#spoilmesweetieforficsake

[spoilmesweetieforficssake]

This Is Kinda Nice Too (4)

So it's been a while since I posted for this prompt, but I was looking through some unfinished fics and stumbled across this. Hoping to now move this fic into my 'finished' folder, so here we are. Previous parts are linked below for context but can be read as a stand alone.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

~*~

“I gotta ask a favour,” says Melissa as she sits in her usual seat at she and Barb’s table.  “Dessert.  I’m just not gonna have time.” 

Barb’s eyebrows raise as the red head starts to reel off all of the prep she needs to do for your dinner date.  “Girl, you have got to calm down.  The girl isn’t expecting a five star banquet.  She’s going to be giddy over the fact she’s spending time with you, not nitpicking at your food.”

Melissa rolls her eyes.  “That was all fun in the forest but this is real.  I just wanna do this right.”

“You’re not going to be able to relax and enjoy yourself if all you’re worrying about is the food,” points out the kindergarten teacher. 

“I’m not worrying about the food!” exclaims the red head.  “Just the lack of time to make the food…and the dessert.”

With a sigh, Barb finally concedes.  “Fine, I’ll make dessert, but you owe me!”

*

Friday after school finds Melissa in the doorway to your classroom.  “Hey.  Just wanted to check you’re still good for tomorrow?”

“Seven o’clock sharp,” you grin.  “I can’t wait.  Is there anything I can bring?”

You watch as she pushes off the doorframe, sauntering up to you and effectively stealing your breath in the process. 

“How about you and that cute smile?” she smirks, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to your lips, and acting far braver than she feels. 

“I can do that,” you say quietly, your grin only widening. 

*

Standing outside Melissa’s door, you take a deep breath, loosening your death grip on the flowers you brought.  You know she had said you didn’t need to bring anything, but you couldn’t just turn up empty handed.  And if you’d also picked up a little box of the chocolates you knew Melissa liked, well, you were only being polite. 

Knocking on the now familiar door, you feel your heart rate increase at the sound of approaching footsteps from within.  As the door is opened to reveal the red head, you can’t help but let your eyes wander over her curves.  “You look amazing,” you tell her as she steps back to allow you in.  “Even more than usual.”

Her cheeks pink in a blush as you hold out the flowers to her, smiling as she shyly takes them.

“I told you you didn’t have to bring anything.”

“I was hardly going to turn up empty handed to our first date,” you smile. 

She ducks her head.  “I’m gonna go fix these, you know where the coats go.”  Leaving you to hang up your bag and coat, she retreats to the kitchen, trying to calm her nerves as she opens up the flowers and sets them in a vase.  She looks up as you enter the kitchen.  “You scrub up pretty well yourself.”

“Had a good reason to put in some effort,” you reply, putting the chocolates you had brought down by the vase of flowers. 

She frowns.

“Just in case my sweet smile wasn’t quite cutting it,” you shrug.

“These are my favourites,” she says quietly as she looks more closely at the box.  Not some dollar store number or some last-minute purchase from the corner store. 

“Well I wasn’t going to bring you ones you don’t like.”

She closes the space between you, her fingers skimming down your arms before pulling you into a hug.  “Thank you.”  She pulls back, blinking to try and hide the tears that have gathered in your eyes at how thoughtful you’ve been.  “Now, you go sit and I will get things plated up.”

*

Dinner is better than you could have hoped.  The table is set with candles, casting the room in a romantic light and making Melissa’s hair glow.  It reminds you of that first night by the fire, when things started to shift between the two of you.  The conversation and laughter flows between you, and you realise although you’ve had a crush on her forever, you couldn’t have done this all those months ago.  The friendship that’s grown between the two of you has allowed you to be you with her.

Her eyes tear up as you tell her as much.  “It’s been a two way street, kid.  You’ve never made me feel like I had to be anyone else with you, like who I was wasn’t enough,” she admits feeling brave in the face of your admission.  “There are…things I usually hide when I meet people.  Things you learned and you didn’t pity me, think less of me.”

“Why would I think any less of you for anything I’ve learned about you?” you frown.  “You’re amazing.  And I mean that.  You are…so strong and capable and just…amazing,” you finish.  “And I should say beautiful too.” 

Cheeks once again flushed from more than just the heat, she stands from the table, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as she passes your chair.  “Got room for dessert?”

You close your eyes at the brief contact, a smile on your lips.  You don’t make to follow her, giving her a few moments to herself.  “Always,” you tell her.  “You know I have a sweet tooth.”

When she returns, she places a plate down in front of you.  You frown, looking down at the plate.  You know Melissa.  You know her cooking, and this, this doesn’t look like it.  “This doesn’t feel like a Schemmenti recipe.”  That wasn’t to say, however, it didn’t taste good.

“That’s because it’s a Barbara Howard special,” answers the red head.  “Honestly, that woman is a whizz at baking.”

“You told Barb about this?” you ask, this somehow catching you by surprise. 

“Sweetie, Barb has had to put up with me having a breakdown over the menu, my timings, my prep, the whole nine yards the whole week,” laughs Melissa.

“I didn’t realise,” you breathe, feeling guilty at the fact you’d somehow missed her semi-permanent state of panic.  “Sorry!  I wanted this to be fun for you too.”

She smiles sweetly at you.  “It has been.  I just…wanted to make it special.”

You put your spoon down.  “Melissa, I meant it when I said this could be pizza and beers and it would be special to me, because it’s you.  This has been great, and I feel like I’ve been treated like a queen, but you know I don’t need all this, right? I was happy sitting in the middle of the woods holding your hand.”

For what feels like the hundredth time that night, Melissa finds herself blushing.  She had been happy sitting in the middle of the woods holding your hand too.  “If you wanna date me, you gotta live with me being a little extra sometimes.”

You grin back at her across the table.  “Oh, I’m good with that.  And yes, just to be clear, I do wanna date you.  Properly.”

 Helping clear the plates after dessert you both move to the sofa to finish your wine.  The wine glasses are quickly forgotten on the table, however, as her lips find yours.  As her hands clutch you to her, you’re in heaven.  Her lips find your neck and you realise you’re done for. 

She pulls back as a whimper leaves your throat, her pupils blown as she takes you in.  You’re flushed and panting.  “I barely touched you,” she breathes in awe.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” you reply.

She smirks.  “Know what I’d like to do to you.”

This has you both blushing.  She takes your hands, linking your fingers together.  “I want this.  You.  All of it, but I don’t want to rush things.”

“Baby steps?”

“Maybe not quite that slow and innocent,” she smirks, leaning in to kiss you once more.  “Stay?” she asks, the word whispered against your lips as she rests her forehead against your own.  “I want to share an actual bed with you.”

*

Upstairs, you take turns in the bathroom.  You find yourself smiling at your reflection in the mirror as you brush your teeth.  The borrowed oversized sleep shirt you wear is soft and worn.  You’ve stayed over at Melissa’s house before, but in the guest room in your own nightwear.  This is a whole new level of intimacy.

Turning the light off as you leave the bathroom, you find the red head already in bed.  Slipping beneath the covers, there’s a polite distance between the two of you as you regard each other in the dim streetlight filtering through the gap in the curtains.  Finally, Melissa breaks the silence with a sigh and a rolling of her eyes.  She shuffles across the mattress until she can curl into your side, much as she did that night in the woods. 

“Tell anyone I’m a koala and I’ll have to kill you,” she mumbles against your chest.

You can’t help but laugh at the half-hearted threat.  “Worth it.”

She leans up and glares at you in the dim light. 

In return, you push yourself up to press a kiss to her lips.  “Fine, my lips are sealed so long as you promise to keep putting yours on them.”

“Deal,” she smiles, pressing one last lingering kiss to your lips before settling back against your chest. 

*

The next morning you’re woken by Melissa’s message tone.  She grumbles incoherently as she blindly reaches for the device on her bedside table.  Locating the offending item, she brings it close to her face where she can see it.  “Barb,” she informs you, turning the phone so you can read the screen.

Still sleepy and warm, even this small action makes you smile.  That she’s comfortable enough to let you read the message from her friend.  Barb is asking how the night went.  “I’d say it went pretty well.”  So you got to wake up with Melissa at an actual bed, but it appeared Barb was still to be your alarm.

Melissa’s lips curl up in a smile.  “Yeah, it did.”  She taps the screen of her phone, holding it above the two of you and taking a picture.  Bringing her phone back down, you both look at the screen, at how happy you both look, curled up together.  “You okay if I send this?”

“Long as you are,” you reply, pressing a kiss to the top of her head where she rests against your shoulder.  Everything is covered and you’re both in PJ’s.  It’s almost tasteful. 

The reply that comes back is quick.  Melissa laughs at the almost expected prudish reply.  She types out a reply, telling Barb to look at the picture again and take her mind out of the gutter.  A few moments later, her phone chimes again.

This time, she smirks, turning the phone to allow you to see it more easily.  You read the typed words, saying you both look very happy and she hopes you enjoy dessert.  You frown at the tense.  Barb is usually very particular in what she says.  “Is she?”

“Implying what you think she is?” laughs the red head.  “I think she might be.”  She tosses her phone back on the bedside table, shifting until she can look up at you, her chin resting on your shoulder.  “Morning.”

“Morning,” you smile.

“You know,” she drawls.  “This.  Waking up with you in an actual bed.  This is kinda nice too.”

“Careful,” you warn, taking in her face in the early morning light, her curls spilling messily over her shoulders.  “A girl could get used to it.”

A soft smile tugs at her lips.  “Maybe she should?”

[spoilmesweetieforficssake]

Hii, just want to say your work is incredible. I’m particularly in love with this one: https://www.tumblr.com/spoilmesweetieforficssake/720596884449869824/hiii-i-have-to-say-that-i-love-your-work-i-was

Can you make a part 2? I’d love to see Mel with the baby!

I can indeed make part 2 (although this is technically part 3? Part two was here) This has actually been a long time coming, but seeing your lovely message prompted me to push this one out (terrible pun intended).

Sorry this has taken so long (and that I've been a bit MIA) but life, injury and feeling sucky rather got in the way.

Anyway, enough boring real life. I hope you enjoy!

*~*

“Ava, you know how when I went on leave I was gonna have to call you one day and say I need you to arrange cover for Melissa?  Well, today is that day.”

“It’s happening?”

You hold the phone away from your ear at her shriek.  “Yeah,” you breathe, taking a deep breath.  “It’s happening.”

*

One call down, your next call is to Barb.

“Hey, Barb,” you say, trying to sound as light and airy as you can.  “How’s things?”

If Barb hears your sharp intake of breath as another contraction hits she’s tactful enough not to mention it.

“Could you do me a huge favour?  I need you to go and be with Melissa.  There’s something I need to tell her.”

You can practically hear the smile in her voice as she replies.  “Can you give me a few minutes to get to her?”

You try to breathe your way through the contraction, the guidance your midwife had given you and all you’d read all but forgotten in the moment.  “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Do you want me to stay on the phone with you while I find her?  Or would you prefer I not hear you curse your way through this contraction?”

*

Melissa answers her phone on the first ring.  You had promised not to call unless it was important.  You knew from how quickfire her responses to your messages, however, that her phone was always to hand.  Barb may have also let slip that since you had gone on maternity leave the device barely left her hand while she was apart from you.

“Hey.  Hi.  What’s wrong?  Are you okay?”

You can’t help but smile at the quickfire questions.  At the care in her voice.  “Mel, I need you to come home.  It’s time.”

“It’s time?” she repeats, and you can hear her voice waver.  “It’s happening?  It’s really happening?”

You grip the edge of the work surface as another contraction hits with one hand, holding the phone away from your mouth with the other so Melissa can’t hear the change in your breathing as you push down the urge to scream.  “Feels that way!” you manage, letting out a long, slow breath as the moment passes.  “Barb is going to drive so you can stay on the phone.”

The red head looks up to see the kindergarten teacher in the doorway to her classroom. 

“Ready to be a mom?”

*

Melissa was out the car before Barb even had the chance to stop, barrelling out into the driveway and bursting into the house. 

You yelped at the sound of the front door bursting open, even though you’d stayed on the phone with Melissa as she fretted in the passenger seat while her friend drove.  The red head comes to a halt in in front of you, her eyes darting over your face. 

Grabbing her hands as another contraction hits, you try your best to breathe through it. 

“How long in between, sweetheart?” asks Barb with a gentle hand on your back. 

Letting out a long, slow breath, you open your eyes and force a smile at Melissa, who looks terrified as she stands before you.  “Five or six minutes,” you manage. 

“Okay,” breathes the Kindergarten teacher.  “Do you have a bag packed?”

You nod.  “Mel’s had one packed in both cards for weeks.”

“Well you weren’t packing one!” shouts the red head. 

You smile at the outburst.  “And she’s taken them out and washed and repacked them every week,” you add.  You’d told her it was entirely unnecessary, but she’d done it anyway, always making sure to keep a sweater of hers at the top of the bags for you. 

“Wait, every five or six minutes?” asks Melissa, your words finally registering.  “How long has this been happening?”

Ducking your head, you admit you’d felt a but of movement that morning.  “I didn’t want to call and panic you until I knew it was time?”

“You’ve been here all day dealing with this and you didn’t say anything?” hisses Melissa, glaring at you. 

Barb reached over to cover Melissa hand with her own where she gripped you tightly.  “And she’s been dealing with it very well.  Now, are we ready to go?”

Just as she had driven Melissa from the school, it’s Barb who drives you both to the hospital.  The red head sits with you in the back.  You grip her hands, trying not to squeeze too tightly as your contractions continue, seemingly increasing in severity.  You try your best to keep your reactions to a minimum so as not to panic Melissa, earning you a look of sympathy from Barb in the rearview mirror.

At the hospital the red head rushes off to grab a wheelchair.  You can walk, but you don’t make any moves to stop her.  Barb takes your hand as she sees another contraction coming, and with the red head out of earshot you allow yourself a muted scream.  Unfortunately, however, Melissa was quicker than you anticipated and hears the end of it.

“What happened?” she asks, her eyes flitting over your face. 

“Contractions hurt like a bitch,” Barb informs her. 

*

There’s a little bit of confusion when you turn up on the maternity ward, the staff struggling to figure out the dynamic between the three of you.  When the midwife who was at your last check-up appears, however, she’s quick to make a beeline for you. 

“Ah, the three musketeers!” she grins.  “It’s time then?”

You offer her the best smile you can as you grit your teeth through another contraction.

“Contractions are around five minutes apart” offers Barb.

“Time indeed!” chuckles the midwife.  “Come on then, let’s find you a room and introduce this little one to the world.”

Barb offers you a squeeze to your shoulder.  “You’ll do great,” she smiles, before turning to Melissa.  “And so will you.”

The red head is nervous as she’s ever been, worried for you and for the little life that’s about to entirely change hers.  She offers Barb a nod before following you as you’re wheeled into a side room. 

“Now, why don’t we get you a chair?”

“What?  Surely she gets a bed?” asks Melissa.  You were about to have a baby, surely a bed was the least they could give you? 

The midwife chuckles.  “I meant you.”

The red head’s cheeks flush a darker shade than her hair and she’s about to give a snarky reply when you reach for her hand.  She helps you up out of your wheelchair and onto the bed. 

“Last offer on that chair,” smirks the midwife, earning her a glare from the red head.  “Hey, it’s just a suggestion, because if you hit the deck you’re gonna be down there a while.  I’m gonna have my hands full here.”

You don’t have time to be amused before another contraction hits, causing you to grip Melissa’s hand tightly.  She leans into you, leaning her head against yours as you try to breathe through it. 

“You got this,” she says quietly.  “You’re doing so well.”

The small word of praise bring tears to your eyes, screwed tightly shut as they are. 

Melissa looks up at the midwife.  “She’s totally got this, but surely she gets drugs too?”

*

Barb looked up as the midwife approached.  Though technically not family, she was part of your Abbott family and had been allowed to wait in the family room. 

“Thought you might like to know there’s a new addition to the musketeers,” smiles the midwife. 

“Is everyone okay?”  She’d spent her time in the family room praying for you, the baby and for Melissa.  The red head had been as terrified as she’d ever seen her, not even trying to hide it.

“Why don’t you come see for yourself?”

Following the midwife, Barb was led to your room.  She stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, smiling at the sight before her.  You were reclining in the bed, a warm, gentle smile on your lips as you looked over to where Melissa cradled a precious bundle in her arms.  The red head, meanwhile, looked down at the child in her arms with so much love, her fingers gentle as she adjusted the tiny hat on the baby’s head. 

“She’s a she,” whispered Melissa as she caught sight of her friend hovering in the doorway, tears sparkling in her eyes.  The sex of the baby was something they had all been aware of, but somehow it was a fresh new miracle to see the tiny baby in the flesh, all pink skin and perfect features. 

Barb smiled at her friend, looking to you for permission before entering the room and moving to look over her friend’s shoulder at the delicately wrapped bundle.  “She’s perfect.”  She looks over at you, a wide smile on her lips.  “You did good.”

You continue to look lovingly at the red head holding your daughter, the whole scene better than any dream you could have come up with.  “Yeah, I did.”

*

“How’s everyone doing?”

You look up at the midwife’s words.  “Still struggling to believe this is all actually real.”

“Oh it’s real,” chuckles the woman.  “Just wait till the diapers and night feeds.  Then it’ll feel all too real.  Now I know it’s early, but technically it is visiting time.  If you’re up to it there’s a few people here who I think might like to meet this little lady?”

*

You hope you’ve not forever turned into someone who cries at everything and nothing, but no one seems to mind as tears gather in your eyes as the rest of your little Abbott family files in through the door, each bearing thoughtful little gifts.  Even Ava had been tactful, bringing a bottle of alcohol free bubbly to celebrate the occasion.

Not unexpectedly, everyone was desperate to hold your daughter.  You weren’t sure if it was the drugs or just sheer pride, but you were happy to let them, excited at their excitement over seeing your baby. 

Melissa, however, was rather more reserved.  She wasn’t keen to be handing over the precious little being in her arms over to just anyone.  A hand on her thigh where she sat in the chair by your bed, however, and a slightly raised eyebrow has her rolling her eyes and finally allowing someone else to hold the baby.

You watch with a fond smile as she follows your daughter as she is passed between the members of your little family, reminding each of them to be gentle and showing them how to hold her just right, the same way the nurse had shown her only hours before.  Everyone takes it in the nature it’s intended, even Barb, who accepts the red head’s instructions as though she hasn’t raised two of her own.  There’s also the not so gentle threat that if they drop her she’ll wheel them to the morgue herself that is so Melissa it makes your heart clench. 

*

As nice as it was to see everyone, you’re glad when Barb finally steps into teacher mode and rounds them all up and says it’s time to go.  They all make sure to make a final fuss of your daughter before leaving.

And then it’s just you, Melissa and your daughter.  Not just your Abbott family, but the little family you’ve built.  The woman you love and the unexpected baby you were terrified of having only months before.  That same baby who is sleeping soundly in your arms after her first successful feed. 

The red head is curled next to you on the small hospital bed, both of you just about fitting, her arm curled beneath yours where you cradle the little life you’ve brought into the world.

“You know,” you smile, looking up at her.  “I didn’t think I could love you more, but today, when I got to see Mama Bear Schemmenti?  It made me realise not just how lucky I am to have you, but how lucky she is to have you.”

She smiles back at you, tears glittering in her eyes.  “When you called me today to say it was time…I’ve never been so scared.  Before we left the school, Barb asked if I was ready to be a mom.  I don’t think I’d realised before, but…”

You worry for a moment at the hesitation.

“I mean…is that…would you let…can I?”

You tilt your head, just managing to reach her lips and press a gentle kiss there.  “Melissa, there is no ‘letting’ you do anything.  To me, she’s ours.  I know we didn’t exactly do this the conventional way, but like you said before, it’s not perfect, but it’s real.”

“Oh, I’m not sure about that,” she smiles softly.  “Feels pretty perfect to me.”