|
Prologue Helen had to say it three times before it stuck. The first time she said it had been New Year’s Eve, and she’d been completely pissed. Nikki loved drunk Helen; she was snuggly and flushed, and tended to make soppy eyes at Nikki and agree with everything she said. They’d been leaving a party at Trish’s house, and as Nikki hailed a cab, Helen turned in her arms, pressed her lips to Nikki’s ear, and said it. Before Nikki could answer, a cab pulled up to the curb. Helen shuffled cooperatively inside, and fell promptly asleep. The second time, Helen had been nearly incoherent with pleasure. Her lips and throat had been dry, so the plea had been rasped just above a whisper. Nikki had wanted to answer, or to shout at Helen to stop saying something she didn’t mean. As she held Helen to her, in the wake of their lovemaking, she decided Helen hadn’t known what she was saying. It was absurd, but Nikki had nearly cried for the loss. The third time had been over breakfast. Nikki almost always made breakfast for Helen on Saturdays. It was her way of making up for the fact that she’d been at the club until the wee hours of the morning, and would be back at the club again that night. She loved her work, loved co-owning a successful club with her ex-partner, but the demands of the weekend crowd meant she wouldn’t make it home until the early morning. Nikki knew Helen, knew she thought omelets a poor substitute for her warm presence in their bed, but Helen rarely complained. Instead, she made freshly-squeezed orange juice every Saturday morning because it was Nikki’s favorite, and after cleaning her plate of the breakfast offering, often dragged Nikki back to bed for a cuddle or late morning shag. In early spring, Helen had padded into the kitchen one Saturday morning to find Nikki making pancakes. Nikki looked up and grinned. They’d been together for two years, since the day Nikki had been released from Larkhall, but seeing Helen in pajama bottoms paired with one of Nikki’s tattered t-shirts, hair askew, feet bare, always made Nikki inexplicably content. Helen rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, and squinted against the sunlight. “Mornin’,” Nikki said, offering Helen a cup of coffee. Accepting the coffee with a lopsided smile, Helen inhaled the steam, and drank deeply from the mug. She never drank coffee without smelling it first, and Nikki loved that about her, too. When Nikki turned back to the pancakes, she heard the clink of Helen’s mug on the counter, and then felt Helen’s warm body press up behind her, arms encircling her waist. Helen sighed sleepily. “I like having breakfast with you,” she said, squeezing Nikki gently. “Me too,” Nikki responded, flipping over the pancakes. Helen was silent for a minute. Then, taking a deep breath, she spoke. “Nikki?” “Hmm?” “Would you always have breakfast with me?” “It’s a Saturday tradition,” Nikki answered. “I certainly won’t be the one to break it.” Helen didn’t immediately respond. Loosening her grip on Nikki’s waist she said, “I mean, will you always have breakfast with only me?” Nikki chuckled. “As opposed to the hordes we usually feed here on the weekends?” “No,” Helen said seriously. Nikki felt a tug at her left arm. Helen pulled it close to her, and slipped something onto the ring finger of Nikki’s left hand, without ever breaking contact with her back. “Will you have breakfast with me, only me, for…for as long as you live?” After the pancakes had burned and they’d made love on the counter and against the refrigerator, Helen pulled back and asked for clarification. “Was that… was that a yes?” Nikki pushed a sweaty piece of Helen’s hair off of her forehead, allowing herself a moment to gaze possessively at the features of Helen’s face. Helen had the most expressive face; it was in her eyes and lips. Nikki had loved Helen’s eyes from nearly the first moment she’d caused them to flare up in contempt at Larkhall. And from the moment she’d touched Helen’s lips she’d known she wanted to be the only one to ever be allowed to touch them. Nikki shook her head, and felt herself break into a wide grin. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I love you, and yes.” |
