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"Morning babe," Charity greeted groggily, entering the kitchen to see the captivating sight of Vanessa caught in the morning sunlight pouring through the windows, smiling to herself at her girlfriend's tousled hair and wrinkled pajamas. Wrapping her arms lovingly around Vanessa's waist, Charity placed a kiss on her bare neck, the mere touch of her familiarly soft lips and the heat of her breath against her skin evoking a contented sigh from Vanessa, as she felt Charity's body against hers.
"Morning sleepyhead," Vanessa grinned, turning in Charity's arms to meet her green eyes, thinking to herself how lucky she was to be able to spend such intimate mornings with Charity, how privileged she was to see the delicate side to her love which she kept so fiercely hidden from anyone else.
Lovingly, Vanessa placed her hand on Charity's face, running her fingers through her tangled blonde hair as she stretched up to kiss her, Charity's arm around her waist pulling her closer. She lived for these mornings with Charity, for waking up next to her, creeping downstairs as she was without fail always the first to rise, greeting her with a soft kiss when she grumpily emerged from upstairs, always managing to put a smile on her face, no matter how much she despised mornings.
"Kettle's on," smiled Vanessa.
"What would I do without you to make my coffee?" Charity laughed, sinking sleepily onto the couch.
Smiling to herself, Charity remembered her past relationships, how different they'd all been to Ness; Chris, Zoe, Jai, even her history with Cain whom she thought was the one for so many years, was nothing like what she had with Vanessa. Her nights spent at Vanessa's were everything to her, especially when the kids were being looked after by Rhona or Tracy, much as she loved the little ones and their time together as a family, the nights curled up next to the woman she loved, with deep conversations, movie nights, mind-blowing sex, hearing her singing quietly from the kitchen when she woke in Vanessa's bed - more their bed these days - surrounded by her comforting smell, were simply heaven.
Rolling her eyes but failing to suppress a laugh as Vanessa walked toward her humming 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', Charity took her much-needed coffee, saying, "how are you so damn cheerful every flipping morning woman!"
"Well, one of us has to be!" replied Vanessa jokingly, playfully nudging Charity with her elbow as she sat down next to her with her mug of morning hot chocolate which she drank all year round whatever the weather, much to Charity's amusement, just another of the countless little everyday things she adored about Vanessa.
Head on Vanessa's shoulder, Charity groaned inwardly at the prospect of going back to the Woolpack - she loved the pub, she loved working there, and of course she loved Chas but the intimacy and peacefulness of Tug Ghyll just couldn't be had there, the noise and how crowded it was there now just made her crave these times with Vanessa even more than she already did, if that was even possible. "You're quiet," remarked Vanessa, her head resting on Charity's, breathing in the smell of her hair. She always worried when Charity seemed unusually subdued, although she tried not to show it, she couldn't help worrying that she wasn't feeling okay, ever since she'd opened up to Vanessa about her past and they'd gone through that together she couldn't help but worry at times.
"Just dreading you going off to work.. still, can''t leave those little helpless hamsters waiting ey?"
"There's more to my job than looking after hamsters all day, you know! In fact today I have a particularly frisky horse on my hands, I'd like to see you deal with that!"
"Sure you wouldn't rather stay here with your very own frisky little lady?" Charity leaned closer to Vanessa, whispering in her ear.
"Charity Dingle, you cheeky mare!" Vanessa exclaimed, trying her very best to sound annoyed but failing to keep the smile off her lips.
"Well you're the one who said frisky!"
"Yes! Frisky as in playful! Your mind's always in the gutter!"
"Well I just thought you'd rather this frisky woman than a smelly old frisky horse... but then again you never did have very good taste did you.." Charity teased, looking pointedly at that awful shirt hanging on the back of the chair. "I'm kidding I'm kidding!" she said in response to Vanessa's very cute but intended to be threatening attempt at a death stare.
Truth be told, Vanessa wanted to stay just as much as Charity didn't want her to go. 'How do I approach this?' she asked herself, unsure why she was still so apprehensive despite Charity being the first to say "I love you", despite knowing Charity would say yes, she was still scared of rejection, she loved her so much she couldn't bear scaring her away, although Charity had proved time and time again that that simply wasn't going to happen.
"You'd better be getting your kit on," Charity said as she noticed the time, not wanting Vanessa to be late and have to deal with an annoyed Paddy all day.
"Mmm, just a minute" Vanessa answered; she knew this was the right time.
"Charity..." she began.
"Well this sounds serious," Charity said, straightening up off her place on Vanessa's shoulder to face her instead.
"I want you to be here."
"I am here you nutter."
"No - no I mean I want you to always be here... you and Moses... properly. Charity, will you move in with me? I want you here."
"And I want to be here, more than anything babe," Charity smiled, she'd been wanting Vanessa to say those words for weeks now. "Nothing would make me happier. Me, you, Johnny and Moses."
"Our little family," Vanessa smiled back, joyful tears pricking her eyes.
"Now get up those stairs and get ready... and tonight you can get up those stairs for a much better reason," Charity grinned flirtatiously.
As she heard Vanessa rushing around above her, Charity failed to refrain from becoming tearful herself. No more leaving in the morning, no more dropping Johnny back to Vanessa's after looking after him, no more carting her things back and forth. Falling asleep every night legs entwined, an arm around Vanessa's waist, waking up to the sound of that gorgeous voice, evenings playing with the boys, Noah, Ryan and Debbie joining them for dinner sometimes. Nothing had ever felt so perfect to her, and yet again Vanessa had been the only person to ever make her feel entirely safe and at peace; in that moment she felt nothing could break the bliss she experienced.
Minutes of imagining their lives living together passed before Vanessa re-emerged, somehow still looking gorgeous to Charity with her hair scraped back messily in her muddy farm visit clothes, still with a grin on her face having finally asked Charity the question that had been burning for so long.
Wrapping an arm around Charity's neck, the two kissed, both feeling the other's lips curved into a smile.
"I love you," Charity said, the intensity of her love overwhelming her in the best way, as it often did.
"I love you too," smiled Vanessa happily. "See you later roomie."