Domesticity

It's a cool fall morning and the air is crisp enough to freeze the tip of your nose. It is the perfect morning, perhaps, for a jog; a nice temperature for an activity that gets your blood pumping. It is also the perfect kind of morning to, say, read a book and have a cup of coffee. Which is exactly what Felicity is doing on this cool fall morning.

She sits in a hammock on her balcony, long blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun, heavy blanket wrapped snugly around her body, coffee in one hand and a book in the other. It's a peaceful morning, not too many people driving down the road. It creates a calm over Felicity that allows her to be completely lost in the words on the page.

Until the balcony door opens, causing her to glance up briefly from her pages. The other young woman who walks through the door smiles lightly at Felicity before taking her coffee cup gently and climbing carefully into the hammock as well, slipping under the blanket and putting her head on Felicity's chest.

"Morning, love," Felicity says as she reclaims her coffee cup.

"Good morning," she replies. "It's cold."

"That's why I have a blanket," Felicity points out.

"You could read inside, where it's warm."

"But it's nice out here. It's peaceful."

"Still, I don't think I could read in this cold."

"You're so negative." Felicity smiles.

"Read to me?" The woman asks, shifting to glance up at her with pleading eyes.

Felicity smiles, "But, Katie, you haven't read the first one; you'd be confused."

"So? I just want to listen to you read." Katie says.

Felicity rolls her eyes, "You're going to fall asleep again."

"No I won't."

"You will. And then I'm going to fall asleep because I won't want to disturb you and then we'll be late to work." Felicity reasons.

Katie shakes her head, "Shhh. I won't fall asleep."

"Promise?"

Katie holds out her pinkie, and when Felicity wraps her own digit around hers, says, "I promise."

Felicity relents, beginning to read aloud as Katie cuddles closer to her. It doesn't take very long, Felicity's soothing and even voice washing over her, for Katie to—not unexpectedly—fall asleep. Felicity just smiles when she notices her partner's occasional light snores, and eventually she sets her book and empty coffee cup down on the table beside the hammock and falls asleep too.

An hour and a half later Felicity is awoken by a particularly loud car passing by, and sighs as she wakes Katie up.

"You fell asleep," she says as Katie looks at her in tired confusion.

"Dang. I was really trying not to," Katie yawns.

Felicity pushes back a stray brown hair from in front of Katie's face and smiles. "It's okay."

Katie lies back down, this time next to Felicity's head and not her chest, and she pulls the blanket further up to cover them.

"I don't want to get up," Katie states, staring out into the city as it's bathed in sunlight more thoroughly.

"We have to. We have jobs," Felicity says, stroking Katie's hair and making no move to get up herself.

"I know. But it's warm." Katie sighs.

"I thought you said it was cold?" Felicity smiles.

"Yeah, out there, but it's warm under here with you and I'd have to willingly open myself up to the assault of the cold air if I got up." Katie explains.

"I see." Felicity laughs, "But the inside the house is warm."

"You have a point."

"And there's coffee inside." Felicity points out.

"Now that I will get up for," Katie says, tumbling ungracefully from the hammock.

Felicity laughs, tugs at Katie's shirt to help herself get out of the now wildly rocking hammock, and Katie squeaks in laughter as she's pulls back almost back onto the hammock she just escaped from. Eventually, they both make it out alive.

Laughing, they head inside to get ready for work—which, as predicted, they'll be late for. But the thought doesn't register in either of their minds as they get ready. And as Katie pours her coffee into a thermos, Felicity wraps her arms around her waist and kisses her shoulder.

"I love you," she whispers.

"I love you too," Katie replies.