“Chicken soup, medicine, and then I’m ordering you to sleep while I get some work done, okay?”
“Okay,” she says sleepily, rolling back over to close her eyes while I go fix her some lunch.
“You’re going to get sick,” Savannah grumbles.
“I’m not going to get sick,” I tell her and squeeze her closer.
My well-laid plans to feed her, medicate her, and then go to work have been waylaid. I took one look at her lying in bed, realized how much I had missed her the last two days, and said, Fuck the manuscript.
I stripped down to my underwear and crawled in bed with her. I pulled her into my arms over her protests that she’d make me sick and tucked her in tight.
We watched TV for a while and Savannah dozed on and off, occasionally coughing… a wheeze here and there. She wasn’t running a fever though, so I just let her sleep while I held her. At six o’clock, I got up and heated us up some more soup, made her take her antibiotics and cough syrup, and then ran a bath for her.
She was a bit shaky while I peeled the black lace off her body and helped her step into the tub. I sat on the ledge while she washed herself, leaning over and helping her every once in a while, just so I could touch her.
“Bad boy,” she whispered hoarsely, and I couldn’t agree with her more.
After I got her out of the tub, I dried her body and her hair. Slipping one of my T-shirts over her head, I packed her back off to bed. I knew I should go and work on the book some more, but I couldn’t help myself and crawled back in bed with her.
Savannah laces her fingers through mine and snuggles in closer to me. “Are you close to your parents?”
I squeeze against our threaded fingers and stroke her hip with my other hand. “Sure. I mean… we’re pretty close. After Charlie died and I sort of went off the deep end, things were strained for a while, but my parents were like fucking rocks for me.”
“I’m sure they were devastated,” she says softly.
“Yes… completely. Not only for their grandchild but for their son as well. What about your parents?”
“They’re pretty awesome. Of course, I told you they gave me tremendous support during the whole Kevin thing.”
My body involuntarily tightens when I think about “the whole Kevin thing.” I’d like to look his sorry as up and beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
“I’d love for you to meet them sometime,” Savannah says timidly.
Meet her parents?
Hmmmm… now why isn’t that causing a pit of fear in my stomach? Why does that idea sound appealing to me?
Oh, I know why… because that’s Savannah admitting to me that we have something pretty fucking deep here, just as I was suspecting.
“Too fast for you?” she asks quietly.
“What?” I ask, blinking. “Is what too fast?”
“Meeting my parents. You got awful quiet when I suggested it.”
Turning on my side, I lay my head on her pillow so we’re practically nose to nose. “I’d love to meet your parents, Sweet. Tell me more about them.”
She smiles and takes in a deep breath that, to my ears, sounds like it may be a little clearer. “Here’s their short bio. June and Brian Shepherd, married for thirty years this coming summer. They doted on their only, and quite angelic, child, Savannah. Mom is a secretary for an accountant, and Dad is an electrician. They’re kind of shy, so you know I come by it honestly, but they have the best hearts in the world. You’ll adore them.”
“I’m sure I will.” Just like I adore you, sweet girl.
“Did you always want to be a fiction writer?”
“Always,” I tell her as my hand winds around her waist, and I pull her in tight.
“Have you written any other books?”
“A few,” I tell her. “Although they’re rubbish.”
“No way,” she denies me. “I’ve read your work. It’s amazing.”
“Yeah, but you read my work post-Charlie. I wrote from a very dark place and it showed through in my writing. People like that shit for some reason.”
“What are your other books like?”
“High fantasy… knights, castles, and dragons sort of stuff. No romance. No sex.”
“Can I read some of it?”
“Sure, babe. Anything you want,” I tell her as my hand slides down from her back to her hip. She didn’t put any underwear on after her bath, and my hand snakes down further to caress her bare bottom.
She sighs and pushes in closer to me, until she’s pressed right up against the erection that had started growing the minute my hand touched her sweet ass. Savannah swivels her hips against me, giving me a slow grind, and I groan and push away from her.