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"I knew this would happen," Barbara huffs and her breath makes a cloud in front of her, as she takes Melissa's fingers into her hand. She massages at her knuckles through the wool of her mittens with one hand, as she opened the door to their home with the other.
"Well, I did too. But, i'm not letting it stop me from livin my life!" Melissa explains, "We only got so much time, and it's cold half the fuckin year. I'm not waistin' half of the time we have left locked up in the house." She draws her hand back, and attempts to remove her mittens again (which she knows is in vain because she tried in the car and couldn't). She starts to angrily try harder before Barbara steps in.
"Let me," Barbara whispers, gently taking her by the wrist and carefully rolling the mittens and kissing her palms after each removal. Next she pulls down the zipper of her coat and slips the coat off both her shoulders. Melissa's shaking slightly from the cold as Barbara comments, "It was really nice they did something different this year,", as she takes her own coat off.
"Yeah, I guess that new woman they voted in is really puttin in the work." Melissa says this with mild annoyance because the city should focus on plowing the roads, and funding schools, and helping those in need, but instead they've revamped the winter lighting display in the park.
But, Barbara loves the lighting display in the park, and it was a pleasant surprise that it was different for once in the 15 years they've gone and walked through.
"Well, I appreciated the update." Barbara comments as she draws near, placing a kiss to Melissa's temple, taking in the scent of her hair -- it's the smell of sweat and the salon grade shampoo, with the slightest hint of rosemary -- one of Barbara's all time favorite scents, and she thinks, not for the first time, it's a shame they cannot make it into a candle.
Melissa frowns, "I wasn't trying to be," She sighs and wraps her arms around Barbara's middle. "It was beautiful. I'm glad we went."
Melissa's arthritis runs rampant in the winter, through her hands and her hips. The cold makes her joints tender and achey and stiff, and spending 45 minutes walking through the park when it was 11°, probably was not the smartest choice. But, this was their tradition.
The first time they'd gone, Barbara asked Melissa in a bashful way that made her duck her head as she asked, "I know it's childish, but they do those lights in the park and I think it could be kind of romantic...".
Even though Barbara had asked Melissa every year, in the same shy way for 15 years, to attend the same lighting display, arranged in the same way, she hadn't this year because she knew it would hurt Melissa.
Melissa knew that Barbara would sacrifice just about anything for her (she'd proven that, hadn't she?), but she wouldn't allow her to sacrifice this. So sure, her arthritis had gotten exponentially worse (to the point where Barbara had to do help her crimp the pies edges at Thanksgiving, had to wrap her christmas gifts, and had to move morning lovemaking to the shower to let Melissa's fingers steam back open), but Barbara looked beautiful in the low glow of the christmas lights and it was their longest running tradition. So she reserved tickets online for a random Saturday in January, and apparently she was no Jim Gardner because she picked the coldest day of the year so far.
"Let me run you a hot shower, maybe it'll help." Barbara offers, gesturing up the stairs.
"Only if you get in with me." Melissa whispers into Barbara's ear, cupping her cheek in her palm.
"Oh boy, tough ask." Barbara chuckles low in the back of her throat and kisses the tip of Melissa's nose. "You're so cute when you just get inside from the cold."
"Used to be cuter before," Melissa lifts up a hand with red, swollen knuckles.
Barbara takes the hand gently in hers and kisses her fingertips. "Just as cute." She says it with such conviction Melissa has no choice but to smile. "C'mon." She tugged on Melissa's forearm, pressing her fingertips into the soft flesh. Climbing the stairs, she starts peeling off her top and bra and pants as she walks. It's a show for Melissa; it only vaguely makes Barbara's body tense that's she's leaving a mess.
She grabs two fresh towels from the batch that Melissa washed this morning, "Thank you for washing the towels, babygirl." She says softly, as she thanks God for sending her someone that gave her the grace enough to never make her wash the towels again.
She puts them in their new towel warmer. It was a joint Christmas gift from Taylor. They'd used one at her house warming, following her marriage. At the end of their visit, Barbara had commented on how much warmth she'd felt. Even she herself wasn't totally sure if she meant the love for: her daughter, the towel warmer, or Melissa. She thought how she used to always feel chilled, and how now she almost never does. Now she's unsure how she ever survived the cold.
She turns on the shower as hot as she knows Melissa likes it, which is approximately 2° warmer than she can be comfortable in, but this wasn't about her. The steam soon starts to rise above the glass and creep onto the edges of the mirror that Melissa is currently staring at herself in.
Barbara peels off the red panties she'd worn to dinner (hoping she'd get lucky tonight, which now wasn't going to happen, and that was okay). She stills behind Melissa, starts to brush and braid her hair, kissing the crown of her head as she twists the hair tie around the end. She rolls the braid up around itself and finds a microfiber towel to fasten it there and keep Melissa's hair dry, the pink of the towel contrasts with the red that isn't covered at her widows peak.
Melissa sighs to the mirror, "When did I get old?"
"Hey! Am I old?" Barbara barks at her.
"Well no, but you don't need help getting undressed or getting up the stairs." Melissa argues back at her, while Barbara reaches around her to run a finger along the top hem of her jeans. She plays for a second before undoing the button.
"No, but I need help in other ways." She unzips Melissa's zipper and slips her hand into the top to caress her hip. "I need to use lube, and i cannot lift a lot because of my back, and I can't drive at night." She pushes the denim down and kneels to gently pull them out from under her, gently rolls her thick, fuzzy socks off her feet. "So, we both need a little help? So what? We both like doing stuff for each other. And I don't think i'd call getting to undress you a punishment." Barbara caresses her calf and kisses her knee.
"Yeah, but it's for not. I'm too fuckin stiff to do anything." Melissa bitterly responds.
Barbara rises and places a kiss under her ear, "I'd touch you like this every single day, even if you could never, ever return the favor." She runs a hand to rest on Melissa's stomach. "I love how you feel in my hands, so soft, so smooth, so so so sensational." Before Melissa can protest Barbara starts to unbutton her flannel from the bottom, this outfit was very un-melissa, but she'd dresses to stay warm and she knew Barbara loved the flannel (even if she wouldn't admit it). "Look at my pretty girl," Barbara nuzzles her nose into Melissa's neck and looks in the mirror which now is so steamed over they can only see Melissa's shape. "Look at how these legs look peaking out from under this, mmmmm." Barbara finishes the buttons and pulls one side to the side, peaking at Melissa's breast, nipples soft and dark and so inviting that Barbara couldn't possible resist. She palms her lightly and kisses where her back as she slowly pulls the shirt to fall to ground.
Barbara turns to opens the shower door and steam fills the room; everything becomes a little softer around the edges, Melissa loses herself in the reflection, so she turns and dims the lights before she steps in.
Immediately she's wrapped in Barbara's arms, she pulls her close, plays with the flyaways at the base of her neck. "That was an awful self sacrificial, romantic gesture."
"It wasn't a sacrifice to get to see you in those lights. Plus, I liked the bit with the little bears throwing a snowball back and forth." Melissa reflects and Barbara watches her face rather than looking directly in her eye because she loves the way Melissa's mouth turns when she is remembering something.
"I thought that was cute, but not as cute as the way your cheeks got all pink when you were sipping that mulled wine." Melissa ducks her head, she doesn't think she'll ever get used to Barbara's advances (and she doesn't think she wants to). Barbara presses a kiss to the hollow between Melissa's collarbones, and the water splashes her face in a gentle but slightly annoying manner that Melissa knows she hates, so she adjusts to block the water. Barbara looks up with immense affection and bends further to kiss Melissa's right breast.
"I thought it'd be warmer too." Melissa adds, pushing off the credit for the gesture. She runs a hand down Barbara's neck, caresses her shoulders and upper back. "Plus,"
Barbara stands up and pulls Melissa in for a kiss out of the way of the water stream, gently she pulls away and whispers, "Stop belittling." She smirks and kisses Melissa again, smoothing a hand over her backside, "How's it working?"
Melissa looks slightly pained when she says, "Helpin'". She moves closer to Barbara, presses her whole body in her, tucking her head into her bosom. "don't know what i'd do without you."
"Probably wouldn't've gone out in the cold in the first place," Barbara muses. She begins to hum Caught Up in the Rapture, as she begins to move a hand up to gently handle Melissa's breast. She runs a thumb over the stretch marks there, and presses her lips to her temple. After a few minutes, she steps back, "Startin' to lose the hot water, give me just a second."
Barbara opens and quickly closes the shower door before quickly grabbing her own towel and drying off. She tucks it around herself, feeling a little bit damp and a little bit cold, but she doesn't want to make Melissa wait. So she pushes on, opens the door and turns off the faucet, shivering as the water splashes her shoulders.
Gently, she guides Melissa to stand on the plush shower rug, and so so tenderly begins to dry her off. Starting with her neck and shoulders, gently wiping the curve of her waist and the expanse of her hips, kissing every area as it exposes itself as dry.
She grabs Melissa's lotion and massages starting at her shoulders, kneeling when she gets to her hips, pressing her fingers into the pink flesh, "I know you like the hot, and it helps, but we gotta keep an eye out. I'm afraid you'll just burn up."
"I'm not gonna evaporate, Barb." Melissa jokes, but just nods when Barbara shoots her a look that says she means business.
She looks up from between Melissa's legs and kisses the cellulite on the inside of her thigh. "Gorgeous." She does this from time to time, dwells on Melissa's marks and scars. She loves that she's at liberty to affirm Melissa, to take her insecurities into her hands and tell her they're her favorite parts. "How about bed and the heating pad? We can order noodles in?"
Melissa was recently in a love affair with the new ramen shop that had opened around the corner. "Eat in bed?" Melissa questions, sounding as excited as a 6-year old who's just been told she can have a sleepover.
Barbara laughs at her eternal childlike excitement, "As long as you're careful.", pushing off her knee to stand again.
Melissa nudges her towel off and asks, "Can you moisturize in the bedroom? I think I wanna lay down while my hips still good enough to walk there." She had hobbled the last 5 minutes of the light display, the walk to the car, and almost had to be carried up to the front door.
Barbara smiles widely at the fact that Melissa still wants to watch every move she makes when she's nude. "Lead the way." She offers, grabbing the heating pad from the closet and her shea butter from the vanity.
Melissa lays herself among all the warm toned pillows and turns on the bedside lamp on her side. Barbara's body casts shadows on the wall behind her as she works the butter into her forearms, her shoulders, her upper chest. Melissa's breath catches when her hands skate across her breasts, she bites her lip and adjusts her legs when the nipples darken, tighten, match the color of her morning espresso.
"You're more than a man sometimes, ya know?" Barbara teases, with a smile on her face.
"How could I not be? with this view?" Melissa responds.
Barbara smiles bigger and continues her routine. When she puts on her silk pajamas, she grabs Melissa brush again and sits next to her on the bed, hands her the phone with the number dialed, "I want that curry one, with the egg, please." She takes the towel out of melissa's hair, undoes the hair tie, and runs her finger through the braid gently undoing the pattern, brushing as Melissa standoffishly orders
Melissa orders for them both and relays, "30 minutes." She puts her hand high on Barbara's thigh and her skin is slightly tacky from moisturizing.
"30 minutes gives me time to do the dishes," Barbara sighs and starts to stand before Melissa holds her down by her thigh.
Suggestively she says, "I can't do anything to HeLp you, but I am pretty sure my lips still work just fine." Melissa frowns exaggeratedly and gives Barbara her best puppy dog eyes.
Barbara sighs in contemplation, she'd already left the dishes sit from lunch, which was unlike her. She hated a mess, and if she didn't do them now she'd had dinner and lunch dishes and feel overwhelmed. But Melissa had made a sacrifice in taking her out. She tosses around the idea of rejecting her, winces at just the thought of her look of understanding disappointment, and leans her weight on her. "Just the perfect amount of time to make a mess of me, huh?"
Melissa grins, nods, brings a hand to the inside of Barbara's thigh and gently pulls her, hoping she'll understand she wants her on top of her.
Barbara run her tongue along her upper lip and she pulls her other leg onto the bed, gracefully situating herself in Melissa's lap, straddling her hips.
Melissa's hands rest gently on the small of her back and she just stares up in total adoration. "Thank you."
Barbara lays her upper body on top of Melissa, weighing her down. When they first got together she was afraid she'd crush her, close up melissa has a delicate frame; however, she wanted the weight on her, wanted to feel the weight of Barbara on top of her, grounding her, feeling their skin connect. "You don't need," she kissed her cheek, "to thank," she kissed her jaw, "me." She kissed the spot behind Melissa's ear that always makes her whine before moving back to her lips. She teases her, repeatedly giving small pecks.
"Barbara!" Melissa whines and opens her mouth, trying to force Barbara's hand.
But she just sits up and smiles knowingly while asking, "yes?" Melissa opens her mouth to protest and Barbara licks her way into a long, hot kiss. "I know what you like baby." She runs a hand up her sides and grabs her shoulders, sitting back and pulling Melissa to sit up. Melissa like when Barbara was physical with her.
Melissa surges forward towards Barbara's bottom lip, kisses her gently before biting her bottom lip. Barbara giggles at this and gives her a sweet, tender kiss in return, pulling away with a loud pucker.
Melissa says, "I love you." into her mouth like it's a prayer of thanks. And Barbara gets lightheaded every time she says it with such an earnest tone. She opens her mouth to parrot the sentiment but is cut off by the doorbell. "Noodles!!!!!" Melissa yells, almost pushing Barbara off her.
Barbara pushes her back, "I'll go. You pick something to watch," She hands her the remote and stops at the door, "Red or white?"
Melissa knows that Barbara prefers white, especially this late in the evening, so she says so, "White, please."
Barbara nods and walks out, gets to the first step of the stairs before her heart fills with overwhelming love and joy at having a home and a lover that is so joyous, so thoughtful, so warm, that she turns on her heel. She puts a hand on the doorframe and peers around the corner, and Melissa questions, "'dya forget something?"
Barbara grins and shakes her head, "Just wanted to say that I really love you too." She watches Melissa blush before she turns to walk down the stairs. Ponders how lucky it is that she has the same effect on Melissa that Melissa has on her; sends up a prayer to God for how thankful she is to love and be loved.