Intuition

by Jennis Slaughter

  Leaning her head against the blonde’s chest, Raelin held in a laugh and coughed. “Umm, hey sweetie...Did you have a good nap?”

  Del slid her knees off the chair and stood up once more one hand playing in Raelin’s hair and the other subtly wiped at her mouth.

  “Yes, I hads a dream,” she yawned, trying to squeeze her way into Raelin’s lap between the two women. “There were monkeys and we hads a picnic and you and Aunt Delly was there and we hads ice creams.”

  Looking at Raelin with a grin, she smiled at her wife and shrugged. “Well, you did tell her to tell you about her dreams.”

  Smiling at the little girl, Raelin reached around her wife to pick Ariel up. “That sounds like a good dream. Maybe one day we can all go and do that. Are you hungry?”

  “Yes, lunch was forevers ago. We had the chicken fingers together at the dinner place.” She smiled, cuddling into her aunt.

  “Well, you’re in luck. I was just about to put together a batch of pancakes and I happen to have a can of whip cream in the fridge. How do you feel about smiley pancakes?” Del smiled, planting a kiss on the heads of her two favorite girls and returning to the batter she’d started.

  Clapping her hands together, Ariel let out an excited squeal.

  “Raelin, can you do me a favor and go get her changed into her pj’s?” Del asked, pulling a pan out and setting it on the stove to heat up.

  Turning to look at the tiny blonde in her lap, Raelin grinned. “You wanna go take a bath Short Stuff?”

  Scrunching her nose up, she shook her head. “That means I hasta change out of my policy suit.”

  Del snickered from in front of the stove and said nothing, interested in how Raelin was going to negotiate this one, especially when Ariel was armed with that pout of hers.

  Feeling the humor rolling off her wife, Raelin focused her attention on Ariel. “Yes, you’ll have to get out of your police uniform, but I bet that you have some really cool pajamas in your bag, don’t ya?”

  “Yes I haves, but Aunt Delly is still wearing hers.” Ariel whined busting out the pout, her eyes widening.

  “Only because I fell asleep like you did and didn’t get a chance to change. As soon as supper is done, I’ll be having my own bath Munchkin,” Del mentioned, flipping over the batch of pancakes in the pan.

  “Babe, we’ll just wait until after dinner to take a bath. You’ve already got some ready and we don’t want them to get cold.” Turning back to the little girl, she asked, “Do you want whipped cream or peanut butter and syrup on your pancakes?”

  “Peanut butter?” Both blonde’s asked at the same time.

  “Yeah, peanut butter. Momma brought me up to have peanut butter and syrup on my pancakes or waffles. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.” Raelin smiled. She always got this response when she mentioned this particular food combination.

  “Can I has both? One of each maybes?” Ariel asked as Delaney set a plate piled with the first batch of pancakes on the table along with clean plates and silverware.

  Looking at her wife, she asked, “Where did you put her booster chair?”

  “Oh um, it’s right next to the china cabinet. Sorry, I meant to put in on a chair this morning, but didn’t get that far.” Del smiled sheepishly, pouring the last of the batter into the pan.

  “But Aunty Rae, I a big girl. Booster seats are for babies,” the little blonde huffed indignantly.

  “You are a big girl, but these chairs are just a bit too big for you yet. How about you sit in your chair and I’ll fix you pancakes?” the witch offered a compromise.

  Thinking for a moment, the little blonde finally agreed. “Okays. Deals.”

  Del smiled as she set the last batch of pancakes on the table, watching Raelin get the toddler all set up. “I’m just going to ditch this big puffy vest. Need anything else?” Delaney asked.

  Letting the need run through their link Raelin answered her soundlessly. Spreading peanut butter on the smallest pancake, she poured syrup over it and placed it in front of Ariel.

  Chuckling as she got Raelin’s message loud and clear Del left to deposit her vest in the utility room so she could wash it and tossed her shirt into a hamper next to the washer pulling on an old Tulane University Physics department t-shirt. While she was at it she pulled off her pants and changed into a pair of shorts that barely peeked past the long hem of her t-shirt. She ran her utility belt upstairs to be locked away and then joined her wife and Ariel in the kitchen smiling when she saw them both giggling. She moved to the fridge to start on Rori and Tasha’s dinner. “Sounds like you two are enjoying yourselves.”

  “Aunt Raelin was telling mes a baby Raelin story. She said she tried to make her Mommy breakies once, but was too littles to do it good.” Ariel giggled, around a messy bite of pancakes.

  Setting the two dishes on Rori’s bench for whenever they were ready to eat, Delaney finally settled at the table and grabbed a couple of pancakes of her own, forgoing the peanut butter for now. “Really? Do tell.” She grinned at her wife.

  “Not much to tell. It’s hard to cook eggs when you don’t know how the stove works. I thought if I just left them there they would cook on their own.” Raelin chuckled. “When my mother came down and found me, I’d managed to get flour from one end of the kitchen to the other. I’d dumped nearly a whole carton of eggs, shells and all into a frying pan on the stove top and dropped the milk when I tried to pour it into the glass. Mamma said I was so proud of myself for making her breakfast. She always said it was the best morning she’d ever had, even though it was spent cleaning my mess.”

  Del fought back her laugh enough to swallow what she was chewing before the chuckle burst out. “I swear, every child ever has tried making breakfast at least once.”

  “Even you Aunt Delly?” Ariel asked with a grin, syrup running down her chin.

  “Yep even me.” Delaney smiled.

  “Oh, please do tell. What did you try to fix for Fiona?” Raelin grinned.

  “Grits and bacon and eggs. I’d ended up spilling everything on the floor because I was such a small kid I could barely get it all on the counter.” Delaney smiled, then sobered somewhat. “It wasn’t Fi that found me first though.”

  “I’m sure that the thought was appreciated Delaney,” Raelin said quietly.

  “Maybe it was. I never found out.” Del gave a half smile. “So, now that you’ve gotten some of Raelin’s peanut butter pancakes and some smiley pancakes, it’s time to agree to your end of the deal. I bet if you take a bath like a good girl, Raelin will even read you some Nancy Drew before you go to sleep,” the blonde smiled at Ariel, who was just watching them both.

  “Your Daddy wasn’t very nice to yous Aunt Delly?” Ariel asked.

  “You shouldn’t read peoples thoughts baby. You know that.” Del admonished, clearing away the four year olds plates.

  Thinking to the smaller blonde, Raelin frowned at Ariel. “You told us that you wouldn’t read someone’s mind without their permission,” she thought to the little girl.

  “I didn’t mean tos. I promises, it was louds in my head. Like when Mommy is really mads at me cause I was bad an she talks really loud and tells me I haves a time out.” Ariel thought back.

  The witch stared at the little girl for a moment, before she thought. “I want to try something okay, but I need to whisper something to Aunt Delly, and you need to promise not to ‘no talkies’, okay?”

  “Okays. I be good girl.” Ariel nodded resolutely.

  Leaning close to her wife, Raelin whispered, “When I give you the signal, I want you to think of something that makes you feel a huge emotion but it needs be something that Ariel can understand. Let me know when you are ready.”

  Del nodded and sat back to wait for Raelin’s signal.

  Turning back to Ariel, the witch thought. “I want you to look at me and see if you hear Aunt Delly. Okay?”

  “Okays. I try.” Ariel nodded her nose scrunching adorably as she concentrated.

 
Nodding at Delaney, Raelin watched the little girl’s face.

  Ariel’s smile dropped a little as she kept her eyes on her Aunt Raelin. “She misses her Fi,” she sadly.

  Slamming her eyes closed, Delaney tried to reign in the emotions the thoughts of her grandmother pulled up inside her. She needed an outlet for her sudden grief and she started cleaning up the rest of the kitchen. “What does that mean Raelin?”

  Smiling at the little girl, Raelin praised her, “Good job Sweetie. You ready to take a bath?”

  Del smiled when Ariel nodded reluctantly. “I’ll finish up down here and be up once I’m done,” she said quietly.

  “Can I bring Mr. Duckie? Mommy put him in my bathroom baggie wif my soaps and toof brush.” Ariel asked.

  “Of course you can. I’ll even let you play with my old Duckie Wuckie if you want,” standing, Raelin held out her hand to Ariel and smiled.

  “Yay, Mr. Duckie can make a friend.” Ariel giggled, taking Raelin’s hand once she’d slid out of the booster seat.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Having finally finished cleaning the kitchen, Delaney headed up the stairs, closing the gate at the top, and joined her wife and munchkin in the bathroom. She chuckled at the site that greeted her. The floor was covered in water and a giggling Ariel sat in the center of the tub, laughing at Raelin as she played with the bath toys. Raelin herself was soaked nearly to the bone.

  She stepped into the room and sat down on the covered toilet. “I forgot to mention that once she’s in the tub, she’s a splasher,” she chuckled.

  Wiping her face with a towel that she had thoughtfully put in the sink away from the tub, Raelin playfully glared at her wife. “Now you tell me. I think that she’s clean though.”

  “I hope so, I don’t think there’s enough water left to clean her with otherwise.” Del chuckled. “Hey squirt, you’re getting all pruney. Think it’s about time to get out?”

  “Yeps, I is all clean. So is Mr. Duckie.” Ariel giggled, standing. She reached a hand up so she could be lifted out of the large claw foot tub.

  Delaney stood and pulled the tiny blonde out setting her on the bath mat and wrapping her in the towel Raelin had handed her. “Did you bring in her jammies?”

  “Yeah, you should have passed them on the way in, because when she started splashing, I tossed them outside the door.” Raelin slowly rose up from her knees, groaning as they protested after kneeling on them for so long.

  Snickering, Del retrieved the pink Winnie the Pooh jammies from outside the bathroom door and came back just as Raelin was finishing toweling the little blonde off. She pulled the shirt over the blonde head and then helped her get a fresh pair of panties and the bottoms on. “Now, I know you hate this part, but we need to brush your hair Munchkin.”

  “No, I don’t wants it,” she said firmly, crossing her arms and planting her feet.

  “Tell you what Ariel, what if I brush Aunt Delly’s hair while she’s brushing yours? Sound good enough for you?” the brunette offered. She was getting good at compromises.

  Ariel was about to protest when a yawn broke through. Giving in she nodded and wrapped her arms around Delaney’s legs. Del hoisted her up into her arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for being such a good girl.” She turned to Raelin as they filed out of the bathroom. “I’ll clean that mess up once she’s asleep. You can relax; I heard that groan when you stood.” She smiled.

  “I need to brush your hair babe, so let’s all pile into Ariel’s bed and get brushing.” Raelin grabbed Delaney’s brush as they walked out of the bathroom.

  Knowing Ariel was drifting off in her arms; she paused and gave Raelin a loving kiss. “Thanks for giving me so much help with her. She really likes you,” she said. Del deposited a slightly more roused Ariel onto the bed and pulled the little girls small brush from her bag. Taking up a position behind the little girl, she settled Ariel down and started working the tangles in the fine blonde hair. “The trick is to always start from the ends and work your way up. Right Ari?”

  “Yeps,” the blonde simply replied, her long day once again catching up with her.

  Over the next few minutes, the threesome worked quietly. Soon, Delaney’s hair reminded the witch of liquid gold while Ariel’s lighter shade felt light finely spun silk spilling over Delaney’s fingertips.

  “Well, I think that just about does it.” Delaney smiled, giving Ariel’s head a pat. “You were a very good girl Ari.”

  “Can I have Nancy Drew now?” she asked, turning her head to look at the two adults.

  “Sure thing Jelly Bean. Which book are you on and what chapter?” Raelin leaned back against the headboard and pulled the young girl against her.

  “It’s in my bag, we is on chapter four of Nancy and the Hidden Staircase.” Ariel smiled, cuddling close to her aunt.

  Delaney got up from the bed, and dug through the bag and pulled out the novel. Smiling she handed it to the witch. “She has all the older copies from like the sixties. Girl has taste.”

  “Just like her Aunt Delly.” Raelin smiled at her wife. “Go ahead and take your bath. I’ll take mine after she’s down.”

  “Shouldn’t be too long she’s been up since bright and early this morning.” Del smiled. “I’m going to clean up the bathroom and then I’ll meet you in the bedroom. Love you Ariel, sweet dreams and I’ll see you in the morning,” she pressed a loving kiss to the top of the young girls head, handing her the blankie she found with the book and tucked Dudley into her side.

  “Nighty night, Aunt Delly.” Ariel smiled, tugging impatiently at the book in Raelin’s hands.

  Raelin opened the book and dove into latest adventure of Nancy and her friends, using different voices for each character that made the little girl at her side giggle. She had Ariel say some of the words, and praised her when she got a word right, proud that the little one was already starting to read, even if it was just the small words.

  Soon enough Ariel drifted off to sleep, midway through the chapter, and Raelin just sat watching the little one breath before she pulled the blanket up to her chin and gave her a kiss on the forehead, whispering a gentle good night and sweet dreams. Turning on the monitor that they had bought she pulled up the bedrail, and retreated from the room, flicking off the light and leaving the door open just a crack before she headed for her bedroom.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Del lounged in the hot water of the tub mostly asleep but enjoying the feel of the hot water against her tired body nonetheless. She had managed to clean up the water on the floor as the tub filled and had been enjoying the relaxation and quiet. Ariel had been a handful today, well behaved but full of energy and she wasn’t used to keeping up with her all the time. Closing her eyes, she smiled as she let her head fall back to rest against the edge of the tub waiting for Raelin to finish her reading and kick her out if need be.

  Spying her wife still in the tub Raelin closed the bedroom door turning on the receiving monitor and quickly shed her clothes. Quietly, she padded into the bathroom and stood next to the tub. “Is there enough room for two?” she softly asked.

  “I think I can squeeze you in. Front or back?” Del asked, sitting up and smiling at the sight of her beautiful wife looking down at her.

  “Hmm, decisions, decisions...I think back. I want to wrap myself around you.” Carefully she stepped in behind her wife and slid down into the still warm water, sighing as she relaxed. “Ah, this feels good.”

  “Looks good too.” Del grinned, watching as her wife slide into the water behind her. “Ariel out is she?”

  “Yup, and hopefully she’ll sleep through the night with no dreams.” Raelin just enjoyed the moment with her arms around her wife and not a care in the world.

  “Yeah maybe. Man, I’m not sure how Jessie keeps up with her, let alone work in the DA’s office on top of that.” Del sighed loving how Raelin felt against her and drawing abstract patterns on the arms wrapped around her.

  Chuckling, Raelin agreed. “I have no i
dea, but I admire the heck out of her.”

  “So, what are your plans for tomorrow? I have enough overtime under my belt that I can take some vacation time to stick around the house with Ariel if you need to run into The Nook or the Foundation. That’s really only if I have to though, I’d rather not if I can help it,” she replied, turning her head to nuzzle Raelin’s chin.

  “I was thinking that maybe I would take her out to the Foundation. It might be good for her to be around some kids, and I need to go over a few things anyway.” Leaning down her head, the witch let her lips travel along Del’s shoulder.

  Tilting her head so Raelin had more room to play, she nodded. “I think she’d like that. She has a few friends her own age, but she’s pretty far ahead of most four year olds so I think she gets a little lonely sometimes.”

  “That’s what I figured, so we’ll head over there tomorrow. You are more than welcome to come with us. I think that there are a couple of teenagers that wouldn’t mind talking to you.”

  “Yeah sure, we can head over together, but I’ll need to head straight to work after that. Kasey and I have been stuck doing a lot of paper work lately so we’d like to get out and do some foot patrols tomorrow and see what’s going on with the locals.” Del smiled, running her fingertips lightly down the thighs on either side of her.

  Smiling, Del turned her body around so she was facing her wife. She let her fingers trail over smooth skin, watching as Raelin’s eyes followed the movements. “You know, I missed you while you were gone today. Did you ever figure out why we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves lately?”

  “Uh, I just put it down to the stupidity of me, blocking you like I did. We’re making up for lost time.” Raelin gasped as the blonde touched a ticklish spot.

  “I see. Well then, let’s continue to make up then shall we?” Del grinned, lingering over the sensitive spot she’d found and leaned in to capture Raelin in a gentle kiss.