“You’ve got to be kidding.” Nick lowered his head to Solana’s chest again, although this wasn’t nervous tension causing the move. It was total frustration.

“Welcome to my world.”

“Mmm…I’ll get her.” Nick slid off of her body, kissing his way back down just the way he’d kissed his way up, stopping briefly at her belly button as it peeked out of the fabric of her shirt.

“Nick…no. I’ll go. She probably has to go to the bathroom.”

“Please? Let me.”

One more questioning look from Solana, she laid back and smiled peacefully, seeing he was fully intending on taking care of her daughter. This was going to be just fine. Startling her out of her thoughts, he leaned over the back of the couch, kissing her on the forehead. “Don’t move.”

“Okay.”

Nick ran his hand through his hair as he walked down the hall. It was all a bit too surreal for him to even think about. Not only was he finally here with Solana…who he’d dreamt about for a year, but now he was willingly breaking up the romance to take a toddler to the bathroom. Life was queer.

“Hey, girlie…what’s up?”

“Nicky?” Rosalie sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

“Yup, it’s me. Whatcha need?”

“I gotta go potty.”

“Can I take you?” He reached out a hand to her and chuckled as she threw herself backwards on the pillow.

“Carry me.”

Shaking his head, he scooped her up, ruffling her curls from messy to messier. “You can’t walk at night?”

“No.” She rested her head on his shoulder and fell completely limp against his body as he carried her into the bathroom.

Sliding her down to the floor, he wondered if her legs would hold her up…how much she’d actually do on her own. Time to pull out the memories of Aaron and Angel at this age…he could do it again. “Can you get your underwear down?”

“No.” She leaned on his shoulder as he squatted in front of her…he wondered if she was really awake or not.

“Okay, let’s get ‘em down.” Sliding the pink cotton down, he hiked her up on the bowl, knowing full well she wasn’t going to get up there herself. “Rosalie…wake up a bit, hon.”

“I’m awake.” He stood up, and chuckled as she grabbed the fabric of his pants and pulled him into her so she could rest her head on his hip. Not quite the head he’d imagined at this body part this evening…

“Okay. I done.” Nick pulled toilet paper off the roll and handed it to her, only to have her shake her head. “You do it. I’m sleepy.”

“Uh, no. Rosalie, you can do this part. Come on now.”

She finally lifted her head off of his hip and pouted. Somehow he had a feeling Solana wasn’t even this accommodating for nightly bathroom visits. He’d been had. Oh well. It could be worse.

Grabbing the paper with a bit of a scowl, she cleaned herself and hopped off, flushing the toilet and promptly laying her head on his thigh again. He knelt back down and sighed, “I guess I have to help you get these back up too, huh?”

“Yes.” Feeling his kiss on her cheek, she looked up from her groggy slump and smiled. “Thanks, Nicky. Why you here? Did Ben go home?”

“Yep, I took him back and I’m visiting Mami now.”

“Oh…good.”

He scooped her up, kissing her soft cheek one more time and quietly took her back to bed. Before her head hit the pillow, she was back asleep, probably forgetting the entire scene. Closing the door behind him, he headed back down the hall to Solana.

And bumped right into her.

“I thought I said ‘don’t move’.”

“I didn’t think you’d mind.” She never took her eyes off of his, as she walked backwards, leading him back down the hall and into her room. Just like the living room, it was gently illuminated with candlelight and filled with soft, sultry Latin rhythms.

Not saying a word, she sat at the foot of the bed and scooted back, pulling her long hair out from behind her. Bringing her dark locks to the front, she slid her hand down and over her breast, inviting him to join her with only the glow in her eyes and the slow unbuttoning of her blouse.

He licked his lips and walked to the foot of the bed, stopping and staring at her beauty, her nervous confidence in the moment, the bits of flesh appearing as each button was unbuttoned. “Now…” he knelt on the bed with one leg, slowly crawling to her, “…where was I?”

She watched him slowly approach and prayed for a voice…even a little one. “You…” She released the final button and opened her blouse, smiling inwardly as his eyes traveled across her newly exposed skin. “…you were in the middle of me.”