#I also love that kate's reaction was to just bask in lucy being back instead of even remembering the party

[booasaur]

NCIS: Hawai’i - 2x15

[becuzpurple]

It’s About Damn Time! - an Ed & Kate One-Shot

The title of this one-shot is also an extremely appropriate and well-deserved reaction to my S L O W-as-molasses writing.  LOL  But I’m finally done.  YAY!  

As I said, this is a one-shot.  It’s still about Ed and Kate, and it’s still set in the same world as the main story.  But it takes place about 2 ½ years down the line from where the main story currently is.  You will see a 3rd character whom you’ve met before.  You will also see mention made of a new, very significant character, though this person is not important to this chapter, so you won’t actually meet him/her.  Yet.  😊

I hope you like it!

WARNING:  Lossa Smuts

——————————————————————————————-

IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

an early Wednesday afternoon

I’ve been running for years.  It gives me discipline and confidence, it’s a great way to relieve stress, and it improves my mental and physical health.  

When I first met Ed, he didn’t exercise regularly.  He’d just come off 5 years of touring, and he was really, really tired.  He was bigger than he is now, but I had no complaints whatsoever.  I liked him big and solid.

After taking a good four or five months to just slog off, he started coming around to the idea that he should probably start taking better care of himself. He says seeing me get up and go to the gym or go for a run made him feel like a slug.  He also says he did it for us, although I never felt that was necessary - he’s always been perfect to me.  But, it was around that time when his perspective began to shift a little bit in regards to a few things.

One of those things was his health.  He told me that he didn’t want to get fat and lazy.  I couldn’t imagine that actually happening at all, but I certainly wasn’t about to discourage him, either.  We began working out together, even though I had to stop running due to some early pregnancy complications.  I still exercised right up until I went into labor - mostly yoga and stationary weight machines.  Ed did those things with me, too, and he also started running.  

He’s now in the best shape of his life.  His body has changed over the last couple of years.  That sweet, soft belly that wouldn’t ever completely go away actually went almost completely away (RIP, belly - I kind of loved you).  He has defined abs.  He’s gained lean muscle-mass.  He’s noticeably stronger (and he was strong before!).  His endurance is through-the-roof.  

We run together now when he’s home, often with Daisy in the jogging stroller. On this particular day, though, she’d napped a little early, so I stayed in with her while Ed went out for his run.  Nathan and Lucy were at school.

It was early-afternoon in mid-fall, and it rained the night before.  It was cold, and the sun wasn’t out, so there was a dreary cast to everything - in other words, typical November weather.  It was good napping weather, and Daisy was taking full advantage of that in her new “big girl” toddler bed.  She loved it so much that she had a renewed interest in naps and bedtime.                              

🙏🏻 Thank-you Jesus🙏🏻

I sat down at the kitchen counter with a fresh cup of coffee and my laptop, and opened up my emails, which was my first mistake.  I should have started working on the new research project I’d been invited to participate in.  I’d been asked to contribute to a collection of biographical sketches for a Time magazine feature called “Women and the Myth of the American West”.  I was really excited about it, and needed to begin researching my subject - Elena Gallegos, who, in 1712, widowed and aged 32, became the sole owner of a land grant that included about 4/5 of present-day Albuquerque, NM.  It was willed to her NOT from her deceased husband, but from another man!

But I digress.  Instead of gathering facts about Elena, I started reading through my unopened emails.  

My friend Dante had lately made a habit of emailing video links to me - links to videos of Ed.  Because he’s completely obnoxious!  I don’t make a habit of watching Ed videos.  I admit that right after we met I promptly fell right down that rabbit hole, but it honestly only lasted a couple of days, and I haven’t really looked at any more since then.

Dante periodically fangirls pretty hard over Ed, and it’s really hilarious since he knows him, now.  He’s slightly embarrassed yet completely unapologetic about it.  

So, he’d evidently just discovered Ed’s BRIT’s performance from 2015 - Bloodstream.  That’s what the link was to in the email he’d sent me.  He was raving about it - he even noted a minute-mark within the performance that he thought I’d particularly enjoy.  So then I made my second mistake:  I clicked on the link and I watched it.  I’d somehow never seen it before.

This is such a sexy song.  Oh, he looks so good in black…those are really red shoes.  That vein on his neck and wow he sounds so good.  He’s in such a different place when he’s performs - like he’s a completely different person. Jesus he’s oozing confidence.  And sex.  He’s oozing sex?!  Whatever, it’s true.  Why is that little backward step so hot???  And why is it suddenly freaking hot as hell in here?  The RASP.  Fuck me, that rasp...OK, here comes the part Dante thinks I’ll like…HOLY SHIT.  What’s he thinking about when he spanks his guitar like that?  It can’t actually be the song, right?  I know I’m not thinking about the song.  GOD, I’M BAD.  Oh god more rasp and more neck veins and I’m…Jesus help me, my blood is rushing to PLACES, no joke…I just…FUCK...

When the hell will he be home?

I glanced at the clock and saw that he’d be gone for at least another 10 minutes or so - plenty of time to rewatch the good parts…a few times.  

Which is what I was still doing several minutes later when I heard him open the door.  I stopped the video just as he came in through the back entrance off the kitchen, drenched in sweat and still breathing hard.  His eyes found mine and he nodded in greeting, leaning on the door frame as he caught his breath.

“Hey.”  He noted my setup.  “Getting some work done?”

“Hi.”  My voice was soft.  I couldn’t tear my eyes from him.  “No, I...got distracted.”

I closed the laptop, got up from my chair, and made my way over to him, still in the doorway.  He was eying me curiously, a small grin forming.

“Distracted by what?”

I took hold of his waist and pulled him closer to me.

“Email,” I answered right before I kissed him…with a little bit of tongue.

He readily reciprocated, delving into my mouth with the softest, most slippery of caresses.  He gently pulled my bottom lip with his teeth before leaving one last, chaste kiss. Then he pulled back just far enough to let his eyes focus on mine.  

“Mmmm, more…” I pulled his torso right into mine, and basked in how drenched with sweat he was.

I slid a hand up the back of his neck through those wet curls and guided his face back down to me.

His mouth opened immediately and I took full advantage, holding him to me as my tongue eagerly explored.  There was a saltiness to the taste of him, and a muffled moan escaped my mouth at the thought of being wrapped up in this sexy, sweaty, beautiful man.

His hands soon moved to my hips, starting to slide to my backside, but then he paused and kept them fastened where they were, and he again pulled his lips away from mine.

He returned my soft, huff of frustration with a small smirk and a knowing look.

“I’m a sweaty mess right now.”

I combed my fingers through the tufts of his damp hair as I softly replied. “Baby, that’s so not a bad thing.”  

Just then I noticed a vein in his neck slightly pulse and I was reminded of what got me in this state to begin with.  I grinned, and then my lips were right there. God, I wanted to inhale him, breathe him, taste him, feel him - I needed it.  I felt the soft rush of his breath on my cheek as he let his head fall to the side.  I inhaled his sharpened, earthy scent as I kissed and nipped at his salty, sticky skin from his collarbone up to his ear.  

I sucked and tugged on his earlobe just a little bit before pulling away.  He righted his head and teased my nose with the tip of his, making me smile.

His hands found their way back to my bottom, and, gripping me securely, he pulled me in right up against his groin.  “This what you wanted?”

His voice was suddenly so serious, and his cock was already getting hard.  I felt him through my thin cotton pants and his shorts, and I was so fucking turned on, and really, really glad that he seemed to be, too.

I nodded.

He was slick with sweat - everywhere.  I have no idea why that made ME so wet, but, my god, did it.  

I nudged my hips up into his, and we began rubbing against one another, slow and deliberate, both of us still fully clothed.

What the hell has gotten into me?  Fucking Bloodstream…

He leaned back on the door and positioned his knee between my thighs.  I leaned into him, and we rocked into each other, slowly building up, and the friction became so intense I felt flutters in my belly. I brought my hand to the obvious bulge at the front of his running shorts, and started stroking him in time with our thrusting.  

Our mouths came at each other hard, and for a few seconds there was a frenzy of slippery tongues and wet lips sliding over each other.  We were desperate mouths and rough hands and stifled gasps and sticky-wet bodies.

We broke away and, with his hands at my waist, he urgently backed me into the kitchen, to the large, built-in island.  He was about to lift me up on it, but then stopped and looked at me uncertainly.

“Daisy?”

“Asleep,” I assured him.

We stared at each other for another second or two before we came together again, lips fusing, tongues thrashing, hands fumbling, bodies converging.  He had my pants down before I even realized his hands were on me.  I quickly kicked them all the way off, but I was still wearing my panties.    

I shoved his shorts and underwear down to his knees and locked my legs around his waist just as he pressed himself up against my center.  

Somehow during all of this he sat me up on the very edge of the island.

His brow ruffled slightly when he noticed that I still had my panties on, but I hastily pulled them to the side, out of his way.  We shared a brief smirk just before he took hold of himself and slammed into me.  There was no point in checking my readiness.  I’d already made that very clear to him.

I was caught up in the sight of him - his eyes were blown wide and lips slightly parted, he was hot and covered in sweat and soaking wet, and his hand was wrapped around his dick as he aligned himself with me.  He was all confidence and desire - from the intent etched on his face, to the forward roll of his hips, to the well-practiced way he held his beautiful, hard cock in his hand just before he guided it into me.

He is a lot to take in at once.  The sting (there’s always a sting) was sharp but short-lived, and was followed by that exquisite sense of fullness that still gets me every time.  

My balance on the counter was questionable, so I kept a hand back to anchor myself.  My other hand gripped his shoulder.  He held my hips tight as he fucked into me, full-force, balls deep on every thrust, so hard I was groaning in time with the short, soft grunts he made on each exhalation.  By then we were both covered in sweat.

“Fuck.  I love this…”  I thought it was just in my head but I apparently said it out loud.  He didn’t answer me, but did raise an eyebrow and grinned while he continued fucking into me.  He watched my eyes fall shut and my head fall back, and then I felt his lips and tongue on my bared neck.

He felt so good, and the spontaneity of it made it that much better.  It’s hard to be spontaneous when you have a toddler and two tweens in the house - and when Ed is on the road as often as he is.  He comes home as often as possible, and I’ve occasionally joined him for a weekend here-and-there when I could manage it, but Daisy is usually with me, and those opportunities are few and far-between, anyway.  So even though this was an unplanned quickie, it was much-needed.

There was one other thing I wanted though, thanks to that damn video.  But since he’s not a mind-reader, I was going to have to ask for it.

Quickly, before I could lose my nerve, I pressed my lips next to his ear and whispered, “Spank me.”

He hadn’t expected that, judging by the look on his face.  But I saw excitement there, too - he loves it just as much as I do.

”Yeah?  You been bad?”

He’d been gripping my hips the whole time, and now started working his fingers over the outermost contours of my ass cheeks.  He didn’t stop slamming into me over and over, and I took a sharp breath as another thrust hit me just right.    

Eyes boring into mine, he slammed HARD into me one more time, pushing, pushing, just keeping himself buried so deep in me.  His eyes zeroed-in on my mouth and he moved in so close to my face that I thought he was going to kiss me.  But, no.  He brushed his lips against the corner of mine and, sounding absolutely cocksure, whispered, “Hope you’re ready.”

In one fell swoop he pulled out, and before I could even register that, he lowered me to the floor and spun me around, yanking my panties down.  Before they even fell to my knees he was balls-deep again.

Oh, god.

He kept one hand firm between my shoulder blades and the other spread out over one of my ass cheeks as he fucked into me and whispered in my ear.  

“Have you been bad?”

Jesus…

Everything had escalated so quickly and I was wrecked enough already that I couldn’t properly put words together.  So I just sort of grunted in acknowledgement.

His hand still stroked my bottom, although somewhat erratically, probably due to his busy thrusting.  

“Such a pretty bum.”

His voice was so soft, and he sounded so controlled, although his movements betrayed that impression.  I imagined his eyes glued to my backside.  

“Should I make it pink, then?”

Fuck…Yes?!

I meant to answer him - I really did.  But the the best I could manage was a muffled, incoherent moan.

“What’s that?  Can’t hear you.”  

I took a breath before gasping out a soft, “Please?”

I felt him smile against the back of my neck as he murmured, “There’s my dirty girl,” as he drove into me again.

It felt dirty, what we were doing.  We were fucking in our kitchen in the middle of the day.  He had me bent over the island, both of us still half-dressed.  He was a sweating mess from his run, and I was too by that point.  The sounds coming from both of us were indecent (although muffled, since the baby’s room was just right up the stairs). Everything felt wet and slick, and hard and rough, and hot as hell.  

I was leaning on my elbows, hands splayed flat on the countertop.  I looked over my shoulder and saw him staring down at my bottom.  I’m sure he also had a view of himself repeatedly slamming into me.  In any case, he seemed enthralled by what he saw.

He thrusted hard again.  And again.  

I turned my head to face forward again, my breath rushing out, gasping on each stroke.  He filled me continuously, hitting my furthest walls, steady and unyielding.  The flutters in my belly were spreading.  I felt like I was lighting up slowly.  I went up on my tiptoes and arched my back just a little bit more, forcing my bottom further out, needing more, asking for more.  It was such a good, good feeling - being fucked so good like that.

He unexpectedly pulled out, quickly hooked his right hand below my thigh and lifted it up so my knee came just above the countertop.

“Put your leg up here.”

I did so, and then he took hold of my waist and slammed right back in.  The angle was different so the bumping of his cock inside me was more intense.  He was reaching even deeper.

His right hand was back on my bottom, fingers pit-patting in subtle patterns.  He brought his left hand around to my front, his fingertips swirling lazily over my most sensitive parts.

My mind drifted away, lost again in the sensations. My body was thrumming - I could feel it buzzing from my belly out to my limbs, my fingers, my toes.  I was so consumed in the moment that when that first smack came I was stunned.

He had just pulled back, with the head of his cock barely touching me, and lightly tapped his fingers over my clit a few times.  I heard it before I felt it - a resounding slap that snapped me out of my reverie.  I felt the sting of his hand just as he slammed back inside me, hitting my front wall with such force that I grunted at the impact.

And god, it hurt - it really hurt.  But the pain was only secondary.  Much more important than the pain, and the reason I love it so much…it makes me feel so incredibly close to him.  I know that sounds crazy…like, how on earth would Ed spanking me cause me to feel closer to him?  But I completely trust him, so I allowed him to be in a position of control over me within that situation.  I knew I would feel some pain, but I also knew he would never, ever actually hurt me. For us…unspoken promises accompany acts like this - absolute love and trust among them.

I sucked my lips into my mouth, hoping that would keep me from releasing the wail that was welling up inside, threatening to escape.  Instead, my soft, mewling whimpers mingled with his hard, gaspy breaths.  I was completely lost in it again.

“Please...” I gasped, pushing my bottom out as far as I could, trying to get more of him.  

“Please what, baby…what do you want?”  He breathed in my ear between each thrust.

“More…everything…”

I’m sure I wasn’t making much sense at all, but it was the best I could do at the time.  I wanted him deeper - so fucking deep in me, and I wanted him to make my bottom look sunburned and make it hurt and feel so damn good that I’d lose any remaining sense of reality.

He knew.  He knew what I wanted, what I needed.  And he wanted it, too.

He was attentive and carefully turned each cheek a lovely shade of rose pink - like a deep blush.  Never while he was inside me - he only filled me immediately after a spank.  That way I could feel the sharp sting at the same time as something truly pleasurable, and that combination is fucking electrifying.

I was so warm everywhere - we both were.  But the heat emanating from my bottom was different - like a deep, low, slow-spreading burn.  It, along with the smoldering tremors threatening to go off throughout my body finally, finally, started to push me over.  Just when I could tell that the end was near, he opened his mouth and shattered me to pieces.

“Baby, your arse is so fuckin’ pretty…so pink…just like your pretty pussy…”

I began clenching everywhere, including around him.  My legs and my hips tensed, and if he hadn’t already had me pinned up against the island I would have gone down.

“You almost there…gonna come, sweet girl?”

I nodded, but have no idea if he saw it or not.  Then everything went soft for a second, my ears buzzed, my entire body pulsed.  The ache in me spread everywhere, and then a terrific whoosh of warmth and comfort consumed me.  I was swept up and fallen apart.  He’d completely taken me Somewhere Else.  It was just what I needed and absolutely perfect. 

He finished just after me.  His hips were a flurry of movement as they rocketed into me a last few times.  Then his body tensed, as mine had, and he breathed out a series of short, not-so-quiet gasps as he came.

---

“What.  The fuck.  Was that?”  

We were on the floor against the base of the island, still half-naked and legs tangled together.  My head was buried in the crook of his neck.  His arms were around me. He left copious short, soft kisses all over the side of my head and face.

I glanced from the corner of my eye at him, a tiny, somewhat awkward grin plastered on my face.  He looked immensely pleased.

I didn’t answer him.

“I’m not complaining at all.  But really…what got into you?”

“Umm…you?” I giggled.  I was not about to tell him that a freaking 4 year-old video of him got me so worked up that I literally begged him to spank me.  In the middle of the day.  In the kitchen. Nope.  Wasn’t going to happen.

“Ha-ha.”  He smiled and took my hand.  “Damn, woman.  I thought my workout was the run but you gave me another one.”

“Ha,” I grinned.  I got one, too.”  

I looked down at the both of us - what a sight.  His shorts and underwear were around his ankles, but he still wore his t-shirt and shoes.   My pants were flung across the floor, my panties were around one ankle, and my shirt and bra were askew.  We were both sweaty messes.

Glancing at the wall clock, I sighed.  “We should shower.  Daisy will be up in a bit.”

He nodded and puffed out a noisy breath, stood, and pulled his shorts back up.  I remained sitting on the floor watching him until he offered his hand to help me up.  He grabbed my pants up off the floor as I kicked my panties off from around my ankle.  Because what was the point, really, right?  

We walked together to the shower, cleaned ourselves up (and then the kitchen, too - yikes), and no one was the wiser.

——————————–

Saturday Evening, 10 Days Later

Dante was visiting, and he, Ed and I were just finishing up a late dinner that he’d picked up on the way over.  Daisy was down for the night, and both Lucy and Nate were at a friend’s birthday party.  We hadn’t seen Dante in a while - several months, actually.  So when he called that morning, suddenly freed-up from plans with his partner Aaron, who was called out-of-town for work last minute, we all jumped at the chance to finally catch-up.

I’d just finished clearing the table of our dishes, and Ed was still rinsing and putting them in dishwasher.  Dante was making our drinks.  I took my seat at the dining room table while the guys were chatting and finishing up in the kitchen.

Those two adore each other.  They’d immediately bonded upon first meeting a few years ago, and it made me so happy.  Dante is probably my oldest, and one of my dearest friends, and I love that he and Ed get on so well.  Both of them were in a mood that evening, though.  I had no chance of getting out unscathed.

They came back to their seats carrying tequila shots with lime wedges for all of us.  I’d already brought out some snacks for us to nibble on.

“It’s really good to see you, D.  It’s been too long.”  I put a few homemade oatmeal raisin cookies on a small plate and slid it in front of him as I spoke.  Ed nodded in agreement.

“I’m just here for the cookies.”  He grinned at me and then turned to Ed.  “You know Katie used to bake cookies for me in high school?”

“Yeah?  Were they any good?”

“Hey?!”  I shot him a look.  He just grinned and popped a whole cookie in his mouth.

“Amazing.  That’s when I decided to keep her.”  He winked at me.

“I did, didn’t I?  I’d forgotten all about that.”

Ed downed his shot and added, smirking, “Yeah.  I’m totally here just for her cookies, too.”

While the two of them chortled over their silly innuendos, I bit back a grin and shook my head.  You can’t help but love ‘em.

“Sooo, you never acknowledged my last email, Kit-Kat,” Dante chided me.

“Oh, I didn’t?  What was- OH.”  It was the link to the Bloodstream performance.  I could feel my face flushing as I recalled the aftermath from viewing it.

Shit…

Both Ed and Dante were looking at me oddly.  Ed clearly didn’t know a thing about any of it, but he definitely noticed my red face.  Dante seemed to be working out that there was some sort of story - he had a dangerous glint in his eye, and he started laughing.

I just stared forward blankly and took a huge bite of cookie so I wouldn’t have to talk.

“What?  What was in the email?”  Ed looked between Dante and me, not sure who might answer him.

“You know I’m a huge fan, right?  Like, major fangirl?  I’m not ashamed to admit it.  I mean…LOOK at you!”  Dante was talking with his arms by that point, as any decent, excited Sicilian would.

Ed shrugged and smiled.  None of this was news to him.

I did nothing except pray to disappear.  I had a feeling this was going to get epically embarrassing soon.

“Well, you probably know that I occasionally send our darling Katie-Kat links to…videos that I…just happen to come across.  Of you.  I figure she might enjoy them as much as - or more - than I do.  It amuses me to no end.”

“Oh, god,” I whispered to no one in particular.

“Right, yeah, she’s mentioned that.  I’m down with it.  So, it was a video of me?”

Dante nodded, sucking on the lime wedge, and then slammed down his shot of tequila.

Ed gave me a bemused look.  “What was it?”

“Ohhhhh… Umm, it was when you did Bloodstream at the BRIT’s a few years ago?”  I didn’t know where to look, so I studied my still-full shot glass.

“Oh, good, you did see it, then.  What did you think, dear?”

I glanced up at Dante then, and my very evil friend was waggling his thick, dark eyebrows at me, knowing full-well that the video must have had some sort of effect on me to bring about this kind of reaction at the mention of it.

“Yeah, what did you think, dear?”  Ed was getting a little bit animated, too, or maybe buzzed.  He was grinning wildly and wagging his head around at me. He must have realized that something good was about to go down.

I looked from one to the other and saw that they both watched me expectantly. Deciding it was a good time for some liquid courage, I sucked hard on my lime and slammed down my shot.

I looked at Ed, smiled, and answered his question.  “I thought it was Sexy.  As.  Hell.  Dear.”

“THANK-YOU, yes!  Yes he was!”  Dante then turned from me to Ed, arms waving again.  “Yes you were!  It’s my favorite video of you, you…gorgeous creature!”  

Dante is naturally very hyper and enthusiastic, but Tipsy Dante is a whole ‘nother story.  His tequila-laced exuberance was contagious, and even I started giggling by then.  “D…you have a favorite Ed video??”

“YAHHHH?!!”

Ed was laughing and looking smug.  He nodded toward Dante.  “Thanks, man!” Glancing down at our empty drinks, he stared for a few seconds and then stood up.  “Be right back.”

He retrieved the bottle of tequila from the kitchen where Dante had left it and refilled each of our shot glasses.

OK.  Maybe I’m in the clear…

“Thank-you, sir.  Salute!”  Dante raised his drink up for a toast.  

We clinked our glasses together and drank up.  I was feeling warm and mellow and relaxed by then, and that turned out to be a problem.  I‘d let my guard down.

“I’m sure we agree on what the best part was, do we not, Katie-Katie?”

“The best part of what?”  I had no idea what he meant.  God, if I had I would have deflected immediately.  But no.  I invited him to continue.  Because tequila.

“The video!  I even noted the time for you, darling.”  The fucker actually started drumming on the tabletop as he grinned wickedly at me.

Fuck.

“What the fuck are you talking about, mate?  Noted the time of what?”

Ed was being adorably clueless.  Dante was being a mischievous bastard.  I was being that girl who was pouring another shot and slamming it immediately.

“I’m just saying…I cannot be the only one who enjoys seeing a good-looking man spanking his… instrument!”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that, but I blushed furiously at the same time.  Dante was wearing a smug “sorrynotsorry” sort of expression, while Ed laughed almost as hard as I did.  Ed glanced at me then and saw my burning cheeks.  And I saw it happen - realization hit him right at that moment.  He stopped laughing almost abruptly, and then grinned so evilly at me it rivaled a Dante Smirk of Doom.

“Hold on, hold on!  When did you send her that email, Dante?”

Wow.  I’m so fucked it’s funny.

“I don’t know…week?  Week-and-a-half ago?”

There was a pause, just a beat of silence while Ed took that detail in.  And then…

“Oiiiiiiiiii!  That day!  After my run!  You were all wantin’ it-”  He was excitedly and emphatically smacking the table.  How ironic.

“Wait, WAIT, WAIT.  WHAT?  Katie Bear?!!  My cute little Katie Bug?  What exactly did you want?”

Now, I was plenty embarrassed, but I wasn’t completely flipping out or anything like that.  I know Dante has a bit of a freaky streak, himself - it’s been discussed before.  Spanking is actually pretty tame compared to some of the things he’s told me.  I was actually more flustered over Ed figuring out that watching a video of him is what got me so worked up that day.

But I figured there was no stopping this train, and since we were all three sheets to the wind already, anyway, I decided to just go for it.  I took a breath and (figuratively) jumped.

“What do you think I wanted, D?”  I gave him a playful wink and grin, and began drumming on the table, myself.

The noise that erupted from that man could have waked the dead.  It was a shriek like no shriek I’ve heard before.  And that’s saying a lot, since I’ve known Dante and his penchant for drama for about 25 years - I’d heard LOTS of Dante’s shrieking.

Ed’s and my immediate reaction was to shush him since Daisy was asleep just upstairs, but our shushes almost instantly turned into full-out belly laughs. Dante in Complete Theatrical Mode was a sight to see.  He did eventually tone it down a little bit, and between his residual hoots and sputters, he squawked out a few barely-coherent things.

Using wildly gesticulating arms to emphasize his words, he finally croaked out at me, “My puppy!  My sweet, innocent Katie-Boo!”

He then turned to Ed, trying so hard not to lose it completely.  “YOU, young man, have corrupted my darling Kit-Kat!  And I have one thing to say about that!”  He comically waved his finger in Ed’s face while both Ed and I laughed so hard we had tears running down our cheeks.

“It’s.  About.  Damn.  Time!”

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I’d like to thank @ownerandwriterofedsnnnnggghhhh for her patience with me and my insecure ramblings about my writings, as well as her time spent editing/proofing/opinion-giving!  I also want to thank @edchristophersheeran for letting me use her words for the very last line and the title of this piece.  Y’all are the best!

As always, feedback is very much encouraged.  Click “like” or reblog, or send me an Ask, or do any combination of these things!  But it’s literally the ONLY way I know if anyone is even reading my work, let alone enjoying it.  So please leave me some, ok?  :-)