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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:02:12 GMT -5
Dreams Come True Sequel to Someone Like You 42 Chapters Gus and Harley July 2004 - April 2005
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:02:55 GMT -5
Okay, here's the start of the sequel to Someone Like You. It picks up in October, one month after Gus and Harley's party and everything is the same from SLY...
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One month later, Gus and Harley sat on their bed, waiting for the results of another pregnancy test. When the five minutes were up, they went into the bathroom and were faced with another negative result.
" 'Not pregnant'. Again," Harley sighed.
"Okay, so we do what Dr. Sedwick said if we got a negative. We start that whole calendar timing, ovulation test thing," Gus said as he hugged her. "It's gonna happen, it just takes time."
So time passed, another month in fact, and Gus and Harley found themselves in the same place, standing in their bathroom holding a negative test stick.
"Okay, the first two times I was upset, but now I'm just annoyed. Why am I not pregnant yet?" Harley asked to the point of almost whining. "I mean gees, with Susan, I wasn't even trying to get pregnant, and Zach, while he wasn't necessarily an accident, I got pregnant with him like five seconds after Phillip and I got married. And here we are, wanting a baby, and six months later, I'm still not pregnant."
"I know," Gus replied. "Maybe Dr. Sedwick can run some tests or something. I don't know."
"Yeah, she wanted to see us either way, so I guess I should call and make an appointment," Harley said. "I'll call on the way to work. Let's go, we're going to be late."
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Dr. Sedwick had a cancellation for that afternoon, so later that day, Gus and Harley were sitting in her office, across from her desk.
"I really don't see any reason to believe there is anything physically wrong with either one of you. Harley, I've run tests and tests and you're perfectly healthy. You've had other children, so we know theoretically you can get pregnant," she explained.
"So then maybe it's me," Gus suggested. "I mean, it's not like we're not trying. We try all the time."
"Well, that's always a possibility, but it's only been a few months. If it will make you feel better, I can send you to a specialist, but I'm guessing this is all more a matter of timing than any physical problem. Continue with the ovulation tests. Change your diets, here's a pamphlet of sexual positions that are good for conception. Try them. But more than anything, you need to relax. I know it sounds impossible. You both want a baby and it's not happening right now. But being stressed out over it is not going to help, it's going to make it harder. Try to get away for a weekend. Go someplace romantic where the two of you can be alone together. I'll give you the name of a reproductive specialist if you want to get tested Gus, or if you want a second opinion, but I honestly have no reason to believe that you won't get pregnant. You just have to be patient."
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"Hmm…" Gus mumbled as Harley drove home after their appointment.
"What?" she asked.
"It says here that there's a better chance of conception if you have sex less often," Gus continued.
"Seriously?" Harley replied.
"Seriously, that's what it says. I don't know," Gus shrugged. "Maybe we should try that."
"Really? You want to do that? Like only having sex when I'm ovulating? Honey, are you sure?" she laughed.
"Oh come on, don't you think I have any willpower? Besides, maybe it will work and we won't have to do it for more than a month," he replied. "It's worth a shot right? And it says we should have sex every day when you’re ovulating. Sounds good to me," he winked.
"Alright, I guess so," she shrugged.
"Okay then. Oh and we can try this position," he said as he pointed to the brochure.
Harley turned her head to the side. "Honey, I don't know if I'm flexible enough for that position."
"Well, we can still try," he winked.
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A few weeks later, Gus was sitting at his desk working on a case when Harley came up behind him.
"Hey handsome, you ready to go to lunch?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"It's not even eleven yet," he replied.
"I'm ovulating," she whispered into his ear.
"So we go a little early," Gus replied as he got up and grabbed his jacket before they left the station.
They barely made it into the house before they were ripping each other clothes off. After a few weeks, Gus was reconsidering the whole less sex idea and now that the opportunity had arrived, he was not being patient.
Once they got upstairs, he tried to slow things down, but Harley was having none of that and they fell onto the bed, tangled in each other.
"Well, that was romantic," Gus said sarcastically as they fought to catch their breath in afterglow.
"We can be romantic after I'm pregnant," Harley said as she snuggled against his chest. "Think it worked?"
"You tell me. Do you feel fertilized?" he asked, laughing.
"Now that's romantic," Harley rolled her eyes and he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
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As much as I love this dress, I was really hoping it didn't fit me by now," Harley sighed as she and Gus walked into the country club for the Lighthouse Gala.
Gus sighed and kissed her cheek, ignoring her comment.
"Well, I would say that Josh did almost as good of a job on the Lighthouse as he did on our house," he said as he grabbed two glasses of champagne off of a waiter's tray and handed one to Harley.
"I'll drink to that," she replied. "Oh there's Frank and Amanda," she added as she took Gus's hand and they headed over to them.
"Harley! Oh, I'm so glad you're finally here. You look gorgeous, by the way," Frank said as he kissed her cheek.
"Doesn't she?" Gus admired. "My goodness Frank, you're in a good mood. How many of these have you had?" he teased, holding up his champagne.
"We have some news. Big news," Frank began. "We're getting married."
"Oh my god! That's...that's…"
"Quick," Gus finished for Harley.
"Yes, that too. But that's great," Harley said as she hugged her brother and then Amanda. "Congratulations."
"That's not all," Amanda said, nudging Frank.
"Amanda's pregnant," he added. "I'm going to be a father. Again!"
"Oh my god," Harley repeated, notably less excited this time and Gus grabbed her champagne glass from her before it fell out of her hand.
"That's great Frank. Isn't that great, honey?" he asked after he set down their glasses and put his arm around Harley.
"That's…great," Harley agreed. "How far along are you?" she asked Amanda.
"Almost six weeks. I’m due July 6th," she answered.
"Wow. Congratulations. When is the wedding?" Gus asked.
"New Year’s Day. We're just going to have something small at the church, really small, just family," Frank answered. "I hope you two will be there."
"Of course we will," Harley said, forcing a smile for her brother. "We wouldn't be anywhere else."
"Excuse me, I'm going to go get some ginger ale," Amanda said.
"Do you want me to get it?" Frank asked.
"No, honey. I'm fine," she insisted and headed over to the bar.
While Frank watched Amanda order her drink, Gus pulled Harley close and kissed the side of her head.
"Can you believe this?" Frank asked when he turned back to Harley and Gus.
"Not really," Harley mumbled, but Frank didn't seem to notice and kept on talking.
"I mean, we just met three months ago and now we're getting married and having a baby. It's crazy!" Frank laughed. "But I love her. I do. And Marina loves her- they get along great. And Marina is so excited about the baby. I was afraid she wouldn't be, but she really is. And I can't wait to have a baby around again. I mean, the last one was Zach and he's already four," he rambled on and Harley grabbed her champagne and finished it in one gulp.
"Wow, it's hot in here, isn't it?" Harley asked. "I'm going to step outside for a little bit," she said as she started to leave but Frank grabbed her arm.
"Are you okay sis? What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm fine, I'm just shocked, you know? But it's great, I am so happy for you," she said as she hugged him and Gus could see the tears forming in her eyes. "I just need some air," she finished before she rushed away.
"What was that about?" Frank asked as he turned to Gus who was watching Harley push through the crowd.
"Oh, you know weddings always make her cry," Gus joked.
"Gus, seriously?"
"It's nothing. She's in shock you know. I'm sure she's fine."
"Should I go talk to her?" Frank asked.
"No, you know what. Go find your fiancée and dazzle her on the dance floor. I'll take care of Harley," Gus replied as he patted Frank's shoulder as he walked past. "Hey Frank, congratulations. I'm really happy for you and so is Harley."
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:04:17 GMT -5
"Are you trying to catch your death of a cold?" Gus called down to Harley from the deck when he got outside and saw her down below in the garden, sitting on a bench and she looked up at him.
"Get up here," he said as she stood up and he dropped his jacket down to her.
"You get down here," she called back.
"I'll meet you halfway," he compromised and started down the small set of stairs that led to the garden.
"Thanks," she sniffed as he helped her into his jacket when the met at the bottom of the stairs.
"Your brother is wondering what's wrong with you," he said as he sat on a step and pulled her into his lap. "I told him weddings always make you cry."
"Oh god, I was so horrible in there. He's my brother, and he is so happy and I am just so jealous. I am a horrible sister," she said as she buried her face in Gus's neck.
"You are not a horrible sister. Just go give him a big hug and a smile later and he'll forget all about that, okay?" he said and she nodded. "Hey, it's okay for you to be upset," he added as he stroked her hair.
“No, it’s not. Not tonight. Tonight, I need to be happy for my brother. I should go apologize. How do I look? Like I’ve been crying?” she asked him.
“A little bit,” he cringed.
“Oh great. Hold this,” she said as she pulled a compact out of her purse and shoved it in his hand while she put on more mascara and concealer under her eyes. “Ugh, that’s gonna have to do.”
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“You’re a liar. But I love you for it,” she smiled and kissed him. “You’re a wonderful husband,” she added.
“You’re a wonderful wife,” he replied.
“I’m a cold wife,” she laughed, “Let’s go find Frank,” she said and they headed back inside.
She spotted Frank and Amanda on the dance floor and after she gave Gus his jacket and he warmed her up, they started over to them.
“Mind if I cut in?” Harley asked as she tapped on Frank’s shoulder.
“Only if I get to dance with your husband,” Amanda replied.
“Sure,” Harley smiled and she and Amanda switched dancing partners.
“You okay?” Frank asked Harley after they started dancing.
“Yeah. Look, I want to apologize for earlier. I really am happy for you guys. I was just really, really surprised and I guess that got the better of me. I like her, a lot and she makes you very happy, and that’s all that matters to me,” Harley said as she reached up and kissed Frank’s cheek.
“That means a lot to me,” Frank replied, “I was just worried because earlier you were acting so weird. What’s up sis?”
“Oh, you know, it’s just holiday stress I guess.”
“Are you sure that’s it?” he asked, worried.
“I am sure! Now stop bugging me and dance!” she laughed and he twirled her around.
“So Gus, I’m counting on you to fill me in on what it’s like to join the Cooper family,” Amanda said as they danced.
“Well…it’s a trip, let me tell you,” he laughed. “Actually, you have an advantage over me. They all already love you. Me…well, I had to do a little more to win them over,” he replied.
“You mean over-protective big brother Frank?” she teased.
“Oh good, I’m glad you know him well before you marry him,” Gus laughed, “But yeah…Frank was definitely the hardest to get on our side.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, like you said, no one is good enough for Harley in his eyes. But I really wasn’t good enough. I did some things that I’m not so proud of that worried Frank,” he explained.
Amanda cringed. “What did you do? Kill someone?”
“Oh no. It’s a really long story. And Harley’s been hurt a lot in the love department and Frank was just afraid I would be another person to break her heart.”
“Are you? I mean she’s going to be my sister-in-law, so it’s my job to protect her too.”
“No. Harley and I are great together. I adore her, I would do anything for her and I would kill myself before causing her even a second of pain,” Gus answered.
“Well then I approve,” Amanda laughed. “She’s lucky to have you.”
“I’m the lucky one. I just hope you and Frank will be as happy as Harley and I are,” Gus said as he saw Frank and Harley head towards them.
“Hey, mind if I steal my husband back?” Harley asked as she pulled Gus away from Amanda and he twirled her in his arms.
“Not at all. Thanks for the dance, Gus,” Amanda said.
“We should get together, all go to dinner or something,” Harley suggested as Gus wrapped his arms around her from behind and ran his hand down her stomach.
“That would be great,” Amanda replied then went back into Frank’s arms for another dance.
“Are you not wearing any underwear?” Gus whispered into her ear.
“Oh you noticed that, huh?” she smiled. “Well, I didn’t want to have any lines.”
Gus moaned as a new song started and her turned her into his arms and pulled her close. “How are you guys?” he asked, changing the subject.
“We’re great. What did you two talk about?” she asked.
“Oh I just warned her about life as a Cooper in-law,” he winked.
“Hope you didn’t scare her away,” Harley laughed.
“I doubt it. I think she’s completely smitten with your brother,” Gus said.
“Good. He deserves to be happy.”
“We all do,” Gus said as he brushed his lips against Harley’s. “And I would be very happy if we stepped out of our schedule and I got to make love to you tonight because you look so damn sexy in this dress.”
“Well, maybe just this once,” Harley replied as she bit her lip, not able to resist the gorgeous man in front of her.
“How much longer do you think we have to stay?” he asked.
“I think we can say our goodbyes and leave. You know, I’m not feeling too well,” Harley faked and Gus raised his eyebrows.
“Well then we better get you home and in bed,” he said as he grabbed her hand and they went to say goodbye to a few people.
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“Sit down,” Gus said as he led her over to the edge of the bed and knelt in front of her.
He lifted one foot and slid her strappy shoe off, then did the same with the other. He ran his hand up her leg and started kissing it from the foot and made his way up to her knee, then her thigh. She leaned back on the bed and his mouth moved up to her stomach, kissing her over the dress and up to the bare V of her chest. She reached down and pulled him to her mouth, taking his lips in hers with passionate hunger. He smoothed a strap down over her shoulder and nibbled her flesh.
“Let me take it off,” Harley breathed as she pushed him off of her and stood in front of him.
The dress was quickly on the ground and she rushed back into his arms as their lips met again.
“Wait, you have too many clothes on,” she said as she hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt and practically ripped it off of him.
While she was pulling his shirt down his arms, he was rushing to undo his pants and all of his clothes hit the ground at the same time. He lifted Harley into his arms and carried her over to the bed. He laid her down gently and climbed on top of her, his lips exploring the curve of her neck.
“I love you Gus,” she breathed as she trailed her fingernails down his back.
“I love you too,” he replied as he entered her and they tumbled towards ecstasy together.
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:06:27 GMT -5
The night before Christmas Eve…
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"Ahh, do you hear that?" Harley asked as she crawled into bed and laid down beside Gus.
"Hear what?"
"Nothing. It's quiet, like it has been all day without Zach running around," she answered. "Hmmm, good night honey," she said as she leaned up and placed a quick kiss on Gus's lips then rolled over and snuggled under the covers.
Gus looked down at her then at the clock on the nightstand. It was barely ten o'clock and she was laying with her back to him. This wasn't always necessarily a bad thing, if it was midnight and they were going to spoon all night. But when they went to bed this early, it usually meant an hour or two of talking or making love until they actually went to sleep. Gus was hoping for the latter tonight, but Harley's demeanor quickly diminished that, although he wasn't willing to give up without a fight.
He slid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her from behind while he kissed her neck. He slid his hand up the bottom of her tank top and over her stomach before cupping her breast, causing her to shift uncomfortably beneath him.
"Gus, honey, not tonight," she said and she urged his hand out from under her shirt.
"You feel okay?" he asked as he kissed her forehead.
"Yes, I'm fine, I just don't...not tonight, okay?" she asked.
"Fine," he replied as he rolled over onto his back on the other side of the bed.
"Come on, I thought we decided we were going to wait until I was ovulating," Harley sighed as she rolled over to face him.
"I said it was fine," he repeated.
"But it's obviously not fine," she argued. "You're upset."
"You know I would never force you to do anything you didn't want to."
"I know, I wasn't suggesting that you would."
"I just wanted to make love to you tonight, but it's fine," he said as he got out of bed and struggled into a t-shirt.
"If it's so fine, where are you going?"
"Well, I'm not really tired, so I'm going to watch TV for a while," he answered before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
Harley let out a frustrated sigh as she rolled back over on her side. Part of her wanted to follow him downstairs and give in, but the other part of her wanted a baby so badly that she was willing to let him go off frustrated if it increased her chances of getting pregnant at all. She was asleep within a few minutes- she was tired and she never even heard Gus come back to bed a few hours later and stay on his side of the bed for the first time since they had been together.
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The next morning, Harley woke up early and snuck out of bed without waking Gus. She didn't know what time he came to bed, but she decided to let him sleep as long as possible so she could get some stuff done without having to worry about dealing with what happened the night before.
With Zach gone, she took the opportunity to clean his room, especially his toy closet. He had so many toys that he didn't play with anymore, and she knew the next day he would be getting a whole new slew of toys that would be used once then tossed back into the closet.
Two hours later, she had finally gotten Zach's toys separated into three boxes: played with, not played with that are trash, and not played with that can go in the attic. She was cleaning one of Zach's favorite toys- his firetruck- when she heard Gus get in the shower, and later go downstairs without so much as peeking his head in the door.
When she finally went downstairs, Gus was in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal and reading the paper.
"Good morning," she said as she opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Morning," Gus replied without looking up.
"There's a box of toys in Zach's room that can go up to the attic, could you take them up?" she asked.
"Sure," he answered simply.
"Thanks," she replied as she sat at the table next to him, hoping for some sort of attention, or at least a good morning kiss.
After a few minutes of him not taking his eyes off the paper, she reached over and touched his arm, finally getting him to look up at her and he leaned over and kissed her lightly. Harley sighed as she picked up the basket of laundry she brought downstairs with her and headed to the laundry room. It wasn't much of a kiss, it felt more like an obligation than anything, for both of them, but she needed that small contact to know everything would be okay.
"What time is Susan's plane coming in?" Gus asked when he came into the laundry room.
"Twelve thirty," she answered. "We'll have to leave soon. I wanted to get some more stuff done around here before she came, but I spent too much time on Zach's toys this morning."
"I can go get her if you want to stay here," he offered, "Or I'll stay and finish the laundry or whatever while you get her."
"You can go, that way you won't have to be in the same room as me," Harley said coldly as she let the washer lid fall and left the room.
"Oh please, Harley," he sighed as he followed her. "You really think that?"
"You're sure acting that way," she replied.
"Fine. You stay here and keep thinking like that. I'm going to pick up your daughter," he said before grabbing his coat and leaving the house.
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"Hey Gus," Susan greeted him with a hug when she got off the plane. "Where's Mom?"
"She's at home. She wanted to get some stuff done while the house was quiet," he answered. "You hungry? Wanna get some lunch somewhere?" he asked.
"What about mom?"
"We'll bring her something home," he replied, "What baggage claim?"
"E," she answered, wondering what was wrong with him. Gus was weird, but never this weird.
After they got her baggage, they went to Company for lunch so Susan could see her grandfather. Before they left, Gus ordered Harley's favorite meal to go.
Harley was in the laundry room when they got home and Gus took her food to the kitchen while Susan went to see her mother.
"What took you guys so long?" she asked as they walked into the kitchen.
"We stopped for lunch at Company," Susan answered.
"Chicken salad croissant," Gus said, holding up the bag like a white flag.
"Thanks but I ate an hour ago," she declined. Now she was the one being cold.
"I'll put it in the fridge then," he said and Susan looked back and forth between them.
Merry Christmas, Susan she thought to herself as a sigh escaped her lips.
"I need to finish wrapping some gifts. Wanna help?" Harley asked Susan, breaking the silence that had overcome the room.
"Sure," Susan agreed. "Let me go take my stuff to my room. I'll meet you upstairs," she said and Harley nodded.
"Uh, Chief called me. He has a meeting with the Commissioner the day after Christmas and he wants to be caught up on the Fifth Street cases, so I'm gonna go to the station for a while and fill him in," Gus said.
"Fine."
"Do you need me to help you with anything before I go?" he asked.
"Don't bother," she replied quietly before she turned to go upstairs.
"I'll be back in a few hours," he called after her.
"Are you going with me tonight? To Blake and Ross's party?" she asked, turning around on the stairs.
"Of course," he answered.
"We need to leave by seven," was all she said before she disappeared upstairs.
Gus put his jacket back on and opened the front door as Susan came out of her room.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Station."
"On Christmas Eve?"
"Just for a few hours," he said. "I'll see you later."
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When Gus came home later, Susan told him Harley was upstairs in the shower and he eventually made his way up to get dressed.
He knocked on the partially opened bathroom door and walked in.
"It's me," he said and he stood at the sink and shaved while she finished her shower.
"How was the station?" she asked when she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel.
"I spent Christmas Eve day with my boss instead of at home with my wife and step-daughter. I've had better days," he sighed as he looked up in the mirror and caught her eyes with his.
"Franklin all caught up?" she asked.
"I guess so," he replied as he cleaned out his razor then got in the shower himself while Harley fixed her hair and make up.
As he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, Harley slipped her robe off her shoulders in the bedroom and put on a sheer black thong and matching bra. Gus joined her in the bedroom and stepped behind her as she let a short black dress fall down over her head. He pulled up her zipper and reached around in front of her to fix the locket he had given her almost two years earlier that was around her neck.
His warm flesh on her arms felt like heaven to Harley and she allowed herself to lean back against him as he kissed her hair.
It would take more than a kiss to overcome to barrier that had grown between them since the night before and they both knew it, though neither of them was ready to deal with it.
"Thank you," Harley said as she touched the locket.
"You're welcome," he replied, then turned to get dressed himself.
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:06:52 GMT -5
Susan watched as Gus and Harley stood by the fireplace talking to Richard and Cassie. Richard had his arm around Cassie and she kept running her fingers through his hair, but Harley and Gus were standing at least a foot apart. Something was wrong, Susan knew it. Usually they couldn't keep their hands off of each other, but she hadn't even seen them kiss today.
She excused herself from the group of teenagers and went over to where Harley and Gus were standing.
"Excuse me, do you mind if I steal these two for a little bit?" she asked Richard and Cassie as she pulled Gus and Harley with her to the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Gus asked her.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. What is with you guys today? You hardly said one word to each other on the drive over, or all day for that matter. Usually, you can't keep your hands or lips off of each other and today, you're not even touching and I'm starting to get worried," Susan answered.
"Oh honey, don't…it's nothing for you to worry about," Harley said as she stepped forward and hugged her daughter.
"Okay, but something's obviously wrong," she argued.
"We had a fight, that's it," Gus replied.
"You guys have had fights before, but not like this."
"No, not like this," Harley agreed quietly.
"Sus, will you give us a few minutes?" Gus asked.
"Only if you promise to make up," she replied.
"Please?" Gus asked again and she stepped back as Gus led Harley to an empty corner of the kitchen.
"I hate that," Harley said.
"What?"
"When your kids are smarter than you are," she sighed and Gus smiled.
"I'm sorry," he began.
"No, I'm sorry," she interrupted.
"Stop it. I was the jerk, so let me apologize," he said and she shut her mouth.
"I'm sorry about last night. I wasn't upset that you didn't want to make love, that's fine, but it's not the first time, Harley. And…"
"Do you think it's easy for me?" she interrupted again. "Do you think it's easy for me to lay in bed beside you and not make love to you? Do you think it's easy not to give in to your touches and your kisses? It's not Gus. I love you so much that sometimes I can't even breathe. I want to be with you all the time, but I also want to have a baby with you. And if that means I have to reject you a few times, then so be it."
"It's not just making love Harley. We spend one week a month looking forward to taking a pregnancy test and then spend the next three depressed when it's negative. All of our conversations revolve around this baby that isn't even here yet. I want a baby with you, but I'm not willing to sacrifice our marriage for it. This thing that should bring us closer together is doing nothing but pushing us apart."
Gus's words hit Harley like a blow to the stomach and she stumbled forward into his arms. He held her tight and stroked her hair as he felt her hot tears on his neck, causing his own to well up in his eyes.
"Come here," he said as he led her up the back steps to Blake and Ross's bedroom where he pulled her back into his arms.
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry I upset you, I'm sorry about last night, I'm sorry you're not pregnant yet, I'm just sorry. I would do anything to make everything okay," he said as they sat on the bed and he rocked her against him.
Harley took a deep breath and sat up beside him. "I know you would. I'm sorry that I'm taking everything out on you. It's not fair. Just…tell me we're going to be okay."
"Oh Harley, we're going to be okay. I promise. I love you so much," he said as he took her face in his hands and kissed her. "We're both frustrated, and that's okay, but we need to deal with it together, okay?"
Harley nodded, "Okay. I love you too."
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:07:45 GMT -5
"You look so good all dressed up in suits," Harley said as she knelt on the bed and tied Gus's tie.
"I hate getting dressed up," he replied as he squirmed.
"You wear a suit every day to work," she argued.
"Yeah, but at least there I can take off my jacket and roll up my sleeves."
"Well, I think you look very sexy," she said as she kissed him.
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh yeah," she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Since their fight at Christmas, things got much better between them. It had only been a week, but Harley had been in better spirits and they even made love a few times. It was New Year's Day and they were getting ready to go to Frank and Amanda's wedding. It was going to be a small affair, with Buzz and Marina serving as Best Man and Maid of Honor and Zach holding their rings. Amanda's parents were flying in from Connecticut for the ceremony at the church which would be followed by dinner at Towers.
"You know you look pretty sexy yourself," Gus said as he ran his hands up and down the sides of Harley's body against the silky fabric of her slip.
"I'm not even dressed yet," she laughed.
"Exactly." he said as he pushed her backwards and laid her down on the bed with him on top of her.
"This is our year, baby. Somehow, we are going to get everything we've ever wanted," he added before kissing her deeply.
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“Hey Frank, can we come in?” Gus asked after he pushed the door open a bit.
“Sure,” Frank replied as he started tying his tie in the mirror. “Where are Harley and Susan?”
“With your soon-to-be wife,” Gus answered.
“Hey, look at this handsome guy,” Buzz said as he knelt in front of Zach. “You look so nice in your suit.”
“Thanks,” Zach replied.
“How about you come with me to meet Amanda’s parents?” Buzz suggested as he ushered Zach out of the room.
“So Frank, how are you doing?” Gus asked.
“I’m great,” he replied as his fingers got tangled in his tie again and he sighed in frustration.
“You nervous?”
“Nah,” he answered unconvincingly.
“Liar,” Gus laughed.
“Alright, maybe just a little nervous. Weren’t you nervous when you were marrying Harley?”
“I guess a little bit. Actually I was fine until right before the wedding. We were on the beach, waiting for Harley and Blake to arrive and when I saw their limo pull up and Harley got out, my stomach just went crazy,” Gus replied, remembering, “And I don’t know if it was because I was nervous or because I just love her so damn much.”
Frank smiled back at him, “Well my part of my nervousness is because I’m getting married and the rest is because I’m going to be a father again. It’s just all so quick and unexpected.”
“Yeah. Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Okay, I don’t want to offend you or anything, but I think this is important,” Gus began. “Would you be marrying Amanda if you didn’t uh…”
“Knock her up?” Frank asked.
“Well, I wasn’t going to say that, but…yeah. Would you?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would. Maybe not so soon, but eventually,” Frank assured him. “We’ve talked about this Gus. We wanted to make sure we weren’t just doing this for the baby. We love each other, and we want to be married.”
“Good. We just want you to be happy,” Gus smiled.
“Then will you help me tie this damn thing?” Frank asked, holding up his tie and Gus laughed.
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“They look so good together,” Harley whispered into Gus’s ear as Frank slid a ring onto Amanda’s finger.
“Better than us?” Gus asked.
“Oh of course not,” she smiled as she kissed his cheek and laced her fingers through his.
Harley smiled as she watched her brother kiss his new bride and their family gained another new member.
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“Alright, alright, everyone be quiet so I can give a toast, please,” Buzz said after he finished pouring champagne for all the adults.
“I’ll make this short and sweet, because I’m starving,” he began, “Frank, Amanda, I wish you both all the happiness in the world. We are so happy to have you as a part of this family, Amanda, and I can’t wait until I have another grandchild to spoil. Congratulations to both of you,” he finished as he raised his glass.
Gus put his arm around Harley and tapped her glass with his, “You okay?” he asked quietly and she nodded with a smile,
“I’m fine,” she said and he leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips, then buried his face in her neck as she ran her hand through his hair.
“How long have you two been married?” Amanda’s mom asked them and Gus pulled away from Harley.
“Almost eight months,” Harley answered.
“Ahh, you’re still newlyweds,” she replied.
“They’re still in the honeymoon stage- all over each other,” Amanda teased.
“Well, since we haven’t even gone on our honeymoon yet, we’re allowed to be,” Gus laughed.
“Why haven’t you gone on a honeymoon?” her mom asked and Gus and Harley looked at each other.
“Good question,” Gus replied.
“Other things just took our attention I guess,” Harley shrugged.
“You should go, take a honeymoon for us, since most of our first year will be spent with me as big as a whale or with a screaming baby,” Amanda laughed.
“We should go,” Gus said as he took Harley’s hand in his.
“Yeah, we’ll have to talk about that,” she replied and kissed him.
“How about we honeymoon over to the dance floor for a while?” Gus suggested and Harley nodded before he pulled her out onto the middle of the dance floor and into his arms.
“Mmm, we should go to weddings more often,” Gus said as he hugged Harley while they danced.
“Why is that?”
“Because they remind me of our wedding,” he answered. “And how beautiful you looked and how happy we were and how amazing our wedding night was,” he continued.
“You need a wedding to remind you of that?” she asked sadly. “How happy we were? Past tense?”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said quickly and Harley looked at him for an explanation.
“I don’t need a wedding to remind me of it, I think about it every day, every time I look at you. But I don’t know, today when I was talking to Frank while he was getting ready, I just remembered how anxious I was to be your husband. I felt like it was our wedding day again,” he explained. “And I didn’t mean that we aren’t happy now, but that day was different. We were both so happy to be getting married and full of excitement and hope and expectations for our future. And we’re happy now, I’m happy now, but things that’s we’ve gone through since then have…dampened some of those hopes and expectations.”
“You mean me not getting pregnant?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “But like I said, that doesn’t mean I’m not happy now, because I am. I love you and I love our life together, I love what we had already. But you know that this problem has been hard on both of us and hard on our marriage…”
“I know,” she nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, please. It’s not your fault, it’s not my fault. And we’re happy right? I mean if never get a baby, we’re still going to live happily ever after, right?” he asked.
“Yes, we will.”
“I love you so much Harley, you make me so happy, and for the rest of our lives, that’s all that matters,” Gus said quietly into her ear as his lips brushed her cheek.
Harley wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder, “I love you too Gus. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“Momma, I want to dance too,” Zach said as he pulled on Harley’s dress, interrupting them.
“You do?” she asked and Gus reached down and swung Zach into his arms, then pulled Harley close again.
The three of them danced for a few minutes until Zach started squirming.
“This is boring,” he said and Gus put him down so he could go back to the table.
“He’s just not dancing with the right girl yet,” Gus said as he took Harley’s hand in his and held it to his chest. “He’s enough for me,” he added quietly.
“I know he is. I just don’t want him to have to be,” she replied and he kissed her forehead without responding.
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:11:03 GMT -5
After another two months of negative results and pretty much only making love when the timing was right, both of them were going out of their mind. Gus thought a romantic dinner would be a nice change of pace since they had been busy with work and stressed out over the whole pregnancy process.
He made arrangements at Towers for a late dinner one weekend and sent Zach off to Phillip's. He surprised Harley at work that afternoon with flowers and told her his plans for the night.
"It sounds perfect Gus. Just what we need," she agreed with a kiss.
They had a great evening. They shared their dinners over a bottle of champagne and for the first time in months, they got through an entire evening without talking about ovulation and pregnancy tests and timing. But by the time they got in a cab to go home, that had all changed.
"I really wanted to be pregnant by Christmas," Harley said. "Then it was Valentine's Day. And that's only a week away, so I guess my new goal is Easter."
"Baby, let's not talk about it, okay?" Gus asked as he kissed her neck. "Let's just enjoy the evening."
"Well, I would enjoy it a lot more if I was pregnant."
"Harley..." Gus sighed.
"Okay. I'm sorry," she said. "Tonight was great. It's a been a long time since we had a nice evening out alone."
"Too long," Gus corrected and Harley nodded.
When they got home, they went into the kitchen to put away their leftovers and Gus switched on the radio that was sitting on the counter and pulled Harley into his arms.
"Dance with me," he said and she let her body melt into his as they moved with the slow music.
He moved his hands up and down her back and started lowering the zipper on the back of her dress, but she pulled away.
"Gus...not tonight," she said.
"Come on, Harley. Why not tonight?" he asked impatiently.
"Because I'm not..."
"Oh like it really matters if you're ovulating, Harley,” he interrupted.” We've tried that for months and it hasn't made a difference. I'm so sick of this planning and scheduling. When was the last time we made love because we wanted to and not just because it was the right time of the month?"
"We still make love Gus," Harley argued.
"No we don't. We try to make a baby. Lately it feels more like Mission: Impossible than wanting to be with each other. I miss you, Harley, I miss seeing you smile, I miss the look in your eyes when we make love."
"I thought you wanted to have a baby…"
"I do, God, that's what I want more than anything. But it's not happening. And there's no reasonable explanation for it. There's nothing wrong with you, there's nothing wrong with me, it's just not happening."
"I'm not ready to give up on this yet."
"I'm not saying we should give up, Harley. I just want us to go back to the way we were. Let's stop with all the tests and scheduled sex. Let's go back to making love when we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other," Gus said as he pulled her close and crashed his lips onto hers.
"I can't Gus. I thought we were in this together," Harley said as she pushed him away.
"We are, Harley. That's what I wanted us to be tonight. Together because we love each other, together because we want to be. I love you Harley, and I'm always going to love you, whether we ever have a baby or not. Please don't forget that," he said as he kissed her forehead and left the kitchen, pulling his jacket back on.
"Where are you going?" she asked as she followed him to the living room.
"For a walk. You don't have to wait up since it seems you'd rather be in bed alone anyway," he said coldly before he left and slammed the door.
"Gus!" she ran after him but stopped when she saw his car backing out of the driveway.
"Great. Going for a walk in your car?" she scoffed as she went back into the house.
He was angry and she knew that. And like he usually did when he was angry, he ran away to cool off. But he always came back. Harley took comfort in that and just hoped tonight wasn't any different.
She was angry too, but she wasn't sure who she was angry with. Definitely Gus, for walking out like that. But she was also mad at herself. Part of her knew he was right and she missed making love to him too. Dr. Sedwick told them to relax and relieve stress as much as possible but all the scheduling and test taking and waiting for the right time to be with her husband was just stressing Harley out more. But mostly, she was just angry that she wasn't pregnant yet. She knew it wasn't anyone's fault and that made her angrier. Gus would be such a great father to a new baby and he deserved that, they both did, so why didn't they have one yet? Then she was angry at herself for thinking that. There were a lot of couples who wanted and deserved children and could never have them. She did have kids. Kids she loved more than anything, kids Gus loved more than anything, even though they weren't his. She knew that Gus would be satisfied with being a step-father if they never had a baby, but she wasn't ready to settle for that yet. They were going to have a baby. All this was just something they had to go through until that happened.
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:11:23 GMT -5
"Hey, my favorite son-in-law," Buzz greeted him when Gus walked into Company and took a seat at the bar. "Where's your lovely wife?"
"Home," Gus answered simply.
"Something wrong?"
"Everything's wrong, Buzz," Gus sighed. "Can I get some coffee?"
"What did you do? Or what did she do?" Buzz asked warily as he poured Gus a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
"Nothing. Neither of us did anything," Gus replied and looked up at his father-in-law's doubting face.
"We're trying to have a baby," he finally admitted. "We've been trying for months and she's still not pregnant."
"I didn't even know…well is there something wrong?" Buzz asked.
"No. There's nothing. We've both had like a million tests run. Everything's fine, she's just not getting pregnant. And we've tried everything, Buzz. Everything. She took away all my junk food and has me eating this healthy soy stuff. She has me wearing boxers all the time. And now we don't even have sex unless an ovulation test tells us we can," Gus sighed and realized he might have given out too much information when he saw Buzz cringe.
"She really wants a baby, huh?" he asked.
Gus nodded, "We both do. I mean, we've been talking about this since last February and we've been trying since the wedding. I guess we both just thought it would just happen. That it wouldn't be so hard."
"Well, sure. Everything else has been easygoing for you up until now. Why not making a baby too?"
"I just thought that maybe we're both just stressed, you know, and that can't be helping. So I planned this romantic evening. I sent Zach to Phillip's and we had dinner at Towers and we had such a great night. We went the whole dinner without talking about it and then on the way home, she brought it up. And we got home and had this huge fight and..." Gus explained.
"And you left," Buzz finished for him.
"Yeah, I left. Like I always do when we fight."
"But you always go back."
"Yeah, I do. And I always will,” Gus sighed. “I guess I'm just still not used to having someone to help me through things. I was so used to dealing with bad stuff alone before, it still seems like the safest solution."
"Yeah, but you have a wife now. You have a family. And your problems aren't just your problems anymore. They're hers too. And if I know my daughter, she's hurting just as badly as you are," Buzz said.
"I know. I know she is. She is really taking all of this hard. I know she wants a baby, but I think mostly she wants that for me, you know? She wants us to have a child. So it's not just herself that's being disappointed month after month. It's me too and I think she's feeling guilty about that, even though she has no reason to."
"Have you told her that?" Buzz asked.
"I don't know. I thought I have, but maybe I haven't," he shrugged. "I gotta get home. I have to talk to her. Thanks, Buzz," he added as he threw some money down on the counter but Buzz pushed it back to him.
"It's on the house," he said.
"Free advice and free coffee?"
"That's what family's for," Buzz smiled. "Go home to your wife."
"Thanks Buzz," Gus returned the smile, "Oh and can you not mention anything to Harley about this? We didn't really want anyone to know we were even trying."
"My lips are sealed."
"Thanks," Gus said again.
"Would you stop thanking me and get out of here?" Buzz waved a dishcloth at him and Gus laughed.
"Good night," he said and left Company.
When he got home, he found all of the lights downstairs but one out and knew Harley was in bed. He hoped she wasn't asleep yet and after shutting off the last light and locking the door, he rushed upstairs. When he got into their room, he changed clothes and climbed into bed behind her. She had her back to him and appeared to be sleeping. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her shoulder.
"I'm sorry baby," he whispered, even though he thought she couldn't hear him.
But she was awake, just too angry to let him know that. At least she was until he got into bed with her. She moved her hand and placed it on his arm as she turned her body a bit to let him know she was awake. He sighed and buried his face in her neck.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized again.
"I'm sorry too," she said. "Where did you go?"
"Just for a drive. Sorry. Sometimes I forget that I'm not alone anymore. That I have someone to help me work things out," he explained and she nodded. "And I'm sorry that I pushed you earlier. I just love you so much and I miss you. I hate seeing you so disappointed and upset and I'd give anything to give you a baby, anything to make you smile again," he continued.
"I know. And I know you're hurting as much as I am. I know how much you want a baby," she replied.
"I do. But I want you more. I don't want to fight about this," he said.
"Neither do I. I just need some time. Can we do this for another month? And then if I'm not pregnant, we'll take a break," Harley suggested.
"Okay," Gus agreed. "I love you," he said as she laid back down beside him.
"I love you too," she replied and lifted her head off the pillow to kiss him.
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:12:33 GMT -5
The next week, the day before Valentine’s Day, Harley decided to de-stress by having a day at the spa with her two best friends. They got massages, mud baths, facials, and tons of gossip.
"So what's got you all bummed out?" Harley asked Cassie as the three of them walked into the steam room.
"Who me?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah, you. You've barely said two words all day," Blake added.
"Oh. Sorry guys. Richard and I are having some problems, so I guess I'm a little preoccupied," she answered.
"What kind of problems?" Harley asked.
"I think he's cheating on me," she admitted as she sat down on a bench.
"What?!" Harley and Blake both exclaimed.
"Come on, he is not. Richard adores you- he would never cheat," Blake insisted.
"I know that. I mean, in my heart, I know that, but my head is telling me something completely different," Cassie explained.
"Welcome to what used to be known as my social life," Harley joked and Blake shot her a dirty look.
"Honey, why do you think he's cheating on you?" Harley asked seriously.
"Oh I don't know. Maybe because he's been in San Cristobel for a month without so much as coming home for a weekend. Maybe because he's never around when I try to call him," Cassie answered. "But the worst thing is last week, I got a diamond bracelet delivered from him."
Harley gasped, "Diamond jewelry. Oh my god."
"Wait a second. Richard was a prince. I mean, it's not unusual for him to buy you diamonds, especially if he's feeling a little guilty that he hasn't been able to come home. Because of business," Blake added, being the calm one for once.
"Oh, she's right," Harley said.
"Yeah, well I didn't really think anything of it either. Until the next day. When the matching earrings showed up. Then the necklace," Cassie said as she brushed away a tear that had slipped down her cheek.
"Oh Cassie. Come on, this is Richard we're talking about. He adores you, he would never cheat on you!" Blake comforted her.
"Well look at you guys! You never thought Ross would cheat on you and he did. And you never thought Phillip would cheat and look what he did," Cassie argued.
"Yeah, but was anyone really surprised when Phillip slept with Beth?" Harley asked lightly.
"What about Mallet? And Alan-Michael - my god, you have bad luck with men!" Cassie exclaimed and Harley glared at her.
"Okay, back to you and Richard. I think you're just being crazy. There are any number of explanations for it. Now stop being so paranoid," Blake comforted her. "Right Harley?" she asked and Harley didn't respond. "Harley!"
"No," Harley shook her head. "No, I'm sorry Cassie, but I'm not going to tell you to ignore your instincts. Phillip told me for months that I was paranoid and imagining things- and he did cheat on me. I know how that makes you feel and I won't do the same to you. If you really think he could be cheating, you have to find out."
"But how?" Cassie asked.
"Ask him," Harley suggested.
"I can't ask him if he's cheating on me! What if he's not? He'd think I didn't trust him!"
"Do you trust him?" Blake asked.
"Yes! I mean, I think so. I don't know. Things have just been so weird lately."
"Then ask Dax, hire a PI, but you need to know. Otherwise you'll make yourself sick over this," Harley added.
"This is so easy for you guys," Cassie sighed, "You have perfect marriages."
"Hardly," Blake scoffed.
"Well then Harley does," Cassie corrected.
"Gus and I have problems too, Cassie," Harley replied quietly.
"Like what? You're having too much sex?" Cassie asked.
"Is there such a thing?" Harley teased and finally got a smile from Cassie.
"Definitely not," Blake replied.
"Don't ask me, my husband's been out of the country for five weeks. Five very long weeks," Cassie said pathetically.
"Hey, I don't want to hear about a month- I waited almost two freaking years before Gus," Harley shot back.
"But it was worth it, right?" Blake asked.
"Four times a week worth it," Harley winked.
"Damn..." Blake muttered.
"Ugh, see! While Richard's been gone you've had sex over twenty times and I've had RJ and Will sleeping in my bed."
"Well, not lately…" Harley mumbled.
"Why? What's wrong?" Blake asked.
Harley hesitated but realized she said too much to not have them bug her until she talked.
"I'm trying to get pregnant. And I'm not," she finally confessed.
"I didn't even know you guys were trying," Blake replied.
"Well, we wanted it to be a surprise when we announced that I was pregnant. But countless negative tests later, still no baby."
"How long have you been trying?" Cassie asked.
"Eight months. I went off the pill after we got married. And our first negative test was the day of the reception."
"Well, I know that seems like a long time, but it's really not compared to some couples," Cassie replied.
"I know. I know that, but I've never had trouble getting pregnant before."
"Well have you seen anyone about this? Is there a problem? I mean with you or him?" Blake asked.
"No. Dr. Sedwick ran tests and there's no medical reason why I'm not pregnant yet. I'm just not. And we've tried everything. Special foods, special positions, we only have sex when I'm ovulating..."
"Oh god, you're almost as celibate as me," Cassie interrupted. "Sorry sweetie."
"How are you handling all of this? How is Gus handling it?" Blake asked.
"Not very well, either of us. And it's starting to take its toll on our marriage," she replied. "I mean we're fine now. But last week, he planned this great, romantic night and we had dinner and we danced and when we came home, he wanted to make love. But I wasn't ovulating, so I said no and we got into this huge fight and he left."
"What do you mean he left?" Cassie asked.
"Well, he went for a drive. He came like an hour later and we talked and everything was fine. But he wants to stop trying. I mean, stop taking ovulation tests and only having scheduled sex. He thinks it's too much stress," Harley explained.
"Is it?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, probably. I just…I don't want to give up on this, you know? I want a baby. We both want a baby and I just hate to let Gus down."
"Oh honey, you're not letting him down and I'm sure he doesn't feel that way either," Cassie said. "Maybe he's right. Maybe you should just let nature take its course. If it's meant to be, it will happen. But sometimes it just doesn't." Cassie said sadly.
"Oh Cassie, I'm sorry." Harley said.
"So am I. I know what it's like to want something that you can't ever have," Cassie replied.
"Okay, we are way too depressing today! Can we just get a drink and forget about all of this?" Blake asked.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Cassie agreed and they left the steam room.
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Post by Jen on Aug 29, 2004 16:12:52 GMT -5
"Hey guys, I know we were supposed to have dinner, but I think I'm going to go home and talk to Gus," Harley said after their first round of drinks. "Raincheck?"
"Absolutely," Blake said as she hugged Harley. "Call me if you need to talk, okay?"
"I will," Harley replied as she hugged Cassie. "You too," she said to Cassie, who nodded.
When she got into her car, she turned on her phone and saw that she had a message. It was Gus calling to tell her that he was going to be at the station doing some work since she wasn't going to be home and to call him when she got back from dinner. She decided to do one better and drove by Company to get them something for dinner then surprise him at the station.
"I have in this bag the world's best double chocolate fudge cake if any cute guys here are interested," Harley said as she stood behind Gus who never even heard her coming.
He turned around in his chair quickly and practically had to stop the drool from falling. He had gone without junk food longer than he had gone without sex and the idea of his beautiful wife tempting him with it was beyond cruel.
"You're such a tease," he smiled as he grabbed for the bag. "What's really in here? Carrots? Broccoli?"
"No. Double chocolate fudge cake. Your favorite dessert from Company. And in the car I have lasagna and salad and garlic bread for us," she replied.
"I thought you were having dinner with the girls," Gus said.
"Well, I was, but I decided I would rather have dinner with you. And I wanted to talk to you, so I was hoping we could go home."
"Yeah," he nodded. "Let me file this and I'll be right behind you."
"Okay," she said as she kissed him and left the station with his cake.
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"Harley?" Gus called out when he got home. He couldn't have been more than a few minutes behind her, but he never saw her car in front of him.
"I'll be right out. Sit down," she called from the kitchen and Gus obeyed after he took off his jacket and shoes.
As he was untying his tie, Harley came into the living room and held a glass of wine in front of him.
"What's this for?" he asked as he took it from her.
"To relax," she answered as she sat down beside him. "I told Cassie and Blake today," she said and he nodded.
"About the baby," Gus said, more of a statement than a question.
"Lack thereof," Harley corrected. "I'm sorry. I know we weren't going to tell anyone, but we were talking and it just kind of came up. I think I just needed to talk to someone outside of the situation you know?" she apologized.
"Honey, it's okay. Actually I told Buzz too," he admitted.
"You did? When?" she asked.
"Last week. That's where I went that night."
"Daddy's better at keeping secrets than I thought," she replied.
"Yeah," Gus smiled, "But you're right. It helped to talk to someone else about it."
"I've been thinking about what you said about stopping," she began.
"Not stop trying to have a baby, just stopping all the extra, stressful stuff," he interrupted.
"Right. Anyway, I think you're right. So no more. No more soy food, no more ovulation tests, no more pregnancy tests, I threw them all out. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't…well, we're pretty lucky with what we have," she finished.
"Yeah. We are. We have a lot more than some people," he agreed. "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. I know you want a baby and I do too, so I'll keep doing this for as long as you want to."
"I know, but I don't want to anymore. I miss you too," she said quietly as she ran her finger down his neck. "Let's go upstairs," she whispered as she kissed the soft flesh below his ear.
"Are you sure?" he asked, his breath shallow.
Harley only nodded as she stood up and pulled Gus up with her. She grabbed his tie and led him up to their bedroom.
"We have a lot of time to make up for," she breathed as she unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and pushed it off of him. "And we have all night," she added before covering his lips with hers in a deep kiss.
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Post by Jen on Jan 13, 2005 20:09:11 GMT -5
She stroked his lips open with her tongue, kissed him hungrily, then began to suck on his lower lip as his hands traveled to her hips and pulled her into his body. She knew exactly how to drive him wild. She separated their lips and stepped out of his embrace. She ran her hands through his thick hair and down his neck to his shoulders. She traced his collarbone with her fingers until they met in the middle of his chest, right above the first button of his shirt. She slowly began to unbutton his shirt, taking time to kiss the newly exposed brown skin after each button. When she reached the last button, his breath was growing shorter, so she teased him more by moving her hands to undo his belt, then pulled her hands away, causing a frustrated groan to escape his lips.
She moved away from his roaming hands and stepped behind him. She grasped his shirt at the neck and slowly let it fall to the floor. She went to work on his neck and back with her tongue and made a trail of kisses down his spine. She ran her hands over the tattoo that had become an ingrained image in her mind. Gus reached behind his back to grab her hands and bring her back to face him. She had driven him crazy with slow, teasing kisses and now it was his turn.
When she returned to stand in front of him, he kissed her deeply and their tongues played tag for several moments until they were both breathless. Gus took her face in his hands and planted soft kisses on her forehead, down to her eyes, over the bump in her nose he loved so much, back down to her mouth. His hands moved down to her hips and over her round bottom. Harley leaned her head back and exposed her neck to his mouth. He had already lost his shirt, it was time for her to shed some clothes too.
He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head when she put her arms up. With an expert hand, Gus unhooked her bra and tossed it aside before working her jeans down her legs.
He swept her up in his arms and they shared a deep kiss. The feel of his rough chest on hers was enough to cause her to quickly undo his pants and push them to the floor. They stumbled away from the pile of clothes at their feet over to the bed, their lips never parting.
Gus lowered Harley onto the bed, his hand behind her head as she hit the pillow. His mouth moved down to her neck and then to her chest. He caressed her breasts with his lips and hands, the gentle sucking of her nipples was driving her crazy and she needed to feel all of him. She ran her hands down his back and pushed his boxers down. His lips moved from her breasts over her stomach down to her abdomen, teasing her belly button with his tongue. His fingers hooked the sides of her bikinis and yanked them down her legs and onto the floor with the rest of their clothes. He tickled her thighs with his lips, and ran kisses up and down her legs. Harley took control at this point and pushed him down on the bed. She climbed on top of him and buried her head in his chest, inhaling the scent of him. He grabbed her face in his hands and pulled her to his mouth.
He finally rolled on top of her and entered her ready opening. He danced above her, his hands holding hers above her head, her hips rising to meet his until they moved together in a perfect rhythm.
He released her hands and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her. When he felt her nails digging into his lower back he concentrated his final movements on her and soon felt her legs tighten around him as she buried her face in his neck, crying out his name as their bodies reached the climax together.
They both struggled to catch their breath as Gus eased beside Harley and pulled her into his arms, kissing her swollen lips.
“I love you,” he whispered, breathlessly.
“I love you too,” she replied before pulling his face back down to hers in a deep kiss.
“Hey,” he spoke up a few minutes later.
“Hmm?” she asked as she buried herself deeper into his embrace.
“Let’s go on our honeymoon,” he said.
“To Tahiti?”
“Yeah, Tahiti or anywhere. Let’s get out of this place for a few days and have the honeymoon we never got.”
“That sounds great,” she smiled up at him. “Let’s go for our anniversary.”
“Yeah…that’s perfect,” Gus agreed. “I’ll call tomorrow and get us reservations.”
“Oh no! We can’t go for our anniversary. That’s right before Susan graduates, and then she’ll be moving home. Why don’t we go in June, after we get her settled in?” Harley suggested.
“Okay,” he replied as she found his hand and threaded her fingers through his.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?”
“Just for being you. For loving me the way you do…for everything.”
“Oh baby, I love you so much,” he said as he ran his hand down her cheek. “And I always will.”
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Post by Jen on Jan 13, 2005 20:09:35 GMT -5
“Hungry?" Harley asked as she heard Gus's stomach growl later.
"Yeah, a little," he nodded.
"I'll go heat up the food I bought and bring it up," Harley said as she sat up.
"I'll go with you," Gus said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"No, stay here. Let me be a good wife and bring dinner to you," she teased as she knelt on the bed.
"You are a good wife," he smiled, "And I don't want to stay up here by myself when I can be with you," he added as he knelt in front of her and took her head in his hands and kissed her.
"Then we better go or we'll never eat," Harley moaned as she pulled Gus's hands away and backed off the bed.
After they heated up the food from Company, they sat together on the couch and ate.
"So how was your day?" Harley asked as she fed him a forkful of lasagna.
"Mmm, Buzz makes the best lasagna," he said after he swallowed. "Buzz makes the best everything," he continued as she kissed Harley's neck. "Especially daughters," he added and Harley laughed.
"Stay focused honey, how was your day?" she asked again.
"It was lonely without you," he pouted and Harley kissed his stuck-out lower lip. "It was good, I guess. I had the most unusual conversation with John though."
"You mean the conversation where you do all the talking and John listens?" she asked.
"No, that would be a normal conversation. This time, he talked a lot," Gus answered.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He was telling me about the year he spent in Europe."
"Really? When was that?" Harley asked.
"Twenty years ago?" Gus answered unsurely. "He went everywhere baby. He was telling me about how he met the Queen."
"Of England? How'd he swing that?"
"He was working with Scotland Yard and he was assigned to escort her to some auction. He says she told him he was 'hot'," Gus laughed.
"The Queen of England told him he was hot? In those words?" Harley asked.
"That's what he says," Gus shrugged.
"Well, I could see that."
"The Queen saying that or her thinking he was hot?"
"He's pretty good looking. And he's probably only…what? Late fifties, maybe?"
"Oh really? Should I be concerned?" Gus asked.
"Oh please. You know I'm crazy about you," she replied as she took a bite of lasagna.
"I know," he smiled. "And it was damn hard work getting you that way."
Harley laughed, "Well, I had to play hard to get. Otherwise you'd think I was easy."
"You were anything but easy. I can't even remember how many nights I had to go home and take a cold shower because of you," he replied.
"Are we talking about when we were dating or the past few months?" she asked. "Sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't bring it up tonight."
"It's okay. So tell me about your day. What did you and the girls talk about besides that thing we're not talking about tonight?" he asked.
"Oh just the usual. Men, clothes, sex, especially the fact that before tonight Cassie and I were not having any," she answered.
"Cassie? What's going on?"
"Well, you know Richard's been in San Cristobel for awhile."
"Yeah, but he comes home on the weekends, right?"
"No. He doesn't. She thinks he's cheating on her," Harley explained.
"What are you kidding me? Richard? Cheating on Cassie? Does she know how crazy that sounds?"
"I don't know sweetie. I mean, I never thought he would cheat on her either, but sometimes things happen that you never expect."
Gus leaned forward and put their plate on the coffee table and wrapped his arms tightly around Harley.
"And some things you expect never happen," he said quietly and she nodded.
"Hey, are you ready for that chocolate cake now? Or do you want to wait until later," she asked as she straddled him and kissed his neck.
"That depends on what you want to do between now and later," he said quietly.
"Well I was thinking we could work off dinner and work up an appetite for dessert," she said as she leaned back and ran her hands down his chest to the waist of the boxer shorts he was wearing.
"Who needs cake?" he moaned as her hand slid into his shorts and he grew hard at her touch.
They were interrupted by the doorbell and Gus groaned as he let his head drop to the back of the couch. "I'm going to disconnect that damn thing."
"Ignore it. They'll go away," Harley said and continued kissing his neck but the ringing didn't stop.
"Just get it," Gus said.
"I'll get rid of them," Harley promised as she got up and tossed Gus a pillow.
"Cassie, what are you doing here?" Harley asked when she opened the door and Cassie stepped in.
"Hey, I…oh god, I'm sorry," Cassie cringed when she saw Harley in Gus's t-shirt and Gus sitting on the couch in boxers. "I'll go."
"No, no, it's okay. Stay. I'm gonna go get some cake," Gus said as he grabbed the plate off the coffee table and went into the kitchen.
"Wow, keep him in boxers until you want to get him out of them," Cassie teased as they watched Gus walk out of the room. "I'm sorry!" she apologized when he was gone.
"It's okay Cassie. What's up?" Harley asked.
"So you did it, huh?"
"Yeah, we 'did it'. Is that what you came here for?"
"No, I'm just surprised, I mean, you're so stubborn, I thought you'd hold out for at least another week."
"Cassie, my gorgeous husband is in the kitchen, with only a thin piece of fabric keeping him from being naked. If you don't hurry up and tell my why you're here, I'm gonna ditch you," Harley said, trying not to be too impatient.
"You were a lot more sympathetic when you weren't getting any either!" Cassie replied, "Okay, I'm sorry. Richard called me. He's coming home tonight! He's going to be here for Valentine's Day."
"Oh Cassie, that's great," Harley said as she hugged her friend. "So things are okay then?"
"Well, I don't know. I'm a little nervous about him coming home. How am I supposed to face him when I suspected he was cheating on me?"
"Just put your hands on his face, look into his eyes and tell him how much you love and missed him. His reaction will tell you the truth," Harley replied.
"You think so?"
"I know so. Now go home and wait for your husband while I go find mine," Harley said.
"You don't have to look too far," Cassie replied as Gus walked back into the room and leaned against a doorjamb. "I'm sorry again," she added.
Harley nodded, "I'll call you on Monday, okay?" she said as she opened the door and Cassie left.
"Did you leave me any cake?" she asked Gus as she started walking towards him.
"Just a little bit," he said holding out the take-out container it was in.
She put her hands on his waist as he picked up a small piece of the cake with his hands and fed it to her. He licked the rest of the icing off his fingers and threw the takeout container onto the table in the hallway behind him. By the time he turned around, Harley grabbed him and pulled him close, kissing him.
“Everything okay with Cassie?” he asked as they broke the kiss.
“Yeah, Richard’s on his way home,” she answered.
“Good. Then we can get back to me and you,” he replied and kissed her again.
"Cassie said I should make you keep the boxers, but I think I like you out of them better," she said as she pushed them down over his hips and they fell around his ankles.
He stepped out of them and picked up Harley so he could carry her over to the couch. He laid her down and climbed on top of her, pushing the bottom of her shirt up so he could enter her and their bodies moved together until they both reached the climax of their lovemaking. Gus rolled to his side and pulled Harley with him so she was nestled between the back of the couch and Gus. She rested her head on his shoulder and ran her fingers through his chest hair.
“You didn’t even bother taking off my shirt. You’re getting lazy,” she teased.
“Not lazy, just impatient,” he replied as he lifted her chin and kissed her.
“Tonight was a pretty good prelude to Valentine’s Day, huh?” she asked.
“Wonderful. Too bad we promised Zach we would spend tomorrow night watching movies with him or we could have had a repeat of tonight,” he said.
“Well, he does go to bed pretty early,” she replied, “And technically, Valentine’s Day does start in a few hours. There’s no rule that says we can’t celebrate it early.”
“I hate rules anyway,” he winked and stroked her lips with his finger. “Let’s go to bed, my valentine.”
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Post by Jen on Jan 13, 2005 20:12:00 GMT -5
March…
Harley yawned as she poured herself another cup of coffee and one for Gus. They were up most of the night working on a homicide that needed a suspect fast. By early morning, they had found evidence or lack of alibis connecting three people to the murder. They had all three men tailed until they could get to the station to interrogate them. One of those men were sitting in the interrogation room at the moment, and unless the first one confessed, it was going to be a long day for Gus and Harley.
"I'll be in the interrogation room," Gus said as he came up behind her with a donut.
"On my way," she said as he disappeared.
After she fixed their coffee, she marked Gus's cup with an 'G', there was no way she wanted to mix them up and get a mouthful of sugar instead of coffee. She took a look at her desk to make sure she didn't need anything else and saw a bouquet of roses and daisies in a vase. She smiled as she walked over and picked the card up to read it.
Roses for romance and daisies for love. I'm going to make sure you get plenty of both tonight. - Gus
She leaned over and smelled the flowers, then slid the card in her pocket before heading back the hallway. The guys at the station were pretty good about not reading the cards from her flowers, but she took it with her anyway. Instead of going into the interrogation room, she stepped into the observation room and turned on the intercom.
"Detective Aitoro, could I see you in the hall, please?"
Gus looked through the mirror at her and told their suspect to hang tight. He would be back in a few minutes. He opened the door and when he saw that she wasn't in the hallway, he grabbed an officer to stand at the door of the interrogation room, then went into the room next door.
"Am I in trouble?" he teased.
"You are...wonderful," she smiled as she pulled him towards her. "Thank you for the flowers and now I really can't wait to go home."
"Well, I got Buzz to take Zach and I figured we better take advantage of an empty house," he replied with a kiss. "And hopefully we will have a solved homicide to celebrate too," he added, casting a glance into the other room.
"Think this is our guy?" she asked and he shook his head.
"With our luck? Hell no," he said. "Let's go."
The first guy wasn't their guy. And neither was the second. The third guy looked like the most probable perp out of the bunch, but he wasn't talking and he had a hot-shot lawyer making sure he kept his mouth shut.
"Since your client can't provide us with an alibi for March 1st, we'll provide him with a nice roof over his head for the night," Gus smirked after seven long hours of interrogations.
"You have no right to hold him," the lawyer argued.
"We have his fingerprints on the murder weapon, a known connection with the victim and he has no alibi for the night of the murder. I'd say we have the right," Gus argued.
"He already told you he was friends with the victim and had been to her house dozens of times before. He could have picked up that knife any number of times. And his aren't the only set of prints there."
"No, they're not, which we're looking into. But his are there, so he's gonna be staying with us for a while," Harley said as she opened the door and called in two officers to take the suspect to a holding cell. "You can have ten minutes with him after he's in a cell, that's it," she instructed and the lawyer followed his cuffed client downstairs.
"That's it for us too," Gus said when they were alone. "Let's get out of here."
An hour later, they were finally home and Gus instructed Harley to stay in the car for a few minutes.
"Honey, it's cold out here," she whined.
"It will be worth it, I promise," he said as he kissed her then disappeared inside the house.
He ran upstairs and started a bath, adding scented bath salts and red rose petals to the warm water, then grabbed the phone and made arrangements for their dinner to arrive in an hour. He finished by tossing daisies on the bed and lit candles in the bedroom and the bathroom.
He went back downstairs and got her from the car. She glared at him, shivering when he opened her door.
"You took the keys," she said as she got out.
"I'm sorry. I promise I'll warm you up," he said as he shut the door and took her hand.
When they stepped into the house, Harley expected to see something extravagant in the living room, but saw just their normal living room and was confused until Gus pulled her up the stairs to their bedroom.
He opened the French doors to reveal the romantic setting and she grabbed him around the waist and pulled him close.
"Wow," she breathed as she kissed his neck below his ear.
"This part comes later, there's something else first," he said as he led her into the bathroom.
"I told you I'd make you warm," he added as he started unbuttoning her shirt and pushed it off of her shoulders, which he quickly covered in soft kisses.
"I hope you're planning on joining me," she said quietly as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"Of course," he said as he pushed her pants down, then worked on getting rid of his own clothes, leaving her to finish stripping herself.
When they were both naked, Gus took her hand and started to get into the tub, but she stopped him.
"Wait, I just want to look at you," she said as she turned him around and her eyes feasted on his body.
She reached out and ran her hands over his biceps, "I love your arms. They're so strong, I feel so safe in them. I know I'm safe in them, and that my son is safe in them, and that is so...amazing to me. That two arms can provide so many different kinds of love," she finished as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his bare chest.
Gus shuddered, trying to catch his breath and he embraced her in return.
"I love you so much more than you'll ever know," he whispered and she looked up into his dark eyes.
"I love you too, Gus," she replied before catching his lips with hers in a deep kiss.
When they finally broke the kiss, they got into the bathtub and Gus sat across from Harley and took her feet in his hands. She laid her head back and enjoyed being pampered for a few minutes.
Suddenly, she lifted her head and looked around in the water, but all she saw was rose petals. Then she looked over the side of the tub and Gus looked at her strangely.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"Jewelry," she answered.
"You want romance, love and jewelry all in the same night?" he teased.
"Well, the last time we did this was the night you proposed," she explained.
"We've taken baths together since then."
"None like this," she argued. "Seriously, what's the special occasion?"
"I didn't know I needed a special occasion to show my wife how much I love her," Gus answered as he kissed the arch of her foot.
"Honey, you show me every day how much you love me. You don't need to do all of this. But, since you went to all this trouble, I'll shut up and enjoy it," she smiled.
"Good idea," he laughed.
When their bath water had turned cold, they finally got out and got dressed. Gus finished pulling on a pair of track pants and a t-shirt when the doorbell rang.
“That’s our food,” he said as he kissed her and grabbed his wallet. “I’ll meet you downstairs?” he asked and she nodded before he left the room.
She slipped into a short, blue silk nightgown and went downstairs to meet Gus.
“So what did you get us?” she asked as she hit the bottom stairs and he came out of the kitchen. “Pizza?” she asked as she looked at the box on the coffee table.
“And beer,” he added as he held up two bottles.
“How romantic,” she teased.
“It is when you wear something like that," he said, looking her up and down. "I also got a movie. I was gonna go chick flick because the lady at the video insisted that would be romantic, but I know you hate that kind of mushy stuff…"
"Well, I don't hate it all the time," she interrupted but he kept talking.
"Then I was going to get an action movie, but I didn't know if I could make out with you while people's extremities are being cut off on screen. So I just got a comedy- one of those stupid Ben Stiller ones that you can't help but laugh at," he continued.
"It's sounds fine, honey. We never watch much of the movie anyway," she said, "Now can we eat? Cause I'm starving."
"Yes, come over here and sit down and I'll put in the movie," he said pointing to the couch and Harley made herself comfortable.
Gus hit play and sat beside her, "Do you want a plate?" he asked as he handed her one but she reached for a piece of pizza and bit off the tip without needing a plate.
"This is why I love you," he smiled and grabbed a piece for himself.
"Want my pepperoni?" she asked, picking it off of her slice.
"Yeah," he said and turned towards her, opening his mouth.
"Lazy," she laughed and fed him the pepperoni then licked her fingers.
When Harley took her first bite of her second piece of pizza, a glob of sauce and cheese fell onto her chest.
"Uh! Will you get me a napkin?" she asked Gus.
He ignored her question and leaned over and got rid of the mess with his mouth. Harley laughed as his tongue tried to clean up the sauce on her chest. When he was finished, he continued kissing up her neck to her lips.
"I told you pizza could be romantic," he breathed between kisses.
When they were done eating, Harley snuggled against Gus’s chest while they watched the rest of the movie. Well, the few minutes of the movie that they weren’t kissing or groping each other. When they finally realized the credits were rolling, Gus hit stop on the remote control and went back to kissing Harley’s neck.
“Can we go upstairs now?” she asked, running her fingers through his hair.
"Yes," Gus nodded and stood up, pulling Harley with him.
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Post by Jen on Jan 13, 2005 21:02:04 GMT -5
"Honey, what's with all the flowers?" she asked when they got back up to thier bedroom.
"I don't know, I just wanted you to feel special tonight," he shrugged.
"You are too good to me," she said as she buried her face into his neck. "They're beautiful, but can we get them off the bed?"
Gus gave her a quick kiss and walked over to the bed. He grabbed the comforter and yanked it off, sending the daisies flying through the air.
"Good enough," Harley said as she tackled Gus and they fell onto the bed together.
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"You are so amazing," Harley said between kisses to Gus's neck.
Gus ran his hand up her bare back and looked down at her with a smile, "So are you," he agreed.
"Dad's keeping Zach all night?" she asked.
"All night," he nodded.
"So we can actually sleep in for once," she said. "What time are you guys leaving?"
"Before three," Gus answered. "I told Buzz we'd be there around one-thirty so you can get Zach and I think Frank's driving."
"Oh good. The movie starts at three-thirty, so Zach and I will have plenty of time," she replied as the phone rang.
Gus groaned as he reached over and answered it then handed it to Harley.
"It's the red head," he said.
"Hi Blake," Harley greeted after she took the phone from him.
"Hey stranger, listen, Ross is taking the kids out to visit Justin tomorrow, so I was wondering if you wanted to have a girls' day," Blake said.
"Oh, I can't. I'm spending the day with my little guy," Harley replied.
"Zach, right?"
"Yes, Zach," Harley laughed.
"Alright, well I'll find something to do..." Blake said. "What are you two up to?"
"Me and Gus? Nothing right now," Harley answered.
"Zach there?"
"No, he's with Dad."
"Oh my mom has the kids too. You guys want to go get a drink or something?"
"Let me see," Harley said and covered the receiver with her hand. "Wanna go get a drink with Blake and Ross?" she asked Gus.
"Only if it's in a dark place so I can grope you," he teased and she laughed and uncovered the phone.
"Alright, where to?" Harley asked Blake.
"That new place on Jackson?" she suggested. "I feel like dancing."
"Yeah, that sounds good, we haven't been there yet. See you there in...forty-five minutes?" Harley replied.
"That works. See ya," Blake said before they hung up.
"Get your dancing shoes on sweetie, we're going clubbing," Harley told Gus as she kissed him then rolled out of bed.
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"Blake, if I have told you once, I've told you a thousand times, I do not dance like this," Ross complained when the four of them walked into the club.
"Have a couple of drinks first, then you'll change your mind," Gus said over the noise then took Harley's hand and led them to the bar.
"I have a daughter older than most of these people!" Ross said after they got their drinks and found a table to sit at.
"Fine Ross, you and Gus sit here like bumps on a log and Harley and I will go dance. Maybe we can pick up a few young studs to dance with us," Blake teased as she grabbed Harley's hand and they went out onto the dance floor.
"I don't know how I keep up with her sometimes," Ross sighed as Gus watched Blake and Harley find an empty spot on the floor.
"She's something else..." Gus laughed and took another sip of his beer.
They talked for a few minutes while Gus watched Harley out there, moving to the music. Just as he began to wonder how many other men in the room were watching his wife with the same desire, two young guys approached Harley and Blake. They both politely declined dance invitations, but the guy who wanted to dance with Harley wouldn't take no for an answer. Gus watched as he put his hand on her waist and tried to pull her close, but when she pushed his hand away, Gus stood up in case he needed to intervene. He knew Harley could take care of herself, but his protective cop and husband instincts were kicking in, and he knew better than to ignore them.
"Gus?" Ross asked, wondering why he stood so suddenly, then saw Harley trying to get rid of the guy.
"I'm going out there," Gus said and Ross followed him.
By the time they were halfway to their wives, the guy's friend had convinced him to leave Harley alone. Gus came up behind Harley and she jumped when he put his arm around her waist.
"Jesus, Gus," she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was him.
"I'm sorry baby, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. He's drunk- probably on his way to the bathroom to pass out," she replied. "That will teach you guys to leave us alone at a club," she said as she punched Gus's arm and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
"It will never happen again," he said and she settled into his arms. "I can't say I blame him though, you look so sexy out here dancing," he whispered into her ear.
"Then what took you so long to get out here?" she asked.
"Ross wouldn't stop yakking," he answered and she laughed. "Do you forgive me?"
"That depends on where you put your hands while we dance," she smiled slyly and he moved his hands lower on her back and over her butt.
"Am I forgiven?" he asked as he kissed her neck under her ear.
"Almost," she said and he lifted his head, wondering how much more forward she wanted him to be with her in a public place.
She pulled his head down to hers and covered his lips in a deep kiss. When they broke the kiss, she nodded her head.
"Now you're forgiven," she said breathlessly and he kissed her again as their bodies found the rhythm of the music together.
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"Mommy!" Zach exclaimed when Harley walked into Company the next afternoon and she gave him a hug and kiss.
"Hi sweetie, did you have fun with grandpa last night?" she asked and Zach nodded.
"Where's Daddy?" he asked.
"He's outside making a phone call," she answered and held out her hand. "Want to go sit down at a table and wait for him?"
Zach jumped off the stool and ran to a booth while Harley took his coloring book and crayons and followed him.
When Gus finally came in, he snuck up behind Zach and tickled him and Zach shrieked in surprise.
“Zach, don’t be so dramatic,” Harley said as Gus sat across from them, “Gosh, he gets that from his father.”
“Got a warrant to keep our suspect until Monday. And I have his apartment sealed off and guys there 24 hours a day until we can search it,” Gus informed her.
“Good,” she replied.
“Daddy,” Zach said, trying to get Gus’s attention.
“Whatty?” he asked and Zach giggled then composed himself as he climbed over Harley and slid into the booth beside Gus.
“I did not sleep good last night,” he declared.
“You did not sleep well last night,” Harley corrected him but Zach ignored her.
“Why didn’t you sleep well last night?” Gus asked him.
“Because Grandpa doesn’t tell good bedtime stories like you do,” he answered.
“Oh, well I guess I’m going to have to give him a lesson on bedtime stories, huh?” Gus suggested.
“Yeah!” Zach exclaimed as the waitress came to get their order.
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“Gus! Let’s go- game starts in 4 hours,” Frank said as he and Buzz came out of the kitchen.
“I’m coming,” Gus said as he got up from the booth and Zach jumped into his arms.
“Will you read me a story tonight?” he asked.
“Not tonight buddy, I’m not going to be home until way after your bedtime,” Gus answered and Zach pouted. “Tomorrow night, I promise.”
“’Kay,” Zach smiled and hugged Gus before Gus put him back in the booth.
“Bye hon, we’ll probably be home around 1 or 2,” he said.
“I’ll wait up for you,” she winked and he covered her lips with his.
“It’s a deal,” he replied, “Love you.”
“Love you too,” she said and the three guys left leaving Harley and Zach alone for the day.
“Ready to go to the movie?” Harley asked Zach and he nodded excitedly and it wasn’t long before they were gone too.
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It was almost two am when Gus got home and when he got upstairs to their bedroom, he saw that the television was on and Harley and Zach were both fast asleep in the bed. He laughed to himself as he shut the TV off. He changed and crawled into bed beside Zach. Harley stirred when she felt him get into bed and he reached over and rubbed her arm.
“I’m home,” he whispered.
“Hi, how was the game?” she asked, her words slurred.
“It was good. So much for waiting up for me, huh?” he teased.
“Sorry,” she apologized.
“It’s okay, I’m exhausted anyway. How was your night with Zach?” he asked.
“Good,” she smiled. “You want me to put him in his bed?”
“No, it’s alright,” he replied. “I could use some cuddle time with my two favorite people,” he added as he leaned over Zach and kissed Harley. “Good night.”
“Good night,” she said then settled back into the bed for the night.
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Post by Jen on Jan 13, 2005 21:03:29 GMT -5
"Hey sweetie, look what I got," Gus said as he came up to Harley's desk. "Three tickets to the Cubs Home Opener. You, me, and Zacheroo. Two weeks from Saturday."
"That's great," she smiled. She knew Gus's favorite game to go to was the Home Opener. "Not for another two weeks? It's late this year, huh?" she asked as she looked at the calendar on the wall.
"Yeah, they have a lot of away games first," he answered.
"So how'd you get those?" she asked.
"I won them. On the radio," he said with a smile.
"You did not."
"I did too. They were having this contest- they wanted guys to call in and tell them about their most romantic first dates. There were five of us, and I got the most 'awww's from the women," he smiled.
"For our first date?" Harley asked.
"Yep. For the restaurant, laying on the beach, getting rained on, talking and drinking wine until three am, but I think what really got them was sleeping together without really sleeping together. Do you remember that night?" he asked as he leaned over her desk and kissed her.
"Of course I do. That was the night I found out you snore," she teased.
"I do not snore," he argued.
"You're right. You don't, unless you're sleeping on the floor," she corrected herself. "So not getting laid got you three free Cubs tickets, huh?"
"Boy, I'm glad you didn't call in. That doesn't sound very romantic," he laughed as his phone rang and he reached over to answer it.
"Gus Aitoro."
"Hey Mr. Married Man, it's Mike Dorman, remember me?" the voice on the other end greeted.
"Mike, oh my god, how long's it been, man?"
"Too long, Gus, way too long. Hey congratulations on the wedding and everything," he replied.
"Thanks."
"Listen, I'm coming to Chicago in a few weeks to take care of some business, but I'm flying out of Springfield. I was hoping maybe we could get together and catch up," Mike said.
"Absolutely. When will you be in?" Gus asked.
"I'm flying in two weeks from Friday, but I'll be in meetings all day and I'm leaving Sunday morning. Any chance we can do something Saturday?"
"Oh man, I just got tickets for the Cubs game. You're only going to be free on Saturday?"
"Looks like it. Well, maybe we can grab a drink after the game?" Mike suggested.
"Yeah, we'll do that and you can meet Harley and Zach."
"Who's Zach?"
"Harley's little boy."
"Oh no kidding. You're married and a step-father?"
"How about that, huh? Hey Mike can you hold on one second?" Gus asked when he saw Harley trying to get his attention.
"Sure."
"What?" he asked Harley.
"Is that Mike, your friend from the FBI?” she asked and he nodded. “Take him to the game," she added.
"No, honey, I really wanted to take Zach," Gus replied. "We'll just meet him for drinks afterwards."
"Okay, so take him and Zach. I'll stay home," she offered.
"Are you sure?"
"I think I'll survive," she replied.
"I love you," he said, leaning over to kiss her.
"Uh huh, don't keep him on hold," she reminded him and he went back to the phone.
"Hey Mike, change of plans. When was the last time you were at a Cubs game?"
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