The Adventure Begins

Title: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - The Adventure Begins

Author: Carla

Fandom: Popular

Rating: R

Pairing: f/f no names till the end I am afraid

Archiving: Ask and ye shall receive

Disclaimers: I don't own them and don't really know who does. But my extreme gratitude for letting me play with them.

A/N: I was listening to the radio last night when the idea for this came to me. As a general rule of thumb I am perhaps a bit too literal for song-fic but I just couldn't get this one out of my head. Also I should warn you that between sleep deprivation and a recreationally induced altered mental state it is quite possible that this is a complete piece of crap that I actually thought had merit. My apologies in advance if that is the case. Series title inspired by Billy Joel's fantastic song of the same title. Enrique Iglesias', "Hero" is used without permission but much gratitude.

I open the door to our bedroom slowly, so as to make the least amount of noise, I don't want to wake her up she needs her sleep. I watch her sleeping in the moonlight, her long dark hair splayed out over our pillows, the sheet covering her accentuating the curve of her hip, the long lines of her legs and the supple heaviness of her breasts. I want her, want to touch her, hear her call my name out. I want to feel the warmth of her embrace, the heat of her touch on my body. Still after all these years I want her only her, so much so that sometimes it amazes me and maybe sometimes even scares me.

I take off my clothes as I head to adjoining dressing area / master bath making sure that the door is closed before turning on the lights. I try to keep the noise to a minimum as I brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I turn off the light and open the door. She rolls over onto her side facing me as I lift the sheet and crawl into bed beside her.

"I tried to be quiet" I whisper.

"I always hear you" She opens her arms and I fall into her embrace.

"Hhhhhhmmmm you're home early, how come?"

"Things went a lot smoother than we thought they would."

"Did Sandy tell you I called?"

"Yes, but she said that you told her it wasn't important so I didn't call; I wanted to surprise you…Surprise"

"You need a new assistant what I told her was that what I had to say to you was too important to do over the phone."

"Oh" I feel really nervous all of a sudden, what if she's not happy what if she wants to end things what if she wants to leave me? I couldn't bear that.

"Relax, its good news" She reaches out, pushes my hair behind my ear and then slides her hand to the back of my neck drawing me to her for a kiss.

We kiss for a few minutes; our tongues gliding over and around each other as our hands begin to wander. I love touching her it soothes me like nothing else, even before we were together, when we were just friends nothing else could soothe me like her touch. Every time I touch her it's new yet familiar and comforting like coming home should be. I always marvel at how soft her skin is, her shoulders especially and that little spot just above her nipples where you can faintly see the blue of her veins under the skin.

She moves her head back to look at me and I see my home, my life in her eyes. There is no place else I want to be no one else I want to be with, not since that first kiss almost 12 years ago.

"So what's the good news?"

"Spoon"

I roll over so that now my back is too her. `Spooning' means whatever she has to say to me is important. We always have the deep heavy talks when we spoon, somehow it makes it easier to listen and still feel safe. I can feel her mold herself to my back, her arm slips over my waist and her hand nestles between my breast palm open feeling the beat of my heart.

"I love you"

"I love you too"

"I want a family with you"

"We are a family. You, me, Cider and Dickens"

She doesn't say anything for a long time and I begin to wonder if perhaps I was too flippant with that whole family comment.

"Sweetheart?" my voice trembles and I cover her hand on my chest with my own lacing our fingers together.

"You said you wanted…I would never have gone through with it otherwise, we have to be in this together."

"Are you saying…?"

"Third times a charm"

"When?"

"Brooke called this morning to tell me"

"Positive"

"I made her run the test twice if they still used rabbits you'd be the proud owner of a new set of fur lined gloves"

"Wow" This is the most incredible news we've tried twice before both times she miscarried by the third month.

"How far?"

"Four months"

"Spoon"

Now I hold her close to me my arm around her waist my hand palm down feeling her heart beat. Behind her I prop myself up on my elbow so that I can whisper in her ear.

"Three oh it's the magic number…oh yes it is it's the magic number"

"Five you don't want the cats to get jealous"

"Thank you thank you so much. You are so incredible and I am so lucky, the luckiest woman alive. I don't deserve this, you …us. I thank God for you every day."

"Shh…don't say that you deserve only good things. You show me…you have always shown me how much you love me what I mean to you. You always show me and you deserve no less than that from me."

"Let's dance"

"And sing" she turns her head slightly to look at me "The Safety Dance"

"Right"

It's a game we play, one of us starts the lyric and the other finishes it and names the song. I can't remember when we started playing it but we've been doing it for years now. Sometimes it's silly and sometimes it's the only way to say exactly what is meant, like a secret code only we understand.

"Would you dance if I asked you to dance…?"

She gets off the bed, holds her hand out to me and smiles. She is radiant in the light and I feel my eyes fill with tears.

"Would you run and never look back?"

I rise to stand in front of her and slip my arms around her. I shake my head `no' as the tears begin to fall.

"Would you cry if you saw me cry?
And would you save my soul, tonight?
Would you tremble if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh?
Oh please tell me this.
Now would you die for the one you loved?
Hold me in your arms tonight"

Her arms around me tighten and I rest my head on her chest. I can feel her lips on my forehead in a feather-light kiss. Her voice from above me is low and husky as she sings.

"I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
Would you swear that you'll always be mine?
Or would you lie?
Would you run and hide?
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care…You're here tonight."

We begin to sway together dancing in the spotlight of the moon shining through our bedroom window. My voice is tight through my tears.

"I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
Oh, I just want to hold you.
I just want to hold you.
Am I in to deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care…You're here tonight.

We stop dancing. I feel the edge of the bed behind me and sit down. She stands in the space between my legs stroking my hair as I lay my face on her belly. Her other hand covers mine as I reverently touch her. I continue singing quietly my lips pressed to her maybe the baby will hear me. Hear us and hear how much we love each other how much we love our life together and how much we already love him or her.

"I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
I can be your hero.
I can kiss away the pain.
And I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away."

I look up, our gaze locks and we sing together.

"You can take my breath away.
I can be you hero"

I scoot further up onto the bed as she lowers herself onto me.

"Hero … Enrique Iglesias"

"Right again"

"We love you"

"I love you both too"

"We are going to make fantastic parents, you know that? We are so ready for this. I am so glad I'm having this adventure with you."