Alicekai'd 1.34: Dada

 CW: iffy NSFW

 

     I'm sick of Geoffrey having to sleep on the sofa. He pretty much bought this house, but he sleeps in the living room. Any time anything is going on in there, his sleep is disturbed. The man is stressed out enough as it is; he doesn't need sleep deprivation making things harder.

     One afternoon, I've had enough, and I ask him to follow me into the office.

     "Is there something you want to show me?" He really has no idea.

     I explain to him how I'm tired of him sleeping on the sofa. "This could be your room. Temporarily. I'll move the desk into the bedroom, and we'll set up a bed in here for you. At least then you can have some privacy." And what I don't mention to him is probably something we're both thinking: there will be another door he'd have to pass through in order to get to my bedroom.

     I've noticed he's avoided the master bedroom ever since the accidental shower viewing incident. He uses Bruno's bathroom instead. Last night, I heard a jiggle on the doorknob to my room from the dining room. Then there was a loud sigh and footsteps walking away. He's really struggling.

     Maybe we SHOULD just go to the courthouse.

     Geoffrey brings me back to the present when he throws his arms around me.

     "Thank you. What a great idea." His hand moves over my butt. "I have just one request." He squeezes. "Don't come in here." He starts kissing my neck.

     I giggle. "Deal." He pushes me back against the door and moans, still kissing my neck. "Geoffrey..." I lightly push against him.

     He pulls back with a not-so-sheepish smile.

     Over the next week, he and Bruno get started on a treehouse project.

 

     I hear them outside as I'm going around gathering the laundry.

     "And here is where I can park my motorcycle!"

     I listen. Geoffrey doesn't respond. We wish we could figure out how Bruno became so obsessed with the idea of getting a motorcycle. He won't give up the idea.

     Carlie continues to grow up way too fast for my taste. She likes to play with her blocks, mostly putting them in her mouth. That freaks Geoffrey out, but I'm not worried. He's always taking them and washing them in the sink afterwards. I merely shrug and let him.

     He's such a great dad. Carlie cracks him up with her antics.

     He and Bruno eventually finish the treehouse. I'm kind of jealous of Bruno. I always wanted a treehouse like that when I was a kid. It just makes me love Geoffrey all the more.

     This was a selling point for this house, he'd told me. Oasis Springs doesn't really have trees, at least trees that could support something like this, so there was no way they could do a treehouse at the Landgraab Estate--which he's GIVING to Malcolm. As if Malcolm's not spoiled enough already. But I keep quiet about my opinion on the matter, even though I suspect Geoffrey knows how I feel about it. It's his decision, and I see for myself what a great dad he is. Maybe the fault lies with Nancy.

 

     He shocks me when he knocks on my bedroom door. I tell him to come in, so he does, smiling, and he sits on my bed.

 

     "What are you up to?" I ask suspiciously.

     "Who says I have to be up to something?" I can hear the grin.

     "Because I know you. You're up to something." I can't think anymore. My writer's block has finally broken, and I've been finishing up my science fiction book FINALLY. I've been writing like mad, but my fingers stop on the keys as my fiance sits on my bed.

     I wait. He'll get to it. In the meantime, I reread what I'd written a little bit ago.

     "Carlie called me Dada."

     I spin my chair around. "That's so sweet!"

 

     He smiles. "It was at breakfast. I guess she picked up on Bruno calling me 'Dad' because he was talking away."

     "I didn't correct her." He almost looks guilty.

     "Why should you, Geoffrey? Yeah, Mark gets his visitations, but YOU'RE the dada who's always there."

     Tears swim around in his eyes. "I can't wait to really be her dada."

      "Geoff, don't make me cry!" I get up, and he pulls me into his arms.

       I love him so much. How could I have not seen that from the beginning? Yeah, I have my theories, but I still wonder sometimes.

      He pulls back before he can go too far, and that reminds me...

     "Geoff?"

     "Hm?" His fingertip traces my face.

     "Let's, um, yeah, let's go to the courthouse." I peek up at him through my lashes.

     At first, sheer joy shows up on his face, then a look of determination slowly replaces it. "No."

     "What?"

     "Love Day, Alice." He playfully pops my butt, releases me, and leaves the room.

     I follow after him, and we have a kind of discussion/fight. I can't believe he said no! In the end, he explains that he really loves my reason for picking Love Day. I want to throw something at him, so I storm out of the house, telling him I'm going for a jog.

     When I come back later, I can't find him at first. Both kiddos are in bed asleep, but he's nowhere in the house. Then, I look out my bedroom window into the backyard. Ah. He bought a hot tub.

     I grin, spin into my swimsuit, and decide to join him. He has his back to me, so he doesn't see me approach. I smirk when his eyes grow as he sees me in my bikini.

 

     "Plumbob, Alice."

     I smirk. "I see you bought that hot tub you'd been talking about."

     "Yeah. I thought it'd be nice after a... stressful day." He moves to the middle of the hot tub, not hiding where he stares, his chin level with the water. Then he takes the seat next to me.

     His eyes finally meet mine. "I'm sorry about our fight."

     "Just about the fight?"

     "I guess I'm saying I'm sorry I don't agree with you."

     "It was even your idea in the first place."

     "I know. What I didn't say earlier is I really appreciate you considering it."

     I sigh. "It's just... Geoffrey this living together and being, um, celibate, is really hard on both of us."

     He reaches his hands up.

     "It is," he agrees, his fingers working magic on my shoulders. "But I'm also having loads of fun exploring gray areas." His fingertips trace my spine from my neck to the bikini straps across my back.

     I jerk away.

 

     "So is that what you're doing now?" I smile at him while he pulls his hands away. "Gray areas?"

     He looks down at the strap. "Actually, it's kind of a blue." His fingers return. "Or, um, green? And the front has shiny spots on it, as if I needed any help having my attention grabbed."

     I wiggle to prevent his fingers from doing what they're trying to do, which is undo the double-knot I made. My wiggling distracts him for a moment. Then he kisses me.

 

     Is he hoping to distract me from the fact that he's working at the one behind my neck? I smile, deciding it doesn't matter. I'm enjoying every moment of this. Hot tub: brilliant idea.

     I pull back. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

     He grins for half a beat before putting on a totally-full-of-crap, innocent expression. "I'm doing something?" His other hand moves to my thigh. "What am I doing?" He's having way too much fun with this, and I love it.

     "You keep messing with the ties on my straps." Yeah. Point out the obvious.

     "You mean these straps?" He frees the one behind my neck. I can't help my little gasp. They were double-knotted! "Okay, I'll stop." He frees the one at my back. "There." He slips my top off and tosses it behind us. "Better?"

     I cover myself with my hands.

     He does a kind of contemplative pout. "Now, that's not very fair, Alice." He gently tugs my arms down. I let him.

     "Oh, that's," he swallows, "better."

     I inch away from him. If he notices, he doesn't let on that he does. "You're just... staring."

     His eyes don't move. "Yes, I am." He has one hand on my back and the other back at my thigh, and it lightly squeezes me.

     "Geoffrey..." I'm very self-conscious right now, fighting the urge to cover myself. "Is that... all you're going to do?"

     "No." His fingers do a kind of crab walk up my inner thigh, pulling my leg towards him. When he pushes forward at my swimsuit bottom, I gasp and push him back.

     For a moment, I ponder why I stopped him. It's not like I'm innocent. I can't explain it.

     When my grip of his forearm slackens, he pushes forward again, and then his fingers start up their magic again. To silence me, his lips cover mine.

     I'm shaking. He's purposefully drawing this out. I want to scream, but every time I try, his mouth follows mine, his tongue eating my scream. I reach down to encourage his hand, and he only chuckles.

     Just then, an unexpected sound brings everything crashing down upon our heads.

     "Dad?"