Forums » General Roleplay » When Darkness Falls too Fast

He gently squeezed her hand, hesitating briefly. "I don't think there'll be anything to worry about, other than the usual night activity. I tended to move a lot, so there isn't much of a trail--unless you count ashes..."

He trailed off, distracted by Cici's closeness. And then he couldn't resist. Her lips too enticing to resist. He gave her a full on kiss, then pulled back suddenly.

She enjoyed the brief kiss and then blinked at him openly, "Uhhh, did I do something wrong?" Was her breath deadly? She hadn't eaten anything all day (everything made her stomach flipflop). She didn't think she was that bad a kisser.

"No." He'd just surprised himself, was all. He smiled at her and then kissed her again, tipping her chin up a little.

Cici's eyes closed and she put her arms around his shoulders. She didn't care how lumpy his coat was. She didn't care if a stake was digging into her ribs. No, she did not care one bit.

Who was she kidding? As much as she wanted to make-out like a pair of teens, it hurt. A lot. She slowly pulled away, "We should try later, without the jacket. Maybe in bed. Maybe not." She flushed, biting her lip, remembering the last time they were alone together. Those were nice memories.

He pulled away, just as reluctant. "Ah, sorry. We should probably go collect Dawn, anyway. It's starting to get dark."

Cici nodded, "Yeah..." She held his hand, though, as she stepped out the door, towards her car. She felt ... happy. She closed her eyes, pausing to look at the setting sun.

She took a deep breath, "You know, it's not just as simple as, 'we're having a baby', when we explain to Dawn."

Sterling looked surprised, but then quickly reclaimed his composure. "Well, I guess I can try to answer her questions as best I can... We-er, I-owe her that much."

He searched the shadows on impulse but they lay quiet. And he drew a calming breath. No more hunting; he could relax, settle down, have a family. He grinned at the thought.

Cici smiled and unlocked his door first and went around to the other side, "We need to stop at the grocery store. I wanna get some stuff for Dawn's favourite in case she decides to be, less than happy." She slipped into the car, putting her belt on first, turning the car on.

Sterling climbed in as well, buckling up. He grunted as the seatbelt dug the first two pairs of stakes into his chest, and had to rearrange them before just taking them out and stuffing them into his pockets. They were large pockets.

"What's her favorite?" Sterling asked, figuring he should probably learn these things. "And what's yours?"

"Mashed potatos, corn on the cob and chicken strips. Luckily, since I'm pressed for time, I can get premashed and she doesn't care. I'll also get a chocolate pie. That's for me though. I need chocolate. I personally like steak and roasted red potatoes. I don't get steak often though. I was thinking of picking up another one for my birthday, if I could find one cheap enough."

She watched him and turned down the angsty CD, pulling out of the drive.

"When's your birthday, then?" Sterling asked. He remembered that his meal had been steak when she had cooked for him and he almost interrupted himself. "Don't tell me I ate your birthday steak!"

"It's in August." She looked at the dashboard, "You saved my baby. It was a small price to pay." She looked over at him, "Besides, I would give up my steak to you any day you wanted it." She patted his knee as they headed out to the street.

"You didn't have to do that. I wouldn't have eaten it if I had known." But that time was over and past. He'd have to make up for it another way, another time. Maybe he'd surprise her with a steak later. It was a thought.

But at the same time, he was touched that she would give up her favorites for him. He placed his hand over hers, on his leg. "Well, maybe we can work something out," he said with a smile.

she glanced over at him, resisting the urge to jump up and down in her seat. She kept her cool as they coasted to a stop at the grocers, "We'll see. How about that?" She reached across and squeezed his hand as she turned off the car, "Please remember to lock the door. I don't have a fancy auto lock." She slipped out, grabbing her wallet, mentally counting numbers.

Credit it was.

He locked the door and closed it behind him, circling around to catch up to Cici and walk with her into the grocery store. He blinked. He usually ate out most of the time, rarely stepping inside such a place but for the usual jugs of water that he got blessed for Holy Water.

"I can pay," he offered. "Consider it my treat to, ah, make up in part the last few months of not being there." He wasn't exactly proud of that, but he hadn't had a choice then. And he did now, so he would do what he could to rectify it.

She slipped a hand into his, "Are you sure? I've got my credit card and there should still be room on it." She winced. That was not something she wanted to let him know about just yet. Though, she was working it down, and each time she worked more off, she lowered the limit.

School was expensive though.

"Let me, Cici." He squeezed her hand. "That's why I came back. Let me take care of you. That's what I'm here for."

Not that he could blame her for it. She had been used to living on her own, supporting herself and Dawn for years, with no one to rely on. She was bound to be hesitant and perhaps wary. But he wanted to help and this was his way of helping. Besides that, her comment concerned him a little. How much had she run her bills up? He would wait for another time, however, before touching that topic.

She didn't look at him, "You sure? I mean, I guess it's okay to take money from you." She winced when she said that. Money was always a sore issue in her life, even before Dawn. At least she was able to take care of her daughter. She was going to have a chance to take care of her second child too.

With Sterling's help.

His help. With his help would come his input. What if he didn't agree with how she raised Dawn? What if he undermined her. Oh goodness. She felt faint suddenly.

"I wouldn't have offered otherwise," he said softly, and then pulled her closer to his side so he can put his arm around her shoulders.

In all honestly, Sterling hadn't even gotten that far to the parenting stage. He was still wrapping his head around the whole "settling down" part. The parenting, he figured, would come eventually, but maybe not right away.

"Cici?" He watched her for a moment. "You alright?"

She looked at him, just at the doors, "Oh goodness. What if we don't want the same things for the kids? What if I have a boy and I can't connect to him? What if he's like, deformed?" she turned to look at him, "What if he has like, twelve fingers and a parasitic twin attached to his right shoulder and later on in life he goes insane and thinks it talks to him and he kills people and goes to jail? What if this all happens and it's my fault because I'm a terrible mom? Or what if you're a terrible dad?!"