..oOOo..


10:52 pm

"Can I see it?" 

"See what?"  Langly asked, frowning curiously at his
lover laying next to him.  Both men lay on their
sides, facing each other and just barely touching,
reconnecting. 

Byers slid his hand down Langly's side gently,
making the younger man shiver.  "Your scar.  Can I
see it?"

Giving a dramatic sigh, the blonde rolled onto his
stomach and put his arms under his head on the
pillow.  "Sure, I guess," he said, watching as Byers
reached down to lift up the hem of Langly's shirt. 
He felt the older man's fingers carefully push down
the waistband of his boxers.

"Hmm."

Langly lifted his head a little, making a futile attempt
to look over his shoulder to see.  "What?  How does
it look?"

"Not bad.  It's smaller than I thought it would be,"
Byers replied off-handedly.  He traced his finger
lightly next to the mark, which still bared a line of
stitches.  The stitches would go away on their own
soon enough.  "Does it hurt?"

"Not much," Langly shrugged the best he could in
his position.  "Sometimes when I move too fast."

"Ah.  So,"  Byers said, leaning down to lay a very
light, soft kiss to the scar.  "This doesn't hurt?"

The younger man smiles at the familiarity of the
other man, so glad to have him back where he was
supposed to be.  "No...feels good."

Trailing a line of kisses up the mark, and continuing
on up Langly's back, he felt the man beneath him
squirm and start to breathe faster.  "And this?"

Langly gasped, looking back over his shoulder with
a whimper.  "John..." he said through clenched teeth,
reaching down a hand to stop Byers' movements. 
"John, don't--"

Realizing he'd gone too far, Byers pulled back
instantly.  "God, I'm sorry," he said, running his
hand lightly down Langly's back.  "Sorry, I didn't
mean to..."

"S'okay.  I...I can't..." the younger man buried his
head into the pillow.

"Yeah, I know.  I shouldn't have started," Byers
stroked his fingers through the fine hair spread
across Langly's back.  He knew it would be a while
before the younger man would be able to engage in
anything even remotely sexual.  He also knew it was
worth the wait.  

"I wish I could...I want to..."  Langly sighed, rolling
onto his side a little, then shifting up onto his knees. 
He stripped off his t-shirt, then pushed the boxers
down his legs and off as well.  "Come on," he pulled
at Byers' clothes, obviously wanting some naked
company.  

"Ree, we can't," Byers reminded him.

"I know, and we won't.  I...I just want to touch you,
feel you...skin on skin.  I need that.  You
understand?"

Byers met his eyes, and understood.  He needed it
too.  He stripped his own clothes off, then laid down
next to his lover again.

Langly leaned in to kiss him softly, his tongue just
brushing over Byers lips as he pulled away.  "God, I
want you..." he whispered, his hand moving on its
own accord down to touch Byers.

The tiniest of strokes and the older man felt his cock
twitch at the contact.  He reached his own hand
down, taking both of Langly's hands in his own. 
"Ree, we can't," he said more firmly. 

"I can't, but you can.  Please, let me do this," 
Langly's voice was almost pleading.  

Byers shook his head, taking their joined hands and
holding them between their chests.  "No.  I don't
need to do anything for me, okay?  All I care about,
all that matters is that you are safe, and here with
me.  I could hold onto you forever like this and
that's all I'll ever need," he said seriously.

Pulling his hands loose, Langly worked his arms
around Byers and held him close.  "I love you so
much, John," he whispered, kissing him again.  This
time when he ran his tongue over Byers' lips, he
didn't pull back, instead delving into the warm,
welcoming depths of his lover's mouth, and sucking
the other man's tongue into his own.  Taking a
moment to catch his breath, he opened his eyes
again.  "You forgot something."

"What's that?"  Byers asked, still a bit dazed from
the kiss.

"You said you care about being with me.  But are
you happy?" Langly threaded his fingers through the
short, silky hair at the base of Byers' neck.

Byers drew back a little to look at him.  "What do
you mean?  Of course I'm happy," he said, unsure
what the younger man was getting at.  

Shaking his head a little, Langly continued.  "I mean,
are you happy with just having me?  No family,
nothing but you and me for the rest of our lives?"

Byers' eyes widened in understanding.  He tightened
his arm to draw Langly closer to him on reflex. 
"Yes, I'm happy!  I thought I'd made that clear. 
Ree, what you did...you did something incredible
that no other man has ever done.  You carried OUR
child for four days.  That in itself is amazing.  The
fact that it almost killed you...I would never ask that
of you again, of anyone.  I couldn't imagine if I'd lost
you..." he trailed off as his voice broke.

"I'm not going anywhere," Langly assured him softly
with a stroke of his hand against Byers' hip.  

They lay quietly, their bodies tangled together as
they should be.  Finally, Langly spoke again.  "I
still...I couldn't help but think about what it meant
for us.  What it would be like, the two of us raising a
kid, together, you know?"

Byers lay a finger on Langly's lips, quieting him. 
"Ree, please don't keep thinking about something
that can't happen."

Langly smiled, and licked at the finger.  "John, I'm
not planning on getting pregnant again, if that's what
you think I'm thinking.  Though, maybe we should
restock the condom supply," he added absently with
a wry grin.  "I was thinking...there *are* other ways
for us to have a family.  Like...," he stopped, waiting
until Byers had met his eyes.  "Like, adopting?"


..oOOo..


End.