the pictures Eve sometimes sent her when he was looking particularly handsome under certain lighting.

"I know you won't, but I think I'm right. If there is a mole we don't want to do anything to tip them off. This way we have everything we need and all that other stuff is put back where it belongs. If anyone asks about it being in it's proper place I can say I was tidying. Which is believable."

"Next time we have more than just a fleeting fifteen minutes for a brew, I'll pull them out." Maria told him. "I'd drop them at your desk but I don't want to distract you from your very serious job." Because Maria could absolutely see him getting lost in all those glorious bits of history for hours on end.

"No."

His face fell. She really denied him a kiss. Even with that puppy-eyed look of his, she denied him. God, she was getting so much better at resisting him and despite the feigned disappointment within him, he couldn't help but laugh because this was all incredibly amusing and entertaining. He'd just... need to do better, try harder, but at the same time he was admittedly proud of her. Proud of her staying strong and resisting his advances and he couldn't deny finding it sexy, too. She was playing hard to get and it was a challenge Horatio very much enjoyed, but the other reason it was sexy was because, well, he loved and admired how seriously she took her studies. Their studies. She was so goddamn smart and dedicated and god, he loved her. He loved her so fucking much and it was taking everything in him not to pull her back down onto her lap and tell her that.

But instead of putting distance between them, instead of punishing him by walking away, she does the complete opposite. She leaned over the table right next to him, so close that when she turned her head to look at him, her face was right there and it was taking everything in him not to kiss her right then and there. Made evident in the way his gaze flashed to her lips while licking his own, but he was trying his best to behave.

His eyes followed hers to the book, then, his brow arched when she mentioned him reading and answering the questions like she was going to propose something, like there was an incentive coming. He waited with bated breath, his heart starting to thunder inside of his chest, and when she turned to look at him again, she leaned in like she was about to kiss him and he mirrored her movement to meet her halfway, but then she stopped when their lips were only inches apart and a quiet whine left him.

"I'll sit right here, on this table, and let you have your fill."

Fuck.

Admittedly, it had taken her a little longer than it seemed to take Horatio. Horatio 'insatiable' Caine she'd started to call him in her head. During finals, graduation, the basketball games. Maria had never really stopped things from happening. Carried away, caught up and maybe because it was relief from the fullness of both their heads. She very very rarely resisted him and even now, if things weren't so important she wouldn't.

For Maria, the biggest bargaining chips weren't sex. Generally speaking they were books, food, the ability to learn. For Horatio though, for Horatio exactly what she'd just offered was the biggest bargaining chip, or rather the absence of it. She was learning the best way to get him to focus, when he was distracted, was the promise of something better to come. She wondered if it would fade as they got older, as he got older. As she got older, as her body would change with the children they were going to have. Would he still desire her so much that she could use the idea of him touching her as incentive when they were in their fifties?

Maria pulled her head back into the present. Not particularly wanting to think about that right now. About if he'd still love her then or if he'd be bored of her by then. After all that's what people kept saying, it was always in work, it was always strangers. Never her family, never him. Some of the people in her class. It was always the same 'ah young love', 'you're only young', 'we'll see', 'married! But you're so young!'. To the point it had actually started to get in her head a little.

It was only when she was away from him that the thoughts took hold, when she took one look at his face again, like now, they vanished into nothingness and she felt both guilt and annoyance at herself for ever questioning this, for ever questioning if she'd trapped him somehow.

She turned away from him and started on dinner, cutting, slicing, getting the big pot out to put everything into so it could simmer on the stove. She hummed the whole time she was doing it, singing to herself softly until his voice cut through it.

When Maddie asked if she could go, Horatio had been about to say yes, but Maria answered before him and he quickly closed his mouth, pressing his lips together in a thing line. He was glad she answered first, because he hadn't thought about how busy it might be and she had a point in saying it was an event for grown-ups, considering it was all about weddings. Seeing Maddie all sad and disappointed, though, made him sad and after Maria helped cheer her up by agreeing to still let her pick things, Horatio smiled and added, "we'll also take pictures for you. How does that sound?" He asked, figuring they were going to be taking pictures anyway if they saw something they liked and they could show them to Maddie.

That seemed to cheer her up even more, nodding excitedly. Horatio chuckled and moved over to her, cleaning up her face with one of the wet wipes first and then gently patting it dry before tickling her neck which made her erupt into a fit of giggles. "Alright, go get your glittery pens and a coloring book. I'll finish cleaning up in here and we'll meet you in the living room." He said and Maddie instantly ran out of the kitchen which made Olive jump up onto her four little paws and down onto the floor, following Maddie.

---------------------------

It was near the end of the movie that Maddie had fallen asleep. They colored for the first half hour before Horatio moved to the couch and Maddie followed, sitting in between them and snuggling with them underneath the blanket. She said something about wanting a dragon like Hiccup and minutes later, she was out. Olive, too, curled up on her lap. Maria had taken little Olive into her arms while Horatio picked Maddie up into his, carrying her into her bedroom and tucking her into bed. She let out a sleepy whine as she stirred and Horatio leaned down to press the softest of kisses to her forehead, murmuring that he loved her which she mumbled sleepily in return, making his heart swell, made it felt as warmth spread through him. After Maria set Olive down next to Maddie and said goodnight to her, he turned off the light and exited the room, telling her to head on into the bedroom while he cleaned up in the living room.

Olive pretty much jumped out of her arms and then curled up next to Maddie on the bed. They'd also bought Olive her own little cat bed for in Maddie's room and Maddie had made her a whole castle out of cardboard and glitter and bits of paper. So she had a choice.

Maria went into the bathroom to start her nighttime routine. She always had and always would be strict about her skincare routine of a night, she wasn't particularly heavy on her make-up but ever since she was a teenager she'd used mostly the same routine. First get all the make-up off with a wipe, then wash her face with whatever face wash was her flavour of the month. Then she had a variety of serums and lotions, which had grown over the years as she'd gotten older.

Then she slipped into her pajamas. Though that was getting harder and harder so at night she'd taken to wearing a nightgown. She'd bought some new maternity ones, there were comfy ones and then there were sexy ones just for Horatio but tonight was a comfy night. Not that that would stop Horatio. Maria watched herself in the mirror, smiling at how much she was glowing, at how healthy she looked, at how different this time was. At how visible and physical the difference was.

She lit up the second he was behind her and her eyes were on his, slipping only to look at his hands on the bump.

And so he stopped and it continued, but that voice in the back of his mind telling him it wasn't right, that it needed to stop, was still there and because of Maria, it grew louder. Because it wasn't just about protecting Ray and his mom, it was about protecting her, too. And she... protected him in return. Saved him.

"I know," Horatio finally said after a moment, leaning into her hand. "It's also just wishin' I'd done more to stop it, but when I tried, he.." He sighed, because they knew what happened. "And are you kidding? Of course you've helped, 'Ria. You do help. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be lying here with you right now." He told her and he was grateful. Because she helped more than she knew. She saved his life by telling Harvey, by telling her parents, by getting them to his house that night. He'd always be grateful for her and for her family.

"That's definitely why I love you-" Maria said running one of her hands through his mussed hair. God, she loved him. "You know you sound like Harrison in a very different role right now." She told him because he did sound like Han Solo.

"Oh yeah, we talked about this remember.... before we ended up on the kitchen table." She blushed when she talked about that, that, that had probably been about as dangerous as this right here out in the open and she'd loved every minute of it.

They were both doing well in university, too, but Maria was definitely the better one when it came to studying, though he was getting better about it. Especially because of her. Just... not in this precise moment. It felt like he'd been studying for over an hour, but according to his gorgeous wife, it hadn't been that long. And he promised he'd study for at least two hours whenever he did need to study, but breaks were allowed, weren't they?

"Horatio Caine!" Maria really chastised him then and when his hold loosened, she slipped away. She knew what was coming before he even started to say the words. The groan, the puppy dog eyes. He knew she was weak for them but she was desperately trying to get better to be better.

"No, but let me see this-" She said, pulling the book towards her and reading it over quickly until she found what she was looking for. "If you read these two pages.... and-" she said, turning to look at him then. Her face wasn't too far from his, though, because of where she was at the table, leaning one hand against it. "You can answer the five questions on page-" She paused again to check. "287, correctly." Then she moved closer to him so her lips were just inches from his and her hand was on his face. "I'll sit right here, on this table, and let you have your fill."

'Cause you are loved, you are loved more than you know I hereby pledge all of my days to prove it so Though your heart is far too young to realize The unimaginable light you hold inside I'll give you everything I have I'll teach you everything I know With every heartbeat I have left I'll defend your every breath

Horatio Caine and Maddelyn "Maddie" Bloomsco (@tealeavesandthorns)