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“Oh, Lilly,” Libber sang, even though she knew herself that she had no talent in that particular area. “Lilly, my Lilly-love.”
Lilly barely jolted as Libber wrapped her arms around her waist. “Hello, Lilly,” Libber said, kissing the back of her neck.
Lilly turned her head, planting a kiss on Libber’s nose. “You’ll wake the entire Monastery up.”
Libber puffed out her cheeks and blew air on the back of Lilly’s neck in lieu of answering. She relished in the slight shiver that ran through Lilly’s body. “You woke up before me,” she mumbled against skin. “I missed you. The bed was cold.”
“You’re perpetually cold,” Lilly said fondly.
“Mhm,” Lilly said. “And you’re supposed to warm me up.”
“Am I?” Lilly said absent mindedly.
“Yeah,” Libber said, pressing her cheek against Lilly’s solid back. It was her favourite part of Lilly; the grounding. The way she was so reliable, so loving, so gentle and yet so . . . big. Like a gentle giant. She liked that about Lilly. She liked Lilly. Her Lilly.
“Wouldn’t Ray be a better option?” Lilly asked, cracking another egg. Libber closed her eyes. The smell was intoxicating. All of Lilly’s cooking was heavenly.
“No,” Libber said. “He’s too obsessed with Maya.”
“And she never gives him the time of day,” Lilly laughed. Libber smiled. She liked hearing Lilly’s laugh. Deep and melodious and like it was coming from within her. Not Libber’s high and airy one. Everyone always told her her voice was so shrill, but Lilly was the only one who’d said she wanted to dance to it. Libber still held the belief that Lilly had said it just to be nice. Libber wasn’t stupid. She knew she was pretty, but her voice? Maybe her speaking voice, but definitely not her singing voice. She had tried to sing once, and it had been so awful that Garmadon had thrown a plastic trinket at her.
“I want a kiss, Lilly,” Libber suddenly announced. “Or are you going to turn into Maya?”
“If you act like Ray, maybe,” Lilly said smoothly, nudging at the sunny-side-ups with her spatula. “I can’t be too easy.”
“Oh, Lilly,” Libber said. “The others won’t come downstairs for so long. Nobody’s gonna see us.” She rested her cheek on Lilly’s shoulder, looking up at her before blowing air, once again, on the side of her neck. She liked bothering Lilly in this way. And it never failed, either. In fact, it seemed to be the one thing that rattled her at all.
“Not now,” Lilly said, which wasn’t outright rejection. Libber beamed. Lilly must have seen her face from the corner of her eye, because her expression softened. “I’ll kiss you all you want after I’m done cooking, okay?”
“Okay,” Libber said happily. She detached herself from Lilly and waited dutifully at the kitchen counter for her girlfriend to finish eggs. She rested her chin on her palm, smiling softly as she watched Lilly’s shoulder muscles flex. Libber had to find a way to get Lilly to wear tank tops more often, because holy shit.
Libber cherished these moments. These small, tiny moments where Cliff and his team weren’t breathing down her neck. They were few and far between, and they both knew it. They both knew the risks, the moral lines crossed. And yet, they found they couldn’t care.
Later, Libber decided. I can tell her about the baby later. She probably wouldn’t keep it, anyways. She would probably break up with Cliff before she was too far along. But even Lilly had started distancing herself, as if the risks had finally registered . . .
But Libber had managed to keep this small bubble for so long. She wasn’t willing to sacrifice it now.
“Oh, by the way,” Lilly said. Libber perked up.
“What?” she asked. If Lilly started a sentence with By the way, it was bound to be gossip. And Libber prided herself on being on top of all the gossip.
“I saw Ray coming out of Maya’s room last night.”
Libber gasped, her hands clenching the edge of the counter. “No.”
Lilly laughed. “Yes. And I saw them kissing behind the apple tree.”
Libber stared at her, jaw slack. Her hand came up to her own womb, although it was ridiculous. One shared night didn’t mean a baby. For all she knew, they didn’t even do anything! Maybe they just cuddled.
“And—Ray was covering his neck.”
. . . Okay. That was a little harder to explain away. Maybe he had just been feeling cold. But then again, Ray and Maya had been playing their “Will they, won’t they” for so long that it was inevitable that it blew up in their faces like this.
Oh, you’re one to talk, a voice in her head snarked.
“Are you done?” Libber asked, draping herself across the countertop, confident in the fact that Lilly’s eyes left the stove for a minute to track the skin exposed by Libber’s shirt riding up. She grinned when Lilly caught her eye and looked away, the tips of her ears red.
“Almost,” Lilly said. “I just need to toast the bread.”
Libber waved a hand, even though Lilly couldn’t see her. “It’ll take no time,” Libber said, batting her eyelashes. “Come on, Lilly-love, I want my kiss.”
Lilly put the bread in the toaster and finally turned around, facing Libber, who had long since turned in her seat. Libber practically glowed inside. Mine, she thought as she threaded her fingers into dark, dense locks. My Lilly. My love. She pressed a kiss to the side of Lilly’s neck. My Lilly-love.
“Hi, Lilly-love,” Libber breathed.
Lilly laughed. “What’s gotten into you today?” she asked, her hands wrapping around Libber’s waist. Libber liked the warmth that Lilly gave her.
She combed her hands through Lilly’s hair. “Nothing,” she said. “I just want my kiss. Where’s my morning kiss, Lilly?”
“Okay, okay,” Lilly said, planting a kiss on Libber’s mouth. A kiss Libber instantly tried to deepen, tried to hold onto. But Lilly leaned away, and Libber wasn’t the one who had super strength. “Needy girl,” Lilly said fondly.
“Needy for you,” Libber grinned.
Lilly smiled, her hands tracing patterns at Libber’s waist as Libber pulled her in for yet another kiss; one she hoped would last longer. When Lilly’s finger reached Libber’s abdomen, she broke off with a laugh to mask her gasp. Which was ridiculous. There was no reason to worry, because the baby was just two days along and not nearly big enough for Lilly to feel.
“Are you suddenly ticklish?” Lilly teased, her hands going over the same spot again. Libber laughed breathlessly, deciding to play along because it was safer than telling Lilly and losing Lilly.
“Stop it,” she giggled. “I’ll laugh too hard and Hibernus will come check.”
Lilly hummed, pulling Libber and her chair closer to her, so close that Lilly had to now bend down to properly kiss Libber. “No, I don’t think I will,” Lilly said, pressing a kiss against Libber’s jaw. “You asked for kisses, so of course I have to provide.”
Libber tilted her head, allowing Lilly to kiss wherever she pleased. Lilly’s lips met Libber’s again and Libber tried, once again, to keep the kiss. To make it longer than before, even though they both needed to breathe. “I have to go, today,” Libber mumbled against Lilly’s lips. She had to go to see the doctor, to try and figure out how to tell Cliff. No, she wouldn’t tell Cliff.
Lilly shushed her with another firm kiss. “Did you tell Wu or his dad?” she asked, kissing a freckle. Libber shook her head. “Well then, go tell them. Do you have to see Cliff?”
Libber nodded her head. “Interview,” she lied. “We have one soon, and everyone’s been asking when he’s going to propose. We’ve been dating for more than a year, after all. I’m his longest relationship yet.”
Lilly’s grip around her waist tightened. Libber watched her expressions carefully. She knew she hadn’t imagined the strained look on Lilly’s face. Do I hurt you, Lilly-love? she thought. No, because Lilly would tell her if she was hurting. Lilly would tell her if she was unhappy. Still, Libber said, “I think I saw him coming back home with a tiny ringbox.”
“Did he, now?” Lilly asked quietly. Libber didn’t answer. Instead, she just pulled Lilly in again for another kiss.
“Libber—” But Libber barely gave Lilly any opportunity to speak. She didn’t want to risk anything popping her bubble, and if she had to play dirty with her Lilly-love, so be it. She had to protect the one shred of happiness she had. The baby, Cliff, they were threatening the bubble. She couldn’t let Lilly start, too.
“Libby, baby—”
Libber put a finger on her lips. “You have me right now,” Libber said, guiding Lilly’s hands to touch the skin of her waist, under the t-shirt. “Focus on me, not him. Not him and I, Lilly-love. Focus on us.”
Lilly hesitated. Libber didn’t like that hesitation, so she pulled on Lilly’s hair gently and blew air on her neck before kissing it. “I love you,” she mumbled against Lilly’s neck. “My Lilly-love.”
Lilly’s hands stayed where Libber had guided them, touching skin but not really doing anything. Not tracing patterns the way that she had, the way Libber wanted her to. “Lilly,” she said, more insistently. “I love you,” she said against Lilly’s lips. They slotted perfectly together, as if they were made for each other. Her Lilly-love. And as long as Lilly wanted her back, FSM knew Libber was hers.
Finally, Lilly participated. Her hands moved again, as if something had awoken in her. “I love you too, Libby,” Lilly said, closing her eyes as she let Libber kiss her.
Later.
The problems of the world, of her womb and Cliff and training, they could wait until later.
For now, she had her Lilly-love and her kisses.