The Awkward Ride Home {TAG: Nick}

[Nick LeCroix]

He frowned, recognizing and 'fearing' the puppy-dog face.  He knew better than to brush it off as a harmless expression.  "They're old and they get up at the crack of dawn.  They're probably sleeping," he told her, knowing his parents by that point.  They'd tried to make him and Jaime morning people just like they were, but they'd failed miserably.  Maybe it was being a lion, or maybe they just weren't meant to voluntarily get up early.  Nick had even been in the military for years, and he still didn't like mornings. 

"I could call them first thing in the morning, if you want.  I'll get up early for it," he offered, and that was a show of just how willing to please he was.  He just honestly didn't think they'd be awake, and he hated mornings enough that he didn't usually want to get up at that hour.  He would to make her happy, though.

[Skye LeCroix]

She looked like she was thinking about it, and then nodded reluctantly. "Okay. But first thing in the AM," she reinforced, pointing at him sternly. She was exhausted anyways, she could admit to herself at least that she wasn't looking forward to staying up much later. At least she was already IN bed.

She snuggled up next to Nick and let out a little sigh. "I guess this means I have to come up with names. I might stick with this nature trend us girls have inadvertently got going on. Maybe Stormy or something." Like Nick assumed it would be a lion, Skye naturally assumed it would be a girl.

[Nick LeCroix]

"Absolutely," he agreed, certainly willing to agree to call his parents in the morning as opposed to right then, when he was sure to wake them up.  With that little 'crisis' averted, he gladly rolled over to bury his face against her and a pillow and lay an arm across her as she snuggled up against him. 

"That makes me think of comic books," he warned her about the name, though he surprisingly didn't even think to comment on the fact that the baby might be a boy.  Right then, the child's gender didn't even matter to him.  He was still too busy reeling with the knowledge that he was going to be a father, that right there in Skye's belly, a baby was growing.  It wasn't a new concept to him, of course, but to really, truly think about his OWN child was a different story.  It was exciting, and kind of crazy, all at once.  He wouldn't trade it for anything.  "I love you, Skye."

[Skye LeCroix]

"Okay, well, no comic book names, then. I guess I can ask Ebere and Stella what they think, since they're the only girls I know. Well, Jason too, according to you. I wish you would be nicer to him," she nagged slightly. "He feels really left out because he's afraid to hang out with the other Pakana if I'm there. He's got this notion you're going to come out of a shadow and stab him."

She glared at her husband, until the 'I love you' came out, and then she smiled. "And when you do things like that, I forget why I was mad." She leaned forward to kiss the tip of his nose. "This is going to be so great."

[Nick LeCroix]

She thought this was going to be great?  Hell, he'd just gotten her to agree with the 'no comic book names' rule he wanted, and he'd accidentally gotten out of the nagging with that 'I love you' he'd thrown out there for her.  And with her being pregnant, he'd have a lot more opportunities to shower her with protectiveness and his 'I love you's, mean it every single time, and hopefully avoid the 'Jason' topic.

That wasn't a topic he liked, particularly when it involved a male hyena potentially cuddling on his pregnant wife.  He couldn't help it.

"You shouldn't be mad.  I love you, we're going to have a beautiful baby, and everything's going to be amazing," he told her, fully meaning it.  He wasn't going to focus on Jason's pakana issues.  He was going to focus on Skye, and the baby they were going to have, and that was it.  He went on to kiss her lightly, but slowly, on the lips.  THIS was his world.

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye responded to the kiss in kind, at first anyways, before sitting up a little to demand more attention from her husband. Once she'd satisfied her craving for the less-than-subtle liplock action, she rolled over and slid her feet into her fuzzy slippers, standing up. "I'm going to grab some water. You want anything?" she asked as she snatched his bathrobe off of the bedpost. It literally engulfed her.

She smiled at him, and she shifted as she realized she still got butterflies when she looked at him. They'd been married for a while now, and she -still- got butterflies. All the dirty looks and scoldings for being young and impulsive from her friends couldn't take that away. She nearly squealed to herself.

[Nick LeCroix]

Well, he certainly wasn't going to be neglecting her if she wanted more attention than he was currently giving her, so 'less-than-subtle' was right up his alley.  Of course, he was hoping that 'less-than-subtle' was going to turn into 'nowhere-near-subtle' within a few moments, even if he somewhat behaved himself right up until she slipped away for water.

Who could really blame him for giving her that heated, wanting look?  No wonder she was getting butterflies.  He'd have definitely reacted if the roles were reversed, though 'butterflies' were probably going to be reserved for baby day, or something.  He didn't often get truly nervous, and most of the times it had happened in recent years had involved Skye.  Funny how such a little woman could get to him like that, but he liked it.

He also liked seeing her in his clothes.  The way they totally engulfed her just seemed to emphasize how small and potentially fragile she was, and though it made him worry about her, it was a huge turn-on to see her walking around in something of his.  It might have only been a bathrobe, but it was his, and so was she, and he was a very happy man.  "I want to come with you," he answered her, rolling off the bed and not even bothering with slippers or anything.  His were on the other side of the bed, and he wasn't going around for them.  Bare feet on a cold floor wasn't too much to deal with if he could wrap his arms around her and distract the hell out of her while she tried to drink her water.

[Skye LeCroix]

"'kay" she sang, already headed out of the bedroom. It was hard to get down the stairs with Nick's nose buried in her hair, though, and she had to swat at him before she fell and broke her neck, which he would never let happen anyways, but still. As she shuffled her way into the kitchen, she paused in front of the little grocery list they had pinned to the fridge and jotted down a few things with the little attached pen.

She stopped to turn and give Nick a few smaller kisses on the shoulder as she peered over him to the selection of teas in the cabinet, trying to decide if she wanted water, really, or if some vanilla chamomile would do. She settled on the tea after a moment of debate, choosing to take a sip of the water before she threw the mug and bag assembly into the microwave for maximum heating efficiency.

"So, this means we have to clear out the spare room for a baby room. And buy things to put in it. Because I don't feel like being that couple that wants to 'build' things," she said, looking at him as she lazily scratched one leg with the other.

[Nick LeCroix]

He would NEVER let her fall and break her neck, but it was indeed amusing seeing her try to shuffle down the stairs with him attached, when he would have been just as happy to carry her if he thought she would have cooperated.  He had to admit that he wasn't very interested in the shopping list just then, though he knew he might be the one going to pick those things up the following day or so.  Kisses anywhere, even just on the shoulder, took precedence over shopping needs.

"Baby, we can do it however you like.  Besides, have you ever seen me try to build anything for aesthetic value?  I can do functional, but not pretty," he reminded her from where he decided to lean against the counter.  He could build sandbag barriers, dig trenches and put together tents and makeshift shelters, but something like a crib was a bit too delicate for him to work on with any level of success.  They could buy what they needed, though he had no doubt that she could put something pretty together with a little more skill.  Skye was patient, and very detail oriented.  His orientation with detail only went so far as if it worked.

[Skye LeCroix]

"Yes," she said flatly, and pointedly looked into the next room where a set of shelves leaned suspiciously to the left. "I knew I shouldn't have made you do it, and that's what I got for asking," she replied with a snort. She jumped up to sit on the counter, and crossed her legs.

"I can do little stuff, but really, I'm trying to be practical about this. There's no reason to get anything super-fancy for her if she won't even know what it is, yet. I hate seeing people blow thousands of dollars on crap the kid will just chew off or outgrow. More chew off in our case," she said with a brow raised at him.

"Man, Connor is going to jump up and down when he hears this. I can't wait to spring it on him. I bet he'll keel over," she said with a devious grin. What that man ever did to deserve the devilish intentions of every female he came into contact with, nobody would ever know, but Skye seemed to take just as much from antagonizing him as everyone else did.

[Nick LeCroix]

He followed her gaze to that set of shelves and actually didn't say a damn thing for a moment.  He just looked at them, taking note of the way they leaned, but they were sturdy.  They worked, he knew THAT much, so did it really matter if they leaned?  Apparently.  "If it ever falls over, then I'll be at your mercy, but in the meantime, it's functional," he told her. 

As for being practical, he was all about that, so she could go with whatever she wanted for the baby.  He wasn't going to argue with her for a 'pretty crib', when in most cases, it was the mother who wanted the fancy shit for the baby.  He was lucky Skye wanted to be practical. 

He HAD to raise an eyebrow curiously at her mention of her boss freaking out, wondering what caused the women around that man to all take such pleasure out of screwing around with his mind.  From what he'd heard from Skye, Batten deserved a LONG vacation before he had a heart attack.  Nick gave him a lot of credit.  "What about that other hyena?  The blond with the crazy laugh, Stella, is it?  She hasn't heard yet, right?"

[Skye LeCroix]

"No, but I know it's only a matter of time before Jason and Ebere tell her," she said lightly. She cleared some of her hair back, and smiled fondly at him. "You'll probably be seeing a lot of them lately. Jason seems to like Ebere though, so you can stop worrying," she said sharply.

"I'm kind of tired. This is a lot to think about," she said, brows raising a little. "At least we've got plenty of time. We need to talk to the doctor - both of us - about can's and cannot's of shifting for this. And... I guess I do need to talk to Connor about time off. At least I have Sitara as a good replacement. She's quite good," she informed him, laughing a little.

[Nick LeCroix]

She warned him, which he appreciated, about the coming 'attack of the hyenas', so he'd be prepared.  He still didn't like Jason, regardless of who Jason liked, but he could tolerate him long enough for Skye to get whatever contact or advice or whatever it was she wanted out of the little wimp.  "I won't touch him, I promise," he told her with a tiny little smile.  He wouldn't touch Jason.  Period.  He'd just promised. 

That left him other options, but as long as she knew he wasn't going to hurt the kid, everything was great, right?

Talk to Connor about time off?  HELL YEAH.  He didn't have to argue with her to get her to take it easy.  That was amazing, and further proof of just how lucky he was with her.  "You are a goddess, do you know that?" he asked her, forcing himself further into her personal space where she was sitting on the counter.  It put her on a good level with his face, which he liked, and it was almost obvious just how much of a cat he was with the way he demanded her attention.  The tea was unimportant.  He was more interested in kisses and wrapping her up in his arms.  "I'll go with you to talk to the doctor.  Just tell me when, so I can clear anything else out of that time space."

[Skye LeCroix]

"Oh, I'm aware," she laughed, accepting all his kisses with a bit of squealing and giggles. She locked her arms around him where he stood. "Now you can carry me upstairs, ya big bear," she commanded, still laughing. Nick knew where to find that ticklish spot right on her neck every time.

"I hope they can give me solid information to go on," she remarked. "Mitchell is a good doctor, sure, but I might need to find someone a little more specialized in shapeshifters for this. I don't know much about cross-breeding, as... 'Animal Planet' that term sounds. I wonder if it will be a hyena or a lion? I guess it'll be a hyena, but I don't really care which. Just as long as it's healthy and, not, you know. Two-headed," she added with a little laugh.