IDLE HANDS
Winn's giddy smile caught Taylor off guard. "It's been out for at least four hours. I felt the chill, so I woke up and figured it out. I got dressed and found your extra blankets and put them on the bed."
He merely stared back at her. "Why--why didn't you wake me up?"
She reached over and stroked his cheek and smiled. "You were sleeping so good, I couldn't bear to disturb you."
He started to get up from the bed, dreading every cold second that was coming. "I'll take care of it--"
"No need," she interrupted him. She took him by the arm and gently led him back down on the bed and wrapped the covers around them. "I've been busy. I rebuilt the fire, so there's currently a fresh one contained in the fireplace. I cleaned out the fridge and moved some of it into a cooler in the snow. Then I searched for all your flashlights and candles for later tonight. Also, I know how to make coffee over a fire." She grinned at him proudly. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll take care of you. You're not the only one who's resourceful around here."
Taylor gaped at her. "I just--I need to go hook up the generator--"
"No," she objected. "There's no rush, really. We have nowhere to be, nowhere we can go. We can stay in bed a little longer. Everything is fine."
"I've got more than enough fuel for--"
"It's OKAY," she repeated. "Just stay in bed with me for a little while longer."
Taylor was a worry wart and he hated inconveniences. It wouldn't have been so bad had it been just him, but now he had someone else's comfort to look out for and--and she was kind of making it difficult.
Suddenly, she grinned and she maneuvered under the covers for a moment before she slid her leg over him and straddled him, lowering her sweatshirt-covered torso over his and pulling the covers up around them.
He felt her hot skin against his and he immediately grew hard. Squeezing her ass with both of his hands, he smiled up at her. "Yes. Yes, I will absolutely stay in bed with you for as long as you want."
She giggled and she kissed him. "I was hoping you'd see it my way."
"You know, this is, like, baby boom weather right now. Nothing else to do, nowhere to go..."
She continued to grin. "Well, we already have the baby. Now we can just do whatever we want."
"Mmm," he replied, adjusting himself underneath her and gently grinding himself against her. "If you weren't already pregnant, I bet you'd have triplets after last night."
He felt her begin to grind her own hips and she let out a content sigh. "That feels good," she whispered breathlessly.
"Yeah, it does," he whispered back.
"I can't believe how fantastic you are."
He groaned and he smiled at her. "I'd tell you to keep talking cause I like it, except I really need you to just go ahead and fuck me."
She grinned. "You need it?"
"Yeah. I need it. And you WANT it. So why don't you just...just do us both a favor?"
She continued to grin. "I like when you talk dirty."
"Stick with me, baby, there's nothing I'm gonna do to you that you're not gonna like."
"That's awful big talk."
"And I have an awful big dick right now, so if you'd be so kind as to just fuck it already, I'd be very appreciative of it."
"So demanding," she muttered as she reached down between her legs and positioned herself over him.
As she started to lower herself, her face winced in pain. Instead of making her put herself through it, he whispered, "Come here." And then he pulled her body down by her shirt and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll take care of it," he said in her ear.
With one arm wrapped around her waist, and the other one stroking her long hair, he gently kissed her cheek and breathed in her ear as he slowly worked her in, moving his hips underneath her. After two or three painfully slow strokes, he finally heard her let out a sigh of pleasure.
A moment later, she sat up and flipped her long hair back. Her hands pressed into his chest for support, she began to ride him and he collapsed his head back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. "That's it," he groaned lightly. "Just like that."
Neither of them lasted long that morning. She rode him hard and she came much sooner than he did, until he rolled her over onto her back and had his way with her until he came, once again sinking his teeth into her skin and growling through them.
When he'd settled down and rolled off of her, she pulled the covers up around them and snuggled close to him. "Why do you do that?" She asked.
"Why do I do what?"
"Why do you bite me?"
He furrowed his brow and smiled on confusion. "Do what?"
"Three out of the four times we've had sex--"
Taylor scoffed a laugh. "Are you counting?"
She grinned. "Well I'm hoping to lose count." They laughed for a second and then she continued. "Anyway, most of the time, when you come, you bite me."
"Does that bother you?"
"No..." she said thoughtfully. "I just find it interesting. Did you bite all the other ones, too? Is this, like, your thing?"
His eyes widened. "Did I what?"
"I mean, I'm just saying. You tie me up and you bite me like you...you know...do it from experience."
"Well I'm not a virgin, Winn."
"I know," she said shyly. "I just--you know--how many...?"
"No," he laughed. "We are NOT having THAT conversation."
Her mouth hung open and she laughed. "Was it THAT many? I mean, I'm not really surprised..."
"I told you, we're not--"
"Come on. Just tell me. I won't be upset."
He sighed and moved her hair from her face. "Why is this important to you?"
"Because we're getting married. And I want to know everything there is to know."
He stared at her for a moment. "Five," he finally said. "You're, uh, you're number five."
Winn gaped at him. "You're yanking my chain."
"Nope. That's my number."
"How?" She squeaked. "You're seriously the sexiest man on the planet. How have you not taken advantage of that? I mean--no one-night stands, no blind dates, nothing?"
Taylor felt himself blush. "Sex has never really been high on my priority list."
Winn raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.
"Well, I mean, until I met you...do we--do we really need to go over this? Because next I'm gonna ask about you and we both know where THAT ended up and I'd rather not have the reminder."
At that, Winn's eyes fell. "Um, you're right. I shouldn't have asked...I'm sorry."
Taylor felt like an asshole all of a sudden. "Winn--" He scooted closer to her and held her closer to him. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You're gonna resent me for that for the rest of our lives, aren't you? I'm--I'm never gonna live it down..."
"That's not true--"
"Are we moving too fast?"
His heart pounded at her question. He wanted to be light years past these types of questions. "Winn, ALL I want is you. You're all I've ever wanted since the day I met you. The first time I ever saw you come out of that office across the street, I knew you were for me. Just for me. Okay? But--but I didn't do things properly and I didn't express myself properly, but, uh, Ike did and that's MY fault. I couldn't blame you for wanting to see where things went with him. I never told you how I felt. All of that was on me." He paused for a moment in thought and then he continued. "But I love you so much. I've always loved you. And there are so many things that I've wanted to say to you since I met you, but couldn't..."
"Tay, I--"
"I wanted to tell you you're beautiful, every single day, without fail. I wanted to tell you that you make me feel like I'm the only person in the room. I wanted to tell you how much pride I feel when you smile at me and how you bring out the best in me. You've--you've brought things out in me that I haven't seen in years. Good things, things that I've missed about myself. You inspire me, you take my breath away, and you--you turn me on like I've never been turned on before. You're the person I want to be and wish I was and you--you make me want to be a better man. Half the time I don't even think--well I know I don't--even remotely deserve you."
"But I'm not--I mean--"
"But Ike DID do everything right. He did. But I'll NEVER resent you for anything. Ever. I resent myself for it, but NEVER you. Okay?"
"We're together now," she whispered. "Shouldn't that be all that matters now?"
He smiled. "It IS all that matters."
"Tay?"
"Yes, sweetheart."
"I have to go throw up now."
His eyes widened. "Um...okay..."
"Okay," she replied as she darted out of the bed and ran for the bathroom.
Taylor's head collapsed back on his pillow and he let out a breath. He seriously needed to learn to watch his mouth. Name of today's game? Keep her warm, keep her interested in marrying him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winn was humiliated. She was tired of being nauseous, tired of ruining a moment by needing to run to the bathroom. She was convinced that he would for sure think twice about marrying her now.
Walking down the stairs in her socks and bunny slippers, she witnessed Taylor at his seemingly new favorite hangout--crouched in front of the fireplace and putting more wood on the fire.
He had moved the couch across the room and directly in front of the fireplace so they could sit comfortably as they kept warm and she took advantage of it, tucking a leg underneath her.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. "You okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you mad at me?"
She blinked in confusion. "No..."
"Do you still want to get married?"
"Of course I do..."
"Okay. Just checking."
"Do--do you?"
He turned around and smiled at her. "It was my idea, remember?"
"Well, I mean--I know..."
He stood up and brushed off his hands. I think I'm gonna primarily use the generator for the water heater. For now. What do you think?"
Winn nodded. "That makes sense. Hot water would be nice."
"Yeah. I think so, too. Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?"
Her heart warmed and she felt herself blush at the sentiment. She shook her head. "Just hurry back."
****************
Several hours later, the pair sat on the couch in front of the fire, one on each end, their legs tangled with each other's, each with a laptop in their lap. Winn knew Taylor must have been working. He couldn't stay away from work for too long. At the moment, she was just happy he didn't ask her what she was doing, because then she'd have to reveal the trashy tabloid stories about train wreck celebrities that kept her entertained when she was bored.
Taylor had been silent for the past hour, at least. Typing and reading away intently until he looked up at her from his computer. "Hey," he said, getting her attention. She hadn't seen him put his glasses on, as she was engrossed in the life of a famous, drug-addicted pop star, and the sight immediately turned her on. "What kind of a wedding do you want?"
The question caught her off guard. "Um, wedding? Like, you want to know right NOW?"
"Yeah," he said, matter-of-factly. "Nothing else to do. Might as well plan our wedding, right?"
"Is that what you've been sitting over there doing?"
He shrugged a shoulder and smiled. "A little bit, yeah."
She blinked in thought. "Um...I haven't really thought about it..."
"Come on. Every girl dreams of her wedding."
"I did that once. Planned it and all, my dream wedding. And then it became tainted and I don't have that dream anymore."
He furrowed his brow and took off his glasses. "Is there some kind of emotional wall I'm supposed to be tearing down or something?"
"What does THAT mean?"
"I mean, do you want to marry me or not?"
"I'm wearing your bread tie, aren't I?"
A smile crept across his face. "So tell me what you see for us."
"Um..." She looked around in thought some more. "I, um...wow, I honestly never thought I'd be engaged again." She laughed nervously as she glanced over at her fiancée. "Um, I guess I'd prefer something small. Nothing fussy, maybe something private..."
"How private?" He pressed.
"Um...well I don't want to stress over it. Something very small and very private. A vow exchange, a kiss, and a cake. I mean, you know me, it doesn't take much at all to make me happy." She held up her hand and she smiled. "I cried over a bread tie, for crying out loud. I'll probably never take it off."
Taylor chuckled as he continued to look at her. "Private. Small. Okay..."
"What, um, what do you see?"
He stared back at her, studying her face for a moment. Then he said, "Bunny slippers. Fleece pants. An oversized sweatshirt that probably belonged to your father from years ago..."
Winn looked back at him in alarm. "I meant for our WEDDING. Not literally..."
"I AM talking about our wedding."
"I'm not following..."
"Winn, I want to marry you. I want to marry you so bad it hurts. I want to--I want to marry you right now. This very second."
Winn couldn't do anything else but laugh nervously at the craziness that was coming out of his mouth. "As, um, as unbelievably romantic as that sounds...I think...need I remind you that we can't go anywhere. Even if we--even if we did something THAT crazy as to apply for a license, we'd still have to wait until we get out of here and then--"
"I found a guy that will do it."
Her head was beginning to spin. "WHAT? Tay, WHAT are you talking about right now? Are you hearing yourself? Are you experiencing cabin fever, have you inhaled too much smoke from the fireplace, what?"
"Just--just hear me out. Okay?" He left his position and settled himself next to Winn, placing his laptop on their laps between them, showing her the web page that was pulled up on the screen. "Look. This guy right here--he's right here in Tulsa and he specializes in 'extreme condition weddings.' And he's ordained. He's legit."
"Extreme condition?"
"Yeah. If people want to get married, but aren't together for whatever reason. Maybe military couples, couples attending college...maybe even disabled people who might be home-bound. Any extreme condition that might keep the couple from marrying in person, in front of witnesses." He sat his laptop aside and turned Winn's stunned face toward him. "Winn, you're the love of my life. All I want is you, I don't want to wait. Let's--let's get married today. Let's do this, let's--make the commitment. Let's make it forever."
"It was already forever," she whispered.
"I can't stand to sit here and wait around to plan a wedding that you don't want just to please a few guests. Call me selfish, call me rude, but I want you right now. Not later, not next year, but right now. And I'm willing to do anything and everything it takes to make that happen."
Winn was in shock. She only stared at him, wide-eyed. Right now. Today. Had he really found someone who could marry them today? Without even a signature? It was crazy. It was insane.
But it was incredibly, remarkably, terrifyingly romantic and she'd never swooned so hard in her entire life.
"Our families would kill us," she finally whispered. "We can't."
"So we'll plan a ceremony once the snow melts. Maybe have a dinner or some kind of reception before the band goes on tour. They'll understand, it'll be no sweat."
"I love you, too. But--but this just seems very irrational--"
"It's completely rational. You love me. I love you. We want to be together, we're engaged to be married. And we're having a baby--"
"Yeah, about that. I just--Tay, you're sitting here talking about a quickie, impromptu marriage, but you haven't really said two words about the baby since I told you I was pregnant."
"Yes--um, yes I have..."
She shook her head. "Not really, you haven't. You can't ignore the baby, Tay. Is it--are you not excited about it?'
His face softened and he tucked her hair behind her ear. "Of course I'm excited about it. I am. I promise you, I am over the moon about becoming a father. I'm already in love with that little peanut in your belly." He lowered his hand and ran it up the two shirts she had on. "That's my baby in there. And--and I'm sorry if I've made you feel like your pregnancy is an afterthought over the past day or so, but the truth is--Winn we just--I mean, you told me you loved me, told me you're pregnant, and then agreed to marry me in less than twenty-four hours. I've had a lot to grapple with. All of it good. But today, right now, become my wife. Start our family with me. We love each other, we want to be together, it's the only right thing. Isn't it?"
Winn sniffed as the tears came on suddenly. "I want our baby to be exactly like you when it grows up. I want it to be intelligent and passionate and talented. I want it to have a heart exactly like yours. I want it to be compassionate and caring--"
"And that's the kind of parents we'll be. That is going to be the most cultured, educated, well-rounded child that ever walked this planet. Because we'll be raising it together. Don't you agree?"
She wiped her nose and she nodded. "I want to marry you. I love you so much, Tay, I can't say it enough. I do want to marry you."
He smiled excitedly, and took her face in his hands. "Good. Good, let's--let's do it, let's get married. Just you and me. We'll get married and--"
"We don't have rings. We don't have cake--I like cake..."
"We can order our rings. I'll tie a bread tie around my finger just like yours, I don't mind."
Winn giggled as she sniffed again.
"And I have a generator, we can bake a cake. I can whip that bad boy up from scratch, it'll be the best wedding cake anyone's ever had."
She started to laugh a little harder. "This is so funny. We have the means to have an epic wedding and we're sitting here about to get married in bunny slippers, with bread tie rings and home-made wedding cake. We're getting married like poor pioneers and I love it so much!" She burst into tears through her laughter and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"You want me to call the guy?" He whispered.
Winn nodded into his shoulder. "Yes. Call him."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Junia was never one to ask for what she wanted. She was the kind to take what she wanted. Normally, that was behavior that was frowned upon by society. But then, when society saw her age and her sweet face, it generally made an exception.
Today was no different.
The standby generator at Zac's house had kicked into gear overnight after the obvious power outage. For a family of five, the insanely involved generator was necessary to survive in a storm as large as this one was. Had it only snowed, the device may not have been needed. But sometime overnight, an onslaught of ice seemed to cover the trees and the lines and most likely left the entire city of Tulsa, and most of the county, out of power. Isaac was glad he had taken Zac up on his offer to crash with them to ride out the storm.
The fireplace roared and Isaac sat in an armchair nearby. It was just after noon and he watched Junia walk into the room in a pair of socks, leggings, and a long-sleeved nightgown, carrying a hardback book nearly as big as she was. Nobody was making anyone get dressed today. Isaac was still in his pajamas, too.
Without skipping a beat, she walked straight for Isaac, crawled up in his lap and handed him her book. "Read this," her tiny voice said.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Read this what?"
She turned her head and she cheesed at him. "Pleeeeeeease!"
"That's better."
"And make sure you do ALL the voices."
"You know, I've read this to you about a thousand times--"
"It's my favorite."
"I bet you could read it all by yourself now."
"But I like it best when YOU read it."
Well. Isaac had to smile at his sudden ego boost. Taylor may have been her favorite uncle, but he couldn't even try to read a storybook like Isaac could. It was the small things that he was starting to remember that made him happy.
As he opened the book and prepared to read to his niece over the sound effects that Shepherd made with his toys nearby, he was interrupted when Zac suddenly appeared in the doorway with his cell phone attached to his ear. "You want me to WHAT? Are you CRAZY? Is that--is that even LEGAL? I mean, is--is THAT how you choose to spend your time cooped up indoors? Most people play board games or roast marshmallows or--in my house, we build forts out of sheets!"
Now Isaac was interested. He tried to get Zac's attention, but Junia was getting Isaac's attention instead. "Uncle Ike," she said, oblivious to her father's presence. "Read."
He cleared his throat in an attempt to turn his attention to his niece. He'd read the first two sentences when he was distracted again. "Tay, I get it. I do. In some crazy, mental, out of this world...state, I get it. But have you really thought this through? Logically? And you know Mom is going to KILL you for this."
Zac now had Isaac's full attention. Junia was growing frustrated and he had to tell her to give him a minute. He just couldn't help it.
"Don't beg," Zac said. "Don't--don't--don't you dare lay the guilt trip on me. What does Winn think--?...Oh, of course she's on board, what was I thinking?" Pausing a long pause to listen to the other end, he finally sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Okay. Okay, fine, I'll do it. I'll do it, I just--shit, Tay. Okay. Just--just tell me what to do and I'll do it. If it--if it means THAT much to you. But you're going to owe me big time."
With that, Zac left the room. Isaac was dying.
He distracted himself by reading to Junia. He was glad that he practically had this book memorized because he wasn't paying a bit of attention to the words he was reading. By the time he was finishing the book, Zac appeared in the doorway, sans phone. His eyes were wide and he was a little pale.
Isaac stopped reading and looked at his younger brother in alarm. "WHAT is going on?" He finally said.
Zac furrowed his brow and swallowed. "Um..." Then he looked at each of his children and then back at Isaac. "I just--I just witnessed a, um, a document and I'm still not sure if what I did was even legal..."
Isaac bored holes into Zac. "Witnessed a document..."
Zac nodded slowly. "I...WITNESSED a document...over the phone...I had to text a picture of my signature to Tay..."
"Zac, are you--? I mean, tell me I'm crazy, but this sounds suspiciously like they got m--"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
The blood drained from Isaac's face. "Is he insane?"
"I don't even know if I'M sane. Apparently there's some--some legal loophole and they were able to--to do it. He even called our attorney to check up on how legit the guy that officiated was."
Isaac's head dizzied at the word officiated. Officiated like it actually happened. Officiated like Taylor and Winn...got married. They...they eloped. "How?" Isaac asked. "I still can't wrap my head around it."
"Apparently the guy specializes in...extreme cases? Immobile people, exceptional situations? Apparently snowed in and desperate was good enough for him. They, uh, filled out an online application, emailed the guy our signatures and he--he performed the whole thing via Skype. It lasted maybe five minutes. And...here we are."
"So that's it, then..." Isaac said slowly, trying to wrap his head around it. "That's...they've done it..."
"Done what, Uncle Ike? Who done what?" Junia asked.
Alarmingly, he had forgotten that Junia was still in his lap. "Sweetheart, why don't you go, um, go pick out another book for me to read to you?" As she ran off happily on her new task, he muttered, "I could use the distraction." Then he looked back up at Zac, who remained bewildered. "Mom is going to murder him, you know that, don't you?"
"He's convinced she'll be thrilled. Does it, uh, does it bother you? That they--?"
Isaac thought about it for a moment. "No," he shook his head. "The fact that they--that they went through with it doesn't bother me, it's--it's the principle of it, I guess. How could he be so stupid? Or IS he even being stupid at all? I mean, this is what he wanted--right?"
"You should have heard them. You should have heard the ceremony, if you want to call it that. It was--it was fast and it was unconventional, but it was--oddly THEM..."
"I'm not sure if I should be afraid for his life or his mental state right now. I still say Mom is going to put him right in the ground."
Zac let out a breath and rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "Well. Better him than us, right?"
Isaac was silent. So many thoughts and emotions ran through him, it was becoming hard to keep track. Finally, he looked back up at Zac. "Zac, are you happy for him?"
Zac looked at his brother in thought. Finally, he nodded. "Crazy as it sounds, yeah. Yeah, I think I am. He's--he's happy. He has a family. He has--well, he has everything he ever wanted. And--well, it's kinda his time. You know? Maybe he won't spend his every waking hour in the studio now. He isn't lonely anymore. And if it was anyone else but her, I probably wouldn't have witnessed it. What, uh, what about you?"
"I think I feel the same. About her, I mean, if it was anyone else, I'd probably beat him before Mom got to him. It's a shock, but--but it's just the kind of crazy I'd expect him to do for love, you know? Wow, that just sounded really corny."
Zac shook his head. "No, it didn't. Actually..." His eyes lit up. "We could write a song about this!"
"AFTER you tell your wife what's going on," Kate said as she entered the room.
In that moment, Junia entered the room with her arms full of what was likely every book she possessed. She poured them all over Isaac's lap and then climbed up in his lap again, on top of the books and all. She grinned at him. "I bet you haven't read THESE a thousand times."
With that, in an odd twist of fate, all three Hanson brothers simultaneously surrendered themselves to a female.
Winn's giddy smile caught Taylor off guard. "It's been out for at least four hours. I felt the chill, so I woke up and figured it out. I got dressed and found your extra blankets and put them on the bed."
He merely stared back at her. "Why--why didn't you wake me up?"
She reached over and stroked his cheek and smiled. "You were sleeping so good, I couldn't bear to disturb you."
He started to get up from the bed, dreading every cold second that was coming. "I'll take care of it--"
"No need," she interrupted him. She took him by the arm and gently led him back down on the bed and wrapped the covers around them. "I've been busy. I rebuilt the fire, so there's currently a fresh one contained in the fireplace. I cleaned out the fridge and moved some of it into a cooler in the snow. Then I searched for all your flashlights and candles for later tonight. Also, I know how to make coffee over a fire." She grinned at him proudly. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll take care of you. You're not the only one who's resourceful around here."
Taylor gaped at her. "I just--I need to go hook up the generator--"
"No," she objected. "There's no rush, really. We have nowhere to be, nowhere we can go. We can stay in bed a little longer. Everything is fine."
"I've got more than enough fuel for--"
"It's OKAY," she repeated. "Just stay in bed with me for a little while longer."
Taylor was a worry wart and he hated inconveniences. It wouldn't have been so bad had it been just him, but now he had someone else's comfort to look out for and--and she was kind of making it difficult.
Suddenly, she grinned and she maneuvered under the covers for a moment before she slid her leg over him and straddled him, lowering her sweatshirt-covered torso over his and pulling the covers up around them.
He felt her hot skin against his and he immediately grew hard. Squeezing her ass with both of his hands, he smiled up at her. "Yes. Yes, I will absolutely stay in bed with you for as long as you want."
She giggled and she kissed him. "I was hoping you'd see it my way."
"You know, this is, like, baby boom weather right now. Nothing else to do, nowhere to go..."
She continued to grin. "Well, we already have the baby. Now we can just do whatever we want."
"Mmm," he replied, adjusting himself underneath her and gently grinding himself against her. "If you weren't already pregnant, I bet you'd have triplets after last night."
He felt her begin to grind her own hips and she let out a content sigh. "That feels good," she whispered breathlessly.
"Yeah, it does," he whispered back.
"I can't believe how fantastic you are."
He groaned and he smiled at her. "I'd tell you to keep talking cause I like it, except I really need you to just go ahead and fuck me."
She grinned. "You need it?"
"Yeah. I need it. And you WANT it. So why don't you just...just do us both a favor?"
She continued to grin. "I like when you talk dirty."
"Stick with me, baby, there's nothing I'm gonna do to you that you're not gonna like."
"That's awful big talk."
"And I have an awful big dick right now, so if you'd be so kind as to just fuck it already, I'd be very appreciative of it."
"So demanding," she muttered as she reached down between her legs and positioned herself over him.
As she started to lower herself, her face winced in pain. Instead of making her put herself through it, he whispered, "Come here." And then he pulled her body down by her shirt and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll take care of it," he said in her ear.
With one arm wrapped around her waist, and the other one stroking her long hair, he gently kissed her cheek and breathed in her ear as he slowly worked her in, moving his hips underneath her. After two or three painfully slow strokes, he finally heard her let out a sigh of pleasure.
A moment later, she sat up and flipped her long hair back. Her hands pressed into his chest for support, she began to ride him and he collapsed his head back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. "That's it," he groaned lightly. "Just like that."
Neither of them lasted long that morning. She rode him hard and she came much sooner than he did, until he rolled her over onto her back and had his way with her until he came, once again sinking his teeth into her skin and growling through them.
When he'd settled down and rolled off of her, she pulled the covers up around them and snuggled close to him. "Why do you do that?" She asked.
"Why do I do what?"
"Why do you bite me?"
He furrowed his brow and smiled on confusion. "Do what?"
"Three out of the four times we've had sex--"
Taylor scoffed a laugh. "Are you counting?"
She grinned. "Well I'm hoping to lose count." They laughed for a second and then she continued. "Anyway, most of the time, when you come, you bite me."
"Does that bother you?"
"No..." she said thoughtfully. "I just find it interesting. Did you bite all the other ones, too? Is this, like, your thing?"
His eyes widened. "Did I what?"
"I mean, I'm just saying. You tie me up and you bite me like you...you know...do it from experience."
"Well I'm not a virgin, Winn."
"I know," she said shyly. "I just--you know--how many...?"
"No," he laughed. "We are NOT having THAT conversation."
Her mouth hung open and she laughed. "Was it THAT many? I mean, I'm not really surprised..."
"I told you, we're not--"
"Come on. Just tell me. I won't be upset."
He sighed and moved her hair from her face. "Why is this important to you?"
"Because we're getting married. And I want to know everything there is to know."
He stared at her for a moment. "Five," he finally said. "You're, uh, you're number five."
Winn gaped at him. "You're yanking my chain."
"Nope. That's my number."
"How?" She squeaked. "You're seriously the sexiest man on the planet. How have you not taken advantage of that? I mean--no one-night stands, no blind dates, nothing?"
Taylor felt himself blush. "Sex has never really been high on my priority list."
Winn raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.
"Well, I mean, until I met you...do we--do we really need to go over this? Because next I'm gonna ask about you and we both know where THAT ended up and I'd rather not have the reminder."
At that, Winn's eyes fell. "Um, you're right. I shouldn't have asked...I'm sorry."
Taylor felt like an asshole all of a sudden. "Winn--" He scooted closer to her and held her closer to him. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You're gonna resent me for that for the rest of our lives, aren't you? I'm--I'm never gonna live it down..."
"That's not true--"
"Are we moving too fast?"
His heart pounded at her question. He wanted to be light years past these types of questions. "Winn, ALL I want is you. You're all I've ever wanted since the day I met you. The first time I ever saw you come out of that office across the street, I knew you were for me. Just for me. Okay? But--but I didn't do things properly and I didn't express myself properly, but, uh, Ike did and that's MY fault. I couldn't blame you for wanting to see where things went with him. I never told you how I felt. All of that was on me." He paused for a moment in thought and then he continued. "But I love you so much. I've always loved you. And there are so many things that I've wanted to say to you since I met you, but couldn't..."
"Tay, I--"
"I wanted to tell you you're beautiful, every single day, without fail. I wanted to tell you that you make me feel like I'm the only person in the room. I wanted to tell you how much pride I feel when you smile at me and how you bring out the best in me. You've--you've brought things out in me that I haven't seen in years. Good things, things that I've missed about myself. You inspire me, you take my breath away, and you--you turn me on like I've never been turned on before. You're the person I want to be and wish I was and you--you make me want to be a better man. Half the time I don't even think--well I know I don't--even remotely deserve you."
"But I'm not--I mean--"
"But Ike DID do everything right. He did. But I'll NEVER resent you for anything. Ever. I resent myself for it, but NEVER you. Okay?"
"We're together now," she whispered. "Shouldn't that be all that matters now?"
He smiled. "It IS all that matters."
"Tay?"
"Yes, sweetheart."
"I have to go throw up now."
His eyes widened. "Um...okay..."
"Okay," she replied as she darted out of the bed and ran for the bathroom.
Taylor's head collapsed back on his pillow and he let out a breath. He seriously needed to learn to watch his mouth. Name of today's game? Keep her warm, keep her interested in marrying him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winn was humiliated. She was tired of being nauseous, tired of ruining a moment by needing to run to the bathroom. She was convinced that he would for sure think twice about marrying her now.
Walking down the stairs in her socks and bunny slippers, she witnessed Taylor at his seemingly new favorite hangout--crouched in front of the fireplace and putting more wood on the fire.
He had moved the couch across the room and directly in front of the fireplace so they could sit comfortably as they kept warm and she took advantage of it, tucking a leg underneath her.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. "You okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you mad at me?"
She blinked in confusion. "No..."
"Do you still want to get married?"
"Of course I do..."
"Okay. Just checking."
"Do--do you?"
He turned around and smiled at her. "It was my idea, remember?"
"Well, I mean--I know..."
He stood up and brushed off his hands. I think I'm gonna primarily use the generator for the water heater. For now. What do you think?"
Winn nodded. "That makes sense. Hot water would be nice."
"Yeah. I think so, too. Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?"
Her heart warmed and she felt herself blush at the sentiment. She shook her head. "Just hurry back."
****************
Several hours later, the pair sat on the couch in front of the fire, one on each end, their legs tangled with each other's, each with a laptop in their lap. Winn knew Taylor must have been working. He couldn't stay away from work for too long. At the moment, she was just happy he didn't ask her what she was doing, because then she'd have to reveal the trashy tabloid stories about train wreck celebrities that kept her entertained when she was bored.
Taylor had been silent for the past hour, at least. Typing and reading away intently until he looked up at her from his computer. "Hey," he said, getting her attention. She hadn't seen him put his glasses on, as she was engrossed in the life of a famous, drug-addicted pop star, and the sight immediately turned her on. "What kind of a wedding do you want?"
The question caught her off guard. "Um, wedding? Like, you want to know right NOW?"
"Yeah," he said, matter-of-factly. "Nothing else to do. Might as well plan our wedding, right?"
"Is that what you've been sitting over there doing?"
He shrugged a shoulder and smiled. "A little bit, yeah."
She blinked in thought. "Um...I haven't really thought about it..."
"Come on. Every girl dreams of her wedding."
"I did that once. Planned it and all, my dream wedding. And then it became tainted and I don't have that dream anymore."
He furrowed his brow and took off his glasses. "Is there some kind of emotional wall I'm supposed to be tearing down or something?"
"What does THAT mean?"
"I mean, do you want to marry me or not?"
"I'm wearing your bread tie, aren't I?"
A smile crept across his face. "So tell me what you see for us."
"Um..." She looked around in thought some more. "I, um...wow, I honestly never thought I'd be engaged again." She laughed nervously as she glanced over at her fiancée. "Um, I guess I'd prefer something small. Nothing fussy, maybe something private..."
"How private?" He pressed.
"Um...well I don't want to stress over it. Something very small and very private. A vow exchange, a kiss, and a cake. I mean, you know me, it doesn't take much at all to make me happy." She held up her hand and she smiled. "I cried over a bread tie, for crying out loud. I'll probably never take it off."
Taylor chuckled as he continued to look at her. "Private. Small. Okay..."
"What, um, what do you see?"
He stared back at her, studying her face for a moment. Then he said, "Bunny slippers. Fleece pants. An oversized sweatshirt that probably belonged to your father from years ago..."
Winn looked back at him in alarm. "I meant for our WEDDING. Not literally..."
"I AM talking about our wedding."
"I'm not following..."
"Winn, I want to marry you. I want to marry you so bad it hurts. I want to--I want to marry you right now. This very second."
Winn couldn't do anything else but laugh nervously at the craziness that was coming out of his mouth. "As, um, as unbelievably romantic as that sounds...I think...need I remind you that we can't go anywhere. Even if we--even if we did something THAT crazy as to apply for a license, we'd still have to wait until we get out of here and then--"
"I found a guy that will do it."
Her head was beginning to spin. "WHAT? Tay, WHAT are you talking about right now? Are you hearing yourself? Are you experiencing cabin fever, have you inhaled too much smoke from the fireplace, what?"
"Just--just hear me out. Okay?" He left his position and settled himself next to Winn, placing his laptop on their laps between them, showing her the web page that was pulled up on the screen. "Look. This guy right here--he's right here in Tulsa and he specializes in 'extreme condition weddings.' And he's ordained. He's legit."
"Extreme condition?"
"Yeah. If people want to get married, but aren't together for whatever reason. Maybe military couples, couples attending college...maybe even disabled people who might be home-bound. Any extreme condition that might keep the couple from marrying in person, in front of witnesses." He sat his laptop aside and turned Winn's stunned face toward him. "Winn, you're the love of my life. All I want is you, I don't want to wait. Let's--let's get married today. Let's do this, let's--make the commitment. Let's make it forever."
"It was already forever," she whispered.
"I can't stand to sit here and wait around to plan a wedding that you don't want just to please a few guests. Call me selfish, call me rude, but I want you right now. Not later, not next year, but right now. And I'm willing to do anything and everything it takes to make that happen."
Winn was in shock. She only stared at him, wide-eyed. Right now. Today. Had he really found someone who could marry them today? Without even a signature? It was crazy. It was insane.
But it was incredibly, remarkably, terrifyingly romantic and she'd never swooned so hard in her entire life.
"Our families would kill us," she finally whispered. "We can't."
"So we'll plan a ceremony once the snow melts. Maybe have a dinner or some kind of reception before the band goes on tour. They'll understand, it'll be no sweat."
"I love you, too. But--but this just seems very irrational--"
"It's completely rational. You love me. I love you. We want to be together, we're engaged to be married. And we're having a baby--"
"Yeah, about that. I just--Tay, you're sitting here talking about a quickie, impromptu marriage, but you haven't really said two words about the baby since I told you I was pregnant."
"Yes--um, yes I have..."
She shook her head. "Not really, you haven't. You can't ignore the baby, Tay. Is it--are you not excited about it?'
His face softened and he tucked her hair behind her ear. "Of course I'm excited about it. I am. I promise you, I am over the moon about becoming a father. I'm already in love with that little peanut in your belly." He lowered his hand and ran it up the two shirts she had on. "That's my baby in there. And--and I'm sorry if I've made you feel like your pregnancy is an afterthought over the past day or so, but the truth is--Winn we just--I mean, you told me you loved me, told me you're pregnant, and then agreed to marry me in less than twenty-four hours. I've had a lot to grapple with. All of it good. But today, right now, become my wife. Start our family with me. We love each other, we want to be together, it's the only right thing. Isn't it?"
Winn sniffed as the tears came on suddenly. "I want our baby to be exactly like you when it grows up. I want it to be intelligent and passionate and talented. I want it to have a heart exactly like yours. I want it to be compassionate and caring--"
"And that's the kind of parents we'll be. That is going to be the most cultured, educated, well-rounded child that ever walked this planet. Because we'll be raising it together. Don't you agree?"
She wiped her nose and she nodded. "I want to marry you. I love you so much, Tay, I can't say it enough. I do want to marry you."
He smiled excitedly, and took her face in his hands. "Good. Good, let's--let's do it, let's get married. Just you and me. We'll get married and--"
"We don't have rings. We don't have cake--I like cake..."
"We can order our rings. I'll tie a bread tie around my finger just like yours, I don't mind."
Winn giggled as she sniffed again.
"And I have a generator, we can bake a cake. I can whip that bad boy up from scratch, it'll be the best wedding cake anyone's ever had."
She started to laugh a little harder. "This is so funny. We have the means to have an epic wedding and we're sitting here about to get married in bunny slippers, with bread tie rings and home-made wedding cake. We're getting married like poor pioneers and I love it so much!" She burst into tears through her laughter and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"You want me to call the guy?" He whispered.
Winn nodded into his shoulder. "Yes. Call him."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Junia was never one to ask for what she wanted. She was the kind to take what she wanted. Normally, that was behavior that was frowned upon by society. But then, when society saw her age and her sweet face, it generally made an exception.
Today was no different.
The standby generator at Zac's house had kicked into gear overnight after the obvious power outage. For a family of five, the insanely involved generator was necessary to survive in a storm as large as this one was. Had it only snowed, the device may not have been needed. But sometime overnight, an onslaught of ice seemed to cover the trees and the lines and most likely left the entire city of Tulsa, and most of the county, out of power. Isaac was glad he had taken Zac up on his offer to crash with them to ride out the storm.
The fireplace roared and Isaac sat in an armchair nearby. It was just after noon and he watched Junia walk into the room in a pair of socks, leggings, and a long-sleeved nightgown, carrying a hardback book nearly as big as she was. Nobody was making anyone get dressed today. Isaac was still in his pajamas, too.
Without skipping a beat, she walked straight for Isaac, crawled up in his lap and handed him her book. "Read this," her tiny voice said.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Read this what?"
She turned her head and she cheesed at him. "Pleeeeeeease!"
"That's better."
"And make sure you do ALL the voices."
"You know, I've read this to you about a thousand times--"
"It's my favorite."
"I bet you could read it all by yourself now."
"But I like it best when YOU read it."
Well. Isaac had to smile at his sudden ego boost. Taylor may have been her favorite uncle, but he couldn't even try to read a storybook like Isaac could. It was the small things that he was starting to remember that made him happy.
As he opened the book and prepared to read to his niece over the sound effects that Shepherd made with his toys nearby, he was interrupted when Zac suddenly appeared in the doorway with his cell phone attached to his ear. "You want me to WHAT? Are you CRAZY? Is that--is that even LEGAL? I mean, is--is THAT how you choose to spend your time cooped up indoors? Most people play board games or roast marshmallows or--in my house, we build forts out of sheets!"
Now Isaac was interested. He tried to get Zac's attention, but Junia was getting Isaac's attention instead. "Uncle Ike," she said, oblivious to her father's presence. "Read."
He cleared his throat in an attempt to turn his attention to his niece. He'd read the first two sentences when he was distracted again. "Tay, I get it. I do. In some crazy, mental, out of this world...state, I get it. But have you really thought this through? Logically? And you know Mom is going to KILL you for this."
Zac now had Isaac's full attention. Junia was growing frustrated and he had to tell her to give him a minute. He just couldn't help it.
"Don't beg," Zac said. "Don't--don't--don't you dare lay the guilt trip on me. What does Winn think--?...Oh, of course she's on board, what was I thinking?" Pausing a long pause to listen to the other end, he finally sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Okay. Okay, fine, I'll do it. I'll do it, I just--shit, Tay. Okay. Just--just tell me what to do and I'll do it. If it--if it means THAT much to you. But you're going to owe me big time."
With that, Zac left the room. Isaac was dying.
He distracted himself by reading to Junia. He was glad that he practically had this book memorized because he wasn't paying a bit of attention to the words he was reading. By the time he was finishing the book, Zac appeared in the doorway, sans phone. His eyes were wide and he was a little pale.
Isaac stopped reading and looked at his younger brother in alarm. "WHAT is going on?" He finally said.
Zac furrowed his brow and swallowed. "Um..." Then he looked at each of his children and then back at Isaac. "I just--I just witnessed a, um, a document and I'm still not sure if what I did was even legal..."
Isaac bored holes into Zac. "Witnessed a document..."
Zac nodded slowly. "I...WITNESSED a document...over the phone...I had to text a picture of my signature to Tay..."
"Zac, are you--? I mean, tell me I'm crazy, but this sounds suspiciously like they got m--"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
The blood drained from Isaac's face. "Is he insane?"
"I don't even know if I'M sane. Apparently there's some--some legal loophole and they were able to--to do it. He even called our attorney to check up on how legit the guy that officiated was."
Isaac's head dizzied at the word officiated. Officiated like it actually happened. Officiated like Taylor and Winn...got married. They...they eloped. "How?" Isaac asked. "I still can't wrap my head around it."
"Apparently the guy specializes in...extreme cases? Immobile people, exceptional situations? Apparently snowed in and desperate was good enough for him. They, uh, filled out an online application, emailed the guy our signatures and he--he performed the whole thing via Skype. It lasted maybe five minutes. And...here we are."
"So that's it, then..." Isaac said slowly, trying to wrap his head around it. "That's...they've done it..."
"Done what, Uncle Ike? Who done what?" Junia asked.
Alarmingly, he had forgotten that Junia was still in his lap. "Sweetheart, why don't you go, um, go pick out another book for me to read to you?" As she ran off happily on her new task, he muttered, "I could use the distraction." Then he looked back up at Zac, who remained bewildered. "Mom is going to murder him, you know that, don't you?"
"He's convinced she'll be thrilled. Does it, uh, does it bother you? That they--?"
Isaac thought about it for a moment. "No," he shook his head. "The fact that they--that they went through with it doesn't bother me, it's--it's the principle of it, I guess. How could he be so stupid? Or IS he even being stupid at all? I mean, this is what he wanted--right?"
"You should have heard them. You should have heard the ceremony, if you want to call it that. It was--it was fast and it was unconventional, but it was--oddly THEM..."
"I'm not sure if I should be afraid for his life or his mental state right now. I still say Mom is going to put him right in the ground."
Zac let out a breath and rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "Well. Better him than us, right?"
Isaac was silent. So many thoughts and emotions ran through him, it was becoming hard to keep track. Finally, he looked back up at Zac. "Zac, are you happy for him?"
Zac looked at his brother in thought. Finally, he nodded. "Crazy as it sounds, yeah. Yeah, I think I am. He's--he's happy. He has a family. He has--well, he has everything he ever wanted. And--well, it's kinda his time. You know? Maybe he won't spend his every waking hour in the studio now. He isn't lonely anymore. And if it was anyone else but her, I probably wouldn't have witnessed it. What, uh, what about you?"
"I think I feel the same. About her, I mean, if it was anyone else, I'd probably beat him before Mom got to him. It's a shock, but--but it's just the kind of crazy I'd expect him to do for love, you know? Wow, that just sounded really corny."
Zac shook his head. "No, it didn't. Actually..." His eyes lit up. "We could write a song about this!"
"AFTER you tell your wife what's going on," Kate said as she entered the room.
In that moment, Junia entered the room with her arms full of what was likely every book she possessed. She poured them all over Isaac's lap and then climbed up in his lap again, on top of the books and all. She grinned at him. "I bet you haven't read THESE a thousand times."
With that, in an odd twist of fate, all three Hanson brothers simultaneously surrendered themselves to a female.